20 years of the Republic of China

Chapter 859 Self-disruption
South Railway Annex, Warehouse No. 7.

As night fell, Lao Dou and the others were summoned to the Japanese Police Station to cooperate with Saito Rokuro in giving a statement explaining the cause and effect of the riot at the South Market that day, and to discuss the next steps.

The three brothers then stayed there to wait.

The group was not originally a cohesive unit; they came together for mutual benefit, which inevitably led to a loose organization. Now, facing setbacks and with their leader absent, they gradually scattered, staying only with the brothers they knew well.

Some people were sleeping in the warehouse, some were playing cards in the guardhouse, and a few were smoking and chatting under the electric light at the warehouse entrance.

The smoke gradually dissipated, but the worry on everyone's faces showed no sign of easing.

A moment later, the warehouse door suddenly opened.

Tang Wenbiao, Lao Dou's second-in-command, walked slowly out of the warehouse with a cigarette dangling from his lips. He looked around and asked, "Hasn't Big Brother returned yet?"

The brothers smoking by the door looked into the distance and shook their heads in silence.

Someone struck a match, leaned over to light Tang Wenbiao's cigarette, and sighed, "Second Brother, look at the situation now... We failed to kill Jiang Lianheng, the shop transfer wasn't settled, and Qin Huaimeng is hiding like a coward... Is there any hope for us?"

The fact that you can ask this question means that you already have a vague answer in your heart.

Sure enough, the remaining brothers immediately joined in the discussion.

"Yes! This battle was fought far too quickly, over in less than five days. Now the city has returned to order, and the officials at all levels are still the same people they were before. Although the Jiang family lost many brothers, they are still the same Jiang family. I think we should start preparing..."

"Run away?"

"Hey, you said it yourself, it has nothing to do with me!"

"So what if I said it? It's not that I'm afraid of dying, it's that I'm afraid we'll work hard and end up with nothing, while that guy surnamed Qin benefits instead!"

Everyone agreed, and after thinking about it, they turned their attention to the second counter, seemingly seeking his opinion, but in reality, they were pressing him for an answer, and even subtly trying to force him to express his opinion.

Tang Wenbiao stood under the lamp, took a deep drag of his cigarette, tilted his head back and exhaled, saying, "There's no turning back now. We've already offended the Jiang family, what's the point of saying all this now?"

"Why didn't it work?" a brother named Simao said. "Second Brother, didn't you see Zeng Shouyi today?"

"Seeing it doesn't prove anything."

"Second brother, he has a blood debt to pay for killing someone in the Jiang family's outer residence!"

Si Mao suddenly lowered his voice, led the brothers a few steps forward, until they were far away from the warehouse gate, before continuing the previous topic:

“I’ve heard everything. That night, Huo Laogui and his gang stormed into the Jiang family’s outer residence and killed Yang Lazi. It seems that one of the concubines also died at their hands. And yet, Zeng Shouyi still managed to survive! If he can survive, why can’t we?”

"What if Zeng Shouyi has already betrayed us?" someone asked.

"Are you fucking stupid?" Simo immediately retorted, "If he had betrayed us beforehand and leaked the news, would Jiang Lianheng have been in such a sorry state back then?"

Upon hearing this, Tang Wenbiao's face darkened, but he did not utter a word of rebuke.

Seeing that he didn't blame him, Simao mustered up his courage and continued, "Think about it, even someone like Zeng Shouyi didn't die, which means we actually have a way to survive!"

After thinking about it, everyone agreed that it made sense; in the world of martial arts, you don't know someone until you fight them!

Moreover, although they also had blood on their hands, they killed members of the Kao Shan Gang. The Kao Shan Gang's status in the Jiang family was only that of an outsider. If you really want to argue, their crimes were much lighter than Zeng Shouyi's.

Si Mao added, "In short, Zeng Shouyi's appearance today was definitely not without reason. I think this is a message that Jiang Lianheng deliberately sent to us, offering to surrender without killing him!"

"What if it's a trap?"

Among the brothers, many were cautious and hesitant to readily believe the Jiang family's offer of surrender. They said, "You must understand, when Zeng Shouyi surrendered, the Jiang family was in decline; they were offering him a helping hand in his time of need! The situation has changed now. Qin Huaimeng is clearly no longer effective. Should we go and surrender again—"

"Hey, you said it yourself!" Simao quickly tried to distance himself from the situation.

"Alright, alright, I said it! The Jiang family's momentum has already risen. If we surrender now, it will only be adding icing on the cake. Will the outcome be the same?"

