The golden age began in 1977

Chapter 209 The bathhouse was too crowded.

As night deepened, the neon lights of the state-run No. 2 Hotel flickered faintly in the damp sea breeze.

There was an incident at the banquet, but in the end, both the host and guests had a good time because Qian Jin was very generous and packed a good meal for everyone.

The moon was high in the sky, and the lights in the tenement buildings on Taishan Road twinkled in the night.

Lou Xiaoguang rode his chipped bicycle, the chain rattling all the way, until it finally stopped downstairs at Xu Weidong's house.

"Brother Dong! Brother Dong!" Lou Xiaoguang shouted at the top of his lungs, his voice trembling with tears, "Chief Qian has been bullied!"

The second-floor window was flung open with a bang, revealing Xu Weidong's chubby face.

He stared at Lou Xiaoguang for a moment, then shouted, "You wait for me, what the hell is going on?"

As Qian Jin's closest comrade-in-arms and the helper Qian Jin had been working hard to support, he couldn't bear to see Qian Jin suffer a loss.

Xu Weidong, without even bothering to put on a jacket, ran downstairs shirtless, revealing a patch of chest hair: "What happened?"

Lou Xiaoguang explained the situation in detail and told Xu Weidong about Qian Jin's arrangements.

Xu Weidong immediately began to greet people.

He greeted Wang Dong first.

Wang Dong's family just bought a TV, and all the neighbors are watching TV at his house.

He had originally intended to seize the opportunity to show off, but upon learning that Qian Jin had been provoked, he flew into a rage, rolled up his sleeves, grabbed a screwdriver, and came downstairs: "Who? Who the hell dares to touch our Chief Qian?"

Before long, the dozen or so core members of the labor commando team gathered at the entrance of the neighborhood committee.

Zhou Shanhu's barbecue business was booming; he was called out from his barbecue stall.

He was squatting on the curb smoking when he heard Lou Xiaoguang's story. He stubbed out his cigarette hard on the concrete block next to him and said, "Ma Dehua? When did this guy appear in Haibin City?"

Shi Zhentao rushed back from the police station and said, "That kid from the Municipal Supply and Marketing Cooperative? He was just recently transferred to the Foreign Business Office under Chief Qian's command? Is that him?"

"It was him!" Lou Xiaoguang couldn't contain his anger. "Chief Qian invited his colleagues from the Foreign Affairs Office to dinner at our restaurant, and this bastard brought a few thugs to throw wine on Brother Qian, and even said..."

"Fuck his mother!" Wang Dong kicked the charcoal-powered telephone pole, making the streetlights sway. "Hey guys, grab your weapons! Taozi, have you found his address yet?"

Shi Zhentao said, "We found it. We found out in just two phone calls."

"This kid used to live a high-class life in the cadre building of the Supply and Marketing Cooperative on Wutaishan Road, but recently his whole family was kicked out and now they live in a tenement building on Yanshan Road."

"Go deal with him first!" Wang Dong said, clenching his fist.

"Wait a minute." Zhou Shanhu stopped Wang Dong, who was about to rush out, and narrowed his eyes, which were used to seeing all sorts of people. "This matter needs to be discussed carefully."

He pulled out a pack of Peony cigarettes from his pocket and waved them around. "Chef Lou just said that Chief Qian wants to arrest everyone? Did he specifically mention this ringleader's grandson?"

Lou Xiaoguang shook his head: "No, he just said he wanted to see everyone tonight."

Zhou Shanhu took a puff of his cigarette, squinted, and pondered. He said, "Don't touch Ma Dehua yet. After all, he's under Chief Qian's command. It wouldn't look good if we took action against him first. We need to ask Chief Qian about this..."

"Old Zhou, what kind of ridiculous joke are you talking about? He's the one who started this trouble, and we're not going to deal with him?" Wang Dong's eyes widened. "Don't forget who gave you this opportunity..."

“It’s not that we don’t want to deal with him, it’s just that we shouldn’t rush to deal with him!” Zhou Shanhu interrupted him.

"Of course I know how much Chief Qian has done for me, so I must do my best to serve him."

“You guys analyze this yourselves. Ma Dehua is Chief Qian’s subordinate. If we take care of him, it might vent Chief Qian’s anger, but it will be detrimental to Chief Qian’s work.”

