Chapter 1711

Side Story: Grassroots of a Small City

Jicheng is located at the heart of the four northeastern provinces, connected to its brother cities in all directions.

It has a long history and has been the site of many moving and tragic stories.

The home of Widow Ma at the Renmin Street agricultural products market is no exception; the stories there are so numerous they feel like a game, like a dream.

"Who are you trying to impress by acting like such a cultured person? Why aren't you lying down yet?"

Widow Ma had just returned from washing herself in the outer room, wearing a bright red bodice that was truly beautiful and moving.

Especially the two gold chains on her bodice, which swayed with her every step, tugging at one's heartstrings.

Swaying in sync were those two "big lamps" that made one's blood boil just by looking at them; they were truly exceptionally dazzling.

Perhaps it was because the "nutrition" she absorbed was good, or perhaps because she had "passed through many hands," but in this era, it was rare to see a figure with such a protruding front and rounded back as hers.

A Widow Ma with such assets was naturally dissatisfied with Da Qiangzi, who was sitting at the low table acting like a saint and a gentleman.

"Are you going to sleep or not?"

"Right away, I'll sleep as soon as I finish writing this bit."

Da Qiangzi held a cigarette in his hand, frowning in thought; his expression was even more constipated than an author suffering from writer's block.

If he weren't in such an inappropriate position, one might truly think he was contemplating the future development plans of Jicheng based on his current image.

"Write, write, write—I don't even know what you could possibly write!"

Widow Ma gathered her jet-black hair, revealing her snow-white neck; although she was complaining, her voice still carried a soul-stirring quality.

"Are you still thinking about that lover of yours in Steel City? Why don't you just marry her and bring her back? It's not like you don't have the means."

"Stop spouting nonsense, it's about Da Chun."

Seeming to have found some inspiration, Da Qiangzi wrote furiously, cursing as he spoke: "That bastard has grown some nerve; he actually ran off to the border."

"Hey now—you really do worry about eight hundred families' worth of business!"

Widow Ma twisted her hips, kicked off her embroidered shoes, and climbed onto the kang, tucking herself into the quilt while grumbling: "When you were at home, I never saw you two being so close, yet now you're all sentimental and lingering."

"Stop using those fancy words on me~"

Da Qiangzi said without lifting his head: "I'm scolding him; he and I are at odds!"

"Forget it~"

Widow Ma curled her beautiful red lips and said disdainfully: "You're just worried that your group will be split up and killed off one by one, aren't you?"

"How are you so smart?!"

Da Qiangzi finished the last sentence, licked the seal of the envelope, walked to the edge of the kang, kissed her, and asked with a smile: "How come I never noticed that before!"

"Before? Hmph~"

Widow Ma rolled her eyes and snorted: "Before, I was too busy serving your boss; I didn't have the heart to pay attention to you~"

"Then why are you with me now?"

Da Qiangzi didn't care at all that he was "brothers-in-law" with Zhang Wanhe, and said with a grin: "This is called thirty years east of the river, thirty years west of the river~"

"Pfft—what a character~"

Widow Ma turned over and lay on the pillow, muttering: "With your level of skill, I advise you to just honestly work yourself to the bone for your boss's wife."

"Be careful that if you get any crooked ideas and she finds out, won't you be afraid she'll just find another Da Qiangzi?"

Da Qiangzi fell silent at her words, and only after a long while did he ask: "Am I really that pathetic?"

"No, what you lack is time, experience, and a ruthless heart."

Widow Ma lay on her side, pinched her fingers, and tapped Da Qiangzi's chest as he sat on the edge of the kang, saying: "You aren't ruthless, especially not to yourself."

"I'm not ruthless enough?!"

Da Qiangzi feigned a fierce expression: "I cut the roots in the mountains, killed brothers who shared my fate, and slept with the boss's woman—I've done every bad thing there is."

"Heh—childish."

Widow Ma laughed: "Among your group, you're the biggest coward; even Zhang Wanhe says you don't have as much guts as Da Chun."

"He's just reckless!"

Da Qiangzi insisted unconvinced: "He's a hothead who gets cocky with a little sunshine and does whatever he's told—a reckless idiot."

Widow Ma knew he was worried about Da Chun, and she also knew that this kid had a sharp tongue but a soft heart; he was the softest-hearted and most loyal person in their group.

Of course, he was also the most stubborn; even when his wife ran off with someone else, he claimed she went to the city to work.

Otherwise, why do you think Widow Ma, with such good conditions, chose him as her partner?

"Are you jealous?"

Widow Ma teased him by teasing "Little Qiangzi" with her finger: "This is called 'the foolish have foolish luck'; maybe he's the one in your group who will have the most success in the future."

"Forget it, I don't believe it."

Da Qiangzi curled his lip and said: "Him? He's the type who would count the money for someone after being sold."

"Aren't you the same?"

Widow Ma chuckled and said: "Why is it that whenever that boss of yours shows up, you're like a mouse seeing a cat? You kill when told to kill, you set fires when told to set fires—what's with that?"

"I'm not afraid?"

Da Qiangzi glanced at her and said dejectedly: "You haven't seen him; if you had, you'd be afraid too."

"What? Is he a fierce demon, does he have heaven-filling killing intent, does he have three heads and six arms, or horns on his head?!"

Widow Ma curled her lip and said: "Look at how you describe him; it's just that you've been grabbed by the throat. People from the Northeast just don't have as many tricks as people from inside the Pass."

"Yeah, that's right, he doesn't have three heads and six arms, and he's not a fierce demon."

Da Qiangzi sighed leisurely and said: "He has a scar on his face; the boss inquired about it, and they say it was from a shell fragment. It doesn't look scary."

"What's scary is that he can see through your thoughts and read your heart."

Da Qiangzi turned back and tapped Widow Ma's heart with his finger.

Widow Ma wasn't afraid and puffed out her chest, asking: "Can you see through something this big and this thick?"

"..."

Da Qiangzi said speechlessly: "I'm talking to you seriously."

"Oh—so serious, huh~"

Widow Ma pushed "Little Qiangzi" aside, puffed out her chest, and asked: "You say what you want to say, but is it serious to have your hand open and pressed here?"

"I'm checking how thick it is."

Da Qiangzi smiled, then nodded and said: "Actually, more than half the reason the boss is reluctant to part with the Jicheng business is because he's reluctant to part with you."

"Stop talking nonsense."

Widow Ma rolled her eyes and said: "You're just Li Kezhang Wanhe; neither of you are good eggs, especially you!"

She tapped Da Qiangzi's forehead and scolded: "You don't look for a proper girl, and even though you're this old, you don't think about getting married—you just think about running over to my place!"

"Tell me, are you sick in the head!"

"Does lovesickness count as a sickness?"

Da Qiangzi knew how to coax women; he leaned against the kang and said to Widow Ma: "Haven't you seen how busy I am every day? I have to go into the mountains tomorrow; I'm so busy I don't know which way is up—how could I look for a partner?"

"All I'm thinking about now is making money. Once I have money, I'll build a big courtyard, build three large tile-roofed houses—bright and spacious—and then I'll marry you and have ten or eight little brats for me."

"I don't believe a word of it~"

Widow Ma pulled her upper lip and scolded: "Zhang Wanhe has said that more than once, but where is he now? Where did he die?"

"I'm different from him; he has a son, I don't."

