A generation of soldiers begins with Feng Yuxiu traveling through time and space with Xu Sanduo

Chapter 449 Old Gao's Counterattack: A Thunderclap Resounding Through Wangdu Village
Weng Haisheng eventually hitched a ride on an oxcart to town at the village entrance.

"Tree, what happened to you?"

Weng Haisheng sighed, feeling as if all the parts of his body had fallen apart the moment he opened his mouth.

After he left Wangdu Village, a group of three men with buzz cuts strolled in from the village entrance.

"Old Li, this is the thirtieth village, right? Where are we going to find so many unemployed people? We haven't slept for a day and a night."

"Stop talking nonsense. Zhao Laoliu doesn't talk like a normal person. Look at him talking about landmarks and stuff. I suspect he's a foreign spy."

"So what? We're just looking for someone, not doing anything illegal or criminal. As long as we get paid, that's all that matters."

The other two immediately retorted.

"What's all the fuss about? Do you really want others to know our purpose? What's the fuss about? It's the same old story. Just go to the village committee and find the village chief and secretary here to ask. Damn it, these rural people are really only interested in getting something out of them. Every time we ask, we have to give them something in return before they'll investigate."

"Let's go."

-

-

Old Gao wiped his hunting rifle, staring intently at the wall in the main hall, where a painting of a tiger descending a mountain hung.

In Wangdu Village, every household hangs a picture of a fierce tiger on the wall, which is said to be a custom passed down from the older generation.

More importantly, a hundred years ago, tigers frequently roamed the mountains near Wangdu Village, causing many deaths and injuries among the villagers.

A fortune teller, whose origins are unknown, offered an idea: every household should hang a picture of a tiger descending the mountain, so that the tigers on the mountain would feel that there were other tigers of their kind there, and thus be too afraid to come.

Of course, this is all nonsense; the customs passed down from feudal superstitions are becoming increasingly outrageous.

However, over the years, it has long become a habit for every household and every individual.

Anyway, it looks imposing and good-looking hanging there.

Old Gao smoked a pack of cigarettes and finally made up his mind to tear down the tiger descending the mountain painting that had been hanging in the central hall for decades and wrap it around his gun.

He then turned around, knelt in the mud living room, kowtowed three times to the wall of the main hall, thought for a moment, straightened up, and said, "These three kowtows are for you, Father."

Bang bang bang!
He kowtowed three more times to the central hall, his forehead beginning to swell and turn red. "These three are for you, Mother. May you two protect me from the afterlife."

“There’s no other way. Your son has been forced into this situation. The village won’t let me live. If I don’t find a way, these beasts will dig up your graves when I’m old.”

"It seems I won't be able to keep the family business you two left me, but it's okay... I have my own ideas."

After saying that, Lao Gao picked up the items from the "Tiger Descending the Mountain" painting and walked out without hesitation.

A cold wind blew in through the window. In this weather, you have to close the windows when you go out, otherwise the whole room will turn into an icebox at night.

Old Gao didn't care anymore; he probably wouldn't be coming back after this trip.

creak.

The old door was pushed open, and Lao Gao suddenly froze.

Seven or eight kind-looking women stood at the door, each carrying a plate of eggs.

"Hey Lao Gao, we were too embarrassed to visit you before, even the village chief was watching. Don't take it personally, it's not that we didn't want to, we just couldn't win. Hey, how are your injuries? Go back and lie down, why are you out here?"

Seven or eight women pushed and shoved Lao Gao, who was about to leave, back inside.

When Lao Gao's mother was alive, she had a very good relationship with them, and she would often sit at the entrance of the village and criticize this family and that family.

"Oh dear, why are you opening the window when you're injured? You silly child."

Several women hurriedly closed the windows, glanced at Lao Gao's simple home, and one of them turned around and carried a bag of charcoal over. The women then lit the stove.

"It's not even the beginning of spring yet, aren't you afraid of catching a cold if you don't light a fire, are you...?"

As they were talking, everyone froze, their eyes fixed on the wardrobe on the floor, where tens of thousands of yuan were scattered, their bright red bills gleaming intensely.

This amount of money is enough to buy several apartments in Sun City.

"How can we just throw things around like this?"

Several women suddenly turned around and found that Lao Gao, still suffering from the aftereffects of being beaten, was leaning against the edge of the kang (a heated brick bed) and dozing off.

"This is a huge sum of money... Where did it come from? Did you steal it?"

"Old Gao? Where did this money come from?" a woman asked in a low voice. Old Gao had started to doze off. His head had been hit several times with a shovel, and more importantly, the muscles in his back had been completely smashed.

