The Golden Age - Chapter 96: Follow the Rules
Sergeant He was very rude, but Qin Xiao just smiled as he did not mind.
He had been working in Jia Prison for over two years already and served countless prisoners. There were a few who were aggressive and rude. After all, they were prisoners, how could a prisoner who lost his freedom be happy all the time? They would occasionally yell at Qin Xiao, but Qin Xiao just pretended that he didn’t hear them.
As long as they stay there for a while, the prisoners would gradually become friends with Qin Xiao.
Qin Xiao understood that when someone was angry, there was no need to fight with him. This sergeant was just a small figure in this battalion, there was no need for himself to care about him.
Moreover, he was assigned to the horse feed mill. This sergeant was obviously in charge of this place, there really was no need to get into a conflict with him the minute they met.
Although Qin Xiao was young, there were some things that he understood better than others.
He knew clearly what he wanted. All he needed to do was slowly work towards his goal. When dealing with some small issues he met along the way, he could just smile and try to bear them.
But if he encountered a big obstacle that will directly prevent him from achieving his goal, he would never show any mercy, let alone bear it.
The purpose of him coming to the White Tiger Battalion was to hide here for a while. At least in his mind, the White Tiger Battalion seemed to be a perfect place to hide from Marquess Zhen.
This was his goal. So a few words from Sergeant He wouldn’t cause any threat to his goal, naturally, he didn’t mind that much.
After entering the horse feed mill, Qin Xiao realized this place wasn’t small either.
There were several rooms in the northeast corner, and half of the place was filled with straw and hay. He knew that these will be used as horse feed.
There were not many people working in the horse feed mill, only about seven or eight people. The majority of them were cutting the hay with small guillotine knives, and there were also three stone mills. Beside each stone mill was a mule, and there were workers leading the mules to mill the horse feed.
“Wang Wang! Come here!” Sergeant He pointed towards one of the people who was cutting straw.
A slightly fat man looked up. He was wearing a short guazi1a chinese-style unlined upper garment, similar to an a-shirt undershirt and looked like he was about twenty-four years old. He stood up and walked over, “Sergeant.”
“Teach him how to do things for a few days,” said Sergeant He a bit impatiently, “Now you guys have another helper, I don’t want to see any more shortage in horse feed.” He looked at Qin Xiao, “Go learn how to cut hays and straws with them.”
Qin Xiao bowed, “Yes, sir!”
Sergeant He did not seem to be interested in continuing talking to Qin Xiao. He just nodded and quickly went to the room in the corner.
There were four people sitting there cutting the hay, each of them had a guillotine knife in hand. Beside them were several bamboo baskets used to place the ones that are cut already.
”I’m Wang Wang, no, I’m Guo Wang, but people here call me Wang Wang.” The man scratched his head, “You can call me that too if you want.”
Qin Xiao smiled and said, “I’m Wang Xiao.”
“You can just start off by doing what I’m doing, I don’t know too much,” continued Guo Wang.
Another worker on the side smiled. “Wang Wang, it seems like the sergeant thinks you’re worthy, even giving you an apprentice. It looks like the sergeant is satisfied with your skills.”
“Yeah, Wang Wang, congratulations on your new apprentice,” said another worker with a square face. “Hehe, shouldn’t you treat everyone to a good meal to celebrate?”
“I can’t, I have to send the military pay home. I haven’t done so in a few months already,” said Guo Wang Quickly.
“Looks like you don’t treat us like brothers anymore.” The man sighed, “It’s such a happy event, how can you get along with people if you’re so stingy?”
Guo Wang’s face turned red as he said anxiously, “No no, I treat you guys like my brothers, it’s just…” He suddenly wasn’t sure what to say anymore.
Although Qin Xiao had just arrived, he already understood the general situation here.
Guo Wang was called by others as ‘Wang Wang’. Although he didn’t seem to like it, he still responds whenever being called like that. This showed that this person was honest and even a bit cowardly. Although he was tall and looked strong, he was actually weak inside.
At this time, the others wanted to use himself as an excuse for him to let Guo Wang invite them to a meal. From the way Guo Wang replied, it seemed like this happened quite often before.
“I’m not really an apprentice,” said Qin Xiao with a smile. “But of course, if you guys really want to celebrate, shouldn’t you all be preparing a gift?” He looked at Guo Wang and continued, “Brother Wang, if everyone gives you a gift, then at that time, you really should invite them to a meal.”
Guo Wang quickly nodded. “Yes, of course, of course.”
The other three looked at each other. They didn’t expect Qin Xiao to stand up for Guo Wang. Then, the man with the square face said, “You just came here, and you dare talk like that. Didn’t someone tell you to follow the rules around here?”
Qin Xiao sighed in his head. These aren’t even normal cavalry and are only suitable to work in this horse feed mill – the lowest position available in all of the White Tiger Battalion. They still talk like that to their friend even though they’re in such a low position? The evil of human nature is indeed unpredictable.
When the person said “rules”, Qin Xiao didn’t find it funny, he felt pitiful for this guy.
