The gang leader
Time flew.
In the blink of an eye, three months had passed.
It was now the season when all things came back to life.
On the wasteland near Stone Mountain, the Zhang Clan had begun clearing land before winter last year. After five months of work, they had finally reclaimed sixty mu.
Water diverted from Stone Village was now irrigating those sixty mu of fields.
The Zhang Clan planned to plant wheat there.
"Third Master, the fields are all flooded."
Xu Laiyi reported to Chen Sanshi.
Chen Sanshi glanced at the pond dug beside them and said, "Fill the pond too. Once it's full, cut off the water flow for now."
"Yes."
Xu Laiyi answered.
"Young Master Fukang."
Seeing Zhang Fukang's ox cart stop below the hillside fields, Chen Sanshi hurried down the mountain.
"My cousin asked me to bring these to you."
Zhang Fukang took a side of pork off the ox cart and handed Chen Sanshi a pouch containing ten taels of loose silver.
"Thank Sister Zhang and the boss for me."
Chen Sanshi said excitedly.
"My cousin said you're a gang leader now, after all. Spend more of your spare time training. Don't disappoint her."
Zhang Fukang said.
"Don't worry. I certainly will."
Chen Sanshi nodded.
For the past three months, he had stayed in Stone Village to ensure that nothing went wrong with the Zhang Clan's land reclamation, without neglecting the fist technique he had learned at Instructor Liu's martial arts school.
With the nourishment provided by the Zhang Clan's meat supplies,
he had finally broken through a few days ago and attained Ming Jin.
"Leave things here to me from now on. Get ready and go to the county town to see my cousin in the next couple of days."
Zhang Fukang added.
"All right, I'll leave things here to you for now. After my breakthrough, I urgently need meat to replenish myself. I'm terribly hungry."
Chen Sanshi said.
"Off you go!"
Zhang Fukang watched Chen Sanshi head toward Stone Village with a side of pork on his back, followed by several underlings from the village.
Boom!
Zhang Lingfeng practiced martial arts in the school's inner courtyard.
[Twelve-Form Iron Mountain Fist Middle Section: (150/600)]
The Twelve-Form Iron Mountain Fist Middle Section actually took three years to master. After the subsidy, that time was reduced to one year.
After three months of arduous practice, Zhang Lingfeng's understanding of the middle section of the Iron Mountain Fist had grown ever deeper.
Of course, his level of strength was nothing outstanding in the inner courtyard.
But if the time he had spent training was taken into account, his results were still respectable.
Moreover, through the subsidy system, he could make his second breakthrough after a year and become a Dark Force expert. At that point, his standing in the school would reach the same heights as Wu Yun and the others.
His status as a small landowner had been rather attractive in the outer courtyard, but everyone in the inner courtyard had attained at least Ming Jin and could hold paid posts in various places, earning income from all sorts of sources.
Their earnings rivaled those of some small landowning families.
This had also left Zhang Lingfeng on the fringes.
Fortunately, with Wu Yun looking after him, Zhang Lingfeng could now hold his own in the inner courtyard.
After finishing his training,
Zhang Lingfeng returned to his rented home.
There, he met Chen Sanshi, who had come from Stone Village.
Hei Hu was reporting to Zhang Pingping.
"Boss."
Chen Sanshi greeted Zhang Lingfeng.
Zhang Lingfeng nodded slightly and listened to Hei Hu's report.
"That fellow Ma has been overdue for three days. There's been no sign of him at home lately, either. The way I see it, he intends to pocket the money."
Hei Hu said.
"How much did he borrow?"
Zhang Pingping asked.
"Ten taels of silver. Under the rules, he received nine and must repay thirteen. He's already two days overdue."
Hei Hu said.
"You and Sun Yan should go to his house tonight. If you still can't find him, you'll have to approach his family."
Zhang Pingping said.
"All right."
Hei Hu nodded.
"That fellow Ma is a gambling addict. You need to use a few methods on people like him. Let me go along tonight!"
Chen Sanshi said.
"You've only just arrived, and I've barely had a chance to speak with you. Stay out of this for now. Besides, you're the gang leader. If even a little matter like this requires you to act, what will people think of you?"
Zhang Pingping said with a smile.
She had founded Warm Breeze Hall and lent out that hundred taels of silver. After three months of interest compounding upon interest, it had grown to more than two hundred and sixty taels.
Zhang Lingfeng and Liu Feng could already have split the profits, but neither had done so. Instead, each had invested another hundred taels of silver.
This gave Zhang Pingping ample cash flow.
To ensure that the loans could be collected smoothly, Chen Sanshi had also been summoned once the land reclamation was finished and made the gang leader of Warm Breeze Hall.
For one thing, Chen Sanshi's attainment of Ming Jin allowed him to keep Hei Hu and Sun Yan in line. For another, someone needed to shoulder the responsibility if anything happened.
"Then I'll do as Sister Pingping says. If you need anything, just give the word."
Chen Sanshi said.
"Good."
Zhang Pingping smiled and nodded, then invited everyone to sit down and eat together.
Late that night.
Hei Hu and Sun Yan waited outside Ma Sanyang's house. At last, they saw him return, his head bobbing, and successfully blocked him at the door.
"Ma Sanyang, the silver you borrowed from Warm Breeze Hall was due three days ago. Why haven't you paid it back?"
"Are you trying to pocket it?"
"Master Hu, Master Sun, let me explain."
As he watched the fists draw near, Ma Sanyang hurriedly begged for mercy.
The next day, Ma Sanyang arrived at Baile Gambling House with a bruised face and swollen nose.
"Fourth Brother, could you lend me five taels of silver first?"
Ma Sanyang's hands itched unbearably to gamble. Even losing his entire fortune at the gambling house could not cure that affliction of his hands.
"Short of money again already? I clearly remember you had good luck yesterday and won quite a bit. Which gambling house did you run off to and lose it at?"
With a reed between his lips, one foot on a stool, and his left arm resting on his knee, Fourth Brother spoke with some disdain.
"You'll laugh at me, but the people from Warm Breeze Hall took it."
Ma Sanyang said, covering his face.
"Warm Breeze Hall?"
Fourth Brother looked at the underlings beside him. They all shook their heads, none of them knowing anything about Warm Breeze Hall's background.
"They did that to your face?"
Fourth Brother pressed.
"Yes. I borrowed some money from them. Their interest was a little lower than yours, so I thought..."
Ma Sanyang explained the whole affair in detail.
"What nerve! How dare they lend money in Baile Ward!"
Fourth Brother's eyes widened in fury.
He dragged Ma Sanyang into a courtyard behind the gambling house, with enforcers patrolling its perimeter.
An eight-immortals table stood in the center of the courtyard, where several sturdy men were playing pai gow. Inside the main room, a burly man with a curled beard was eating great mouthfuls of meat.
Fourth Brother went over and whispered a few words beside the bearded man.
After hearing him out, the bearded man continued eating the meat in the pot at an unhurried pace.
Once the table was a mess, Fourth Brother offered him a warm towel. The bearded man wiped his greasy hands clean, propped up his feet, and glanced at Ma Sanyang, who stood trembling in a corner by the doorway. "What's their gang leader called, and how many men does he have?"
"All I know is that his surname is Chen. I've never seen him, but every man under him has martial arts training."
Ma Sanyang said.
"Daring to lend money in Baile Ward-they're clearly coming after us."
"Little Four!"
"Here."
"Go borrow some money from Warm Breeze Hall. Borrow as much as you can. Sound them out first."
The bearded man said.
"Yes, I'll go right away."
Fourth Brother immediately left with Ma Sanyang.
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