Newborn 1927

Yang Jiefang and Gao Huilan strolled along, and everyone they encountered respectfully addressed him as "Little Boss." Clearly, Yang Jiefang had gained the approval of many in the mountain stronghold. When they arrived at the gate, Hou Fei excitedly ran over, shouting, "Little Boss..." Behind him, Ma Shangfei, Chen Ergou, and others followed to greet him. They had received the news from Yan Donglai and his group and were all extremely excited. Yang Jiefang greeted everyone with a smile and asked, "Is everything alright here?" Hou Fei replied, "No, everything is fine. A group of people came down the mountain; I guess it's the brothers who went home for the New Year returning." Yang Jiefang laughed, "They're here quite early! Let's see who the first group to return are." Then he and Hou Fei went to the gate. Zhao Changming and Zhao Changgui stood at the gate, smiling and greeting him, calling him "Little Boss." It seemed everyone immediately accepted the title.

Yang Jiefang looked out and saw more than ten people slowly approaching. Hou Fei suddenly called out, "Baozi!" The newcomer was Bao Ziqiang, who had just come down from the mountain. Bao Ziqiang waved to them from afar and urged the people behind him to hurry up. There were twelve people behind him, all unfamiliar faces. Hou Fei shouted, "Baozi, who are these people behind you?" Bao Ziqiang replied, "Don't worry! They're all on our side. They're all my brothers; they begged for food with me in Yantai when we were kids." Seeing nothing amiss, Hou Fei let them through the mountain stronghold gate.

Bao Ziqiang spotted Yang Jiefang immediately and laughed, "Brother Yang, you're here too? Perfect! Let me introduce you to my brothers. I was able to get some useful information in Yantai thanks to their help." He turned and pointed to Yang Jiefang, saying, "This is the Brother Yang I told you about. From now on, we'll work for Brother Yang. This lady next to him is Miss Gao, the young lady of our Qinglong Village." Hou Fei immediately laughed, "Don't call him Brother Yang anymore, call him Little Boss. Our village not only has a Big Boss, but we'll have a Little Boss now." Bao Ziqiang was overjoyed, "When did this happen? That's wonderful! Quickly call him Little Boss!" The group behind him shouted, "Little Boss—"

Yang Jiefang laughed, "These brothers all look very young, very good! Introduce them to me properly!" Bao Ziqiang nodded, "Yes. None of us have proper names, because there are exactly twelve of us, making up the twelve zodiac animals. Nicknames or code names, that's all we'll call each other." Then he introduced them one by one. Yang Jiefang glanced around casually and noticed a girl among them, so he joked, "Bao Ziqiang, how come there's such a little girl? Is she your childhood sweetheart?" Bao Ziqiang replied, "Don't talk nonsense, that's our lovely little rabbit sister, she's Man Niu's younger sister." Man Niu looked a bit clumsy, tall and strong; this little rabbit was quite cute, the petite and adorable type. Yang Jiefang stepped forward and asked, "Little sister, how old are you this year?" "Fourteen years old," the little rabbit answered fluently, "I was born in the Year of the Rabbit, my name is Xiao Tu (Little Rabbit)." Yang Jiefang knew she was referring to her age in the traditional Chinese way of counting age; this year was the Year of the Dragon, so she should have turned twelve, about the same age as the little carpenter on the mountain.

Yang Jiefang laughed, "Brothers, and Little Rabbit Sister, welcome to Qinglong Village. I think you all know that what we do in our village is very dangerous. Are you really sure you want to join us? Don't be fooled by Bao Ziqiang!" Golden Rat immediately replied, "Brother Bao wouldn't lie to us. If it weren't for his constant help over the years, we would have starved or frozen to death on the streets of Yantai long ago." Bao Ziqiang said, "I'm not often in Yantai either. It's mainly Brothers Chu Yi and Shiwu who take care of them. This time, they came back to the mountain with me at Brother Chu Yi's request. He wants these brothers to follow the young master and learn some culture." Yang Jiefang casually asked, "How is Brother Chu Yi?" Bao Ziqiang shook his head sadly and said, "Not so well lately! Uncle Qi passed away..."

