20 years of the Republic of China

Chapter 805 Reconstructing Order (Part 1)

The Jiang family mansion is located in the north of Fengtian City.

After a simple cleaning, there were a few patches of pale red snow piled up in the corner.

Most of the windows were broken, and when a draft blew through the house, the whole mansion seemed to groan softly.

Hai Xinnian and the Kaoshan gang were guarding the courtyard. This morning, seven or eight Jiang family "smokers" came and stood near the gate smoking.

Where did these "sound effects" come from?

As mentioned earlier, on the very first night of the Fengtian turmoil, the Jiang family had already assigned people to guard their property in various stores.

There weren't many bodyguards at the venue; each counter only had two "street thugs" and a few "gang" members.

Last night, the situation was urgent, so Zhao Guoyan went to various counters to gather helpers and took a few "street vendors" with him. At the same time, in order to save time, he also asked the "Zaibang" brothers to go to the Jiang residence to provide support first.

Everyone readily agreed, but when the time came to a crisis, not a single one of them arrived. Seeing the situation in the town descend into chaos, they all scattered and went home.

Fengtian City was in turmoil throughout the night, and countless businesses were looted and burned.

News of the Jiang family's misfortune quickly spread.

It wasn't until this morning, when order was gradually restored in the provincial capital and Old Chai began patrolling the streets, that these "thugs" dared to "abandon their posts" and rushed to the Jiang family mansion.

Meanwhile, Lai Zi and his gang also arrived after hearing the news.

Last night, following Li Zhengxi's instructions, they guarded the grain store for Wang Zhengnan. Although they encountered several groups of refugees, they did not run into any bandits or thieves, so their strength remained intact. There were still twenty or thirty brothers, and they came swaying and swinging their arms as soon as it was dawn.

The Jiang family's "Xiangzi," or elite force, has always maintained a strength of around fifty people.

Last night, more than half of it was lost.

Yuan Xinfa led a dozen or so brothers to guard the mansion, but they were all wiped out; Yang Lazi led a dozen or so brothers to reinforce the outer mansion, but they also suffered heavy casualties. A few of them were lucky enough to survive, but they were seriously injured and barely hanging on. Without a year or two of recuperation, they would probably be unable to shoulder heavy responsibilities.

Now, after careful calculation, the Jiang family's elite forces consist only of a few thugs near the gate and the eight brothers who escorted the convoy last night.

Even at this moment, although the Jiang family's mansion was crowded with people, the Fan Gang made up the vast majority of them.

Birds of a feather flock together.

The Jiang family's "Xiangzi" was not familiar with them, so they naturally had nothing to say to each other. After hearing that his former brothers had all died in the previous night, he became even more taciturn, gathering near the courtyard gate to smoke in silence, each with a solemn and grief-stricken expression.

In contrast, Lai Zi and his gang seemed quite pleased with themselves.

He thought to himself: The boss suffered a heavy blow last night, losing so many brothers. We old guys have finally seen the light at the end of the tunnel. It's time for us to show our faces and stand out.

Even so, Lai Zi and the others only dared to secretly rejoice in their hearts, but dared not show any excitement on the surface.

Not long after, the sound of tires crunching through the snow suddenly came from outside the gate.

Immediately afterwards, one of the men turned around and called out, "Hey, the boss is back!"

"Is it?"

Hearing the commotion, everyone rushed to the doorway, then quickly dispersed into two rows.

The car drove through the crowd and slowly came to a stop at the flower bed.

Several thugs quickly rushed over and pulled open the car door.

Zhao Guoyan, his face ashen, was the first to jump out of the passenger seat. Pointing at the men in front of him, he demanded in a stern voice, "Where are those guys who were 'helping' last night?"

"This..." The group looked at each other, shook their heads and said, "We haven't found it yet. We rushed over as soon as we heard the news this morning."

"I want the names of those cowards!"

"Yes!"

"Don't leave a single one behind!" Zhao Guoyan rarely lost his temper, his face darkening as he rebuked, "Damn it, desertion in the face of battle is an unforgivable crime!"

The brothers all nodded and said, "Brother Yan, don't worry. They can run away, but they can't hide. We know everything about the families of those who have signed a written agreement with the 'Zaibang'!"

As soon as he finished speaking, Li Zhengxi also crawled out of the carriage from the other side.

The members of the fan gang immediately swarmed over, vying to ask, "Third Brother, are you alright?"

"It's alright, don't worry about me!"

Li Zhengxi waved his hand, found Shi Tou with a bruised face in the crowd, and asked, "What about those brothers who were seriously injured last night? Have they been taken to the hospital?"

Stone's expression darkened slightly, and he sighed, "A few didn't make it and passed away halfway. The others were taken to a nearby clinic before dawn." He then hesitated, "Third Brother, what about the medical expenses..."

Li Zhengxi raised his hand to interrupt, saying, "Nonsense, do you even need to tell me? Just mention it to the clinic later and ask them to pay for it first. I'll pay them back later. They'll get their share."

Stone responded with a sound of agreement and then fell silent.

Immediately afterward, Jiang Lianheng also climbed out of the carriage. "Godfather!" Hai Xinnian immediately came over and asked, "Have Godmother and the others settled in yet?"

