Militia Regiment

Yang Rui rode back to Xibao Middle School in a large truck.

Mounted on the truck was an antiaircraft machine gun as long as a person was tall. Its blue-black barrel was thoroughly intimidating, and a long ammunition belt hung from the gun's neck into the truck bed, bouncing with every jolt of the vehicle.

"If someone attacks the convoy, would you really open fire?" Yang Rui had never seen a real gun in this life. His school hadn't even held target practice during military training, and the amber cartridges and black muzzle inevitably made him nervous.

A faint sneer curled Wei Lin's lips. Stroking the barrel, he said, "Once they attack the convoy, we'll find out."

"Hmm... actually, I think bringing some batons would be enough. There are over a hundred of us. One baton each, and Huo Laosi would be meat paste."

"We brought clubs." Wei Lin paused, bared his white teeth, and added, "Guns are more useful than clubs. You'll see when the time comes."

Yang Rui forced a smile, thinking, I really don't want to find out.

Yet the militiamen riding with him all looked as though this was perfectly natural.

Clearly, they had actually used these guns before.

After the imposing convoy reached Xibao Middle School, Wei Lin informed the principal, then began building fortifications outside the school, proceeding with all the precision of the army.

In fact, the militia of this period already had quite extensive training. Although they couldn't compare to the regular field armies of later years, they were better than some pampered soldiers.

Wei Lin himself was a demobilized junior officer. He spent a quarter of his time as a clerk in the township Party committee's general office and three-quarters as commander of the Militia Company. The latter was more important than the former and was practically his main job.

The ordinary militiamen took their work seriously, too. They received allowances for their regular training and occasionally got meals at the canteen. Going out on missions even earned them bonuses, so naturally they were all extremely enthusiastic.

To Yang Rui, his father was somewhat suspect of using public resources for private affairs. Wei Lin presumably understood this too, and took the job all the more seriously.

Even the rigid, stubborn principal, Zhao Dannian, saw nothing wrong with Yang Feng's actions.

In their eyes, "a good man" had never been an adequate description of Comrade Yang Feng. To describe him, one needed at least a term like "People's Fighter."

Throughout the first half of his working life, Yang Feng had upheld the principle of being as warm as a spring breeze toward the people and as cold as deepest winter toward enemies. Class enemies were enemies too, of course, and Comrade Yang Feng's methods of dealing with them were quite flexible and varied.

But however they varied, kindness had nothing to do with them.

Nor had Xizhaizi Township's ironclad defenses been built through kindness and prayer.

Deploying the Militia Company was neither a tactic Yang Feng had invented nor something he was doing for the first time.

Without question, this wasn't Wei Lin's first mission either.

In just one day, he turned the perimeter of Xibao Middle School into a fortress. Even students had to give a password to enter or leave.

The Thirteen Wolves brought their men to Xibao Town, made a circuit, admired the domestically manufactured weapons guarding the road up the mountain, and meekly returned to Xi County.

The Militia Company's fortifications were hardly impossible to spot, but the Thirteen Wolves' thugs were even poorer in quality. The dozen or so men they had barely managed to muster really couldn't summon the courage to challenge a militia company over a hundred strong.

Only on the third day did Huo Laosi see the Thirteen Wolves return empty-handed. He smashed everything in his house, then rescinded the order to go after Yang Rui.

Putting the word out on the streets was impressive. Failing to get the job done and then calling your own men back was a little embarrassing. Worse still, one embarrassment followed another.

Because he had been searching everywhere for Yang Rui to salvage his pride, while Leopard was hiding away recuperating, Huo Laosi's exam-paper business had ground to a halt for three full days.

By the time he learned about Yang Rui's background, realized that direct violence wouldn't work, and wanted to reenter the market, the new Rui Study Group Secret Papers had already stormed in.

What Huo Laosi found even more unexpected was that the new Rui Study Group Secret Papers used an entirely new promotional method.

