Chapter 52: The Peculiar Wang Baogan

Li Xian realized he had seriously underestimated this era.

It had been over a month since he returned, but he was still used to judging things with his old perspective.

The incident where Wang Qinghe and others were hurt by local bullies had a profound impact on him.

This was an era where old orders were slowly being dismantled and new orders and ideas were not yet fully established. In this era, many things could not be measured by one's accustomed ways of thinking.

He felt it was time for him to make some changes.

Since he couldn't go back, he might as well integrate into the new reality.

He thought about it this way.

In the morning, Li Xian personally organized the construction teams to return to the forest farm to resume work, leaving only the more competent workers and the Wang Qinghe brothers. Having too many people around, especially those who would falter at the sight of conflict, would be counterproductive in this situation.

He actually did not want to engage in violence, but the seemingly peaceful forest farm had now become an unpredictable factor. For his future development, he needed to resolve this matter immediately.

Weak people would only become weaker. He did not want to bully others, nor did he want to be bullied.

At noon, a minibus slowly entered the Eight-Nine Forest Farm, stopping in front of the club where buses were usually parked under the still blazing autumn sun.

Li Xian and the others were inside the club. When the minibus came to a halt with a screech, he waved to the drowsy people around him and went outside.

At a glance, he saw a man wearing a tank top and a gray jacket.

The man looked to be in his thirties, with a face full of pits and scars resembling the Yadan landforms of Kordofan. He was quite tall, but his steps seemed a bit clumsy.

After the man got off the bus, a group of people followed him out, including the three young men from yesterday. They pointed at Li Xian.

Xu Changjiang, followed by more than twenty people, walked over with large strides. After taking a brief look, he frowned and asked Li Xian, "Are you the one who detained my bus?"

Li Xian nodded while observing Xu Changjiang.

"Do you know who I am?" Xu Changjiang smiled, finding it hard to take the young man seriously.

"Have you heard of Xu Sanzi?" He pointed to himself and said, "You've got some guts to detain my bus."

Li Xian also smiled, "No need to mention names. Qiao Si'er's name was more famous than yours, and he's already burned through the memorial."

He waved his hand, "That's not in vogue anymore."

Hearing this, Xu Changjiang's face turned cold. Although Qiao Si'er was dead, his name still held weight among people like Xu Changjiang.

Taking advantage of Xu Changjiang's intense gaze, Li Xian took back the initiative and looked at the three young men. "Yesterday your people hit mine and threw my goods. I'm just asking, what do you want to do about it?"

"Do what?" Xu Changjiang turned to look at his smirking subordinates and grinned, "I don't know. You tell me."

Li Xian chuckled, "Very simple, tit for tat."

He pointed at the three young men.

Xu Changjiang was truly angered. He did not expect that a young fool would dare to play society's game with him!

"What if I say no?" He stepped in front of Li Xian and shouted loudly.

Li Xian stood his ground and replied, "Then you won't have a peaceful time on this Eight-Nine route! I don't want to cause trouble, but I'm not afraid of it either! If you want to push it, let's see!"

Li Xian did not intend to confront the other side head-on, but he had his own judgment. Since Xu Changjiang wanted to run a bus business, he was different from the reckless young punks. Many things could not be reasoned with those three young men from yesterday, but since Xu Sanzi had the power to get a bus line in the forest farm, he must be thinking about making a fortune.

As long as he had that intention, Li Xian was not afraid of him tearing their faces off!

Whether it was a road bully or a thug, it was no longer an era where one could thrive solely through bravado. There might be a gray area, but Li Xian believed that as long as people were not foolish, they would have their concerns.

The case of the man executed in Ice City last year had already proved this point.

And he had just warned them.

Seeing the confrontation, Wang Qinghe and his brothers, along with the strong men, stepped forward. Xu Changjiang's people also gathered around.

The atmosphere immediately became tense!

The standoff in front of the club attracted the attention of the villagers inside. Seeing that a fight seemed imminent, some people began shouting from the sidelines, fearing that Li Xian and his group would be at a disadvantage.

At that moment, a thunderous voice rang out from a distance: "You punks! Is there no law here?!"

With that shout, a man with a dark face, wearing a green police uniform with no insignia and muscular arms, strode over.

The man pushed through the crowd and walked up to Li Xian. Seeing Xu Changjiang, he smiled with his lips but not with his eyes, and said, "What's up, Xu Lao San? Want to stir up trouble?"

This man was Wang Tiecheng, the security officer of the Eight-Nine Forest Farm.

Seeing Wang Tiecheng, Xu Changjiang's imposing demeanor immediately deflated!

