Chapter 601: Calling Dad

More than a dozen thugs blocked both ends of the alleyway tightly.

A man with a scar on his face walked to the front and spoke in a sinister tone: "Kid, your business is so big, yet you only paid one yuan as an entry fee. Isn't that a bit ungracious?"

He Yuzhu raised an eyebrow and smiled: "What's this? You want to collect taxes here?"

Daobalian sneered: "I'm collecting, so what? You have to split fifty percent of the goods you sell with me. If you don't pay up, don't think about walking out of here in one piece."

Upon hearing this, He Yuzhu didn't get angry but laughed instead: "Want money? Come and take it."

Before the words had even faded, Daobalian lunged forward and swung his fist.

He Yuzhu lowered his body slightly, stepped sideways, and in the blink of an eye, slid under the man's armpit.

He then swept his leg and delivered a powerful elbow strike—

"Bang!"

Daobalian flew sideways for seven or eight meters, crashed heavily onto the ground, and got a mouthful of dirt.

When his underlings saw this, their eyes turned red; they grabbed sticks and pulled out Daggers to charge forward.

He Yuzhu flipped his wrist, and a baseball bat appeared in his hand out of thin air.

His figure flickered as he cut into the crowd, the shadow of the bat flying so fast that its trajectory was almost invisible.

He wove through the crowd, and with every swing of the bat, either an arm fractured or a rib broke.

In the blink of an eye, more than a dozen burly men were sprawled all over the ground, their wails rising one after another.

Daobalian struggled to crawl up, his face deathly pale; he plopped onto his knees and kowtowed repeatedly: "Master, spare me! Master, spare me! I was blind and didn't recognize you. I was wrong!"

He Yuzhu didn't intend to kill them all.

He still needed to use this black market; if he really pushed these people too far and they started their own operation elsewhere, it would not only be time-consuming and laborious, but also not worth it.

He raised his hand: "Get up."

Daobalian didn't dare to stand, kneeling on the ground and trembling.

"To tell you the truth, you can't afford to provoke me," He Yuzhu said, looking down at him. "I didn't come here to fight you for territory; I want to drive down the price of grain in the Beijing black market."

Daobalian was stunned and looked up at him in surprise. He naturally knew this person was not simple.

He Yuzhu continued: "From now on, I will sell grain to you for five mao a jin. When you sell it, you can charge no more than eight mao. Do we have a deal?"

When Daobalian heard there was such a good deal, his eyes lit up instantly, and he kowtowed heavily again: "Deal! We have a deal! Thank you, hero! Thank you, hero!"

He Yuzhu glanced at the people lying scattered on the ground and said in a flat tone: "What about you all? Do you accept this?"

That group had long since been scared silly; seeing their boss submit, they didn't dare to talk back and lay on the ground, shouting repeatedly: "We accept! We accept! Hero, we accept!"

Over the next half month, He Yuzhu replicated this method in the other four black markets in Si Jiu Cheng.

He invested a total of five hundred thousand jin of grain before he managed to suppress the black market grain price from the two yuan per jin it was before he started, all the way down to eight mao per jin.

But he knew in his heart that the price could not be pushed any lower.

Any lower, and grain merchants from other regions would catch the scent and swarm in, hauling the grain away by the truckload.

By then, even if he emptied all the grain stored in his space, he wouldn't be able to plug the hole.

During these half a month, the meetings of the Anti-Drought Leading Group were held one after another.

The figures calculated by Man Yatou were implemented one by one, and the ten thousand water-pumping devices transferred from the Liushi Trading Company had been successively distributed to the areas in most urgent need.

By May, the Anti-Drought Leading Group had basically completed its mission—the grain and supplies that needed to be distributed were sent out, and equipment like water pumps had also been issued.

The rest depended on whether the heavens would rain, and on increasing the production of equipment.

That evening, just as He Yuzhu returned to the No. 95 Siheyuan and before he even entered the gate, he saw that it was very lively under the locust tree at the entrance.

Liu Guangtian and Liu Guangfu were squatting to one side watching the fun, and Yan Jiefang was standing nearby with his younger brother Yan Jiekuang.

Bang Geng was leaning against the tree trunk, looking indifferent.

