20 years of the Republic of China

Chapter 480: Extra: Fireside Night Chat [Part 7] K
Whether it was true or false, the old cow smiled and said nothing.

Seeing this, Yang Lazi and Lao Jie could not help but complain: "Brother Niu, it's fine if you fooled them, but you also fooled us? Lao Zhao is quite good at fighting, but he is not as boastful as you are!"

"Who fooled you?" Lao Niu said in a muffled voice, "The heads of 'Xiao Sansheng' and 'Daheishan' are real, and Zhao Guoyan holding Qiu Biao hostage is also real, but how he got in, I don't know."

Liang Chen blinked and asked, "Brother Niu, what if Qiu Biao is really a stubborn person and refuses to give in no matter what you say?"

"Death, what else can I do?"

"Then, Brother Zhao, wouldn't he..."

Lao Niu raised his hand to interrupt, his voice a little low: "Zhao Guoyan didn't lie, he really didn't plan to come out alive. This could have been a one-way trip."

"Then this is gambling!" Mao Saner said in surprise.

"It's not a bet." Lao Niu lowered his head and shook his head. "If Qiu Biao doesn't admit defeat, this guy must be eliminated; if he admits defeat, then this is the best solution, and the two families don't have to fight and lose their vitality. He called the Dong family uncle in public and said in public that 'Xiao Sansheng and Da Heishan should be killed', so he is no longer a threat to our Dong family."

Liang Chen and Mao Saner seemed to understand something.

The person was sitting by the fire, but he felt an inexplicable chill in his heart.

This is the difference between "Zai Bang" and "Xiang Zi":

As a guest of honor, Yang Lazi could not help but marvel at these words, with a hint of envy on his face: "It is dangerous to be rich! No wonder Old Zhao is the boss's top horse, the title of 'Jiang Family Protector' is not given for nothing!"

"Isn't he the 'Cangzhou Tiger'?" Mao Saner asked.

"Asshole!" The old clerk cursed with a smile, "That's what the boss said, are you qualified to say that?"

Everyone burst into laughter.

"Brother Niu, what happened to Qiu Biao later?" Mao Saner asked casually, "I haven't heard of such a person in the city in recent years?"

"died."

"How did you die?"

The room suddenly became quiet, and the three "Xiangzi" glared at Liang Chen in a muffled voice.

Mao Saner immediately realized that he had asked too many questions, so he quickly lowered his head and took two bites of vermicelli.

Seeing this, Liang Chen thought for a moment and said, "Brothers, there are many rules in our family. Mao Saner and I don't quite understand them. If we say something wrong, please remind us. If we make a mistake in front of the boss one day, it will be too late."

Lao Niu looked at everyone and said after a moment's silence, "The boss is not the kind of person who likes to pick a fight. You just need to remember that you should never treat him and the eldest sister-in-law as fools. If you make a mistake, it's not a big deal if you speak up."

Everyone nodded in response.

Manager Wang of the "Spring and Autumn Theater" suddenly asked: "Speaking of sister-in-law, I seem to have heard that sister-in-law is not in a good mood recently. Is that true?"

Accountant Gao, who asked "There will be a club", immediately frowned: "Really? I've never heard of it!"

"What's the matter? Has the boss married a concubine recently?" Yang Lazi asked with a smile.

"That's not the case!" Old Jie waved his hands and said, "My boss can be as romantic as he wants outside, but why should he marry her? It's pointless to make the whole house a mess."

Lao Niu looked at Accountant Gao and said in a muffled voice, "I haven't heard of it either. Besides, the third wife recently gave birth to a son, and the boss was so happy that he went to the south of the city every day."

"The third wife also gave birth to a son?" Everyone asked in surprise, "What's his name?"

"I heard his name seems to be Jiang Chengzhi."

"Brother Niu, I don't go to the south of the city very often, and I've never seen the Third Madam!" Yang Lazi suddenly asked, "They say she's pretty, is... her name is Shuning?"

Lao Niu nodded: "My maiden name is Zhuang, Zhuang Shuning."

