“Like a tall tree catches the wind, is it because Baoshan has drawn great attention from the tug of war contest that these thugs come after him?”
“Bashan is so quiet and simple in his daily life. Do you think he’ll fight with those people?”
“I’m afraid Baoshan will suffer.”
“We’re all from the same village so should we give Baoshan a hand?”
“Are you stupid? Those are horrible inhuman thugs and if we step up to them we may get our families in trouble. We can’t possibly help him.”
“…”
The villagers from Daliang kept discussing and chattering. It was true that Xiao Baoshan was great at pulling ropes in the tug of war contest and that he was strong, but most honest people were more or less cowardly, so Xiao Baoshan may not dare to fight.
Besides, although there were only three or four of those gangsters at the present, who knew how many would come later on. The most concerning thing was that they tended to take revenge afterwards and ask others to come to settle old scores.
Everyone was staring at Xiao Baoshan and felt worried for him.
Xiao Baoshan, however, strolled towards Third Xing. He was a good foot taller than Third Xing and his imposing manner showed the moment he stood in front of Third Xing.
Xiao Baoshan’s voice was coarse and deep. “I can fight you, but before that I want to know who you people are.”
“A fight is a fight so why should I tell you who we are? I fight you because I don’t see eye to eye.” Third Xing was trying to agitate Xiao Baoshan.
“If you tell me I can take it as a match of martial skills but if you do not tell me then don’t blame me for being reckless.”
Third Xing’s hands suddenly trembled.
He had felt Xiao Baoshan’s aura and the pressure he brought so he was forced to keep pace with Xiao Baoshan.
“Hoho, my family name is Xing and my surname, Third. The reason my ma named me like this is because I’m her third son. My ma can’t read so she couldn’t think of other grand names.”
Third Xing continued, “So, I’m in charge of the dock and sometimes sail on the cargo ship. What…what about you?”
“A humble handyman working for the government office,” said Xiao Baoshan simply.
“As a handyman you should know your stuff. Cut the crap and let’s begin!” Third Xing began to pose as if he were going to attack.
But Xiao Baoshan was standing still.
“When you’re in a fight pose like a fight. What are you doing?” asked Third Xing.
Xiao Baoshan simply said to him, “Just go for it. I don’t need any pose.”
“Well then, don’t complain later that I bullied you!” Third Xing rushed to Xiao Baoshan while speaking.
However, Xiao Baoshan put his hands behind and simply stepped away and dodged Third Xing’s blow easily.
Third Xing paused in a daze, thinking that he may actually have come across a master.
Third Xing refused to admit to being inferior so he turned around and did a back kick towards Xiao Baoshan.
Again Xiao Baoshan dodged by leaning to one side and after he avoided Third Xing’s kick Xiao Baoshan suddenly punched him on the back. The blow made Third Xing wobble on his feet and he fell off directly forward. Third Xing fell to the ground, making his other partners petrified.
Third Xing had also practiced martial arts and had very ruthless moves. Who did not know his toughness at the dock? But it turned out that he could not take a single blow from Xiao Baoshan.
“Boss, are you okay?” One of his men was coming to help him stand up.
“Boss, are you alright?” asked another.
“Boss, what happened just now? Why did you suddenly fall down?”
Third Xing stood up quickly but his legs were trembling slightly.
Those laymen could only see that he was hit with a blow but only Third Xing himself knew that the blow was with extremely strong inward power. Although it had only impacted on his skin and flesh, it had shaken his internal organs.
Xiao Baoshan had not exhausted his strength and at most only used fifty percent of it. Xiao Baoshan was as stable as a mountain. He looked at the other men. “Do you want to come at me together?”
“Boss, he’s so cocky. Shall we fight him together and see how capable he really is?” One of Third Xing’s men said.
Third Xing, however, waved his hands and stopped his men and shouted angrily, “What do you want to fight for? Have you forgotten our purpose for coming and standing there?”
They were here to wait for Xiao Baoshan and get him to join his group.
Then Third Xing had changed his attitude completely. Covering his sore chest, Third Xing breathed deeply a couple of times then walked in front of Xiao Baoshan. “Brother Xiao, to be honest, we brothers are not coming here to have a fight with you but to win your over.”
“Win me over?” Xiao Baoshan recalled that Third Xing was working at the dock. Could it be that he was trying to win him over and get him to take care of the dock?
Third Xing walked to Xiao Baoshan and his cocky attitude was long gone. “Brother Xiao, you said that you worked as a handyman for the government office, right? As far as I know a handyman usually only earns one tael of silver per month and at most can make one and a half taels. I meant to sound you out just now, thinking that if you’re good at fighting I’ll win you over to work on the dock. What do you say? Does it interest you?”
Xiao Baoshan did not say anything but just looked at Third Xing.
Third Xing then explained. “Our job is not laborious. It’s just a care-taker job. You just have to make sure that other fleets don’t occupy our route as well as look after the goods we’re charged with. Well, occasionally there might be some disputes and you have to settle them with fists but no one’s ever died over them. It sounds hard but you’ll get paid well. As long as you’re good you’ll be paid five tales a month. To earn that much by working in the government office takes almost half a year.”
Others in the surrounding crowd were closely watching what was going on. Faced with such a turn of events everyone was very surprised and hearing that this salary was five taels a month all of them were exclaiming.
“Five tales a month!”
“I can’t make that much in over a half a year.”
“Five taels is only the legal wage. There must be a lot of illegal money to be made. It’s a good deal for Baoshan.”
“That’s right. Baoshan is so good at fighting and won’t really suffer any loss.”
“…”
Ye Xiaoxian and Li Hongmei also looked at each other. Ye Xiaoxian could not make the decision for Xiao Baoshan as this was his own business.
Furthermore, she herself felt that working at the dock was better than working in the government office as a handyman. Being a handyman also required facing a lot of unexpected things and was also inferior in terms of class, as one had to listen to whatever his superior ordered. At least working at the dock probably allowed one more freedom.
Third Xing was still waiting for Xiao Baoshan’s answer.
Xiao Baoshan pondered on it and he nodded as expected. “If I am going, where can I find you? And when will you want me to start working?”
Third Xing was pleased and replied quickly, “You can come anytime you want, now or, if you would like to spend a little more quality time with your wife, you can come in a few more days, but don’t come too late. By the way, five taels a month is only a temporary salary. If you work hard you can get even more. Some of us in the dock can make ten taels a month.”
“Right, I won’t let you wait too long. Please make way for us to pass through. My family and I are going home to eat our meal,” said Xiao Baoshan again.
Third Xing immediately made way for them. Xiao Baoshan walked passed him and the others hurriedly followed close behind.
Third Xing was still covering his chest.
“Boss, is he really that capable?” asked a man of Third Xing named Skinny Monkey.
Third Xing could no longer stop himself from coughing, although he had been doing his best to hold it back for the sake of saving his face. After he coughed he replied impatiently, “Capable or not, why don’t you ask him for a fight yourself when he comes to work? But I’m only afraid with a figure like yours, you couldn’t possibly take it…”