"Think about it, Chief Qian just became the head of a department in their unit, and someone in the department offended him. His friend then took care of that person. If this gets back to their unit, how can he, as the leader, carry out his work?"

"Chief Qian must have thought of this. He may not want us to deal with Ma Dehua. He'll take care of this bastard himself. We have to trust Chief Qian's abilities!"

Wang Dong looked at Xu Weidong.

Xu Weidong, with a gloomy face, reached out and rested his chin on his hand, appearing deep in thought.

In the end, he pondered for a moment and came up with nothing but a fart.

He farted and explained, "I ate a bit too many edamame tonight."

Several people cursed at him together: "You son of a bitch!"

“Call Brother Dayong over. He’s also part of the supply and marketing system, and he’s quick-witted,” Zhou Yaozu suggested.

Wang Dong immediately hopped on his bicycle and set off: "I know where Qiu Dayong lives, I'm going to find him."

Zhou Shanhu said, "We already know where Ma Dehua lives. He's like a piece of fat meat on our chopping board. We can ignore him for now. What we need to do next is investigate those five vagrants who followed Ma Dehua to cause trouble."

Lou Xiaoguang said with distress, "I don't know them. These people didn't introduce themselves."

Zhou Shanhu said, "You've seen them? Do you remember what they look like?"

Lou Xiaoguang nodded: "That's for sure."

Zhou Shanhu said, "I'll ask 'Old Knife' for directions. He's well-connected in Haibin City and knows the most people. Asking him for directions is sure to be the right thing to do."

In the dormitory of the Supply and Marketing Cooperative's moving team, Qiu Dayong, who had been promoted to deputy team leader, was sharpening his crowbar for opening boxes.

Yang Sheng treated Qian Jin as a trusted confidant and groomed him for leadership.

Before the transfer, he did not directly promote Wang Hao, the deputy captain, to the position of captain. Instead, he sent him to the railway transport brigade as captain, and then transferred Qi Jinbao, the deputy captain of the railway transport brigade, to the Jiagang transport brigade as captain.

Qi Jinbao had a cousin named Qi Dong, who succeeded Yang Shengzhang as the head of the warehousing and transportation department.

After taking office, Qi Dong quietly promoted Qiu Dayong to deputy captain of the Jiagang Port Transport Team.

This matter did not cause any ripples, but insiders knew the inside story:
Qiu Dayong knew that his promotion was due to Yang Shengzhang's help; Yang Shengzhang was helping Qian Jin cultivate a loyal follower out of consideration for Qian Jin.

He was busy when someone saw someone rushing in from outside and went out to greet them, then quickly came back in: "Brother Dayong, someone from Taishan Road has arrived!"

Qiu Dayong put on the work clothes printed with "Go all out and move forward quickly" and went out, asking, "Brother Dong? It's so late..."

"Chief Qian was killed!" Wang Dong said, panting heavily.

Upon hearing this, Qiu Dayong's expression immediately changed. He reached out his rough, strong hand and pressed down on his shoulder, demanding, "What happened! Are you in the hospital?"

Wang Dong took a breath and explained the whole story.

Finally, he slammed his hand on the handlebars and shouted angrily, "Old Qiu, Chief Qian has been bullied! Someone threw wine in his face right in front of his men!"

Qiu Dayong's expression looked particularly ferocious in the moonlight.

He turned around and yelled towards the dormitory: "Brothers! Grab your weapons!"

The sound carried into the dormitory, causing a commotion in the three adjacent rooms, like a hornet's nest that had been disturbed.

Windows opened one after another, and shovels, crowbars, and ropes used for bundling goods were thrown out like raindrops.

The young men quickly assembled, all dressed in blue overalls. After coming out, they began to choose the tools that suited them best. Their short hair and buzz cuts gleamed with a bluish-black light under the moonlight.

Qiu Dayong and his men rode onto the bikes.

When they first started working with Qian Jin last year, they only had one bicycle, which they handled with the care of a family heirloom.

Nowadays, almost every porter owns a bicycle. To make commuting easier, they prioritize buying bicycles after saving up their wages.

