CH 20

There are about 30,000 people working in the unofficial recycling industry in City B.

People enter other jobs to make money, but usually the reason for people to enter this industry is to survive. One wouldn’t act refined when one is too poor to live. Who talks about moral civilization? The dirtiest and most bitter work can only be done by people that are really ruthless.

Everyone lives like a beast, you can snatch till your head breaks just for a few pieces of rubbish.

In the early years, the country showed negligence in managing this aspect and allowed its barbaric development. People from various places got entangled in groups and gradually became gangs on their own.

Lu Yong still remembered that when he was eleven years old, the father and son had just started doing this business. They didn’t know the rules, their business had been bumpy, they weren’t repaying their debts well and they lived frugally.

He went to help his dad after school and thus grew tall. Other children were still small and thin bean sprouts at this age but he was already growing at a height of 1.6 metres or more, almost 1.7 metres. He was nearly as tall as an adult man. If no one asked for his age, people would always think that he was at least fourteen or fifteen years old. They couldn’t tell that he was still an elementary school student.

Once when he went out, he carried a nylon polybag along the road to pick up trash. A few men with fierce faces came over, stood a few steps away from him, threw a plastic bottle that they hadn’t finished drinking in front of him and splashed him with water. He froze in place and hesitated but still walked over. Just when he wanted to squat down and pick it up, another empty bottle was thrown over and hit him. The uncle smiled and said murderously in a heavy accent, “Pick it up? You are still picking it up? You don’t know this piece of land is our territory? I’ll kill you and your father if you dare to come over again.”

“Oh, you’re glaring at me, the kid is fierce, like a puppy. Hahahahaha.”

Then trouble ensued.　　

For some time at night, the trash they left in the yard would disappear. They changed the location and put them in the house. When they woke up, it still disappeared and the lock was rendered useless. The door lock was broken and they had to spend money to change the lock. They also pierced the tires of their car and put cockroaches in their yard.

They did everything that would disgust and disturb others.

Looking for the police could only put their case on record but nothing would be found. There was no CCTV monitoring network and they could not collect fingerprints. The father and son were already poor. How could they have time and energy to waste? Every time it turned up to seem like it was nothing.

So the father and son took turns to watch at night but they couldn’t stand it after a few days. This wasn’t the way to progress. They were already tired from work. How could they get up to work during the day if they didn’t sleep at night?

Sometimes when they went out to pick up waste alone, they would be attacked by someone and they remained panicked all the time.

In this field, if one wanted to survive and continue to do well, one needed to be a little bit fierce, which would make people afraid of you.

Dad went to worship the mountain, paid protection fees and made a group of brothers so that he could slowly and steadily make profits. But sometimes there would be injuries on his body when he got home. At the worst times, everyone used trucks to pull people to the garbage dump and fight in groups. Dad wouldn’t let him go along and asked him to keep a clean record.

Later, after the most ferocious fight and after comparing who had the hardest fist, the officials finally couldn’t ignore their chaos. So they asked everyone to sit down and talk peacefully, set the rules, divide the benefits and do their own business. They organised everyone’s scope, so they wouldn’t interfere with each other. 

He had a fight once, and he thought he was quite good at fighting. People from their village association said that they were creating a group of youngsters that were good at fighting so that they can take charge of a fight. Lu Yong was born so big and strong that they wanted him to join.

His dad objected, “What kind of fight can he fight? He was just lucky that time. Don’t you1 see that he’s missing one hand? How can he beat others?”

That was a very legitimate reason.

In private, his father talked to him, “You are not allowed to go next time, even if they ask you to go.”

“Dad is here, so I’ll take care of it first. You’re still a kid and kids should be kids. No one will go out to fight and not act like a student.”

“You are different from Dad. You have to be promising. You must not think about using violence first to solve everything. Fighting is endless. What’s the use of just relying on violence? He broke a rib and you lost a tooth, then you’ll go to beat him and he beats you again. This is only done by fools like us, don’t listen to those people. They think this is so manly and righteous. Dad was forced to be unable to reject it. Don’t you be like Dad, I can do nothing but use brute force.”

He then continued, “But dad doesn’t mean that you should endure it if you are bullied. We shouldn’t bully other people but we can’t also be bullied either!”

So, how should he do it if he doesn’t fight?

Later, Lu Yong read various related documents, which made him think of a way. He checked various procedures and went to the Environmental Sanitation Bureau to apply for the right to dispose of garbage in a garbage dump. The process was very troublesome and it took a lot of effort. He ran back and forth for two months and was even ridiculed.

Those people said that they would rather fight rather than using their brains.

At that time, the government in the area did not handle this aspect properly. If he dealt with the garbage dump himself, the entire process of collection, transportation and processing would be costly and laborious. It was like throwing the money down the drain. Getting the contract was mutually beneficial for both sides, so they really got the qualification and since then they have had a fixed source of income.

The first pot of gold for starting a company was dug out from the trash mountain.

It was also since then that their family began to get on the right track, earning more money. There was no need to be in fear and worry about fighting people all day long.

His father had the title of a regular army. He was loyal and righteous and did not treat others badly. Many fellow villagers were willing to follow him and share a piece of the pie.

……

Therefore, Lu Yong told his dad who took action again and immediately called a group of people over. All of them carried goods every day and they were full of muscles. Compared with this group of gambling dogs, they knew which side would lose without having to fight.

