Chapter 13: The Water Reveals the Stone's Jagged Edges (3)

  "It should be fine, he said he's repairing a car and can't leave for the time being."

  Si Mu Xian said in a low voice to Wang Hua Ting opposite him.

  It was Wang Huating who invited him out. After not seeing each other for several months, looking at Wang Huating again with her hair tied back and wearing a sporty outfit, the usual school attire, made Si Muxian slightly surprised, and when he looked at himself dressed in a suit and tie sitting in this coffee shop, it seemed somewhat pretentious.

  The gloomy sky outside the window, the rain was falling heavily, and the busy pedestrians and traffic. Wang Huating stirred her coffee cup absent-mindedly, not really tasting it, and after a while, she asked softly: "Was he badly hurt?"

  "It shouldn't be serious, otherwise it wouldn't have come out so quickly. I saw Da Peng, but my second brother has a big temper and suffered a great loss. He didn't even want to talk to me about it. I asked him if he was okay, and he said I couldn't help anyway, telling me to just relax." Si Mu Xian explained with a smile, then sincerely said to Wang Hua Ting: "Thanks, Branch Secretary."

  Xie what Wang Huating knew, it was just that day Simu Xian found her in a hurry and asked her to call her father, and then entangled her father on the phone to ask about it, knowing that nothing big happened, but later heard that one was beaten and the other was hacked, and not so relieved. Even she couldn't explain why, but just because of the short time in Shouma Township's countryside teaching, she had so many worries.

  It's not easy to forget him, unfortunately. Putting down the spoon, Wang Huating picked up her cup and said, "Nothing, just a phone call, it may not have any effect, my dad is in charge of culture and education, not a real power holder... Muxian, I asked you out because I was worried, these two people, I think except for you, others may not be able to persuade them, these two days I couldn't sleep, always worrying that they would cause more trouble.

  "It's not like that, you're overthinking." Si Mu Xian said with a hint of disguise, just taking a sip of coffee, but his eyes caught Wang Hua Ting staring at him with an unkind gaze, which was enough to pierce through his lie. He smiled awkwardly and continued: "Zhu Shu, you really have high expectations for me. The three of us have been together for so many years, the eldest and second eldest are more overbearing than each other, but I've never been in charge even once. It's always them listening to me, not the other way around."

  This is indeed the truth, looking at Si Mu Xian this time, it seems that he is being sincere. Wang Hua Ting didn't press for an answer, but was surprised that such a big thing happened just after graduating from school. Si Mu Xian wasn't very clear about how things happened, and only heard some rumors about business matters. Fortunately, with his intelligence, he could guess roughly what had happened. After discussing for a long time, Wang Hua Ting simply asked: "Mu Xian, now that this has happened, what can they do?"

  "Do you really want to know?" asked Simu Xian. Wang Huating nodded. Simu Xian smiled and said with certainty: "An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth."

  For a moment, Wang Huating was stunned, and suddenly understood why Lei Dapeng couldn't be invited, and why she couldn't find Dan Yong when she called him. The sudden worry in her heart was like a poisonous insect biting at her, leaving her dazed for a long time.

  The answer was actually what she had thought, only that it was confirmed by Si Mu Xian, which added to her worries.

  "Zhu Shu, there are some things I don't know whether to say or not. In my understanding, Lao Da and Er Ge are both people who take pleasure in avenging past grievances. Even if I could persuade them to swallow their anger, I wouldn't do so, because that would make them feel stifled for the rest of their lives. Especially Shan Yong, if he could tolerate being constrained by rules and frameworks, why would he choose to become a second-hand dealer? Don't worry too much. As friends, we can't replace him; all we can do is try our best and leave the rest to fate." Si Mu Xian said softly, with a hint of consolation towards Wang Hua Ting.

  "I'm not worried, even if I am it's unnecessary, I just hope they're all okay."

  Wang Hua Ting said, with a thick sense of melancholy in her words. Subconsciously, she put down the shallow coffee cup that had reached her mouth, but didn't notice that the rich coffee had already gone cold and lost its fragrance.

