Chapter 56: The Black Shop

  A 2 million thing just came back with a piece of paper and a raw egg, my old house still has a broken night pot, I don't know if it can be repaired. That night pot is said to have been captured by my third grandfather when he was a soldier from a Kuomintang lieutenant colonel regiment commander.

  Then I remembered the bar incident and asked Jin Dajian, "Did Zhang Qing from Caiyuanzi come with you guys?" Without waiting for Old Jin's response, I quickly said, "Forget it, even if he did come, we can't find him. He can't take it anymore, always putting knockout drops in his drink, and then making a big fuss about it, causing a national sensation." I scratched my head and asked Jin Dajian, "Is there anyone else among your group who knows how to do business?"

  Jin Dajian shook his head, and An Daoquan said on the side: "Are you going to open a shop?" I nodded hastily.

  "Hey, you're looking for Zhu Gui and Du Xing?"

  I thought for half a day, Zhu Gui vaguely remembered that he seemed to be in charge of the Nanshan Hotel, and was actually the contact person. As soon as someone joined, they would shoot an arrow into the reeds, and then someone would row out a boat to pick them up. I think this archery method is better than Hua Rong's, if there's no accuracy, you'll end up shooting your own people. Du Xing was not very familiar, probably the deputy manager.

  I asked An Daquan: "Which tent are they living in?"

  An Daoquan gave me a glance: "I don't know where to go, you call yourself!"

  So I shouted at the top of my lungs: "Zhu Gui——Zhu Gui——"

  Workers on a nearby construction site anxiously asked me: "Has pork risen in price again?"

  At this time, the curtain of a tent was lifted, and before seeing the person, I heard his voice: "What are you shouting about? Are you calling out to souls?" A very sturdy man walked out, his mouth saying so, but with a smile on his face, sporting a stubble beard, looking especially affable, clearly one of those businessmen who have rolled out into society and are particularly good at dealing with people. Seeing it was me, he asked jovially: "Looking for me? Got something to discuss?"

  I said: "Plan to let you resume your old career, open a wine house."

  "Come in." Zhu Gui lifted up the tent flap and let me enter.

  As soon as I entered, I bumped into a thin man sitting on the ground face to face. He looked like Gollum from "The Lord of the Rings", with sunken skin and big eyes. He was holding a pen and writing something on a pile of papers.

  Zhu Gui introduced me: "This is Du Xing, nicknamed Ghost Face."

  I hastily greeted: "Brother Du is great - it's really not as good as meeting in person!"

  Du Xing is ugly, but he's actually quite good. He says, "Sit down, brother." Then he hands me the paper in his hand. I take a look and see that it's written in traditional characters: so many sorghum, so many water vats, wooden boards, and so many silk threads. I ask him what they're for, and Du Xing says, "I'm planning to brew some wine."

  I felt a sour nose and said, "It's all brothers, I'll wait for the elder brothers to arrive. I'll call the winery now and have them connect the pipes." In my heart, I thought that the people of Liangshan had big temperaments. It had only been two days since they didn't buy wine, and they were already thinking of brewing their own. If they felt that there wasn't enough money to spend, they should take matters into their own hands and work hard to make ends meet...

  But Du Xing shook his head and said: "Your wine is too hard to drink, the sweet ones are too sweet and the spicy ones are too spicy. How can they compare with our Three Bowls Over the Ridge?"

  I exclaimed in surprise: "Three bowls are not enough... That's not Wu Song..."

  "It's the wine that Wu Song drank when he passed through Jingyanggang, and after he joined Liangshan, he still remembered it. So we spent a lot of money to buy the formula for that wine and brew it ourselves."

  I held the bill he had opened and said in doubt: "Are you sure? Don't waste the stuff brewed from two carts of grain food and drink your eyes blind."

  Du Xing said, "The problem is not big, now the main thing is that there is no ready-made yeast, and the weather is too hot, it's easy to spoil after brewing." I took out two boards of money and pressed them on the paper, saying, "This matter is still up to you to handle, let Song Qing brother take care of buying things, now let's talk about our own business."

  Zhu Gui explained to Du Xing: "Xiao Qiang wants us to help him take care of the restaurant." Du Xing hesitated and said: "We came here to have fun, why work again?" Zhu Gui nodded at me and said: "Just like I thought."

  "I said in a hurry: 'No need to work, it's not actually a restaurant, but a place for drinking and entertainment. At night, there are many beautiful women, occasionally with striptease performances, and during the day, you can do whatever you want, no need to open the door.'"

  Zhu Gui muttered: "No need to open the door during the day..." Then he and Du Xing asked me in unison: "Are you also running a black shop?"

  I stumbled a few steps before barely standing steady and said: "You mustn't misunderstand, when we get there I wouldn't dare to put anything in the wine, I'll treat everyone as if they were gods... uh, treat them like your big brother Song Jiang."

