Newborn 1927

Yang Jiefang laughed heartily, patted Director Li on the shoulder, and said, "Old Li, it seems we've become friends through a misunderstanding. I've offended you before, but you're a magnanimous man, please don't hold it against me! I'll borrow this money to tide me over, and we'll pay you back once you can get your hands on guns and ammunition again. What do you think?" Director Li smiled and said, "Sure thing, sure thing. How much do you want, little brother? What's the price?" Yang Jiefang said, "The more the better, of course. As for the price, it's a seller's market now, so you can set the price. I don't think Brother Li would deliberately try to rip me off, would he?"

Director Li quickly shook his head and said, "Don't worry about that! My reputation is guaranteed. In the current market, even a half-new rifle can sell for two hundred silver dollars, and there's often no market for it. Mine is brand new, so I'll give you two hundred silver dollars. Is that too expensive?" Yang Jiefang shook his head and said, "Not expensive!" Director Li continued, "If this gun runs out of bullets, it's as useless as a fire poker, so the bullets are precious. Two hundred silver dollars for a box of bullets, is that acceptable?" Yang Jiefang nodded and said, "Acceptable."

Gao Huilan interjected, "These are the highest prices on the black market. It's blatant bullying of newcomers!" Director Li had figured out that Yang Jiefang and his group weren't government officials, so they were naturally offering high black market prices to lure Yang Jiefang into bargaining, and he didn't think it was excessive. Yang Jiefang, however, spoke first: "You think you can buy these on the official market?" His retort made Gao Huilan glare. Ignoring her, Yang Jiefang simply sat down on the ground and continued, "Brother Li, you just said you could get machine guns, what's the price?"

Director Li replied, "Light machine guns are no problem, but I can't guarantee the quantity, and they're a bit pricey—at least a thousand silver dollars per gun." Yang Jiefang followed up, saying, "They are indeed not cheap, but still acceptable. What about heavy machine guns, or small cannons?" Director Li immediately became a little awkward, forcing a smile as he said, "Well, original ones are definitely hard to come by. How about assembled ones?" Yang Jiefang said, "As long as they work properly, that's fine. It's not like we're looking for a wife; she has to be an original virgin. But can the ammunition be supplied?" Gao Huilan and the other two women rolled their eyes at this, but Director Li felt a sense of warmth and immediately laughed, "Ammunition is actually easy to get, it's just a bit expensive." Yang Jiefang, however, said nonchalantly, "Price has never been a problem." Yang Jiefang's magnanimity was naturally endearing. The two chatted more and more congenially, and anyone who didn't know better would have thought they were old friends.

Yang Jiefang had learned a fair bit about the market for various weapons from him, and feeling he knew enough, he casually asked, "Brother Li, have you found a buyer for these guns?" Director Li replied, "There was originally a buyer, and the delivery was scheduled for tomorrow. But..." Yang Jiefang asked, "Who is the buyer? When? Where is the delivery?" Director Li hesitated and refused to answer. Yang Jiefang said, "In business, reputation comes first. To avoid affecting Brother Li's reputation, I originally planned to return the guns and ammunition to you so you could complete tomorrow's transaction. Since you won't tell me, then forget it. I guess it's not an important client." Director Li quickly said, "It's Hei Xiazi from Muping County. The transaction will take place tomorrow afternoon, ten miles west of the city."

But Gao Huilan beside him gave a soft "hmm," clearly knowing who Hei Xiazi was. Yang Jiefang then said, "So it's him. Was the deal with him the price you just mentioned?" Director Li shook his head and said, "He didn't pay cash; he settled with opium." Yang Jiefang naturally knew that opium referred to as "opium," so he asked, "You smoke opium? You don't look like it." Director Li said, "How could I smoke so much? This is the supply for my opium den." Yang Jiefang said, "So Brother Li also runs an opium den? With such a large business, you should be even more honest. How about this, I'll go with you to the transaction tomorrow! To be honest, although I've heard of Hei Xiazi, I've never met him. It would be good to make his acquaintance." Director Li said, "It would be even better if you were willing to come along, but you can't meet Hei Xiazi in person. He usually sends someone to the transaction; he doesn't show himself." Yang Jiefang asked for some more details, and Director Li, caught up in the conversation, didn't hide anything.