Jiang Lianheng nodded and said, "Your godmother is fine, everything's good. How are things on your end?"

Hai Xinnian turned around and pointed to the two gatehouses on the east side of the courtyard wall, saying, "The main house has been tidied up. My great-aunt... she's in the second gatehouse."

Most of the bodies left from last night's bloodshed were left in the backyard, but Xu Ruqing's status in the Jiang family was different, so she was left on the communal bed in the second gatehouse.

After all, now is not the time for a funeral.

Fortunately, the area outside the pass is extremely cold and covered in ice and snow, so there is no need to worry about the body decomposing, and the funeral can be postponed for a few days.

That being said, people believe that burial is the best way to ensure a peaceful death.

Jiang Lianheng would feel guilty every day until Xu Ruqing was buried.

"Where is what I gave you?" Jiang Lianheng asked again, his voice much lower.

Hai Xinnian whispered back, "Don't worry, Godfather, the thing is buried in the snowdrift in the northwest corner of the backyard!"

"Hmm, what about those few survivors we caught? Are they all alright?"

"It's alright, they're all tied up in the gatehouse, and someone's watching them from inside!"

Jiang Lianheng was very satisfied. Hai Xinnian had already done what needed to be done, and there was nothing else the kid could decide. So he asked, "While I was away, did anyone come to silence me, or any other suspicious people?"

Hai Xinnian was certain that no one had come to kill him or silence him since last night, but he wasn't so sure if there were any suspicious people around.

While they were hesitating, Lai Zi spoke first.

The old man swaggered over from the crowd to Jiang Lianheng's side, patted his chest, and said with a big grin, "Boss, don't worry, with us brothers here to keep things in check, even if he had eight hundred lives, no one would dare to come near us! If they do, we'll wipe them out without holding back. Just watch me!"

Jiang Lianheng frowned slightly and muttered to himself, "Hiss, you are..."

"Brother, that's Lai Zi!" Li Zhengxi quickly came over and introduced him. "Last night, I sent him with twenty or thirty men to help Second Brother guard the grain store!"

Jiang Lianheng nodded and asked, "So, what's the situation?"

"Boss, there's absolutely nothing going on!" the scoundrel said smugly, describing the scene vividly. "You wouldn't believe it, but last night, a few groups of troublemakers came to Nanji Grain and Oil Shop, trying to take advantage of the chaos to loot grain. Damn it, how could I let them? I just stood there at the door, flashed my knife, and chopped one of them on the spot. Who dared to utter a sound? Not a single one! Of course, they were also afraid of your reputation!"

Jiang Lianheng felt a little displeased, but he really couldn't say anything.

After all, Lai Zi and the others did put in some effort last night.

After thinking for a moment, I nodded to him and said, "You guys have worked hard!"

Then, he called Hai Xinnian over and took him to the gatehouse to interrogate the whistle-keeper Li and the survivors left behind by Huo Laogui.

Lai Zi and his gang usually didn't have a chance to talk to Jiang Lianheng, so they weren't about to miss this opportunity. They quickly jogged over and said, "Boss, you don't need to do the interrogation of those bastards yourself. Leave it to me. I have a million ways to get them to talk, a million ways!"

Jiang Lianheng nodded and gave a perfunctory reply, but in his heart he was already quite annoyed with this person.

This kid really has no sense of propriety. Although he begged on the streets when he was young, he came from a humble background and can't be considered a true "beggar." Especially after he got involved with Xifeng, he simply transformed into a complete scoundrel. His flattery is inappropriate at any time and place, and it doesn't please anyone at all.

What time is it now?
Xu Ruqing's body was still warm in the second gatehouse!

The leper, however, was eager to promote himself, wishing he could sharpen his head and climb up the ladder.

Such behavior was so offensive that even Li Zhengxi, let alone Jiang Lianheng, found it hard to stand.

"Lackey—"

Li Zhengxi strode over, grabbed Lai Zi, and scolded him in a low voice with a gloomy face: "Is this the time for you to curry favor and get promoted? If there's anything we need you for, the boss will naturally give the order. What the hell are you doing, meddling in our business? Get out of here!"

Lai Zi was stunned, feeling a little embarrassed. As he watched Li Zhengxi and the others walk towards the second gatehouse, he felt uneasy.

Someone came over and said, "Brother Lai, let's wait outside for a while!"

Lai Zi curled his lip and muttered under his breath, "Why isn't Third Brother speaking up for us with such a great opportunity?"

"Don't overthink it, Third Brother is definitely doing this for our own good!"

"Am I overthinking it? Even if he doesn't want to support us, he shouldn't at least discourage us. Is he really that unwilling to let us be 'kyoko' too? We relied on the fan gang and put in a lot of effort last night. What does this mean?"

Lai Zi couldn't understand it, or rather, he was unwilling to accept it, so he couldn't help but mutter a few words to himself.

Just then, a series of light footsteps were heard coming from outside the courtyard gate.

Everyone's expression hardened, and they all gripped their sidearms and turned to look at the door.

A short while later, a group of old firewood trucks arrived at the door with a rumble, and the leader was a familiar face.

Master Jiang hurried along, panting heavily, and asked loudly, "Where's Boss Jiang? Is Boss Jiang here?"

(End of this chapter)