Chapter 1 The Situation

It was a quiet day.

By a little after five in the afternoon, the heavy rain was still falling.

Inside Tianhong Port in Zhanan District, an unknown number of vehicles had appeared—SUVs, vans, and even seven-and-a-half-meter-long trucks. There were people inside, none of whom were familiar faces from the port.

These people and vehicles all belonged to Longkou District and Changqing Company. No one knew exactly how many had come.

On Erdao Street inside the port, Lu Feng sat under an umbrella in front of a small eatery, drinking tea and watching his brothers play cards.

Across the street, inside a foot massage parlor that also sold meat, one of Wei Xiangzuo’s men was on the phone, saying, “Yeah, Lu Feng is here. I saw him. What do we do? Do we wait? Okay, I got it.”

In front of the eatery, Lu Feng sipped his tea, fingering his prayer beads, a serene expression on his face as if he were about to ascend to heaven. He looked very composed.

"Woo woo!"

A police siren blared, and the patrol car responsible for the Tianhong Port area stopped in front of the eatery.

A police chief-level officer opened the car door, unfurled an umbrella, and stepped out. “Feng-ge, what’s going on? Why are you here?”

“Nothing much, just came to the port to have some tea!” Lu Feng replied with a smile.

The police chief came under the umbrella and said with a helpless expression, “You guys should stop getting involved. If this keeps up… the higher-ups will get anxious, and no one will be spared.”

Lu Feng looked at him, fingering his prayer beads as he replied, “I swear to God, I’m just here to drink tea. I would never do anything illegal or criminal.”

The police chief was speechless.

“Brother, if you want to suppress this, it’s no use talking to me. You have to talk to Xu Hu,” Lu Feng said with a chuckle. “Wouldn’t you say?”

The police chief glanced at Lu Feng. “Let me be clear, the police department has assembled a riot squad of over six hundred men. If there’s a big commotion today, everyone in Tianhong Port will be swept up.”

Lu Feng nodded slowly, fingering his prayer beads. “I am a compassionate Buddhist. I believe in justice and the law.”

“Fuck!” The police chief cursed in frustration. Feeling that he couldn’t communicate with Grandmaster Lu, he got back into the car and told the driver, “Park on the side of the road and keep an eye on them.”

“Got it!” The driver parked the car at the intersection and began to watch the groups of gangsters on the street.

Inside the police department.

The deputy director was on the phone, his face dark as he cursed, “How many incidents have they caused in the last month?! You tell the duty officer at the Zhanan District Police Division, and the port patrol team, if they don’t know what’s good for them today, send in the entire riot squad and beat them to death!”

“Yes!” the other party replied.

…

Inside a bungalow on Erdao Street in Tianhong Port.

Xiao Feng was on the phone, hands on his hips, cursing, “Boss, a lot of people from Changqing and Longkou have come and are watching our brothers.”

Wei Xiangzuo lowered his head, smoking a cigarette. “Don’t move yet. The police department is definitely watching too.”

“Bro, I called the main association and told them that people from Longkou District and Changqing are crossing the line, hanging around our territory. Zhang Zhengfang said he would check the situation with Xu Hu and ask him what’s going on,” Cheng Gang said with a frown. “That’s clearly a stall tactic. I guess those old fogeys in the association have also been taken care of by Xu Hu and are starting to show favoritism.”

“Three families ganging up on us, we can’t fucking take it!” Xiao Feng said through gritted teeth, his hands on his hips. “If we fight, the main association will show favoritism and won’t care about us at all. If we don’t resist, Xu Hu will definitely come to Zhanan tonight to mess with us. What do you say we do?!”

“Damn it, otherwise let’s leave first and just take out Xu Hu in secret. We definitely can’t win in a direct confrontation,” Xiao Xuan added with a frown. “Otherwise, if we really fight, we won’t be able to win. The port and the police department will definitely side with Xu Hu in the end.”

Wei Xiangzuo pondered for a long time, then waved his hand and instructed, “You guys go downstairs and get the cars ready. I’ll make a call.”

“Okay!”

Seeing that their boss had a plan, the others didn’t say anything more and went downstairs.

After everyone had left, Wei Xiangzuo took out his phone and dialed a number.

“Hello?”

“Xu Hu has taken care of the main association, contacted Li Hongze on the outside, and Bao Cheng from Longkou, all to block me in Zhanan,” Wei Xiangzuo said in a low voice. “I think that’s about all the cards they have. They’ve shown their hand. Should we meet and talk about it?”

The other party was silent for a moment. “If the elders’ council shows favoritism, how will you deal with it?”

“Those old guys are helping Xu Hu because he has a better hand. But if Xu Hu can’t hold his ground, they’ll turn on him faster than anyone else.” Wei Xiangzuo paused for a moment. “Let’s just do it.”

“Are you clean?” the other party asked.

“I tested it out in Beian Street,” Wei Xiangzuo replied in a low voice. “The car was parked in the alley for more than half an hour, and the counter-surveillance didn’t leak. I should be clean.”

“Okay, let’s meet at Dragon Bridge. I’ll bring two people with me, and we’ll discuss this matter together.”

“Alright, that’s the plan.”

With that, the two ended the call, and Wei Xiangzuo went downstairs.

…

Around six in the evening, two cars quietly headed towards Dragon Bridge. Because the person Wei Xiangzuo was meeting was quite important, he didn’t bring too many of his brothers.

Soon the cars arrived near Dragon Bridge. Wei Xiangzuo sat in the car and glanced at everyone. “You guys wait here. I’ll go down myself.”

“Okay,” Xiao Feng nodded.

Wei Xiangzuo lowered his head, took out a cigarette, and reassured them in a low voice, “Don’t be nervous. The elders’ council, the people from Longkou District, and Changqing, they’re all helping Xu Hu for profit. What comes together can fall apart. I, Wei Xiangzuo, may not have money or connections, but the friends I’ve made are worth ten of his!”

Hearing this, the tense expressions on the faces of his brothers eased a lot.

Wei Xiangzuo took a drag on his cigarette. “Let’s wait a while.”

…

The Su family, the front line for gossip.

Kong Zhenghui drank his tea, his voice excited as he said to Su Tianyu, “Changqing and Longkou have both sent their men into Zhanan. I heard there are several hundred of them. And the police department has also sent a riot squad to assemble. Tianhong Port is going to be lively tonight!”

Dabai curled his lip upon hearing this. “What’s the use of it being lively? Xu Hu is attacking one family with three. And looking at the current situation, Wei Xiangzuo has neither support from above nor teammates. His hand is terrible. I think if they really fight, Lao Wei is in trouble.”

Su Tianbei blinked his eyes. “If Lao Wei is in trouble, then we’re done for too. After Xu Hu comes to power, the first thing he’ll do is mess with us.”

“Why don’t you just call Wei Xiangzuo then?” Kong Zhenghui said to Su Tianyu. “Let’s get the Zhou family to give him a hand and just crush Xu Hu.”

Su Tianyu waved his hand. “If we take the initiative to call him, then we won’t be worth anything. And he might not even be willing to work with us. After all, the people in the dock gang still think we were the ones who killed Gu Tongshan.”

“Damn it, this is making me anxious!” Dabai said anxiously, “I hope this Lao Wei isn’t too useless and can hold on.”

“…Don’t panic, stay calm.” Su Tianyu said softly, “Since Wei Xiangzuo dares to challenge Xu Hu, I think he must have something up his sleeve. Let’s wait and see.”