Da Qiangzi slapped Widow Ma's big butt and said: "Your hips are definitely capable of bearing a son."

"Get lost~"

Widow Ma pinched "Little Qiangzi" in annoyance, making him hiss in pain, then giggled: "Why don't you let your boss's wife bear you a son? I heard she's single too."

"Are you jealous?!"

Da Qiangzi smiled and kneaded the "big steamed bun" in his hand, saying: "Stop spouting nonsense; our station chief wouldn't look at me even with eight eyes, and she's not my type anyway~"

"That's not necessarily true~"

Widow Ma propped herself up, looked at Da Qiangzi, and said: "I think she's quite good to you."

"If you work yourself to the bone for me, I'll be good to you too."

Da Qiangzi lay on the quilt, smiling playfully: "You only see her being good to me; you didn't see the times she wanted my life."

"I want your life right now too."

Widow Ma threw off the quilt, straddled Da Qiangzi, widened her eyes, and said: "I treat you like a brother, but you want me to bear your children!"

"You're a 'drunkard whose heart isn't in the wine'—you've said so much just because you're greedy for my body, right!"

Da Qiangzi flipped over, looked at Widow Ma, and said: "Come on! Let's perish together!"

"Get up and eat!"

Widow Ma placed the rice porridge on the low table; knowing her hands were ice-cold, she still reached into Da Qiangzi's quilt.

Da Qiangzi shivered from the cold and said indignantly: "You reckless woman, you're asking for a beating, aren't you?!"

"Sleep, sleep, sleep—you only know how to sleep!"

Widow Ma cursed, but her face was full of smug, mischievous smiles.

"Fine, fine, fine—you're quite capable now, aren't you!"

Da Qiangzi climbed up, looked at Widow Ma, and said: "Who was it last night shouting 'don't sleep, don't sleep all night'? You think I'm made of iron, right!"

"Oh, oh, oh—I let you come."

Widow Ma curled her lip and said: "If you don't have the stamina, speak up early so I can change to a man made of iron."

"Even one made of steel couldn't handle your handling!"

Da Qiangzi was still young, but he had little confidence speaking in front of Widow Ma; the key was that this woman was too ruthless.

Otherwise, why would they say her previous man's bicycle would wobble, and he fell into a ditch and died in the middle of summer? Who could handle this day and night?

Looking at the boiled egg in the porridge bowl, Da Qiangzi curled his lip and muttered: "If this keeps up, I'll have to sacrifice myself to you too; I might as well find a younger one to save my life."

"What did you say?!"

Widow Ma looked at him sinisterly and said: "If you have the nerve, say it again?!"

"Eating my food, drinking my drink, and you still dare to go on strike?!"

She grabbed Da Qiangzi's ear and cursed: "Do you believe I'll rip your 'fish roe bag' off and crush it one by one?!"

Da Qiangzi, who was all bark and no bite, ate his fill, swayed his body as he came out of Widow Ma's house, and had a small leather bag tucked under his arm.

This was something Da Chun had specially mailed to him from Beijing, saying that Section Chief Li used this kind, and it looked super cool tucked under the arm.

In his reply, he scolded Da Chun for only doing useless things after arriving in Beijing; this little bag couldn't even hold a fart, and it was a waste of money.

At first, he really didn't think much of this little gadget, but later he slowly grew to like this "super cool" feeling.

Readers with experience in tucking bags know that it's especially suitable for putting a small pistol, a stack of cash, and documents inside.

He strolled out the door with a cigarette dangling from his mouth—this was one Widow Ma had lit for him just before he left.

Don't ask; asking means it's a sign of respect and gratitude for his hard work all night—Brother Qiang is just that strong.

"Brother Qiang!"

"Have you eaten, Brother Qiang~"

The market opened early, and both sides of the road were filled with stalls, all run by market employees.

That's how it was in this era; it wasn't as absolute as everyone imagines, and it was impossible for every little thing to be a joint state-private enterprise.

Especially regarding agricultural products—as long as it wasn't in bulk and one possessed a market license, one could collect goods from the wholesale department to sell.

Otherwise, why do you think these people were out selling goods at the crack of dawn in the freezing cold?

As soon as the market opened, the stall fees started counting; whether you earned money or not, you had to pay when it was time to pay.

You say this system isn't good?

That depends on how you look at it; there were plenty of people outside the gate waiting to grab a stall—not just anyone could set up a stall to sell goods.

So why did these market employees, young and old, call Da Qiangzi "Brother Qiang"?

That's a long story for later.

There were quite a few citizens coming to the market to buy things in the winter; where there are people, there are breakfast stalls.

There wasn't anything good, just the same old things, but those who could truly afford to eat at the stalls were mostly the younger ones.

Greeting Da Qiangzi carried a bit of enthusiasm, a bit of flattery, and a bit of politeness.

Da Qiangzi grabbed a handful from a sunflower seed stall, waved his hand with a grin, and said: "Good, good, you guys are early as always."

Those eating breakfast also made way when they saw him, inviting him over to eat together.

Da Qiangzi cracked sunflower seeds, chatted with the stall employees, and had to respond to greetings from time to time.

"You guys eat, I've already eaten!"

"Hey~"

There were also those familiar with Da Qiangzi who liked to joke: "You don't know where Brother Qiang came from!"

He laughed loudly while speaking: "Do you even need to treat him? If he wasn't full and satisfied, would Ma Cuiling let Brother Qiang out?"

"Hahahaha~"

This clearly carried a double meaning; it sounded like they were talking about breakfast, but it also sounded like they weren't.

Everyone was afraid of Da Qiangzi, but they also liked this kind of banter in the market.

The important thing was that Da Qiangzi could take a joke; hearing the teasing, he just scared the person by throwing the sunflower seed shells in his hand, cursed with a smile, and that was that.

He wouldn't bear to throw away the seeds in his hand; as he spoke, he had already thrown the remaining seeds back into the basket at the stall.

Sleeping with Widow Ma wasn't considered a shameful thing; on this street—no, in the entire market—which man didn't want to sleep with her?

Sleeping with her was a sign of ability; those standing here gossiping were just jealous and envious.

People from the Northeast are like that—no matter how cold the weather or how heavy the snow, it can't cover up this boldness and tolerance.

Of course, not everything can be tolerated; you can say a man slept with a widow, but you absolutely cannot ask a man "What are you staring at?"

People came and went in an endless stream in the market this morning; saying they were rubbing shoulders would be an exaggeration, but bumping into each other was inevitable.

If you bumped into someone and politely said, "Sorry, I didn't see you," most wouldn't hold it against you.

But if you bumped into someone and glared at them, asking "What are you staring at?", then a fight was sure to break out.

And that's exactly what happened—Da Qiangzi was strolling toward his unit, and this very thing happened right in front of him.

One person was walking in, another was looking down at a stall, and the one in front, blind as a bat, bumped into him.

A young man said: "Are you blind?!"

The other young man replied: "Who the hell are you talking to?!"

The one in front said: "Talking to you, so what? Looking for a fight?!"

There!

Just those three sentences!

Just three!

Any more and they wouldn't be from the Northeast!

*Wham! * A punch was thrown, the two went back and forth, and the more people gathered to watch, the more heated the fight became.

The market security section had long since noticed something was wrong, but they wouldn't come over; they stood far away.

One reason was fear of getting blood on themselves, and the other was fear of getting beaten up along with them.

