49: Zhao San, the one who sits on the ground and cannons!

In Liushu Town, the sprawling orchards should have been the most pleasing scenery on this black soil.

It was mid-to-late June, and the vast yellow peach orchards were filled with heavy fruit.

They were golden-yellow, each as large as a fist, even bending the branches.

These days, with heavy fertilizer use, the trees bore so much fruit that some branches couldn't hold the weight.

Under some trees, several wooden sticks were propped up to prevent the branches from breaking.

These were called tree-propping sticks.

When the wind blew, the sweet, cloying fragrance of the fruit could travel for over a mile.

This was a gift from the heavens, a year of a great harvest.

But at this moment, the atmosphere in this bountiful orchard was extremely oppressive.

It was past three in the afternoon, and the sun was shining mercilessly.

At the edge of Old Man Liu's orchard at the east end of the village, a dense crowd of people had gathered in a circle.

On one side were dozens of fruit farmers in old, patched-up undershirts, holding shovels and hoes.

Their sun-blackened faces were filled with indignation and anxiety.

On the other side was the gang of local thugs led by Zhao San.

Although there were only about twenty of them—half as many as the farmers—

their momentum completely overwhelmed the other side.

Zhao San was shirtless, revealing a patch of dark chest hair, and the large gold chain around his neck was dazzlingly bright in the sunlight.

He held a half-meter-long watermelon knife in his hand, but it was the lean, cold-eyed men standing behind him who truly made people's skin crawl.

Those men stood differently; though they looked casual, their bodies were taut with tension.

They were rogue soldiers kicked out of the military for causing trouble; they were truly ruthless and struck with lethal intent.

"Zhao San! Don't push people too far!"

The lead farmer was named Wang Dazhuang, a man in his forties. His eyes were bloodshot, and he gripped his hoe so tightly his knuckles were white.

"Boss Lin is offering forty cents for high-quality large fruit! That's forty cents!"

"You open your mouth and want to cut it in half, giving us only twenty cents?"

"And you won't help pick the fruit or load the trucks. You won't do any work, yet you want a cut of the money. Why?! Do you think you're landlords from the old days?!"

"After all is said and done, we won't even clear fifteen cents!"

"The cost of fertilizer, pesticides, and a year's worth of sweat—it'll all be for nothing!"

"You're not letting us live!"

Wang Dazhuang roared until his voice cracked, and the farmers behind him joined in, each one filled with righteous indignation.

"Exactly! This is daylight robbery!"

"We won't sell to you! We'll take them to the Canned Food Factory ourselves!"

"Right! Let's charge through! I don't believe they'd dare kill us all!"

The crowd became restless, and several strong young men couldn't help but start to rush forward.

Zhao San didn't move.

He used the back of the watermelon knife to scrape his bald scalp, making a rasping sound.

"Not letting you live?"

Zhao San chuckled, the fat on his face trembling.

"F*ck your mother, stop talking nonsense. Who isn't letting you live?"

"I'm giving you a way out!"

"Without me protecting you, who knows if someone would come and take your fruit for a single cent?"

"You want to charge through the checkpoint?"

Zhao San's expression suddenly darkened, and he waved his hand.

"Beat them!"

"As long as you don't kill them, do whatever you want with the rest!"

Before his voice had even faded,

the rogue soldiers behind him lunged forward like hungry wolves.

They were too fast!

Before Wang Dazhuang could even raise his hoe, one of the buzz-cut rogue soldiers kicked him in the back of the knee.

*Crack!*

A sickeningly sharp sound.

"Argh!!!"

Wang Dazhuang let out a blood-curdling scream and fell directly to his knees.

Immediately after, the rogue soldier, expressionless, used a swift grappling move to twist Wang Dazhuang's arm and jerk it upward.

There was another dull thud of a joint dislocating.

That wasn't the end of it.

Another rogue soldier grabbed a rubber baton—the kind with a steel core inside, specifically designed for fighting.

He began mercilessly raining blows down on the young men rushing from behind.

The sound of the rubber baton hitting flesh was dull and solid.

*Thud! Thud! Thud!*

"Oh, my god!"

"My hand is broken!!"

In less than three minutes.

Truly, in less than three minutes.

Dozens of farmers with shovels and hoes had been utterly routed by these trained rogue soldiers and the gang of thugs wielding pickaxe handles.

They crouched on the ground, clutching their heads, faces bruised and swollen; some had broken legs and lay on the ground wailing.

This one-sided slaughter instantly terrified the remaining farmers.

It was a fear that went straight to their bones.

This was the absolute suppression brought about by violence.

*Ptui!*

Zhao San walked over and ground his foot into Wang Dazhuang's sweat-drenched face.

"You want to fight me?"

"Didn't you bother to ask around? In this little corner of Liushu Town, when I say one, who dares say two?"

"Now!"

"I've changed my mind!"

Zhao San looked up, a despair-inducing cold light flickering in his triangular eyes.

"Since you unruly peasants were disobedient and wasted my time,"

"the purchase price will drop by another five cents!"

"Fifteen cents a pound!!"

"Sell it or don't! If you don't, let it rot in the ground! And you!"

Zhao San suddenly turned and looked toward Old Man Liu's orchard nearby.

Old Man Liu was over sixty, his back hunched like a large shrimp.

He stood trembling at the edge of his land, protecting the few large trees behind him that were laden with the most fruit.

They were his life's work.

His granddaughter had just been accepted into university, and he was counting on selling this fruit to pay her tuition.

"B-Boss Zhao..."

Old Man Liu's voice was shaking. "I beg of you, please let us go. This is truly life-saving money!"

"Life-saving money?"

