Chapter Thirty-Eight: Robbery

  The next day, Xu Guangqi handed Zhang Lei an envelope with a list of things he thought Zhang could and couldn't do, and then instructed: "Young people having ambition is good, but everything needs to be thought over three times before acting. The old man can only help you this much, hoping that you will achieve success in the future, and I hope to see you in the capital city."

  "I know all those things," Zhang Lei replied. "Nowadays the world is treacherous, for my own sake I will be careful."

  Xu Guangqi said, "No, now you are not just one person. When those villagers follow you and do things together, their fate is already tied to yours. If something good or bad happens, it will involve the whole village, not just your personal matter."

  "Director Xu is right." Zhang Lei said with a humble heart.

  Xu Guangqi took out another seal and handed it to Zhang Lei, saying: "This is one of my private seals. In the future, if you have any ideas or thoughts that you want to share with me, write them down on the envelope and stamp this seal on it, and I will receive it. Also, if there are officials who give you trouble, this seal can be useful too. Take good care of it."

  "Thank you, Lord Xu." Zhang Lei said as he stood up.

  "In a few days, I will set out to return to the capital. Take care of yourself." Xu Guangqi sighed and said: "I can only do so much, everything else is up to you."

  Coming out of the mansion, Xu Min was still there practicing swordplay. Although he hadn't been in contact with her for a long time, Zhang Lei greatly admired that radiant smile on her face. However, thinking about his own identity, he didn't dare to hope for those things anymore.

  With Zhang Chen coming back home, Zhang Lei's courage grew again. With the relationship of being a current official, it's likely that even the county magistrate would be powerless against him, let alone the Zhou family iron shop. So Zhang Lei's mind became active once more, but he had no direction and didn't know what to do. He was either idle or stayed at home making matchsticks. At present, the production of matchsticks has reached its peak, with several large boxes being produced every day. Not long ago, Bai Yang expanded the factory by twice its size, not only in Xujia Camp but also recruiting more workers from other villages and towns.

  That day, Zhang Chen had finished the exam and was helping out in the factory. Zhang Lei brought the medicine to the factory, where he met Tang Hongzhi on the way. Before Zhang Lei could speak, Tang Hongzhi greeted him: "Boss Zhang."

  Zhang Lei cupped his hands and said: "Tang Guan Jia is in such a hurry to prepare for where?"

  "Ah, right! There's something else I need to report to you. You don't know yet, but our boss has already sold the matches to Songjiang Prefecture. A few years ago, he had some friends there, so after coming out of retirement, they got in touch again. Now, I'm preparing to go and check the quantity of matches for loading onto the ship. I'll be leaving soon."

  "Oh? They've all been sold to Songjiang Prefecture? Old Master Bai is indeed a business genius. Where's the boat? I'll go take a look." Zhang Lei was extremely shocked that Bai Yang had expanded his market so quickly.

  The dock outside Xujia Village is the best port for nearby areas to transport goods by water, so the cargo going to Songjiang Prefecture was also loaded from there. A total of 20 two-foot square large boxes were filled with matches and loaded onto two new cargo ships.

  This time it was a total of 10,000 boxes of matches, filling up an entire large ship.

  "Boss Zhang." Zhang Lei was quietly calculating how much profit Bai Yang's match factory could make every day, when someone came over to greet him.

  He looked up to see a young man about his age standing in front of him, who seemed somewhat familiar but whose name Zhang Lei couldn't recall. He smiled and asked, "Who are you?"

  This young man had dark skin, obviously from being outdoors for many years. His lips were very thin. Although the weather was not yet hot, he was already wearing a short-sleeved shirt, and there were many scars on his body. When Zhang Lei asked him, he said: "I am Jiang Yuyang."

  Zhang Lei was still puzzled, and Tang Hongzhi quickly explained: "Boss Zhang, this is the fifth team leader of our newly recruited transportation team, with very good martial arts skills."

  Zhang Lei noticed that the young man's right hand had only two fingers, and he couldn't help but feel very strange. Before he could ask, Jiang Yuyang smiled and said: "This was from playing around in the past, haha, okay, just call me Jiang Qizhi or Old Seven, they all call me that."

  "Oh, okay. Old Seven."

  After all the matches were loaded onto the ship, about a dozen people of similar age to Jiang Yuyang jumped onto the deck, each holding a large knife and looking invincible. They were all members of the transport team, and according to Tang Hongzhi's introduction, there were five such teams, each consisting of 15 people, all of whom were young, strong, and highly skilled in martial arts.

  "Anyway, since I'm free and have nothing to do, I'll go take a look too." Zhang Lei said as they were about to set off. Songjiang Prefecture is much more prosperous than here, Zhang Lei plans to go take a look and find some business opportunities.