  Outside the window, autumn rain drizzles on and on, what a depressing weather!

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  The wind is strong and the rain is heavy, the broken cart is like a swallow flying in the rain.

  Soon, Single Brave picked up the road without traffic lights and sprinted all the way to Xishan Pass. Seeing the urban management law enforcement vehicle, Single Brave stopped by the car and rushed towards a nearby alley.

  At the entrance of the alley, there were over a dozen people. Lei Dapeng led a group of city management officers who arrived by car. Lao Bao brought his school friends, riding mountain bikes and wearing raincoats, also with over a dozen people surrounding a thin, wiry young man with slicked-back hair. The young man was pinned against the wall, hands spread out and stuck to the wall, completely soaked, seemingly having taken a beating, with mud stains on his wet clothes. His eyes were wide with fear as he stared at the approaching figures. When he saw Shanyong's face smeared with rainwater, his facial muscles twitched, and his legs went weak, trembling uncontrollably.

  Retribution came quickly, and that person remembered that the one in front of him was the one he had cut with a knife, and the fear in his eyes grew thicker.

  That's right, it was him, the guy who slashed a wound on Shan Yong's chest that night. Lei Da Peng pointed at him and said: "His name is Juan Mao, alias Xu Rong Qiang, my dad had to ask several people to find this guy, he's cunning, if not for Lao Bao being quick on his feet, he would have escaped again."

  There's a video taken by Big Fatty, and also Lei Dad's underground connections. After some effort, they finally caught this fish that had slipped through the net. The two Big Fatties looked at each other, seeing Shan Yong's vicious gaze. Li Xiao Li, fearing trouble, advised: "Egg Brother, there are so many people here, if you want to do something, it should be done when the moon is high and the wind is strong, isn't this a bit inappropriate?"

  "Off with you, what are you meddling in?" Lei Dapeng scolded the guy, but Dan Yong patted his shoulder and said it was nothing. He walked forward, parted the crowd, and looked closely at the curly-haired guy who was shivering with fear. Slowly unbuttoning his clothes, a long wound that had just scabbed over was revealed, with stitches like centipede legs. Alongside Dan Yong's voice that sent chills down to the bone: "Do you recognize him?"

  That man nodded vigorously, nodding his head repeatedly, and finally couldn't hold it in anymore. His voice was hoarse from shouting: "Big brother, spare my life! It was all Baldy who told me to go... I just wanted to take a knife to boost my courage, who knew I'd end up hurting someone? The police have been to my house several times, I've got nowhere to hide... Spare my life, big brother..."

  "Let you off, but this debt of a knife, I must find someone to pay it back for me. I have to know who paid you, is that right?" Dan Yong asked, those simple words seemed to have some kind of magic power, making the man nod his head repeatedly like a chicken pecking at rice, while Lei Da Peng was furious and slapped him on the ear, saying "Don't nod your head, who are we asking?"

  "You're all bald." Xu Juan's words slipped out.

  "Who hired that baldy?" Lei Dapeng slapped him again.

  "Xiang Ge." Xu Juanmao blurted out again.

  "What's with the 'Dage' and 'Bgei', what are you calling? What do you do?" Lei Dapeng was about to slap him again, but his hand stopped in mid-air. This scare was even more effective than a slap on the ear, and Xu Juanmao immediately piped up: "Xiao Mangui, Qin Boss's driver."

  "Who is Qin boss?"

  "Qin army tiger."

  "How many times has he hired you?"

  "Several times."

  "How many times is several times? Your mom can't count!"

  Accompanied by the sound of slapping, Xu Juan's hair was unbearable under the intimidation of so many fierce people, and she begged: "Brother, who will give me money to join the fight, I remember it clearly several times."

  As soon as he mentioned it, Lei Dapeng, Lao Bao, Choujiao and other brothers who were standing beside Shan Yong began to roll up their sleeves. Suddenly, Xu Juanmao couldn't take it anymore, crying with a sad face and shouting: "You, you give me a knife, how can you bully people like this? Don't let people live!"

  This silly appearance actually amused everyone. Lei Dapeng glanced at Shan Yong, and Shan Yong shook his head: "Let's go, take him away."

