Chapter 12: The Way of Wealth and Prosperity

  The bell signaling the end of school stopped ringing for less than a minute, and the exits of each teaching building burst out with a flood of students rushing towards the school gates. The weather was nice today, with blue skies and white clouds, a gentle breeze, and refreshing air. As the sun slowly set, the evening wind blew gently, and Xue looked greedily at the sky, thinking it was a pity that such beautiful skies only had a lifespan of twenty or thirty years. At this time, although they had gone through the Great Leap Forward and other rapid industrialization movements, they still hadn't reached the level of overexploitation of natural resources as in later eras, and this Republic wasn't yet the world's factory.

  The first batch of students rushing out of the teaching building had already passed the school gate, with everyone's face full of vigor and vitality, laughing and chasing each other in twos and threes. No matter when, ZZ was always far away from the children. The quiet sky, the noisy campus, Xue was intoxicated between the dynamic and static, forgetting time for a moment.

  ………….

  Xu Xiaofei was very unhappy, squatting on the flower bed, smoking and scolding the two young men in front of him who were hanging their heads: "Monkeys, wild chickens, I'm telling you two are really useless. I brought you out to make a fortune, but you two are really capable. You've been messing around for half a day and brought back 50 cents for me. Not even enough to buy a pack of cigarettes! What do you want me to do with you two in the future?" Xu Xiaofei scolded while poking the foreheads of the two young men with his fingers, with an expression of sorrow and anger.

  Xu Xiaofei and his gang chose to come to the middle school gate to make money after careful consideration. The age of high school students is not much different from theirs, and they love to form cliques, so it's riskier to take their money. Elementary school students are easy to bully, but they have little money. As for robbing kindergarten children, Xu Xiaofei asked himself if he had the guts, and if he dared to make such a suggestion, he would probably disband immediately, and it would be laughable if it got out.

  Hou Xiaochun and Ji Changfa were scolded to the point where they couldn't even lift their heads, and they felt wronged in their hearts. Hou Xiaochun, who had a bag slung over his shoulder, explained: "Big Fei Ge, it's not that we're not trying hard enough, but it's just that now is the peak period for school dismissals, and there are too many people out, making it difficult to find someone alone. Ji Changfa and I have been watching for a long time before we caught three of them. Moreover, nowadays students are all poor, and the third guy we caught was really infuriating. You guess what happened? As soon as he was cornered by me and Ji Changfa, he voluntarily pulled out a ticket. I thought to myself, 'This kid knows his place,' and spared him from a beating. But when I took a closer look, it turned out that the ticket in his hand was only worth one cent! At that moment, I got angry - wasn't this guy teasing us? Ji Changfa and I gave him a good thrashing, searched him thoroughly, and indeed, he only had one cent on him. What do you say to that?" Xu Xiaofei, although named Xiaofei, liked others to call him Da Fei, apparently feeling that Xiaofei wasn't grand enough, as if he himself was going to soar to great heights.

  "Alright, alright, you're telling jokes, but you're incompetent and blaming others. The criticism meeting is almost becoming a heroic report of your personal deeds... Are you ashamed or not?" Xu Xiaofei interrupted Hou Xiaochun's words, followed by another round of scolding.

  Xu Xiaofei was scolding the two, and then another four or five young people came back one after another. Each of them handed over their spoils to Xu Xiaofei. Xu Xiaofei's originally violent mood suddenly calmed down, his heart was icy: With a group of brothers like this in the future, can we still mix? Alas, I, Da Fei, worked hard to unify their equipment, but who knew that sheep wearing wolf skin are still sheep and cannot become wolves.

  Xu Xiaofei clenched the 830 yuan in his hand, feeling tearless and knowing that it was not suitable to strike the crowd again at this time. Otherwise, people's hearts would be scattered, and the team would not be easy to lead afterwards. Xu Xiaofei calmed down the anger in his heart and smiled: "The harvest is a bit less, just starting out, no big deal, everyone don't take it to heart, we'll find a few fat sheep to make up for it later." He simply turned robbery into a military operation.

  Here is the translation:

  Ji Changfa was the most cunning and clever among this group of people. He usually spoke first in meetings, and this time was no exception. Clearing his throat, he said: "Big Brother Fei, I think that our plan for this operation wasn't well thought out. Dividing our forces to attack is a major taboo in military strategy, something wise men would not do. Look, when we disperse our forces, the intimidation factor on Fat Sheep decreases, and since they often gather in groups of two or three, sending just two people over won't scare them off unless we use violence, but that's not suitable for a crowded city like this. Secondly, our target for battle wasn't clear, so we usually just attack whoever is alone, which means there's a chance we'll run into White Light Pig, just like what happened to Monkey earlier when he encountered someone with only one cent on them. So, our target should be focused on Buddha. These rich kids have good family backgrounds, their parents are high-ranking officials, they get a lot of money from home, and they're not very brave, but they love to save face, so even if they get bullied, they won't tell their families. They're the perfect targets - rich, timid, and loves to save face. Unlike those poor devils, sometimes we rob them of just a few cents, and they'll dare to fight back to the death." Ji Changfa understood Xu Xiaofei's personality, the more he made robbery sound like a military operation, the happier he would be, and later on, his anger wouldn't be directed at him.

  "Wow, it's really high." Xu Xiaofei clapped his hands in praise: "You little guy has been hiding deeply, and you haven't shown your full strength before. I thought you were just a smooth talker, but unexpectedly, you have two taels of fragrant oil hidden in your belly, you really have the potential to be a great strategist."

