Volume 1: The Happy Life in the Ivory Tower Chapter 14: The Sail and Oar Smoke Disappears Amidst Laughter

  Heavy rain, strong wind, dark night.

  Shan Yong entered the village of Shi's family like a ghost, and most of the villagers who had an early sleep habit had already extinguished their lights. In the dark and quiet village, Shan Yong drove directly to the kiln near the cattle shed. He stopped the car, took out his belongings, and entered the stone house through the wooden gate. He hung up his raincoat, and this familiar place was like returning home. He found a fire starter, lit it, and the dry wood crackled as it burned. When he took off his wet clothes and hung them by the fire to dry, he searched for Shi Sanhai's old wine gourd in the kiln, took a big swig of strong liquor, wiped his mouth, sat down by the fire, and only after a long time did the frostbitten face regain some color.

  Time, pointing to twenty-three o'clock, the road is moving very slowly, but now still feels that time is passing too slowly, slow like every second is as long as a century. The thrill of revenge about to be implemented and the taste of alcohol surged in his chest for a long time, making him feel a little suffocated, the heartbeat like a timed bomb sewn into the wound on his chest, and now, the time to detonation is getting closer and closer.

  He wiped his chest again, and looked at it. The 7 or 8 inch long scar was like a centipede crawling on his chest, and in his heart, there was also a venomous insect biting him. It was like being stabbed with a spear that had been thrust into the opponent's chest, like seeing an enemy trampled underfoot. It was a painful yet exhilarating feeling.

  A rainy night, it's a lost night.

  Dan Yong thought about the unpredictable consequences that were about to happen in the cold storage and breeding grounds, which gave him a kind of apprehensive feeling. This apprehension was mixed with excitement and an indescribable thrill, perhaps from the time he started fighting in school, this thrill had become addictive like a poison.

  Ding ding ding... The sound of a text message, Shanyong's heart skipped a beat as he knew it was a message from Zuo Xiying. He picked up his phone to take a look, but unexpectedly, it wasn't a greeting, but rather an accusatory sentence: "You're hiding something from me?"

  No. Shanyong replied with a lie, as if it were a casual conversation, but in his heart, he was worried that Zuo Xiying, thousands of miles away, might also have some way of knowing what had happened here.

  Yes, don't forget that more than half of the leaders in Lushi City know my dad... it seems like someone said you went to the police station, just on the day when no one could contact you...

  Got it, Master Sister knows. Danyong's expression was awkward and helpless again in an instant. After the wound treatment that day, he was locked up in the branch office overnight without receiving a text message from his master sister. He lied about it afterwards to get through the ordeal. But now he didn't know how to cover up the lie, and after rubbing his fingers for half a day, he couldn't type out a single word. Just as he was hesitating, another text message came in, seemingly Master Sister's interrogation: Are you thinking of how to deceive me?

  No, I'm afraid you'll worry, it's nothing big, just got into a fight with someone, it's already over... Jian Yong finally replied, trying to keep it simple.

  Simple and direct, sometimes there is no need to hide, just look down at the ferocious scars on your chest in the reflection of the flames, and you will have an impulse to throw everything away. You don't want to think about those past beauties, nor do you want to think about the kind people around you, all of which will become a psychological burden and an action restraint.

  At this time, he actually hoped that Zuo Xiying would scold him, or else it would make him more determined.

  The message arrived, and Danyong was a little nervous, slowly holding the phone screen in front of his eyes, it was a sentence that made him confused:

  So what attitude should I have towards you? Should I care if you win or lose? Or understand why you do this? If you keep being like this, it will be disgusting.

  Disgusted?

  Shan Yong stroked this word... no mistake, very disgusted, even himself had a disgust for himself. In the face of contempt and disdain in the office, on the street, he encountered pitiful eyes, and in the eyes of all those who were dressed up, his own miserable appearance would be met with disgust. Shan Yong caressed the keyboard of his phone, typing out a line: I'm also very disgusted with myself, go to bed early, since you're disgusted, why bother thinking about him making you unhappy?

  The phone fell silent and didn't ring again for a long time.

  Shanyong thought, Shijie must be angry when she sees this sentence. With her sensitive temperament, she must feel the negative tone in the words and she will definitely be very angry and not return the call, ignoring him... All women are like this, especially those like Shijie who have been spoiled and pampered, no matter how high their IQ is, they can't escape the curse of being a little woman.

  The judgment was very accurate, and there were no more text messages coming back. However, after the expected outcome, Dan Yong felt another sense of loss, not knowing if he could get it back, but what had been lost was already too much. The business went bankrupt, the braised meat shop stopped operating, and the money earned was also surrendered to the national treasury...

