BSI Chapter 25 Boss Wang's Ominous Premonition
Chapter 25 Boss Wang's Ominous Premonition
But I'll say it again.
Whether someone is strong or not is subject to change.
The farmers in Wangjiadian had a relationship of dependence and resistance towards Wang Tieshan, which was completely unlike Lu Xingzhou's, where everyone obeyed his every command.
Unable to muster enough men to fight the 20 or so gunmen with bolt-action rifles outside with a single command.
His bluffing failed to intimidate the young man, so he had to back down and pretend to be confused.
"Hehe~ Don't be afraid to laugh at me, Young Master Lu, but even though my inn is open, hardly anyone comes this way, and we don't make any money at all! Even the 500 silver dollars I gave you last time was something I scrimped and saved! I really don't have any more!"
He learned from Si Huzi and immediately put it into practice, to which Lu Xingzhou responded with the same disdain he had shown before:
"Hmph~~ Well, your teeth gaps are quite large!"
Wang Tieshan, determined to feign poverty, was as thick as a rock, simply putting on a smiling face and refusing to spend a single penny.
So what if you want to criticize me!
If I, Old Buddha Wang, cared about this, I wouldn't be where I am today!
You can insult me all you want, I just don't have any money! Even if you beat Guoshanfeng, what can you do to me?!
Seeing his infuriating appearance, Lu Xingzhou did not get angry.
Before he arrived, he knew that these bastards were the type who wouldn't learn their lesson until they were faced with a death sentence.
It was getting late, and he wanted to hurry back for dinner. Without saying a word, Lu Xingzhou slammed Guo Shanfeng's account book onto the coffee table.
Wang Tieshan panicked completely, and his face immediately turned pale:
"This, you, you took Dayanggou...?"
It's only been less than two days!
Based on the time it usually takes for bandits to smash kilns, being able to repel a group of more than twice their size in two days is already quite an impressive feat.
He never expected this.
In such a short time, not only were Guo Shanfeng and his gang driven back, but they may have been killed!
Even more outrageous, that damn mountain wind even had its lair destroyed?!
Even if the mountain wind was made of paper, those 100 or so guns weren't all just firewood, were they?!
Is this reasonable? !
"Impossible, absolutely impossible!! That gang has over three hundred men, and you only have about forty guns. Are you all heavenly warriors?!"
Wang Tieshan still clung to a last glimmer of hope that Lu Xingzhou was trying to blow him up.
Lu Xingzhou immediately extinguished his illusory flame of hope.
"Guoshanfeng dared to team up with a bearded man called One-Eyed Wolf to smash my kiln. If I don't kill him, am I going to keep him around for the New Year?"
"If we hadn't killed everyone and destroyed his stronghold, do you think he could have carried the gang's head account book with him when he went out to smash kilns?"
Wang Tieshan was utterly despondent.
If he had anticipated this possibility, he would have definitely run away through the back door just now. How could he be sitting here pretending to be a fool!
He could draw a conclusion simply by calculating the travel time from the source of the Liaohe River to Dayanggou and then to Wangjiadian.
A band of 100-plus guns attacked a fortified village guarded by only 40-gun farmers, only to be annihilated by their own forces, and they didn't even last half a day!
Even without witnessing Lu Xingzhou's strength firsthand, Wang Tieshan, who was familiar with the bearded man's combat prowess, felt fear.
Picking up the account book, which was clearly authentic, I quickly flipped through a dozen pages. It truly was a "twelve-volume account book, each volume bearing another's name."
As one of the most trusted innkeepers among the bearded men on the Liaohe Plain, he handled most of the business of selling stolen goods by Guo Shanfeng.
Before today, Wang Tieshan would have been proud of his ability to have connections in both the legitimate and criminal worlds, and his extensive influence.
Now I'm resigned to being slaughtered.
"Young Master Lu, I have money, I'll pay!!"
The mountain winds that had roamed the Xiliao River for over twenty years are all gone.
What's the point of struggling? Just pay up to avoid further trouble.
Lu Xingzhou clapped his hands, feigning helplessness: "Hey~ you should have said so earlier, why ruin our neighborly relationship?"
"Yes, yes, here you go."
Having already suffered a loss at Liu Laoguai's hands, Lu Xingzhou didn't give Wang Tieshan a chance to rip him off, and gestured with his five fingers.
"5000 dollars!"
"What the hell?! Go ahead and report me to the authorities and have me arrested!"
Wang Tieshan slammed the account book to the ground.
He is not stupid.
This brat came to him with an account book; he's definitely trying to extort money from him. He'll never report it to the authorities.
Our Wang family has been operating here for over forty years, spanning two generations, and we've only managed to save a little over 5 silver dollars. And you, kid, just open your mouth and want to take a tenth of it?!
Don't push your luck!
Lu Xingzhou was taken aback.
Was the judgment wrong? It's not that fat?
Observing Wang Tieshan's expression, it was confirmed that he was indeed in pain from the loss.
He asked with a smile, "So, how much are you willing to contribute to help your frightened younger neighbor?"
Seeing him laughing disgustingly again, Wang Tieshan really wanted to turn on him and punch him.
