Chapter Thirty-Six: Conflict

  Chunyu Building is a famous restaurant in Chongqing, serving very authentic dishes. People with some status like to entertain guests at Chunyu Building. Recently, business has been booming at Chunyu Building, mainly due to the increase in workers. Many of these workers can earn over 10 yuan per month, while some managers earn even more, and newly recruited patrolmen have similar incomes. On their days off, they come to spend money, never defaulting on payments and being very generous, making the restaurant extremely busy.

  It just so happened that Wang Huai was on duty today, and he brought Wang Yongyi and several brothers to Chunyu Building to improve their lives. Wang Yongyi is the grandson of Old Man Wang, a clever young man who has been hoping to join the patrol team since leading Qiao Yu, and was also brought by Wang Huai to Chongqing, but at a young age, he was temporarily sent to study and read first, just in time for the holiday, they all came to Chunyu Building together.

  At this time, outside the Chunyu Building, there were also a few people leaning on the tea stall, drinking big bowls of tea and occasionally throwing peanuts into their mouths.

  "Hei Mao brothers, those turtle sons in the patrol team are really rich, always see them going to Chun Yu Lou, damn it, we brothers can only be here with Da Wan Cha, same eating salary as soldiers, the gap is too big!"

  The first was a man in his thirties, with a rugged face and a mole the size of a fingernail on his left cheek, on which grew a tuft of black hair, making him look extremely fierce.

  "Hey! There's no way to compare, they have Qiao Yu behind them. I heard their money is overflowing, and just giving some away is a lot. Isn't that the same as our meager salary?"

  "Big brother, let's not mention salary anymore. It's been more than four months since we last got paid. Honestly, I don't even dare to go home and face my wife. A grown man can't even provide for his family, it's really embarrassing!"

  "The imperial court doesn't give us money, and it's said that even those in power are struggling to make ends meet. We're just small soldiers, what can we do? We can only accept our fate!"

  "Big brother, I've heard that the imperial court isn't out of money, but rather they're not giving us any. Zhu Youji and Niu Chuan-shan, those few corrupt officials, have just allocated several hundred thousand taels of silver to Qiao Yu's police force, while we can't even get a single cent!"

  Hei Mao's face turned red with rage as he suddenly stood up and asked, "Tang Lao San, are you sure about this?"

  "Whoever is lying, whoever is a traitor. The other day, a large truckload of silver was transported, and many people saw it. They worry that we are colluding with the rebel party, isn't giving us silver aiding the enemy? Big brother, don't be angry anymore, you can't twist your arm to be stronger than your leg, just honestly endure it!"

  "I never believed in this nonsense, we sacrifice our lives for this crappy dynasty and they don't even give us our due pay. It's only right that we get paid for serving as soldiers. If they dare to push me, I'll really become a revolutionary!"

  Those drinking tea nearby were also scared away, how dare they talk about rebellion at this time, isn't that seeking death? These soldiers became even more reckless when they saw others being scared away, shouting loudly. At this moment, Wang Huai and others came down from the wine tower, and Hei Mao caught sight of these people with one glance.

  "Turtle sons, they eat good food and drink spicy liquor, while I'm left here to freeze in the northwest wind. Do you guys have the guts? Let's go beat up these bastards!"

  Hei Mao led several patrolling soldiers to surround Wang Huai and the others, who had received strict training and sensed that these men were up to no good, so he was also on high alert.

  "What's up with you guys?"

  Hei Mao took one look at Wang Huai and the others, who all seemed to be under twenty years old, with slender bodies, and there was even a fourteen or fifteen year old kid. Instantly, he didn't take them seriously, sneering: "Nothing much, just that we brothers are not well off, heard your patrol team has money, we don't want much, hand over one hundred big yuan, and we'll settle this once and for all, otherwise let you little brat lie here!"

  Hei Mao had not finished speaking, when he suddenly felt a severe pain in his chest, and then he flew out, thudding to the ground with a "thud". It was Wang Huai who kicked him. At this time, passersby also fully demonstrated the Chinese people's love of watching excitement, and they surrounded Hei Mao, pointing and gesturing incessantly.

