Chapter 111 Useless Bastard (VI)
Li Daoqiong felt that something was wrong. Except for a few of his close brothers, the attitudes of the other groups of people were disrespectful. When Li Daoqiong spoke, these people had already answered and ignored him. Li Daoqiong was so angry that he pointed at the second in command and cursed, "You ungrateful people, how did I treat you badly?"
The second in command had anger on his face, but he suppressed it, "Master Li, the New Year is coming soon, but the money that should be distributed to the brothers has not yet arrived. The brothers below are still waiting for this money to celebrate the New Year."
Li Daoqiong felt uneasy, but he still insisted, "Take care of Huo Chong, and the money will arrive."
The second in command and the others were silent. This was said not once or twice, ever since Li Daoqiong was desperate and sent people to kidnap the master in Huo Chong's place but failed. Huo Chong's side strengthened security, and Li Daoqiong's people had no chance.
Seeing that his subordinates didn't believe him, Li Daoqiong knew that if he couldn't make some money quickly, he really wouldn't have money to give to his subordinates for the New Year. After all, after the court issued the order to ban the sea, Li Daoqiong's income was completely cut off. Li Daoqiong said angrily: "I heard that Huo Chong has arrived in Muping County. This time I will take you to capture Huo Chong. I heard that Huo Chong is only one person now, and as many of his people as we want will be given to us!"
When his men heard the arrangement, they remained silent. Li Daoqiong felt that this was his only chance to turn the tables, so he used the same momentum that always made his brothers follow him to take risks, and slapped his thigh, "It will work this time! Follow me and do this job."
The second in command exchanged glances with the other brothers, and finally agreed in a low voice.
Li Daoqiong immediately sent people to track down Huo Chong's whereabouts. Unexpectedly, the second in command was very capable and found out in a short time. Huo Chong came to Mouping County this time to give the factory here the year-end "planting money". It is said that everyone has at least one or two taels of silver.
Worried that the news was inaccurate, Li Daoqiong called Zhang Sange over. Zhang Sange was beaten by Huo Chong's men last time and no longer dared to harass Huo Chong's business. However, Zhang Sange had a distant relative who made wine in Huo Chong's factory. When Li Daoqiong asked him to find out if there was really such a generous amount of money for planting blessings during the New Year, Zhang Sange looked embarrassed, but finally agreed .
When he arrived at his relative's house, Zhang Sange saw that his relative was already wearing a buttoned coat that was commonly worn by Huo Chong's employees. The fabric was obviously not hand-spun cloth, and it looked very smooth. Moreover, this winter coat was not thick, and it should be the kind of rabbit fur lining that Huo Chong's employees could wear.
Seeing Zhang San brother coming. The relative's face immediately turned ugly, and he turned around and left without welcoming Zhang San brother. Zhang San brother hurried over and saw his cousin at the door, so he hurried forward to greet him. When the cousin saw Zhang San brother, he couldn't help but start to scold him, "What did you do! You almost made your brother lose his job!"
When Zhang San was a child, he often went back to his grandparents' house. His grandparents had no sons at that time, so this cousin lived in his grandparents' house for several years. Later, when his grandma gave birth to Zhang San's uncle, the cousin moved away. So Zhang San and his cousin have always been in contact. Seeing that his cousin was angry, Zhang San hurriedly called "Uncle, Uncle" and followed his cousin into the house.
Looking at the house again, it was very different from before. There were many new things in the house, and the air was filled with the smell of fried food. When my cousin's mother saw Zhang San, she was also unhappy. She came up and started to scold him.
Although Zhang Sange is loyal to Li Daoqiong, he feels a little sorry for his cousin. His cousin's family used to be very poor. Zhang Sange used to go to sea with Li Daoqiong and earned some money, and he would also give some money to his cousin's family. Now that Li Daoqiong is in bad luck, Zhang Sange has not come to his cousin's family for a long time. Unexpectedly, his cousin's family has made a great improvement by working for Huo Chong.
Looking at the new furniture, especially the large strips of pork and skinned rabbits hanging on the wall, Zhang San felt a little jealous.
My uncle still remembered the kindness of Zhang Sange, so he first criticized my aunt and mentioned the things that Zhang Sange had helped my uncle's family with in the past. He then told my aunt to cook, which made Zhang Sange sit down and talk.
Brother Zhang San was originally thinking about how to ask , but he didn't expect that his uncle would persuade him to work in Huo Chong's factory.
"Your cousin doesn't make much money, but he can take care of himself. The factory also distributed a lot of meat during the Chinese New Year. Don't follow Li Daoqiong, go to the factory and work hard. I don't think you are a person who can save money. At least working can help you eat better."
When Zhang San heard what his uncle said, he felt that his uncle still loved him. But he would rather Li Daoqiong make a fortune and introduce his uncle's family to Li Daoqiong to enjoy a good life.
Thinking of the purpose of this trip, Brother Zhang followed his uncle's words and tried to test him: "Uncle, how much can you earn? I don't trust Huo Chong."
The uncle wanted to persuade Li Daoqiong, so he lowered his voice and said, "Your cousin has worked for more than a year, and this year he received one or two taels of silver for planting blessings. He really gave the silver, and your cousin made silver jewelry for your aunt."
After getting the accurate information, Zhang San talked for a while. His aunt had already brought some food up unhurriedly. There was fried eggs with Chinese cabbage and rabbit meat. After eating, Zhang San realized that the eggs and cabbage were really fried with oil, not just fried eggs and cabbage. The rabbit meat was sprinkled with chili peppers and peppercorns, and it was oily and quite exciting to chew.