He still has a concussion; those people just carried him to the hospital, paid some money, and left.

The hospital, seeing he had no money, told him to pack his bags and leave. Old Gao now suffers from multiple organ failures and injuries.

"What are you all doing? Hurry up and put the money away."

An elderly woman grabbed a handful of money and placed it on the old man's desk, but as she did so, a few red bills slipped into her sleeve.

Seeing this, the others followed suit, grabbing a few red slips of paper and glancing back every now and then to see if Lao Gao had woken up.

"Hey Lao Gao, the stove's on fire, why don't you get some sleep?"

The group exchanged glances and then left.

Old Gao soon began snoring. His head was injured, and the drowsiness and blood loss caused him to tremble from time to time.

A gust of cold wind blew in through the window, lifting the tiger image wrapped on the ground to reveal half of a black gun handle.

-

Old Gao slept from morning until after 3 p.m., then shuddered and let out a sigh; the swelling on his face was getting worse.

He stood up, swayed, and walked to the table. Looking at the noticeably less money scattered around, he smiled with relief.

This time, without the slightest hesitation, he grabbed his hunting rifle and went outside.

The villagers along the way all turned their backs on Lao Gao, who looked so miserable, as if he were a plague god. They were about to move to Sun City and didn't want to ruin everything at this critical juncture because of Jiao Zong and the village chief's attempt to take credit for their work.

Lao Gao didn't greet anyone along the way. The only thing that made him stop was three unfamiliar men with buzz cuts wearing suits.

But it doesn't matter anymore; these are definitely Jiao Shengli's fangs. He has more important things to deal with.

He went directly to the post office in town.

The woman at the window was in her thirties, intently clipping her nails.

Old Gao sat down. "I want to mail a letter."

"Oh my god!" The woman looked up suddenly and saw Lao Gao's terrifying face. She was so frightened that she almost cut her finger. "What are you doing? You scared me to death! Don't you know how to line up?"

Old Gao turned around, but the post office was deserted. He then stared intently at the woman and repeated his earlier words, "I want to mail a letter!"

Looking at the envelope on the counter, the woman glanced at it and asked irritably, "Where are you going?"

"Beijing." Upon hearing the word "Beijing," the woman sat up slightly, her previous arrogance softening somewhat, and she smiled. "Beijing, are you sending a letter to relatives or friends?"

Which organization is it?

Old Gao, expressionless, said in an accented voice, "Send it to Zhongnanhai."

The woman was stunned. "Are you running a fever? Why did you send the letter there?"

"I'm going to report the village chief and the accountant; they embezzled my money."

The woman rolled her eyes. It seemed she had encountered someone mentally unstable today. "Fine, fine, I'll send you a letter. What's the address?"

Old Gao frowned. "Didn't I tell you? Zhongnanhai."

"You don't know the specific address yet, come and send the letter when you find out."

The woman gave a cold laugh and threw the envelope out the window.

"Tell me when you know the exact address. I can't tell you now."

Old Gao instinctively grabbed the muzzle of his gun, gritted his teeth, and stared intently at the woman. Just as he was about to make his move, an armed escort truck arrived behind him.

"What are you looking at? You want to hit me?" The woman stared at Lao Gao triumphantly.

"Bad seed!"

Old Gao cursed, grabbed the hunting rifle from the package, and turned to leave. He stood outside smoking when he suddenly saw a familiar figure. He paused for a moment, threw away his cigarette, and followed.

After following them to the town's health hospital, Lao Gao finally couldn't hold back any longer and quickly stepped forward to grab Feng Yuxiu's shoulder.

"Shu, what are you doing here? What happened to you? Who hit you? Was it Erzhu or Jiao Shengli?"

Feng Yuxiu stared in astonishment at Lao Gao, who looked like a pig's head. "You're injured like this, why aren't you going to sleep and rest? What are you doing wandering around?"

Old Gao didn't speak, but stared at Feng Yuxiu and made up his mind, "These bastards only know how to bully honest people. Don't worry, Shu, I will avenge the two of us."

Feng Yuxiu opened his mouth and said, "No, I just fell by myself, it's probably from a fall."

"I know everything. Take good care of yourself." Old Gao took a deep breath, glanced at her calmly, and turned to leave. His steps had never been so firm.

Feng Yuxiu scratched his head. He probably had a nightmare while sleeping last night. Although he saw his own face in the mirror last night, it now seemed to be an illusion.

No one would believe this if it were told. The villagers are already suspicious, and if it were told, they would be arrested by a mental hospital.

"Number 39, come over for your dressing change."

"coming."