  Du Xing frowned and said coldly: "Can't you hit someone who doesn't look good to you?" He still looks at others with disdain, looking like an alien.

  "We can't fight, that place isn't ours anyway. And after you two left, it's not like we're in charge either. All we do is bring people who are sent by Liu Lao Liu here. Besides that, if we go, it's just to avoid trouble. We take the profitable jobs, they take the blame. Do you guys understand what I'm saying?"

  Zhu Guile smiled and said: "We understand, your store is not black, but people are."

  Finally, Zhu Gui and Du Xing agreed to follow me for a while, I still have to go and see the progress of the construction site.

  Several main buildings have taken shape, and the workers are working hard from dawn till dusk. The migrant workers are also busy carrying bricks and tiles, and they seem to be working even harder now that I'm here. This project has not only saved several construction teams but also pulled out many vagrants from the fire pit.

  The bald-headed man was standing with an engineer, pointing at the scenery. The engineer wore a safety helmet and looked to be around 40 years old. He spoke in a very arrogant tone, lecturing the bald-headed man: "You see, I told you it's right to move the cafeteria back by 15 meters? If not, the dormitory building would have blocked it... Of course, the grand auditorium should be built on the east side, don't you understand the concept of 'auspicious energy coming from the east'? It's just like the assembly hall in Liangshan..."

  I went up and patted him on the shoulder, saying politely: "Excuse me, sir..."

  Lai Zi hastily said: "Isn't this the teacher you invited? Brother Qiang, I'm convinced, there are so many talented people here. If it weren't for Mr. Li's guidance, let alone the layout, at least we would have to work hard for a month."

  "Li Gong?" The man was wearing a safety helmet and I didn't recognize him at first, but after taking a closer look, I remembered that there was someone like him who came to pick me up that day.

  "This 'Li Gong' whispered in my ear: 'Qingyan Hu Li Yun, the one in charge of building houses at Liangshan...'"

  No wonder! Liangshan can arrange houses for millions of people, and this small school is even easier to handle. He just didn't come at the right time, if he had come one or two years earlier, there wouldn't have been any "Bird's Nest" incident. Li Yun told me that the school will be ready to move in in another half month, and now he is already planning the campus layout, including artificial hills, small bridges, and flowing water. I originally wanted him to build a plum blossom stake for me, but since he didn't mention it, I guess it's not something from the Song Dynasty, so that will be taken care of later.

  I greeted Lu Junyi and took Zhu Gui and Du Xing on the motorcycle, with Zhu Gui sitting in the back. Just as we were about to leave, Dai Zong arrived, saying he wanted to go into town to buy a pair of shoes. I had him sit behind Du Xing, using his legs to hold onto Zhu Gui so he wouldn't fall off. The Ruan brothers had long been wanting me to take them to find water, but they were a step too late. Seeing the motorcycle was already in such a state, all we could do was make a promise to bring them next time.

  I drove on the small road for a while, and the peasants saw us four like this without thinking it was strange. It is said that on the day of the village chief's son's wedding, he used this motorcycle to pick up people, with a maximum of 7 people at a time, not counting the driver. Those seven people traveled through the countryside in a stunning peacock-like posture, and finally got a nickname called "Gourd Brothers".

  After getting on the highway, we started to be ridiculed. Dai Zong finally couldn't take it anymore and said: "I'd better run." I stopped the motorcycle and waited for him to put on his armor on his legs. He ran more than 50 miles without a hitch. I asked him while driving: "Dai Ge, how long can you keep up this speed?" Dai Zong ran leisurely beside me and said: "When I'm hungry, I won't be able to run anymore. I'm just an engine that burns food."

  He made me laugh: "Then how fast can you run at most?"

  "The activity opened up to 100, but it couldn't last for too long."

  I laughed and said, "Then you'd better watch out for speeding, the speed limit in town is 40, if you run wildly, be careful to get caught by the police." Dai Zong chuckled: "If I get caught, it's no big deal, they'll just confiscate my vehicle, I'll give them my shoes and that's all."

  I burst out laughing, it seems that people who exercise regularly are indeed brighter.

  At this time, a Nissan from behind caught up with us. The driver saw Dai Zong and his eyes directly stuck to the right glass from the left driving seat. He followed us for half a day. I waved my hand to indicate that he should leave quickly. This kid gave us the middle finger and stepped on the gas pedal and ran away. Dai Zong cursed and chased after him, but I couldn't keep up with them. The motorcycle can reach 60 miles per hour and make a loud noise. I just watched as a car and a person disappeared into thin air.

  I chased for nearly 15 minutes, and saw the Nissan stopped at the side of the road ahead. Two police officers stood in front of a young man with serious expressions. The young man was desperately explaining something to Dai Zong, who had a smile on his face across the street. The two police officers exchanged a glance, quickly pulled out a breathalyzer, and ordered him: Blow!

  I, Zhu Gui, and Du Xing all raised our middle fingers at him and burst out laughing: "Serves you right, you little turtle egg!"

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