I Overhear Animals' Thoughts to Feed My Family

Chapter 235: Chapter 199: Strength in Numbers, Huh? (Part 2)

Hearing the man in the red sweater across from him acting so aggressively, Zhao Wendong smirked. ’The more I try to keep a low profile, the more people seem determined to stop me.’

”I’m in charge of security here. So you tell me if it’s my business or not. I don’t have any fancy title—I’m just the Civilian Militia Captain for a production team.”

”Hahaha! A piddly little production team captain, and you’re acting all high and mighty? I’m telling you, even Yang Wenxue wouldn’t dare talk to me like this, believe it or not!”

Just then, Yang Wenxue, who had squeezed his way through the crowd, happened to overhear the man in the red sweater. He looked up at him, his face a mixture of shock and anger. ’Why isn’t this prodigal son of the old party secretary staying in the county? What is he doing here in my Qianjin Commune?’

”Captain!”

”Captain.”

The few Dragon King Pond militiamen responsible for this area also noticed something was wrong. They pushed through the crowd, ran to Zhao Wendong’s side to salute, and then glared menacingly at the group with the red sweater. They were just waiting for Zhao Wendong’s command to act.

”Heh, calling for backup, are we? Alright, boys, show yourselves! Let’s have this little Civilian Militia Captain see whether he has more men, or we do!”

The short-haired man in the red sweater smirked arrogantly, then waved his hand to the crowd and shouted. As he finished speaking, another dozen or so young men pushed out from the crowd to stand by his side. Each held his head high, nose in the air, pointed toward Zhao Wendong. Many of them reached into the bulging cloth satchels slung around their necks, which were obviously filled with weapons.

”Brother Dong, they’re from the county.”

Zhang Dadan recognized some of the men as thugs from the county and quickly spoke up to warn Zhao Wendong. The short-haired man in the red sweater glanced at Zhang Dadan and sneered.

”Well, look here, someone who knows the score. We heard your Commune was having a big market day, so we came to check it out. This little bastard here... we took a few of his Forest Frogs and gave him two bags of cornmeal for them, and that’s still not enough? So what if there’s a little sand? Does that stop you from eating it? Now get the hell out of the way. I don’t have time for you lot. We’ve still got a market to browse.”

He looked over at Zhao Wendong, only to find the man still staring at him, completely unfazed. There was no fear in his eyes, only the hint of a mocking smile.

”Fuck, what the hell are you smiling at!”

”The ’hell’ part.”

Zhao Wendong’s witty comeback immediately sent the surrounding crowd into a fit of laughter.

The man in the red sweater realized he’d been verbally outplayed by Zhao Wendong, and his expression instantly darkened.

”Fuck, you think you’re hot shit just because you have a few more militiamen and some rifles? You dare to open fire? You’re not backing down, huh? You wanna be a smartass with me, is that it? Fine! Don’t say we’re using our numbers to bully the weak. Boys, get ’em! Today, we’re gonna flatten their Qianjin Commune!”

”Flatten ’em!”

The twenty-odd county thugs behind him roared in unison, an intimidating display of force. Many onlookers quietly backed away, revealing even more young men with strange smiles on their faces. Like Zhao Wendong, they all had their arms crossed, watching the man in the red sweater as if he were a monkey in a circus. They were, in fact, Zhao Wendong’s own band of friends and the militiamen from Dragon King Pond, who had heard the commotion and rushed over.

”You said you were going to use your numbers to bully the weak? You said you wanted to see who has more men, is that it?”

”Alright, then. I’ll let you see just how many men I have.”

With that, Zhao Wendong looked around and shouted.

”Brothers!”

”HERE!”

A deafening roar erupted from all around, so loud it made one’s ears ring. Group after group of young men pushed out from the crowd, completely surrounding the man in the red sweater and his crew. All of them wore menacing expressions, and they outnumbered the county thugs several times over. The visitors exchanged uneasy glances; the legs of the more cowardly ones had already begun to tremble.

They had just come down to stroll around and act tough, never in a million years expecting to run into an even bigger badass. All their previous arrogance vanished in an instant as they cowered and shrank back. They followed this guy for the perks, not to die for him.

”Kid, don’t do anything crazy! I’m telling you, my dad is—”

”Shut up!”

The man in the red sweater was scared now and tried to name-drop his connections. But before he could finish, Yang Wenxue cut him off with a loud shout, stopping him from saying the old party secretary’s name. He pointed at Zhao Wendong and yelled.

”Tao Dongdong, do you have any fucking idea who this is? This is Zhao Wendong!”

CLANG. One of the county thugs lost his grip on a meat cleaver, and it fell to the ground. A man’s reputation precedes him. Zhao Wendong was the man of the hour; the story of how he dealt with Li Guangming was already legendary, and an old master had even gifted him a piece of calligraphy. This was a ruthless character they could not afford to provoke.

The young man in the red sweater was also stunned. He had actually been hoping to get acquainted with Zhao Wendong on this trip. Fearing he wouldn’t make a big enough impression, he’d specifically called his crew of thugs from the county to put on a show of force. He never imagined he would end up in a direct confrontation with the man himself. ’What an idiot I am,’ he thought. ’A Civilian Militia Captain in Qianjin Commune wearing an officer’s greatcoat... who else could it be but Zhao Wendong?’

”C-Captain Zhao, this is all a misunderstanding! I... I really admire you...”

The young man in the red sweater, Tao Dongdong, put on an ingratiating smile. The scene fell silent for a moment as all eyes landed on Zhao Wendong, waiting for him to speak and make a decision.

Zhao Wendong shot Yang Wenxue a complicated look, then his gaze shifted to the delicate-featured boy on the ground. His eyes lingered for a long time on the boy’s bleeding lip and tattered clothes. In his past life, this very group had beaten this boy to death. And for what? For a dispute over some Forest Frogs they were trying to cheat him on. ’What did he do to deserve that?’

”Beat. Them. Up.”

Zhao Wendong spoke these three words with an icy expression. Yang Wenxue’s face paled, and he started to say something, but Zhao Wenwu had already let out a roar and charged forward. He’d been held back by several people earlier and hadn’t gotten to fight to his heart’s content. Now, he could finally let loose.