Chapter 39: Rainy Night

In the blink of an eye, more than two months had passed, and time was approaching the Chinese Lunar New Year.

During this period, Su Tianyu and the others' lives hadn't changed much. The dirty gang's business continued to operate as usual, and the under-the-table smuggling business had completed three more deals.

With the success of the first run, the quantity of goods in the subsequent deals continued to increase. In the last shipment, Su Tianyu and his team unloaded over 400 boxes of goods from the ship, and the original three speedboats used for receiving goods had increased to seven. In short, the outline of the entire sea business was becoming clearer, and the division of labor within the team was more defined.

As the business got better, the money everyone received also increased, from the initial 20,000 plus, slowly changing to 40,000, 60,000, and in the last run, the Su family's side received nearly 80,000 yuan.

This kind of high-profit income also increased the enthusiasm of the Su, Bai, and Kong families to do this work. By the time the business reached its third deal, Su Zhengcai, as well as the old men of the Bai and Kong families, had already started to use their connections everywhere to contact new distribution channels. This was because Yu Mingyuan had explicitly stated that the supplier's quantity could still be increased. As long as this side could distribute quickly and had channels, there would be no shortage of goods.

However, before the new sales channels were established, the profit-sharing ratio within the team remained unchanged, with the Su, Bai, and Kong families still receiving 10% of the share.

To be honest, this profit-sharing ratio was slightly high, because the work currently done by the Su, Bai, and Kong families had no technical threshold. At most, they could use their garbage trucks as cover when distributing goods to reduce the risk of exposure, but this didn't warrant them receiving a 10% share.

Therefore, the price offered by Yu Mingyuan was more about valuing the potential of the three families in expanding sales channels. They all had regional circles, and once the channels were opened, the consumption of goods might increase several times. So giving more money to nurture them at the beginning was also a normal phenomenon.

......

On Saturday night, Dragon City was hit by a torrential downpour. Outside, thunder rumbled, and mist filled the air.

In the Su family's garbage yard, Su Tianyu sat in Tiannan's office, talking to Yu Mingyuan on the phone: "There's more goods arriving tomorrow night, right?"

"Yes," Yu Mingyuan nodded. "Make arrangements in advance, receive the goods as usual, and distribute as usual."

"Okay, got it," Su Tianyu hung up the phone and stretched, saying: "Damn, another late night tomorrow."

"If you're tired, I can have Tianbei fill in for you."

"No need, I only do this job once or twice a month, no need to trouble Second Brother," Su Tianyu replied with a smile, pointing outside. "I'll go tell Daxiong a couple of things."

"Alright," Su Tiannan nodded.

Su Tianyu walked out of the main building, holding an umbrella as he went to the workshop side. Standing under the rain shelter, he called out: "Daxiong!"

"Coming, Little Yu Brother!" Daxiong ran out, bending over.

"We're receiving goods tomorrow night. You should go back to the third floor today and make preparations," Su Tianyu said softly. "Check all the tools, diesel, and everything. If anything's missing, call Zhang Hao."

"O-okay, I... I understand," Daxiong was now the team's storekeeper. Not only did Su Tianyu let him live on the third floor for free, but he also gave him an extra 300 yuan a month as a night watchman fee, specifically responsible for managing the work tools.

"Alright then, I'm heading back first."

"Okay," Daxiong also responded. "I'm off work, I'll... I'll head back now."

"Be careful!"

"It's... it's fine, Little Yu Brother," Daxiong grinned.

After their conversation, Su Tianyu drove the company car home, while Daxiong, wearing a raincoat, rode his bicycle, taking over 40 minutes to return to the third floor.

Around the beach, the sea waves roared, and strong winds howled.

Daxiong stopped his bicycle and looked up to see a maritime police car and two SUVs parked in front of the third floor, with the lights on inside the building.

Seeing this scene, Daxiong wasn't surprised, because Tang Baiqing and his colleagues' unit was nearby. When they were on night shift, they would sometimes come to this third floor to play cards, essentially avoiding work. Ordinary maritime police patrolled the sea on boats, while these second-generation officials with connections were too lazy to stay on the boats overnight. They would clock in at the unit when it was time for work, then drive out under the pretext of patrolling, and directly find a place to kill time.

Not only did Tang Baiqing and his group sometimes come here to play cards, but they would also go to Longkou for gatherings and to meet girls when they had time. In short, their lives were carefree and seemed very comfortable.

Daxiong, wearing his raincoat, quickly walked into the third floor and indeed saw Tang Baiqing and six or seven others sitting around a table playing Texas Hold'em, and they were betting big, with the table covered in high-denomination banknotes.