"What? Seventh Uncle is dead? When did this happen?" Gao Huilan hurriedly asked. Bao Ziqiang said, "On the night of the 29th of the lunar year, during the New Year, Seventh Uncle didn't want to disturb anyone and didn't want Brother Chuyi to make a fuss, so he was buried in a hurry. If I hadn't happened to run into him on my way down the mountain, he probably would have kept it a secret for a while." Gao Huilan looked sad and somewhat dazed. Yang Jiefang patted her shoulder and comforted her, "Seventh Uncle has been bedridden for many years and has actually been living a very painful life. Now he's finally free. Don't be too sad!" Turning to her, he asked, "Is Brother Chu Yi in some trouble?" Bao Ziqiang said with a bitter face, "It's not going very smoothly, but it's not a big problem. He opened a fish processing plant in Yantai as you instructed. But there are so many government offices in Yantai! Every single one of them is trying to take advantage of us. Brother Chu Yi is fed up and really wants to kill all those bastards!" Yang Jiefang said, "Tell Brother Chu Yi to be patient! These people won't be able to cause trouble for long. Once we've honed our skills, we'll take care of them one by one." Everyone cheered loudly. Bao Ziqiang said, "Little Boss, let them all join my intelligence team! They're quite experienced in gathering information."

Yang Jiefang glanced at the group and said, "You all grew up in Yantai, so you should be very familiar with the city, right?" Everyone nodded in agreement. Yang Jiefang asked, "Does anyone know which tailor in Yantai has the best skills?" Xiao Tu immediately blurted out, "Guai Lao San." Yang Jiefang asked, "How do you know?" Xiao Tu said, "Many people in Yantai say that Guai Lao San has the best skills. He has a limp and needs crutches to walk, and he can only use his left foot to operate the sewing machine. I heard that he is the best tailor in Yantai, but the slowest. Although he has a skill, he doesn't live a very good life." Yang Jiefang smiled and turned to Gao Huilan, saying, "We want someone like that. Tell Kong Zongru this and have him invite him over. Oh, and take this little rabbit girl to get a change of clothes; we should give her an extra chicken leg today." Xiao Tu's eyes immediately lit up, and she exclaimed happily, "Really? Thank you, Little Master!"

Gao Huilan looked Xiao Tu up and down and said, "I still have the clothes I wore when I was little; she should be able to wear them. Come, little Xiao Tu, come with me!" Bao Ziqiang called out, "Wait a minute!" He put down the bundle on his back and said, "Here are two letters, from Jiang's Trading Company. They're addressed to Miss Jiang. Do you want to give them to her?" Yang Jiefang said, "Those are family letters; don't peek. Just deliver them unopened!" Gao Huilan stepped forward, took the letters, and said, "I'll pass them on!" Then she took Xiao Tu and left first.

Bao Ziqiang then took out a stack of newspapers and handed them to Yang Jiefang, saying, "These are for you. No wonder scholars can know everything without leaving home; the secret is all here. And this too, I've emptied the bookstore again." He even pulled out several copies of "Call to Arms." Yang Jiefang took the books and newspapers and said, "You did a good job. I'll give you an extra chicken leg today. Come on, let's take the brothers to take a bath and settle down first!" He then turned and instructed Hou Fei, "Anyone who has recently come up the mountain must be strictly checked. No one can be let in without the guidance of an old brother from the mountain!" Hou Fei replied, "Don't worry! I know what's important."

Yang Jiefang walked side by side with Bao Ziqiang and asked in a low voice, "Any news about the matter I entrusted to you?" Bao Ziqiang replied, "It's been a short time, and I've only found out a little bit. I went to the Xishan Fort; there is indeed an armory there, guarded day and night, but I didn't go in to investigate. The Donghai Garrison Command in Yantai sounds impressive, but it was originally called the Yantai Garrison Brigade; it's just a name change. They have serious problems with embezzling funds; they only have a little over a thousand men. I also found out about the quartermaster. I'm in a hurry to get back, so I left Zhao Yuanbao and Chu Shiwu in Yantai to continue the investigation." Yang Jiefang said, "No rush, take your time, just keep a close eye on things." Bao Ziqiang continued, " Brother Chu Yi found out some information about Hei Xiazi from Rushan Village, which might be useful to us. Hei Xiazi is the prime suspect in the Li Bureau Chief's case. To prove his innocence, he leaked some information: He doesn't like using domestically produced weapons; his inventory is almost entirely British. His weapons and ammunition are supplied by a Jewish merchant named Henry, who lives in Weihaiwei. Brother Chu Yi said that Henry, this arms dealer, only cares about money, never asking who the buyer is. He'll do business as long as you pay, and the more you buy, the happier he is. Yang Jiefang said, "Isn't that even better? I'll find some time to have a good talk with him." Bao Ziqiang agreed, "That's great."

After returning to his residence, Yang Jiefang read through all the newspapers. As his historical knowledge suggested, the Northern Expeditionary Army had already conquered the entire Zhejiang province and was advancing towards Nanjing and Shanghai. Wu Peifu and Sun Chuanfang had been defeated one after another, but Sun Chuanfang, like a cockroach, was incredibly resilient. Supported by the financial magnates of Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and Shanghai, he was defeated several times, only to recover each time. Zhang Zuolin had dispatched Zhang Zongchang to lead the main force of the Zhili-Shandong Allied Army south to join forces with Sun Chuanfang to resist the Northern Expeditionary Army. Shandong was indeed militarily weak at the moment, especially the Jiaodong region, which, excluding the navy, only had local garrison troops. This was undoubtedly an opportune time to develop power and establish a base.