"It's over this time." Old Jie smacked his lips and sighed, "The third wife has also given birth to a son. Our eldest sister-in-law is a little embarrassed now!"

Lao Niu snorted coldly, but said, "Why are you embarrassed? I'll put it this way. Even if the Third Madam gives birth to eight sons, the eldest sister-in-law will always be the eldest sister-in-law. Her position is stable, and there's no need for us to worry about it."

As the conversation went on, Mao Saner became curious again when he mentioned the eldest sister-in-law, so he asked, "Brother Niu, have you three ever seen the eldest sister-in-law? I always hear you talking about her, but I've never seen her. I heard... I heard that the eldest sister-in-law..."

"Shut up!"

Lao Niu and the others shouted in unison, "Listen to whoever you want to listen to. Don't talk to us. We don't know, and we don't want to know."

The three men looked so aggressive and serious that Mao Saner was stunned. He immediately lowered his head and concentrated on eating, not daring to ask any more questions.

Lao Jie couldn't help but knock on the side and said, "Boy, I have to remind you, you haven't seen the sister-in-law, but the sister-in-law must know you. She has a rough idea of ​​what can be spread and what can't be spread. You know the trumpet mouth, right? He keeps talking all day long, like he's sick, with his mouth wide open and never stops for a minute. When have you ever heard him talk about the sister-in-law?"

Mao Saner nodded blankly, but was a little surprised: "Sister-in-law still knows me?"

"Nonsense!" Yang Lazi scolded, "You are 'helping'. My sister-in-law knows everything about the family. No one should try to hide their intentions."

No one had any objections to this.

The Jiang family was so well-informed that even the people in Lao Niu's three sects found it unbelievable.

"Brother Niu, this should be something we can talk about, right?" Liang Chen asked, "We all know that the Third Master is the one who is responsible for getting news for the family."

Lao Niu shook his head and said, "I don't have much contact with the Third Master. You should ask Lao Yang about this."

Yang Lazi said, "Who told you that the Third Master was responsible for getting the news from home and the score?"

Liang Chen and Mao Saner didn't understand what he meant.

Yang Lazi explained, "The Third Master has a group of small followers. Originally, they could only get news from the city. Later, the Third Master took them to 'set up business' along the river. The wandering artists from the inner city who 'came out of the border' and came to do business here had to talk to the Third Master first. Since then, there have been more sources of news."

Old Jie echoed, "If you want to find out which foreigner, you have to ask the Second Master, or Shopkeeper Xue. She has many foreign girls under her, and she also has connections with Harbin."

Lao Niu concluded, "But those are just hearsay. If you really want to find out the truth, you still have to rely on the brothers in the Rong family."

All of this is not a secret.

After all, everyone present is a member of the Jiang family. On a daily basis, they have to deal with these leaders to a greater or lesser extent. If they encounter people or things they are familiar with, they will inevitably provide information to their boss.

"Who is in charge of the Rong family?" asked Accountant Gao.

Lao Niu waved his hand impatiently and said, "The Rong family cannot be seen in public, so don't ask."

Suddenly, a cold wind carrying heavy snow blew in from the rear window.

Old Jie turned around and swore, climbed onto the kang, locked the window frame, and couldn't help but curse under his breath: "What a devil! The snow is so heavy that it has blocked my back room."

"Didn't I bring you two shovels?" Yang Lazi said nonchalantly, "You can clean up tomorrow morning!"

Old Jie muttered to himself: "It's snowing so heavily, we've almost finished eating, and I don't know if Chen An will come..."

"Come if you want to, forget it if you don't want to. Do we three have to save some for him?" Yang Lazi was a little dissatisfied.

Lao Niu took out his pocket watch without saying a word and glanced at the time - eight thirty-five, almost nine o'clock.

Yang Lazi's eyes lit up: "Hey, Brother Niu, your watch is pretty good! Have you made a fortune recently?"

"Bullshit! I've been with my boss for eight years, and I can't even afford a broken watch?" Lao Niu was too lazy to explain.