  Now I have a deep understanding of what my father meant by "it's hard to be human". Being alive may not be difficult, but living like a real person is indeed very challenging.

  The phone remained in his hand until another message came, and Yun's spirit recovered a little. It was an inexplicable message: I smell the smell.

  Apart from deleting the message, there was no other action, just sitting quietly by the fire and staring at the flames in the furnace, thinking about the beautiful years of university, thinking about the exciting moments with the teacher's sister, thinking about childhood and playing with a group of friends, shouting and laughing, all of which seemed to be changing from tonight on, making Dan Yong feel so good, so worth nostalgia.

  This night, another cruel night, will bid farewell to the once carefree days of waving goodbye.

  Time slowly passed in this long wait, several hours had passed until another message came, and Dan Yong was shocked awake from his drowsiness. It was a headless and tailless message, one sentence: We are ready.

  At this time, Dan Yong's face was flushed with a morbid excitement. He got up, touched his clothes which had already dried, put them on, pushed open the door, and in the dimly lit sky, it was still drizzling. He dialed the phone, Shi Baoying's phone, and spoke in a very calm tone:

  "Sister Shi, I want to discuss the matter of selling the storage with your father... Right, now, I'm at Shiji Village."

  …………………

  …………………

  The iron gate of the Shi family's mansion creaked open, and Shi Baoying rushed out with her clothes on and an umbrella in hand. When she arrived near the noodle shop, she looked at Shan Rong's battered carriage and was taken aback for a moment. Turning back, Shan Rong's pale face, still recovering from his illness, made her laugh uncontrollably. She walked up to him with concern and asked: "When did you arrive? Why didn't you tell me? By the way, what did you have Genwa and Da Biao do yesterday? I'm asking you a question."

  Shi Gongniang's words were straightforward and quick, firing off a series of questions like a machine gun, which rained down on Shan Yong's head. Shan Yong smiled, looking both shy and mysterious at the same time, and said: "Sister Shi, you're asking so many questions all at once, how can I answer them? You'll know soon enough... by the way, is your dad awake?"

  "What's the point of waking up, I didn't sleep at all." Shi Baoying said, and was about to ask when she saw her father, Shi Baquan, standing at the iron gate, looking at the two children walking over. He didn't say a word, but first coughed several times, coughing very badly, probably due to smoking all night. Shi Baoying quickly went forward to help her father pat his back, and after a while, he finally caught his breath. Shi Baquan looked at Shan Yong with an expressionless face, and beckoned with his hand: "Come on, kid, how's your injury?"

  "Alright, it's left a scar." Dan Yong said.

  "It's nothing, now I know why my method didn't work on you. Some things aren't right just because they can be done, learn from your mistakes... Ah, what are you doing here so early?" Shi Baoquan asked, not as fierce as usual, his tone a bit apologetic, as if he was sicker than Shan Yong.

  "Pay back the money, I have to take responsibility for what I did myself, can't let Old Man Shi pay for me." said Shan Yong.

  When he heard this, Shi Baquan turned his head in surprise and looked at Shan Yong with a hint of admiration. However, when he saw that Shan Yong had only brought a small package, he couldn't help but wonder how it was possible to hide tens of thousands of yuan on him, and asked curiously: "Did you bring the money back with your mouth?"

  "Why don't we just sign an IOU first? It's not too late to pay once you've sold all your goods, is it?" Dan Yong said with a smile.

  Shi Baoquan burst out laughing and walked with Shan Yong to the small wing of the second floor, this time without so much etiquette. After sitting down, perhaps because he had been depressed for a long time and wanted to talk, or perhaps because he always thought Shan Yong was still a decent person, he personally boiled water and grabbed a handful of large-leaf tea from the big pot. While Shi Baojing handed his father a cigarette box, Shi Baoquan asked Shan Yong directly: "Shan Yong, my daughter said you want to help me with the inventory, do you know how many heads there are?"

  "There should be over 7,000 heads in the hands of individual households," said Shan Yong.

  "How much is it worth?" Shi Baquan asked.

  "It's almost the entire income of Shijia Village, it should be around 20-30 million." said Shan Yong.

  He didn't speak, Shi Baoquan looked up and down at Dan Yong's shabby clothes, his eyes were very calm, with you like this, I'm afraid the whole body is not worth a donkey skin, do business on such a large scale?

  Shan Yong smiled and said, "Sister Shi, please step aside for a moment. I'd like to have a private talk with your father."