Upon hearing this, everyone immediately withdrew their thoughts of surrender.

This is a fact, and even Si Mao couldn't refute it.

The room fell silent, and everyone started smoking quietly again.

After a moment of silence, Tang Wenbiao suddenly spoke up: "If you want to surrender, you have to offer a pledge of allegiance. Others are others, but the key is how much we can offer."

Everyone nodded and asked, "Second Brother, what's your idea?"

Tang Wenbiao flicked away his cigarette butt, without responding directly, but instead said, "No matter what ideas we have, we have to get in touch with the Jiang family first, otherwise it's all for nothing."

Si Mao immediately perked up and hurriedly said, "Second Brother, if you really have this intention, I do have some connections, but... I just don't know if Eldest Brother will agree."

"Tell me first!"

“Today at the South Market, Li Laosan didn’t bring his fan gang, did he? There’s a brother from the Jiang family in there who I know a bit. When you were discussing the contract in the shop, I asked him about Zeng Shouyi outside. He said Zeng Shouyi is currently managing the Chunqiu Grand Theater. If we want to talk to the Jiang family, we can try to get some information from him first.”

Tang Wenbiao glared at him: "So you had this plan all along!"

Si Mao scratched his head and said with a sense of shame, "Hey, I was just thinking of everyone's best interests... A tree dies if it's moved, but a person thrives. Qin Huaimeng is going against Jiang Lianheng, and we can't be stubborn. We're all in this for a living, right? Whether it's Jiang Lianheng or Qin Huaimeng, we shouldn't follow them to the bitter end, right?"

The group exchanged glances: "Then... let's wait until our eldest brother comes back before we talk about it?"

"no need!"

Tang Wenbiao waved his hand dismissively and said, "How can the eldest brother personally go out to test the waters? What if it's a trap? Tsk, too dangerous. I'll go instead!"

This is indeed true.

Generally, before two gangs formally negotiate, the leader of the gang will first make contact. After both sides understand each other's needs, they will hold a meeting to discuss and set bottom lines. Finally, the leader of the gang will come forward to negotiate.

The position of the "flower tongue" (a term of respect for a woman) cannot be too high, lest she be beheaded; nor can it be too low, lest she be criticized to her face for not being qualified enough. Therefore, the second-in-command usually takes the place.

Tang Wenbiao said, "Anyway, we're just sitting here waiting. Why don't Si Mao and I go and meet them first? By the time I've finished talking to them, Big Brother should be back soon. Then we can all discuss it together. If I don't come back... don't forget to avenge me, brothers."

"Second brother, you are so righteous!"

"If I don't go to hell, who will?" "Second Brother, I admire you!"

"We'll admire them later!" Tang Wenbiao gathered his men together and whispered, "Most importantly, this matter must not be known to Skyhawk and Whistle Li's men!"

Everyone quickly replied, "Of course! Why should we share the information we risked our lives to gather with them?"

"Good to know!" Tang Wenbiao repeatedly reminded them, "Si Mao and I are leaving now. If they ask later, just say we're going out to buy some late-night snacks!"

"Second brother, why don't you buy some things on the way? We're a bit hungry."

"Damn it, I got it!"

After a brief discussion, Tang Wenbiao and Simao took their sidearms and left Warehouse No. 7, heading quickly toward Snow Street, which was adjacent to the concession. As for whether they could reach an agreement, neither of them was entirely sure.

The brothers, their hearts pounding, dared not see them off far. They simply stood near the warehouse, waved to the two men, and anxiously awaited what would happen next.

……

Inside warehouse number seven, an ear was pressed tightly against the door panel.

A dozen or so burly men stood around, all of them brothers under Sky Eagle. The warehouse was quiet, and everyone held their breath until the ear slowly left the door panel, at which point whispers began to rise among them.

"Old Ding, what's Tang Wenbiao and the others whispering about outside?"

The brother who was eavesdropping shook his head and said, "I couldn't hear clearly. We were too far away. At first, I could hear a few words, something about Zeng Shouyi, but then I couldn't hear anything else."

Who is Zeng Shouyi's mother?

"I don't know, the name sounds like it sells thirteen spices."

"Damn it, aren't they taking advantage of us out-of-towners who don't have many connections? They don't even consult us about anything, but instead hold secret meetings behind our backs. What does that mean?!"

"Damn! He must have been up to something, otherwise he wouldn't have kept it from us!"

A few straightforward people suggested, "Stop guessing here, why don't we just go and ask them?"

