The Su Family of Dragon City

A cataclysm-a drastic shift in Earth's climate-plunged the entire world into an ice age. Populations dwindled, resources grew scarce, and homes were destroyed. To withstand the disaster, humanity established the Nine Great Residential Zones one after another and declared the start of a new era.

In Year 62 of the New Era, after more than forty years of an apocalyptic mini ice age, the establishment of political regions, resource wars, and clashes between warlords, the world finally entered a season of renewal, warm spring days, and blooming flowers.

From Year 42 to Year 62, the nine zones began absorbing vast tracts of land from the ungoverned territories awaiting incorporation, reorganizing resources and entering a full-scale recovery. These two decades were also known as the "Golden Twenty Years."

It was a dazzling age in which new zones rose one after another, politics set the stage and capital put on the show, ambitious schemers roamed everywhere, and heroes, power brokers, ruthless opportunists, and ordinary strivers all rose to prominence!

August, Year 62.

A light rail train pulled into the station in Zhannan District of Dragon City Autonomous Municipality, on the eastern shore of the Pacific. The bustling platforms were lined with red-and-yellow Chinese-style buildings. Nine dragon sculptures stretched across the station's vaulted roof, and a plaque above the main building read, "Welcome to the Dragon City Special Living Zone."

An arrival announcement sounded inside the train, and the carriage doors slowly opened. A dense crowd of travelers poured onto the platform. A young man of twenty-one or twenty-two stood amid the moving crowd with a camouflage backpack on his shoulders and took his phone out of his pocket.

The young man stood about five feet ten, dressed in loose sportswear. He was well proportioned, neither fat nor thin, with black-framed glasses and clean-cut, handsome features that gave him a sunny air. He looked like a recent college graduate out traveling.

His name was Su Tianyu. His father had once been a staff officer with the rank of major general, but had been framed by malicious men and sentenced to prison. Three months after the verdict, his father died unexpectedly behind bars. Half a year later, his mother, already in poor health, succumbed to illness in the hospital after grief and anxiety overwhelmed her. From then on, the Su family never recovered.

Su Tianyu had come to Dragon City for two reasons: to stay with his second uncle's family, and to apply for a public-sector job here.

Inside the station, Su Tianyu was just about to make a call when someone suddenly tapped his right shoulder.

"Little Six!" A cheerful, familiar voice sounded beside Su Tianyu's ear. He whipped around and saw a dark-skinned, muscular young man standing before him, wearing a white cotton T-shirt and a crew cut.

"Second Brother!" Su Tianyu greeted him with a smile.

The dark, solidly built young man held the latest-model phone in his right hand. He looked Su Tianyu up and down, then punched him on the shoulder. "Not bad, you little bastard. Four years apart, and you've filled out nicely. You could work as a host at Eastern Charm now. Bit scrawny, though. You wouldn't be up to handling the older clients."

"You're wrong. I've always preferred to win them over with technique." Su Tianyu adjusted his glasses and replied modestly.

The young man teasing Su Tianyu was Su Tianbei, his second uncle's second son. His choice of words alone made it clear that he was something of a carefree rake-a go-getting young man with plenty of experience in every aspect of life.

"Well, look at you! You can even keep up with that now? Dad always said you loved learning from childhood and were better than the rest of us. Now that we're talking... you've fucking moved on to winning with technique? You really are better than me!"

"Hahaha!"

"All right, when we've got time, I'll find somewhere to check out your technique." Su Tianbei affectionately hooked an arm around his younger cousin's neck and started walking. "Come on. Let's go home first."

"Why didn't Eldest Brother and the others come?" Su Tianyu asked curiously as they walked.

At that, Su Tianbei's brow involuntarily furrowed. "Something happened at home. He's downtown."

"What happened?" Su Tianyu pressed.

"Let's talk in the car." Su Tianbei sighed. Without him noticing, the joy of welcoming his cousin had already faded from his face.

The cousins passed through the exit passage and entered the parking lot. Vendors selling local souvenirs, stolen goods, and fake watches were everywhere. The crowds buzzed with noise, making the place feel lively.

Su Tianyu thought his cousin's reaction earlier had been strange. As soon as he got into the car and set down his backpack, he asked, "What exactly happened at home?"

Su Tianbei started the car and drove toward the parking lot exit, speaking quietly. "Your second uncle was framed. The charge is smuggling military technology and equipment."

"Technology and equipment?!" Su Tianyu was stunned. "That has absolutely nothing to do with our family's business."