  "What?" Shi Bao Ying glared at him with displeasure. Then, seeing Shan Yong's disbelieving gaze, he felt a bit irritated, slammed down the cigarette box, and walked away with a huff. Old Man Shi chuckled, rolled up his cigarette, and looked at Shan Yong slantwise, still unable to understand what this kid meant, and remained perplexed until now.

  "There's actually a very simple way, manipulate the supply and demand relationship, let the city's big households not sell goods, and the value of Lu Yuan will naturally increase. The market is short of goods, let it be short for a while, then this year your stock won't be a problem." Dan Yong said, taking out a small package from his body. Shi Baquan listened to these words.

  Shi Baoquan's hand, which was holding the cigarette, trembled and his lips quivered with laughter. He couldn't even smoke anymore, and he laughed as he asked Dan Yong: "Hey, didn't that one knife chop your head off? How can you say it so lightly?"

  "Being well-prepared, of course, makes it easier." Shuang Yu said, unfolding a planning map. The dense codes and equipment symbols on the flat map made Shi Baquan, an old illiterate, look puzzled for half a day before exclaiming in surprise: "This... this is a cold storage equipment diagram? You want to build a cold storage warehouse?"

  "This is the design drawing of Xiyuan Cold Storage." Shanyong said with a mysterious smile. Shibaoquan thought of something and his heart skipped a beat, stunned, but Shanyong continued to say: "This cold storage was built five years ago, it's a medium-sized water-cooled cold storage, designed to store 50,000 tons, after its completion, part of it was used for self-storage, and part of it was rented out..."

  "What's that supposed to mean? What do you want to do in the cold storage, speak clearly." Shi Baoquan interrupted, his eyes becoming stern and his expression even more shocked.

  "These several black dots are marked exhaust ports, and by injecting no more than five kilograms of liquid ammonia into these holes, the ammonia concentration in the entire warehouse will exceed 400 milliliters per cubic meter. Through the condenser, water-cooled vaporization crystallizes with liquid ammonia on the surface of frozen meat, and only slightly raises the temperature to near freezing point. The breathable preservation layer of frozen meat absorbs some ammonia. Ammonia is widely used in the refrigeration industry, but after exceeding the standard, its negative effects are also very troublesome: first, it causes discoloration of food; second, it emits a foul odor similar to feces..."

  Shan Yong explained in detail, as a foodie with a lot of experience, he was very familiar with the characteristics of food. Seeing Shi Lao's confused face, he suddenly said: "If everyone finds out that all the donkey meat stored in Xiyuan Cold Storage has become spoiled goods, will the storage problem in Shijia Village still exist?"

  Shan Yong pointed out, roughly outlining the plan. The Xiyuan cold storage was a major sales outlet for donkey meat in the entire city. If something went wrong there, it would affect the entire donkey meat market. Shi Baquan was so startled that he forgot to smoke, his eyes wide with excitement, and after a long while, he burst out laughing: "This idea of yours is great, even if you're sentenced to 10 or 8 years, it's still too light."

  "Haha, that's it, but the premise is that there is conclusive evidence to convict... This is a storage tank for liquid ammonia in the cold storage room. As long as you slightly open the valve, the extremely soluble ammonia will seep into the ground and turn the entire cold storage room into a super-large toilet. Whether it was intentional or leaked, I'm afraid no one can say clearly. The difficulty of operation won't be very high."

  Very calm, don't know why when Dan Yong said this very vicious plan, his heart was unexpectedly calm, even the anger and resentment that had been simmering after being stabbed also subsided at this moment.

  But old Shi couldn't hold back anymore, and early in the morning, he came up with a purely destructive plan, laughing and waving his hand: "You kid have a problem, haha... Before doing it, you think you're good at it, but when you really do it, you'll find out that you're actually useless. The two idiots from Xiyuan have been dealing with me for more than one or two days, Qin Junhu is much more sinister than you, and Kong Xiangzhong is not a good material either. You're still too tender to fight with others. Just you, can't even get in the door."

  Shi Baoquan said, rolling a cigarette as he spoke, not taking it seriously. However, even after lighting the cigarette, he didn't see Shan Yong speak. He looked at him in surprise and felt a sudden jolt in his heart. Shan Yong was smiling ambiguously at him. Suddenly, he heard Shan Yong say nonchalantly: "Heh, why do you have to enter from the door? And how did you know I'm just one person?"

  "You can't solve this problem just by making a fuss, no matter how many people you have, it's not something that can be resolved through violence or argument." Shi Baoquan said, thinking that even if Shan Yong dared to do such a thing. He was educating Shan Yong, but unexpectedly Shan Yong smiled and retorted: "I don't have many people, just enough, it seems that you, Old Master Shi, don't agree with me at all."

