Chapter Sixteen: Contracting for Reservoirs

  Village head Zhao Guangqing was unhappy with Hei Da Lao, the village head is the big brother of the village, on his own one mu and three points of land, Hei Da didn't give him any face at all, which made him feel very embarrassed.

  Zhao Guangqing didn't immediately lose his temper because the five rascals in the village were at fault first, and besides, these people had never taken him seriously before. When he first joined the village committee, they didn't even look at him straight, now that they needed something from him, he also wanted to take advantage of it.

  "Heizi, how would you put it?" Zhao Guangqing asked.

  "Hei Zi shook his head and said, 'Zhao Ge, you misunderstood. I'm not saying that they ruined my plans, I can just let it go and not bother them about it. I just want to get an explanation for the two brothers who were beaten up, as long as my brothers are happy, I have no opinion.'"

  Zhao Guangqing threw away the half cigarette in his hand and said: "Just say it straight out, let them do what they want."

  Hei Zi looked at Zhu Xiao Fei and said: "Zhao Ge, they hit my brother, apologize and pay for the medical expenses, this is what should be done, right?"

  Although Zhao Guangqing was invited to intercede, he also wanted these little guys to suffer a bit and get some lessons, to see if they would still not take themselves seriously in the future.

  Zhao Guang nodded and said: "In principle, this is what should be done. I'll go back and tell them."

  Zhao Guangqing nodded and said: "Brother Zhao, I have another thing to ask you to do for me. If this is done, the other things can be discussed."

  Zhao Guangqing did not expect Hei Zi to have something to ask of him. The current village chief does not have much power, the land has all been contracted out to private individuals, and he is just like a nanny, except when someone's wife and husband get into a fight and come to find him with some trouble, no one comes to find him for anything else.

  "Go ahead, Heizi brother, as long as I can help you, I will definitely help you." Zhao Yongqing said very generously.

  At this time, Erzi's wife came in with two bottles of wine and a big package of food, Zhao Yongqing asked Heizi and Xiao Fei to put them on the table, arranged the wine and meat well, turned around and said to Erzi's wife: "You go back first, we'll discuss it later and I'll come to your house to tell you."

  Zhao Yongqing asked: "Heizi, what exactly do you want me to help you with?"

  Hei Zi raised his cup and took a sip of wine, saying: "Zhao Ge, I heard that the contract period for the North Gou Reservoir has expired."

  As soon as this matter was brought up, Zhao Yongqing felt a wave of annoyance in his heart. Several families in Shuiku Village wanted to take over the contract and almost fought over it. Unexpectedly, Heizi also had his eyes on that reservoir.

  "Hei Zi brothers, you are from outside the village, and no matter who it is, it can't be given to you." Zhao Yongqing said with a drink of wine and put down his cup.

  Hei Zi tore off a chicken leg and handed it to Zhao Yongqing, saying: "Brother Zhao, I don't want to take over the contract myself, I want Er Cheng Jia to take over."

  The Second Family was the poorest family in the village, and no one had ever seen them with any money. Zhao Yongqing burst out laughing when he heard this: "Hei Zi brothers, let his family take over the contract? They're so poor they can barely afford to eat, and yet they want to take over the warehouse?"

  "Zhao Ge, don't bother with this anymore. Just find a way to lease the reservoir to his family. The leasing fee will be yours entirely, not a cent less. What's there to fear?"

  Zhao Yongqing thought to himself and suddenly felt relieved. Giving the reservoir to Er Cheng's family was also a solution. Now, all the families who wanted to give him gifts were rejected by him, and the villagers had already spread rumors that he had accepted large gifts from certain families. He looked down on all the gifts given by other families, and no matter which family he gave it to, he would be suspected of accepting their gifts. Only giving it to Er Cheng's family would not arouse suspicion, as they were extremely poor and absolutely wouldn't give gifts.

  Zhao Yongqing picked up the wine glass that Zhu Xiaofei had just filled for him and said, "Alright, I'll agree to this. It's okay if the contract fee is paid a bit later."

  Hei Zi didn't expect Zhao Yongqing to agree so readily, and he was delighted to raise his wine cup and say: "Brother Zhao, thank you, for helping me out with such a big favor, your benefits will not be lessened."

  After drinking, Hei Zi asked Zhuo Xiaofei to give Zhao Yongqing two thousand yuan. At a time when ordinary workers' wages were five or six hundred, receiving two thousand yuan at once was something that had never happened to Zhao Yongqing before.

  Zhao Yongqing didn't dare take it. Hei Zi took the money and slapped it into Zhao Yongqing's hand, saying: "Brother Zhao, don't be polite, let's just consider us friends."

  Zhao Yongqing walked away with the money, feeling uneasy. When he returned to the house, Zhuo Xiaofei asked: "Heizi, you gave him so much money just to contract a fish pond?"

  "Hei Zi nodded and said, 'Xiao Fei, giving him money isn't just for a fish pond. Since we're planning to mix in the small town, we need to make connections with more people. This village is closest to the small town, it's our base of operations.'"

  Xiao Fei nodded and asked again: "Then why did you let Er Chengjia take over the fish pond?"

  Hei Zi laughed and patted Zhuo Xiao Fei's shoulder, saying: "Xiao Fei, if we want to open a big game, we need a place. We can't open the big game in the village. Don't look at the small games that are opened every day, there is no great danger. If we open a big game and let the police know, they will definitely come to catch us. Once we get caught, it's all over. We won't be able to open any more games in the future."

  Everyone knows that Xiao Fei's small gambling dens have been around for days, and they can be found everywhere. If the police are willing to arrest people, they can catch many every day. In the eyes of villagers and townspeople, these small dens are just a form of entertainment, like playing mahjong at home, and don't even count as real gambling. The police are too lazy to crack down on these dens unless someone reports them.

  The situation is different, just by investigating the capital involved, they can find out tens of millions or even hundreds of millions. This money is uncountable, and no matter how much is handed over to the superiors, it's unknown. Moreover, catching big gamblers results in a lot of fines, and the police also receive a lot of bonuses.

  For Heizi and his gang, getting caught for small-time gambling just means paying a fine, but getting caught for running a big game could mean being sent to labor camp or even prison.

  Heizi and Zhu Xiaofei discussed it and then went to the town to buy gifts for Er Cheng's family.

  Er Cheng's family lived in the west of the village, they were very poor, and their several old tile-roofed houses had been very old for a long time. Two people pushed the door to enter, an old dog raised its head to look at them, barked twice, and then lay down again. Er Cheng heard the dog bark and walked out of the house.

  "Hei Ge, Xiao Fei Ge, how did you guys come? Come in quickly." Er Cheng said warmly.

  Er Cheng was introducing Hei Zi and Zhu Xiao Fei to his parents while letting them into the house.

  Er Cheng's mother was ill, sitting on a kang surrounded by a quilt, leaning against the wall, her face yellowish in color, coughing non-stop.

  The room is a bit cold, in the deep autumn season, there is frost every morning and evening, some families have already lit their earth stoves, but our family, in order to save coal, lights the fire very late every year.

  Erchen's father was just over forty years old, looking like a little old man, sitting on the edge of the kang smoking, seeing them come in and hurriedly jumping to the ground to greet them.

  Hei Zi and Zhu Xiao Fei put down the gifts in their hands on the kang, they knew that Er Cheng's mother was ill, but didn't expect it to be this serious.

  "Second growth, your mother is so ill and you didn't tell me?" Hei Zi asked unhappily.

  "Hei Ge, don't worry about it, my mom's body isn't good, these two days the weather has been cold, maybe she caught a chill." Er Cheng's face showed helplessness and despair as he spoke.