Yang Lazi looked around at the crowd and said in admiration, "Look at you guys, all wearing pocket watches and big gold bracelets. I think I have to save some money to dress myself up!"

Mao Saner asked: "Brother Yang, you guys should earn a lot more than us as 'Xiangzi', right?"

"What are you doing?" Yang Lazi suddenly became alert. "You want to borrow money? I don't have any!"

"No, no, no, depending on what you said, I'm just asking casually."

"Anyway, there's enough work. It can't be too much. It depends on whether there are any odd jobs!" Yang Lazi patted Lao Niu on the shoulder and said with a smile, "For example, our brother Niu usually takes on a lot of work, so he has a lot of free time! If you want to borrow money, go to him, don't ask me, hahahaha!"

Liang Chen was not envious and said bluntly: "Brother Yang, you all fight and kill, and you earn a living based on your ability. You deserve whatever you earn."

"I love to hear that, so I never save money, hahahaha!"

"Are these all jobs assigned to you by your boss?"

"What are you thinking about?" Old Jie suddenly interrupted, "The boss is the face of the family, and now he has long stopped participating in these matters."

"Is that arranged by Brother Zhao?" Mao Saner asked.

"Not necessarily, depending on the scoring situation." The old commentator said, "If there is a problem on the line, it is Lao Zhao who is calling the shots. For other minor things, it could be San Ye, Lao Liu, or Manager Xue. It all depends on what it is!"

Yang Lazi waved his hand and said, "Well, it's not as weird as you think. Most of the time, it's just a small matter. However, the best job is the one assigned by Master Dong."

As soon as these words were spoken, both Lao Niu and Lao Jie nodded heavily to show their agreement.

"That's because..." When the words came to his lips, Mao Saner finally learned his lesson and didn't dare to ask any more.

Unexpectedly, Lao Jie and others did not take this matter too seriously.

Speaking of Uncle Dongfeng, the three "Xiangzi" all praised him highly.

"Uncle Dong is such a meticulous person!" Lao Niu exclaimed.

Old Jie immediately echoed, "As long as it's a job assigned by Uncle Dong, he will definitely help you consider all the circumstances. He will think about every step for you before giving you the order. As long as you follow his instructions and do your job honestly, there will be no problems nine times out of ten."

"It's all the cases! He's a very meticulous person. When doing things for him, there's only one word to describe it - worry-free!"

Yang Lazi repeatedly emphasized: "If the uncle asks you to clean up a cigarette, he even knows what cigarettes the cigarette smoker usually smokes! Where to clean up, how to clean up, when to clean up, after cleaning up, should you find a place to hide for a few days, or just pretend that nothing happened, if you want to hide, where to hide for how long, who will take care of your relatives at home, if you are caught by the patrol police, who can mention the Jiang family to you and who can't mention the Jiang family, everything - all situations, the uncle will tell you what to do."

Lao Jie nodded and couldn't help but sigh: "Compared with the eldest master, the tasks assigned by the third master are too rough. Sometimes, they just do it without thinking."

Hearing this, Liang Chen and Mao Saner couldn't help but feel a little envious.

No one doesn't like such a "superior" - clear goals, clear difficulties, clear preparations, and clear results.

"So that's how it is!" Mao Saner laughed, "I used to think that the master's job was mainly to pick up and drop off the two children of the employer from school!"

"Uh..." Yang Lazi was speechless for a moment. "If you say so, there's nothing wrong with it. My main job is to pick up my eldest daughter from school."

Liang Chen smiled and said, "That's great. I also like working under someone like you."

"Don't just think about the benefits." Lao Niu suddenly reminded, "Working for me is worry-free, but it also comes with pressure. If you consider all the situations, you will have no excuses. Once things go wrong, it will probably be your own fault. At that time, I will not let you off."

"Right, right, right. Everything has its pros and cons." Yang Lazi said, "Don't think that Third Master is not as meticulous as First Master, but Third Master treats us as brothers and really helps us with things. If anyone messes up, you can go and tell Third Master, and he will help you even if the sky falls."

No one is perfect, everyone has their own style.