Bao Ziqiang bringing the twelve zodiac animals back to the mountain was just the beginning. Soon, batches of people who had gone down the mountain for the New Year returned to Qinglong Village, bringing with them groups of young, strong men. After sunset on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, Qinglong Village closed its gates, temporarily refusing to accept any more refugees. Yang Jiefang allowed those originally belonging to the Liberation Team to return to their units, quickly restoring the organization of seven companies, and adding two more. These two newly added companies weren't specifically recruited; they came voluntarily after hearing about the changes in Qinglong Village. The original seven companies were all armed, taking turns guarding the gates and patrolling the village. The Dragon, Tiger, Leopard, and Wolf teams each recruited a large number of men. The Dragon team had the fewest, with three companies, while the Tiger, Leopard, and Wolf teams each had seven companies. Although some smaller teams were understaffed, the organization was still quite large. These four teams didn't receive any guns upon returning to the mountain. Although dissatisfied, they had no choice. Firstly, there wasn't enough firearms, and secondly, with so many strangers coming up the mountain, they couldn't fully trust them.

Qinglong Village is now overcrowded. The first problem is food; it's impossible for everyone to sit at one table and eat together as before. Yang Jiefang had Wu Laokou switch to a system of individual servings. Each person takes a large bowl and a pair of chopsticks, lines up to get their food, finds a seat, eats, and leaves immediately. Another issue is accommodation. Although some houses were urgently renovated, it's still not enough. So, each team was instructed to organize their own people and build their own lodgings, which temporarily stabilized the situation.

On the morning of the sixteenth day of the first lunar month, Yang Jiefang summoned everyone to the training ground. Black Widow led the bandit leaders, large and small, to the platform above the training ground. Yang Jiefang stood at the front, looking down at the vast crowd below, feeling a surge of excitement. If trained properly, they could form a regiment. However, the people below didn't resemble an army at all; they stood haphazardly, lacking proper formation, and were whispering and making noise in small groups. Yang Jiefang, mimicking Black Widow's earlier actions, pulled out his pistol and fired three shots into the air. The crowd immediately fell silent.

Yang Jiefang shouted, "Brothers, let me introduce myself first. My name is Yang Jiefang, and I'm the junior leader of Qinglong Village. In Qinglong Village, we don't have a second or third leader, only a senior leader and a junior leader. Do you all understand? The senior leader handles the important matters; managing you guys is handled by me, the junior leader. First of all, I welcome you brothers to join Qinglong Village! But before you officially become members, I have a few words to say to you all. I know many of you came after hearing about the many benefits of Qinglong Village. In other words, you came here because..." "The benefits are there. There's nothing wrong with that in itself, but the problem is you've only heard about the benefits, not the seriousness of it all. Perhaps some of you have already noticed the group of people in garrison uniforms forcing labor on the mountain; they're from the Laiyang County garrison, captured by us. We've captured government officials, and the government will never let this go easily; they'll definitely send a large army to encircle and suppress us. Heh, let me tell you the truth, then we'll be fighting the government troops with real swords and spears; it'll be war, and people will die. Otherwise, do you think those benefits are free?"

Upon hearing this, a murmur rippled through the crowd. Yang Jiefang continued, "Now, I'll ask you again, do you still want to stay in Qinglong Village?" Sure enough, many below began to waver. Yang Jiefang continued, "I don't like to force people. Now I'll give you a chance to choose again. Those who want to stay, please stay put; those who don't want to stay, please step forward. I'll give each of you one silver dollar for travel expenses to get you down the mountain. After that, we'll go our separate ways and have nothing to do with each other. Listen carefully, I'll give you the time it takes for an incense stick to burn to make your choice! Those who want to leave, come up on stage and receive one silver dollar. After the incense stick burns out, those still standing there will be considered as genuinely staying in Qinglong Village. It will be too late to change your mind later. Now, let's light the incense..." Hou Fei and Ma Shangfei brought over a table, lit an incense stick, and stuck it into a clod of earth on the table. There was also a wooden basin on the table containing stacks of silver dollars. But the people below just looked at each other, and no one took the lead and went up on stage.

Yang Jiefang continued, "Those who stay in our Qinglong Village must also abide by the ten rules I have set. These ten rules must be followed completely without any compromise. If you cannot do so, you should not stay here. Now, I will reiterate these ten rules: First, obey all orders..."