Flip the table and divide the family property! Take his wife and daughter into the mountains and eat

All the sounds inside seemed to have been abruptly sucked away by the muffled thud outside the window.

Da Niu's hand, which was gripping Sun Weidong's collar, froze in mid-air.

Erga Zi, who had been rushing towards the window with red eyes, froze in place the moment he heard the screams.

The men from Kaoshantun at the gate still had their guns and knives in their hands, but the fierce look on their faces had gradually faded to ashen.

No one dared to breathe loudly.

Even Sun Weidong forgot to shout. His face was covered in blood, and he collapsed against the earthen wall, his eyes fixed on the broken window, his lips trembling uncontrollably.

After several breaths, a trembling sound finally drifted in from outside the window.

"The person... fell down."

A daring young worker shakily leaned out halfway, frantically sweeping the beam of his flashlight downwards, fixing a pale white circle on the pile of rusty scrap in the backyard of the single dormitory.

Liu San'er, who had just jumped out of the window, was lying on one side of his body, twisted and crooked, next to a broken section of the stove pipe, with a large, dark red pool of blood slowly seeping out from under his head.

"Quickly, check if there's still any gas!"

The young worker scrambled out of the window and rushed to Liu San'er's side, extending two trembling fingers to check his breath.

Everyone in the room stared intently at that hand.

Sun Weidong's Adam's apple was stuck in his neck, and he couldn't even swallow a mouthful of saliva.

The man's finger hovered under Liu San'er's nose for half a second, then suddenly withdrew as if branded with a hot iron, his face instantly turning ashen.

"She's...she's not breathing anymore."

The moment those words were spoken, the suppressed fear in the small shed exploded completely.

Someone's dead!

"Oh no! Someone's really dead!"

"I didn't do it! I'm just a card player!"

The young workers, who had just been suppressed like quails by the semi-automatic rifle, were now completely terrified.

Some people covered their heads with their hands and desperately tried to shrink into the rat hole at the base of the wall; some people lay sprawled on the cinder ground, slapping themselves and muttering to themselves; and some people pointed at Da Niu and his group with trembling fingers, their voices as sharp as an old hen being strangled.

"They did it!"

"They stormed in with guns, intending to kill! Liu San'er was forced to jump out of the window and die!"

The bloodshot veins in Erga's eyes instantly burst open.

"Shut the fuck up, all of you!"

He suddenly reversed the rifle butt and slammed it against the broken door frame, sending splinters of wood flying everywhere.

This time, however, his iron weapon failed to quell the group's frenzy.

Someone died.

These three words were like a pot of boiling oil being poured over my head.

The cramped storage room was a complete mess, like a pot of boiling porridge.

Da Niu stood still like a stone statue.

He slowly loosened his grip on Sun Weidong's collar.

Da Niu looked down at his palm, where wall ash and black coal slag were embedded in his skin and flesh, and Sun Weidong's blood was still stuck between his fingers.

Before an incense stick could burn, his mind was filled with the image of Zhao Tiezhu being carried away, covered in blood and mud.

That clumsy guy dug his fingers into his flesh, clutching the workshop key tightly, muttering over and over again, "The door isn't open."

Whenever Da Niu thinks about it, his chest aches as if he's swallowed a red-hot coal.

But now, there's another lifeless body lying outside the window.

Whether Liu San'er deserved to die for his foul mouth or he slipped and jumped off the building, he died after they kicked down the door.

This blood debt, like a piece of thorny pig iron, was smashed into Da Niu's lungs.

He slowly raised his head, his dead fish-like eyes sweeping over Ergaizi and the brothers at the door, his voice rough and harsh.

"When Director Liang and the others arrive, none of you are allowed to speak."

Ergaizi suddenly turned his head: "Da Niu, what do you mean?"

Da Niu didn't even look at him, his gaze fixed on the pile of trampled playing cards on the ground. His tone was heavy as lead: "I brought you out here, I kicked down the door, I shot the people, and I forced you to bring the guns. Liu San'er was thrown out because I led the charge into the house."