"Brother Tang, Brother Zhou... you're here!" Daxiong greeted them.

"Stupid Xiong's off work?" Tang Baiqing asked with a smile.

"Mm," Daxiong never corrected others' nicknames for him, seeming to have completely gotten used to it.

"Damn, we're out of water and alcohol," Tang Baiqing casually took three hundred-yuan notes from the table and handed them directly to Daxiong, saying: "Go buy some, and get some snacks, spicy stuff, whatever. Keep the change."

Daxiong nodded upon hearing this: "Okay, Brother Tang!"

Every time Tang Baiqing and his group came here, they would have Daxiong act as an errand boy to serve their game, and they would always leave some change for him. Sometimes when friends playing cards forgot to give him money, Tang Baiqing would even joke: "Damn, using Stupid Xiong for free? Give him some tip!"

Daxiong took the money and turned to run outside, pedaling his bicycle towards the supermarket three or four kilometers away.

Inside, everyone continued playing cards. Tang Baiqing was on a lucky streak, winning three to four thousand yuan in just over twenty minutes, so he was in quite a good mood. But unexpectedly, an unwelcome person arrived.

Around nine o'clock in the evening, a white car stopped in front of the third floor. A fashionably dressed young woman got out of the car angrily and walked into the three-story building.

Tang Baiqing heard the commotion and looked back, frowning as he habitually sniffed: "Why are you here?"

"Tang Baiqing, are you even human?! I've been calling you for days, and you don't answer. What do you mean by this?"

"Don't shout," Tang Baiqing replied with a dark face. "Wait a bit, I'll talk to you after we finish playing."

"Finish playing my ass!" The young woman's face looked unwell, with an unhealthy paleness. She glared as she rushed to the table and scattered the cards with one sweep: "You have to give me an explanation today!"

"Have you fucking gone crazy?!" Tang Baiqing suddenly stood up and pushed the woman: "Can't you see I'm playing cards?"

The two started arguing heatedly, and the people around, seeing that they couldn't continue playing, took their money and stood up.

"Old Tang, let's call it a day."

"Stop arguing, you two. We'll leave first, sit down and talk it out properly."

"...!"

Everyone said their goodbyes and left the third floor with their belongings, leaving the room for Tang Baiqing and the woman to talk privately.

Outside, the heavy rain poured down, making a rushing sound.

Inside, the light was dim, and the atmosphere was oppressive.

Tang Baiqing sat on the sofa and lit a cigarette, taking two deep drags before saying: "Are you sick or something? It was consensual, why are you clinging to me?"

"Fuck your mother, is that how a human talks?!" The young woman wasn't easy to deal with either: "You had your fun and now you're abandoning me? Let me tell you, I'm fucking pregnant, you figure it out!"

"So what do you want to do?" Tang Baiqing frowned and demanded: "You want me to marry you or something?! I already have a girlfriend, we're about to get our marriage certificate, don't you know?"

"What about me?"

"Get rid of the child, I'll give you some money later," Tang Baiqing sniffed, threw away his cigarette butt, and turned to leave.

Seeing his attitude, the woman instantly flew into a rage, grabbing Tang Baiqing's arm and shouting: "You think I'm a hostess or something? Let me tell you, you have to give me an explanation today...!"

"Don't touch me, let go!" Tang Baiqing struggled to leave.

The young woman instantly broke down crying, hitting Tang Baiqing as she shouted: "I'm telling you, if you don't give me an explanation, I'll go make trouble for your girlfriend. If I can't be happy, no one can!"

"You've gone fucking crazy!" Tang Baiqing had been trying hard to control his emotions, but he had many bad habits in his lifestyle. He could restrain himself a bit in front of strangers, but was moody with people he knew well. The young woman kept pestering him and even got physical, so his eyes also turned red: "Let me tell you, even if I fucked you, it was for nothing! It was consensual, go complain wherever you want!"

"Don't think I won't dare. I'll go to your home tomorrow, to your girlfriend's home. Let's see if anyone can be happy."

"Fuck your mother, you're not done yet?!" Tang Baiqing was irritated by the scratching and grabbed an unknown object from the cabinet, swinging it down without thinking.

"Bang!"

With a dull thud, the young woman who had been fighting suddenly stiffened.

Tang Baiqing pushed her away: "Get lost!"

The young woman fell to the ground with a thud, her body instantly starting to convulse. Tang Baiqing turned to leave, but seeing her fall, he instinctively looked back.

On the ground, the young woman's eyes were rolling back, her whole body convulsing, with blood visibly seeping from her temple and the back of her head.

Tang Baiqing was stunned.

"Bang!"

The door opened, and a burly young man carrying several bags of food walked in, his body covered in moisture.