Chapter 54: Wang Da Shao, it's you!

  "Damn it, I'm going to fight you, I'll quit being a soldier if I don't beat you!" Zhang De'en's eyes gleamed with ferocity, his two fists clenched tightly, the veins bulging out one by one. Unless someone was an idiot, they could basically see that Zhang De'en was furious. It's said that honest people usually don't get angry, but when they do, ordinary people can't handle it.

  But Zhang Deen can't be considered an honest man, he can only be considered a poor man. Poor people usually give in when they encounter rich people, after all, it's about survival. However, although Zhang Deen is a poor man, he is also a soldier, and soldiers have blood in their veins. Maybe he will tolerate you for a while, but it's impossible for him to ignore every provocation. If he always retreats, then he doesn't deserve to be called a soldier.

  That young man in brocade clothes took one look at Zhang De'en's appearance and was startled, quickly hiding behind several family guards. Then he pointed at Zhang De'en and said: "You little brat, wait for me! If you have the guts, leave your name. Believe it or not, I'll make sure you're kicked out of the army tomorrow? What kind of nonsense is this? You think you can take advantage of others with your fists? Come on, come on..." After finishing speaking, he even provocatively waved his fist.

  Zhang Deen suddenly rushed out like a leopard, with one punch heading straight for the brocade-clad youth. Wang Mingyu glanced over and made a gesture to Lin Wen, signaling him to intervene. Lin Wen understood in his heart and intercepted Zhang Deen halfway, indicating with his eyes not to be impulsive. Wang Mingyu knew that after this recruitment, they might need to recruit again, and couldn't leave a bad impression on the common people. Even if the brocade-clad youth was evil and relied on his family background to act recklessly, he himself couldn't let others find fault with him.

  Little did he know, this low-key approach didn't work out for Wang Mingyu, but instead brought him even greater fame. Why is that?

  "This friend, under Wang Mingyu, the captain of the 318 team, if you want to go and ask your superiors to remove me from my position, then just say my name, I'll be waiting for your arrival at any time!" Wang Mingyu said calmly, as if he wasn't talking about himself. In fact, Wang Mingyu wasn't afraid of this either, these small matters, ordinary people wouldn't take him seriously, just like two little kids fighting, how could the teacher possibly expel a child from school?

  "Hey kid, you're quite arrogant, thinking you're something just because you're a squad leader? Let me tell you, my uncle is a general. You're just a small-time squad leader, what are you trying to do by acting tough with me?" The young man in the brocade clothes didn't seem to care, but the family servant next to him looked at Wang Mingyu's changing expression and whispered something in the young master's ear.

  At this time, Zhang Deen walked up to Wang Mingyu and said gratefully: "Thank you, Captain, for speaking up for me!"

  Wang Mingyu smiled and said, "Don't you remember what we said? As long as you're in the 318 squad, you're my brother. A few clowns jumping around don't matter. However, the fart he let out earlier really didn't sound good. But considering our image, it's not a big deal to tolerate it for now. Let's see how they retaliate. As long as it's not too excessive, I don't want to bother with them either."

  Zhang Deen nodded in agreement with Wang Mingyu's opinion, because he knew that Wang Mingyu's father was a well-known wealthy businessman in Ningbo. Lin Wen and others were not afraid at all, in their hearts, Wang Mingyu had become somewhat divine, let alone money, which few people could surpass Wang Mingyu.

  King Mingyu and the others who were waiting for the young man in brocade to explode, as well as the people present, were getting a bit impatient. Looking at the young man's face, which was alternately red and white, it was clear that he had been embarrassed by something.

  After a while, the young man in brocade clothes slowly walked up to Wang Mingyu and asked, "Wang Mingyu?"

  "Is that so? Do you have any opinions?" Wang Mingyu smiled and said, at this moment he knew from the movements of the family servant and the reaction of the young man in brocade clothes that the young man had probably guessed his identity. Although it had been two years since he last returned, there were still people who could recognize him. It seemed that he still had a deep appeal in this circle of spoiled brats. However, although he didn't plan to investigate further, he should at least put on a show, otherwise, if he encountered such things again in the future, he would have to go and gather with them again, how annoying.

  The young man in the brocade clothes jumped with a start, and hastily said: "No, no! Young Master Wang, it's you! This is really like a flood sweeping away the Dragon King Temple, family members not recognizing each other. Come, come, come to my store and have a seat, you're our idol!" The young man in brocade clothes seemed familiar with himself, and the little tension he had just now was stripped away, but he didn't see the more and more black lines on Wang Mingyu's forehead.

  "I'm not some young master Wang, I am the commander of the 318th regiment of the 67th division of the National Revolutionary Army, Wang Mingyu!"

  The young man in the brocade clothes said with a smile: "It's all the same, who doesn't know that our Wang Da Shao was sent to join the army by his father? I told you, it's still good to have someone in the imperial court when doing official business. Look, as soon as Wang Da Shao came out, he became a battalion commander! In the future, becoming a general or something will be easy, just like playing. The people Wang Uncle knows are really widespread!"