After getting a better understanding of the situation, Yang Jiefang suddenly said, "Oh dear, look at me! I was so busy talking that I forgot to mention Brother Li and his two brothers are still tied up. Hey you, come over here and help them up. It's freezing cold outside, the ground is so cold!" Gao Huilan and the other two women certainly wouldn't pay him any attention. Yang Jiefang was just saying it as a formality. He helped Director Li up, but he didn't actually untie him.

Gao Huilan coughed twice, and Yang Jiefang immediately abandoned Director Li and scurried over, asking, "What are your orders, Miss?" Gao Huilan glared at him, snorted coldly, and got up to walk aside. Yang Jiefang hurriedly followed behind, arriving at an empty study. Gao Huilan abruptly asked, "You've been talking to him for so long, what are you trying to do?" Yang Jiefang didn't answer but instead asked, "Can you tell me about Hei Xiazi first?" Gao Huilan frowned and said, "Are you very free? Don't you know what time it is? After dark, the city gates will close, and you won't be able to enter the city. Don't you want to save your sister?" Yang Jiefang suddenly looked out the window; the sun was already setting in the west, about to disappear. It was winter, and it got dark early. He thought to himself, "Damn it, I almost missed something important."

Gao Huilan said, "I still want to go into the city to participate in the rescue operation. Do you want to go? If you don't want to go, I'll take Chu Gu and Pang Ya with me." Yang Jiefang asked, "Then what about here?" Gao Huilan said irritably, "We've asked everything we needed to ask. What's the point of keeping them around? We don't have enough manpower to keep an eye on these three policemen. Besides, there's no need for it." Her eyes flashed with murderous intent, making Yang Jiefang feel a chill in his heart. He agreed, "As a police chief, instead of protecting the people, he runs brothels, opium dens, sells weapons, and traffics opium. He has no bottom line when it comes to despicable things. This kind of person deserves to die." Gao Huilan said, "Then why are you calling him brother?" Yang Jiefang smiled bitterly, "I was just trying to get information out of him." Gao Huilan understood this, of course. She glared at him fiercely, turned around, and walked out of the study.

When Yang Jiefang returned to the living room, Fatty was still sitting at the table enjoying her dessert. Aunt Chu had already stood up and was standing in the middle of the living room. Three policemen lay beside her, blood pooling on the floor. Yang Jiefang glanced at them and immediately recognized that all three policemen had their throats slit. Aunt Chu said coldly, "You promised to release him, but I didn't."

At this moment, Chu Yi and Bao Ziqiang returned to the living room, having already brought the guns and ammunition up from the basement. Gao Huilan commanded, "Brother Yi, Baozi, you two dispose of the bodies, then move the guns and ammunition to a safe place. We need to go into the city to complete our planned operation, so you won't be joining us!" Chu Yi and Bao Ziqiang both respectfully agreed. Yang Jiefang glanced at the three corpses on the ground and understood; even though the young lady of Qinglong Village rarely showed herself, her words still carried considerable weight.

The group split up. Two carriages were left for Chu Yi and Bao Ziqiang to transport the weapons. Yang Jiefang and the three women, Gao Huilan and Yang Jiefang, had to walk back to the city. As they walked, Gao Huilan suddenly asked, "Do you know about the Chinese Regiment?" Yang Jiefang looked bewildered and shook his head, saying, "What Chinese Regiment?" Gao Huilan continued walking, "You know that Britain forcibly leased Weihaiwei and Liugong Island, right?" Yang Jiefang didn't dare admit he didn't know and nodded blankly. Gao Huilan's face darkened as she said, "The British recruited a group of traitors from among the Chinese in Weihaiwei and formed an army called the Chinese Regiment. Hei Xiazi from Muping was one of them. During the Boxer Rebellion, when the Eight-Nation Alliance attacked Beijing, this Chinese Regiment served as the vanguard." Yang Jiefang couldn't help but swear, cursing, "So it was a traitorous regiment." In his heart, he thought, "Why isn't this written in the history books?"

To be honest, his historical knowledge mainly came from his middle school history textbooks and some movie and TV dramas. History textbooks simply recorded some major events, and movie and TV dramas are mostly unreliable. Therefore, he always had a question: how come all those time-traveling predecessors knew so much about history? But when it came to himself, he knew nothing.