Don't doubt it—when fighting, adrenaline kicks in, and the mind isn't clear; they don't care if you're wearing a uniform—whoever tries to break up the fight gets beaten.

Sometimes, when they're confused from fighting, the two fighters team up to beat the person trying to break it up.

Especially when people from the Northeast fight—the more you try to hold them back, the fiercer they fight; if there are many onlookers, it's absolutely impossible to stop them.

It was the busiest time of the morning in the market; how could they miss such excitement? Everyone gathered around to watch.

Actually, fighting isn't afraid of onlookers; winning or losing is just a matter of face.

But there's no fear of bad things, only fear of bad people.

You're fighting, and they're not just watching—they're egging you on. Without them yapping, maybe the fight wouldn't have started in the first place.

People from the Northeast care too much about face; everyone gathered around, some were cheering, and the atmosphere was already set—whoever retreats first is a coward; just finish it.

Cannon punches, flying kicks, headbutts—open and shut; there were absolutely no dirty tricks. Whoever dared to use them would likely have the onlookers kicking them.

Wrestling and fighting are fine, but you can't play dirty; it makes people hate you.

Losing the fight doesn't matter; look at the two young men in the ring—their noses were bleeding, and they had black eyes, but the onlookers were still cheering.

You lost the fight and got hurt, but no one called you a coward; they only said you had guts.

By this time, both had basically calmed down, looking at each other like fighting cocks; all it would take was for someone to stand up and say a few words to end it.

"Alright, alright, we're all mixing on the same ground—what's there to be so stubborn about?"

Da Qiangzi walked into the crowd with his bag tucked under his arm and a cigarette in his mouth, pushing aside the onlookers while cursing: "What are you staring at? Hurry up and check if your money is missing from your pockets—you're all idiots."

"Oh no, my money!"

See? There's always a fool like that, too busy watching the excitement to realize their own pocket had been picked.

Da Qiangzi had seen too many such things; they were common occurrences. When he scanned the area while standing outside, there were at least three thieves lurking nearby.

What could he say? Act heroically?

Don't be silly; those pickpockets had to pay him tribute all year round. Just giving a reminder like that was already pretty good.

This was called "knowing when to stop"—reminding those "three-fingered" thieves not to go too far; this street was his turf.

That's right, Da Qiangzi still had a "skin" on him—he was a security guard for this market. He wouldn't usually wear his uniform to stand duty at the station; this security guard role was just an identity.

You say he's "occupying the latrine but not pooping"?

But sometimes, they needed someone like him to control the market, restrain the darkness here, and maintain order.

You can call him a "ground louse" or a "yellow-skinned one"—either way, that was his social image: a grassroots figure of a small city.

People who came here often naturally knew who he was. The two young men didn't need his comfort; they each glared at the other, threw out some harsh words, wiped their bloody noses, and went back to their business.

What?

You're asking if those two young men were doing it on purpose?

Sometimes you just have to say, don't take everything so seriously. You watched their excitement and egged them on—getting punched and having bloody noses—charging a little admission fee isn't too much, right?

Of course, there are also accidental incidents; maybe the two really didn't know each other and weren't shills for the pickpockets.

You can tell from the fact that Da Qiangzi went in to break up the fight—he was familiar with everyone trying to make a living here.

If he really chased these rats out one by one, his career as a security guard wouldn't last long.

"Water too clear has no fish"—Marshal Zhang Da was already very good at "raising bandits to maintain his own importance"; you don't think Da Qiangzi is really a blockhead, do you!

He didn't pay attention to those crying about lost money either; who told them to be so fond of watching the excitement?

The pickpockets wouldn't just stick to one place either; they scurried between several big markets, stealing every day—it wasn't easy for Da Qiangzi to handle either.

So the crowd dispersed, leaving a mess behind.

Small places have small-place rules and small-place hidden rules; he needed this market, and the market needed him.

There is no true white in this world, but it can't tolerate true black either, so it needs gray to mediate and embellish.

Just like a landscape painting—even if it's written in thick ink, isn't the tail still gray?

Having settled a dispute, Da Qiangzi flicked away the cigarette butt in his hand, glanced at the few wretches squatting by the wall basking in the sun, and secretly thought that life wasn't easy for anyone.

He walked a few steps to their base—a storefront in an alley. It wasn't the one where Ding Wanqiu had "lit the sky lantern" last time; that room had long since burned down.

This was the one Li Xuewu had come to, and it was also the place Da Chun and his younger brother Er Chun had been guarding.

Having met up with Seeing Gelin and "Old Six" Sun Yongli, who were waiting there, the three of them went out together and started their new day's work.

"Look, Jicheng is big, and the market is small, but for little people like us, this is the sky of our lives, the place where we dig for food."

"We must keep our duties in mind; as for the goal, it's nothing more than to earn a living!"

Da Qiangzi turned his head to look at Old Six, whom the boss's wife had placed in his hands to learn social experience. This kid's eyes were darting around, and he didn't know what he was looking for.

"Old Six, what's the rule for us making a living?!"

Sun Yongli was startled by his sudden question and answered without thinking: "Grow big and strong, and create new brilliance!"

"Wrong~"

Da Qiangzi curled his lip and said: "It's to cherish life and be united and friendly!"

He somewhat disliked this half-grown kid; each one of them only dreamed of getting rich, full of the stubbornness unique to young people—a typical troublemaker.

As they spoke, the three of them walked into the market and stopped in front of a stall. Da Qiangzi bent down to look at the dried fruit in the basket.

The young man at the stall was very sharp and came out from behind, holding a pack of cigarettes in his hand.

"Brother Qiang, why are you here? Have a smoke, have a smoke."

"Hmm~ I have my own."

Da Qiangzi didn't even look at him, blocked the cigarette the other party offered with his hand, pointed his finger at the dried fruit in the basket, and asked: "Does it sell well?"

"It's... it's alright."

The young man didn't know how to answer and stammered.

"That's good."

Da Qiangzi didn't make things difficult for him, nodded, and asked about several other products.

After the young man answered clearly, he straightened up and continued strolling to the next spot.

Arriving at a meat stall, ignoring the nervous look of the salesperson, he pinched a strip of mutton to examine it, and put it back without waiting for the stall owner to speak.

It was the same old line: "Does the mutton sell well?"

"It's alright, about two or three hundred jin a day."

The stall owner clearly knew Da Qiangzi and didn't offer a cigarette, but instead offered a clean rag for Da Qiangzi to wipe his hands.

Da Qiangzi nodded and exhorted: "Don't waste money when you earn it; buy some clothes for the kids—isn't that better than throwing it on the card table?"

After finishing, he didn't pay attention to the meat seller's explanation and took Seeing Gelin and the others to the next stall.

Walking and stopping along the way, he saw quite a few stalls: canned goods, cotton, farm tools, furniture, leather, hardware parts, etc.

At every stall, he asked if things were selling well and would especially exhort them a few words; he didn't smoke the cigarettes they offered, nor did he drink the water they offered.

He wouldn't accept money or products from the stalls that they offered voluntarily either; he wasn't polite, but he didn't have a bad temper either.

When he met a female stall owner, he might chat a bit more, but only if she was pretty; if she was a bit worse, he wouldn't bother.

After turning the entire market around, he entered an alley at the end of the street; there was also a storefront here at the entrance of the alley.