They saved the money themselves, but Qian Jin helped them get the bicycle tickets.

So even though the money went to the countryside a few months ago, they still know exactly who their "big brother" is and remember it well.

A large procession of bicycles crossed the street intersection and quickly gathered in front of the neighborhood committee office.

Zhou Shanhu shared his analysis with Qiu Dayong.

After listening, Qiu Dayong nodded calmly: "Old Zhou is right, that's how it is."

"Conflicts in the office should be resolved in the office. If we ask someone else to handle them outside, we'll be ridiculed. In that case, Qian, the brigade leader, will probably be sitting on a hot seat."

"Let's deal with those five vagrants first, their identities..."

"When we found out, they were just a few punks who had been fired from the factory. They huddled together and formed a gang of 'Loyal and Righteous Men,' but in reality, they were just a bunch of worthless bastards," Zhou Shanhu said contemptuously.

The bronze whistle was a key breakthrough. He investigated the whistle and the inscription on it, and quickly identified the members of the Loyalty Gang.

Combined with Lou Xiaoguang's description of the five troublemakers' clothing and appearance, Zhou Shanhu's brothers on the road found out the five people's identities and whereabouts.

After listening, Qiu Dayong patted him on the shoulder to express his approval, but then said considerately, "Captain Qian doesn't want you to repeat his mistakes..."

"Don't worry, Brother Dayong, I'll save you the trouble," Zhou Shanhu said immediately.

“I haven’t associated with these people for a long time, and I won’t get involved in their affairs, but now I’m in charge of the barbecue team, right?”

"The barbecue team set up stalls everywhere, and it was inevitable that they would come into contact with these people in society. That's how I got back in touch with them."

"But you and Chief Qian can rest assured, I've distanced myself from them. If they come over for barbecue and beer, no problem, it's on me."

"But if they want to cause trouble, then sorry, they'll have to stay far away from me. I have a proper job now, and Director Wei even introduced me to a girl. How could I possibly go back to messing around? Wouldn't I be a fool?"

Qiu Dayong patted him on the shoulder again: "Good, it's good that you understand the reasoning behind this."

Where are they now?

"Clear Spring Pool!"

The Qingquanchi Bathhouse in the southern part of the city is an old building with blue bricks and gray tiles.

It is a well-known small collective enterprise on Songshan Road, open 24 hours a day, and is very popular with night shift workers.

At this moment, a dim electric light hung at the entrance of the bathhouse, making the two red characters "Men's Bath" particularly glaring.

Pushing open the door and passing through the lobby leads to the changing room, which is filled with the mixed smell of cheap soap and foot odor. Turning another corner leads to the bathhouse.

In the center of the room was a large hot water pool, surrounded by shower heads and long benches, with several enamel basins bearing the words "Safety Production" scattered on the benches.

"Brother Ma, that cowardly guy surnamed Qian was hilarious today!" Zhang Jianjun, the young man with aviator glasses—a former temporary worker at the foundry—was lying in the pool, rubbing his belly and laughing heartily.

Without his glasses to conceal it, his triangular eyes looked particularly sinister.

Ma Dehua splashed hot water on himself, shaking his head smugly: "I was wondering what kind of big shot this kid was. Damn it, my brother told me before he went in that I should avoid him if I see him again..."

"Hiding my ass! That kind of crooked guy is only good in the state-run No. 2 Restaurant, where I can't afford to clash with Guan Dabao and his gang. But outside, hmph, you can see if I can just kill someone and be done with it!" said the burly young man, Duan Yingxiong.

The skinny young man, Liu Zi, was somewhat uneasy: "Brother Ma, we made our move in the East Sea Hall, is everything alright? I heard that the East Sea Hall is a place..."

"Alright, Liu Zi, damn it, stop being such a coward," Duan Yingxiong mocked him.

"We only threw a glass of wine in Qian Jin's face, we didn't ask you to steal anything, what are you afraid of?"

Liu Zi said sullenly, "I'm not afraid to steal things. My skills are the best in the whole seaside. I've seen the locks of the state-run No. 2 Restaurant, and I can open them all."

Ma Dehua said lazily, "I don't need you to steal anything. Tonight, I just need a few of you to cover for me."