Anyone who brought in the first exam paper from any of the first three sets of Rui Study Group Secret Papers and had it stamped could save two fen when buying a new set.

In other words, a ten-percent discount.

In an era when state-run stores never bargained, a ten-percent discount was very enticing. Anyone who had bought all three earlier sets could immediately save six fen when buying the three new sets. In many people's eyes, this was money for nothing.

In addition, anyone who presented all three earlier sets at once could receive another stamp and a free sheet of Problem-Solving Secrets, containing alternative solutions to certain questions in those three sets.

Students had always believed in this sort of thing. To obtain the secrets, many who hadn't bought all three earlier sets would even find ways to team up with others to claim the free answers.

The only person who found it troublesome was Shi Gui. He had to determine whether the papers the students brought in were genuine Rui Study Group editions or Huo Laosi's pirated copies.

Fortunately, the mimeographing left very noticeable marks, and the two sides used different paper. After half a day's practice, Shi Gui could distinguish the genuine copies from the fakes.

These various measures finally made the market understand that Rui Study Group papers came in genuine and counterfeit versions, and that there was a difference between the two.

Although this was hardly a formidable barrier, it was troublesome enough for a gang leader like Huo Laosi.

Different voices were gradually emerging within his loosely organized group, in particular.

Controlling the bus station and taking a cut was profitable and comfortable. Everyone thought that was great, but what was this business of making exam papers?

When Huo Laosi first proposed it, nobody had minded, thinking that any extra money was worth earning.

Yet because of Yang Rui's fierce response, they had not only failed to make money but also suffered a major humiliation.

Naturally, many of them were unhappy.

Among them, his partners, the Thirteen Wolves, objected most fiercely, declaring outright that they should end the business.

Huo Laosi couldn't make up his mind.

He had put considerable effort into finding a connection at the printing factory and had purchased a large quantity of printing paper in advance. If he ended things now, his initial investment would all be lost.

On the other hand, he had originally intended to use this as a way to start a factory. For someone born in the fifties, "worker" was unquestionably an enviable title.

Because Huo Laosi had been to prison, he couldn't find a permanent job. Now that he had an opportunity, he wanted a factory of his own no matter what. Getting a foothold in the declining Red Star Printing Factory was a shortcut he had found. Analyzed through a modern lens, Huo Laosi was someone who had first made his way in the underworld after reform and opening-up, then, after making money and finding competition on the streets increasingly fierce, had begun looking to go legitimate.

He had been working the streets since the mid-seventies and had reaped enough benefits that he no longer wanted to continue. The Thirteen Wolves, however, were penniless men leading a group of poor brothers, nowhere near ready to wash their hands of the life. The two factions remained locked in argument.

Without outside intervention, either a violent clash or a split between them was already inevitable.

Over the weekend, a new piece of news broke the deadlock between Huo Laosi and the Thirteen Wolves: a group of militiamen had come to the bus station and occupied their turf. They had also thrown out all the goods they had stored in the vehicles, and wouldn't let them take the goods back until they paid the outstanding freight charges.

The man who brought the news had torn army trousers, a rip in his polyester shirt, and bruises on his cheeks. He had clearly suffered.

Huo Laosi and the Thirteen Wolves exchanged glances, and the flames of anger instantly bridged the rift.

"Whatever we have to say, we'll discuss it when we get back." Huo Laosi extended a hand in friendship.

After a brief hesitation, the Thirteen Wolves clasped his large hands and nodded. "A united front against outsiders."

"A united front against outsiders!"

The two groups, over thirty men in total, shouted their slogan and marched out of the courtyard in force, heading for the bus station a short distance ahead.

Before they had gone far, a red flag snapping in the wind slowed their steps.

The large characters reading "Xi County Second Militia Regiment" left Huo Laosi's mouth bitter and dry.

The high-spirited brothers behind him were stunned as well.

However good they were in a fight, they couldn't take on an entire regiment, could they?