It was similar to their base, and one could see the details of the market from the window.

Pushing open the wooden door and lifting the curtain, a thick cloud of smoke suddenly rushed out.

Those who knew recognized the smell of smoke; those who didn't might have thought it was on fire inside.

The small room wasn't big—it was just a place for duty, with a kang table on the kang, and four big men playing cards.

Who knows what they were playing, but it was quite lively; they didn't even pay attention to the three of them entering the room, as if they were doing it on purpose.

Da Qiangzi didn't care either; he narrowed his eyes, adapted to the light in the room, walked to the edge of the kang, lifted his foot, stepped on the edge of the kang, and watched the excitement.

When they finished this round, seeing that the four men had no intention of greeting him and were about to start the next round, he patted the big man sitting on the edge of the kang with his bag and asked: "Er Luzi, are you playing dead with me?"

"What for?"

Clearly, the big man dealing the cards had known he was coming for a long time and just ignored him on purpose.

Da Qiangzi didn't get angry either; he raised his eyebrows and said: "What for? Do I need to tell you? Do you know what day it is today?"

"Don't know~"

The big man shook his head and sneered: "Brother Qiang, why don't you tell me~"

"Alright~ If your memory is bad, I'll tell you."

Da Qiangzi stepped on the edge of the kang, lifted his butt, sat on the big cabinet at the edge of the kang, dangled his legs, and said with a grin: "Today is the day I collect my accounts."

"Oh, no money."

The big man's answer was very simple; he didn't even lift his head as he continued to grab cards, saying: "The goods haven't been sold yet, where would the money come from?"

"Hmm, hmm, that makes sense."

Da Qiangzi nodded as if he deeply agreed, then gave Old Six a wink and said: "Old Six, go, give him a slap to wake him up!"

The big man threw the cards in his hand, turned around, got off the ground, glanced at Da Qiangzi, and then fixed his eyes on Old Six, the half-grown kid.

The other three big men on the kang also jumped down, looking at the three of them with unkind eyes.

That is to say, Da Qiangzi was sitting on the cabinet with no intention of moving, so they focused their attention on Old Six and the tall Seeing Gelin.

Of course, mainly Seeing Gelin; after all, Old Six was just a kid, a little brat who wasn't even as high as the edge of the kang.

This guy called Er Luzi looked fierce, glared, and looked extremely scary standing there.

Old Six looked at Da Qiangzi timidly and asked in a low voice: "Qiang, Brother Qiang, are we really hitting him?"

Da Qiangzi didn't pay attention to his timidity and took out a pack of cigarettes to light one for himself.

Old Six walked toward the big man tremblingly, grinned awkwardly, and secretly sized up the big man.

Er Luzi sneered at Da Qiangzi, then shifted his gaze to Old Six, who looked like a little kid.

He leaned forward slightly, pointed to his face, and said: "Come on, hit here."

Actually, his hand was right next to his face, ready to block any slap coming his way; he was a grown man—could he really be hit by a kid?

Besides, he didn't believe this little brat dared to slap him; looking at the other party, he wasn't even as big as a bean—who knows what kind of wild child he was picked up from.

But he never expected that, and he didn't remember what Da Qiangzi had just called this kid.

He was defending against a slap, but Old Six suddenly reached out, split his index and middle fingers, and poked them into his eyes.

"Ouch! Damn it!!"

The big man actually saw the little brat reach out, but he was defending his face and didn't notice the other party was aiming for his eyes.

Good heavens, the pain almost made him kneel.

Hearing his painful cry, the other three big men didn't need a signal and moved instantly.

Old Six didn't care about that; after poking his eyes, he slipped onto the kang in a flash—he knew the floor wasn't safe.

The three big men hadn't seen clearly what happened when Seeing Gelin swung his fist and struck; the first one to rush over took a big slap from him, almost flew up, and fell to the ground unconscious.

And the second one discovered the situation and was about to pull back, but Seeing Gelin's fist had already arrived—it was just that easy: one cannon punch, and another one fainted.

The last one stopped his steps, but Seeing Gelin didn't let him go either; the place wasn't wide to begin with, so he didn't need to chase, turned around, and gave him a big elbow, hitting him right in the face.

There, when Er Luzi endured the sharp pain in his eyes and straightened his waist, he looked around and saw his three brothers lying on the ground sleeping.

Seeing Er Luzi looking at him blankly, Da Qiangzi didn't care at all, raised his eyebrows, waved his hand, and said: "There, that's called professional."

Er Luzi sat on the edge of the kang, looking lost, but his hand rubbed under the card table, yet he found nothing.

He looked at Da Qiangzi's playful eyes, turned his head to look, and saw that the black pistol he had left under the table was in the hands of that little brat.

It was that little bastard who poked his eyes, playing with a black lacquer pistol, clicking it.

"Don't... don't mess around!"

Er Luzi raised his hand to block, reminding him: "That gun is loaded!"

"I don't know?"

"Do I need you to teach me!"

Old Six.

As he spoke, he pulled a few playing cards from under the kang table and pointed to the three people on the ground, saying: "They were cheating you!"

Looking at the playing cards in the little brat's hand, Er Luzi almost shed tears again; losing both face and dignity, he was truly unlucky today.

"Look, what was the point of all this~"

Da Qiangzi exhaled a puff of smoke and said with a smile: "The boss's wife said that it's not easy for everyone to do business in the middle of winter."

"Goods first, payment later—that's so you don't have to tie up your capital and have extra to do other business."

He spread his hands and complained: "Look at this mess; you're so disappointing—how can we do business next time!"

"Sorry, Brother Qiang..."

Er Luzi was under the eaves and had to bow his head; he admitted his mistake very readily, otherwise he would be beaten again.

The tough guy standing in the room was clearly not to be trifled with; he had bumped his head on the ceiling—how tall was he?

"Fine, fine~ look at your pathetic state."

Da Qiangzi waved his hand and said: "I don't even want to say anything to you, hurry up!"

As he spoke, he pointed to the wallet on the kang and said: "We have to catch the next family; do you want to keep me for lunch?"

"I'll treat~ I'll treat~"

Er Luzi took money out of the wallet on the kang while busily promising: "You must give me this face at noon..."

Da Qiangzi collected the money, stuffed it into his bag, jumped off the ground, sized up Er Luzi, and said: "Clean up, Old Six hit a bit hard today."

As he walked out, he pointed Er Luzi out to Old Six and introduced him: "Call him Second Brother when you see him later! Don't be disrespectful—we're all brothers."

Stepping over the three people lying on the ground, Da Qiangzi led the way out, muttering: "It's not peaceful lately, cherish life and be united and friendly."

Old Six stayed behind, looked at Er Luzi, saw him staring at the gun in his hand, curled his lip, threw it back to him, and said: "What a piece of junk; there's only one bullet, and the rifling is worn out, yet you treat it like a treasure."

Looking at the empty gun in his hand, his brothers on the ground, and Old Six walking out, Er Luzi shed tears again.

Too damn bullying!

At the entrance of the alley, Da Qiangzi looked left and right, and only when Old Six caught up did he continue walking out.

"Did those bastards really cheat?"

"Don't know~"

Da Qiangzi looked around, and Old Six followed suit, looking left and right, not knowing what he was looking for.

"..."

Da Qiangzi looked at Old Six speechlessly and asked: "Then you said they... what's with the cards?"