But considering the opponent's seemingly fake achievements, which are undeniably impressive, one has to admit they are genuine.
He had no choice but to flatter and appease her, planning to take revenge later.
"Young Master Lu, you don't know! Selling stolen goods for Bearded Man is a thankless and arduous job; he doesn't earn much at all, it's all hard-earned money! I... I'll give you 1000 silver dollars as an apology, what do you say?"
If Lu Xingzhou hadn't read "Trivisa," he would have truly believed what he said.
If a small-time gold shop owner dares to offer a ridiculously low price of 2% to buy the gold that the notorious gangster Cheung Tze-keung had just risked his life to steal, how can he possibly believe that Wang Tieshan, this local bully, is telling the truth?
But Lu Xingzhou still made concessions.
"Boss Wang, I don't care how hard you work! It's a flat rate of 3000 silver dollars! If you really can't afford it, I won't make things difficult for you. I think that house in the back is nice; it'll be perfect for settling the debt!"
In the entire Wangjiadian area, there is only one three-courtyard house made of blue bricks, which must belong to Wang Tieshan.
It should be worth at least 2000 yuan, right?
Lu Xingzhou, who had never been entirely satisfied with the living conditions in Weizi, was able to accept it.
"I'll give it to you, I'll give it to you, okay?!"
Wang Tieshan was truly impressed this time; none of the bandits had even bothered with his yard!
How can this person be even more of a bandit than a bandit!
Half an hour later.
Lu Xingzhou cheerfully carried a small wooden box out of the inn and shouted at Sanjiangshui, Zhu Chuanwu, and the others who were glaring at him with guns inside:
"What the hell are you doing? Put your guns away, anyone who doesn't know better will think we're some kind of bunch of thugs coming to the village!"
To the honest Zhu Chuanwu, these words sounded like an insult, and he nervously put away his gun.
Sanjiangshui, instantly understanding, tucked the M1911 into his lower back, nudged Zhu Chuanwu (who couldn't tell what was going on) with his elbow, and grinned broadly, "Hehe~ Young Master, we're just eager to report good news to the store!"
"What's the good news?"
Lu Xingzhou thought to himself that he was sensible, and Sanjiang Shui shouted at the top of his lungs:
"Folks, the gang of bearded men who went to Dayanggou have been wiped out by my young master Lu Xingzhou! From now on, you won't have to worry about going to Dayanggou to gather firewood anymore!"
Tang Yin's "Seven Necessities of Daily Life" from the Ming Dynasty describes the essentials of ordinary people's daily lives: firewood, rice, oil, salt, soy sauce, vinegar, and tea.
Among them, Chai ranks first.
The vast Liaohe Plain has fertile soil and abundant resources. Its biggest drawback is probably the low forest coverage, with few hills suitable for firewood.
The main place for the people of Wangjiadian to gather firewood was Dayanggou.
The onlookers, who had come out to watch the spectacle, looked at each other in disbelief, especially those who knew about the ambiguous relationship between Wang Tieshan and Dayanggou, who were deeply shocked.
"Really?!"
"What nonsense are you spouting?"
Even though Wang Tieshan's heart was bleeding as he walked out of the store, in order to distance himself from the situation and cut off any lingering issues, he had to suppress his adoration and fawn over Lu Xingzhou.
"That's right! Those heartless bastards with over a hundred guns went to smash Young Master Lu's kiln a couple of days ago, and Young Master Lu wiped them all out in one fell swoop!"
The atmosphere at the scene was eerily silent.
Anyone with eyes and ears knows that the day before yesterday evening, a large group of more than a hundred people left the inn in a grand procession, seemingly heading to the source of the Liao River to smash kilns.
But it's gone in just two days?
The people, who had been oppressed by Wang Tieshan and several gangs including Dayanggou for years, still found it hard to believe.
Seeing this, Wang Tieshan was afraid that these ignorant commoners might say something inappropriate in front of Lu Xingzhou.
Then he uttered words of praise that could lead to his downfall:
"Fellow men and women, Young Master Lu said that as long as he's around, no gang can't rob, kidnap, and rape women within a 200-mile stretch of the Liaohe River source! With Young Master Lu around, the dawn will break for us on the West Liaohe River!!"
After he finished speaking, he quickly gave Tiegan a wink, and then someone started cheering.
"Great! With Young Master Lu here, the sky over the Xiliao River is bright!"
"Thank you, Young Master Lu. That bearded man will never dare to cause trouble in our Xiliao River area again!"
The people who were truly being bullied then joined in the cheering with a mixture of belief and skepticism, and in doing so, they remembered the name Lu Xingzhou in their hearts.
"Well done, Young Master Lu!"
"Young Master Lu is quite capable!"
"Thank you, Young Master Lu!"
Hearing the people cheering his name, Lu Xingzhou, knowing that Wang Tieshan was definitely up to no good, ignored him and simply raised his hand to press down:
"Men, young and old, if you ever run into trouble with bandits, come find me at the source of the Liao River. We'll see what kind of person I am in the end!"
Without further ado, he led the team home.
Wang Tieshan muttered to himself:
"That little rascal, is he really going to let me off the hook like that?!"