"Great, this was a great success. Damn it, I finally got my brother some revenge!"

"Brother Defu really fell for this bastard?" Zhang Jianjun wondered. "I don't think he's very capable. He didn't dare to do anything even after you splashed wine in his face."

"And nobody's helping him. Brother Ma is right, this bastard can't possibly get by in your mom's workplace," Duan Yingxiong said casually.

Ma Dehua said, "There are still many doubts about my cousin's matter. It should be my cousin's wife... Never mind, let's not talk about this anymore. Anyway, I've seen through it all now."

"Qian Jin is all show and no substance. My cousin definitely didn't fall for him. It's probably just that my cousin's father-in-law disliked him and wanted to get rid of him, but he used Qian Jin's name."

"Never mind, guys, let's take a good bath tonight. I'm going back first, I have to go to work tomorrow. After work tomorrow, my buddies will arrange it, let's go to the People's Mobile Canteen for draft beer and barbecue!"

The thugs immediately cheered.

Liu Zi asked worriedly, "Be careful at work tomorrow. Will Qian Jin give you a hard time?"

"He wouldn't dare!" Ma Dehua said arrogantly. "This time I splashed wine in his face, but if he dares to give me a hard time, I'll splash sulfuric acid in his face!"

Duan Yingxiong splashed water vigorously: "Brother Ma, so powerful and domineering!"

After Ma Dehua left, the five of them continued to boast.

Then the bathhouse door suddenly opened, its rusty hinges groaning shrilly. Countless young men and burly men surged in like a tidal wave, instantly filling the entire bath area.

Wang Dong took the lead, slamming the rebar in his hand onto the tiled floor with a loud thud.

Qiu Dayong and his team of educated youth blocked the back door.

Zhu Tao and his men then secured all the windows.

Loud.

The few people in the bathhouse shuddered in fright, and a series of bubbles rose from the already murky bathwater.

Someone was so scared that they farted.

Zhang Jianjun and the other four people instinctively moved into a corner.

They quickly glanced at the people who came in.

How is this going?

The five people looked panicked, secretly praying that this wasn't someone coming for them.

However, what I feared most came to pass...

"The Loyal and Righteous Gang? Zhang Jianjun? Duan Yingxiong? Cheng Liuzi? Du Xinzong? Dou Hongxing?" Wang Dong's voice echoed in the bathhouse. "Do you know Wang Dong from my country's No. 6 Cotton Mill?"

Zhang Jianjun and his group were immediately frozen in the pool.

Five naked men, facing more than a hundred burly men armed with weapons, looked like five fish on a chopping board.

Zhang Jianjun tried to dive into the water, but Zhou Shanhu grabbed him by the hair and lifted him up.

"Brother Dong..." Zhang Jianjun's lips trembled, hot water streaming down his pale face. "You're Brother Dong? We don't know where our little brothers have offended you..."

"What a misunderstanding!" Qiu Dayong slammed his crowbar down beside him, splashing water everywhere. "When you threw wine on Director Qian, why didn't you say it was a misunderstanding?"

The other customers in the bathhouse had already hidden in a corner.

An old man ran outside without rinsing off the soap suds properly, but was politely stopped by a young educated youth at the door: "Grandpa, put your clothes on before you go, don't catch a cold."

Two young men came up to help the old man wipe the soap suds off his body and said with a friendly smile, "We are from the security task force, here to catch fugitives."

The old man was so frightened that his legs trembled.

Upon closer inspection, the young man had indeed pulled out a red armband.

He breathed a sigh of relief: "I thought it was a group fight."

"No, this is the new China, not the old society. We are all law-abiding young people." The members of the security task force put on red armbands.

Seeing this, the old man went back to the pool and started scrubbing again.

Since it's a security task force catching fugitives, what's there to be afraid of?
This is a spectacle we absolutely have to see.

Zhou Shanhu squatted by the pool and used Zhang Jianjun's sunglasses to lift his chin: "You used to work in a foundry? Your dad was that bald guy Zhang who got caught stealing iron to sell for money, right?"

Xu Weidong had also used his connections to inquire about five people, and he sneered:
"If the upper beam is crooked, the lower beam will be crooked too. What's that saying again? A hero begets a hero, a scoundrel begets a scoundrel!"