"Picked them up from the table~"

Old Six looked up at Da Qiangzi indifferently and said: "He didn't see it, I said whatever I wanted and he believed it—if he's not a tiger, what is he?"

"..."

Da Qiangzi choked on a mouthful of smoke, looked at Old Six, who wasn't tall but had a lot of tricks, and thought: "Sure enough, he's a bastard taught by that person in Beijing!"

They all taste the same!

Market slaughterhouse—live pigs and sheep are sent here every day for unified slaughter and sale.

The courtyard isn't big, with two rows of low, cramped bungalows; who knows what this place was used for before.

One room near the gate didn't have window shutters, and boiling hot water in a big pot was bubbling, with white steam rising from the window.

A white-striped pig was hanging on a wooden frame in the courtyard, clearly just finished de-hairing; the butcher was big and burly, standing there unloading the offal.

As soon as the three of them entered the courtyard, they heard a woman standing in the courtyard cursing.

He glanced at her without paying attention and turned into the finance office; this was also one of the targets for collecting accounts.

There were plenty of goods transported by trade trains, and he was in charge of distribution and unified account collection.

The account book was in Seeing Gelin's hands; look at this big guy, silent and reserved, yet he was actually a cultured person, like Confucius reborn.

Goods were sent to the black market, and some were sent to the proper channels; the accountant in the finance office was quite straightforward, calculating the accounts and settling them according to the rules.

Hearing Da Qiangzi ask about the woman cursing in the courtyard, the accountant was also helpless.

It turned out to be trouble caused by Chen the Butcher in the slaughterhouse; when mentioning this person, the female accountant also looked sighing.

At first, his father-in-law was seriously ill, and he took money to see him; then his wife fell ill, and money was thrown out like water.

By the time the money was spent, he owed a pile of debt, and both his father-in-law and wife died.

He was left with a son and a daughter; the eldest daughter was thirteen at the time, and the little son was six—all relying on him to raise them.

The eldest daughter was promising, always doing well in school—a famous top student.

The little son was a bit mischievous, but they were both children, and although there was a famine, the three of them lived their lives.

When matchmakers came to introduce widows, he wouldn't take them, fearing they wouldn't be good to his children.

The female accountant pointed to the woman cursing in the courtyard and indicated to Da Qiangzi that she was the matchmaker from back then.

Da Qiangzi took a careful look; he had seen that woman before, wasn't familiar with her, but with that noisy, messy style, her words were just ugly.

"The hemp rope breaks at the thinnest point; misfortune only finds the miserable"—Heaven doesn't open its eyes.

The female accountant said that Chen the Butcher encountered heavy snow while driving pigs back from the countryside, didn't wear thick clothes, caught a cold on the road, and was reluctant to go to the hospital to see a doctor, wanting to tough it out, but ended up with acute pneumonia and died at home.

"That's it—Chen the Butcher still owed that matchmaker money; now that he's dead, she's come to collect the debt from his daughter."

The female accountant counted Da Qiangzi's money and handed it over, indicating for him to count it.

Da Qiangzi glanced out the window and asked: "Did his daughter take over his job? She's not going to school anymore?"

"What else could she do?"

The female accountant said helplessly: "Sixteen years old, no more school; if she doesn't take the job, both she and her brother will starve to death!"

Da Qiangzi counted the money in his hand, listened to the female accountant sighing, and curled his lip.

He had heard too many stories of suffering in this world; if it came to comparing misery, he was more miserable than anyone.

The female accountant stood up, looked out the window, and muttered: "Jobs are hard to find now; every radish has a hole, especially for high school students—it doesn't count as an education, they can only be assistants."

Da Qiangzi glanced at her, not knowing if she was pitying the girl or showing off the correctness of her own choice to attend technical school back then.

After counting the money, he stuffed it into his small bag, signed for the accountant, and stood up to lead the two of them out.

The matchmaker in the courtyard was still cursing: "Your father raised you for nothing—tell me, what are you thinking?"

"Reading books is useless—do you still want to pass the university entrance exam?!"

The matchmaker stood there glaring and cursed: "You act like I'm going to kill you when I tell you to get married—who are you putting on a face for?!"

The big girl didn't speak, squatting on the ground and working hard to clean the pig intestines, only stealing glances at the matchmaker from time to time, very afraid that she would "sell" her off.

Getting married was impossible; her goal in life was to pass the university entrance exam and walk out.

"Slow down, slow down a bit."

The slaughterhouse station chief walked out of the office; he had been listening for a long time, and since no one else stepped forward to stop her, he had to come out to mediate himself.

"The big girl has taken over her father's job and will be earning a salary soon; she'll pay you back."

"How long to slow down?!"

The matchmaker didn't give the station chief any face, glared, and said: "Don't think I don't know—she used her brother's name to take the job; she's still dreaming of going to school!"

"Three years!"

The big girl was quite honest; hearing the matchmaker loosen up, she stated the deadline for when she could pay back the money with her current salary, without any falsehood.

"Three years?!"

The matchmaker glared at the big girl and said: "Three years to pay me back? You'd starve to death before that!"

The big girl was startled by her words and lowered her head again to clean the pig intestines; tears fell down, landing in the basin, mixing with the filth, becoming worthless.

Da Qiangzi stood in the courtyard and watched for a long time, having roughly understood what was going on.

He originally wanted to leave directly, but seeing the big girl's face, he couldn't move his legs no matter what.

Maybe he was afraid, or maybe he felt someone was staring at her; the big girl turned her head and glanced at this side, seeing a tall man, followed by a shorter one and an even taller one.

She was aggrieved, but also fierce; she glared at Da Qiangzi with teary eyes, turned around, and didn't let him look anymore.

The matchmaker was still standing there chattering endlessly, left and right, just wanting money, otherwise she would arrange for her to get married and pay her back.

Old Six saw Da Qiangzi standing there staring at the big girl without moving, blinked his eyes, and grinned: "Hmm, she looks like my sister-in-law."

"Who?"

Da Qiangzi was interrupted in his thoughts, looked down at him, and asked: "Aren't you an orphan?"

"Sister-in-law Qiang!"

Old Six said with a grin: "You're my Brother Qiang~"

"Get lost~"

Da Qiangzi was exposed by this little bastard, rolled his eyes, and said: "Can't you learn something good from the boss!"

"Chen Rong, give me a straight answer."

The matchmaker was tired of cursing, stood there with her hands on her hips, and said to the big girl: "Let's not act like I'm forcing a good girl into prostitution; I'm introducing a good family, I'm not harming you..."

"Hey~ hey~"

Da Qiangzi walked forward with his bag tucked under his arm; he could see that no one in this courtyard would speak up to help the girl.

Most likely, Chen the Butcher still owed people money; life was hard in this era, and every family had the old and the young to take care of.

He stood next to the matchmaker, raised his chin, and asked: "How much does she owe you?"

Hearing someone interject, the matchmaker turned and sized up Da Qiangzi, saying: "Two hundred and twenty, so what? Are you paying?"

"Two hundred and twenty?!"

Da Qiangzi looked at the matchmaker in surprise, then at the big girl squatting over there, and asked: "Damn, it's not usury, is it!"

"Go to hell!"

The matchmaker said angrily: "Don't think I don't know who you are—Da Qiangzi from the market, right? Watch your mouth!"

As she spoke, she pointed to the slaughterhouse station chief standing nearby and said: "Ask Old Wang—everyone in the neighborhood knows what kind of person I am!"

