Thinking of Mr. Zhu on the other end of the phone, I, while earnestly seeking advice, reminisced about the private school teacher's impression he had given me when we first met, and my tone of questioning involuntarily became a mix of formal and colloquial.
Mr. Zhu did not hesitate and said, "Kill."
"Ah?" I was stunned.
"Chop off the hands of those who dare to reach out, and pull out the tongues of those who dare to speak disrespectfully. Anyone who shows you claws and fangs, just kill them all," he replied as if it were the most logical thing to do.
"No, is that..." I said, "Do you really mean kill?"
I'm not one who fears killing, especially since my hypothetical enemies could likely harm Mazao, which kindled a fierce desire to kill within me. However, in such situations, Zhu Shi would likely try to stop me. Being Zhu Shi's grandfather, how would Mr. Zhu act? I certainly had not expected him to encourage me to kill.