Chapter 10: The Strong Dragon Struggles to Suppress the Local Serpent

"Kill!"

"Hack him to death!"

These people rushed over like a tidal wave, brandishing axes.

Hong Zhiyou knew this gang wouldn't dare touch Wanqiu.

Without that psychological burden, he shrank behind the car, drew his service pistol, and fired a shot at the bearded man in the lead.

Bang!

A spray of blood erupted from the bearded man's chest, and he collapsed.

Hong Zhiyou didn't pause for even a second.

He reached back and drew another pistol.

Bang, bang!

One in each hand, he emptied the magazines within seconds.

In an instant, seven or eight more Canal Gang killers fell.

The rest stared at each other in shock and hesitation, axes raised, and for a moment, no one dared to take a step forward.

So it really was six thousand axes.

Not a single gun.

Didn't they have a grenade or something?

"His bullets are out, get him!"

Someone suddenly shouted.

The crowd, stirred up again, charged forward.

"No bullets? I've got these!"

Hong Zhiyou flipped open his coat, revealing the tactical vest on his chest.

There were several loops on the vest, with American-made grenades hanging from them.

These were a gift from Anderson.

Free!

That was the one thing the Americans had in abundance.

If he hadn't come out in such a rush today, he would have had a submachine gun and a sniper rifle in his rental apartment near the Shopkeeper Qiu pharmacy on Hengshan Road.

Snap!

Hong Zhiyou pulled one off, yanked the pin, and tossed it over.

Boom!

Amidst the deafening blast, several men were blown away.

"Grenade!"

The Canal Gang members were stunned.

They had seen plenty of ruthless men; carrying a gun wasn't rare, but damn it, wearing a string of grenades on one's body—who could handle that?

Before Hong Zhiyou could pull off a second grenade.

The swarm of killers scattered in every direction.

"Damn it, trying to mess with me!"

Hong Zhiyou changed his magazines and walked over to the wounded men who were struggling and wailing.

Bang, bang!

He finished them off one by one with shots to the head.

In this world, there is no distinction between cruelty and justice; whoever has the power, is ruthless enough, and is vicious enough, is the one who survives.

Hong Zhiyou wanted to use these corpses to tell Zhang Shaobai.

He wasn't someone to be trifled with either.

Returning to the car, he smeared blood all over his hands, face, and clothes, making himself look utterly disheveled.

After a pause, he picked up a short axe and inflicted a few cuts on his left arm and leg.

Sss!

Fresh blood flowed out instantly.

"Hong, what, what are you doing?" Wanqiu was terrified.

"It's nothing, just a few superficial wounds.

"Just putting on a show.

"Let's go, accompany me to see someone."

Hong Zhiyou kissed her, signaling her not to worry.

He drove straight to 1 Changde Road.

Upon arriving at the gate, Deputy Section Chief of Security Xiao Guohua was leading a patrol.

"Secretary Hong, what happened to you..." Xiao Guohua was stunned to see him covered in blood.

"I need to see the Station Chief."

He opened the trunk and took out the Station Chief's items.

As he spoke, he handed over his service pistol and the grenades.

Wanqiu also underwent a simple routine check.

"Kid, did you go off to fight a sniper battle?" Xiao Guohua took them with a strange look and handed them to someone nearby for safekeeping.

Soon, a guard notified him that he could enter.

Hong Zhiyou arrived in the main hall.

The Station Chief was drinking tea with Sister Mei; they were both startled the moment they saw him and Wanqiu.

"Secretary Hong, what is this situation?" Wu Jingzhong asked hurriedly.

"Teacher, your student has fulfilled the mission."

He placed the box on the table and opened it.

"This is the textile factory's bid, and a pair of Ming Dynasty blue-and-white porcelain vases gifted by Li Mingchen."

Next, he opened a briefcase:

"These are ten gold bars."

Just as the Station Chief and Sister Mei's eyes lit up, Hong Zhiyou placed the final square upright box on the table and opened it with one hand:

"Vice Prefect Qian wants to open a bank and specifically sent this to honor you.

"Five thousand US dollars, plus opium!"

The US dollars were laid out on top of the opium.

"Good, good, good!" Wu Jingzhong's eyes went wide as he praised it repeatedly.

He didn't know much about opium.

But five thousand US dollars was a massive sum.

One US dollar was worth two and a half silver dollars, or 170 catties of rice.

The key was that this currency held its value and was a scarce commodity; it was very hard to get without the right channels.

His daughter and son-in-law, who were far away in Yuezhou, along with his wife's younger brother, complained every day that they didn't have enough US dollars to conduct business.

This was a rare and timely gift.

"Ahem, Old Wu." Sister Mei saw him losing his composure and gave him a look.

Wu Jingzhong quickly straightened up and asked with concern: "Secretary Hong, what happened to these injuries?"

"The grain shop was given to Kang Zuowen, and Fourth Master Zhang of the Canal Gang was dissatisfied with me, so he sent dozens of men to hunt me down.

"I almost didn't make it back to see you and Lady."

Hong Zhiyou gave a bitter, depressed smile.

"How bold. Someone, come here.

"Section Chief Xiao, go call people immediately..."

Wu Jingzhong had one hand behind his back and was about to point at Section Chief Xiao to issue an order.

Sister Mei quickly tugged at him from behind.

Wu Jingzhong swallowed the words that were on the tip of his tongue and reorganized his language: "Section Chief Xiao, immediately... call the police station and tell them to investigate; they must get to the bottom of this and give Secretary Hong an explanation."

"Yes." Xiao Guohua took the order and left.

Damn it, all that work for nothing... Hong Zhiyou cursed inwardly.

