Chapter 192: Too Vicious!

After hanging up, Zhao Guozhong laughed happily.

“Among our group of sworn brothers, Sanzhi is the least loyal. After he cleaned up his act and got rich, he never looked after us old brothers. This guy never gave me any face in the past, and now he wants me to give him face? What a joke.

Also, this time I was beaten by that group of outsiders and sent to the hospital, but Sanzhi didn’t come to see me or even give me a call. He clearly looks down on me. Heh, actually, last time, for his sake, and because Shorty Ba knew how to behave, I was planning to coexist peacefully with Shorty Ba’s side. But he brought this bad luck on himself, so he really can’t blame me.”

In the past, a figure like Sanzhi would never have called him to ask for a favor, but now the tables had turned, and it was useless for Sanzhi to call him for a favor.

Hearing his uncle’s words, Chen Feng felt a little helpless. Couldn’t everyone just open their shops and compete fairly according to the rules? Why did they have to create so much trouble? It was the same when he helped his older brother open his shop.

It turned out that running a small business wasn’t as easy as it looked on the surface. You only knew the difficulties when you experienced them yourself.

The more rural the place, the more trouble there was in trying to open a shop and do business.

“Last time I heard you say that this Sanzhi is quite formidable, a real figure in your Yuelou Town. Now that you’ve offended him, aren’t you worried he’ll retaliate in the future?”

Chen Feng looked at his uncle with some concern. Sanzhi used to be a gangster boss and was now a well-known local entrepreneur after cleaning up his act. If he wanted to retaliate against his uncle, Chen Feng would be too far away in Xiuzhou to help, and his uncle might not be able to handle it.

But Zhao Guozhong was now brimming with a strange confidence, smiling with disdain, “Sanzhi used to be a big shot, ruthless and fierce. He was number one in that regard. But after he went to prison for five or six years, he became honest. He focused on cleaning up his act, opened a factory, and became an entrepreneur. Now he’s almost fifty. It’s safe to say he no longer has the courage or strength to be ruthless like before.

Times have changed. The era of gangsters like them is over. To make it in society now, you must have connections and backing. Sanzhi is a figure in our Yuelou Town, but that’s relative. In the eyes of ordinary people, he’s a top dog, but in the eyes of some people, he’s nothing. A-Feng, don’t you agree?”

Chen Feng had to admit he was right. It just felt strange hearing these words come from his mouth.

On the other side, after Zhao Guozhong hung up on him, Sanzhi was so angry he almost smashed his phone.

To think that he, Sanzhi, was a significant figure in Yuelou Town, and anyone would have to give him some face. Not to mention an old gangster like Zhao Guozhong who was nothing in the past. If he had asked Zhao Guozhong for a favor before, how would Zhao Guozhong have dared to refuse?

However, in the past, he never needed Zhao Guozhong to do him any favors, and Zhao Guozhong would never have spoken to him like he did today, let alone hang up on him.

The reason Zhao Guozhong had suddenly become so assertive and disrespectful was entirely because he had a nephew who seemed very powerful.

But as for how powerful his nephew was, Sanzhi only knew that he had a friend who seemed mysterious and powerful. He didn’t have much other information.

But even so, it was enough for Sanzhi to take him seriously. This was the main reason he had been willing to go with the other sworn brothers to back Zhao Guozhong up last time.

Of course, speaking of last time, he had given Zhao Guozhong face, but Zhao Guozhong had also given him face. Otherwise, it wouldn’t have ended peacefully with Shorty Ba.

But this time, Zhao Guozhong gave him no face at all, which really made it hard for him to save face. Especially with his former underling, Shorty Ba, sitting right next to him. He had been on speakerphone, and Shorty Ba had heard the whole thing.

“You heard it. Now he’s the big shot. He won’t even listen to me, his older brother. I don’t have any good ideas for the moment.”

Sanzhi’s expression was grim, but he didn’t really want to get involved in Shorty Ba’s affairs. It was partly a matter of face, and partly because Shorty Ba had been his underling, had respected him as the boss all these years, and had never been stingy with gifts during holidays.

“Boss, he’s so disrespectful to you. Then I don’t need to give him any face either. No matter how powerful his nephew is, he can’t protect him for a lifetime. I’ll find a chance and get someone to teach him a good lesson.”

Shorty Ba’s face was even uglier. Ruining someone’s livelihood was like killing their parents. How could he swallow this insult?

Sanzhi frowned and asked, “What do you want to do? Find someone to break his legs?”

Shorty Ba said viciously, “I was just trying to sort out the wastewater discharge permit today. If I can get that permit smoothly, I’ll endure this. But if I can’t get the permit after a long time, I won’t let him off easy either. I’ll slowly find a chance to hit him hard, like a car accident.”