  "No, no, I won't go either." Xu Juanmao heard that he was going to be taken away and went crazy with fear, hugging his chest and squatting on the ground, ready to roll around and throw a tantrum at any moment.

  Lei Dapeng was about to find someone to drag away when Dan Yong squatted down and said with disdain: "Don't misunderstand, I'm not stupid enough to cut you too. Let's go to the police station and repeat what you just said to the police. This is a matter of public security management punishment. Rather than having you worried and hiding around, it's better to stay in detention for a few days... Do you want to go or settle this privately?"

  "I'm going, I'll surrender." The man got up again with a thud, but seeing so many people surrounding him, he became afraid again. Shan Yong was pleased and waved his hand: "Disperse."

  They dispersed, Lao Bao and his group rode their cars in all directions. The five or six city management brothers who came together also got on their electric vehicles, as if they were not afraid of that person running away at all. Dan Yong walked ahead, saying without looking back: "Curly hair, if I can find you once, I can find you ten times. If you don't explain this clearly, I'll have to settle the account with you... You think about it and handle it yourself. And who smashed my car? The police just collect towing fees, who takes care of repair fees? Who should I go find, is it also you?"

  "No, big brother, big brother, that's a willow branch."

  Xu Juanmao isn't stupid, he knows this group of people is no good, instead of running away, he chases after Dan Yong, following closely behind him, without a second word, you ask what he says what.

  This time, it really wasn't forced. Xu Juanmao got into Dan Yong's broken car, and then the vicious fat man who was catching him also came up. Along the way, they were frightened and nervous, but unexpectedly, they really arrived at the Xiyuan Police Station.

  It was strange that when he saw the words "People's Public Security", for the first time, it gave him a sense of safety.

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  "What? Is Dan Yong bringing people to surrender?"

  "What? What case are you talking about? From what beginning? What case can we have here?"

  "What? Xurongqiang!?"

  Director Wu was almost choked by the police report, this news seemed to hear that the little chicken had caught the yellow mouse and came back, which made Director Wu disbelieve a thousand times, he quickly got up and walked downstairs with the police officer, asking along the way: "What's going on? This is strange, we couldn't find the person, how did the perpetrator bring him back?"

  "I don't know either, they just followed each other here. They also said they wanted to provide clues for the anti-crime campaign." The police officer said.

  "Nonsense, our district's public security is a model for the whole city. When did we have any evil forces?" Director Wu scolded, and the police officer was so intimidated that he didn't dare to say anything more.

  Downstairs, in the reception room, Xu Rongqiang sat with his head down, looking like a regular at the police station. Director Wu walked in, glanced at him, and pointed his finger, as if he wanted to slap him twice, scolding: "You're really hopeless, you don't take advantage of being a good person, but instead become a piece of trash. You think we're idle, so every now and then you find something to do? This time I think you've gone too far, you've even learned to stab people... Take him away, Xiao Gao, make a record. After questioning, lock him up in cell number two, see where he can run to."

  With a wave of his hand, Xu Juanmao was taken away by the police for questioning. Originally, this matter wouldn't have been a priority in the busy work of the police station, but unexpectedly it was resolved before they even left the door. The perpetrator had arrived, and now they couldn't ignore it. Director Wu looked at Dan Yong, who was soaked from head to toe, with great surprise, beckoning him over: "Little Dan, come on... let's go sit in my office."

  He directly invited Shanyong, went to the office, brewed a cup of hot water, and put it in front of Shanyong's pale face, Director Wu asked with great surprise: "Shanyong, what does this mean?"

  "Shouldn't everyone take responsibility for maintaining social order and helping the people's police? Director, aren't you supposed to guide me in setting up lofty ideals? From now on, my ideal is to resolutely fight against all ugly phenomena and assist your work, I will definitely not cause trouble for you."

  Shan Yongdao preempted Wu Suo's grandiose words, leaving Wu Suo with a sour taste in his mouth and a scowl on his face. He had seen all sorts of weirdos at the police station, but never someone as inscrutable as Shan. After a brief pause, Wu Suo handed Shan a cigarette, just as he was about to speak, but Shan suddenly replayed their previous conversation's recording. Upon hearing this, Wu Suo's whole body began to ache.

