48 Hours a Day

Zhang Heng didn’t stay at the bar for long. He pulled his hoodie over his head and walked out of the with his head lowered.

Instead of going back to school, he went to a nearby public restroom.

Since it was a little over two in the morning, no one else was around. But the lights were on, and the air smelt of cheap disinfectant. Zhang Heng walked up to the sink in the men’s toilet. The leaky faucet on his right dripped with a steady plop.

However, his eyes were on the mirror above the sink.

Back in Sex City, he did feel like his younger self again, but only now did he have a chance to examine his reflection. The beard on his face was gone, and the weathered hue on his skin had lost it’s bronze tone. The callouses and scars on his body had disappeared too.

His face was ten years younger than his time in Nassau, a sight he found a little unfamiliar.

Most importantly, he understood what the bartender meant when she said that he looked like a completely different person. Physically, he might look the same, but he had retained the temperament of an 18th-century pirate.

This was actually going to be troublesome. Most wouldn’t notice it, but those who were close to him would be able to tell from a glance that he had changed a lot, especially since the Spring Festival was approaching, and he would have to return home soon. His parents, who had been having the time of their lives in Europe, may not sense the change in him, especially considering the fact that they never once remembered his birthday correctly. He could even send someone else of the same height and age back, and they probably couldn’t even tell the difference. Nonetheless, his grandad, who had raised him since he was a child, would definitely sense something.

More importantly, with his current demeanor, he would inevitably be asked to have his ID checked whenever he was out on the street.

While he was still deep thought, a group of young men with colorful hair swarmed into the restroom, each with a cigarette between their fingers. They gave off the appearance of the neighborhood’s small-time ruffians. Zhang Heng saw them outside of the bar a few times before; many of these the children of relocated villagers. Initially, there were two relatively large villages here. As the city continued developing rapidly, expanding further into the wilderness one ring after another, many small hamlets turned into either industrial or residential areas.

This was something worthy of celebrating – the villagers received compensation and were relocated from their small wooden huts to chic and modern high-rise apartments. Many of them switched from farming to playing mahjong all day and collecting rent. Along with the sudden influx of wealth came its own set of problems, where the once simple villagers started to lose purpose in life, and their children lost the motivation to be diligent.

After all, all they needed to get by was to collect rent. As a result, most of the village’s youth turned into neighborhood thugs after high school. Of course, to the common man, there was a certain light-heartedness within the cacophony even though it was a nuisance.

Every day, these youths who dressed like gangsters from old Hong Kong films did nothing all day but patron the arcade, cyber cafes, or roughing up hawkers operating nearby – nothing but indulging in their own folly and fantasies.

Come night, their favorite hangout spot was in front of the nightclub or the bar. In addition to helping the owner solve inconvenient security issues, they also picked up drunk girls from the side of the road. Unlike hustling for money on the streets, this brought them great excitement and pleasure. Nonetheless, since it was illegal to do so, they tended to get into trouble. Not to be outdone were certain quarters who took advantage of men’s philandering desires. They planted young, scantily dressed women on the street pretending to be drunk. When an unsuspecting victim picked the ladies up, he would have to choose between getting blackmailed or serving jail time.

However, these local thugs weren’t worried about anything this sort happening to them. They shared a pretty good rapport with these conniving groups, and they were gutsy and familiar with the place. Once they were done with their business, they would leave hastily. That way, they rarely ran into any trouble.

Hence, this group of rowdy young men entered the public restroom with a young, unconscious girl, jeering loudly among themselves. Much to their surprise, they weren’t alone. While the toilet wasn’t too far from the bar, it was definitely not close to it either. Between the buildings was another restroom, so most of the bar’s patrons wouldn’t come all the way here.

By the time the youths entered the building, Zhang Heng’s hood was over his face so his identity could be concealed. He didn’t react to the situation, though, feeling that he had become more cold-blooded in character. He wondered if it was because of the ten years he spent as a pirate.

Moreover, this sitaution was completely different from when the wall engulfed the scavenger. At that time, he had hurried over to help the elderly lady and the child because they were innocent, genuine victims who were simply at the wrong place and time. Since it was within his ability to help, he was willing to lend a hand.

In essence, single men and women patroned nightclubs so they could unleash the raging hormones burning within them. All were adults, though, capable of taking care of themselves. Since women were the fairer gender, they should have known better what might become of them if they got sloshed at the bar at two in the morning. Every night, many young women would be so hammered they often collapsed by the side of the road outside Sex City. From the way Zhang Heng saw it, such matters were out of his control, and he wasn’t interested in barging in.

Every sentient being had the right to live the way they wished, and at the same time, they too were responsible for the consequences of their own choices.

So, Zhang Heng merely glanced at the group and left with his bowed low.

However, someone reached an arm out to block his path.

“Dude, it’s your lucky day today,” a boy in a leather jacket grinned. “What do you think, eh?” he pushed the unconscious girl’s head up by her chin. “See here, this is what we call by fine quality – an absolute beauty. On a normal day, when you ask girls like this for their WeChat contact, they would ignore you unless you drive a BMW. We are all brothers here, and we must have met by fate. We’ll bring you for some fun if she refuses!”

Zhang Heng knew what the guy was thinking. All that destiny crap was bullshit. The youth didn’t expect to run into anyone and was worried that the stranger would report them. Thus, they decided to cut Zhang Heng a deal and turn him their accomplice. At the same time, an extra man would make it an even more exciting state of affairs.

There was no point trying to explain anything in this situation. Even if Zhang Heng wouldn’t call the cops, these thugs would never believe him. So, Zhang Heng stuffed his phone into his pocket and threw a punch at the guy’s face without warning.

He had been training hard in the gym recently. With his forty-eight hour day, his strength had exceeded that of the average person. So, when Zhang Heng’s fist made contact with the youth’s face, the kid subsequently fell to the ground with a sickening thud.