Sanzhi frowned at his words and shook his head, “You’re going a bit too far. If someone dies, do you think you can clean up the mess? Besides, this isn’t the era of fighting and killing anymore. And for something like this, you can’t do it yourself. You have to hire someone, but you can’t hire anyone good for this kind of job without at least a few hundred thousand.”

Shorty Ba studied Sanzhi’s expression and said in a low voice, “I know you know people who do things for money, Boss. When the time comes, please help me find someone.”

“Get lost!” Sanzhi glared at him. “You have a grudge against him, I don’t. You’re still too green to try and drag me down with you.”

Sanzhi stood up to leave but was pulled back by Shorty Ba, who pleaded bitterly, “Boss, we have a life-and-death friendship! That madman was going to kill you with a knife back then, and I took the blade for you. And for so many years, I’ve always respected you as the boss, always been respectful to you. Everyone knows our relationship. For Zhao Guozhong to be so disrespectful to you this time, he’s slapping you in the face. Aren’t you angry?”

Hearing this, Sanzhi also thought of their friendship over the years. He sighed and said, “Shorty Ba, we’ve been brothers for so many years, and we’ve both done time. As your older brother, let me give you a piece of advice. Can’t you just do business properly? Why does it have to be a life-and-death struggle? Even if you can’t get the permit, you can totally cooperate with him, right? If you can’t beat them, join them. Don’t you understand such a simple principle?”

Shorty Ba said with a look of unwillingness, “Boss, I can’t accept it. This business was clearly mine. I’ve been running it for so many years. On what grounds does he squeeze in and steal my livelihood, and I have to smile at him?”

“In business, who doesn’t have to put on a smile?” Sanzhi was more open-minded. “He has connections up top. If you get in with him, even if you suffer a little loss at the beginning, there will be benefits for you later. If I didn’t look down on your business, and wasn’t familiar with it, I would even want to partner with Zhao Guozhong to open another car wash somewhere else.”

Shorty Ba asked, “You mean, I should find another place with Zhao Guozhong to open a shop?”

Sanzhi shook his head, “That’s for the two of you to discuss. I’m just giving you advice. Because we’ve been brothers for so many years, I’m telling you this much. If it were anyone else, I wouldn’t care if they lived or died.”

Shorty Ba’s expression was conflicted for a long time before he said, “His nephew might not be as powerful as the rumors say. This time, that group of outsiders beat Zhao Guozhong to a pulp, and they only detained three people, paid a fine, and they’ll be out in ten days to half a month at most.”

Sanzhi’s eyes flickered for a moment before he said, “It’s certain now that his nephew has connections in the Environmental Protection Bureau. Otherwise, the inspection team wouldn’t have acted so quickly. Zhao Guozhong was just beaten at noon, and they came to shut down the shops in the afternoon.”

Shorty Ba agreed with this point, saying with a bitter face, “I know that too. So, if they deliberately try to block me, it will be very difficult for me to get that permit, and I still won’t be able to open the shop.”

Sanzhi pondered, “If it’s just connections in the EPB, we don’t need to be afraid of them. The fear is that they also have connections in the Public Security Bureau. It all depends on how those three outsiders are dealt with in the end.”

Shorty Ba quickly said, “I already went to the town police station to ask. This group of outsiders has been rooted here for over ten years and has some connections. They said they’ve already paid the fine and will be out in two weeks at most. If they can reach a settlement with Zhao Guozhong’s side, they can get out even sooner.”

“No way?” Sanzhi was a little disbelieving.

“How could that be false? I asked myself,” Shorty Ba said with certainty. “So, when you say his nephew is so amazing and knows leaders in the PSB and all that, I’m starting to have my doubts.”

Sanzhi didn’t speak for a moment, his face as still as water, making it impossible to read his thoughts.

In fact, he really disliked his sworn brother Zhao Guozhong. Even though they had known each other for decades, he had looked down on Zhao Guozhong since they were young. Now that Zhao Guozhong was old, he had suddenly made a comeback, acting all high and mighty in front of him, with a large group of sworn brothers sucking up to him. This made Sanzhi very uncomfortable.

He had once enjoyed being surrounded and fawned over by such a large group of sworn brothers, and to be honest, he quite enjoyed it. It was only later that he intentionally distanced himself from those “unambitious” sworn brothers and lost that treatment of being the center of attention.

He didn’t care when he lost it before; he disdained being the core figure of this group of old brothers. But as he got older, he started to feel nostalgic, especially after seeing his old buddies surrounding Zhao Guozhong, treating him as the core figure and leader. Sanzhi felt very unbalanced and sour, like he was sucking on a lemon.