"This kid's dad used to steal iron from the company? No wonder he stole gas coupons from the company and got caught by our anti-corruption office!"

Zhang Jianjun was already paralyzed in the water.

Liu Zi carefully examined Zhou Shan Lake, then suddenly rushed to the edge of the pond, and, soaking wet, kowtowed to Zhou Shan Lake:

"Boss of Weishan Lake! Boss of Weishan Lake! I was wrong! I was wrong, I shouldn't have, I shouldn't have... I didn't know Director Qian was your friend, brother..."

"My friend? Bullshit! That's my older brother!" Zhou Shanhu sneered. "And who the hell are you? How the hell do you know my old slang name?"

Liu Zi said weakly, "I am Cheng Liu Zi. I follow Brother Zuo Shan Hu Hu."

"When Tiger came to your place for barbecue the other day, he brought me along. You...you forgot about me? We're family..."

"Don't you need to pull strings and get close to me." Zhou Shanhu kicked him back into the pool.

"You're Little Tiger's little brother? I'm about to burst out laughing. What kind of world is this? When Little Tiger was out there, he couldn't even get a job as one of my underlings. I wouldn't have taken in a coward like him back then."

"So you're his underling? And you actually dared to throw wine in my brother's face?!"

Zhou Shanhu laughed out loud: "What's going on in society these days? Do people in the underworld no longer follow the rules? You guys don't even bother to find out the situation before you start?"

"Thank goodness I left the underworld, otherwise, if I hung out with brainless bastards like you, I'd be caught up in the mess and sent to be eaten sooner or later!"

Duan Yingxiong timidly climbed up and said, "Brother, you're right. We didn't know the way. We were deceived by that Ma Dehua."

He said Qian Jin...

"Shut up!" A burly man came up and kicked him back into the pool. "If you dare mention Director Qian's name again, I'll shove you into the boiler and boil you!"

Someone from the educated youth team went to the boiler room at Qingquanchi and brought back five bamboo baskets for carrying coal.

Wang Dong tapped the edge of the basket with a piece of rebar: "Crawl in yourself, or we'll take you to the police station. If you dare to resist..."

He glanced at the crowbar in Qiu Dayong's hand: "I'll let you eat as much of this as you want!"

Zhou Shanhu panicked upon hearing this: "Send them to the police station? Wouldn't that be letting them off easy?"

“If you follow the rules of the underworld, and they cause trouble without even knowing the proper etiquette, then their tongues are useless. Just use a bamboo skewer to make three sharp, six-hole holes in their tongues!”

Upon hearing this, Liu Zi burst into tears: "Spare me, Brother Weishan Lake, spare me!"

Dou Hongxing, who hadn't spoken until now, exclaimed in horror, "You're using vigilante justice! This is illegal!"

“I know you. You are all important people now. You can’t follow in our footsteps and go down the path of crime!”

Wang Dong looked at Qiu Dayong.

He murmured inwardly.

Based on my past temper, I would definitely grab these people and beat them up first to vent my anger.

But now that he's joined the security department and is exposed to the law every day, he's become exceptionally law-abiding and really doesn't want to resort to vigilante justice.

Qiu Dayong said calmly, "You five have guts to throw wine in Director Qian's face."

"Tell me, what does this mean? Why are you doing this?"

Zhang Jianjun hurriedly said, "It wasn't us, brother. You can check. We didn't spill the wine. It was Ma Dehua who did it!"

"That bastard Ma Dehua told us back then that he was going to treat that Boss Qian to drinks..."

Qiu Dayong nodded: "Oh, you're treating Boss Qian to drinks? That makes things simple. We won't take you to the police station. How about we treat you to a drink in return?"

Duan Yingxiong's face lit up with surprise: "Great, great!"

Cheng Liuzi looked at him like he was an idiot.

Qiu Dayong and the others laughed.

He pointed to the pool water, which had turned gray after being scrubbed all day, and said, "Drink up, drink well. When you start spitting out the wine, that's when this matter will be over."

Zhang Jianjun and his four companions were dumbfounded.

They rushed to cry out, "No, brother, spare us..."

"We were blind to your greatness, we kneel down and apologize to Director Qian..."