He paused, then gritted his teeth and said slowly, "When Director Liang asks later, pin it all on me."

The room fell silent for a moment.

The faces of the men from Kaoshantun standing at the entrance turned deathly pale instantly.

"Big Brother Niu!"

"How can we let you carry this alone? We've got our guns on!"

Erga Zi, his eyes red-rimmed, strode over, the veins on his neck bulging like earthworms: "You're talking nonsense! I was the one who started the fight! I was the one who gave the order to block the door! We'll all go in together if we have to!"

Da Niu suddenly looked up, his gaze so fierce it looked like he wanted to devour someone.

"Shut up."

Erga was so angry he was panting heavily and still wanted to fight back, but Da Niu took a step forward and grabbed Erga's neck with a palm as big as a fan, pressing Erga's head in front of him.

"I told you to shut up!"

Da Niu growled in a low voice, his hot breath hitting Er Ga Zi's face, "Brother Shan He isn't at the factory right now! Da Zhuang is at the hospital taking care of Lao Xu, and Tie Zhu is still lying half-dead in the infirmary! Do we need anyone to watch over those machines in Workshop No. 1?"

Da Niu's eyes revealed an undeniable sense of despair: "The factory is in deep trouble. Everyone's hoping we all get caught! If I go in, you can still hold the door open. But if you all go in with me, who will guard Workshop Number One? How will we face Brother Shanhe when he comes back?!"

Every word was stained with blood, bringing tears to Erga's eyes.

His lips trembled for a long time, but he couldn't utter a single word.

Da Niu released his grip and turned to look at the brothers holding guns at the door.

"Listen up, everyone. In a moment, just say I was the one who led the charge, and that I forced them to take the gun. If anyone dares to utter a single word more, I'll never acknowledge them as my brother, even in death."

Several young men bit their lips hard, tears mixed with coal dust streaming down their faces, their fists clenched so tightly their knuckles turned white, but none of them dared to utter another word in protest.

Just then, a chaotic sound of running came from outside the courtyard wall of the backyard of the outhouse.

Liang Tiejun's furious roar, which ripped through the night sky, blasted open the door.

"Stop it, all of you!"

Zhang Dafa's breathless voice followed closely: "Put them down! Put all the guns down!"

The man from Kaoshantun inside the house instinctively turned around, and Ergazi flipped his wrist, holding a three-edged scraper horizontally in front of his chest.

Da Niu took a deep breath, and when he opened his eyes again, his face was completely expressionless.

"Throw the thing away."

Da Niu lowered his voice, "Section Chief Liang is a good man who follows the rules. From now on, you will follow his orders."

The man holding the gun at the door was trembling violently, but under Da Niu's cold and stern gaze, he reluctantly lowered the muzzle of his gun and slammed the butt of the gun to the ground with a clang.

The next moment, Liang Tiejun and Zhang Dafa led seven or eight workers into the small shed.

The smells of alcohol, cigarettes, blood, and black smoke from the coal stove mingled together in the room, making it almost impossible to open one's eyes.

The broken table was overturned on the floor.

Playing cards were scattered everywhere.

Sun Weidong slumped against the wall, his face covered in blood.

Several young workers huddled in a corner, covering their heads, terrified beyond recognition.

Liang Tiejun's face instantly turned ashen.

Before he could even start cursing, someone outside the window called out in a tearful voice, "Director Liang..."

"Liu San'er is dead."

"He fell out of the window."

Liang Tiejun froze completely.

The color drained completely from Zhang Dafa's face.

The two rushed to the broken window almost simultaneously.

The beam of the flashlight was shone backward.

The pale light fell on the pile of scrap metal in the backyard.

Liu San'er lay there, the dark red blood under his head slowly spreading and flowing into the frozen coal slag.

Liang Tiejun's hand holding the flashlight visibly trembled.

Zhang Dafa opened his mouth, but couldn't utter a single word for a long time.

Zhao Tiezhu was seriously injured.

The key to Workshop No. 1 was almost stolen.

Now another one has died.

The pot at Hongxing Factory could no longer be contained.