He knew that when Li Ya was slapped by Colonel Xu's men, Wu Jingzhong was so angry he immediately had people tied up and wanted to execute the officer who pleaded for mercy.

That was someone from the 94th Army's Mou Tingfang's unit.

Yet he had been hacked into this state by the Canal Gang's thugs, and all he did was let the police investigate.

An investigation meant it was over.

The act was performed in vain.

Sigh, if you aren't a biological son, you really don't get any love.

"Little Li, immediately send a car to take Secretary Hong to the Army Hospital and find the best doctor to treat his wounds." Wu Jingzhong instructed the guard nearby.

"No need, just minor injuries.

"Station Chief, Lady, it is getting late, I shall take my leave."

Hong Zhiyou bowed his body, looking slightly dejected, and slowly walked out with the support of Wanqiu.

"Good stuff."

Wu Jingzhong hurriedly took out a magnifying glass to study the antique.

"This little Hong really has ability, to actually get his hands on so many US dollars; this stuff is hard to come by these days, except for the Kong and Song families." Sister Mei picked up the banknotes and greedily took a sniff.

"Where did he get them? By sleeping with those ladies and playing mahjong every day, that's how."

"What do you mean? Those people have great influence; you should let him socialize with them more."

"Tomorrow, the wife of Mobile Corps Commander Tian of the Security Brigade is calling you to play mahjong, don't turn her down."

"In this world, they have more connections than we do."

Wu Jingzhong glared at her, his gaze returning to the antique.

"They are all so gaudy and pretentious, I can't stand seeing them." Sister Mei curled her lips.

"Old Wu, I think little Hong is quite good."

"How long has he been here, and he hasn't brought few things to our house; plus, the young man understands etiquette, and I think he's quite tight-lipped too."

"You keep saying how smart and good Yu Zecheng is, but look at how the Mu Liancheng matter turned out."

"After talking for so long, that dog traitor only donated a commercial building and a hospital."

"What does that have to do with us? It's truly infuriating."

"I think little Hong is much more useful than him."

She grabbed a handful of dried fruit and started gossiping while eating.

"Zecheng is one of our own."

"He just arrived, many things haven't been enlightened for him yet; it will be better slowly," Wu Jingzhong replied nonchalantly.

"Old Wu, what do you say about promoting little Hong?"

"Your old classmate Cheng Yiming has opened a company in Xiangdao, and our Rui'er and Jiankai also want to develop in Xiangdao and Malai; everywhere needs money now."

"If we wait for Zecheng to be enlightened, I'm afraid the opportunity will have already passed."

"Little Hong has no background, and he is eager to cling to us; you might as well just give him a hand."

Sister Mei reminded him.

"You say it's clear that war is about to break out; it's really hard to say whose world this will be in the future."

"Division Commander Zhang and all your old classmates are looking for a way out; you need to consider it too."

"In the whole country, besides Shanghu, Jinhai is the most lucrative."

"While Boss Dai is at the height of his influence, don't hide and pretend; take a bit more."

She kept chattering on the side.

Wu Jingzhong fell into deep thought.

He had previously served in North Manchuria, which was an occupied zone; he lived in constant fear and didn't manage to scrape together any wealth.

After finally giving away half his family fortune, Boss Dai nodded and let him come to Jinhai; with the war situation currently undecided, this was the golden period for making money.

If a real fight broke out, it would be hard to say.

It really was time to hurry.

"It's not that I don't want to promote him, but he is only a Second Lieutenant; in terms of seniority, he doesn't even qualify for a Deputy Section Chief position."

"It would be too obvious, and the people below wouldn't be convinced."

"That wouldn't be promoting him, it would be harming him."

Wu Jingzhong knew well how filthy the interior of the Juntong Bureau was; there was plenty of internal infighting.

"A few days ago, at the Military Dependents' Association, Lu Qiaoshan's wife was so imposing; those merchants' wives were all fawning over her, and no one took me, the Station Chief's wife, seriously."

"Why? Isn't it just because he holds the concurrent post of Police Department Chief?"

"A present official is not as effective as a present manager; these merchants and gangs are all afraid of the police."

"Who knows how much wealth Lu Qiaoshan has already skimmed."

"Why not let little Hong be the Police Department Chief?"

Whenever Sister Mei thought of this, she felt resentful.

"He has no rank; the Police Department Chief must be at least a Major," Wu Jingzhong shook his head.

"You can let Liu Xiong take the title and let little Hong be the Police Assistant; little Hong is a sensible person, and when the time comes, will we be short of benefits?" Sister Mei said.

"Three cobblers are equal to one Zhuge Liang; I think you are equal to four cobblers," a flash of brilliance appeared in Wu Jingzhong's eyes, and he laughed.

"With money, I could even become Jiang Ziya."

"It just so happens that little Hong seems a bit unhappy tonight; let's not let him feel disheartened."

"Hurry up and finalize this matter."

Sister Mei laughed triumphantly.

"Hey!"

"It's not that I don't want to help him get ahead."

"A powerful dragon cannot suppress a local snake; the Cao Gang is in the shadows, and we are in the light."

"During the Japanese occupation, even Yamamoto Ichijo and his people from the Special Higher Police dared to kill; if they are really pushed to the edge, these desperate thugs will shoot from the shadows every day; they are not to be trifled with."

Wu Jingzhong sighed.

He only wanted to make money safely, save up enough capital for his daughter and son-in-law to open a factory, and be able to spend his old age in peace.

He truly didn't want to get involved in killing and fighting.

"By the way, when did you teach little Hong? Why does he call you Master?"

After a moment of silence, Sister Mei asked suddenly.

"If one has fear in their heart and respect in their heart, who cannot be a master?"

"This Police Department Assistant position will be his!"

(End of chapter)