"Usury! Is there any usury that has no interest and you have to pay extra?!"

The matchmaker looked at Da Qiangzi angrily and asked: "Qiangzi, you aren't interested in her daughter, are you!"

"I'm telling you! Don't have any crooked ideas; if she's going to marry, she needs a good family—you aren't qualified!"

As she spoke, she glanced up and down at Da Qiangzi's shiny clothes and said indignantly: "Old Chen wanted to supply his daughter to fly onto a branch and become a phoenix—give her to you?"

"Heh~ in your dreams!"

"You old hag, you talk too much!"

Da Qiangzi's mouth wasn't forgiving either; while retorting, he started counting money from his bag.

Seeing him being serious, the matchmaker glared and said: "Qiangzi, don't look for trouble—you can't fill the hole in her family!"

"Stop talking nonsense, my kidneys hurt from listening to you!"

Da Qiangzi counted out two hundred and twenty yuan, waved it in front of everyone in the courtyard, and said: "Here's the money, give me the IOU."

"IOU my ass!"

The matchmaker said indignantly: "Borrowing money on this street and needing an IOU? Do I still want my face or not!"

"Da Qiangzi, I'm telling you!"

The matchmaker didn't look at the money in his hand, but looked at him seriously and said: "You're going to lose your pants on this deal!"

She pointed to Chen Rong squatting over there and said: "The big girl is someone who has been to school, and she has a brother who no one is raising—a toad from the mountains wants to eat swan meat?!"

"Don't be shameless!"

Da Qiangzi glanced at Chen Rong over there; seeing she was also secretly looking at him, and seeing him look at her, she hid back again.

He handed the money to the matchmaker and said: "Take the money and be done with it—why so much nonsense!"

"Don't want it?"

Seeing the matchmaker staring at him, Da Qiangzi indicated: "If you don't want it, I'm not giving it!"

"Go to hell!"

The matchmaker grabbed the money and cursed: "If you want to be a big sucker, I won't stop you—good luck to you."

After finishing, she didn't count the money in her hand, glanced at the big girl over there, and left without saying anything.

Everyone in the courtyard was staring blankly at Da Qiangzi; Da Qiangzi didn't pay attention, scanned them, and smiled slightly.

The big girl didn't know when she had stood up, and was also staring blankly at him.

Chen Rong was extremely beautiful, with a good figure, belonging to a golden phoenix flying out of a chicken coop, but this phoenix hadn't grown up yet and looked a bit downcast.

Da Qiangzi saw the panic in her eyes, grinned, and showed a mouthful of white teeth.

"Your name is Chen Rong, right?"

Saying only that, he nodded, waved to the honest Seeing Gelin and the mischievous Old Six, and walked out.

"You...!"

Seeing him walk to the door, Chen Rong chased after him a few steps and called out.

Seeing the man named Qiangzi turn his head, Chen Rong hesitated again, and said hesitantly: "I won't marry you."

Da Qiangzi raised his eyebrows, looked at her, smiled, and said: "I didn't say I wanted to marry you either—hurry up and clean your pig intestines!"

Hearing him say that, Chen Rong was so angry that tears fell again—what did he mean "her pig intestines"?

Da Qiangzi walked in front, Old Six looked back at the big girl, and said with wind-blown words: "Oh~ oh~ 'I see and pity'~"

"What's this called?"

He looked at Seeing Gelin and said: "This is called 'the falling flower has intention, but the flowing water has no heart'~"

"Little bastard! If you keep yapping, I'll beat the shit out of you!"

Da Qiangzi was somewhat embarrassed and angry; he didn't dare to look back and was venting his anger on Old Six.

Old Six came to learn from him—to learn how to be a social person—so he wouldn't care about his threats.

"I'm doing this for your own good; that old woman already said this deal is a sure loss!"

"Two hundred and twenty, and it's public money—let's see how you explain it to the boss's wife when you get back."

"None of your business!"

Da Qiangzi tucked his bag and walked fast, muttering: "Young but smart, yapping endlessly."

Old Six followed behind like fishing and said: "I just said she looks like Sister-in-law Qiang; I was going to tell you how to capture her heart, but seeing your attitude, sigh~"

Da Qiangzi didn't believe a little brat like him had this ability; he remained unmoved by his provocation and continued collecting accounts.

It wasn't until he saw this little bastard flirting with the daughters of several stall owners that he had a "believe your evil" look.

Account collection ended at noon; the few of them didn't go home and went straight into a small restaurant.

Da Qiangzi ordered dishes from the waiter as if he were at home, intentionally or unintentionally asking for the "guobaorou" (sweet and sour pork) that Old Six liked to eat most after coming to the Northeast.

While waiting for the dishes, Old Six looked at Da Qiangzi with a grin and asked: "Brother Qiang, why did you order such an expensive dish? A simple meal at noon would have been fine."

"Just eat your food—can't the meat plug your mouth!"

Da Qiangzi couldn't out-talk this kid and could only scold him helplessly.

Old Six knew why he ordered this plate of meat for him and asked with a grin: "Are you still thinking about that big girl?"

"Brother Qiang, are you trying to ask me how to chase that girl? If you want to ask, just say it—I'll definitely help."

Da Qiangzi was annoyed to death by this chatterbox; he wanted to ask, but couldn't let go of his face, so he just pushed the plate of meat toward Old Six when it was served, pretending not to care.

Old Six looked at Da Qiangzi's little actions, especially his inability to take a joke, and called it boring.

"Brother Qiang, you deserve to be single for a lifetime!"

Da Qiangzi glared at him and raised his hand to move the plate of meat.

Old Six hurriedly protected it and said hurriedly: "I'll say it, I'll say it, okay!"

After speaking, he ate a mouthful of meat first, smacked his lips, and muttered "so delicious" under Da Qiangzi's sharp gaze!

"Brother Qiang, you've already spent these two hundred and twenty—don't care about spending another two hundred and twenty."

Old Six ate meat while shaking his head and said: "Stop going to Widow Ma's house so much, and find a way to find out where she lives."

"First go see the situation at her house, then take care of her brother, but you must never say you're taking care of her!"

"Her brother is twelve or thirteen now, right? If he's not doing well in school, just have him follow us to learn a trade—I happen to need an assistant!"

Old Six said recklessly, not caring at all about Da Qiangzi's speechless look.

"You have to show a positive and progressive side; since the matchmaker already exposed your background, then do the opposite!"

"You have to shape yourself into a poor kid from the mountains, working hard in Jicheng to create a career—an excellent image!"

Old Six took another mouthful of guobaorou, puffed out his cheeks, and said: "You have to make her empathize—you're both miserable people, you're also struggling, and you think her brother can learn well following you and grow into a real man from adversity!"

"Hmm, delicious."

Old Six nodded and continued to instruct Da Qiangzi: "Don't be in a hurry to help her pay back those debts; you can pay her brother wages—you have to understand the roundabout policy!"

"Tie her brother down, let her brother say good things for you, and then you contact her more."

"Don't change her job either; just use your image of struggling in poverty to save the fate of a girl washing pig intestines."

"Pay back the debt slowly, so much that you can't pay it back even if you don't get married! Just say you want to work hard to make money and bear these debts with her in the future."

"Within three months, you'll definitely be able to bring my Sister-in-law Qiang home!"