He was here to wreck the place.

——“I didn’t plan to gamble with them at the beginning. If I won, I didn’t plan to take it. If I lost, I didn’t plan to give them money either.”

When Lu Yong seemed that he couldn’t be more honest when he said this, it made the people next to him who heard it so angry that they almost vomited blood.

Since he was a child, he had quietly understood this principle deep in his heart that he had to be pragmatic. But honestly, if he wanted to avoid being bullied by treacherous men, he had to be more treacherous than the treacherous men.

An innocent young master like Shen Wenqiu, no wonder he was bullied by these people.

Lu Yong thought anxiously, Shen Wenqiu should’ve just come to him earlier. He wouldn’t be bullied by these people then?

But his calculations also fell through because Shen Wenqiu called the police. Now a whole nest of people entered the police station and the place was stuffed. The brothers were okay because they were just around the building and did nothing else. It really wasn’t against the law and after being taught a few sentences, they were released. However, the evidence for a group of gambling dogs to gather in crowds was conclusive and they had to be properly cross-examined.

A familiar local police officer, Officer Ren, saw Shen Wenqiu again and sighed helplessly, “Why did you come in again?”

He glanced at Lu Yong next to him and said, “You even brought your friends in with you?”

The subtext was to accuse Shen Wenqiu that not only did he not learn well, he even dragged the innocent into this.

In the past, when Shen Wenqiu himself was arrested, he would fool around and say “I have changed”. In fact, anyone with a discerning eye could see that he didn’t repent. But today was different. Today he had a heavy expression and did not want to speak at all, letting them scold. 

Another policeman next to them interrupted, “It’s none of his fault today. He is the whistleblower and he is here for justice and fairness!”

Officer Zheng smiled, “What the hell? For justice and fairness? Is it appropriate to use this term with him?”

Shen Wenqiu couldn’t laugh but he also didn’t agree with the word either.  All those people combined were not as important as Lu Yong’s 1% in his heart. No, not even 0%.

Shen Wenqiu was quite cooperative this time. In fact, as a whistleblower, he didn’t need to come. In this way, he wouldn’t be welcomed with insults by the corridor. But he had to come. Shen Wenqiu didn’t have any hippie smiles or gags this time. He explained what he knew to the police in detail and was endlessly explaining for him, “Lu Yong didn’t know about it, I can guarantee. He is a decent person and doesn’t even smoke or drink.”

“He was tricked into going to the casino. Those people thought he was a rich boss and they wanted to rip him off.”

“Me? Of course I don’t want him to go, me and him… I am not friends with him, we are high school classmates and he kindly took me in for a while. I told him that, but we just had a fight.”

“You know that people like me, who speak unconvincingly, no one believes what I say.”

“He didn’t take any money. Gambling, gambling 2 , he has to lose and gain profit to be counted as participating right? I think he was just innocently tricked and sat there for a few minutes. It can’t be counted as participating. Let him go.”

The police’s eyes squinted at Shen Wenqiu with a bit of curiosity in his heart. This time Shen Wenqiu broke the law and he didn’t criticise him, but Shen Wenqiu bowed his head deeply and felt more guilty than any previous arrest.

Shen Wenqiu spoke as if he was hardly carrying the last bit of strength, “Lu Yong is kind and he is an innocent person. It’s my fault. Let him go.”

–

Lu Yong made a statement in a separate place. He had already called a lawyer. He spoke in an orderly manner and had a serious attitude. He explained in a more detailed way about how they met and how they went. What he said was almost the same as Shen Wenqiu’s.

There was one thing that really made the police have a headache, “What happened to the group of people outside that block downstairs?”

Lu Yong said, “I found something wrong after I went and I was not allowed to go. I secretly called for help when I saw something wrong but I didn’t expect my father to call so many people.”

“I’m really sorry for the trouble I’ve caused, but nothing happened, right? Fortunately, you guys are so dedicated to your work and arrived in such a timely manner that it didn’t cause a catastrophe. Otherwise I’m sure I wouldn’t feel good if something happened.”

Look at him, he really is a good citizen! Highly educated talent! Excellent entrepreneur! No matter how you look at him, he is a good young man who abides by the law.

He is like an honest person who has been bullied. Although he called more than fifty big men to encircle the building, he is really innocent and pitiful!

Then Lu Yong’s lawyer also arrived and after some troubles, it was finally over.

He only got oral education and was released without charge.

Lu Yong finally left the interrogation room and went out to look for Shen Wenqiu as he felt worried, but he searched for a while and could not find him. So he hurried to ask the policeman who seemed to know Shen Wenqiu, “Hello, where is Shen Wenqiu?”

The police said, “He? He’s gone, he’s long gone.”

Lu Yong’s face turned cold again and he closed his eyes. He didn’t want to see things discovered in this way but this situation was also expected and he was not surprised.

Shen Wenqiu always wanted to leave and sure enough, as soon as he didn’t watch him, he was gone.

The policeman handed him a folded piece of paper, “He asked me to pass it on to you.”

Lu Yong opened it and only one line was written on it,

‘Dayong, I’m leaving. Please don’t find me, I beg you.’

people from the village association

He’s pondering on the word ‘gambling’