A Ragtag Troupe Assembles

Xu Yi said nothing, bringing Jin Baogen back to the mutton soup shop where they had just eaten and ordering him a large portion.

Jin Baogen had not tasted meat in a month. Although the woodworking shop guaranteed two meals a day, they were basically vegetarian—either sweet potatoes or greens. Forget meat; he hadn't even seen tofu.

He wolfed down the mutton soup, polishing off a massive bowl topped with chili oil, cilantro, and bean sprouts, along with five golden-brown flatbreads the size of washbasins.

Finished, he sprawled back in his chair, rolling his eyes in satisfaction and letting out a long sigh, as if exhaling every grievance he had suffered over the past month:

"Brother! Why didn't you just snatch my contract back? Ten silver dollars! How long is that going to take me to save up?!"

As he spoke, his eyes darted around shiftily.

Xu Yi:

"I think you're being too clever for your own good. Just because you figured out I'm in a gang, you think I can do whatever I want?"

Jin Baogen said:

"I see the gang members acting so grand!

Last time they came to collect the monthly protection fee, our shopkeeper didn't even dare to let out a fart!"

Xu Yi nodded:

"You're right. The reason your shopkeeper pays that fee without a peep is precisely to prevent people like me from causing trouble."

Jin Baogen:

"Huh?"

Xu Yi said:

"Gangs have their own territories. Large shops like that woodworking place are all under someone's protection. If I were to bully my way in, it would be a slap in the face to another gang. If they came looking for me, a bloody battle would be unavoidable."

"I don't have any deep-seated grudge against them, so why would I go around slapping other gangs in the face?"

"Am I bored out of my mind?"

Jin Baogen muttered resentfully:

"Because your brother was being bullied!"

He grumbled under his breath:

"Being an apprentice at that woodworking shop is no job for a human. Every dirty, exhausting task is mine—even emptying the chamber pots and scrubbing the toilets!

For the past month, I've been up earlier than the roosters and asleep later than the cats, and every day I had to compliment the master's wife—that old hag—on her beauty... If I kept working like that, even if I didn't get worked to death, I'd be disgusted to death!"

Once he finished venting, he immediately put on a cheerful face, as if all those miserable events had just been blown away like a fart:

"Good thing Brother saved me!"

The noisy clamor of the 38th Shop District seemed to become more pleasant at that moment.

Xu Yi chewed on a clove of garlic:

"A-Bao, I want you to help me."

Jin Baogen leaned in, lowering his voice, his eyes gleaming with anticipation:

"Who are we killing?"

Xu Yi pointed a finger at him, looking thoroughly impatient:

"Can you be normal for once?"

Not wanting to waste more time with this smart-aleck, he got straight to the point:

"I've been hired as a security captain at a pharmaceutical factory.

There are plenty of job opportunities in Puxi City now, but good jobs are rare. That security gig pays over 10 silver dollars a month. It might not be perfectly safe, but at least it isn't back-breaking.

I'm thinking of calling all the guys who came out from Under the Sky Lantern with us to come and share in this fat paycheck."

Jin Baogen immediately cupped his fists in a gang-style salute:

"Brother is righteous!"

Xu Yi waved his hand, pointing at his fists:

"When you cup your fists, the left hand should press the right. That's a 'hostile salute'—it's for when you're about to start a fight."

Jin Baogen was stunned:

"There's etiquette for this too?"

Xu Yi pried his left fingers open, extending the thumb, index, and pinky:

"This is called the 'Three Sticks of Incense,' derived from three legends.

Yang Jiao'ai and Zuo Botao, signifying 'sacrificing one's life for a friend.'

Liu, Guan, and Zhang in the Peach Garden, signifying 'loyalty through the ages.'

The 108 Heroes of Liangshan, signifying the 'Hall of Loyalty and Justice.'"

Xu Yi then pressed the four fingers of his right hand together, excluding the thumb:

"This is called 'Half-Stick Incense,' a tribute to the brothers of the Wagang Stronghold from back in the day.

Legend has it that when the brothers of the Wagang Stronghold were deciding whether to submit to the imperial court, they fell into a disagreement. Their brotherhood couldn't be fulfilled, so it only counted as half a stick of incense."

Xu Yi pressed his right hand over his left, performing a graceful cupped-fist salute:

"Look, this salute is called 'Three-and-a-Half Sticks of Incense.'"

Jin Baogen's eyes shone as he listened.

Xu Yi continued:

"When people of the pugilistic world meet and perform the Three-and-a-Half Sticks of Incense salute, they are telling the other party:

We are people of the underworld who value loyalty, righteousness, and spirit."

"To put it plainly, it's really just about establishing an identity.

If it's a friend, it's just a standard greeting.

If it's someone whose background is unclear, it's a warning to the other party not to act recklessly."

Jin Baogen pressed further:

"What if it's an enemy?"

Xu Yi replied:

"Why would you bother with this nonsense for an enemy! You just grab your weapon and go!"

Jin Baogen's eyes were filled with longing:

"Oh, I see!"

Xu Yi said:

"Three-and-a-Half Sticks of Incense is just the most basic salute. There are more complex ones used to prove one's identity to gang bosses...

Those things are too far removed from you; I'm afraid you'll never have use for them in this lifetime, so I won't mention them."

Jin Baogen:

"How spectacular!"

Xu Yi curled his lip:

"It's not spectacular at all. On the surface, gangs talk about loyalty and righteousness, but behind the scenes, it's all treachery. Loyalty and righteousness were fed to the dogs by this world long ago... You'll find that out soon enough."

This bucket of cold water did nothing to dampen Jin Baogen's enthusiasm.

Xu Yi stood up:

"Let's go. Call all the companions who came with us, and follow me to make a fortune!"

By around four in the afternoon, eight people had gathered around Xu Yi.

Among these eight were six men and two women, all from the town Under the Sky Lantern, and they could all trace some distant kinship to one another.

Most of them were sixteen, seventeen, or eighteen—the age where one is most reckless—and as Xu Yi armed them, he feared they might take a life, so he emphasized the rules to them again and again.

These boys and girls had previously worked in truly abysmal environments. In this day and age, when outsiders came to Puxi City, if they weren't selling themselves, they had no choice but to enter the factories.

But the factories of this era were no place for humans; they were hellholes where you traded your lifespan for money.

Having been fished out of those hellholes by Xu Yi, they were already deeply grateful to him, and with Xu Yi's black uniform, that gratitude was mixed with a touch of awe.

Of those who had come from Under the Sky Lantern to Puxi City, Xu Yi was the only one who had managed to get ahead.

Xu Yi registered them one by one with the personnel at Lingtong Hall, gave each of them an advance of 100 copper coins, and then instructed Jin Baogen to keep a close eye on them.

Only after receiving Jin Baogen's promise did Xu Yi feel at ease.

Jin Baogen might not be the most reliable person, but he was the sharpest among them; leaving the scene in his hands when he went out meant, at the very least, things wouldn't be botched.

As for how to make Jin Baogen act more reliably, that was a matter for another day.

After helping this group of brothers and sisters from his hometown settle into the security dormitory at the factory, Xu Yi left Lingtong Hall and walked straight down the 38th Shop District main street.

Turning a corner near the Green Shore River, Xu Yi did not enter the alley where the Golden Orchid Nunnery was located, but instead headed toward the Green Shore River docks.

The river management in Puxi City was chaotic, and the privately built docks along the Green Shore River were densely packed, lining both sides of the riverbank. Moored at the docks were not only black-awning boats but also small iron-hulled vessels equipped with engines.