Chapter Fifty: Gunshot

  It's already cooled down by the end of September, and the leaves on the trees in the factory have fallen. It's almost winter now. Compared to the inland areas, the temperature outside is a few degrees lower. At this time, the outside is even colder than the inland areas, especially at night when it feels even chillier. When walking outdoors at night, you can already feel the coldness of winter.

  "Brother! It's getting colder and colder, after a few days, we can wear this big coat out in the daytime to show off!"

  Wearing a thick woolen coat, with an 38-style rifle slung over his shoulder, Mu Bai rubbed his hands together and said to Wu Mantun, who was patrolling the factory with him, "Speak of the devil." As he spoke, he patted his coat again, trying to make himself look more spirited. If it weren't for the fact that it wasn't yet time to wear coats during the day, the security team would probably have been wearing these woolen coats in broad daylight just to show off in front of everyone.

  "I heard someone from the upper floor say that it will probably snow in these two days, and when the time comes to wear a thick coat for exercise, the team leader won't say anything."

  Everyone's thoughts are naturally understood by Wu Man, since the big coat was issued, everyone has been thinking about wearing it in front of people to show off. When the big coat was first issued, sometimes when no one was around, they would wear it even if it was hot, and someone would wear it on night shift. Although it's at night and can't show off, it's also a kind of enjoyment.

  "Big brother! Have you heard what the people in the factory said? The boss seems to be giving everyone a house, whoever is willing to move their family here will get a house."

  When Mu Bai heard the workers in those factories talk about it, he couldn't quite believe that such a good thing would happen - to be given a house! When would he ever have a home of his own?

  "It's already been spread around the factory, wasn't it what the boss promised everyone on that day when we had a celebration in the factory? But it seems like only those senior masters have it, I really envy them for being able to live in small Western-style buildings."

  As for the master's plan to build houses for everyone, Wu Mantun had of course heard people in the factory mention it. In recent days, those workers have been working hard, all wanting to earn a house for themselves and bring their families over. Although life outside is not as good as inside, at least here they have no worries about food and clothing, and what they earn is much better than tilling that little land back home.

  "Big brother! Why don't you, when the time comes, bring over my wife and siblings too? We can all live together then. Let's settle down here too! The landlord is not bad."

  Mu Bai looked up at Wu Mantun and said, "If that's the case, then I can be considered to have a home too." Mu Bai began to yearn for a life with a home. Wu Mantun was his older brother, so his mother would be his mother too. If his older brother had a home, wasn't it also his home?

  "This is all nonsense now, haven't you seen those big masters' houses, they just started construction a few days ago? It's just a matter of waiting for our turn as the security team, and it's likely to take a long time, let alone who knows if we'll even get that house."

  Thinking that the Dong family was only giving the house to the factory workers, Wu Mantun couldn't help but feel a bit disappointed. Although being in charge of the factory guard team here meant more monthly pay and better food than the factory workers, it seemed that going back to work in the factory wasn't so bad after all.

  "We should have our share, I've seen the boss, he's got nothing to say about us poor guys. Our security team doesn't work any less than their factory workers, if we weren't standing guard every day and night, they wouldn't be able to sleep soundly?"

  Mu Bai obviously felt a bit down after hearing Big Brother's words, but he still didn't quite believe it. He couldn't believe that the factory owner would give houses to only the workers in the factory and not to the security team. After all, although the security team made more money, their job wasn't any easier than the factory workers'.

  "The boss is not bad to us, but I think this giving everyone a house thing is not very reliable. There are more than 2,000 people in our factory. If each person gets a house, the boss's family would have to be mining gold to afford it. I reckon we'll have to wait a few more years before we can get a house."

  In Wu Mantun's opinion, although the master treats people like himself who came from Guanli very well, with good pay and letting everyone eat and dress well, but no matter what, there must be a limit. The master can do so now because of the good deeds done by these poor guys in their previous lives. If they still think about this and that under such treatment, then their heart is not right.

  When asked about his current life, Wu Mantun expressed satisfaction. Three meals a day at the canteen, clothes for all four seasons, and this winter's thick coat has already been distributed. Almost all of this month's salary is left over after spending just a few dollars. Every time he receives his salary, Wu Mantun sends the money back home through the post office, so his family doesn't go hungry.

  If I could bring my family's daughter and younger siblings over, send my brother to work in the factory, and have two people earning money at home, life would be much better. Then save some more money to find a wife and settle down, this lifetime will be content.

  Thinking of his daughter-in-law, Wu Mantun thought of the girl he met on the way to work outside the province, who asked for water to drink. I don't know if that girl said she had a mother-in-law or not. Such a beautiful girl should have been married off early. Thinking that she might already have a mother-in-law, Wu Mantun couldn't help but feel a little distracted.

  "Older brother! Take a drag on your cigarette to refresh yourself."

  Mu Bai, who saw his big brother spacing out and didn't know what he was thinking about, took out a pack of cigarettes from his overcoat. This peony cigarette was given away by the factory for free, although the quantity was not much, but one person would eventually get a few packs, like this night shift, smoking a cigarette to refresh oneself was not bad.

  "Cough... Cough... Cough"

  After lighting the cigarette, the taste of smoke entering the lungs was not comfortable. Wu Mantun, who originally didn't smoke, took a puff and started coughing violently, with tears welling up in his eyes.