“Brother Guo, how should I cut? Please let me know,” Qin Xiao ignored the person and walked to Guo Wang’s guillotine knife, “I’m new, please tell me if I am doing anything wrong.”
While he was standing there, he already watched Guo Wang cut the hay. The general movements were quite easy, in fact, there were no techniques required at all for such a job. It was nothing more than ‘practice makes perfect.’
He grabbed a handful of hay and repeated what Guo Wang was doing. Guo Wang scratched his hand and said, “You’re pretty good, but try to cut them shorter, so that the horses have an easier time chewing them.”
“Okay,” Qin Xiao nodded.
Seeing that Qin Xiao not only ignored himself but didn’t even bother to look at him, the man who just spoke sank his face. As he stood up, the other two workers’ faces also changed. The person walked up to Qin Xiao and placed a hand on Qin Xiao’s shoulder, “I’m talking to you, didn’t you hear me?” He asked coldly.
“I heard it, so what?” Qin Xiao looked at him.
“If you heard it, then why didn’t you reply?” The man sneered, “I asked if you know the rules here.”
“I’m new here, of course I don’t know.” Qin Xiao replied with a faint smile, “So I’m looking forward to learning a lot from everyone here.”
Guo Wang realized that something was about to go wrong and quickly said, “Brother Hong, you don’t have to do this. He just came here and he doesn’t know.” Qin Xiao wasn’t even worried and he already started to sweat worriedly.
“Did I ask you?” The man with the square face, Hong, glanced at Guo Wang, “Fuck off.”
Guo Wang wasn’t sure what to do for a second. His face turned red again, but didn’t dare to say anything.
“If you want to learn so bad, I’ll teach you the rules here,” Hong held Qin Xiao’s shoulder. “While we were talking just now, you shouldn’t have interrupted. Since you did something wrong, you should be punished.”
“What will the punishment be?”
“Slap your own face,” said Brother Hong fiercely, “Slap yourself twenty times and you will remember next time.”
Qin Xiao stared at Hong’s eyes.
He didn’t want to cause any trouble, not to mention that there shouldn’t be any trouble just after he entered the battalion.
But he wasn’t afraid of things either.
Moreover, he knew very well that this Brother Hong was not a good person. If he stepped back the first time, not only would it make Hong feel more superior, he would also do it more frequently in the future.
There were a lot of troubles in this world that were caused by a person who didn’t fight back the first time. It would make the other person more arrogant and ultimately lead to even more trouble.
Qin Xiao understood this very well. He knew that if wanted to stay in the feed mill and not be bullied by these people in the future, he must stand up for himself this first time.
If there was a first, there would be a second.
“Did you hear what I just said?” Seeing that Qin Xiao was just staring at himself and didn’t have any intention to start slapping, Hong’s face turned even more ugly.
Qin Xiao sighed and said, “I heard it.”
“Then start slapping yourself,” Hong said as he clenched a fist.
Qin Xiao stared into Hong’s eyes. He didn’t say anything, but his face also sank already and those clear eyes of his suddenly looked like cold blades.
Hong was taken back for a second.
Qin Xiao’s eyes actually scared him a little bit. He didn’t expect a young and weak guy like him could have such a glare.
Of course, what else he didn’t know was that not too long ago, this man assassinated someone without any hesitation. Perhaps before the killing, he just had the urge of a young man to help Meng Zimo, but after that incident, he was no longer afraid of killing.
Once a person killed someone else, he would never be like before. A fierce face would be enough to make others scared.
Although the White Tiger Battalion was the most powerful force under Yuwen Family’s control, not every cavalry here killed someone before.
And Hong, who had been working in the feed mill, definitely hadn’t killed anyone before.
Hong was not about to let this matter go though. After all, there were so many people watching. If he chickened out, then it would be hard for him to continue staying in this feed mill. He gritted his teeth and then punched towards Qin Xiao’s face.
Although he didn’t look as strong as the other cavalries, his body was still much bigger and stronger than Qin Xiao’s. His punch was also full of power. He needed to teach this kid a lesson today under everyone’s eyes.
“Wait!” Guo Wang saw Brother Hong’s fist and screamed.
As the fist was about to land on Qin Xiao’s face, everyone else was just as shocked. However, in the blink of an eye, Qin Xiao had already reached forward and grabbed onto Hong’s wrist.
Brother Hong’s fist stopped in midair.
His face immediately changed again. He wanted to draw his hand back, but Qin Xiao’s hand was like an iron trap. He pulled hard trying to get his hand free, as he felt a sudden pain coming from his wrist.
“I can easily crush your bones,” Qin Xiao leaned towards Hong’s ears, “But if I do so, you can’t work here anymore. I’ll let you go this time, but if this happens again, I’ll make you regret it.” He suddenly released his hand and Hong stumbled back a few steps. Hong sat on the ground, lifted his hand, and looked at the deep red mark on his hand. It was left there from only one of Qin Xiao’s hands.
Edited by: Eyljee
- 1a chinese-style unlined upper garment, similar to an a-shirt undershirt