20 years of the Republic of China

Chapter 700 Family Rules
Daqiganzi noticed something strange outside the window, so he quickly put down his bowl and chopsticks, moved to the edge of the kang, put on his big cotton shoes, and prepared to go out to see what was going on.

Unexpectedly, as soon as I stood up, Wen Tingge and his men came to the door with a rumble.

The big flagpole was stunned for a moment, and several disciples were also frightened and quickly stood up and retreated to the corner.

Before he had time to find out the reason, the Jiang family brothers had already stepped into the house.

Yang Lazi came in last. He raised his foot and kicked the little apprentice of the big flagpole into the house. Then he closed the door with a "bang", leaned against the door frame and lit a cigarette.

Suddenly, seven or eight strong men appeared, and the room suddenly became a bit crowded. The originally relaxed atmosphere became tense and depressing.

"Old Qi, are you eating?"

Wen Tingge greeted him casually.

Daqiganzi's heart was hanging in the air, and he hurried over, put on a smile and said, "Ah, I just finished my meal. Uncle Wen, what's wrong with you..."

"Then eat first." Wen Tingge raised his hand to interrupt, "I can wait for you for a while."

When the big flagpole saw this, he had no appetite for food and asked tremblingly, "No, no, what do you want to talk to me about?"

"Sit down and talk!"

Wen Tingge pointed to the small square table in front of him, then winked at his men and said, "Clear the table."

The sturdy man stepped forward, held the corner of the table with his hand and lifted it up. All the cups, plates, bowls and chopsticks on the table immediately fell to the ground, making a crackling sound and making a mess all over the floor.

Seeing this, the big flagpole panicked and asked hurriedly, "Hey, Uncle Wen, what are you singing about?"

Wen Tingge sat down slowly with a cold face and raised his chin towards him: "Old Qi, sit down!"

"I, I'd better stand!"

"That's fine. I came here tonight for nothing else but to ask you to find something."

"Looking for something?"

The big flagpole was stunned, thinking that the store had not been open recently, and the money owed last month had been paid, so he asked in confusion: "Uncle Wen, do you have any misunderstanding?"

Wen Tingge had already expected him to say this, so he briefly explained the case of Chen Guojin's lost jade carving.

Sure enough, when Daqipole heard this, he immediately denied it.

"Oh, Master Wen, I am so wronged! I admit that I did go to Deyi Building two nights ago and had a meal with these good-for-nothings, but I didn't even know there was such a thing as the 'Old Monkey Offering Peaches' jade carving. Even if I knew, I wouldn't have the guts to open a business at this time!"

He spoke sincerely, and because he had the confidence, he sat down calmly.

"Think about it, Marshal Zhang is celebrating his birthday, and the provincial capital is tightening security. It's not like I've been out here for a while, so how dare I be so careless about this?"

The big flagpole continued, "What's more, at the beginning of this month, the boss sent someone to say hello. I am also a 'helper' of the Jiang family. How could I knowingly commit a crime?"

There was too much nonsense, and Wen Tingge had no patience to listen any more. He waved his hand and said, "Old Qi, there's no need to explain. I know you didn't do this."

"Ah? Then what are you doing..."

Before he could finish his words, Daqipole himself reacted first. His face darkened and he was shaking with anger. He immediately turned around and started scolding his disciples.

"What are you looking at? Stand still!"

At the command, all the disciples immediately straightened their bodies and stood in a row along the edge of the kang.

Daqiganzi is an old hand and knows very well the truth that "there is no order without rules".

Some rules of the underworld may seem unreasonable, but in fact they are commonly accepted and are essentially good for everyone.

Although the Jiang family is accustomed to bullying and dominating the market, it is reasonable and impeccable for Yan Jing to open the Eight Secret Gates for business during the Marshal's Mansion's birthday banquet.

The guys online naturally strictly abide by it, but those greenhorns who have not experienced the world may still have a glimmer of hope.

Wen Tingge understood this clearly from the moment he entered the mansion.

The big flagpole must be innocent without a doubt.

If he really did it himself, how stupid must he be to know that he had offended both the black and white worlds, but still stay at home drinking and eating meat as if nothing had happened?
"Who did it?"

The big flagpole stood up, glanced around and asked in a cold voice.

Everyone looked at each other and shook their heads in silence.

"If you stand up now, you can still try to get a lighter sentence. Don't force me to find you out myself. By then, it will be too late to say anything!"

Several disciples remained indifferent.

Seeing this, Wen Tingge felt a little dissatisfied.