Gao Huilan continued, "Our old leader of Qinglong Village, my maternal grandfather, fought against the Huayong Battalion under General Ma Fuxiang's command. My seventh uncle was wounded in that battle, leaving him with a chronic illness. To rescue my seventh uncle amidst the chaos of battle, my grandfather blinded one of the Huayong Battalion soldiers in one eye. His original surname was Xiong, hence the nickname 'Black Bear.' Although Black Bear was blind in one eye, he still made a fortune in Beijing. He later left the Huayong Battalion and returned to Muping County, transforming himself into a well-known landlord with thousands of houses and thousands of acres of fertile land. Haha, my grandfather and his men became rebels, forced to hide in Qinglong Village as bandits."

Yang Jiefang sighed, "That's how it is these days; whoever has the bigger fist calls the shots. I wonder what happened later? With the two sides so close, did they exchange fire again?" Gao Huilan said, "Of course they did! They fought several battles, with casualties on both sides. Later, my grandfather was wounded in one of the exchanges and died from his injuries. Then, some unforeseen events occurred in Qinglong Village, and they were completely at a disadvantage. These past few years, my mother has been deliberately avoiding them, even giving up some territory in exchange for temporary peace. Hmph, when I'm strong enough in the future, I'll definitely kill them!"

Yang Jiefang asked, "So, how strong is he?" Gao Huilan replied, "I heard he has eight hundred men with guns, a real eight hundred men with guns, trained using the British methods. By the way, how is your training method? How much worse is it compared to the British method?" Yang Jiefang was taken aback by the question. My training method is worse than the British of this era? How much worse? Gao Huilan misunderstood, seemingly a little disappointed, and said, "Never mind, it doesn't matter. We have money now, we can recruit more men, buy more guns, at worst two or three of us can take him down. I don't believe we can't kill him." Yang Jiefang quickly said, "My training method is definitely better than the British method! Let me put it this way, if we really train him with all our might using my method, I can train a world-class army. I can take on three of those bastards from the Chinese Military Academy." Gao Huilan turned around angrily and said, "If you keep talking big like this, get out of here!" She actually didn't believe Yang Jiefang.

Yang Jiefang, his temper flaring, snapped, "What makes you think I'm all talk? If I can prove I have the ability, will you hand over the entire Qinglong Village force to me for training?" Gao Huilan paused, then asked, "How do you intend to prove it?" Yang Jiefang replied, "I already said, we'll see in three months. I will train the Jiefang Team into the strongest force in Qinglong Village. Then I'll lead this team to fight Hei Xiazi, and you'll know whether I'm just boasting or not." Gao Huilan frowned, pondering for a moment, then said, "Three months is enough for me. I hope you won't disappoint me!"

Taking the opportunity, Yang Jiefang said, "I have a condition." Gao Huilan asked, "What condition?" Yang Jiefang said, "All my men must be armed." Gao Huilan immediately frowned again. Yang Jiefang continued, "We know you have concerns. But how can you use a gun effectively in battle if you don't handle it in peacetime? You can control the ammunition supply, but you must issue guns to every combatant. Don't you trust us that much?" Gao Huilan sighed and said, "I can discuss this with my mother when I get back."

The group continued on their way, and Yang Jiefang asked again, "That 'Black Bear' must be a big shot in Muping County. 'Black Bear' is his nickname; what's his real name?" Returning to the previous topic, Gao Huilan replied, "Who knows what kind of nobody he was before? After joining the Chinese Military Corps, he gave himself a foreign name, John Bear. He even sold out his ancestors! What a scoundrel!" Yang Jiefang remembered the name and said, "It's a pity he won't come to the transaction in person tomorrow, otherwise we could have taken him down in one fell swoop." Gao Huilan asked, "You asked so many questions earlier, did you have some ideas?" Yang Jiefang said directly, "We can ambush them at their transaction location and kill those who come to trade. They'll only send three or five people; we should be confident."

Gao Huilan asked curiously, "You didn't know who Hei Xiazi was before, so why did you have this idea? You asked so many questions." Yang Jiefang replied, "The reason why China is called the Sick Man of East Asia is because of opium. It's certainly hateful that foreigners use opium to harm us; what's even more hateful is that we Chinese use opium to harm us Chinese. If we don't kill these people, we'll be letting down the country." Gao Huilan said, "I don't know about other places, but in Shandong, there are tons of people who grow and sell opium. You want to kill them all?" Yang Jiefang resolutely said, "Why not? No matter who they are, if they dare to use drugs to harm China, I dare to take their lives. I can't touch the big shots for now, so let's deal with a few small fry first!" Gao Huilan thought for a moment and said, "Let's talk about that tomorrow! Let's finish today's work first."