1994: Starting with unpaid leave

Insults are never kind.

Zhou Tong, who was already used to using foul language, was a master of it.

He lost his temper, pointed his finger at the delivery driver's nose, bared his yellow teeth, and, disregarding the women present, unleashed a string of profanities:

"Fuck you!", "You little brat!"...

The continuous shouting and cursing attracted many neighbors who were at home to come out and see what was going on.

Many of them initially wanted to offer some advice, but when they saw that it was Zhou Tong, a burly thug, who was shouting and cursing, and that he wasn't cursing anyone they knew in the factory, no one dared to step forward to intervene. They just stood in a circle outside, pointing and watching the spectacle.

Seeing the bulging muscles on the other person's taut arm, the driver standing in the truck bed secretly regretted his actions.

Turning his head to look at Dong Jianguo, who hadn't reacted at all, he regretted even more that the person in charge hadn't even spoken yet, and that he, the deliveryman, had insisted on stepping forward.

He nervously swallowed, "Boss Dong, your neighbor is going too far! If he really starts fighting, you'll have to help stop him!"

Standing two meters away from the driver, Dong Jianguo was both amused and exasperated upon hearing this.

I knew this guy was chickening out, but I didn't want to laugh at him.

After all, the driver was standing up to protect his own interests. If Zhou Tong scolded him and made him angry, wouldn't that dampen the driver's enthusiasm for doing good deeds?

One act of standing up can lead to a lifetime of silence—doesn't that corrupt social morals?

Thinking of this, Dong Jianguo decided to speak.

Before he could speak, Xiuyun was already standing in front of Zhou Tong:

"Stop yelling! What they said isn't wrong. These eggs didn't just fall from the sky; we still owe them money. Why should we give them to you for free!"

Although Xiuyun is considered tall for a woman, standing in front of Zhou Tong, she still looks small compared to his tall figure, and it's hard for her to be intimidating.

Zhou Tong sneered, "I thought you two were either deaf or mute! You can hear and speak, can't you?! Why were you pretending to be disabled just now?!"

"Making all this noise so early in the morning, with ping-pong tables and all that commotion, don't you feel disturbed?! What's wrong with giving you some eggs? This is the price you should pay for disturbing the peace!"

As he spoke, he pointed at Xiuyun's cheek, the distance perfectly measured—less than a finger's width away from poking her beautiful cheek.

"Your man offended someone but you're too afraid to speak up, so you're making the woman stand up for him, huh?! Look at how stingy your family is, and you call yourself a business owner?! What a load of crap..."

A hand reached out without warning and grasped Zhou Tong's index finger just as perfectly.

Zhou Tong was stunned. The next second, his index finger and the back of his hand were suddenly bent into a 90-degree right angle!

"Ouch! That hurts like hell! Holy crap, let go!"

He grimaced in pain, his already disheveled face almost contorted into a modern painting.

Dong Jianguo, however, did not want to let go, but continued to apply slight pressure.

So, everyone present watched in disbelief as Zhou Tong, the burly stevedore, almost knelt down before Dong Jianguo.

Dong Jianguo held Zhou Tong's finger firmly in his hand and said calmly:

"I'm sorry, I disturbed your sleep."

"I've already apologized to you, now it's your turn to apologize..."

Zhou Tong was in so much pain he was almost sweating, and he couldn't react at first: "Apologize? What the hell should I apologize for?"

"I need to apologize for swearing at my wife."

Dong Jianguo looked down at Zhou Tong, who was kneeling on one knee, his tone icy.

"You son of a bitch..."

Just as Zhou Tong was about to retort, he suddenly felt another sharp pain in his index finger. He could even hear the cracking sound of Dong Jianguo snapping his knuckles.

He felt that if Dong Jianguo continued to pull on his index finger like this, it would definitely break.

Adhering to the principle that a wise man doesn't fight a losing battle, he hurriedly turned to Xiuyun and begged for mercy:

"Xiuyun, I'm sorry, I'm just a person who doesn't watch what I say, I just blurt things out, please don't mind..."

Xiuyun was also startled by Dong Jianguo's sudden appearance.

This was the first time she had ever seen Dong Jianguo fall out with an outsider to protect himself, and fearing something bad might happen, she quickly grabbed Dong Jianguo's arm.

"Jianguo, that's enough, now let go..."

To everyone's surprise, Dong Jianguo did not let go:

"Apologize to the driver in the truck bed!"

"I……"

Zhou Tong was furious, but since he had already admitted defeat, there was no need to pretend anymore. So he simply grinned at the driver in a muffled voice.

"Dude, sorry about earlier, oh... don't take it to heart!"

The drivers in the truck bed were dumbfounded. They never expected that Dong Jianguo, who was always smiling and friendly, would be so ruthless.

He nodded blankly at Zhou Tong: "I understand, you need to be more mindful of your manners from now on..."

Zhou Tong, both in pain and angry, rolled his eyes: "Brother Jianguo, is that alright now?"

"This is nothing! Apologize to the neighbors who were watching. After all, they were disturbed by your noise. If I disturbed them, you apologize, but shouldn't you apologize to them too?"

As soon as he said that, the neighbors who were watching burst into laughter.

Normally, no one wanted to mess with Zhou Tong, who was prone to causing trouble, but now that Dong Jianguo had him completely subdued, Zhou Tong looked like a tiger with its teeth pulled out, and for a moment no one was afraid of him anymore.

Knowing that Dong Jianguo was deliberately trying to embarrass him, Zhou Tong blushed.

"Dong Jianguo, don't go too far!"

"Was that too much? I didn't feel that way at all. Compared to you just now, I'm much more polite, aren't I?"

He said that, but he used even more force with his hands.

Zhou Tong felt like his fingers were really about to break. He no longer cared about saving face and shouted at his neighbors:

"Dear neighbors, I'm so sorry. It was my fault today. I accidentally disturbed you all. I apologize!"

"I won't accept it!"

It's unclear who was deliberately trying to embarrass Zhou Tong, but someone hid behind the crowd and shouted, which immediately made the neighbors burst into laughter again.

Dong Jianguo was very satisfied with the result and looked down at Zhou Tong, asking, "Do you still want my eggs?"

"No...no more, Brother Jianguo, please let go of me! You're going to break my fingers..."

"That won't do. I feel your apology isn't sincere!"

"Erzhuzi, go to the outer room of my house and bring me the kitchen knife!"

"Huh? What are you doing with a knife?!" Erzhuzi asked curiously.

Dong Jianguo glanced at Zhou Tong, his eyes icy: "I swore I would treat my wife well and never let her suffer. Today she was insulted in front of me, and I think I should leave that person a mark..."

"Brother, what kind of mark should we leave?"

"Isn't he a smooth talker? That's a problem, it needs to be addressed."

"How do we cure it?" Erzhuzi asked, his voice as if he were the straight man in a crosstalk performance.

Dong Jianguo said calmly, "Just cut off a small piece of the tongue, and I guarantee it will cure the disease."

Zhou Tong was horrified and exclaimed in shock and fear, "Dong Jianguo, you're fucking insane! This is a crime!"

Dong Jianguo suddenly laughed:

"I'll cut it thin; at worst, it'll be a minor injury. You'll just be detained for a few days and then out. If you have a relapse then, we'll do it all over again. I refuse to believe I can't cure you!"