  "What you're saying is all nonsense, don't think I'm an old illiterate who doesn't understand anything, I've learned a thing or two about refrigeration, I wanted to build a cold storage facility years ago, but at that time I didn't have the money, this ammonia just entered the cold storage and froze below minus ten degrees, what would you do?" Shi Baoquan unexpectedly hit a sore spot.

  "Oh, I forgot to mention this, if they just stop the electricity for a few hours, everything will be solved." said Shuang Yong.

  "It's easy to say, but such a large cold storage, can it be stopped just by saying so?" The old man was skeptical.

  "Haha, the rain is heavy and the wind is strong, maybe the high-voltage line will be cut off, maybe the car will crash into a pole, maybe that scrap collector will steal the transformer... many unexpected things can happen." Dan Yong said with a flicker in his words and eyes, making Shi Lao Tou feel both disdainful and excited at the same time. After thinking for a moment, he felt that this was not a good idea after all, shook his head and said: "No way, you said ammonia only affects the surface layer, the inner layers of the frozen meat won't be affected."

  "Yes, no need to let it all go bad, just find one piece with a problem and who would dare want the rest? And when transporting, they wouldn't possibly move the outer layer and take goods from inside?" Dan Yong's eyes were wide open, he had thought of this possibility early on.

  "It won't work." Old Shi thought for a long time, still shaking his head, and said: "If this matter leaks out even a little bit, the ones who do the job will end up in prison, and those who give the orders won't be much better off either."

  "Mr. Shi, I didn't come to ask if it's feasible." Shuang Yong said calmly, and Lei Feng added in a thunderous tone: "But to discuss the aftermath with you, what needs to be done has already been done."

  "Ah?!" Shi Baquan's hand trembled with fear, staring at Dan Yong in front of him as if he had just met him today. He thought for a moment and waved his hand: "You do whatever you want, don't drag me into this. I've been watching you, kid, your heart is not right."

  "Haha, this matter, it seems like I don't need to go myself. Someone will take care of it." Shuang Yong said, looking at Old Man Shi.

  "What do you mean, you bought someone with money? That's not reliable at all! You're going to get into big trouble!" Shi Baoquan said bitterly. If something happens, the Shi family village will be the first to suffer, and they'll probably be the prime suspects.

  "It won't cost anything..." Dan Yong said.

  "Who did it after all?" Shi Baquan asked.

  "Haven't you noticed that there are fewer people in the village?" Dan Yong said softly.

  Shi Baoquan's eyes widened suddenly, and he thought of something. In an instant, he changed from fear to anger, raised his hand with a "slap" sound, and slapped him with a crisp slap.

  The slap was so loud that Shan Yong didn't even flinch, and a stream of blood flowed from the corner of his mouth. However, it seemed like he hadn't felt the slap at all. He slowly wiped away the blood with his hand. Shi Baoquan, on the other hand, was stunned for a moment before realizing that this wasn't someone from their village, so he couldn't use his usual paternal tone to educate him. The old man had slapped him without any apology, and now he was furious, turning his head away and getting up from his seat. He started pacing back and forth, humming angrily through his nose, completely at a loss for what to do.

  At this time, Shi Baoquan was so stupid that he could imagine it. Shan Yong was afraid of pulling out the village's silly green onions a few years ago. Shi Sanhai had already suffered at the hands of Xiyuan Qin Junhu. Now there are Shi Genwa and Shi Dabiao mixed in, while Shan Yong has been teaching these people in Luofang for several years, and it's not hard to teach them.

  "Who did you tell?" Shi Baoquan was furious, his finger poking at Shan Yong's nose tip.

  "Is it that important?" Shan Yong slowly pushed away Shi Baquan's hand, his expression calm to the point where Shi Baquan felt a little intimidated, looking at Shan Yong in shock and awe. Then he heard Shan Yong say: "More important than your current situation? I don't know if you've thought about it, Old Man Shi, but with all the big merchants in the city surrounding you on all sides, you're either going to surrender or starve to death. Even if you surrender, things won't get any better for you. I think many people wouldn't mind seeing you fall, and they wouldn't mind stabbing you in the back when you're down... From an outsider's perspective, maybe you can hold on for a few months, but I think it'll only take a few days. They've only calculated the funds, not the manpower. If the horses you agreed to buy can't be exchanged for cash with the villagers, as long as someone makes a move, they can be taken away without going through you, and at a low price too. By then, your situation will be worse than serving ten or eight years in prison."

  Every word was like a knife and every sentence was like an arrow, all of which hit the things that Shi Baquan had been worried about all night and couldn't sleep, making Shi Baquan extremely disappointed.