  "This kick will teach you a lesson. You're so big, but can't even earn your own money? If you still don't learn from this, next time it'll be with bullets!"

  Hei Mao was helped up by several brothers, brushed off the dust on his body, and glared at Wang Huai with a grin: "You little stinker, you've taken all of our master's silver, and you still have the nerve to be reasonable? Let's go together, if anything happens, I'll take responsibility!"

  These people rushed over one after another, with three patrol officers following behind Wang Huai. Everyone was young and hot-blooded, how could they be bullied? The two sides quickly clashed together. Although the patrol officers were also young and slender, their movements were extremely agile. On the other hand, Hei Mao's men were all rough and uncouth, unable to withstand a single blow, and two of them were opium addicts, already weak and feeble, and they were all knocked to the ground by Wang Huai and the others at once.

  Just then, several soldiers passed by and saw the scene. They shouted loudly: "The patrol police are bullying people, killing Hei Mao's brothers!" The more they shouted, the more people gathered. Wang Huai also knew that things might get out of hand, and as the other side was gathering more and more people, he was worried about being outnumbered, so he quickly retreated with a few of his brothers.

  Qiao Yu quietly listened to Wang Huai's account of the events in the office. Since the establishment of the patrol police team, there had been no conflicts with the military. These local ruffians were afraid of the powerful businessmen backing the patrol police and wouldn't dare provoke them. However, this time they dared to take the initiative to cause trouble, which seemed to be a result of the increasingly desperate situation of the patrol camp, coupled with the instigation of the revolutionary party. The revolutionary party was planning to incite the military to riot over their pay, and now this incident had occurred, it was likely being used as an excuse by the other side.

  Just as Jiao Yu was lost in thought, Wang Tianhe rushed in hastily: "Young Master, something's gone wrong. One of the soldiers from the patrol camp who clashed with Wang Huai today, a man named Tang Lao San, is a big opium addict and his body is very weak. After the clash with Wang Huai, he didn't come up for air and has already died. His body has been taken back to the military camp by the others, and now they're holding a public memorial service there. They also want to ask you for an explanation."

  Wang Huai originally thought it was just an ordinary conflict, but he didn't expect anyone to die. His face changed drastically: "Sir, I've killed someone! Whatever punishment I deserve, I'll take it all on myself and won't cause you any trouble!"

  "Shut up, you can't even protect your own men. What kind of troops am I leading? But things don't seem that simple. Tianhe, hurry and gather everyone together. Also, tell those undercover agents to intensify their investigation into the Revolutionary Party's movements. I suspect they will use this as an excuse to launch a rebellion!"

  Qiao Yu gave an order, and Han Yong, Shi Dingzhong, Zhang Zili, Li Jingyuan, Liu Yunhong and others all rushed over. After a brief explanation of the situation, Han Yong bowed his head in thought for a moment before speaking up: "Young Master, the Patrol Battalion has been itching to make a move, and this time they have a good excuse. Although these people are all useless, our own men haven't had much training time, and we don't have the advantage of numbers either. The old army in Chongqing city adds up to over 5,000 people, and even if you subtract those who are just collecting paychecks, there are still over 4,000 people left. And then there's the Huì Party... If things get out of hand, it'll be hard to control."

  Qiao Yu also fell into deep thought, wanting to think of a foolproof plan. At this time, the entire patrol camp had been alarmed and everyone gathered on the school field, with black fur on their faces, blue and red patches, telling their grievances, pointing at Tang Lao San's corpse.

  "Did you all see that? After we ran into the patrol officers, those little brats dared to call us good-for-nothings. Brother Tang got angry and argued with them for a few sentences, but was beaten to the ground. None of us were spared either. We're all hot-blooded men, why should the patrol officers get to live the high life while we have to suffer? The imperial court isn't giving us any way out, can you all still tolerate this?"