Chapter 46: Is This Money? No, It’s A Tumor!!
The boss of the gambling house wasn’t a pushover either. Seeing that things couldn’t end peacefully, he immediately pulled out a cleaver from behind his back, his eyes flashing with murderous intent as he was about to call his brothers to fight, but the next moment, his words were stuck in his throat, and he didn’t dare spit them out no matter what.
Clang~~
The cleaver fell to the ground with a crisp sound, and the gambling house boss forced a smile uglier than crying:
“Sir, this officer, let’s talk it out nicely.”
“Talk your mother’s talk!”
Cao Weida sneered contemptuously at Little Ear’s brother who had stopped after seeing him draw his gun: “What are you standing there for? Beat them for me!!”
This gambling house boss was clearly no good thing at first glance, who knew how many people he had harmed or how many evil deeds he had done; beating him to death would only earn merit!
Little Ear, snapping back to his senses, slapped his younger brother Lian Hu on the back of the head and cursed: “Damn it, what are you standing there for? Beat them!”
The thugs, hearing this, hurriedly charged forward again.
The gambling house people didn’t dare fight back and threw down their weapons one after another, covering their vital spots as they endured the storm of blows coming from all directions.
The commotion in the courtyard was no small matter. The gamblers inside the room saw the gambling house boss being beaten like that and didn’t dare stay a moment longer, immediately planning to slip away.
But as soon as they moved, they were scared pale by a gunshot.
Bang!!
Cao Weida fired a shot into the air, blocking the doorway with murderous eyes,
“All of you listen up, empty all your money onto the table! This is all dirty money! Whoever dares take any, I’ll make him eat peanuts right away!”
“I’m warning you, we’ll search you one by one later. If we find anyone hiding anything, this old man will shoot him on the spot!”
Running a casino wasn’t anything good, but these gamblers weren’t any good birds either!
Once you get hooked on gambling, there are plenty who sell houses, wives, and daughters; he wouldn’t have any pity for this bunch.
Being ruthless to them now might just turn some of those newbie gamblers back from the brink.
These words still had some deterrent power, especially seeing Cao Weida fire without hesitation, which instantly cowed them.
Sure, they loved money, but their own little lives mattered more!
So, one by one, though unwilling and resentful, they obediently emptied all the money from their bodies.
“Little Ear!”
“Here, Big Brother Cao.”
“Check them one by one for me, don’t miss a single one. Once checked, let them scram!”
“Got it, just watch!” Little Ear pointed at the outermost gambler: “You, get over here!!”
The gamblers came forward step by reluctant step for inspection, then ran off dejectedly after being checked, cursing in their hearts that the damn casino owner was no good, not even finding a backer before letting them gamble—what a rip-off!
Best if the patrolmen shot him later; he was too damn no good!
By the time all the gamblers had left, the gambling house boss and his gang of brothers were already bruised and swollen-faced, with hardly a complete piece of clothing on their bodies, clearly beaten badly.
Especially the gambling house boss, who got special treatment—who told him to run his mouth and dare curse Cao Weida as a stinky-footed patrolman? How could these thugs miss such a good chance to show off?
The casino boss, lying on the ground covered in blood, let his two arms hang limply, full of regret in his heart.
He was Hou Dadan, originally a man from Tianjin, quite a notable figure there too. Relying on his boldness and fighting spirit, he controlled three streets, with enough monthly tribute to live it up.
But damn it, a gang of out-of-towners came and wanted to challenge him.
Tianjin was different from Beiping’s red-knife-in-white-knife-out style; there were things like civil fights and martial fights.
Martial fights go without saying; civil fights were the interesting part.
First, send out your toughest thug alone to the enemy’s turf to issue the challenge.
This thug wouldn’t bring weapons or know martial arts; plainly put, he was there to get beaten, relying solely on his mouth to fight!
Usually starting from cursing your ancestors eighteen generations back, with foul language nonstop, guaranteed to make you so mad you’d have to beat him.
If you didn’t beat him, he’d say you didn’t dare, and you’d have to concede.
If you didn’t beat him half to death, that counted as you pissing yourself.
Not only set a banquet and apologize to cede territory, but afterward, wherever you met, you’d have to bow and call him sir!
Hou Dadan had been through more than one such civil fight, both going to get beaten and sending others to take beatings.
But who would’ve thought he’d run into a tough nut.
The other side drew the death lot, and the guy who came out lay down on the ground without a word, letting you beat him while never stopping his mouth.
The turf he’d finally gotten, Hou Dadan naturally wouldn’t give up easily, so he really beat for keeps.
But in the end, he was beaten to death alive, and the guy never uttered a single plea!
Now it was their turn to send someone out to take a beating. Looking back, every one of these lackeys who usually fawned and flattered had turned into quailing quail.
No one was stupid; anyone with eyes could see this out-of-towner wasn’t joking—he was playing for keeps!