  It hurt for a while before looking out the window to make sure no one was there, and then he solemnly educated Dan Yong, saying: "Kid, some things can't be too rigid, it's almost nothing big deal, just a little rascal pointing at something can count as evidence? Not to mention this is not a normal confession, what else can be done?"

  "I don't want to do anything, but if I don't, they'll just get worse. Can't let them think that ordinary people can just bully them around as they please?" Dan Yong said, with a look of injustice on his face, which even made Wu Suochang feel a sense of solidarity with him.

  "Hey, what's the point of saying this? These ordinary people are just being taken for a ride. I don't mean anything else, not just you, but even I am one of those who have been taken advantage of. Originally, this matter should be handled by the 110 center, but it was pulled to the branch bureau, and the branch bureau didn't handle it either, and now it's been thrown back to the police station. Isn't this clearly just making a big deal out of nothing? Let's just drop it and move on, life is long, we can't let one moment of anger ruin everything. Listen to me, let's stop here, there are many things that can be done, don't get mixed up with those useless people."

  Wu Zongdao said, this is indeed a big truth, based on the police's understanding of certain kinds of scoundrels.

  Upon hearing this, Shan Yong suddenly laughed and said: "Uncle Wu, haven't you noticed that I'm actually giving you a gift? Don't you think this cargo is quite valuable?"

  "What?" Wu Zong was startled and didn't understand.

  "This guy stabbed me, I think he was also in a hurry and messed up, he's already been scared to death by this matter, otherwise he wouldn't have followed us to surrender so honestly... When someone is scared to death, their mouth can't be controlled, what if he randomly accuses people in his confession, and the person being accused finds out, do they still need to find a way to settle this matter? ... Just now from the recording I heard, you don't mind letting them make some contributions to the people's police, right?"

  Shan Yong smiled and said, "It's not easy to say it so lightly." Looking at Wu Suo Chang, who was suddenly enlightened and shocked, with his mouth wide open, holding a cigarette, staring at Shan Yong in astonishment. If this were said by an old police officer, it wouldn't be surprising, but coming from an outsider, and someone not very old, it made him feel strange.

  "I'm leaving, Uncle Wu... You're busy, I won't disturb you." Shanyong smiled and seemed to have a premonition, and the director finally came to his senses, sending Shanyong out the door. The reception standard was almost as high as that of the wealthy donors who often supported the police station.

  When the door was closed, he thought for a moment and suddenly became serious, with a hint of playfulness. He adjusted his emotions for a while before picking up the phone, speaking in an urgent tone: "Manager Zhao Hongqi? I'm Old Wu... Ah, who has time to eat?! Let me tell you, someone named Xu Rongqiang has surrendered himself, yes, nicknamed 'Curly Hair', don't laugh, no one knows what kind of person he is, but he's confessed everything, it was Qin Boss who instructed him... Impossible?! What's impossible? I'll tell you, the kid was caught after stabbing someone, do you think that's possible or not? He's being interrogated downstairs right now. Yes, I understand Director Chen's meaning, who knew this guy would surrender himself? You're saying it's making things difficult for me, both inside and out... This guy even implicated Qin Boss... Alright, alright, I know. By the way, there are some things you guys haven't done properly, our police station is so understaffed, we've had to divert manpower to handle your case, but you guys don't even provide us with a little support, not even some oil money, it's all just empty talk, looking down on us grassroots police officers..."

  When the phone hung up, Wu's face was filled with a playful smile, and that triumphant look really made him feel elated. Dealing with these people, you have to think of ways to get what you want, or they won't easily give in. Smiling at this thought, he suddenly remembered Single Courage who had just sat here, and now felt that he had underestimated the kid a bit.

  Shan Yong looked at Xu Juanmao, who was taking notes, through the window as he went downstairs. His face expressionless, he walked out the door and got into his own broken-down car. Lei Dapeng sat in the middle of the car, complaining that Shan Yong didn't even roll up the windows on a rainy day like today.