"..."

Da Qiangzi looked at the plate of meat in front of him, all stuffed into this kid's mouth, and didn't know if his nonsense was accurate.

But he understood; his mouth remained tough: "You're damn rotten to the core!"

"Damn! You eat your fill and then curse the cook!"

Old Six glared and retorted: "If you have the nerve, don't do what I say!"

"Get lost~!"

The money for account settlement wasn't a cent short; Xi Lin had counted it, and it was all put into storage—it had to be deposited before dark.

Da Qiangzi lost two hundred and twenty today, but that was his own money; no one dared to touch public money.

News came back from Steel City a while ago that someone had touched public funds; Biaozi got angry, not only recovered the money but also threw the person directly into the sea.

Life and death are fated; see you in the next life.

There were no powerful figures in Jicheng to suppress things, except for the super-powered Seeing Gelin.

But Da Qiangzi wasn't a ruthless person either and didn't dare to misappropriate public funds.

Even the boss's wife didn't dare to touch that money—not a cent.

The recycling station had two accounts; income and expenditure were separate, and all incoming money couldn't be touched; you had to apply to use money.

The room was warm; Xi Lin was wearing a floral cotton-padded jacket, looked at the recycling station outside through the window, and chatted with Da Qiangzi about business matters.

This was just a scrap recycling station; no business was done here.

The warehouse was at the Steel Mill; transporting large items was done by the Steel Mill's fleet, and small items by the cart transport team—all were previous connections.

Bookkeeping and collection were done in the name of distribution, with a seal carved by the Red Star Rolling Mill Jicheng Trade Management Center.

The stalls in the market were of course not their partners; they only targeted big accounts like Er Luzi, letting out a portion of the profit to facilitate management.

Like today's account collection, Da Qiangzi basically had to come once a week; on weekdays, he contacted shipping business and ran to the Steel Mill.

There was another task today: go up the mountain to deliver grain to his hometown, and at the same time contact the mountain to transport mountain goods down.

Zhang Wanhe had run away, and there had to be someone to look after his hometown; since he wanted to be the big brother, he naturally had to shoulder this part of the responsibility.

Old Six's mouth was too fast; Da Qiangzi had just finished talking about business, and he had already finished talking about his love life with Xiao Laosan, Xi Yongzhong.

Looking at Xi Lin's surprised eyes, Da Qiangzi really wanted to slap Old Six against the wall.

"Don't you want that Nurse Yu from Steel City anymore?"

Xi Lin looked at him and said: "Isn't she waiting for you?"

"Forget it~"

Da Qiangzi fell silent for a long while, looked at Xiao Laosan who had finished balancing the accounts, and then said affectionately: "I can't give her happiness, I can't delay her."

"Hmm, hmm, Brother Qiang is a real man!"

Old Six chimed in from the side: "That Nurse Yu isn't as young and beautiful as today's big girl."

As he spoke, he whispered to Xiao Laosan: "Only sixteen, tsk tsk tsk, Brother Qiang is tired of Widow Ma and likes the young ones now—he really has the heart to do it."

"..."

Da Qiangzi looked at Old Six speechlessly; his deep affection was interrupted, and his face looked like a dog's.

Xi Lin found them funny and comforted Da Qiangzi: "It's good to let go of Nurse Yu, but this one doesn't seem to suit you, right?"

"What did Old Six say—she's also bringing a little brother?"

"Another one with an education—not on the same page as you~"

"..."

Da Qiangzi was so messed up by Old Six that he had no temper left; he sighed at Xi Lin and said: "I'm on the same page as you, are you willing to bear me a son?"

"Don't even think about me, I've long since given my heart to someone else~"

Xi Lin covered her mouth and laughed, took a pack of cigarettes from the desk, handed it to him, and said: "But for the sake of your loyalty, I'll reward you with a pack of cigarettes."

Da Qiangzi was surprised to see the cigarettes in his hand; they were mailed from Beijing.

He immediately thought of something, looked up at Xi Lin, and smiled: "How does that saying go, Old Six!"

He called Old...

"Get lost~"

Xi Lin scolded: "Stop making me angry—no cigarettes for you~"

Da Qiangzi dodged Xi Lin's hand, took the cigarettes, and walked out; having just won a round, he felt happy in his heart.

Outside the door, Seeing Gelin had already cleaned up the jeep; this was specially shipped from Beijing for their office use.

It wasn't the newest Red Star Antelope, but a refurbished second-hand Willys.

Sturdy and durable, worth more than the price; the important thing was that it was their own business, and the procurement cost-performance ratio was super high.

The back was full of grain, leaving only the driver's seat and the passenger seat; the driver was Seeing Gelin, and the passenger was Da Qiangzi.

Xiao Laosan, Xi Yongzhong, also had to go, so he could only ride in the middle of the gears, leaning against the grain.

That is to say, he was small; otherwise, this car absolutely wouldn't have fit them.

But you have to say this car is super cool—the back was full of grain, three people were sitting in the front, and it didn't take any effort to run.

And this was a mountain road in the Northeast, a car from more than twenty years ago, only replaced with the newest engine and gearbox—do you dare to believe it?

The canvas cover wasn't very windproof, and cold air was blowing in; fortunately, the three of them were wearing plenty, so they weren't completely frozen.

Don't talk about any heater; this thing could only be said to have neutralized the cold wind a bit—it wasn't that cold.

The wind on the mountain and the wind under the mountain weren't born of the same father; it was like being raised by a stepmother—full of resentment and cold as hell.

Seeing Gelin didn't speak on the road, just drove with his head down.

Xiao Laosan didn't have the chatterbox nature of Old Six and had been learning bookkeeping from Xi Lin—he was an honest kid.

Old Six played the most with Brother Biao in Beijing, so his tongue was sharp.

Xiao Laosan had more contact with Guodong, had a gentle personality, and liked to write and calculate.

On the mountain road, he was also chatting with Brother Qiang, talking about fun things from the past, just to pass the time.

The sun set early in winter; they had lunch, handed in the accounts at home, and rushed out in a hurry, just to avoid walking at night in the dark.

They set off at 1:30, and it was past 2:30 when they entered the mountains.

With the big mountain blocking the sun, the further they walked, the darker it got, the kind where it could get dark without knowing it.

They were chatting, but Seeing Gelin had the best eyes and was the first to notice something wrong.

A log was lying across the middle of the road ahead; hitting it would definitely flip the car.

The car was loaded with grain; how could Seeing Gelin dare to slam on the brakes? The grain would bury them.

So he could only brake lightly and at the same time remind Da Qiangzi and the others.

Without needing his reminder, Da Qiangzi also found something wrong; he looked at the log in front—it didn't fall off the car, it was placed there on purpose.

"Something's wrong, it's an ambush, hurry up and turn around!"

He said this to Seeing Gelin and was about to look back, but came face-to-face with Xiao Laosan.

Because Xiao Laosan was riding in the middle with grain piled up behind, how could he see behind?

Da Qiangzi cursed himself for being an idiot, turned his head, and opened the window to look back.

Looking at this, his heart went cold—seven or eight figures were lifting a log in the middle of the road.

No need to think—they had definitely fallen into an ambush.

This was a mountain road; they couldn't call anyone for help—the kind where you could scream your throat out and no one would come to save you.

Seeing Gelin slowed down slowly, patted Da Qiangzi, who was looking back, and signaled him to look ahead.