It is really difficult to generalize which is better or worse, which is closer or distant.

Everyone chatted and laughed, and ate and drank around the fire for a while - it was already 8:50, and Chen An still hadn't come.

"I guess it's because it's snowing too heavily outside, so they won't come?" Liang Chen looked out the window and murmured.

"No way?" Accountant Gao and others frowned.

Although Chen An is an elder of the Jiang family, he is just a "helper". If he doesn't give face to Lao Jie at the dinner party, how can he talk about further progress in the future?
"How about I go out and greet him?" Accountant Gao suggested. "No, no, he can come if he wants. Why go and greet him? It's giving him face!" Old Jie said gloomily, "We are short of one person anyway. If you leave and Brother Niu leaves later, we won't be able to drink anymore."

Yang Lazi lit a cigarette and said, "Yes, yes, let's drink our own. Come on, I'll raise a glass, and we can all have one drink. Let's drink it quickly. Why haven't you tried drinking for so long?"

After that, everyone raised their glasses.

Lao Niu took this opportunity to put on his coat, sit on a stool, and glance at his pocket watch from time to time, as if he was ready to leave at any time.

Accustomed to the fighting and killing of "Xiangzi", Liang Chen and Mao Saner felt depressed when they saw Lao Niu's ready posture. They were full of random thoughts and dared not ask more questions. They just said with a little concern and flattery:
"Brother Niu, be careful on the road."

Unexpectedly, Yang Lazi suddenly laughed and said, "Brother Niu is so big, why should we be careful? You two make it sound like we have nothing else to do at home except dirty work!"

"It's not that weird." Lao Jie also smiled. "Our job as a 'Xiangzi' is just a bit difficult, not necessarily all about fighting and killing. Look at Tiger Master, a novelist, isn't he also a 'Xiangzi'?"

"Yes, yes, yes, Lao Jie, tell them about what happened to Old Shen's family two years ago. That was also our Xiangzi's job!"

"Don't tell me, it's damn unlucky!"

"Just tell it to make everyone happy!"

Everyone kept coaxing him, pouring him wine and lighting cigarettes. Lao Jie had no choice but to tell him about the opening of the South Market two years ago, just to add some topics of conversation at the table.

…………

It turns out that the Jiang family nowadays is always accustomed to handing over all the trivial matters at the business meeting, in public, and those that require dealing with "loopholes" to "Liu the Cripple" Liu Yansheng.

Liu Yansheng was born into a "golden dot" family. He had a handsome appearance, an imposing manner, was good at observing people's words and expressions, and had a bookish air from head to toe. He was indeed suitable for the job of being a "flowery-tongued" lobbyist for his family.

The year before last, when Fengtian South Market was opened, the wealthy and powerful businessmen acquired the land and demolition became a top priority. The provincial government hid behind the scenes and pretended to be the good guy, so the dirty work naturally fell on the Jiang family.

Although the demolition process was generally smooth, it was inevitable to encounter a few stubborn old Dengs.

When encountering this situation, it is time for Liu Yansheng to take people to "negotiate".

That autumn, he called a few brothers and went to a family surnamed Shen to "talk reason."

Liu Yansheng was very friendly. He asked his brothers to wait outside the door and he went into the Shen family with Lao Jie alone.

As soon as he entered the door, he bowed, smiled, and said all the nice things he could, but Old Man Shen and his family remained unmoved, so Liu Yansheng became a little unhappy.

"Uncle Shen, forty dollars in cash is enough to buy your small courtyard and the few acres of land at the back. It's a lot."

"Mr. Liu, this is not a matter of money. Our Shen family has lived here for generations and has developed feelings for it."

"Generation?" Liu Yansheng frowned. "As I recall, you seemed to have come to Guandong with your father, oh, your father?"

"Ah, this..." Old Man Shen was a little embarrassed. After thinking for a while, he said, "The key is that my father is still buried in our land. If the provincial government wants to build a building, it can't crush my father underneath!"

