"Ladies and gentlemen, I was passing by when I heard the aroma of wine and meat inside, and I couldn't resist coming in to try a few pieces. But I didn't come empty-handed. I have a jar of Xifu Fengxiang wine here, brewed in 1933 by the Su family winery in Liulin, Fengxiang, Shaanxi. It's been aged for almost twenty years now." Liao Jingxuan walked slowly and unhurriedly into the lamplight, raised a small jar of white wine in his hand, and smiled gently.
The dozen or so people exchanged glances. The three or four in the lead frowned as they sized up Liao Jingxuan and the three behind him. Judging from their appearance, clothing, and demeanor, the four were clearly not like the hard laborers who toiled on construction sites all day.
"Sir, we are workers here. We're taking advantage of the off-duty time tonight, so we've pooled our money to buy some wine and meat to satisfy our cravings. May I ask who you are?" A middle-aged man with thick eyebrows and big eyes wiped the grease off his hands with a dirty towel on the table, stood up from in front of the wooden board, and asked Liao Jingxuan.
Liao Jingxuan gestured for his men to stop, then walked to the wooden board, holding the wine jar in his left hand and taking out a small dagger from his pocket with his right. With a flash of cold light, he slashed off the mud seal of the wine jar, and the aroma of wine immediately filled the air.
He slowly placed the Kaifeng wine jar onto the wooden board and gestured to the crowd, saying, "My name is Liao Jingxuan. Please have a drink with me."
His actions made everyone even more hesitant to answer, and they all looked at Liao Jingxuan with some wariness.
Liao Jingxuan slowly put the dagger back into his pocket and said, "Tong Jinchuan, Vice Chairman of the Trade Union; Qi Tongwei, Treasurer of the Trade Union; Kong Yuanchuan, Deputy Secretary-General of the Trade Union; Di Tong, Communications Committee Member of the Trade Union; Xie Agui, Workers' Representative; Lu Deqiu, Workers' Representative; Gui Dajiang, Workers' Representative."
The faces of those whose names he called changed. The middle-aged man who stood up first said to Liao Jingxuan, "Sir, what is it you want?"
"Your name is Tong Jinchuan?" Liao Jingxuan picked up an empty bowl from the table, slowly poured the slightly viscous wine into it, then held the bowl up and asked the middle-aged man.
"It's me."
Liao Jingxuan closed his eyes, savored a sip of wine, then waved to his men behind him. One of them stepped forward, stuffed a roll of banknotes into Tong Jinchuan's hand, and then retreated.
Tong Jinchuan looked down at the roll of banknotes in his hand, then at Liao Jingxuan, who was still savoring the aroma of the wine. Just as he was about to speak, he seemed to feel that the middle of the roll of banknotes was slightly stiff. He unfolded the banknotes and found a bright yellow bullet lying on the portrait of Queen Victoria.
"Someone told you to gather at the Labour Department for a strike. This money is a reward for your hard work. You've all worked hard today, but starting tomorrow, don't go anymore. Otherwise, next time I come to treat you to drinks, bullets won't come with money; they'll come out of the gun barrels and be shot at your families, forcing you to go down and reunite with your loved ones." Liao Jingxuan held his wine bowl, seemingly quite satisfied with the complete silence that followed his words on the first floor of the construction site.
"Seven union cadres, each get a share. After you finish this meal, take your money and leave quietly."
As he finished speaking, three of his men came over and threw seven or eight rolls of banknotes and six bullets onto the wooden board, next to the glistening roast suckling pig.
Liao Jingxuan sat down in an empty spot in front of the wooden board, took off his gloves, and reached in to pick up a broad bean soaked in salt water and put it in his mouth. "Think carefully next time you do something. If you want to be used as a gun again, you have to be prepared to be shot."
"Is... is it the Lin Family... are you from the Lin Family?" Tong Jinchuan asked, his face shifting between anger and uncertainty, as he clutched the banknotes in his hand.
Liao Jingxuan picked up the wine bowl with three fingers. "I'm just a passerby who happened to be passing by and came in to get some food and drinks."
"Slap!" A worker next to Liao Jingxuan slapped his thigh hard and said to Tong Jinchuan, "I told you we shouldn't have listened to that person and gone against the Lin Family!"
As he spoke, his greasy hands reached for the banknotes on the table. "Since the Lin Family is sending money, of course I'll do whatever Mr. Liao says. I won't do it anymore; I'll take the money back and start some small business. Nobody wants to be eating dust on a construction site all day."
"This friend has quite the presence." Liao Jingxuan smiled, turning his head to sized up the other person. "What's your name?"
"Yao Chunxiao, everyone calls me 'Rotten-Life Ah Xiao'." The man grabbing the money was quite old, with a bare chest, wearing dirty pants, and his coat was wrapped around his waist. When he heard Liao Jingxuan ask him, he said this while grabbing the money.
There were banknotes and bullets on the table, but there were clearly not enough banknotes for everyone present to have a roll of cash. Those who acted first would get cash, while those who acted slowly would probably not get any. So when Yao Chunxiao made his move, everyone else reached out and grabbed at the table.
"Two peaches kill..." Tong Jinchuan, who was standing, suddenly frowned, thinking of a phrase, but before he could finish speaking!
"Bang bang!"
Gunshots suddenly rang out!
The three people Liao Jingxuan brought with them jolted violently and then fell backward!
At the first gunshot, Liao Jingxuan fell backward, performing a backflip that disregarded his image, trying to slip behind a pile of bricks. As he rolled backward, his right hand reached for his waist. But as he finished rolling and his hand touched his sidearm, a gun was pressed against his temple.
Liao Jingxuan wisely dropped his pistol on the ground and slowly raised his hands.
Yao Chunxiao spat out a small bone from his mouth. "The Lin Family is so poor, and they're trying to appease the union with such a meager amount of money? Do they think you're all beggars?"
"Hehe." Tong Jinchuan laughed at this moment, throwing the banknotes back onto the wooden board. "Ten thousand yuan, Brother Xiao gave each of us fifty thousand yuan in cash."
"Who are you?" Liao Jingxuan asked, standing motionless with his hands above his shoulders.
Yao Chunxiao said, "I waited specifically for..."
"Snap!" Liao Jingxuan's left hand moved with lightning speed, deflecting Yao Chunxiao's gun barrel. A small dagger had already slid out from his right sleeve, and he viciously stabbed it into Yao Chunxiao's chest! Then he snatched the gun, kicked the man, turned around, and leaped away!
All the movements were performed in one smooth, clean motion!
In the blink of an eye, he ran into the darkness behind the pile of bricks!
"Bang!"