He had once enjoyed the feeling of being surrounded and flattered by a group of old brothers. Although he had given it up voluntarily, he sometimes missed it.

What he found most unacceptable was that the person who had replaced him in that position and as the core was someone like Zhao Guozhong, whom he had completely looked down on before.

For example, this time Zhao Guozhong was beaten to a pulp by that group of outsiders, and a whole bunch of old brothers rushed to the hospital to visit him, with some even clamoring to settle scores with those outsiders. This made Sanzhi feel very uneasy.

So, Sanzhi simply pretended not to know about the matter, didn’t go to the hospital to visit Zhao Guozhong, and didn’t call him. Because he felt that going would be demeaning himself, like the other sworn brothers, to suck up to Zhao Guozhong.

Now, hearing Shorty Ba say that Zhao Guozhong’s nephew might not be as powerful as everyone imagined, he thought about exposing Zhao Guozhong’s bluff in front of their sworn brothers, to reclaim his own core position. Then he would ruthlessly slap Zhao Guozhong’s face, making him crawl back to another province in disgrace.

But Sanzhi was an old hand in the underworld, and the older you get, the more timid you become. He still had some lingering concerns. Before he had a clear picture of the situation, he didn’t want to fall out with Zhao Guozhong. He finally said to Shorty Ba, “Let’s wait and see. I have a feeling his nephew isn’t that simple. Maybe this group of outsiders is in for some bad luck this time.”

“How is that possible?” Shorty Ba didn’t believe it. “I think that nephew of his is just Zhao Guozhong bluffing, deliberately exaggerating.”

Just as his words fell, he received a phone call. It was from an auxiliary police officer he knew at the police station.

Shorty Ba’s heart skipped a beat, and he immediately answered the phone, “Brother Li, what’s up? Is something wrong?”

“Hey, didn’t you just ask about that group of outsiders? Guess what’s happened to them now?”

“What happened to them?” Shorty Ba was a bit dazed and could only follow the other person’s lead.

Fortunately, the person didn’t deliberately keep him in suspense and said directly, “They’ve all been taken away by the criminal investigation team. Another three of their fellow villagers have also been arrested. They’re saying it’s a criminal organization. Hey, there’s a major crackdown on this right now. Looks like they’re in for a world of hurt this time…”

Shorty Ba didn’t hear the rest of the words clearly. A shiver ran through his body, his fingers went limp, and the phone fell to the ground, the screen shattering.

Shorty Ba’s face was now pale, his body was trembling, his lips were trembling, and his face was filled with terror.

Sanzhi, who was beside him, had also heard clearly, and his face was also a little pale.

These “old-timers” who had been in the underworld certainly knew how terrifying the iron fist of the authorities was against criminal organizations, not to mention a major crackdown. Many of their peers from back in the day had been executed during such crackdowns.

Too vicious!

This was Shorty Ba and Sanzhi’s shared assessment of Zhao Guozhong’s nephew.

Damn it, isn’t this just business competition, plus a common brawl? You turn it into a whole criminal organization case, who can withstand that?

Shorty Ba was completely cowed!

Sanzhi was also completely convinced!

Half an hour later, they both appeared at Zhao Guozhong’s bedside with friendly smiles on their faces.

“A-Zhong, I didn’t know you were injured when I called you earlier. Really, these old brothers are deliberately excluding me now. No one tells me anything. How are you feeling now? Are you uncomfortable anywhere else?”

Sanzhi looked at Zhao Guozhong with a concerned expression that made Zhao Guozhong very uncomfortable. He couldn’t stand it, especially seeing this big, burly guy, Sanzhi, holding a fruit basket in one hand and a flower basket in the other.

Shorty Ba was the same, a fruit basket in one hand, a flower basket in the other.

Damn it, this was the first time in his life that Zhao Guozhong had ever received flowers from someone, but the ones giving the flowers were two grown men of his own generation, which gave him a sense of shame that made him blush.

Zhao Guozhong’s expression was extremely awkward, but you don’t hit a smiling face. He could only say with a twitching face, “I’m fine. You guys… just sit wherever.”

“Good, good, as long as you’re fine.” Sanzhi put down the fruit and flower baskets and said with great magnanimity, “A-Zhong, don’t worry. Those outsiders bullying you is the same as going against me. I’ll get someone to smash their shop tonight.”

Hearing his words, Zhao Guozhong felt even more awkward. He thought to himself, are you treating me like a fool? If you two hadn’t received the news, would you have come here together to give me flower baskets?

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