Liu Yansheng sighed and said thoughtfully, "Uncle Shen, my boss doesn't want to ruin the relationship with the villagers because of the demolition. If you don't want to move out because of this, we can help you find a way to move the grave. We will provide the manpower, and you just need to put your fingerprint on this deed."

"No, no, no, this is too much trouble. It's not appropriate. It's not appropriate."

"Uncle Shen, the provincial government wants to develop. If you refuse to move, you are forcing us to use force. Is this the right thing to do?"

"Oh, that's not what I meant." Old Man Shen waved his hands hurriedly, "I meant that it would be too much trouble to ask you to help. Otherwise... you pay the money and we can just move the grave ourselves."

Liu Yansheng's face turned cold and he said, "After all this trouble, you still want more money. Then just tell me, how much do you want?"

Old Man Shen and his family looked at each other, then tremblingly stretched out two fingers and grinned:
"Two... two hundred dollars in cash, what do you think? Haha, everyone knows that Boss Jiang is not short of money, and I am not asking for too much. My land is not valuable now, but after the port is opened, it will definitely double in value. You must not lose. The Japanese offered my family two hundred dollars, but I am a patriot and don't want to cooperate with them... Hey? Mr. Liu, why are you leaving?"

As he said this, Liu Yansheng walked out of the room in silence.

The next morning, just as the sky was getting light, there was a commotion outside the gate of the Shen family's courtyard.

When Old Man Shen and his companions pushed the door open, they saw several tattered coffin boards covered in mud scattered around in front of their yard, with two stinking rotten corpses lying across the middle!
…………

At this point, Lao Jie felt sick and frowned, cursing, "Bad luck, damn bad luck!"

Everyone understood what was going on, and couldn't help asking, "Then... did Old Man Shen's family move away?"

Lao Jie nodded: "If we don't move away, it won't be a matter of digging graves anymore."

"So... the graves have been dug up. Is it 40 dollars in cash, or 40 dollars in cash?" Mao Saner asked.

"Boom boom boom!"

Just as Lao Jie was about to speak, there was a knock on the door.

"It may be Chen An." Liang Chen immediately stood up from the stool, "I'll go open the door!"

Lao Niu closed his pocket watch with a click and muttered, "It's almost time for me to leave."

Hearing this, everyone simply stood up and walked towards the outer room.

Mao Saner walked and recalled the story, muttering to himself: "Killing people is a little difficult, but when it comes to digging graves, I can do it too!"

Lao Jie laughed and said, "If you want to do this kind of work again, I will look for you first."

Mao Saner smiled and said, "Brother, you are kidding me. Our family is not engaged in tomb robbing. Can we dig up other people's ancestral graves every now and then?"

"Hahaha, if you don't want to dig up the grave, then just bury the body. It's just tinkering with the soil anyway, so it won't make much difference."

As they spoke, several people gathered in the outer room to answer the door.

Pushing open the two doors, I saw heavy snow outside and a hazy, short, fat, and sturdy figure standing under the eaves shivering.

"Oh my god, Chen An, why did you come just now?" Lao Jie complained, "We almost finished eating, and you just came. I thought you froze to death on the road!"

The man shook off the snowflakes on his shoulders and felt hat, and without even a moment's apology, he asked, "Is Brother Niu here?"

"What's wrong?" Lao Niu squeezed to the front and asked.

Chen An looked around, lowered his voice, and said mysteriously: "Master asked me to bring you a message. Shall we go inside and talk?"

Lao Niu glanced at the time and nodded, and everyone went back to the inner room and sat down.

"What's the message?" Lao Niu asked as he sat down.

Chen An sat down, warmed his hands on the stove, then took out a beige, wrinkled, heavy envelope from his arms, and said with wide eyes: "My uncle asked me to give this to you."

He opened the envelope with a swish and saw a Condor brand pistol inside.

Everyone was surprised.

Yang Lazi and Lao Jie quickly picked up their bowls and chopsticks and ate a few mouthfuls in silence.

Lao Niu weighed the Ma brand pistol in his palm. It was very light and had no bullets. He immediately looked up at the fat black man in front of him and asked:

"What else did the master say?"