He knew the "Rong family" so well that he could guess the general idea based on the modus operandi alone.

This is not an exaggeration at all.

Lao Rong steals things in different categories, using different names for each.

Those who steal at night are called "black sneaking"; those who steal during the day need courage, so they are called "breaking into the hall"; those who steal in the early morning are called "eating dew money"; those who steal at dusk are called "running after the lanterns"; those who steal outside the city are called "grass stealing"; those who steal in the city are called "small gangs".

Times were tough, and Lao Rong also knew how to avoid competition, so they divided up their territories based on time and place, and kept to themselves.

The area around Daxiguan was originally the land of the big flagpole.

When he was young, he became famous for "breaking into the hall" and "living on the dew".

Considering the previous investigations, it would be weird if the theft of the jade carving had nothing to do with him.

Wen Tingge couldn't help but remind him, "Old Qi, if you can't find out the truth, then hand the person over to us. However, according to the rules, if the Jiang family finds out the truth, then the crime will be aggravated and they will be punished together. I'll give you three minutes."

The big flagpole was anxious, and he shouted at his apprentice: "Damn it, you dare not take responsibility for it? If you have a penis in your pants, just stand up and don't let everyone get involved!"

After saying that, he stepped forward and looked at his disciples from head to toe.

The eldest disciple said, "Master, please don't look at me! If I had done this, it would not have been possible for only one piece of jade to be lost!"

The second apprentice said: "Master, you know me well. When I do work, I always pick up light things. Gold and silver jewelry are my favorite!"

The third disciple said, "Master, don't you know how timid I am? Ever since I started, I have only dared to rob old ladies' brothels, never a hotel!"

All the disciples expressed their opinions one after another, regardless of whether they were reliable or not, and were all busy proving their innocence.

Only when he walked in front of the little disciple did he give the most concise answer.

"Master, it wasn't me."

The big flagpole immediately frowned, stopped and stood still, staring straight at the little apprentice's face.

A master takes his apprentice and sees him grow up from childhood. He can often guess whether the apprentice is lying or not just by looking at him.

The big flagpole looked suspicious, and suddenly recalled in his mind that in recent days, several disciples had complained a lot because of the tight food and clothing, but Lao Geda and Xiao Wu had no complaints. Could it be that the two of them had made some extra money? Thinking about the whereabouts and actions of the disciples recently, his heart suddenly sank, and his expression suddenly became cold and hard.

After all, the young apprentice was still young and had the ability to be a thief, but not the qualities to be a thief. Being stared at by the master like that, he felt uncomfortable all over and his voice immediately trembled a little.

"Master, it's really... it's really not me."

The fellow brothers also noticed something, looked at each other, and their faces gradually turned pale. They didn't expect that something went wrong on their side.

The big flagpole looked silently to the left and to the right. His eyes were fixed instantly. He swung his arm and slapped the little apprentice in the face!

"Snapped!"

With a crisp sound, the case was closed.

The big flagpole cursed angrily: "Fuck you, as soon as you stick your butt out, I know what you are going to say, and you still pretend to be so high and mighty in front of me!"

The young disciple covered half of his face, already frightened out of his wits.

"Master——"

"Don't f*cking call me Master, you're not my disciple, you're my f*cking father!"

The big flagpole held out his hand and shouted at the eldest disciple, "Bring the knife!"

"Master!"

All the senior brothers pleaded in unison.

"Bring me a knife!" Big Flagpole refused to give in and slapped Xiaowu in the face again. "Do you still have a share? Bring me a knife!"

As soon as he finished speaking, he heard a loud "clang" behind him.

Looking back, he saw Yang Lazi raising his hand and throwing a hatchet onto the table, and pouted at him: "Lao Qi, I've prepared it for you a long time ago, let's get started!"

The old man with the big flagpole blushed, picked up the axe, turned around and scolded the eldest disciple: "Hold these two bastards, whoever dares to plead for mercy will be punished together with them!"

Everyone knew the stakes of the matter. If they didn't punish the junior brother today, everyone would be whipped. So they immediately joined forces to capture the two men and pinned their right hands to the table.

The young disciple felt cold all over, and he collapsed, crying and begging, "Master, I was wrong, please forgive me this time, I won't dare to do it again!"

However, he didn't even look at the flagpole. He just held the hatchet and bowed to the Jiang family.

"Uncle Wen, please tell the boss for me that I, Old Qi, failed to discipline him properly. Tomorrow morning, I will personally come to his house to apologize and accept the punishment!"