  What I fear most is the instability of people's minds, and now it belongs to this situation. The villagers who have worked hard for a year without getting any returns will inevitably vent their anger on the incompetent leader at some point. What kind of situation would that lead to? Shi Baoquan didn't dare think about it.

  "In my impression, I think you, Old Man Shi, are not a law-abiding citizen, right? In the past few years when there was no breeding, you were among those who dug holes on secondary roads to collect money. What's going on, the older you get, the smaller your guts become?" Shan Yong said sarcastically. Shi Baoquan listened to these words, looked at the increasingly bright sky outside the window and the majestic Shi family courtyard in the sky, and sat heavily on his chair, speechless.

  "Or, you're worried about losing the things you've gained with difficulty. Single Yong's gaze was sharp, as if he had already seen Old Shi's struggle, and said slowly: "The more afraid you are, the more you will be constrained. The fact that we were beaten is just a fuse. Before anything happened to us, I already knew that Xiyuan's two families had transported a large batch of goods from outside. You see, Qin Junhu is indeed very capable, as long as he can take you down, Shi Village will become his backyard."

  "You... knew beforehand?" Shi Baquan stared with wide eyes, disbelieving, as if to say, "You knew and still got beaten up?"

  "Haha, of course I know. From the first day this business started, I knew." Shanyong rummaged through his bag and pulled out a thick stack of drawings, spreading them out on the table one by one as he explained: "This is Xiyuan Cold Storage, this is Xinrong Meat Processing Plant, this is Xiyuan Breeding Farm, this is Zifang Meat Processing Plant..." There were over twenty or thirty households, some with drawn logos and others hand-drawn. Shanyong's explanation left Shibaoquan wide-eyed and bewildered.

  "Although I don't know who will target me, I think someone will definitely come out to deal with me. Let me tell you, no matter which cold storage, meat processing plant, or large-scale breeding and wholesaling family targets me, I have thought of many ways to make them go bankrupt... Between Qin Junhu's losing his family fortune and your Shi family going bankrupt, I don't know which one Old Master Shi will prefer?"

  Suddenly, a chill ran down his spine as Shi Baquan looked at this young man who had seemed so innocent just moments before. He felt a sense of foreboding and fear. It seemed that the young man's intentions were not as simple as working hard to get rich after hiding in plain sight for so many years. Or perhaps, Shi Baquan thought, this young man had come to Lu Yuan four years ago seeking someone who could take the fall for him.

  It's not something one person can accomplish, but if he has companions who share a common goal, it won't be difficult, especially with the help of the fearless and illiterate villagers from Shijia Village. At this point, Shi Baoquan deeply regretted agreeing to marry off Shi Genwa and Da Biao to Shan Yong, perhaps at that time Shan Yong had already secretly planted the seeds of disaster.

  But this kid's behavior is like a well-behaved child, you scold him and he doesn't talk back, you hit him and he doesn't mind, he just slowly gathers his drawings, as if it's none of his business, and says lightly: "I don't know if Old Man Shi is afraid or can't bear to do it, but there's a saying that the butt decides the brain, and it's true. In my position, I can only control a small plate, and besides waiting for death, there's no better way... But I think, if the person who wants to kill me misses and takes my life, do you think the mastermind will be held responsible? If the big households in the city gang up and divide up this year's income from Shi Village, do you think someone will be too kind or afraid? Do you have to treat me like this? Maybe not long after, you'll become a poor wretch with no name, just like my dad a few years ago. By then, we two can definitely become friends."

  The words were lighter, but the tone was thicker, stimulating Shi Baquan's face to tremble slightly, and it took a long time for him to react. He closed his eyes, shook his head hard, as if to confirm that he wasn't old and dizzy. Until Shan Yong finished cleaning up, he asked hastily: "Are you sure your method works?"

  "Of course it works, so far, the power has been out for eight hours, and today, the Xiyuan cold storage will be attacked again. If you were there, you would find that those big households are actually very fragile. Just like your Shi family village's big household, a few large distributors can strangle you. The entire market is very fragile, not even worth attacking."

  He didn't believe it, and Shan Yong just smiled, hung up the phone, and said he had sent a photo. In an instant, his mobile phone beeped, and the MMS arrived. Shan Yong took out his phone and held it in front of Shi Lao's eyes. The gate of Xiyuan Cold Storage was crowded with people, and among the crowd, several tall men were visible at a glance, and some of them were villagers.

  It's all done openly and secretly, and those who were transferred away are all from Shijia Village. Shi Baoquan slapped his forehead with a "pa" sound, and his whole belly was filled with bitter thoughts, his face full of bitterness...