  Let's just start like this, Dan Yong was getting rained on, driving straight ahead, Lei Da Peng was sulking again, burying his grievances. Why bother taking off your pants and farting, it's all useless. Xu Juanmao was pressing down on him, beating him half to death. Anyway, these rotten people wouldn't dare go to the police station. Hand them over to the police, nothing would happen for sure. Even if something did happen, someone would smooth things over. His dad said so, there are people backing him up. At most it's just an administrative penalty for public security, this kind of hooligan and vagrant can't even afford to pay a fine. In the end, they'd be locked up for a few days and then let go again.

  "I'd like to chop him up, but would it work? It wouldn't work, and if something else happens, I won't be able to get out of it. Maybe the other side is just waiting for me to lose my head again. Why not let the police deal with them instead? Either way, they'll have to spend some money to settle it." said Dan Yong.

  "Can the police hear you?" Lei Dapeng was skeptical.

  "No need to listen to me, just let them see the benefits and possibilities," said Shanyong.

  "What's that for? That little money is just pocket change for them, throwing out tens of thousands to smash people wouldn't even blink an eye." Lei Dapeng said.

  "Although his eyes didn't blink, he must have thought that I'm just a big shot who only knows how to seek revenge from the bald-headed gang. That way they'll feel at ease." Dan Yong said ambiguously, and this would surely get Lei Dapeng excited, as he stretched out his neck to lean forward, asking in a low voice: "Egg brother, what do you say? How should we do it? Damn, I've been itching for several days already."

  "You'll see it right away," said Dan Yong.

  As soon as he heard this, the sentence made Lei Dapeng feel a little blood boiling, and these days have been planning, even pulling in fellow students, will it be as cool as that time in school? It really makes Lei Dapeng look forward to it. Mom's, being beaten on the street by someone, that bad breath hasn't been spat out yet.

  It wasn't long before they arrived at the Beiguan Village in the northern suburbs, and when they got off the car, Lei Dapeng's heart skipped a beat. There were seven or eight diesel tricycles parked there, and some people even brought donkeys. They were all waiting inside an abandoned flour factory on the second-level road. When they entered, there was a hubbub of twenty or thirty people, including Genwa, Dabiao, Laozhu, Sankuai, and many other unfamiliar men. These tattered clothes were all dressed as peasants who worked in the fields. What were they going to do? It seemed like they had to frame the great migrant worker community for something.

  Originally, the beast's blood was boiling, but now looking at this group of illiterate and mathematically challenged people becoming the main force, it's hard to say how far things can develop. Perhaps this time it won't be a surprise, listening to this seems like there are still many more troops behind, which makes Lei Dapeng feel a little afraid...

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  With a "crash", Mr. Kong Xiangzhong smashed the golden dragon and phoenix cup in his hand into pieces.

  While enjoying the fresh flavor of donkey meat hot pot, I suddenly heard on the phone that Doushizi's little rascal had surrendered himself at the police station for biting people randomly. Zhao Hongqi, the cold storage manager, made a special trip to the police station and with a smile and good words, took away a bunch of meal receipts, gas receipts, and hotel receipts that the director had accumulated, promising to reimburse them in full to settle the matter. This incident was infuriating, making Kong boss so angry he couldn't help but want to smash cups and saucers.

  Sitting next to Qian Zhongping, he didn't dare make a sound. The two big households in Xicheng were unchallenged in the market, and whoever refused to buy from them would have their goods cut off. However, there were also times when they couldn't afford not to buy from others. As business grew bigger, it was inevitable that they would occasionally be shaken down by corrupt government departments, especially the police. These things were unavoidable for businessmen. Qin Junhu looked at the situation calmly and sat still. Kong Xiangzhong glared at the other two men who remained silent, and said with a huff: "You guys say something, what's going on here? Just because of a fight, and look how much it's going to cost us! Military Tiger, I'm not blaming you, but handling such a small matter, how could you mess it up like this?"