  "It's all thanks to Big Fly Brother's guidance, haha..."

  "Alright, the credit is yours and yours alone, don't pretend to be humble with me. Next step, follow what Wild Chicken said, focus on Buddha."

  "Big Flying Brother, there's a man wearing a general's uniform over there by the flower bed. The military cap on his head is definitely made of otter fur. There's only one person next to him, let's rush over there!" Xiang Xiaochun saw Ji Changfa take charge and quickly offered her strategy.

  Who would have thought that as soon as he finished speaking, Xu Xiaofei "clanged" and gave him a chestnut, scolding: "You little blind boy, didn't you see that we were eyeing them before? They didn't even bother to respond, one look and you can tell they're from the underworld. Although fellow practitioners are sworn enemies, now is not the time to stir up trouble. Besides, these two young men are tall and sturdy, definitely not soft persimmons. In the future, when taking action, be more careful, don't end up getting yourself into trouble instead of hitting the target."

  "Big Fly Brother, look over there, right in the middle of the school gate, those three kids wearing leather shoes are definitely our Buddha, let's go." said a young man with a satchel and a buzz cut.

  Xu Xiaofei waved her hand and said, "Wait a minute, wait until they leave the school gate. If we rush over now and scare them back, it won't be easy to deal with. We can't chase them into the school, can we? The police station isn't just for show."

  Soon, three middle school students wearing leather shoes walked out of the school gate and were about to cross the asphalt road in front of the gate. Xu Xiaofei and others saw this and hurried forward, walking quickly along the way, not dodging the students they met, but instead colliding with them directly. Those who didn't know how to behave were grabbed by their hair and thrown aside. The students who were bullied also didn't dare to speak out. Seeing seven or eight young hooligans charging over with a menacing air, many students avoided them.

  In a short while, Xu Xiaofei and several others had blocked off the three students. The three students were chatting and laughing when they were suddenly surrounded by a group of people, their faces pale with shock. They had never provoked them before, but the ones in front of them looked like thugs. It seemed that today they had encountered robbers. The tallest student among the three calmed himself down and said: "Gentlemen... brothers... is there something going on? We are all poor students, if you have something to do with us, we can't help."

  Xu Xiaofei patted the tall student's shoulder and said, "Don't be afraid, we're not here to cause you trouble. On the contrary, we're here to help you solve your troubles. As long as each of you pays 10 yuan per month for protection fees, we guarantee that you can walk horizontally in school, step on whoever you want. How about it? This price is quite reasonable, and besides, our few people haven't eaten enough for several days, look at my face, isn't it a bit yellow? We're starving, so let's show some compassion."

  By this time, the three students still didn't understand that these guys in front of them wanted to make themselves their masters. If they didn't agree now, they would definitely be beaten up. But if they agreed, it would be easy for them to get rid of them later. What should they do? The three students were confused and anxious at the same time.

  Three students didn't speak, Xu Xiaofei used his eyes to signal a few people to teach the three kids a lesson. The tall student saw that several people were approaching and knew that if he didn't speak up, he would be in trouble, so he was about to respond. Suddenly, a figure flashed before their eyes, and immediately, someone said: "You guys want us to be your bodyguards, right?"

  "That's right, it means spending money for peace of mind. To be honest, this little bit of money is a bargain!" Houxiao Chun exclaimed.

  "If there's someone we don't like, can you help me get rid of her?"

  "Of course, you paid us, we must give you our best effort. If we can't help you solve the problem, how can we make a name for ourselves in the future?"

  "Alright, you see, the one I'm going to get is that chick wearing a green military uniform and braids, last time I wrote her a letter, she actually dared not to reply, this time she's in for it."

  "Which chick? There are military uniforms and braids everywhere."

  "It's the one on my left front side, 100 meters away, the most beautiful one."

  "Big Flying Brother, taking in a fallen woman is not quite right, it's somewhat humiliating, and if word gets out, it will damage our reputation."

  "Is reputation important or is the belly important? The main purpose of our current action is to make a name for our guard team. As long as customers have needs, our service must keep up. Even if it's the king of heaven, we'll still go." Xu Xiaofei's words were spoken with grandeur and generosity, and he temporarily gave his small group the name "Guard Team", obviously putting customers in a superior position, which is quite confusing and has a strong sense of service.

  "What guard troop? Big Flying Brother, what guard troop?" Hou Xiaochun asked in confusion.

  "Are you guys getting on or not? Everyone else is already on the bus and leaving." The tall student saw that they were still chatting, while his hoped-for savior was about to leave, and he felt anxious.

  Xu Xiaofei saw the tall student being urged on, and the first shot of the security team had to be fired again, so he couldn't help but ignore the two colleagues beside him. He called out to the crowd to take the three students together towards the target mentioned by the tall student.

  PS: "Foye" is a term used by the hooligans of 49 City to refer to the sons of wealthy families who are not veterans. Later, the term "veteran" fell out of use, but "Foye" remained popular. These people were usually the targets of extortion and their long-term source of income. The term "Foye" is derived from the Buddhist concept of "universal salvation", with a hint of irony, as they would rob others' money and claim to be doing good deeds. When hooligans first catch a Foye, they would often say "let's show some compassion", and whoever hears this phrase would understand what they mean. Generally, hooligans have an unspoken rule that prohibits Foyes from switching sides, and different groups of hooligans are not allowed to fight over someone else's Foye. This is also an unwritten rule among hooligans, and no one dares to break it easily.