Chapter 40: Bloody Fright

  Seeing Ito's performance, Lin Feng estimated that he must be a very important person, at least for today's conference.

  Lin Feng carefully observed the people sitting on the stage, apart from acquaintances Xiao Ye and Ito, there were several familiar faces, those Chinese people, one was Wang Huanping, the boss of Yanxing, one was Yao Shizhong, the boss of Buzhuang, and another was... damn it, wasn't that Huang Erpiao from Hun Chengdong?

  How did this rascal get together with Xiaoye?

  Lam Fung thought it was too unbelievable.

  Bu Zhuang and Yan Xing's people were pulled in by Ito, this Lin Feng can understand, after all those are business firms that control a lot of supplies. But Huang Er Biao Zi is just a gang leader from the east city, with only a dozen or so small-time henchmen under him, what use could he be to Ito?

  To be honest, Lin Feng didn't think that someone like Huang Erbiao was a big shot, but he never thought that later on, it would be this very same Huang Erbiao who almost made him suffer a great loss, forcing him to abandon his home and business and embark on a path he had never considered before.

  The people sitting on the stage almost represented the largest business houses in the county town, and only the grain store, this extremely important business house, did not send anyone to attend.

  Lin Feng suddenly understood that the position was left for someone, and it was left for his father Lin Qingyuan. The Lin family controlled all grain, oil, local specialties, and mountain products in Xiping.

  Raising his eyes again to look at Ito's gloomy face, Lin Feng felt very uneasy in his heart.

  Father didn't come to this meeting, which means he refused Ito again. Just now, I saw that translator and Ito whispering on the stage, won't they be unfavorable to Father?

  Lin Feng was worried about his father's situation.

  Around ten o'clock, Yang Huai returned to the stage with a big sweat, bowed to Ito, and then found a chair to sit down beside him.

  The conference started on time at 10:00 am.

  At that time, nearly 10,000 people gathered at the venue, from ordinary people to businessmen who controlled the economy of Xiping, and all walks of life were present. Later, this meeting was also called "Xiping County's Ten Thousand People Sino-Japanese Friendship Rally" by the Japanese army, and it was once widely publicized in Shanxi, Hebei, Shandong and Henan as a model of Sino-Japanese friendship.

  At the meeting, Ito first made a speech, vigorously advocating for the "Co-prosperity Sphere of Greater East Asia" and emphasizing the "Japan-China friendship" policy of the Great Japanese Empire.

  Then Ito read out several appointments:

  "Yao Shizhong, former vice president of the Xiping County Chamber of Commerce, is hereby appointed as the chairman of the Xiping County Peace Maintenance Association, responsible for assisting the Imperial Army in maintaining local security; Yang Huai is hereby appointed as the captain of the Xiping County Detective Team, to assist the Imperial Army in detecting and apprehending anti-Japanese sabotage elements..."

  After the announcement was read, Ito paused for a moment, then walked to the front of the stage, cleared his throat and said: "Everyone, building a Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere is a very good thing, it's a gospel brought by the Great Japanese Empire to you. This is not just a matter of the Imperial Army, but also a matter for everyone, and it requires great support from everyone. Now I announce an announcement: starting from today, the Imperial Army will begin requisitioning grain and funds. The specific affairs will be handled by Chairman Yao, and the Imperial Army will dispatch a collection team to supervise."

  The meeting has come to this, Lin Feng finally understood what Ito was up to, it turned out that he wanted to collect grain taxes! No wonder some rural gentry were "invited" by him from the countryside.

  "What? Another levy? The National Government had just finished levying, then the Central Army started levying again. After the Central Army finished, the Security Forces started levying too. It's only been half a month since that ended, and now the Imperial Army is starting to levy again! This endless levying, how are ordinary people supposed to make ends meet?"

  "Is it even allowing us common people to live?"

  "We won't pay, we absolutely won't pay!"

  ……

  The crowd suddenly became noisy and chaotic, with everyone talking at once.

  Ito looked at the turbulent crowd below the stage, listening to all sorts of discussions, his face extremely ugly, and waved his hand back.

  Lin Feng saw Ito's action and secretly thought: "Not good!"

  Sure, here is the translation:

  As expected, soon a non-adult figure was dragged up from backstage by two Japanese soldiers.

  The man hung his head, like a dead man being dragged by two Japanese soldiers. Lin Feng couldn't see his face, but when his eyes fell on the two deformed legs that were dragging on the ground, he couldn't help but feel a pang of heartache.

  "It's him, how is it him?" Lin Feng did not expect Ito to bring Chen Dong here at this time.

  Lin Feng recalled Chen Dong's words in the death row prison cell a few days ago, "Perhaps in the future, even this appearance cannot be preserved", and he closed his eyes, unable to bear looking again.

  "Perhaps Chen Dong had expected this outcome all along!" Lin Feng thought to himself with a tinge of sadness.

  "Ladies and gentlemen, this man's name is Chen Dong, a die-hard Communist Party member and anti-Japanese fighter. The Imperial Army welcomes all friends who want to cooperate with us, but we will not spare those who dare to oppose the Imperial Army."

  Ito's voice came into his ears again, Lin Feng opened his eyes to look over, and saw that after finishing this sentence, he didn't even glance at Chen Dong, and directly raised his hand to wave.

