Chapter 49: Righteousness Releases People

  Li Guoting turned around and saw that it was the class monitor who had called him.

  "Take the captured head and send it to the headquarters." The class leader said to Li Guoting.

  Li Guoting didn't say anything and ran forward with his gun.

  On the dock, a large group of armed soldiers and police were guarding more than a dozen striking workers who had been arrested. Li Guoting walked up to the arrested strikers and immediately recognized their leader. His hair was disheveled and covered his forehead, his thin cheeks had several scars with blood still oozing out, and his sleeves were torn, revealing two arms with scars. His hands were tied behind his back, and he was being held by soldiers, crouching on the ground.

  Li Guoting had just walked up when an official approached and asked: "Are you from the fourth class, sent to escort prisoners?"

  "Yes, sir."

  "Alright, you and him, take this guy to the headquarters first."

  "Yes, sir." Li Guoting stood at attention and replied.

  Then Li Guoting and another soldier took the leader of the strike to the battalion headquarters.

  That soldier Li Guoting is familiar, he's also in the new recruit company. Seems to be in the third platoon. Although not very close. But when meeting face-to-face, still feels quite intimate.

  "Hello. Brother." Li Guoting took the gun off his shoulder and held it with both hands, greeting the soldier.

  The soldier also raised his gun and smiled in response: "Hey, you seem to be Li Guoting from the 4th squad?"

  "That's right, you're absolutely right. I'm Li Guoting. And you are Wei Baosheng?" Li Guoting recalled the man's name and said.

  "Haha, I'm Wei Baosheng. During our military training, we even slept on a big kang together." Wei Baosheng said with a smile to Li Guoting.

  "Get up, walk. Walk."

  Li Guoting and Wei Baosheng raised their guns at the strike leaders who were squatting on the ground, ordering them to disperse.

  The strike leader who had been knocked down got up from the ground, looked at Li Guoting and Wei Baosheng who were escorting him, and asked: "Are you new recruits?"

  "Cut the nonsense, let's go! Move forward!"

  The leader of the strike said nothing and walked forward with a stride.

  Li Guoting and Wei Baosheng escorted him to the headquarters one by one.

  "Soldier brothers, who are you fighting for?" The strike leader asked them along the way.

  "Who we are fighting for is none of your business, shut up!" Li Guoting shouted.

  "Little brother, don't be so fierce? It seems that you are also from a poor background. Do you know why poor people are poor?" He asked Li Guoting again.

  This sentence moved Li Guoting, and he thought of his poor family in Fengshuping. He remembered his sister who died of illness due to lack of money for medical treatment. The landlord forced debt repayment, forcing his parents to death.

  "That's fate," said Li Guoting.

  "Wrong, little brother, that's not fate."

  "What is it if not fate?"

  "That's the result of the wealthy exploiting and oppressing us poor people. Think about it, we poor people work from dawn till dusk all year round, toiling in the wind and rain, but the grain we harvest can't even fill our bellies. It's all taken away by the landlords and rich merchants. You tell me, isn't that right?" The strike leader said as he walked away, turning his head back to Li Guoting.

  "What he said seems to make some sense," Wei Baosheng said.

  "Hmm, you're right. Then what can poor people like us do to avoid being poor?" Li Guoting said.

  "Little brother, as long as we poor people unite and fight against those landlord bullies who oppress us, we can take back the fruits of our labor that originally belong to us. The landlord bullies will no longer dare to exploit and bully us. We poor people can then turn over a new leaf and become masters instead of being treated like cattle."

  Li Guoting listened and felt that what the strike leader, who was about to be taken away by the troops, said was not just right, but too right. It was as if he had spoken directly to his own heart. So he asked: "What you say makes sense. Can we poor people defeat those evil landlords?"

  "How can it be? The world is for everyone. It's not the world of evil landlords. Now, what originally belonged to us poor people has been forcibly occupied by these evil landlords, so we poor people have been bullied and exploited by them generation after generation. Why did the dockworkers go on strike? It was because they were oppressed by the evil forces on the docks and the government, and couldn't make a living, so we united together to fight against them."

  "But our team leader said you're a bunch of idle rascals on the dock, always causing trouble." Wei Baosheng chimed in.

  The leader of the strike turned his face, looked at Wei Baosheng's face and said: "That is they who are deceiving you. Little brother, dockworkers and all poor people in the world are born in poverty. But your team leader is in cahoots with the evil tyrants on the dock. You are also oppressed and exploited by them just like us dockworkers."

  Li Guoting had just thought that this leader was a troublemaker and not a good person. But after hearing his words, he suddenly felt that the cork in his heart that had been puzzling him for so long had been pulled out. His mind suddenly became clear.

  "What you said makes sense. But we poor people still can't compete with them, can we?" Li Guoting said.

  "Little brother, you're absolutely right. Why can't we defeat them? It's because we don't have a government. We don't have guns. But as long as the poor people of the world are united and not deceived by the landlords and evil tyrants, the poor won't fight the poor. Let's unite and together confront our common enemy, the enemy of the poor. Then we will surely be victorious. At that time, the world will belong to us poor people." The strike leader said emotionally.

  Li Guoting and Wei Baosheng both lowered their heads as they listened.

  The two of them unconsciously slowed down their pace.

  Wei Baosheng looked at the strike leader walking in front, then glanced at Li Guoting and whispered to him: "Brother, what he said makes sense."

  Li Guoting also quietly replied: "Yes, it's reasonable, everyone says that we have gone to our hearts."

  "He's a good man. Unfortunately, if we take him to the headquarters like this, he'll definitely be shot." Wei Baosheng said.

  Li Guoting turned his head around and took a look, finding that no one was following them. He raised his head again to take a look forward, and saw that not far ahead was the headquarters of the regiment. He looked at the strike leader walking in front, who seemed to be completely carefree, with his head held high and chest out. Li Guoting admired this tough guy.

  "Yes, it's a pity, he's a good fellow. If we take him to the battalion headquarters, with the battalion commander's temper, he might be shot immediately." Li Guoting said in a low voice.

  Wei Baosheng's eyes rolled, and he also glanced back, putting his mouth to Li Guoting's ear, saying: "Brother, let's just let him go. Who knows, maybe in the future he can really help us poor people turn things around."

  Li Guoting looked around again, finding no one on the road. Maybe there was a strike at the dock. When the army came, all the citizens hid. With no one on the road, Li Guoting gained some courage.

  "Alright. Let's let him go then. Can't let a good man die." Li Guoting said in a low voice.

  Wei Baosheng listened to Li Guoting's words and picked up his gun, walking towards the leader of the strike.

  At this moment, the strike leader suddenly turned his face and looked at Wei Baosheng and Li Guoting. When he saw Wei Baosheng approaching him with a bayonet on the end of his rifle, a look of astonishment appeared on his face.

  "Turn around." Wei Baosheng held his gun, bayonet pointed at the strike leader.

  "What are you going to do?" The strike leader asked in surprise.

  "Turn around when I tell you to," said Li Guoting as he stepped forward.

  The leader of the strike turned around helplessly.

  Wei Baosheng thrust the rifle forward, and the bayonet flashed with a cold light under the rope that bound the strike leader's hands. He jerked the bayonet upward with force, and the rope binding his hands snapped open.

  "Alright, you can leave now." Wei Baosheng said to the leader of the strike.

  With a look of astonishment, the leader of the strike lowered his head and looked at the rope on his wrist that was cut off by the bayonet. He said, "Thank you. We will meet again." Then he turned around and ran towards a small alley in front of him.