-

-

Inside the Wangdu Village Committee, Lao Gao sat swaggeringly in his office, his legs propped up on the table, his gaze fixed steadily on Accountant Liu, who was bent over calculating accounts.

Accountant Liu looked at him as if he were looking at an invisible wall, and even though Lao Gao had been sitting there for ten minutes, he didn't intend to greet him at all.

"Hey Lao Gao, you should just go back. The village is about to be relocated, and no one has any objections. You're always causing trouble, aren't you just disrupting everyone's lives?"

Accountant Liu's wife walked in with a round face and immediately began to scold him.

Hearing such a huge accusation being leveled against him, Lao Gao shifted his buttocks and turned around, "Damn you two! You two colluded with the village chief and Jiao Shengli to embezzle all the money the village gave us! Look at you, all greasy-faced like a fat sow, even wearing a gold chain! Damn you!"

“You two are both cowards. Accountant Liu, write down everything you and the village chief have embezzled over the past few years so I can write a letter to report you both.”

Seeing Lao Gao so badly injured yet still trying to act tough, Accountant Liu slammed his hand on the table. "Lao Gao, don't go too far! Don't you even know where you are? Who do you think you are, asking me questions here?"

Old Gao had already lost face after being brutally beaten by Jiao Shengli's men in front of the whole village. Now, Accountant Liu extinguished the last bit of face Old Gao had left.

boom!
Old Gao stood up, kicked over the table, picked up his shotgun, and pointed it at Accountant Liu, shouting, "You write it for me!"

"Oh my god!" Accountant Liu's wife screamed in fright.

"Stop making noise!" Old Gao roared.

Accountant Liu looked up at Lao Gao, as if he had seen something rare, and leaned closer to examine it. "Lao Gao, you've lived in Wangdu Village for so many years, do you think I don't know that Liu Fakui took over your family's private plot last year? You didn't dare say a word in front of him, but now you've really made something of yourself, daring to point a gun at me. Where did you pull this gun out from?"

Old Gao spat. "Will you write it down or not? Write down all the evidence of your crimes with the village chief and I'll let you go."

Looking at Lao Gao's swollen face, Accountant Liu smiled, turned around and poured a cup of tea. "Lao Gao, go back. I heard that General Manager Jiao gave you a large sum of money? Living a good life and not worrying about these things is more effective than anything else."

"That's right, Lao Gao, let's go back and just pretend this never happened." Liu's wife saw that Lao Gao had been holding the gun for so long without firing, and she was certain that it was out of bullets.

Old Gao has been an honest man for over forty years. He looks big and burly and has never been in a fight.

Such people……

Old Gao gradually calmed down. "I'll ask you one last time, are you going to write it or not?"

Accountant Liu, thoroughly annoyed by the questioning, lit a cigarette and sneered, "Hey Lao Gao, come on, shoot me! Come on! Fire! What are you doing, waving your gun like that? Look at your behavior! In Wangdu Village, besides that idiot Shu, you're the worst off, and you're even threatening people. Come on, hit me!"

Old Gao slowly lowered his arm.

Accountant Liu smiled smugly, "That's more like it. Go back now, the whole village is going to be relocated, you don't want to..."

boom!
-

-

Dezi pulled Xiaozhuang down from the mine, and the two stood at the village entrance smoking.

"You know, you can't really compare people. What was Lao Gao thinking? He got such a beating, I was afraid he'd be beaten to death." Xiao Zhuang said regretfully, smoking a cigarette.

Dezi shook his head. "Have you noticed how unsafe the village has been lately? The Wang family had an accident, right? And now Lao Gao is in trouble too. Shu called me this morning and said he felt unwell all over, like he had a fracture."

Xiao Zhuang was taken aback. "When did this happen? Why didn't you go?"

"Hey, I don't have time, I'm busy."

Xiao Zhuang glanced at him and said, "I saw you and Zhang Xiaomei in the car. What were you two doing driving up the mountain?"

Dezi chuckled and lowered his head lewdly. "It's the same old story. We're getting married soon, so I'm going to check it out. It's okay if I can't hear or speak. If there are any other problems, I can cut my losses in time."

Xiao Zhuang frowned, and just as he was about to speak, a thunderclap suddenly resounded throughout the village.

"What's that sound?" The two were startled and looked in the direction the sound came from.

"It looks like they're setting off blasts, right? Ruiyang Mining has blasted another mine?" Dezi asked.

"Impossible, one just exploded, and that sound came from inside the village... it seems to be coming from the direction of the village committee..."

The two looked at each other, both with a bad feeling.

Something big is about to happen in the village.

(End of this chapter)