Li Xian noticed that Xu Changjiang's face seemed to show some fear. This made him wonder if Wang Baogan, the security officer, had some kind of background.

"I've heard about your issue. Xu Lao San, let me ask you, do you want to do business properly, or do you want to go back to prison for another two years?"

Faced with Wang Baogan's questioning, Xu Changjiang did not dare to speak.

Wang Baogan then stared at him and asked, "Who hit them yesterday?"

Seeing no one answering, he lost interest in questioning further and directly asked Xu Changjiang, "Should I deal with it, or will you?"

Xu Changjiang gritted his teeth, summoned the three young men who were completely dazed, and without saying a word, began to slap them!

This scene stunned Li Xian.

As Xu Changjiang vented his anger with slaps, the three young men cried out in agony. Finally, Xu Changjiang, still not satisfied, pinned them down and kicked them hard.

He stopped only when the three were lying on the ground, writhing like caterpillars, and gave Wang Baogan a deep look before ignoring the young men and waving to his stunned followers, "Let's go!"

But before he could take two steps, Wang Baogan, lighting a cigarette, called him back, "Xu Lao San, what about today's matter?"

"Tit for tat! If your people don't provoke me in the future, I'll consider it as nothing!" Xu Changjiang replied and limped back to his vehicle.

...

After Xu Changjiang and his group left, the onlookers dispersed.

Watching the minibus drive away, Li Xian was left in confusion.

Wang Qinghe pointed at the three young men still moaning on the ground and scratched his head, "Er, what about these three?"

Li Xian had no idea either. Xu Changjiang's actions left him puzzled. What was the meaning of leaving them here after beating them up?

"Anyway, let's get them to the health station for treatment. Don't let them die here." He instructed helplessly, glancing at Wang Baogan who was standing by with a cigarette.

Wang Baogan, whose eyes flashed with a brief sharpness, made Li Xian shiver involuntarily.

"Li Er, keep your head down and make your money steadily. Don't act like those loudmouths outside. And for god's sake, keep things quiet."

After dropping this warning, Wang Baogan tugged at his worn-out police uniform and left.

...

Instinctively, Li Xian guessed that Wang Tiecheng must be a man with a story.

After returning home, he asked Li You about Wang Tiecheng and learned that he had recently joined the forest farm. It turned out he was a former police officer who had been transferred here due to some mistakes.

However, Li You did not know the specifics of his errors. All he knew was that Wang Tiecheng was known for being ruthless; anyone who fell into his hands would suffer more than just broken bones.

This was also why the security in Eight-Nine was much better than in other forest farms.

Hearing this, Li Xian became even more curious about Wang Baogan.

...

The bus issue was resolved under Wang Baogan's intervention.

After Wang Qinghe and the others took the three young men to the health station for treatment, they completely settled down.

Abandoned by Xu Changjiang and losing their backing, the three men lost their previous arrogance. After recovering, they repeatedly apologized to Wang Qinghe and others.

Since they had admitted defeat, Wang Qinghe and the others did not hold a grudge. Wang Laosan, who had a hard exterior but a soft heart, even arranged a meal for the three. This made them weep bitterly, stuffing their faces with noodles while lamenting their own failures.

In the following days, the forest farm returned to tranquility.

With the construction teams fully back to work, Li Xian pushed out the business of iron roofing. Although some customers who had already installed exterior walls complained about his greed, the

 business was still good.

Iron roofing plus exterior walls, each job brought in nearly a thousand yuan in profit, and Li Xian's wallet, which had been tight due to the aluminum ingot issue, began to swell again.

During the break, Li Pi was thoroughly happy. Knowing that he would not see Li Xian for a while after school started in a few days, Li Xian made a point to spend some quality time with him.

As autumn arrived, the mountains in the forest area changed colors quietly.

Red pines, larches, birch trees, and maples displayed various shades of green, white, yellow, red, and purple. The formerly dark green mountains, under the blue sky, were painted in an oil painting-like splendor.

In the mountains, Li Xian, accompanied by Li Pi, fished for crabs and frogs in small rivers, enjoying himself immensely.

Although the scene of "hitting roe deer and scooping fish" was gone due to decades of development, the richness of the resources still made Li Xian incredulous. This gave him a new understanding of his hometown.

"This place might be a bit poor, but it really doesn't starve people!"

Standing on the mountaintop, looking at the scattered smoke rising from the distant, dilapidated small forest farms, Li Xian shaded his eyes from the scorching sun and murmured.

"Second Brother! Li Xian! There's a call for you! Hurry to the broadcast room to take it!"

At that moment, a broadcast from the forest farm reached his ears.