  "Bro! Take it slow. Your way of smoking is going to choke you."

  Mu Bai saw his big brother being choked to tears and patted Wu Mantun's back, saying. After being patted several times on the back, Wu Mantun felt a bit more comfortable. Cigarettes are indeed not suitable for oneself.

  "Hmm! I won't smoke anymore, I still have a few packs of cigarettes at home, I'll give them to you later."

  Originally leaving the cigarette was thinking of turning back to learn how to smoke, but didn't expect smoking was this taste. Wu Mantun extinguished the cigarette and handed it to Mu Bai again.

  "Look at our team, there are only a few people who don't smoke, and besides, the cigarettes are free, so it's not like you'll lose anything by smoking."

  From the factory began to smoke, the factory started sending cigarettes to the security team. This is the only privilege that the security team can enjoy in the whole factory. Mu Bai also learned to smoke from some people in the team at that time.

  "Be quiet. What sound is that?"

  A loud noise of something being knocked over came from a nearby factory, making Wu Mantun vigilant. Such a large factory, once night fell, was left with only a few teams like himself patrolling the night shift with guns on their backs. According to reason, all the doors in this factory should be locked, so how could there be someone inside? This place wasn't like that cigarette factory on the other side where people worked day and night.

  "Whoosh" "Whoosh"

  As soon as he saw his big brother cocking the gun, Mu Bai also cocked the gun. At this time, there were still people in the factory, eight or nine out of ten were not good guys, and they must be thieves.

  Although it's said that nothing has been lost in the factory recently, there are a lot of scrap iron and copper piled up in some workshops, maybe someone with greedy eyes wants to steal those things.

  The closer they got to the factory gate, the faster their hearts beat. Although it had been three months since they joined the security team, this was still their first time encountering such a situation, and it would be strange if Wu Mantun and Mu Bainian weren't nervous.

  "Big brother, you...you might be scared. There...there may be more than one person here."

  Thinking that if there were a few people in the factory who stole things, Mu Bai was really worried that at that time, relying on himself and his brother might not be their opponents.

  "What's there to be afraid of? We've got our tools in hand. As soon as we go in, we'll take care of whoever is inside."

  Wu Mantun, who had gone up the mountain to fight wolves with his father in earlier years, felt a bit tense but not afraid. After hearing Mu Bai's words, he thought that when fighting wolves, one mustn't show mercy, or else one's life would be lost. Wu Mantun recalled what his father had told him in the past and knew he had to do it this way now.

  "Just in case."

  As soon as he heard that going in would result in being shot, Mu Bai was somewhat bewildered and turned his head to look at everyone, asking if it was true. Although it was nighttime, Mu Bai still felt that Big Brother seemed a bit different from usual, seeming more ruthless than usual.

  As he walked to the front gate of the factory, Wu Mantun took a look and found that the gate was indeed open, with a one-foot wide gap in it. When he approached the gate, Wu Mantun even heard someone's heavy breathing coming from inside.

  "Little White, you take the gun and follow me from behind. I'll fire a shot to test the wind direction, then you fire, let's not both miss the target at the same time, that would be troublesome."

  In the past, when hunting on the mountain, two people could not shoot at the same time, lest they both miss and get bitten back by the prey. One would shoot first, and the other would follow up depending on the situation. Although the shotgun he was holding now was much stronger than the fire gun he used to hunt with in the past, it still took effort to reload, so he whispered to Mu Bai.

  "Hmm!"

  Listening to the arrangement of Big Brother, Mu Bai responded softly and swallowed a mouthful of saliva, only feeling that his mouth was a bit dry, and his throat seemed to have fire.

  After making arrangements, the two of them crouched down like cats and quietly slipped through the one-person-wide gap in the door into the factory. Following the direction of the sound of heavy breathing, they looked over and indeed saw a black shadow not far away.

  "What's your job?"

  Wu Mantun suddenly stood up, grabbed his gun and shouted loudly at the black shadow.

  "Ah!"

  As soon as Wu Mantun's voice fell, a scream was heard, and at this moment the black shadow, hearing the sound, panicked and fled in a hurry.

  Bang!

  As the black shadow rushed towards him after a loud shout, Wu Mantun didn't think much and almost instinctively pulled the trigger as the shadow approached.

  At the moment when the crisp gunshot sounded, Wu Mantun saw that the black shadow rushing towards him was a man through the muzzle's flash. At this time, he was like being heavily struck and his body suddenly stopped, instantly falling to the ground.

  "Ah..."

  The gunshot was accompanied by a sharp, ear-piercing scream that came from the direction of the black shadow's passage. There was someone else there!

  "Wait..."

  Wu Mantun, who felt that the cry was somewhat unnatural, shouted loudly after firing a shot to prevent Mu Bai from shooting. But it was already too late.

  Bang!

  Mu Bai, who was already extremely tense, suddenly shrank back again when he heard the gunshot. At this moment, he was startled by a sharp and terrifying scream, and his hand tightened, firing a shot in the direction of the scream without even hearing Wu Mantang's shout.

  Two consecutive gunshots came out of the warehouse like thunder after lightning, suddenly tearing apart the dull night sky!