"Brother, this water will kill you, really! There's urine and feces in it, you'll die if you drink it..."

Qiu Dayong said impatiently, "Then let's go to the Public Security Bureau. No one will die there."

Zhang Jianjun realized what was happening and whispered, "We haven't done anything wrong this time. At worst, we can just implicate Ma Dehua, and we'll be fine at the police station!"

The other four realized what was happening and their eyes lit up. They all said, "Let's go to the police station! We're willing to go to the police station!"

Qiu Dayong beckoned to Shi Zhentao: "Zhentao, this is your job."

Shi Zhentao put on the red armband and said, "Okay, I'll arrest them and take them in for interrogation right now, hehe."

"Don't worry, let them out first thing tomorrow morning. They'll be perfectly fine physically, but internally..."

He called to his team members and asked, "Are the stun guns in the station fully charged?"

The team member excitedly said, "It was full of people in the evening. Didn't a stray dog ​​come by then? I used a stun gun to electrocute it. Its fur was singed, but it was fine."

Shi Zhentao said, "Okay, then when you shock them later, avoid the hair on their heads and in their crotches."

“You can’t avoid the crotch,” Xu Weidong said, getting excited. “Our anti-voting office used this thing too. The electric chicken was really powerful. It would straighten up as soon as it was shocked, and it kept spitting things out. We never used it again.”

The five thugs were terrified.

They gathered together, and then a clump of papers slowly floated up onto the water...

I wonder which one of them got scared!
Zhang Jianjun squatted in the water, kowtowing repeatedly: "Please, brothers, spare us! I'll drink it, I'll drink it, okay? Please don't send us to the police station!"

Xu Weidong said to those around him, "Damn it, this big lump of yellow poop must have been his, otherwise he wouldn't have been so willing to drink the bathwater."

The others thought about it for a moment and nodded in agreement.

The five scoundrels, looking miserable, gulped down water.

They were quite hygienic, deliberately avoiding the area where the rhubarb was floating, and instead went to the opposite corner to gulp it down.

The old man taking a bath was dumbfounded.

I've lived for over seventy years, and this is the first time I've ever seen someone drink excrement!

Zhou Yaozu called out to him, "Uncle, come on up, the water's dirty!"

The old man hurriedly climbed up, regretting his actions: "I should have gone home earlier! What am I going to do now? I'm all dirty!"

The five thugs drank their fill of water, becoming completely drunk and their stomachs were bloated as if they were seven or eight months pregnant.

They finally managed to climb out of the pool, and then knelt down and sprayed water out.

Wang Dong is now the most law-abiding citizen. Fearing that the five people would be drunk to death, he decided to help them out.

He kicked the five men so they rolled over and lay on the ground, then stretched out his big foot and stepped on their bellies to give them a "silk foot massage".

Considering his legs were covered in black hair, and he was wearing black stockings.

Just then, someone squeezed in from outside and whispered, "Chief Qian is here. He wants us to take the person out so we don't cause trouble for the bathhouse."

Wang Dong nodded to indicate that he understood.

He pointed to the five coal baskets.

The five thugs, like chickens with their necks pulled, obediently crawled into the coal basket.

Qiu Dayong and his men were strong, and they carried the animals out like pigs.

As Zhang Jianjun passed through the locker room, he suddenly cried out, "My pants! My watch!"

"What the hell do you want a timetable for!" one of the educated youth kicked the basket. "Are you keeping it to check your time in the labor camp?"

Qian Jin was in a bad mood with a gloomy face, but when he saw the five coal baskets that suddenly appeared and the five naked men in the baskets, his expression immediately turned to shock.

Hey bro!

Qiu Dayong and Xu Weidong laughed and told Qian Jin what had happened in the bathhouse.

Qian Jin's first reaction was to laugh, but then he heard that Cheng Liuzi was a thief and wanted to curry favor with Zhou Shanhu, and his expression immediately became interesting:
Which one is Cheng Liuzi?

"Tell me, besides you, does Ma Dehua have any other thief friends?"

"No? Henhen, then let me tell you, a chance to redeem yourself is right in front of you. If you behave well, I promise not only will I not cause trouble for the five of you, but I'll also give you some benefits!"

(End of this chapter)