Chapter 20: Ambush on the Road

"After I went there, I also went to the town to inquire, and only then learned that the Tang family brat must have hooked up with some connection and started a waterway business too.

Previously, he sold over ten diesel engines, earning at least tens of thousands, and now he's even built a factory on the spot, one I'm not even allowed to enter.

Big Brother, I haven't heard of anyone in our area trying to snatch food from our mouths!"

Li Chang blurted out a whole string of words; he had even gone to the town to inquire about Tang Wen's recent situation, and a terrifying guess had already formed in his heart:

Someone else is doing waterway business in E City, and Tang Wen has latched onto this line!

But this trade relies heavily on local power; just like Zheng Hai left his original big brother to go solo, one must demarcate territory in advance, and brothers in the industry cannot have overlapping business scopes.

E City doesn't have as many factions as the south; those with weight all know each other and wouldn't do something that violates taboos, so it's most likely an outsider dragon crossing the river.

It was precisely because of this guess that Li Chang rushed back, fearing he might fall into a trap.

After hearing this explanation, Zheng Hai lost his interest in playing, found a deserted corner to ponder for a while, and then frowned and asked:

"Tang Wen said he can sell even cheaper, more powerful motors? And he can supply enough for four boats in half a month; that's sixteen engines!"

Li Chang: "We haven't found such a fierce channel for motors even in Xiangjiang, Big Brother, this isn't right!"

Zheng Hai narrowed his eyes slightly, fell silent for a moment, then let out a cold sneer:

"Doing business on my turf without even paying respects at the dock; out-of-town gangs are too impolite. One must follow the rules when doing things, otherwise no one can come.

A 250-horsepower motor for only forty thousand; even Yamaha doesn't have that, yet they managed to get it. Since he dares to sell, then we will buy! And we want all four, and we want them in half a month!"

"However, I want his boat, but I don't want to pay; what do you say we should do?"

Li Chang's eyes lit up, and he immediately got fired up:

"Deal with him! When collecting the boats, just claim the goods he sold are rotten, flip his, and see who rules this area!"

Zheng Hai nodded in satisfaction, clearly very pleased with this plan.

The motor on a big flying boat costs over a hundred thousand, which is not cheap; if we can get the boat and also take this opportunity to crush the outsider dragon, wouldn't that be wonderful?

"Ah Chang, you can advance half the money to him, then have a few brothers keep watch so they don't run away.

I have to contact the supply source immediately; this place relies entirely on you guys."

"Rest assured, Brother Hai; can we really fall on our faces in E City?

I'll trick that brat first; otherwise, I'm afraid he'll get scared out of his pants and run away first, haha!"

Converting goods to cash takes time, so Li Chang hadn't gone to find Tang Wen again yet.

Meanwhile, tens of kilometers away from Dawan Town, a ten-wheeled truck was heading to the final stop.

Tang Shiba drove the car, Tang Shijiu kept watch in the passenger seat, and Wu Lao Er counted the ledger with fingers wetted by saliva, calculating bit by bit how much money they had earned back.

Twenty diesel engines had already been delivered, sixteen of them, and 60% of the payment received; for Wu Lao Er, this barely covered the costs.

There was no way around it; there were simply too few people who could pay the full price for goods, not even agricultural machinery stores in other towns.

Generally, agricultural machinery stores lack the ability to pay the manufacturer's full bill at once; they usually pay half or less first, then agree on a credit period.

Only after selling the goods over a period of time would they make up the balance during the next restocking or when the manufacturer collected the account.

Tang Wen had exclusive supply sources and dared to demand Wu Lao Er pay in full, but the latter, reselling the goods, couldn't force buyers to pay in full and could only accept a certain percentage as a down payment.

Fortunately, he had raised the price slightly; even if the balance wasn't collected, he wouldn't lose much, which gave him the courage to order twenty units at once.

The previous few times went very smoothly; as soon as buyers saw the bulk-packaged, finely crafted diesel engines in the truck, they paid up readily.

The last location was Nantou Township; they had ordered four diesel engines last time and also hoped to see motors installed with propellers; once this stop was done, they could return to Dawan Town.

Along the way, Wu Lao Er tried his best to take the main roads during the day and encountered no risks, so his heart had already relaxed.

He frequently touched the seat cushion beneath him; all the payments received on this trip were inside, and the three of them took turns guarding it, never leaving the truck at night.

Along the way, he also observed Tang Shiba and Tang Shijiu quite a bit, discovering that although their names were quite strange, both were very serious and responsible, with high vigilance; just standing there could reduce many troubles.

They were equally taciturn, almost never initiating conversation, like mute gourds.

Also, they had placed a wooden box in the cab; he didn't know what was inside, and when he asked, they wouldn't say.

The wooden box took up a lot of space, but Wu Lao Er didn't dare open it, only remaining curious.

The truck kept bumping along the dirt road and stopped in front of a fork in the road after a short while.

Tang Shiba stepped on the brake, popped half his head out the window then pulled it back in, then said to Wu Lao Er:

"Which way is Nantou Township? The directions we asked for in town just now didn't mention this place."

Wu Lao Er also hurriedly looked out, but since he had taken a small road last time, he wasn't familiar with the surroundings and couldn't figure it out for the moment.

Outside the city, it was mostly dirt roads; it was easy to get lost mixing into the wild fields, not to mention they were very hard to drive, full of potholes that could easily trap a vehicle. Fortunately, it was a ten-wheeled truck built for war service that made it all the way without breaking down.

This wasn't the first time they got lost; now, forget about navigation, there weren't even many road signs.

Maps essential in these years generally didn't record dirt roads below the township level; outsiders could basically only rely on locals to guide them or ask by the roadside.

Before navigation became widespread, many people held up road signs and made a living specifically by giving directions; otherwise, it was impossible to reach the destination.

"Let's ask someone; is there a person up on that mountain over there?"

Wu Lao Er squinted, catching a glimpse of a figure wearing a straw hat on the hilltop, who looked like an old man.

Tang Shijiu had better eyesight; after confirming, he nodded, and Wu Lao Er immediately stuffed a pack of cigarettes and some loose change into his pocket, jumped out of the car, and waved at the distant figure while walking:

"Fellow villager! Asking for directions! Fellow villager..."

Wu Lao Er struggled up the slope, then saw a bucket placed beside the old man, filled with quite a few sand crabs; it seemed he had finished catching crabs by the sea and was heading home.

Seeing Wu Lao Er ask for directions, the old man didn't stand on ceremony; he took two cigarettes, tucked one behind each ear, and pointed the direction.

Wu Lao Er hurriedly thanked him, got back in the car, and followed the old man's directions, but after driving for a short while, he discovered this road led up the mountain.

"That's not right; why are we going up the mountain? Did we take a wrong turn?"

Wu Lao Er remembered that going to Nantou Township shouldn't require crossing a mountain; just as he was thinking whether to turn back and ask for directions again, he heard Tang Shijiu say:

"There's a house ahead!"

At the bend of the slope in front of the truck, there was indeed a house.

"Great, wait here, I'll go down and ask..."

As Wu Lao Er spoke, he reached to push the car door open and get out, but a large hand suddenly pulled him back.

He instinctively turned his head, only to see that two people had already walked out in front of the house.

To be precise, two people holding long, bar-shaped objects.

Tang Shiba immediately prepared to reverse, but discovered the road behind was a downhill slope, making reversing dangerous, and he also saw figures in the rearview mirror.

Wu Lao Er didn't think twice and immediately reached for the weapon placed under the seat.