Xu Damao stood in front of him, holding a handful of candies, teasing him with a grin.

"Bang Geng, do you want some candy?"

Bang Geng rolled his eyes and didn't say a word.

Xu Damao shook the candy in his hand: "Call me Dad, and I'll give you one."

He was just teasing the child, thinking that Bang Geng would at least be shy or act coy for a moment.

Who would have thought that as soon as the words left his mouth, Bang Geng opened his mouth and said: "Dad! Dad! Dad! Dad! Dad!"

Five times in a row, crisp and clear, without a hint of hesitation.

Xu Damao was stunned for a moment, then his eyes narrowed into slits, and he laughed so hard his eyes disappeared: "Oh my, you're quite something, kid!" He reached out and gave him five pieces of candy.

Bang Geng took the candy, his eyes darted around, and he spoke again: "Dad! Dad!"

Two more times.

Xu Damao was delighted and took out two more pieces to hand over.

Bang Geng stuffed the candy into his pocket, then suddenly looked up and asked: "Dad, if I call you again, will you still give me more?"

Xu Damao laughed so hard he couldn't straighten his back: "Yes, yes, yes! As long as you call me, I'll give it to you!"

Upon hearing this, Bang Geng's mouth moved like it had been wound up: "Dad, dad, dad, dad, dad, dad, dad..."

He called out more than a dozen times in one breath until all the candy in Xu Damao's pocket was gone, then he contentedly stuffed his pockets full of candy and ran into the courtyard.

He Yuzhu stood not far away and saw the whole scene.

He shook his head, feeling a strange sensation in his heart—this Jia Zhangshi, what has she actually turned a perfectly fine child into?

Liu Guangfu leaned over to Xu Damao and chuckled: "Brother Damao, you're too silly. This kid is like a child who only cares about whoever feeds him; you can make him do anything as long as you give him things."

He Yuzhu walked over and looked at Xu Damao with a half-smile: "Xu Damao, making a child call you Dad is quite wicked; it might just lead to you having no descendants."

When Xu Damao heard this, his face turned green instantly. He had been with women for many years but had never fathered a child; He Yuzhu's words hit a sore spot, and he cursed in a panic: "Damn you, He Yuzhu, are you cursing me?"

He Yuzhu scolded: "Xu Damao, you're a grown man, yet you tease a child like this just to show off that you have a few stinking coins?"

Xu Damao stiffened his neck, his stubbornness flaring up: "None of your damn business!"

"You think I can't control you, right?"

Xu Damao curled his lip, his face full of disdain: "You're just an official from out of town, can you control me?"

He Yuzhu smiled, not at all annoyed: "Then let's just wait and see."

After saying this, he turned and walked into the courtyard.

Xu Damao spat twice fiercely at He Yuzhu's back.

Jia Zhangshi had just wanted to go out, but when she looked up and saw He Yuzhu coming in, she shuddered all over in fright; her feet seemed to be greased, and with a "whoosh," she shrank back inside and slammed the door shut with a "bang."

He Yuzhu ignored her and went straight home.

As soon as he entered the room, he saw Zhao Yingzi talking with his mother, Shen Guizhi.

He Yulu didn't say anything either; she just sat on the bench, staring blankly at the two of them chatting.

Seeing He Yuzhu had returned, He Yulu stood up and ran over; He Yuzhu scooped his younger sister up and tossed her into the air a few times, and only then did the little girl start giggling.

"Brother, eat a popsicle!" He Yulu said, wrapping her arms around his neck.

He Yuzhu had no choice but to carry her and walk outside.

Shen Guizhi instructed from behind: "Two at most, no more!"

"Alright, I'll listen to you." He Yuzhu replied, then stopped at the doorway and looked back at Zhao Yingzi: "Yingzi, there's something I have to tell you; you need to properly discipline your Bang Geng."

Zhao Yingzi was stunned.

"Just now at the main gate, he spent a long time calling Xu Damao 'Dad' in exchange for a handful of candies."

Zhao Yingzi's expression changed instantly, and tears fell down her face.

"It was all that old hag who taught him..." She bit her lip, her voice trembling, "Tell me, what am I supposed to do?"