Da Qiangzi turned his head and saw more than a dozen people suddenly appearing on the road ahead, each holding an axe or a machete, and Er Luzi standing at the very front holding a shotgun—everything was clear.

It wasn't that "poor mountains and bad waters produce unruly people," but that he had offended someone, and someone had come to ambush him.

Er Luzi stood arrogantly in the middle of the road, a cigarette dangling from his mouth, looking contemptuously at the car driving over slowly.

He had to take back the humiliation he suffered today, bit by bit!

Otherwise, how could he continue to mix in the world!

As for offending Da Qiangzi's group, he didn't care; Zhang Wanhe had run away, and rumors of infighting in the group had long since spread.

Da Qiangzi was nothing; once he was done for, he would be the one calling the shots in the market.

Xiao Laosan in the car looked at the person holding the weapon ahead and said to Da Qiangzi: "Ran into mountain bandits? Your own clan? Report your name!"

"Report my ass!"

"They're here to kill!"

Da Qiangzi gritted his teeth, pulled a pistol from his bag and threw it to Xiao Laosan, while he pulled a shotgun from the roof of the car.

"Seeing Gelin, speed up, rush over, hit him to death!"

Seeing Gelin didn't speak, slammed the accelerator to the floor, gripped the steering wheel tightly, and drove straight at Er Luzi ahead.

Seeing the car not only not slow down and stop, but actually speed up, Er Luzi picked up the shotgun in his hand and shouted at the car: "Da Qiangzi, stop!"

"Go to hell!"

Da Qiangzi didn't care what he was yelling, told Xiao Laosan to brace the car and hold the grain bags behind him.

Seeing them speed up, the people blocking the road behind knew they were going to hit someone and fired their guns one after another.

But the car was full of grain; how could they hit the people in front?

And Er Luzi, who was standing in front, did fire, but who would have thought that this Willys had been modified with bulletproof glass? The shots only left white cracks, not delaying Seeing Gelin from stepping on the gas at all.

*Wham! *

A big red face appeared in front of the shattered glass; Seeing Gelin didn't expect this kid to be so stubborn and refuse to dodge the car.

There's no need to say how hard the front bumper of a Willys is; just look at the blood spurting from the corner of his mouth and staining the cigarette butt.

The gun in Er Luzi's hand had been knocked away, and his leg was stuck between the log and the bumper, pushed for more than a meter.

This was because Seeing Gelin had suddenly accelerated, and the speed wasn't too fast; otherwise, the jeep would have ridden over him and hit the log.

Seeing Gelin had mastered the speed well, using his body as a buffer, so the jeep didn't flip.

However, the grain bags in the car flipped forward quite a bit, and Xiao Laosan's thin body didn't block much.

Some grain spilled, but none of the three in the car cared.

The moment the car stopped, Da Qiangzi kicked open the canvas door, rolled out, picked up the shotgun in his hand, and blasted at the people on the side.

*Bang! *

Once the shotgun goes off, everyone is equal.

As soon as this "everyone is equal" gun went off, a large group of people dodging the car on the side fell down instantly.

The people blocking the road didn't expect Da Qiangzi to be so fierce and ruthless—hitting people without a word and even daring to fire.

People who came up from behind also had shotguns in their hands and sprayed fire at the back of the car.

*Bang~*

*Bang~*

*Bang~*

The jeep's canvas cover was blown open, and grain flew all over the sky.

Seeing Gelin, who had the biggest frame, pulled a long gun from under his seat, rolled under the car, and started calling names at the people behind.

*Pop! *

*Pop! *

*Pop! *

His marksmanship was really good, but whenever the muzzle pointed at someone, he never missed—every shot was fatal, hitting whoever he pointed at.

Xiao Laosan hid in the car and didn't dare to get out; he had been slow to run, and after the shots were fired outside, there was really nothing left for him to do.

The small pistol in his hand became a decoration; he didn't dare to look back from the grain bags, let alone break out from the side.

Don't know if he was bullied too hard, or if he heard too many people surrounding the back of the car, but Xiao Laosan's face turned pale with fright.

His hands and feet were trembling as he flipped over the passenger seat and somehow pulled out two hand grenades.

"A ruthless person doesn't talk much"—you still have to look at Third Brother.

He clumsily pulled out the safety pin, didn't even look at how many people were behind him, and threw them out along the big hole torn in the top of the jeep.

After throwing them, he lay on the grain bags and covered his ears in a particularly funny way, as if he hadn't thrown hand grenades but artillery shells.

You can't say they weren't artillery shells, but the lethality of hand grenades against enemies on the ground is imaginable.

*Boom! *

When the hand grenades went off, everyone won a prize!

This was a demonstration of maximum lethality at close range; shrapnel flew everywhere, and no one could escape from this kill zone.

He didn't feel anything himself, but didn't know that the whole field outside the car had gone silent; there were still people holding axes and machetes among those blocking the road.

Even if there were a few shotguns, they were just for show; Er Luzi probably never thought Da Qiangzi would play so ruthlessly.

People from the Northeast care about face—I've already blocked you, so what if I let you slap me twice and humiliate you severely?

Even if I robbed you, how much could you lose?!

It's just some grain—is it worth hitting people, providing fire cover, and even throwing hand grenades!

I'm playing "ten-sided ambush" with you, and you give me "blooming in the center"!

Too damn bullying!

One hand grenade went off, a whole area fell to the ground, and those still standing were panicked, standing there at a loss.

Both sides were unusually quiet for a moment, waiting for the other to react.

And Xiao Laosan didn't see this; he still had one in his hand and was just about to pull the safety when he heard someone behind the car shouting, "I surrender! Stop shooting!"

Someone wanted to run away but was picked off by Seeing Gelin, and no one dared to move again.

Da Qiangzi stood outside the car with a pale face, ignoring the dust on his body, and stared blankly at Xiao Laosan.

Xiao Laosan didn't know what was going on yet, looked out from the canvas hole, and asked Da Qiangzi: "Brother Qiang, is it over?"

Da Qiangzi looked at him speechlessly, then pointed to the passenger seat where he had been bragging just now and asked: "You hid hand grenades here?"

Seeing Qiangzi ask that, Xiao Laosan said somewhat embarrassedly: "Actually, it's nothing; I was afraid of an accident on the mountain road, so I stuffed two in. You don't have to praise me—we're all family..."

All family...

Da Qiangzi hadn't been afraid of being surrounded by more than thirty people, but looking at the hard stuff in Xiao Laosan's hand, cold sweat broke out.

Thinking about how bumpy the road was when they came, and how he had let Seeing Gelin hit the car—his butt felt a bit itchy thinking about it.

Fortunately, it was discovered in time; who knows when it would have exploded, and he was the one who liked sitting in the passenger seat.

Damn it, "the whole family should be neat and tidy," right? I said why you wouldn't fight me for the passenger seat!

It's truly laughable to think about it; he even said he wanted to have a son, but almost couldn't even save his own life.

Looking at Xiao Laosan's "don't praise me, I'll be shy" expression, he only felt a chill down his spine.

There was more that made him feel cold; when checking the people they had beaten down around them, more than half were already dead.

It wasn't because his shotgun was so fierce, but because of this killing god, Seeing Gelin.

He had checked carefully—all were shot in the forehead, the kind that left no survivors.

Where on earth did this killing god come from?!