chapter 2

Chapter 2 {The Lightning}

 Li Qi was standing on a street corner with a sandwich in his hand and watching through the window what was happening inside a bar on the other side of the street. The street is not wide and crowded with vendors and various mediocre shops with a lot of passers-by; it seems to be a popular but poor area.

A man has entered the street from the other side; he appears to be in his forties, wearing a formal suit and shiny shoes. Li Qi followed him with his eyes. This man appeared wealthy compared to the other pedestrians. He looked around him, appearing nervous, and stopped to look at the front of the bar and read its sign, then he entered and asked the bartender for something and then sat down at one of the tables. After a few minutes, the waiter brought him a drink and left the table. The man kept watching the street and didn't touch his drink.

Li Qi finished his sandwich, checked the street with his eyes, and then went towards the bar and entered it. He approached the bartender and put some money in his hand. The man whispered something in Li Qi's ear and nodded at the strange man. Then he brought a drink for Li Qi, which he consumed in a single gulp before placing the glass back on the bar. He then went towards the man and suddenly sat down on a chair at his table. The man became nervous and straightened in his seat attentively. Li Qi asked:

Are you looking for (The lightning)? 

The man answered hesitantly,

"Yes."

"Follow me," replied Li Qi.

He stood up and moved to the bathroom, with the man following him. After the man came in, Li Qi closed the door from the inside and said,

 "You come to a place like this, dressed like that; do you want to attract attention?" Take off this jacket right now."

The man complied and removed his jacket. Li Qi pulled him by the neck of his shirt and violently opened the shirt to reveal the man's chest. The man was surprised and terrified, but before he could say or do anything, Li Qi turned him and pushed him against the wall, then fell down his back and then his whole body, around his heels and inside his shoes, then commented,

 "You're clean. "What brought you here?"

The man replied, "I want to meet the lightning."

The man hesitated for a second, then said,

"There is someone I want to have killed."

Li Qi coldly replied,

"Whatever you want, I don't care." "Where is the information?"

Li Qi inquired, holding out his hand.

The man hesitated, then said,

"You mean the name and address?" "I will give it to you, but are you the lightning?"

Li Qi responded, "In this place, you inquire, you obtain. Give me the written information."

The man looked around as if looking for something; Li Qi recognized this and, bored, took out of his pocket a folded piece of paper and a pen and pushed them against the man's chest.

"Take it. "Write it clearly and without errors."

The man took the paper and the pen and started writing with a shaky hand, then returned them to Li Qi. Li Qi read the paper with his eyes and then asked,

"What is this?"

and put his finger on something.

The man said, "Her name is Mandolin; she's a foreigner."

Li Qi curled his upper lip in disdain for the man. The man commented, 

"I hope this is done as soon as possible."

Li Qi replied,

"I take the money in advance.

The man asked him confidently,

"How much do you want?"

Li Qi looked into the man's eyes; he seemed to show some strength and self-confidence at this point, as if he had the upper hand because he had the money, but Li Qi's look put things back to how they were, and the man went back to looking afraid, especially when Li Qi took the hand of the man, who tried to pull it from him when he saw Li Qi raise the pen in the other hand, as if the man thought that Li Qi would stab his palm with the pen, but Li Qi held the man's hand tightly and smiled sarcastically as he wrote on his hand the amount of money he wanted, then said

"That's what I want in cash; come back here again tomorrow and wait to see me to give it to me. Hand the money over without a word along with a clear picture of the target; when that's done, I'll start the work. "If you don't come tomorrow and if the money is not complete, it's better not to see your face ever again." Understood?" 

Then he stared at the man with a dark look, but the man tried to control himself and answered,

"Okay, money is not a problem, but I want you to video it as evidence of the task's completion."

Li Qi laughed with obvious irony. He approached the man until they were nose-to-nose.

"Do you actually want me to record myself doing that?" "Are you crazy?"

Li Qi inquired.

"No, I don't want you to record yourself; I want you to record the result, the corpse," the man replied.

"Just to make sure it's over and record it as evidence of the job being done, I hope that you are careful and don't fail."

Li Qi pushed him against the wall and said,

"Lightning never fails."

The man tensed more and commented,

"Yes, of course, and if you could make it look like suicide, that would be better."

Li Qi said,

"No, that's not my way of working."

The man replied in a hurry,

"Well, whichever way it is, just do it. I heard you don't know pity, so I'm sure you won't fail."

Li Qi smirked mockingly again, then he said,

"Leave now and don't look around, and don't look behind you as you go. That would attract attention."

The man replied resignedly,

 "Okay, okay"

Then Li Qi grabbed the man's hand again, wrote another number on it, and said,

"This is for the video you requested; the first payment does not include filming."

The man replied, 

"No problem, whatever you want."

Li Qi let go of the man's hand and moved his head, asking the man in front of him to leave; the man buttoned his shirt and wore his jacket and left; then Li Qi left behind him and continued to follow him from a distance until he saw him enter a building. Li Qi approached and entered behind him to see which floor the elevator would stop at, then went up after him; there were many doors on the floor, and he noticed small black traces reaching one of the doors and ending there; he had put a small amount of black paste on the sole of the man's shoes when he was searching him in the bathroom. Now that he knew the apartment number and address, he quietly left the building.

The following day, the man arrived and sat at the same table as agreed, and Li Qi, who was already inside the bar, hidden by the shadow in a somewhat dark corner, approached him and sat down next to him. The man took out an envelope from a pocket inside his jacket and gave it to Li Qi. Li Qi took it without a word, stood up, and headed toward the bathroom. The man was surprised when Li Qi stood up and followed him with his eyes. When he saw him go into the bathroom, he understood that he was going to count the money in there. So he sat down and waited until Li Qi came back. Li Qi stepped out of the bathroom and walked through the bar, then straight past the man and out through the door. The man watched him in amazement, but before Li Qi stepped out the door, he pointed with his hand, the gesture indicating that the man was to consider it done, and he left. The man continued to sit for a few minutes, drinking from the glass in front of him, and then left too.