By the rules, the boss had to go bow and take the beating himself.
In this life, it was all about face. If you didn’t dare go, the turf was theirs.
Hou Dadan thought it over and over—if he went, his flesh might well be left there on the spot. How could that fly?
So he figured he’d break the rules and go straight to martial fight. As long as he wiped them out, no one would know he’d chickened out on the civil fight!
But now look— they were new in town and didn’t want to overdo it, so they’d played civil with him, but he insisted on martial, so why would they hold back?
The result was obvious; if they’d won, they wouldn’t have come to Beiping as out-of-towners.
He’d brought over a dozen brothers with him, and after arriving in Beiping, they had to eat, so they found a nook and cranny to open a gambling den, planning to start small and build up to glory again.
By rights, he was a veteran too and knew the reason for paying homage to the wharf, but after inquiring, he found the patrolman in charge of this area was a young kid, usually mild-mannered—clearly a pushover—and the sergeant with him was a nice old guy, so he dropped the idea.
Losing the tribute from three streets was already crippling enough, but now he’d saved a big chunk of respect money.
But who could’ve thought this guy would come at him swinging, not even letting him say the opening code, and even drawing a gun!
This was the so-called pushover?!
Who the hell spread this news!!
Cao Weida walked over with his gun, nudging Hou Dadan’s shoulder with his toe. The cold gaze made Hou Dadan tremble in fear,
“Boss, boss, misunderstanding, it’s all a misunderstanding.”
Cao Weida pulled out a smoke and lit it up. Little Ear was watching his younger brothers stuff the money from the gambling table into a bag. Seeing this, he hurried over, pulled out a kerosene lighter to light it for Cao Weida, then tucked the lighter into Cao Weida’s pocket.
Tsk, thoughtful.
Cao Weida took a deep drag, slowly exhaled the smoke, and looked at Hou Dadan with a fake smile: “Repeat what you just said.”
Hou Dadan opened his mouth but didn’t dare speak.
“Hm?!”
Hou Dadan jolted in fright, his brain straining backward, but he couldn’t dodge the gun muzzle right in his face. His heart was filled with terror—what the hell kind of honest man was this? He was the living king of hell!
“I I thought it was some big shot, turns out turns out it’s a stinky-footed patrol.”
Slap~
“You damn well really said it!”
Hou Dadan clutched his slapped face, feeling deeply wronged—you told me to say it, and now you slap me for saying it. What the hell do you mean!
Back in our Tianjin, at least draw the line first!
Beiping’s patrolmen were too damn rude!
“Watch him for me!”
He put away the gun and strode into the room.
You had to hand it to them—gamblers’ potential couldn’t be underestimated no matter when. The place wasn’t big and the setup was crappy, but the gambling stakes were actually quite a lot.
Mostly union bonds and military scrip, a small part silver dollars and such; all told, it didn’t even fit in a twenty-catty rice bag!
Plenty of gambling tables, seven or eight of them. The money on them was mostly collected, with gambling tools scattered haphazardly, showing the games were in chaos.
“Big Brother Cao, a find!”
A younger brother ran out from the inner room, holding an opium pipe in hand.
Cao Weida knew this style well—this was a damn opium pipe for smoking opium!!
Damn it, he was even selling opium?!
Cao Weida’s face instantly turned icy cold. He’d only meant to teach Hou Dadan a lesson, but now he changed his mind.
“Quite a few methods, ways to make money.” Seeing the opium pipe still on the ground, he who had received red education had an innate disgust for drugs like opium.
It was this stuff that started over a century of humiliation for China!!
Little Ear, however, was grinning ear to ear. “Big Brother Cao, this time we’re gonna get rich!”
Opium prices were always sky-high and never hard to sell!
Sure, the Kuomintang cracked down hard on the surface, but plenty inside were smuggling the stuff.
Why?
Because it was too damn profitable!
“Get rich my ass!” Cao Weida barked coldly, warning: “Little Ear, I treat you like a brother, and we can talk about anything, but not this!!”
“What is this? Money? No! It’s the tumor that breaks the backbone of our countrymen!!”
“I’m telling you, you and all your brothers—no one touches this stuff! Whoever dares touch it on the sly, don’t blame me for not recognizing him as a brother!!”
Since knowing Cao Weida, Little Ear had never seen him this angry, making him instantly realize he’d hit the blade edge. He hurriedly nodded: “Big Brother Cao, rest assured, my brothers and I will never touch this stuff from now on. Anyone who breaks it, I’ll give him three knives and six holes for sure!”
Cao Weida exhaled, patted his shoulder. “I was a bit hasty with my words; bear with me.”
“We’re out here in the jianghu with things we stand for and things we won’t do. We can’t harm our countrymen and let them curse our backbones behind our backs! After we’re gone a hundred years, how can we face our ancestors!”
“Have the brothers collect all the opium, and bring that Hou Dadan to me!”
