Republic of China: Guandong Ginseng King

Chapter 28 Zhang Pao's Coming Out
"Hey, this is the grandson of Mr. Zhang Pao." Qu Shaoyang said to Shui Laowu quickly after hearing it.

The water crow walked up to the child and touched the top of the child's head.

"Kid, I'm your grandpa's friend. I haven't seen him for several years. I happened to be passing by here, so I came to see him.

Come on, lead the way for us to find your grandfather."

When the child heard this, he nodded, jumped and skipped in front of the group, leading the way towards his home.

The Zhang family lived at the west end of the village in a three-room house with stones built up to the windows, adobe bricks built on top, and wooden tiles on the roof.

The yard is not small and is tidy.

The courtyard door was ajar, and one could seem to hear someone coughing inside.

"Grandpa, grandpa, someone is looking for you. They say it's your friend." The little grandson of the Zhang family came to the gate of the courtyard and shouted loudly.

"Who is it?" An old voice came from the yard.

"Zhang Pao, it's me, Shui Lao Ya." Shui Lao Ya stood outside the courtyard gate and said loudly.

"Oh, is it Liu Dabaotou? I haven't seen you for several years. How come you have time to come to my place today?"

The old man's joyful voice came from the yard, and then the gate opened with a creak.

When Qu Shaoyang and others looked into the courtyard gate, their hearts sank immediately.

Standing in the gate of the courtyard was an old man with a hunched back, bent legs, sparse white hair, one dry eye, and a face full of wrinkles.

It's the middle of summer, and this man is still wearing a tattered cotton jacket. How can this old and short guy look like the miraculous old man in the legend?

"Hey, Mr. Zhang Pao, I haven't seen you for a few years. How come you look so old?"

When Shui Laowu saw Zhang Guozi, he was also a little surprised. They had dealt with each other a few years ago, and the old man was quite energetic at that time.

As soon as he said that, Shui Laowu regretted it.

He lost two sons in succession, and the remaining one is paralyzed. No matter who it is, they won't be able to keep their spirits up.

Zhang Pao didn't care, he just waved his hand and said, "I've left behind a man in his sixties and seventies, how can I be energetic?

Liu Dabaotou came to see me, not to reminisce about the past, right? Did he run into trouble? Where did the old platoon stop?"

Although the old man only had one eye left, he was clear-minded and sharp-eyed. The people who came here were all injured to some extent, and it was obvious that they had met with trouble.

"Oh, don't mention it, old man. Our 10th platoon had a fight at Yanwang's Nose yesterday. Two platoons of guys were killed and several were seriously injured.

The pile of stacks is now so high that four people who are carrying them have folded it in and still cannot lift it apart.

This is not it, the second cabinet asked me to come to ask the old man for help. "Shui Laowu sighed, without hiding anything, and said directly.

"Ahem, big boss, you may have made this trip in vain. Look at me, I'm old and I'm afraid I can't do it anymore." Zhang Guozi coughed twice and sighed.

"No, you can do it, old man. I believe you can do it."

Shui Laowu didn't know whether it was a good idea to say this, but he could see that there was still a gleam of unwillingness to admit defeat in the one eye of Old Man Zhang that was not blind.

"Do you think I can really do it?" Zhang Guozi raised his head, stared at Shui Laowu with his only good eye, and asked excitedly.

"It's possible, old man, we believe you." Shui Laowu nodded.

He could tell that there was some temptation in Zhang Guozi's words, and more importantly, he wanted to get other people's affirmation.

"Okay, then I'll go with you and try it. Come on in, sit inside for a while, I have to make some arrangements." Zhang Guozi led everyone into the house.

The lame third son of the Zhang family was sitting on the kang. When he saw a stranger coming, he greeted him warmly.

"Tianzhi, go boil a kettle of water and make tea for Liu Dabaotou and the others." Zhang Laosan called his nephew's name and instructed him to work.

Although Zhang Tianzhi was only eight years old, he was very efficient at work. As soon as his uncle told him to, he immediately went to the outer room to boil water.

Zhang Guozi, on the other hand, took out something from the cabinet and tied it around his waist. It was a palm-sized, wooden pipa-shaped thing called a "ticket".

This is a symbol of status. With this, one would go to visit the gang leader. Only after the gang leader nodded in agreement could one go to carry the goods. This was called "relying on a ticket."

Without "ticket-backing", even if you succeed in picking the stack and get the bonus, you will not get it and it will also cause trouble.

Shui Laowu knew everything about this and immediately sent Qu Shaoyang away to accompany Zhang Guozi out.

The two walked north from the west end of the village for five or six miles and came to a dilapidated temple where a few bearded men were playing Pai Gow.

Zhang Guozi entered the Dragon King Temple, clasped his left fist on his shoulder and saluted the people in the room.

"A cloud covers the mountains in the northwest, crows fall on a flock of phoenixes, I wonder where the ruler comes from and where the ministers are."

A man with a dark complexion, sitting alone at the table drinking tea, looked up at Zhang Guozi. "From the Prime Minister's Mansion?"

"I am not worthy of being called the Prime Minister's Mansion. I am worshipping the old boss."

"Oh, so you are here for dinner. What's the reason for coming here today? Do you have a story?" The other party put down the teacup and glanced at Zhang Guozi.

"After the start of the shift, please come and work hard." Zhang Guozi bowed again and said.

"Okay, okay, come on, come on, let's go on a pilgrimage and chew some grass. In our area, just go ahead and pick it up boldly."

The man nodded at Zhang Guozi, and someone next to him handed him a cigarette.

Zhang Guozi took the pipe and took a puff, which represented that both parties had reached a cooperation agreement.

Zhang Guozi went to work as the night watchman and pick up the stacks. If he succeeded, he would have to share part of the money he earned with the gangsters.

Zhang Guozi bought a ticket at the Dragon King Temple, and then returned home with Qu Shaoyang to take out his own Kaigengbang.

The old man thought about it, turned around and touched his grandson's head, then straightened the clothes of his third son who was lying on the kang.

When he picked up the driver again, the old man's legs didn't seem to be bent anymore, his back was straight, and one of his eyes was shining with a gleam, as if the legendary figure from that year had come back again.

By the time the group returned to Yanwang Nose, it was already dusk.

The people watching the excitement on the river bank became excited as soon as they saw Zhang Guozi arrive, and they clamored to raise the price.

On the way here, Shui Laowu had already introduced the job to Zhang Guozi, and the asking price was six hundred taels of silver.

This amount of money is already a lot. Even if half of it is given to the gang members, the rest will be enough for the three members of the Zhang family to live a good life for ten to eight years.

"The price has been reached, no need to increase it." Zhang Guozi waved his hand to stop those who were making a fuss.

He knew that it was not easy to release the rafts, and six hundred taels was really a sky-high price.

"Fuck, you blind calf, do you have second thoughts about us?"

"He wants to take our jobs."

Although the group of people cursed, no one dared to step forward to stop it.

Everyone knows that Zhang Guozi is no ordinary person. It is said that he was also very good at kung fu when he was young.

Although he is old now, the fact that he dares to come here means that he has someone to support him and cannot be provoked.

Zhang Guozi no longer listened to what those people said. He quickly took off his tattered cotton jacket and tied his boots tightly with a thin hemp rope.

Then he picked up the carrying stick and jumped towards the stacks.

The thin body was very clever, just like an old mountain cat, and even more agile than a jackal or dog in the mountains.

On the river bank, everyone was worried and sweating...

(End of this chapter)