The wine was Huo Chong's specialty, shochu. This meal was accompanied by steamed buns, and it was really delicious. After a delicious meal, with satisfaction and guilt, Zhang Sange left his uncle's house and rushed to Li Daoqiong.
After listening to what happened, Li Daoqiong decided to kidnap Huo Chong and make a fortune. The imperial court's maritime ban was very strict this time, and Li Daoqiong felt that he might not be able to do this maritime business. It would be better to do something big and find a place to live a comfortable life.
Several of his brothers had similar ideas this time, and they inquired about everything and were particularly helpful. It had been a long time since he had seen these people work so hard, and Li Daoqiong felt more confident.
Knowing that Huo Chong was heading to a fishing village by the sea, Li Daoqiong called his brothers and headed for the fishing village. As soon as they arrived at the entrance of the village, they saw a man coming out. It turned out to be Li Chengliang, who had been cheated by Li Daoqiong before. Li Daoqiong was shocked and angry, and felt a little uneasy.
"Master Li, we meet again!" Li Chengliang's face was full of joy. A fierce joy.
Li Chengliang used to work as a sea trader, and when Li Daoqiong first started out, he followed him. Later, Li Daoqiong made several big deals, but Li Chengliang suffered several losses. Li Daoqiong then joined forces with Li Chengliang's men to overthrow Li Chengliang and took over Li Chengliang's business.
Li Daoqiong already knew that things were not going well, and ordered the second in command, "Kill him!"
The second in command chuckled a few times and took a few steps back, "Master Li, Brother Li wants to talk to you, just talk to him."
The others followed suit and pushed away. In a flash, only Zhang Sange and Li Sige were left beside Li Daoqiong. Li Daoqiong saw that he had been betrayed and that only Li Chengliang was on the other side. He made up his mind and shouted to Zhang Sange: "Come with me and kill him!" After that, Li Daoqiong rushed straight towards Li Chengliang.
A few more people rushed out from the village entrance, and they were Huo Chong's men. They were all holding sticks, and they used their numbers to defeat the few, and in a blink of an eye, they knocked down Li Chengliang and others. They tied up Li Daoqiong, who was tied up like a zongzi, with ropes, gagged him, blindfolded him, and carried him away.
Listening to the sound of the waves and feeling the increasingly strong sea breeze, Li Daoqiong knew that this time he was in danger. When he took over Li Chengliang's position, he wanted to cut the grass and root it out, and he had dug a pit for Li Chengliang. Li Chengliang begged desperately and swore that he would never return to Mouping County, so he let Li Chengliang go.
When they reached the beach, someone took out the stuff from Li Daoqiong's mouth. Li Daoqiong immediately shouted with a dark look in his eyes: "Master Li, I didn't kill you last time. Master Li, please let me go. I will never go back to Mouping County again."
"Really? It wasn't like this the last time you let me go. If it wasn't for what Master Feng said, you would have buried me with those last few shovelfuls of dirt."
"Well...well, it's not me who wants to bury you. It was Feng Yukuan who coaxed me into burying you. I just wanted to scare you." Li Daoqiong tried desperately to find a way to survive.
"Li Daoqiong, do you still have any shame?" Feng Yukuan's voice rang out.
Li Daoqiong shuddered. Last time, Feng Yukuan came to save Li Chengliang's life, not Feng Yukuan's idea as Li Daoqiong said. After being kicked twice, Li Daoqiong heard Feng Yukuan angrily say: "Last time I thought you were a big shot, but I didn't expect you to be a bastard. This time I don't want to say anything. Mr. Huo, if you don't say anything, let's do this."
Only then did Li Daoqiong know who had held him captive. The cloth covering his eyes was untied, and in the dim light he saw Huo Chong standing among the crowd. His tall figure was hard to mistake.
Li Daoqiong was now completely hopeless. He struggled to kneel down and shouted in despair: "Master Huo, spare my life! From now on..."
Looking at Li Daoqiong's appearance, Huo Chong felt that if Gong Zizhen had been born earlier, he would probably have written the poem "I advise the God to shake himself up and send down talents in all kinds of ways". Everything in front of him was so mean and despicable that it was disgusting. Of course, it was Gong Zizhen's grandson who led the British and French forces to burn down the Old Summer Palace. If meanness is not stopped, it will inevitably breed more meanness without bottom line.
Regardless of Li Daoqiong's constant begging for mercy, Feng Yukuan asked, "Master Huo, what do you want to do?"
Huo Chong looked at Feng Yukuan and sighed: "Since Li Daoqiong has let Brother Li go, if I kill him, it would be worse than Li Daoqiong."
"Mr. Huo, he wants to kidnap you." Li Chengliang said.
Huo Chong knew that sooner or later he would have to decide the life and death of others. This was the way it was in the Qing Dynasty. If he could not decide the life and death of others, he would have to be decided by others. But executing Li Daiqiong really did not interest Huo Chong.
After thinking for a while, Huo Chong asked, "Li Daoqiong, I have two options for you. One is that I take you to the government and hand you over to the government for the crime of trying to kidnap me. What do you think?"
"Mr. Huo, please let me go." Li Daoqiong begged.
"The second option is that you swear in front of your gang that you will never come back. Then I will let you go."
After saying that, Huo Chong was still a little hesitant in his heart, wondering if Li Daoqiong would jump up and curse the next moment. He wanted to die with dignity.
However, Li Daoqiong did not even think about it and immediately shouted, "Master Huo, spare my life. I am willing to leave."
Huo Chong once again saw the essence of the more vicious bastards of this era from Li Daoqiong. As long as they are bastards, they will bully the weak and fear the strong. When it comes to life and death, bastards will always show their true colors.
