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Chapter 532: Chapter 439: Never Dare Again (Please Subscribe!)_2
"He..." Wei Jun’s expression darkened.
Xiang Yong immediately understood.
"I understand: your father is a good man. After you left, Naidan partially dismantled this house and moved a lot of stuff out. We’ve been coming back to clean it, waiting for the day you might return and need a place to stay. Now that you’ve returned, things are better. Are you planning to stay permanently or just visiting?" Xiang Yong asked.
"Leader Ling agreed to sell this place to me, and I’ll be back to check on it regularly," Wei Jun explained.
On hearing this, Xiang Yong was relieved: "That’s great; Leader Ling is a good man. Although I’ve never met him, he is someone we all admire."
The implication of these words was a reminder: that Wei Jun shouldn’t entertain other ideas. Otherwise, as far as he knew, nobody would side with Wei Jun. The changes of recent times had already shown them a glimpse of the future, a future that Wei Jun could not provide.
"Good, as long as you all can live comfortable lives, it’s all that matters. You’ve even got a motorcycle to ride," Wei Jun knew fully well the hint behind these words. This was already the fourth time someone had reminded him, so he could only respond with a bitter smile and change the subject.
"This is a benefit from the village head; Leader Ling handed out motorcycles to all the village heads." Xiang Yong became excited as he spoke about this. When he’d returned, a village head had already been chosen, but this village head had crashed into a tree whilst drunkenly riding his motorcycle and broken an arm. So he, Xiang Yong, had taken his place.
"Great, that’s fantastic. We clearly didn’t do enough before," Wei Jun mused. Looking at the smile on Xiang Yong’s face, he realized that whatever his family had done before was nowhere near enough. They lacked the initiative, they resisted change, all they wanted was to protect their territory. While there’s nothing wrong with that, the times were different. People’s needs were diverse and not just about meeting basic survival needs.
Xiang Yong quickly waved his hand and said, "No, no, no, Mr. Wei, I didn’t mean to imply that..."
Wei Jun laughed reassuringly, "It’s okay; I know you didn’t mean it that way. Now, where are you off to?" n𝚘vp𝚞𝚋.com
Xiang Yong breathed a sigh of relief and explained: "I’m headed to Xin’an Town to pick someone up. A lad from our village, Zhang, was caught stealing and was locked up. He was released after serving his time. Now I need to go to the police administration to sign for his release."
"Alright, you should be going then," Wei Jun not wanting to be in Xiang Yong’s way any longer, said.
"Okay, you hold the fort. I’ll be quick and be back soon. We’ll have a drink later in the evening." Xiang Yong hopped on his motorcycle and said.
"Take it easy on the road; there’s no rush," Wei Jun waved his hands and cautioned.
"Alright."
After saying this,
Xiang Yong quickly zoomed off on his motorcycle.
Watching Xiang Yong cheerfully leaving and looking at the winding cement road in the distance, Wei Jun softly said, "Wang Bo, this is probably what my dad really wanted to see."
"Yes. But your father is old; he could no longer do things he used to and his power was limited. It’s very difficult for him to accomplish this. I wonder how Leader Ling could acquire these territories, what gives him the confidence to do so," Wang Bo said.
"Perhaps it’s the Government of Myanmar," Wei Jun answered.
"Perhaps."
Such matters should not be pondered too much. No matter what, it didn’t concern them. They just needed to be home.
After saying this, the two of them pushed open the gate of their house. Looking at the familiar courtyard, the familiar surroundings, even though many tables and chairs were missing, as long as the house was there, it was home.
An hour later,
Knowing that Wei Jun was back, many villagers came over to visit, bringing with them some food and items from their own homes. Wei Jun was deeply moved. They had never oppressed these people before, and now it seemed they were seeing some reciprocation.
The roar of a motorcycle engine was heard.
Xiang Yong’s motorcycle stopped in front of Wei Jun’s house, and a young man with a buzzcut got off the back of the bike. He was quite a bit younger than Wei Jun, barely twenty. His name was Zhang Fu, and they knew each other.
"Zhang Fu, don’t do this sort of thing again in the future. If you’re short on cash, tell me about it. But don’t squander it," Wei Jun patted the young man’s shoulder and said.
"Got it," Zhang Fu said, looking down.
Xiang Yong laughingly scolded him: "You young rascal, you need to straighten up and find a job at my construction site. If you end up locked up again and expect me to come to get you, I’ll give you a beating."
Hearing the words "locked up," Zhang Fu shuddered and an expression of pure fright flashed in his eyes.
"Yes, yes, I don’t want to be locked up ever again. God, it was terrifying." Saying this, Zhang Fu hugged himself tightly. Even though the weather was hot, he felt a chilly breeze blow across his heart.
"What’s wrong, did they beat you? How bad?" Wei Jun asked anxiously, although looking at Zhang Fu hopping around, it didn’t seem like he had been beaten.
Zhang Fu paused, then explained with a bitter smile: "Wei Jun, they don’t beat those inside. They only make us work. Leader Ling’s punishment is the same as anywhere else: regardless of the severity of the crime, all have to mine minerals. The place only has one form of punishment: labour. To get out, you must meet three conditions all at once."
"What are the three conditions?" Wei Jun asked, curious.
Zhang Fu said: "First, you must finish the assigned days of labour, not one day less. Second, you need to mine the predetermined quantity of ore, to prevent people from slacking off. And third, you must fluently recite the specific legal provisions you violated. Without those, you cannot leave.
I remember there was this unfortunate guy who didn’t have the brains for it. He couldn’t memorize the twenty or so rules, and even after meeting the other two conditions for an entire month, he still wasn’t let out. He’s still trying to memorize the rules."
Thinking of that man frantically reciting the rules all day, almost losing his mind, Zhang Fu didn’t seem too amused. It was too dammed frightening – he spent the entire day reciting the rules, yet still couldn’t memorize them.
Well, there are always people who aren’t too bright.
"Would they force you to work?" Wei Jun asked.
Zhang Fu nodded. "Yes, everyone capable of working had to work. But if the guards rated your performance poorly, the total weight of the ore you had to mine increased. And not by a lot – a poor rating meant one more ton per day. I was assigned to a coal mine, and I couldn’t take it anymore, I never want to go back there again. If I have to go back one more time, I’d have to copy a thousand times of rules. Being dead would be much better," he said.
"...."
The crowd was silent.
Copy a thousand times?
They were treating them like primary school students.
These bizarre rules rail against common sense. But looking at Zhang Fu now, they could see that the approach was surprisingly effective. All punishment was transformed into labour reform, which not only created value but also served as a deterrent.
Copy the law a thousand times...
Whoever came up with this was a genius.
"What if they don’t want to work and don’t want to copy?" Wei Jun asked, curiously.
"They would not kill or imprison you; they’d simply move you to a different mining area," Zhang Fu answered, a look of struggle on his face.
"A different mining area?"
Zhang Fu nodded. "Yes, different offences lead to working in different mines. We were stealing, but there are others who commit murder, or are homosexuals, or suffer from mental illness. Anyone trying to slack off would get ’upgraded to a higher-level mine.’ It was so frightening."
Thinking about living with a bunch of homosexuals, he shuddered at the blissful scenario he’d have to contend with.
"Hmm..."
The other people in the room felt a little uncomfortable.
Such a ruthless strategy...
It was enough to scare the hell out of people.
PS: This strategy is so dirty and hilarious, haha.