  The two Japanese soldiers dragged Chen Dong to one side of the stage and tied him to a pillar with ropes.

  The crowd under the stage was stunned, wondering what the Japanese army was going to do, and the venue suddenly became silent.

  Lin Feng knew that Ito was really going to execute Chen Dong in public, which was also one of his tricks to kill the chicken and scare the monkey.

  As expected, the Japanese soldier tied Chen Dong up with a rope and retreated several steps, taking down the rifle on his shoulder, with the bayonet pointing at Chen Dong.

  "Ah!"

  "Kill him!"

  "Oh no!"

  ……

  Under the stage was another big commotion, but this time it was different from last time. Last time they were shouting against the Japanese army's grain collection and taxation, this time it was purely screams and shouts.

  Standing tall on the stage, Ito was satisfied with the reaction of the crowd in the venue, and finally cracked a smile that looked very kind: "You don't have to be afraid, the Imperial Army is only strict with enemies, but for friends, the Imperial Army is very kind!"

  At this time, Chen Dong raised his head with difficulty and shouted hoarsely: "Return my three eastern provinces! Return my rivers and mountains! Down with Japanese imperialism! Down with the Japanese invaders!"

  Chen Dong shouted this out, and Ito's face immediately shook violently, and he waved his hand at the two Japanese soldiers again.

  Two Japanese soldiers let out a loud "Wah wah" and charged at Chen Dong's chest with their bayonets.

  Lin Feng felt that the dagger was rushing towards him, his eyelids jumped rapidly, and he was so frightened that he almost cried out in a loud voice.

  "Compatriots who are unwilling to be slaves of a dead nation, unite..."

  "Hmm, hmm"

  Chen Donggang shouted half a sentence, the bayonet had already stabbed into his chest, and fresh blood gushed out of the wound, as the Japanese soldier twisted the bayonet, his eyebrows were tightly knotted together in pain, and fresh blood overflowed from his mouth, flowing down along the corner of his mouth.

  "Get... the... little... Japanese... out... of... China!"

  Chen Dong shouted and fell heavily to the ground, his eyes still wide open in anger until he died.

  "Chen Dong! My good brother!"

  Recalling the time in the death row prison, Chen Dong dragged his crippled legs to feed himself water. Recalling their brief conversation, Lin Feng looked at Chen Dong who had already died on stage and suddenly felt a sharp pain in his heart, feeling lost and disoriented. Such a good person was gone, forever gone!

  Lam Fung is not a noble person, nor is he a man with great ambitions to save the country. But he is an emotional person, and one who has very delicate and rich emotions. He cannot bear to see people he knows being brutally slaughtered without feeling anything. He cannot remain unmoved when human lives are trampled upon so lightly!

  The Japanese army was too cruel, and in front of everyone, they killed a young man with crippled legs who had no ability to resist, just like slaughtering livestock without any mercy.

  That raging blood and Chen Dong's glaring eyes are so shocking!

  "Murder!"

  Someone in the crowd shouted and the scene was thrown into chaos as people rushed out of the venue.

  Dada

  Machine gun fire came from the exit of the meeting place, and the fleeing people cried out in surprise again, squatting on the ground, shaking with their hands covering their heads.

  Lin Feng was still immersed in mourning and grief for Chen Dong, until the sound of machine guns woke him up, and he looked around to see that people had already crouched down on the ground.

  Everyone else crouched down, but Lin Feng was still standing, which had a crane-standing-out-from-the-flock effect.

  Ito caught sight of Lin Feng at once.

  It wasn't just Ito who saw Lin Feng, but also Yao Shizhong, who had just been appointed as the president of the maintenance association, and he too saw Lin Feng. He let out a cold hum from his nose and turned his head to one side.

  As for why Yao Shizhong was unhappy when he saw Lin Feng,

  If you knew Yao Shizhong was Yao Fengyun's father and Lin Feng's father-in-law, then you should understand.

  On that day, Yao Shizhong married off his daughter, and Lin Feng got married. It was supposed to be a grand celebration, but unexpectedly, Lin Feng did something unusual - he ran away from the wedding, slapping the bride's family in the face, leaving a deep wound in Yao Shizhong's heart.

  Originally, the Lin family was very powerful and Lin Qingyuan had always held the position of Chamber of Commerce president. Although the Yao family had developed rapidly in recent years and their wealth was not inferior to that of the Lin family, they were still being suppressed by Lin Qingyuan's presidency. Yao Shizhong was dissatisfied but did not dare to overstep his bounds.

  But now it's different, who made Lin Qingyuan unappreciative, originally the position of Weizhang was left to him by Ito, but he actually didn't see the situation clearly and refused, which benefited Yao Shizhong.

  So, Yao Shizhong became the president in a legitimate and proper manner. This president was different from Lin Qingyuan's president, which was a commercial association, a civilian organization. This one was given by the Japanese, with an official color, and had the support of the Japanese behind it.

  Yao Shizhong didn't think he needed to consider the Lin family's feelings anymore, and it was likely that in the future, the Lin family would still have to rely on him, a close relative, to make a living.

  "Mr. Lin." Ito was taken aback when he saw Lin Feng standing in the crowd, then burst out laughing and said, "Now that Mr. Lin is here, why not come up on stage? Someone, please invite Mr. Lin to come up on stage!"