Madmen don't keep diaries

Chapter 230 229 The Wrench Gang's Forced Mission
Not far away, Mao Hetao was sitting in the middle of the street picking his teeth.

No one dared to walk past him on the wide road, and pedestrians all took detours.

The view from this location is perfect, so Mao Hetao specially asked his gang members to bring tables and chairs and sit here to watch the fun.

The food on the table in front of me was also quite exquisite: a plate of dried fish, a plate of candied fruit, and a cup of coffee.

There are meat, vegetables and drinks.

Mao Hetao picked up the coffee and took a sip, his expression unchanged.

Ma Sanpao, who was standing beside him, was rubbing his iron walnut. "Brother Walnut, what's so good about this black water? It's so bitter that it makes people anxious. At night, if I don't find a woman to vent my anger, I still can't sleep!"

Mao Hetao gave him a sidelong glance and said, "You country bumpkin, you know shit."

Ma Sanpao was not annoyed, and replied with a smile: "Brother Walnut, you know a lot, so tell me about it."

Mao Hetao smacked his lips, savoring the bitterness at the back of his tongue. "It's because it's bitter that I have to drink it. As the saying goes, only those who endure the most hardships can become the best. Otherwise, why do you think the gentlemen in the upper city are noble? It's all because of drinking this!"

Ma Sanpao seemed to be lost in thought. "Then I'll go get some bitter herbs and boil them up. Wouldn't that be more potent than this?"

Mao Hetao was speechless for a moment, then turned into anger again: "Idiot, you know nothing. How can bitter medicine and coffee be the same? Drinking bitter medicine will only make you a factory laborer for the rest of your life, while drinking coffee will make you a noble person. If you don't believe me, go and see. Which laborer drinks coffee? Which noble person drinks bitter medicine?"

After being scolded, Ma Sanpao wanted to ask a few more questions, but he was too shy to say anything.

Mao Hetao was afraid that if he asked a few more questions, he would be stumped by his questions, so he quickly changed the subject.

He pointed at the crowd below the podium and said, "Go and see who's disobedient. Pick out the troublemaker and chop off his other hand as well."

Why the other hand?

Because many people here only have one hand.

Ma Sanpao curled his lips and said, "Chop them off? These cripples don't earn much money in a month anyway. If they chop off their other hand, they'll be completely crippled. Even if we drag them to the street, they'll only be sold as bait for the cheapest price. We'll lose money on this deal."

Mao Hetao thought the same thing and changed his mind: "Then let's cut off one of their ears."

Ma Sanpao smiled broadly: "That's a good idea."

After saying that, he walked over.

Ma Sanpao stood outside and looked around, and happened to see Mike handing a poetry book and dry bread to someone.

The man had only one hand and had difficulty moving. After taking the bread, he didn't hold the poetry book firmly and accidentally dropped it all on the ground.

Mike bent down to help him pick it up, and Ma Sanpao's eyes lit up.

Daring to drop something from the church—if that's not inattention, what is it? You deserve it!

He did it right away. Ma Sanpao squeezed into the crowd and was about to drag the boy out, but just as he took a step, someone behind him suddenly pushed him away.

Ma Sanpao was furious. He turned around and glared at me, cursing, "Who the hell is touching me?"

Bang!
A solid iron fist struck him in the face—a real iron fist, for Officer Morgan was wearing armor.

Ma Sanpao's nose was bleeding all over his face, but he quickly put on a smile and nodded, "Praise the Mist, and my regards to you. Master Morgan is here to inspect, right?"

Guard Officer Morgan looked at him coldly and said, "Watch your mouth. Foul language is forbidden. It is also one of the church's commandments."

Ma Sanpao imitated him and pounded his chest: "I understand! I completely understand!"

At this time, Mao Hetao slowly walked over. He smiled and greeted Officer Morgan. "Officer Morgan, did Bishop Konate send you here to deliver a message? What instructions does he have?"