"Nothing." Chen An shook his head. "I asked him, and he said you'll understand everything when you see this gun. Oh, by the way, the old man also told you to return the gun as soon as you're done. But... this gun seems to be empty?"

"I know that. The flesh is in my hand."

As Lao Niu spoke, he took out a magazine from his arms as if nothing had happened, put it into the gun with a "click", and then stood up from the stool.

"Bang! Bang bang bang!"

The gunshot was sharp and sudden!

Immediately afterwards, there was a loud clanging sound from tables, chairs and benches, and half of the table was broken into pieces. Before Chen An and Accountant Gao could react, they were each shot twice and fell in a pool of blood.

Seeing this, Liang Chen, Mao Saner and others immediately jumped up from the benches and couldn't help but curse: "Fuck! Niu, Brother Niu...what do you mean by this?"

Lao Niu silently removed the magazine, wrapped the Horse brand revolver in the envelope again, and put it in his pocket.

Throughout the whole process, he remained calm and composed, as if what was happening before his eyes was as common to him as eating and sleeping.

"It's this guy!" Yang Lazi put down his bowl and chopsticks, then turned around to look at Liang Chen and said with a smile, "I thought it was you!"

"What do you mean?" Liang Chen suddenly became nervous.

Judging from the reactions of the three "Xiangzi" at the table, it seemed that they were also quite surprised by this matter.

Could it be that whoever delivers the gun will be shot?

But if that was the case, Chen An was the only one who had not been present before. It was obvious that he should be the one to deliver the gun, so why would it be surprising?

Or maybe the original plan was not like this, and everything that is happening now is just an alternative plan?
Liang Chen was puzzled, but he didn't dare to ask any more questions.

There was only one thing he was sure of - the two people who died were definitely not innocent deaths, but must have committed some unforgivable crimes.

Like him, these two people work in the Jiang family’s newest business, “The Club”.

Recalling some casual conversations at the dinner table just now - "The sister-in-law seems unhappy recently", "The sister-in-law of the Jiang family sent Sifengkou to clean up the traitor", "Don't treat the boss and sister-in-law as fools" - and looking at the big shiny gold plate on Accountant Gao's finger, Liang Chen vaguely guessed what was going on.

However, Yang Lazi's words made him feel even more terrified.

It seems that the three "Xiangzi" knew that someone would die at the dinner table tonight, and the accountant Gao might have been identified long ago, but they still talked and laughed as usual, nothing unusual.

Thinking of this, Liang Chen couldn't help but glance at Lao Jie, his eyes full of fear.

Just as he was about to ask, Lao Niu had already walked out the door, muttering without looking back, "I'm going to return the gun. I'm leaving."

Then, Yang Lazi also stood up lazily, smiled at everyone, and said: "You guys work hard, the boss will not treat you unfairly."

After saying that, he waved to Lao Jie again and asked, "Would you like to stay at my place tonight?"

Lao Jie put on his coat, walked to the table, and raised his chin towards Liang Chen and Mao Saner:

"Xiao Liang, there's a shovel over there in the field outside the house. When another 'Xiangzi' comes over later, you two can help bury the man. Be good!"

Liang Chen and Mao Saner nodded blankly.

The old Jie smiled and then reminded them: "Take out the valuables from them. This is extra money. I'll give it to you two!"

Manager Wang and others asked tremblingly: "Old Jie, then...then should the three of us leave or..."

"You three are all civilians, right?" Yang Lazi asked, "Have you ever done anything to let your employer down?"

"No, no, absolutely not. If we do anything to let our boss down, I will be struck by lightning immediately!" Manager Wang and others swore an oath.

"Then what are you still doing here, waiting for the mutton soup?" Yang Lazi scolded, "Go home, get some sleep, and think about what happened today when you get naughty next time!"

After saying that, the three "Xiangzi" of the Jiang family left the house one after another.

Liang Chen and the others stood there in silence for a long time. Suddenly, they heard a "click" above their heads, and the room suddenly became bright again...

(End of this chapter)