"Technology and equipment, my ass. I told you he was framed!" Su Tianbei gritted his teeth and cursed. "The Sanitation Management Council got a new second-in-command, someone from Changqing Company. The moment that bastard took over, he wanted to redraw the work zones and muscle in on our business. Our old man caught on to what the higher-ups intended and wouldn't stand for it, so he joined forces with three other companies in Zhannan District to make some noise and push back. But the other side moved first. They set a trap and got our old man and the heads of the other three companies locked up."

"What's the situation now?" Su Tianyu asked.

"They found four crates of smuggled technology and equipment in our garbage storage yard. That stuff is highly sensitive," Su Tianbei said quietly. "Dragon City strictly controls items like that. If they pin those four crates on him, the old man could end up facing a firing squad."

"What does Eldest Brother say?" Su Tianyu immediately asked.

"He's at his wits' end too. The Sanitation Management Council is demanding accountability and wants to declare us in breach of contract. The Police Bureau isn't just interrogating the old man-they're trying to drag Eldest Brother into the case too. And Changqing Company is looking for a chance to grab our work zones." Su Tianbei sighed. "Things at home really aren't great right now, but you don't need to worry about it. We can handle this. You just got back, so get used to the place first...!"

For historical reasons, Dragon City was a major overseas Chinese population center governed by the First Zone. It stood in what had been North America before the New Era, and its political position was highly unusual. With a history of less than twenty years, Dragon City was still in a phase of wild, unchecked growth. Gold and opportunity were everywhere, and the government running it was feeling its way forward.

Corruption was rampant here, and people of every race gathered in the city. Chambers of commerce, business organizations, and power networks operating under company names held a tight grip on every industry. Someone might rise today and command the world around him, only to make one wrong move tomorrow and lose everything. Its political landscape somewhat resembled that of a certain coastal city in the 1950s and 1960s before the New Era, or the Min State in the 1920s and 1930s. Yet everyday existence was high-tech and low-life: the rich were obscenely rich, and the poor were desperately poor.

Dragon City's daily waste disposal fell under the Sanitation Management Council, which contracted out every stage of garbage collection and processing to private companies by district. These companies were made up of groups with shared regional origins, and each was fairly close-knit and hostile to outsiders.

Dragon City had more than twenty thousand waste-processing workers. Since they formed tight-knit groups and there was too little work to go around, competition was fierce.

The Su family of Dragon City ran one of the small companies in the sanitation sector. They handled garbage disposal in Zhannan District and employed eight hundred sanitation workers.

In the car, Su Tianyu showed no excessive worry or panic after hearing that his second uncle had been jailed. "Did Second Uncle leave any instructions before it happened?"

"Before they took him in, he said we couldn't give up our current work zones, even if it killed us. But now... ah, I can't explain this in a few words. You just got here and don't know the situation, so there's no need for you to worry over it," Su Tianbei replied with a slight frown. "Fuck. If Changqing Company really tries to wipe us out, I'll make damn sure they suffer too! Don't worry. Our family knows what we're doing."

Someone else hearing that a family member was in trouble might have grown frantic and kept pressing for every cause and detail. Su Tianyu did not. When it came to certain things, he never let his emotions show on his face.

The joy of their reunion had been dampened by the sudden trouble facing the Su family. Neither cousin could muster any happiness as they sat in the car, and they returned home in a somewhat subdued atmosphere.

At the end of Tianhe Road in Zhannan District stood a compound covering roughly fourteen hundred square meters. Its buildings were predominantly Chinese-style, and the yard was cluttered with miscellaneous items and worn-out vehicles. It looked full of everyday bustle, like a communal courtyard housing a large, thriving family.

This was the Su family's home. More than fifty members of his second uncle's family lived here.

With Su Tianyu back, everyone in the family, young and old, came out to welcome him. One young woman in particular, with a curvy figure and a neat, short haircut, was especially animated and delighted. "You little bastard, did you miss your Third Sister?!"

"I missed you so much, Third Sister!" Su Tianyu smiled at his cousin and stepped forward to greet her.

"Second Brother! Second Brother!"

Just then, a young man of seventeen or eighteen ran out of the courtyard and shouted in some alarm, "There's trouble at the storage yard! Changqing Company sent a whole bunch of people over. They want to talk about taking over the yard. Xiaowei called me and said they're being really aggressive."

At the Su family's gate, everyone turned toward the courtyard when they heard this.

Silence. After a brief silence, Su Tianbei waved his hand and roared, "If we can't hold the yard today, Changqing Company will come tear down our home tomorrow! Every man in the Su family, come with me!"

"Second Brother, calm down!" Third Sister immediately shouted. "Wait until Eldest Brother gets back!"

"Wait, my ass! If we can't hold the yard, all eight hundred workers will be gone tomorrow." Su Tianbei turned and headed for the car. "Every fucking one of you, come with me! We're protecting our livelihood!"