Mao Hetao was not actually afraid of Guard Officer Morgan, because Conate Chen had promised him that he would be able to become a priest in the future.

A few days ago, Guard Officer Morgan secretly revealed a piece of news to him - saying that Bishop Konate intended to transfer Shunzi to his side as a personal guard.

Mao Hetao felt that this was a signal from Guard Officer Morgan that he was actively trying to show goodwill to him.

Unexpectedly, Guard Officer Morgan changed his enthusiastic attitude from the previous day. He just glanced at Mao Walnut coldly and ignored him completely. Then he turned around and waved and shouted: "Mike! Deacon Mike!" Mike heard someone calling his name and turned around in confusion.

When he saw that it was Guard Officer Morgan, he immediately shrank his neck, stared at the ground and his face turned pale - it was over, the reckoning had finally come!

Guard Officer Morgan continued to shout, a warm smile on his face: "Hey! Over here! Deacon Mike! It's me! Morgan!"

He didn't care at all whether he would disturb others, so much so that the deacon who was preaching the doctrine on the stage stopped and looked over here, and the people around him also cast their eyes over here.

Mike knew he couldn't hide any longer, so he took a deep breath and walked towards Morgan with heavy steps.

He tried to maintain his composure: "Tell me, what's the matter."

Guard Officer Morgan smiled cordially and said, "Father Feng Xiuhu has returned. He's waiting for you in the church."

"What!?"

Mike and Mao Walnut said in unison, even the shocked expressions on their faces were exactly the same.

Mike hadn't expected Feng Xiuhu to handle everything so quietly, while Mao Hetao was genuinely shocked—how could a dead person come back to life? Where did he come back from?

Mike was overjoyed: "I'll go right away!"

He and Morgan turned to leave, but Mao Hetao quickly grabbed Morgan and asked in a trembling voice, "Master Morgan, is the Bishop... okay?"

Officer Morgan raised his arm to break free and said coldly, "You can take a bouquet of flowers and visit him in the dungeon—perhaps he will tell you in person how he is doing."

Mao Hetao was shocked and pulled Morgan again, forcing a smile. "Sir, please show me a way... What do you think, should I go see the priest too?"

Guard Officer Morgan sneered back, shook him off and walked away without looking back.

……

In the study, Feng Xiuhu met Mike.

He had something to say to Mike, but Officer Morgan remained in the room with a shameless face.

Feng Xiuhu looked at Morgan and said, "If things don't work out, we can go out and talk. I'll leave this place to you."

Officer Morgan laughed dryly to ease his embarrassment: "I almost forgot, I should go on patrol."

He saluted Feng Xiuhu with a chest-beating salute, bowed his head and said, "Welcome home again, Your Excellency."

After saying that, he turned around and opened the door to leave.

As soon as the door closed, Mike burst into laughter: "What did you do to him? Why did he become like this?"

Feng Xiuhu also laughed: "Some people are like this. When their backers fall, their backbones become weak."

Back to business.

Guard Officer Morgan may know what's going on inside the temple, but what's happening outside the temple depends on Mike.

The two of them stood leaning against the desk.

Feng Xiuhu handed over a cigarette, Mike took out a match, and they put their heads together to light it.

"I noticed when I took the bus here today that the factory area is noticeably quieter. Normally at this time of year you'd see workers changing shifts on the streets."

Mike nodded, cigarette between his lips. "Because we're short-staffed, there's no such thing as a shift change. We're all working around the clock at the factory."

Feng Xiuhu pondered for a moment. "The Duke of Da specifically mentioned this to Vadrajo. His implicit meaning must be that he wanted to use Vadrajo to warn Konate Chen—to stop him from taking things too far under the guise of promoting doctrine."

"But I can't figure it out. After all, there are only so many workers. The Wrench Gang is so small. How many workers can they pry away? How can such a large factory area become so desolate?"

PS: Someone wants to invite Mr. Feng to dinner - whoever is in a hurry can do it.

(End of this chapter)