  The big boss has spoken, and Tang Hongzhi naturally had nothing to say, so he could only agree: "Then I'll go back and tell Old White about it."

  Zhang Lei nodded and ordered the boat to set off.

  Chaohu Lake is one of the country's most important freshwater lakes, with a vast area connected to the Yangtze River, and it is also very convenient to go out to sea, so this place has always been a busy transportation hub. Not far from departure, I have seen many ships already.

  "By the way, how does Old White settle wages with you guys?" Zhang Lei asked, feeling a bit bored on the way and starting to chat idly with Jiang Yuyang.

  Jiang Yuyang said: "We are paid according to the number of trips, one percent of the total value of each trip as our wages. I estimate that this boat can make a lot of money."

  "This move is really brilliant, with a commission wage, it's indeed a good choice." Zhang Lei praised in his heart and then said: "Then your days now should be better than before, right?"

  Jiang Yuyang smiled and said, "This is all thanks to your good fortune."

  Suddenly, a sharp whistle came from outside, Jiang Yuyang's face changed, and he said to Zhang Lei: "Mr. Zhang, please stay in the cabin and don't come out, I'll go out to deal with some things."

  His words were accompanied by the sound of hubbub, including whistling sounds, children's crying and women's screaming. Zhang Lei looked out of the window to see a dozen or so long plundering ships speeding towards them. The ships were very long, like dragon boats, with over ten fierce-looking men on board, their bows flying skull-and-crossbones flags as they charged towards them with great fanfare.

  "Damn it, pirates again." Zhang Lei cursed quietly to himself. It seemed that he really did have a fate with this profession. First, he fell into the sea while in a pirate crew, and then was rescued by pirates. Not much time had passed since then, and now he had become the target of a pirate robbery once more.

  Those pirates seem to have some real power. This is already an inland area, and they can still get in, which is indeed not to be underestimated.

  In just a short while, the pirates rushed over. Then, Jiang Yuyang let out a loud roar, and dozens of flying knives with cold lights suddenly appeared in his hand. With a seemingly casual flick, the pirate closest to him was stabbed between the eyebrows, letting out a blood-curdling scream as he fell into the water.

  "Good knife skills, a disciple of Little Li Flying Knife?" Zhang Lei was shocked and couldn't close his mouth, this move was really too beautiful.

  The other members also took out the weapons in their hands, which were crossbows with fine workmanship and good accuracy. In a short while, they had already killed dozens of pirates ahead of time.

  The people on other merchant ships saw that this ship was so brave and the previous panic had lessened a bit, and they all organized resistance.

  Such a robbery requires speed, taking advantage of people's panic before everyone reacts, and plundering the cargo on the ship. In the past, they were invincible, but unexpectedly, several brothers were lost even before boarding the ship today, which made the pirate leader extremely angry.

  "Ah Wen, get that ship for me! What the heck is going on today? We've run into a tough opponent!" The pirate captain, dressed in black, stood at the bow of the ship, brandishing his large knife and bellowing angrily.

  The one called Ah Wen was a skinny man with a rifle that looked like it had been around for years. After fiddling with it for a while, he finally managed to ignite the fuse, and with a loud bang, a small hole suddenly appeared on the side of Zhang Lei's boat.

  "Are you kidding me? You're supposed to kill people, not hit the ship. What's wrong with you?" The pirate leader gave Ah Wen a good scolding on the head, and during this time, two more of his own brothers were taken out.

  Zhang Lei emerged from the cabin and saw Jiang Yuyang throw three flying knives at once, hitting three pirates. Zhang Lei involuntarily said: "Good kung fu."

  Jiang Yuyang turned his head and said, "Boss Zhang, didn't I tell you not to come out? Hurry up and go back inside, it's dangerous here. If anything happens, I won't be able to bear the responsibility."

  "Don't worry, I'm not that unlucky." Zhang Lei said with a smile. He took a glance and saw that there were about 100 pirates below, while the people on the surrounding merchant ships were several times more than them. Unfortunately, these ships didn't show any signs of resistance. Those that were slightly farther away were fleeing frantically at full speed, while those who had no chance to escape were jumping into the water, with some even tearing off a large piece of board and jumping in to save themselves. The old, young, women, and children didn't have this opportunity, their cries and wails filling the air.

  The scene instantly reminded Zhang Lei of a lion in "Animal World" that was killing wildebeests at will among hundreds.

  Although Jiang Yuyang and others made a positive resistance, but unfortunately, the arm could not be twisted over the thigh, and they were also at a disadvantage in terms of numbers. Those pirates finally arrived under the ship and began to prepare for boarding.

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