The fight that followed was overwhelmingly one-sided. Although Zhang Liunian was alone, he was armed, and a mere swing of his weapon would send two or three men to the ground. At this pace, within ten minutes, all thirty men, including the Black and White Killers, would be left gasping on the ground.
"..." Du Ziteng and Zhang Qian were stunned. He was too powerful.
In the blink of an eye, one person had wiped out thirty. No wonder he had remained so calm; they had underestimated his strength.
"Xiao Qian, come here and tie them all up. We'll send them to the police station later." Zhang Liunian wouldn't get away this time. He slung the iron pipe over his shoulder, a broad smile on his face.
Du Ziteng looked at his brothers groaning on the ground, then at the formidable Zhang Liunian. After a long moment of hesitation, he walked up to Zhang Liunian and pleaded on behalf of the Black and White Killers, "Brother Liunian, why don't you let them go?"
Zhang Liunian looked at him, his expression unreadable. "Let them go? Why? They were here to kill me. Why should I show mercy to people like them?"
"..." That made too much sense. He had no reply.
"Brother Liunian is right. They came to hurt us, so why can't we fight back? Is it just because they are people you know, Du Ziteng?" Zhang Qian, it was unclear where he got a roll of rope, spoke as he tied them up.
The reasoning was sound, but these men were once his brothers!
Du Ziteng didn't know what to do. He covered his head and turned away, unwilling to watch his former good brothers go to jail.
He also couldn't understand why it had to be the Black and White Killers who came to harm them.
Du Ziteng was in utter confusion. Lao Hei, lying on the ground unable to escape, saw that Du Ziteng still had some brotherhood left and, with a glint in his eye, suddenly said, "Boss Du, I have something I need your help with. Come here for a moment."
Hearing his brother's voice, Du Ziteng turned to look at Lao Hei, who was trying to get up. He hesitated, then walked over. "Why didn't you listen to me? I told you to leave, to get out, why didn't you leave?"
"I'm sorry," Lao Hei said, looking at the agitated Du Ziteng, and suddenly pulled out a small knife, holding it to Du Ziteng's neck.
Feeling the small knife at his neck, Du Ziteng looked utterly incredulous. He was being held hostage by his brother? How could they do this?
"Let Lao Bai and me leave," Lao Hei said, staring at Zhang Liunian, feeling even more fear towards him.
Zhang Liunian looked at the incredulous Du Ziteng and thought, is this your good brother? It truly opened his eyes. "Don't hurt him. I'll let the two of you go." His initial goal was to deal with Zhang Liuhuo's family, and he didn't mind two fewer people for now.
"Brother Liunian, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have pleaded for them; I shouldn't have helped them." Seeing Zhang Liunian worried about him, Du Ziteng was moved to tears. He secretly vowed that from now on, Zhang Liunian would be his only best brother, and his old friends meant nothing.
Lao Hei ignored the person he was holding hostage, called out to Lao Bai, and the three of them left.
Only after they had left did Zhang Qian curse, "Bah! Disgraceful. And they called Du Ziteng boss, only to hold Du Ziteng hostage in return."
Zhang Liunian, unconcerned with them, personally went to tie them up. He then realized that even a tractor wouldn't be enough to carry them all. Finally, he had to ask Xiao Qian to go call the police first.
Fortunately, they weren't far from the county town. Xiao Qian took only half an hour to return with the police car.
The police captain on duty was the one who had responded to the call today. Seeing Zhang Liunian again, he didn't know what to say.
After understanding the situation, they took everyone back to the police station.
Fearing he would be late, Zhang Liunian asked Zhang Qian to help him deliver the lobsters to the machinery factory and Grandpa Tang, while he went to file the report.
When he came out, Zhao Zhijie was already waiting at the door. "Are you alright?"
"I'm fine," Zhang Liunian shook his head.
"That's good," Zhao Zhijie said, then walked forward and shook hands with the team captain. "Thank you, Captain Ma."
Captain Ma replied with a smile, "We're old friends. No trouble at all. But I didn't expect you to have a godson."
They were friends who had known each other from way back, not extremely close but familiar. If it weren't for Zhang Liunian's report this time, they might not have met so soon.
"It's just that I'm afraid no one will be there to pour water for me when I'm old. Unlike you, with a bunch of sons, which is enviable," Zhao Zhijie frankly admitted his intention of taking a godson.
Captain Ma's smile became a bit more genuine. "Don't mention my brats. Not a single one of them is successful."
"They'll be fine when they grow up and are sensible."
"No matter what, children and grandchildren have their own blessings."
"That's the right attitude."
"..."
After their brief chat, they parted ways.
Sitting in Zhang Liunian's tractor, Zhao Zhijie handed the money to Zhang Liunian and asked with concern, "How's the motorcycle riding going?"
"Pretty good," Zhang Liunian replied, accepting the payment.
"The food factory called again. They want you to deliver 800 jin of lobsters and 300 jin of braised meat this afternoon. Remember this," Zhao Zhijie said, afraid he would forget, wanting to ensure his godson could earn money and get rich.
Zhang Liunian smiled and said he had noted it down. Then, they went to deliver 50 jin of braised meat to Mu Mingliang, earning 100 yuan, and then went to find Grandpa Tang to collect 50 yuan.
By the end of the morning, he already had over a thousand yuan in his hand.
Zhao Zhijie secretly marveled at how quickly self-employed businesses made money. In such a short time, he had earned nearly a thousand yuan.
It made him admire Zhang Liunian's capability.
But since Grandpa Tang was selling on his behalf, why didn't he find more places?
"You found someone to sell for you. Why didn't you find more places?" That way, he would earn even more! Zhao Zhijie asked, puzzled.
"I do have that plan, but I'll wait until my factory is set up. We'll handle several products together, which will save effort."
"Setting up a factory? You want to set up a factory too? What kind of factory?" Zhao Zhijie was surprised by Zhang Liunian's idea of starting a factory and exclaimed.
"A sauce factory, all sorts of sauces. They are easy to preserve and can be stored for about three months," Zhang Liunian said with a relaxed smile, as if setting up a factory was an easy matter.
In reality, starting a factory didn't require much money, but the most important thing was to be profitable and sustainable.
"Where do you plan to set up the factory?" Zhao Zhijie suppressed his surprise and continued to inquire.
"In our Zhangjia Village. I want to set up a factory in the village and help everyone live a better life."
This time, Zhao Zhijie was truly speechless. It was the first time he had heard someone want to lead the entire village to a better life.
Previously, everyone he met said they wanted to live a better life for themselves, rarely mentioning leading the entire village.
But today, he had met such a person, and it was his newly recognized godson. He looked intently at Zhang Liunian, who was full of confidence, and sighed, "A hero emerges from youth."
His vision and ideas were indeed different from those of people like them.