When Pushed Too Far, Even the Security Team Robs

When Pushed Too Far, Even the Security Team Robs

Shibali Pu was eighteen li from the city. By the time Jiang Hao carried a jar of liquor through the city gate, the sun was already setting.

Two men in khaki uniforms stood guard at the gate, long rifles slung across their backs. Yu Zhan'ao's memories told him that although they wore military uniforms, they were only the city's Security Team, equivalent to Police. Despite carrying guns, few of them had ever actually fought in a war.

"Stop. What are you carrying?"

One of them, a fellow wearing his cap crookedly, pointed at Jiang Hao and barked.

Jiang Hao hurriedly stopped and looked at him. "Sir, this is sorghum liquor I brought back from Shibali Pu."

He had picked up the term "sir" from television and movies. He had no idea whether it was appropriate.

"I suspect you're carrying contraband. I need to inspect it," Wai Dai Mao said.

"Sir, it's just a jar of liquor. How could it possibly be contraband—" Before Jiang Hao could finish, the man swung his rifle into his hands and pointed its black muzzle at him. "Cut the fucking nonsense. I said I'm inspecting it. You hear me?"

Jiang Hao knew how terrifying guns were. Faced with that muzzle, he could only back down, setting down the liquor jar and retreating two steps.

Wai Dai Mao stepped forward, opened the jar, and took a look. Then he said to Jiang Hao, "Hmm. I think there's something wrong with this liquor. I'll take it back for a thorough inspection. You can go."

Jiang Hao opened his mouth, but said nothing.

Now he had seen what it meant to be utterly unreasonable. Seething inside, he glanced at the rifle on Wai Dai Mao's back and left.

After Jiang Hao left, Wai Dai Mao chuckled and raised his brows at the somewhat older gate guard beside him. "Sixth Brother, we've got liquor to drink tonight."

Yu Zhan'ao had an organization. He belonged to the city's Sedan Chair Team. By the time he returned to their quarters, it was already dark. Jiang Hao's stomach was growling with hunger. The kitchen was empty, but he spotted several flatbreads in a basket, picked one up, and took a big bite.

They were coarse cornmeal flatbreads, rough enough to scrape his throat and choke him painfully. He hurriedly used a gourd ladle to scoop up water from a large urn and gulped it down, narrowly avoiding choking to death.

"Organic. No GMOs."

Muttering under his breath, Jiang Hao ate two dry flatbreads with water. Only after feeling something in his stomach did he return to his room to sleep. He needed to think carefully about what to do next.

He lived on a communal kang bed, where seven or eight men slept together. The moment he entered, he smelled an overpowering odor of men. Everyone greeted him when they saw him return. "Brother Ao is back."

"Yeah, I'm back," Jiang Hao replied.

"Old Leprosy from Shibali Pu is practically dying, yet he still married a wife. Isn't that ruining her life? Brother Ao, did you see the new bride? What did she look like?" someone asked curiously, lying on the edge of the bed.

"Yeah. She looked good."

"What a shame. Think that old bastard might just drop dead from exhaustion tonight?" someone said with a laugh.

"With him like that, do you think he can still manage? He can only look."

"If he can't, he can come find us. We don't just carry sedan chairs—we can carry people too."

"Hahaha!"

The men tossed around crude jokes, talking over one another. Jiang Hao said nothing more and lay down in his own spot, where a wave of sweat stench immediately hit him.

Good lord, that smell was strong enough to shoot straight into his brain.

After a day of exhaustion, he could have slept even in mud. Jiang Hao endured the discomfort and pondered what he should do tomorrow, eventually drifting off to sleep.

Early the next morning, after the rooster crowed three times, everyone got up. They brushed their teeth, rinsed their mouths, and washed their faces in the courtyard. A woman in her forties cooked cornmeal porridge and flatbreads for them, along with a plate of salted vegetable lumps. Everyone gathered around, eating as they discussed the day's work.

"Zhan'ao, the Old Li Family of East Town is marrying off a bride today. You're leading the sedan chair. We'll head over after breakfast," the team leader said.

Jiang Hao drank his porridge and gnawed on an organic flatbread, then shook his head. "I have things to do these next few days, so I'm not taking any jobs. Send someone else."

He was here to complete a mission, not to work himself to the bone as a sedan chair bearer. He had already come up with an idea last night, and he would put it into action starting today.

After breakfast, Jiang Hao waited until no one was paying attention, stuffed several flatbreads into his clothes, put on a straw hat, and left. He began wandering around the county town.

In truth, he had Yu Zhan'ao's memories and knew the general situation well enough. But there were certain details Yu Zhan'ao had never paid particular attention to. Those were exactly the things Jiang Hao was looking into now.

His current thought was to see whether he could get some money. With money, everything else would be easier. He also needed to get a gun for protection. In these chaotic times, he felt extremely unsafe without one.

He also learned some other information. For example, the county's Security Regiment had over fifty men. Its commander was named Liu Damao, a man in his forties. The reason Liu Damao had become commander of Gaomi County's Security Regiment was because his older brother, Liu Dapao, was commander of the National Revolutionary Army 33rd Regiment. The 33rd Regiment was stationed less than a hundred li from Gaomi County.

He also asked around about which families in Gaomi had the most money, making preparations in case he had no choice but to rob one of them.

By dusk, Jiang Hao had wandered back to the city gate by chance. At a glance, he spotted Wai Dai Mao and his companion huddled together, talking.

"Sixth Brother, your little brother drank too much yesterday, and my head still hurts. That sorghum liquor from Shibali Pu really packs a fucking punch," Wai Dai Mao said.

"You should be grateful you had anything to drink, and you're complaining? If you've got the guts, rob two bottles of foreign liquor next time. That's what tastes good. I saw the regiment commander drinking it before. The stuff was blood-red, beautiful as hell."

"I wouldn't dare. I know better than to mess with anyone bold enough to carry foreign liquor. Hehe."

"At least you know your place." Sixth Brother pulled out a pack of cigarettes, and Wai Dai Mao hurriedly said with a grin, "Sixth Brother, give me one too."

"You've never bought your own cigarettes. You mooch off me every damn day."

"How could I have money to buy cigarettes?" Wai Dai Mao said, unbothered by the scolding and still grinning.

"The first thing you do after getting paid is crawl into a whorehouse. How could you have any money left?"

"It's not like I have a wife. Come on, Sixth Brother, I'll light it for you."

After smoking half a cigarette, Wai Dai Mao clutched his stomach. "Oh, Sixth Brother, I need to take a shit." With that, he ran out of the city.

"You're always pissing and shitting. Hurry up. We're getting off duty and closing the gate soon." With that, he ignored Wai Dai Mao and leaned against the city wall to smoke.

As he watched Wai Dai Mao run out through the gate, his rifle bouncing on his back, a sudden urge rose in Jiang Hao's mind.

He wanted a gun. This might be his chance.

An opportunity like this would not come twice.

Rob the bastard.

Jiang Hao pulled his straw hat lower and walked out. He had not brought anything with him today, so the gate guards paid him little attention. They merely glanced at him without even seeing his face clearly. Even if they had, they would not have remembered it. They usually looked at what people carried, not at people themselves.

After leaving the city gate, Wai Dai Mao ran twenty or thirty meters to a patch of sparse woods. This place had basically become their regular latrine.

He found a small tree, leaned his rifle against it, removed his ammunition belt and hung it from a branch, then untied his trousers and squatted down. He casually snapped off a twig, skillfully broke it into sections, bit it in the middle to split it open, and prepared it to wipe his ass later.