  Wang Mingyu's good temper was also ruined by him, this kid said that he himself seemed to be a typical example of a spoiled son who entered through the back door and became an official through the back door. What do so many ordinary people think here? A person who relies on entering through the back door can have how much achievement. Almost as soon as the young man in brocade spoke, many registered people did not queue up, but came over to watch, obviously the previous words had taken effect.

  At this time, Wang Mingyu knew that it was useless to say anything. Once people think you're a bad person, it's hard to change their minds. Recruiting soldiers and encountering such a situation can only be considered as having bad luck. Now, if he were to severely beat up the young man, he would instead appear to be in the wrong. The common people pointed and whispered to each other, roughly meaning that another rich family's son had appeared, and ordinary people thought that these sons of wealthy families mostly loved money more, and those who escaped from the battlefield were also such people. Therefore, following what they said, there would definitely be no future prospects, and naturally, nobody would have any desire to sign up anymore. What's more, it was already known that Wang Dashi had a bad reputation, which began to spread rapidly among the common people at a frantic pace, and more and more people knew who this Wang Dashi was - Ningbo City's Wang Dashi, a notorious name indeed.

  Lin Wen saw that the situation was not right, and immediately stepped forward to say to the young man in brocade: "You little scoundrel, what nonsense are you talking about? Our team leader is personally appointed by Director Chiang!" This sentence was no less than a large bombshell. At that time, Director Chiang still had very high prestige in people's minds, after all, he was the leader of the National Government.

  A sentence that turned the world upside down, and immediately sparked a flurry of discussion among the people.

  "Ah, personally appointed by Director Chiang?"

  "My goodness, Wang Da Shao has finally made something of himself?"

  "It seems that this young master Wang really has some skills, even Director Chiang knows him."

  "Well, it seems that following him around isn't without prospects after all, even Director Chiang thinks highly of him"

  For a time, the rumors were endless, and all it took was one catalyst for the winds to change. Then Lin Wen's words became that catalyst, enough to change Wang Mingyu's previous bad reputation.

  Everyone knows that if a bad person is always doing bad things, one day everyone suddenly discovers that he has become a good person, a useful person to society, and someone who is valued by leaders. Then this person will be easily accepted by everyone. On the other hand, a good person who has done good deeds all his life but occasionally does something bad and gets exposed, all the good things he did before may be suspected as pretence by others. That's just human nature.

  Wang Mingyu gave Lin Wen a subtle glance of appreciation, but in fact, Lin Wen was just coincidental. If Lin Wen knew how many bad things Wang Mingyu had done before, he probably wouldn't even have the courage to speak up. Everything was just so coincidental.

  "Wang Mingyu stepped forward and said: 'Fellow villagers, I, Wang Mingyu, was once confused and did many absurd things. However, two years ago, my father gave me a profound education, and I suddenly woke up to the truth. Now is the time when our Chinese nation is in dire straits, Japan is eyeing us covetously, and as sons of China, we can only use our flesh and blood to defend our nation, defend our country, and defend our fellow villagers in Ningbo.'"

  A warm round of applause erupted below. At this time, the masses were a bit conservative in their thinking, but they would not be stingy with their encouragement for those who defended their homes and country.

  Wang Mingyu looked at the enthusiastically applauding villagers and said: "This time's recruitment, we are all fellow villagers. Originally, I wasn't planning to come out and say these things, but I won't beat around the bush with everyone either. This time, our Wang family is taking out 1 million yuan in cash to support the 318th Regiment. I will use this money entirely for the construction of the 318th Regiment. Now, everyone doesn't have to worry about me embezzling anything, right? After all, who would be foolish enough to take out their own money and then embezzle it back?"

  Along with Wang Mingyu's laughter, the soldiers and ordinary people below also burst out laughing. However, what the commoners were thinking in their hearts was that Wang Mingyu was too selfless, using his own money to invest in the military, one million taels, what a generous move by the Wang family!

  "These are all my men," said Wang Mingyu. "Just now, this friend of mine said that my deputy commander is a poor devil. Here, I want to declare something very serious to everyone: the soldiers under my command are not to be insulted by anyone at will! Are the rich and the poor not equal in life? Can the rich live for thousands of years? Why did we join the army? It's to protect our country, to protect the people from being bullied, and to let our people live in peace. Can you insult others just because you have money? If this friend had taken up arms to fight against foreign invaders, I would say he was great. But now, I must say that you are a complete idiot. I hope you can apologize to my deputy commander."

  Wang Mingyu spoke with a tone of hope, but his words were laced with certainty. The young man in the brocade clothes had a pale face, seemingly unable to comprehend Wang Mingyu's words, yet he didn't dare to cross Wang Mingyu. In the end, amidst the crowd's continuous curses, he hesitantly walked up to Zhang Deen and said, "Sorry!" Then, glancing at Wang Mingyu, he knew that without Wang Mingyu's consent, this matter couldn't be resolved. If Wang Mingyu's father were to take revenge on their family, they wouldn't be able to withstand it. Although spoiled, he wasn't oblivious to the gravity of the situation.

  Wang Mingyu nodded to him, then turned to the crowd and said: "This time it's settled. Now, welcome everyone to join my troops. If there are any difficulties at home, you can also speak up and we can pay two months' military salary in advance."

  "Good!" The people below shouted in approval, you can understand the people, and the people will definitely be able to understand you.