Chapter Thirteen: Collecting Grain

  December 2, 1914

  The entire security team suspended training today, except for those on patrol and sentry duty, the rest of the people went down to help with the harvest.

  In the rice paddies, each stem of rice is bent down under the weight of its own ripe grain, as if to express the joy of a bumper harvest. In less than half a month, these grains will be harvested and dried, filling the bellies of farmers who have been hungry for decades.

  But it's not everyone who is happy. Some people have a longer face than a donkey, their eyes are wide with anger, and they even blow their mustache and glare at you.

  "What a great harvest!"

  The notorious Huashi Town Mayor Li Youpi gazed at the endless golden rice fields in front of him, his eyes gleaming with a greedy green light, but his eyebrows were furrowed into a mass of wrinkles, and he was puffing on his pipe, his sly and cunning expression suggesting that he was plotting something.

  "Dad, this year even the poor people can eat fragrant rice. Dammit, even our family can't bear to eat it every day. Pfft!"

  The mayor's eldest son spat.

  The cunning and scheming Li Youpi was puffing on his dry tobacco pipe while thinking about the increasingly strange events that had occurred over the past half year. First, a mysterious outsider had appeared out of nowhere, then settled in Qinghe Village, set up a factory, and initially showered himself with large sums of money. He even helped him form a security team, and now he had people and guns at his disposal, leaving Li Youpi helpless. Although the town also had a few guns, they were no match for the outsider's arsenal.

  Because his family members didn't work in the factory, they couldn't buy fertilizer, and the landlord also couldn't get seeds. Compared to those rice fields that used fertilizers, their own field looked like it had been ravaged by pigs, with a pitifully low yield. And this Chen guy wouldn't even allow them to change to collecting rent in grain. Those generations of peasants, when would they be worthy of eating fine white rice? They themselves usually only ate every three days, but those people could already eat their fill half a month later.

  This mu of land will yield at least 500-600 kilograms of crops.

  Last year at this time, those poor people couldn't afford to buy any seeds or fertilizers, they just took some rotten sweet potatoes and rotten potatoes from their own granaries to use as seedlings. But in the blink of an eye, these poor people are actually living better than us now.

  "Dad...Dad..." The town head's eldest son shouted twice before waking Li Youpi from his contemplation, "Dad, why don't we do something ruthless this time? Let's drain their fields dry in the middle of the night. The previous times when we opened the irrigation ditch to let out water didn't work, so this time let's be ruthless. If we let them have a full harvest, our family's interest will be lost."

  Don't look at his young age, but this heart is extremely black, and that small white face matches it, really called wolf-like and dog-like heart, not human.

  "Profit? No, we can't let them happily harvest the rice!"

  Looking at the distant mountains, Wang Decai suddenly thought of a way and almost ran back with his dog Erzi, thanks to his old body over 50 years old.

  As soon as night fell, several dark shadows slipped out of the Li mansion, sneaking around in the dead of night, it was unclear where they were going.

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  "Brother, this year's rice harvest is really bountiful. Just from our family's few mu of land, we'll at least get several hundred kilograms of rice."

  Yu Liang looked at the rice paddies in their own field and said to Yu Xing beside him, "Thanks to Old Man Chen, this New Year's we'll have white flour to make dumpling wrappers!"

  "Big brother, if the militia recruits soldiers next year, I'll go and take care of things at home for you."

  "Never mind, I'll go instead, you're still young, just continue going to the steel factory for work, the youth league probably won't want you anyway."

  "No, I'm going."

  I'm going

  Just as the two brothers were arguing back and forth, several people hurriedly walked past them with their heads down.

  "Huh, big brother, isn't that short guy the steward of Li Bo Pi's mansion? He was the one who ordered people to beat us when he came to collect rent last year." Little brother Yu Liang hastily said to his older brother Yu Xing after those few people had walked a bit further away.

  "Look at them, those troublemakers are walking so quickly with their heads down, they're definitely up to no good. Are they eyeing the grain in our fields?"

  "Let's follow them and see what happens, if there is a situation we will report it to Old Chen immediately."

  The two brothers nodded to each other and followed quietly, and with the darkness of night falling, the people in front didn't notice either.

  They followed for a while and arrived at the entrance of Li's mansion in the town. The two brothers behind saw those people knocking on the door. Suddenly, one of the more robust men looked back and glanced around, fortunately, the two brothers hid quickly, and with the help of the lamp light at the entrance of Li's mansion, both brothers saw that man's face.

  "Isn't that Wang Ma Zi? How did Li Bo Pi collude with him?"

