Wei Yan stormed through the airport, with visitors and staff alike giving him a wide berth at the thunderous look on his face. Those that were brave enough to wrinkle their noses at the smell of sheep dung radiating off his body were given an angry middle finger.
He walked through the glass doors of the airport. He took in a deep breath - the morning air was supposed to be calming, but all he felt was anger and confusion. He tugged his hair painfully.
Fuck! Now Sun Jingwei had fired him with no severance pay, how was he supposed to make his way back home with no money and no phone? He was such a bastard!
Captain Mu wasn't much better, he had taken back Wei Yan's work handphone, claiming it was a company expense. Wei Yan had his own personal phone, but it was still sitting prettily at home. Why would he bring it along on a work trip?
So now here he was, stranded at the airport with only a few coins in his back pocket, a nose that continued to ache, and his body smelled vaguely of sheep shit.
More people, well-dressed travellers with their shiny luggages, saw him blocking the entrance of the airport and pointedly rolled their luggages away, not wanting to meet eyes with this lunatic covered in wool. It was a bad omen for any traveller!
"Ah girl, don't go so near the scary man." One mother whispered in a voice loud enough for him to hear, pulling away her child from his path.
"He smells weird. Why?" Her daughter exclaimed loudly, and the mother shushed her frantically, not liking the deranged look in the strange man's eyes.
"This is what happens when you don't study hard," Another passenger said. This time, it was a father who pointed to Wei Yan and told his son, "If you don't study, your girlfriend will dump you at the airport and you can only cry on your own."
Wei Yan whirled around, snapping at him angrily. "Shut up! I wasn't dumped!"
The man backed up, pulling his son away. "See, now he's a liar too. Look at those tears in your eyes! If you weren't dumped, I'd eat my hat."
"What happened to his nose?" The young son next to the man asked, pointing at Wei Yan's face. "Mister, your nose looks red and round. Are you a clown?"
A chorus of hastily stifled giggles met his statement. Wei Yan turned and glared at all those curious onlookers, who quickly did their best to pretend they weren't staring at him. The airport was dull in the morning after all, and Wei Yan was now unwilling entertainment for the masses.
He could even see some people filming his humiliation on their phones, and he waved an angry arm at them, trying to get them to stop with limited success.
"I'm not a clown," he spat out, upset. Tears welled in his eyes against his will. How had he fallen so low? "Go find someone else to mock or I'll beat you up!"
With a final snarl, he harshly shoved the boy and his father out of the way, causing the boy to fall to the floor in a surprised heap.
"Oi! How can you shove my son!" The man yelled, nearly shaking with indignant rage. "You're bullying a child!"
"I'll bully you if you don't shut up!" Wei Yan yelled back, rolling his shoulders. He wanted - no, needed to beat someone up as an outlet for his rage. He stalked threateningly towards the man, who frantically stepped back. He pulled his son behind him protectively.
"Hey! What do you want! Don't you dare hit me!" He yelled, but he eyed Wei Yan's clenched fists with a wary look of fear. "I'll call the police to arrest you!"
"Call them then!" Wei Yan declared hotly, lunging straight at the man, grabbing his collar to shake him. "I'm not scared of you!"
The young boy began to scream for help, and onlookers gasped and shuddered as the two men began to tussle for dominance, rolling on the floor like wild dogs fighting for scraps of meat. Wei Yan slammed his fist into the man's nose and mouth, causing him to scream in pain even as he got kicked in the ribs.
Eventually, the commotion attracted the attention of the security guards who pried them apart.
"I'll have you arrested!" The man screamed at Wei Yan, who only laughed like a madman.
"Bring it, motherfucker!" Now his nose matched Wei Yan's, and that thought kept Wei Yan amused even when the policemen cuffed him and brought him to the station. Since Wei Yan had no way out of the airport, this was actually a blessing in disguise, because now he got a free ride back to Shanghai.
"Seriously, kids these days..." The policeman muttered as he entered Wei Yan's case into the database. "What's your name?"
Wei Yan kept his mouth quiet.
"Kid, can you please cooperate?" The officer lamented. "I just need a name."
"Sun Jingwei."
"Har har har," the officer stared at him, unamused. "If you're going to behave like this, you're staying longer in custody. Now, your name."
"...Zhang Wei Yan." Wei Yan muttered bitterly in response.
"Thank you, was that so hard?" The officer asked rhetorically. "Now let me see if that's your real name."
A quick search showed that yes, the cheerful man in the photo did match the surly man in real life. "You work in security, and yet you were causing a public disturbance?" The officer commented in confusion.
Wei Yan glared mulishly back at him. "I've been fired."
"Ah. Sorry to hear that." The officer said sympathetically. "Do you have anyone to call to pay your bail?"
"...No." Wei Yan thought about it, and he realised that there was no one he could ask for help, and he refused to let his ageing mother know about this.
"Then you'll have to make yourself comfortable then." The officer said consolingly, and that was that. Wei Yan was ushered to a holding cell and given a bun to eat by the officer who took pity on his rumbling stomach.
He expected to be left alone and forgotten for weeks, but to his surprise, there was someone who came for him the very next day, paying for his bail with no questions asked. Wei Yan was hence released, with strict instructions to not get into any more fights with random people.
"Who are you?" Wei Yan narrowed his eyes suspiciously at the new man. He hadn't seen him before, and he didn't believe that there were people who would be willing to help him for nothing.
"I'm Zhou Zhi, nice to meet you," the man said politely, offering him a hand to shake.
"Okay... and why are you helping me?" Wei Yan asked.
"I heard you're out of a job. I have a job offer for you." Zhou Zhi said. "And best of all, you'll be able to get revenge against someone you hate. Are you interested?"
Wei Yan's ears perked up, but he forced himself to remain calm. One shouldn't seem too forward. "Can you tell me more?"
Zhou Zhi smiled. "I will, but first things first - I'll bring you to see a doctor. That nose of yours needs medical attention."
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