After saying that, he raised his hand and swung the knife!
After hearing two "clang clang" sounds, the index and middle fingers of the two apprentices' right hands were chopped off.

The little apprentice's screams were incessant.

The big flagpole turned a deaf ear to him, but picked up the four fingers on the table, wrapped them with white cloth, and handed them to Wen Tingge respectfully, saying, "Uncle Wen, please forgive me, please forgive me!"

Wen Tingge glanced at it but refused to answer it. He asked coldly, "Old Qi, why are you pretending to be confused with me? Are you trying to fool the Jiang family with those few fingers?"

The big flagpole's face froze, and after thinking for a moment, he quickly smiled and said, "Master Wen, these two guys have just started working here and don't know the rules. Please bear with them!"

Wen Tingge turned his face away and said nothing.

Seeing this, the big flagpole yelled at the little disciple again: "Stop howling, kowtow to your uncle Wen and admit your fault!"

The two disciples were flustered and bowed their heads, crying and shouting, "Master Wen, I know I was wrong, please forgive me!"

The big flagpole also chimed in, smiling bitterly, "Master Wen, you see... these two guys are usually pretty good, they were just confused for a moment and were blinded by the fat, how about you help me ask the boss for mercy, and give them a chance since they are still young?"

Wen Tingge still ignored it.

Yang Lazi and the others also smiled with a fake smile, with impatience in their eyes, as if they were ready to take action at any time.

The big flagpole's heart sank, and he dared not say any more nonsense, so he immediately ordered: "Pull these two bastards up, you want to do it, right? I'll make you do it!"

The disciples obeyed and did as ordered.

With this cut, the entire hand was chopped off.

The two disciples wailed loudly, and just when the knife was about to fall, Wen Tingge suddenly stopped the flagpole.

"slow!"

Wen Tingge looked at the two young men and asked in a deep voice, "Do you want to keep your hand?"

The two were caught off guard and didn't react.

Big Flagpole was anxious, and immediately glared at him and cursed: "Master Wen is asking you two a question, why the hell are you still standing there?"

"I want to!" the young apprentice begged tremblingly, "Master Wen, please forgive me!"

There was no mercy in Wen Tingge's eyes. He just asked, "Where is the thing? Hand it over, and I can plead for you two."

The young apprentice swallowed his saliva, covered his bloody hand, and said, "Sold it."

"Ok?"

"I'm not lying, the item is really not in my hands. I got it early this morning and sold it this morning!"

The expressions of Wen Tingge and others suddenly changed - now the problem was even more serious.

Zhao Guoyan and Li Zhengxi had already asked Lao He, a business dealing in smuggled goods in the provincial capital, and everyone said that they had not been open recently and had never seen any jade carving of "Old Monkey Offering Peaches".

Now, this young disciple claims that the goods have been shipped. Doesn’t that mean that someone deliberately deceived the Jiang family?
It is even possible that the "buyer" came first and then the "thief", which is equivalent to hiring a killer.

After all, this kind of thing is not uncommon online.

No matter how you look at it, this little apprentice has broken the rules of the "Rong Family": first, he disobeyed the Jiang Family; second, he betrayed his teacher and ancestors; third, after stealing the money and treasures, he did not keep his hands off for three days and wait and see how the situation changed, but instead stole and sold them right away, thus subverting the Rong Family's rules in one fell swoop.

This kind of behavior is just like a birthday star eating arsenic - he is tired of living!
Wen Tingge glared at the big flagpole and snorted, "Old Qi, take a good look. This is your precious disciple. He is so capable!"

After hearing this, even the big flagpole was too embarrassed to protect the young apprentice, so he picked up the hatchet and cursed:
"You little bastard, take your hands out. If I don't chop you off today, I'll be letting my ancestors down!"

The young disciple wanted to shout again, but found that his fellow apprentices were no longer begging for mercy. Only then did he wake up from his dream and regret it too late.

Shopping is not a joke, if you are not careful you may end up spending a lot of money.

Wen Tingge was worried that the boy would faint, so he quickly raised his hand to stop him and asked, "Boy, tell me first, who did you sell the jade carving to? Did someone pay you to steal it, or did you find the buyer yourself?"

The young apprentice did not dare to hide it and immediately revealed the truth: "I sold the things to the Southern Railway Concession."

"where?"

"The Japanese and Korean devils in the South Railway Concession are willing to accept anything as long as the goods are good!"

Everyone's heart sank - this was a place that the Jiang family could not reach.

(End of this chapter)