Someone else waved their hand and sneered, "Forget it! Can't you see? With fathers dead and mothers remarried, everyone looks out for themselves! I think this is probably off the table, and we don't need to get involved in this mess any further!"

Upon hearing this, everyone quickly reached a consensus.

"Damn it, city folks are too cunning. You can't reason with them. We might as well hurry back to western Liaoning and continue our 'gangster life'!"

"That's true. The war in western Liaoning just ended, and now is the time to redraw the boundaries. If you go too late, there won't be any space left."

"Sigh, I just don't know if I can still walk now."

“I’m also a little worried. The Jiang family is in the arms business and knows a lot of bandits. What if we go back and get wiped out by other gangs?”

As everyone chimed in with their opinions, and Qin Huaimeng's plan gradually fell apart, their resolve began to waver.

At this moment, the second-in-command said, "Hey! We're not like Lao Dou and the others. They all have the Jiang family's blood on their hands. We didn't fight the Jiang family. To put it bluntly, we only stopped a caravan at the West Gate. That's not something that can't be resolved without any room for maneuver, is it?"

Someone nodded and said, "Indeed... Then let's wait for the boss to come back and discuss it further?"

Everyone agreed, saying, "Let's do it as soon as possible! After all, we're outsiders. We don't want to end up like this, with Lao Dou and Whistle Li already having a backup plan, while we're still foolishly risking our lives for them!"

……

Meanwhile, in the guardhouse of Warehouse No. 7.

The room was filled with smoke and dust, and loose cards and banknotes were scattered on the kang table.

A few gang leaders were gambling with cigarettes in their mouths when one of the brothers on the kang (a heated brick bed) came over from the window and said, "Hey, stop playing for a bit. I think Tang Wenbiao just left."

"Fine, let him go!" The dealer slammed a few cards onto the table. "At this point, he's probably out buying cigarettes!"

Old Wu, the downstream customer, suddenly stopped, frowned, and said, "That shouldn't be the case. Tang Wenbiao isn't a brat. Why would a second-in-command go to buy cigarettes for his underlings?"

These words were like a wake-up call. Everyone immediately became alert and crowded to the window to look out. They saw that all of Lao Dou's men were gathered outside, and there were no Skyhawks around.

"Hiss! How long have they been outside?"

The brother who first noticed the anomaly thought for a moment and muttered to himself, "I reckon it must have been at least ten minutes, right?"

"Are you feeling uneasy? Why are you out chatting in the middle of winter instead of staying indoors?"

The unusual situation immediately alerted the group of leaders, who realized that Tang Wenbiao and his associates were hiding something, and suspicion quickly spread among them.

"Damn it, could it be that those bastards sense things are going wrong and are planning to surrender?"

"Huh? That can't be right. Even if they wanted to surrender, would Li Laosan tolerate them?"

"Yes, and besides, Lao Dou hasn't even come back yet, how dare they make decisions on their own?"

"That's not necessarily true. If Jiang Lianheng agrees, it's not entirely impossible to save their lives."

Upon hearing this, everyone immediately panicked.

After all, in the past two days, Drill Eagle's men have been clamoring to go back to Liaoxi to continue being bandits. Qin Huaimeng's acquisition of seventeen shops has now encountered another setback. If Lao Dou were to secretly surrender, what chance would they have of winning?
It should be noted that Qin Huaimeng had previously taken the lead in obtaining firearms from the Japanese, and together with Huo Laogui, Lao Dou, and Shaozi Li, they also recruited Zuan Tianying. Taking advantage of the chaos in the border region, they managed to fight the Jiang family to a draw. If they were to split up now, there would be absolutely no hope of turning the tide.

Thinking of this, the brother by the window couldn't help but remind him: "Brother, we're not like them. Old Dou only had a fight with the Fan Gang, and at least Sky Eagle could go back to the mountain to find a way out. We really massacred the Jiang family mansion! Jiang Lianheng can forgive them, but can he forgive us?"

Everyone nodded in agreement, their faces showing disgust. "If they jump ship now, they're really trying to kill us! We can't let them get away with this. We have to die together, otherwise it would be too unfair!"

"If you don't take care of yourself, you will be punished by heaven and earth!"

"So what do we do now? Just pretend it never happened?"

They looked at each other, remaining silent, but eventually their gazes returned to the group playing cards.

Old Wu pondered for a moment, then suddenly slammed his gun on the table with a "bang," and said angrily, "We can't let them get away! Damn it, surrendering in the face of battle, isn't that disrupting morale! When my brother comes back, I'll tell him what happened, and anyone who dares to desert will be executed on the spot!"

(End of this chapter)