  "Right, it's Wang Ma Zi. It seems that Li Bo Pi has taken a liking to our grain. Boss Chen won't let him collect rent, and he's in contact with bandits who want to come and rob us."

  "Let's quickly report to Old Chen, Old Chen is the head of the security team, tell him to make preparations in advance."

  The two brothers took advantage of the night and hurried back to Qinghe Village.

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  "Ge Laozi, just a few villages' fields can produce at least 30,000 to 40,000 kilograms of rice!!" Wang Ermazi cursed as he sat in the main hall of Li's residence, having just returned from investigating the situation in Qinghe Village. Originally, he didn't believe there was that much grain, and since he had dealings with Li Youpi, he came over to take a look and probe around.

  Guangxi, Huashi County, deep in the mountains near Laohushan. This is a notorious den of thieves, and the largest one among them is the Ma Gang led by the man with a pockmarked face in front of you. He has a round head, a bald top, a scar above his chin that extends to his earlobe, and a ferocious face covered in pockmarks, making him unforgettable to those who have witnessed his cruelty. This is Wang Er Ma Zi, the king of Laohushan. There are seven or eight gangs on Laohushan, but Wang Er Ma Zi's gang is the largest. The leader is Wang Er Ma Zi's older brother, a former bandit who has been killing people for decades and has built an army of over a thousand men. However, they have been hunted by their enemies since they killed the entire family of a Guangxi military general. Laohushan is their best refuge from this life of constant fear, and the temptation of tens of thousands of kilograms of rice makes it impossible for them to stay hidden any longer.

  Li Lizi hunched over and puffed out his chest, "Commander Wang doesn't know this, but this Chen fellow suddenly appeared out of nowhere. He used to linger in Qinghe Village without leaving, and now he's managed to swindle several villages' new rice harvests! One mu of land can produce at least a few hundred kilograms, and if you add up the total from all the villages, it's tens of thousands of kilograms of rice!"

  "Several tens of thousands of pounds..." Wang Ermazi subconsciously licked his lips, which had been cut off by a small half, and said: "You, Li Dazhenzhang, are so kind-hearted. I remember that there are also over a hundred people in your town. How did you think of passing the news to me? Are you not up to some mischief?"

  Li Liupi was such a cunning person that he immediately spouted out the prepared lies, "Commander Wang knows about it, Chen Shao has formed a security team with two or three hundred guns and even cannons. I only have over a hundred people here, we are really no match for them. Moreover, our many years of friendship should also make you aware of this." The cannon he mentioned was actually the 75MM mountain cannon of the security team, which Li Liupi had never seen before. He had only occasionally heard the sound of the security team's artillery training when he went to Qinghe Village a few times, and thought it was just an ordinary cannon. Even if someone told him that it was a real Western-style big gun, he probably wouldn't believe it - how could such a small security team have such good equipment? So this was destined to be their tragedy.

  "Local tyrant?" Wang Er Mazi can become the overlord of the Lao Hu Shan area, his mind is not simple either.

  "Yes, absolutely is homemade." Li Youpi feared he wouldn't believe him and hastily replied.

  "It's also thanks to you, old man, that you rushed here overnight to invite me. I'm afraid you've been forced into a desperate situation. Tell me, how many people and guns does the labor camp security team have?" Wang Ermao had reason to be moved, as it was already approaching the end of the year and there was no more grain in the mountain stronghold. Even small-scale looting wouldn't be enough, let alone expanding the troops.

  1,200 guns and dozens of horses are the family property accumulated by the two brothers in these years. Now the bandits' power has been stagnant for a long time, the most important reason is that they have no money, no guns, and no food.

  "That security team is nothing but a bunch of farmers who put down their hoes and picked up guns, they can't even compare to the bravery and combat skills of the big boss's men." Li Youpi scornfully spat out.

  It was really sad, when the security team was first established it had over 100 people, this he knew, according to his thinking it had only been half a year, how many more people could there be? Saying over 200 people was already giving face to the security team, and besides, the security team's reserve personnel who were on patrol outside every day were just a few people, so Li Youpi thought that he absolutely wouldn't be wrong about this.

  "Haha, if it's really as you said, I'd better get to know that Captain Chen well. Old Li, to be honest with you, I've also been thinking of making a move recently, but there are two difficulties: one is the lack of grain allowance and the other is the lack of a good opportunity."

  Wang Ermaizi burst out laughing and walked to Li Youpi's side, patting his shoulder, almost knocking the old man to the ground. He turned around and shouted: "Someone, prepare the best wine and food for me! Today I want to drink and chat with Old Li until we're drunk!"