Zhao San gave a sinister laugh and beckoned to his subordinates.

"Come! Bring that big guy over here!"

Two lackeys grunted as they hauled a large object out of the van.

It was a red chainsaw!

The kind used for logging!

*Vroom, vroom—*

Zhao San yanked the starter cord of the chainsaw.

The motor roared, the exhaust pipe spewed a foul-smelling blue smoke, and the sharp chain spun at high speed, glinting coldly.

"Old man, you're the elder leading this group, aren't you? You were the one shouting the loudest back there, saying something about going to the city to report me?

Just because your f*cking son died a martyr, what the hell do you think you are?"

Holding the buzzing chainsaw, Zhao San walked step by step toward the orchard.

"Won't sell to me, eh?"

"Saving it for the Canned Food Factory, eh?"

"Fine! I'll grant your wish!"

"I'm going to saw down your trees right now!!"

"No!!!" Old Man Liu threw himself forward like a madman. "That's my life! That's the child's tuition!!"

"Get lost!"

Zhao San kicked Old Man Liu aside and then raised the chainsaw without hesitation.

*Vrooooom!!*

The sharp teeth bit deep into the trunk of a peach tree as thick as a bowl.

This eight-year-old tree was in its peak fruiting years.

In just a few seconds.

*Crack!*

With the sound of the trunk splintering, the large tree, laden with hundreds of yellow peaches, crashed down!

The ripe yellow peaches smashed onto the ground, shattering into pieces. Sweet juice flowed everywhere, mixing with the black mud—a heart-wrenching sight.

"Ah!!! My tree!!"

Old Man Liu lay on the ground, his hands clawing at the cold earth, letting out a heart-wrenching wail.

But Zhao San didn't stop at all.

*Vroom! Vroom! Vroom!*

One after another.

Rows of fruit trees in their prime fell one by one, like prisoners being executed.

The piercing sound of the chainsaw felt as if it were sawing through the hearts of all the farmers.

People all around were crying; women covered their children's eyes, and men bit their lips until they bled.

But not a single person dared to rush forward anymore.

It was too cruel.

These people weren't human at all; they were animals!

After cutting down more than a dozen trees, Zhao San finally turned off the chainsaw.

Looking at the mess on the ground and the fruit that had perished before it could even ripen,

he wiped the sawdust from his face, a look of perverse pleasure appearing on his features.

Old Man Liu had stopped crying.

His eyes rolled back, he couldn't catch his breath, and with a sharp gasp, he fainted right there in the pile of rotten peaches.

"Father!! Grandpa!!"

Old Man Liu's wife and grandson rushed forward, crying and shouting as they pressed on his philtrum.

"Alright, stop wailing. He's not dead."

Zhao San threw the chainsaw onto the ground and looked around.

"You all saw that, right?"

"That's what happens when you cross me!"

"Tomorrow morning! All of you, pick your fruit, box it up, and wait at the village entrance!"

"If any family is short by a pound, or dares to secretly transport it elsewhere,"

"Old Man Liu's family will be your example!"

Having said that,

Zhao San laughed toward the sky with extreme arrogance.

"Hahahaha! How satisfying!"

"Brothers! Great job!"

"I'm happy today! Let's move out!"

"To the Juyi Hall Hotpot Restaurant in town! My treat!"

"We'll have mutton hotpot and drink Erguotou! Let's celebrate properly!"

The lackeys cheered with joy.

"Third Brother is mighty!"

"Third Brother is awesome!"

"Follow Third Brother and there'll be meat to eat!"

The group was also triumphant, tossing their weapons into the van.

They even casually grabbed a few large peaches from a basket on the ground; without washing them, they rubbed them on their clothes and took a big bite.

"Mm! So sweet! F*cking sweet!"

"The fruit these poor bastards grow is actually pretty good."

The van spewed black smoke again and drove off, leaving behind the farmers' gazes of hatred and helplessness.

Left behind were only the broken branches and fallen leaves, the fainted old man, and the sound of crying throughout the orchard.

When the wind blew,

the originally sweet fragrance of fruit was now tainted with the smell of gasoline from the chainsaw and an indescribable scent of blood... Half an hour later.

Liushu Town, Juyi Hall Old-fashioned Copper Hotpot Restaurant.

This place was the most high-end establishment in town.

In the largest private room on the second floor, the air was thick with smoke and foul odors.

Two large copper hotpots were bubbling with steam, filled with mutton slices, sauerkraut, and frozen tofu.

Zhao San sat in the seat of honor, one foot on his chair, holding a full glass of Red Star Erguotou.

His face, thick with fat, was flushed red from drinking, looking like a monkey's butt.

"Come on, brothers!"

"Bottoms up!"

"We handled things smoothly today!"

"Those mud-legged peasants just need to be taught a lesson! If we don't show them who's boss, they won't know how many eyes Lord Ma has!"

The lackeys all around raised their glasses, their flattery echoing loudly.

"For sure! Third Brother's chainsaw work was beautiful!"

"I saw it—when that saw went down, those old geezers' souls practically left their bodies!"

"Exactly! Once we secure the monopoly on this orchard, plus that Canned Food Factory,"

"we'll make at least several hundred thousand this year!"

"Several hundred thousand?" Zhao San curled his lip in disdain, stuffed a large mouthful of mutton into his mouth, and ate until his face was covered in grease.

"Short-sighted!"

"I'm telling you, once we deal with that pretty-boy owner of the Canned Food Factory,"

"that factory might even be renamed Zhao's Canned Food Factory in the future!"

"When that time comes, we'll eat hotpot every day and play with women every day!"

"Hahahaha!!"