  "Haha, mistake after mistake, this time it's my brother's fault." Qin Junhu said with a mouthful of hot pot and donkey meat, Zhao Hongqi reported back the detailed situation. It turned out that Shan Yong had taken Xu Rongqiang to surrender himself. This news made Kong Xiangzhong furious, but it seemed to make Qin Laoban breathe a sigh of relief: "He chopped someone with one knife, can't let others take revenge? If they want to take revenge and vent their anger, that's easy to handle. It's a good thing, what's there to be angry about? Just spend some money, after all, the donkey's hair is on the donkey's body... Old Qian, what do you think of Shi Jia Village? There are several thousand heads about to be released soon, we'll work together and set the price. Don't sell without permission, you guys can't act rashly."

  As soon as this was mentioned, Kong Xiangzhong's gloominess dissipated, and he listened intently with sparkling eyes. With 80,000 heads of cattle being sold at a lower price, the profit would be in the hundreds of millions. He couldn't help but admire Qin's cleverness in making a big deal out of the fight, openly it was about competing with retailers for market share, but secretly he suspected that Qin had been planning to make a fortune from the donkey farm for a long time.

  Qian Zhongping hesitated, recounting how Shi Baoquan had directly returned the deposit that morning, and said uncertainly: "Boss Qin, this old donkey Shi has turned against us, we didn't expect him to return the deposit without even discussing it... I mean, our meat factory can produce high-end goods, more than half of which use free-range feed from Donkey Garden. Can you two guarantee that we'll have a steady supply? Don't leave us in the lurch."

  "Don't worry, from the moment we knew that Shijia Village had people in the city grabbing the market, we started stocking up. Now there are over 800 tons of goods in Junhu's cold storage, and I've brought over 800 heads from Dezhou, plus over 600 self-raised ones. The donkeys we sell back are all large-sized, each weighing around 700-800 kilograms, equivalent to two local ones. Whether it's fresh meat or frozen meat, we can supply you until after the Spring Festival without any problem. And if that's not enough, we can bring more over at any time." Boss Kong patted his chest to guarantee, and as someone who made a fortune from selling livestock, he was considered a pioneer in this line of business.

  Qin Junhuo also dispelled his companions' worries, saying: "You can rest assured that those country bumpkins have no experience in smuggling, not only is it difficult to get through customs, but they also need to prevent epidemics and plagues. The normal loss is not small either... As for frozen meat, they can't even think about it. Just the investment and use of refrigeration equipment alone is not something that can be solved in a day or two...... So he must solve it locally, if he wants to solve it locally, then he must listen to us, maybe, listen to you few."

  With a beaming smile, he continued to flatter the salesperson, and Qian Zhongping listened with equal delight, grinning from ear to ear as he raised his cup in a toast: "Ah, ah... come on, let's drink to Qin Boss and Kong Boss! Thanks to you two, we salespeople will be looking up to you from now on! Oh, Tao Boss is here, please take a seat..."

  Qian Zhongping toasted with great skill, Tao Chengzhang also arrived, the host and guest were in high spirits, laughing and chatting, feeling extremely pleased.

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  Outside the window, autumn rain falls continuously, covering the sky with increasingly cool autumn rain and endless night.

  Just as Qin Junhu and a group of wealthy businessmen were calculating others, perhaps no one expected that someone was also calculating them.

  Xi Yuan Cold Storage, a dark figure quietly climbed over the wall on a rainy night, taking advantage of the darkness. The lights were out and there was no human voice to be heard. Several guards were locked in the electrical room drinking and chatting, completely unaware that someone had snuck in.

  It seemed like nothing had happened. The black shadow stayed for a while, then flipped over the wall, and nothing was disturbed. The heavy rain silently erased all traces.

  After a long while, the power went out.

  This stormy night may have made repairs difficult, but the short-term power outage had little impact on the low-temperature cold storage warehouse. The warehouse keeper reported to the manager, who didn't think much of it.

  Is it single courage?

  It seems not, at this time, Dan Yong is driving the car, wearing a raincoat, driving that car with no windshield, alone on the road, dim night lights, swaying and shaking on the not-so-good secondary road.

  The direction is: Shijia Village!