Chapter 1 The Rendezvous

It was a little after two in the morning when Yu Mingyuan, reeking of alcohol, returned home. As soon as he turned on the lights, he saw Su Tianyu sprawled on the sofa, watching a movie.

"Still not asleep?" Yu Mingyuan asked, surprised.

"How could I sleep until you got back?" Su Tianyu sat up immediately and asked, "How did it go with that strapping woman?"

Yu Mingyuan chuckled, sitting down next to Su Tianyu and reaching out to stroke his hairy leg. "What's this? Jealous?"

"Get your damn hand off me. You're giving me goosebumps." Su Tianyu shuddered. "Stop messing around. I've been waiting half the night. Get to the point."

Yu Mingyuan took out a cigarette, lit it, and said with a smile, "I had a very productive day. I talked a lot with Xiaorou...."

"Damn, you call that she-hulk Xiaorou?" Su Tianyu interjected, speechless.

"What can I do? That's her name, Wen Xiaorou." Yu Mingyuan took a drag on his cigarette and continued, "Actually, the garrison is also in a tough spot since Order Number One was issued."

"Because they sold a lot of private goods to units like the Chi Army, independent armed forces, and the official army, right?" Su Tianyu immediately understood.

"Right. But now that Order Number One has been issued, the garrison doesn't dare sell anymore." Yu Mingyuan nodded. "Before, their troops would report equipment losses to the higher-ups every three to five months, and the military factories would produce some extra. They'd cobble things together and sell it all to the south. But now that the order has come down, they don't dare do it anymore. It's a significant loss. Everyone's used to earning extra money, so it's hard for them to accept being cut off like that. So Xiaorou told me that the garrison's upper echelons are trying to figure out a solution."

"That's good news. They might cooperate with You Yifan."

"Yes, I tentatively mentioned it to Xiaorou today, and she wasn't opposed to it." Yu Mingyuan said softly, "I'll arrange to talk to her dad in the next couple of days, and then have Xiaorou whisper in his ear. I have a feeling this will work out."

"Can Xiaorou even talk to her dad about work?" Su Tianyu was curious.

"What do you think? Xiaorou is a proper military academy graduate. It's not as good as your school, but she's still highly educated. She works in the garrison headquarters now. Her dad thinks highly of her." Yu Mingyuan explained softly.

Hearing this, Su Tianyu felt much better. "Looks like you had a very productive night!"

"Yeah, this drinking session wasn't a waste."

"Hey, so after you two finished drinking, it was over? No... no practicing offense and defense?"

"Damn, she was on her period. I narrowly escaped." Yu Mingyuan tilted his head, revealing a love bite on his neck. "But she was pretty drunk too. We got pretty wild in the car. Look at what she did to me. I almost called the cops...!"

Su Tianyu looked at the love bite on Yu Mingyuan's neck and nodded repeatedly. "Nicely done."

"Damn, she can really drink. A whole bottle of red wine didn't faze her. I had to go to the bathroom and throw up three times." Yu Mingyuan got up and said, "Let's go to sleep. I need to rest my body and my neck...."

"Sleep together? I can take the burden and give you some purple over there too."

"Get lost, you idiot!"

After a few more words, they went back to their respective rooms to sleep.

...

Around 11:30 a.m. the next morning, a lot of unfamiliar faces appeared on the dirt-house streets of Zha Nan District, the poorest area. Many small hotels and eateries were also fully booked.

This was because a large number of laborers had returned and, lacking temporary housing, had chosen the cheapest places to stay.

The bustling streets were filled with people, and many real estate agencies were packed. People were renting houses, looking at shops, and it was a lively scene.

On the south side of the street, Xiao Yucheng led his six or seven-year-old son off a jitney.

"Daddy... I'm a little hungry." The son looked fair and clean, not very tall, and thin. He also wore a mask over his small face.

Xiao Yucheng turned and looked around. "There are too many people here. The restaurants are full of bacteria. Let's buy two meat pies for you to eat first, and I'll cook for you when we get home."

"Okay." The son nodded obediently, holding his father's big hand.

The father and son walked to a snack stall. Xiao Yucheng called out to the owner, "Give me two beef pies."

"Want some lamb soup?"

"No, just two pies." Seeing the crowd at the snack stall, Xiao Yucheng deliberately pulled his masked son to the side, away from the passing customers.

The little boy was taciturn and seemed a bit shy, his big eyes looking around with curiosity. He was born in Sinaloa and had never been to Dragon City, nor had he seen so many complete buildings and houses.

While waiting for the pies, Xiao Yucheng's phone rang. He stood outside the stall and pressed the answer button. "Hello, what's wrong, Brother Wang?"

"Are you back?"

"Ah, I've already arrived in Dragon City."

"I have an urgent matter to tell you!" The other person said quickly, "I've just contacted a new batch of goods. A large quantity. Grain, medicine, and newly made military uniforms. But with Order Number One, all the suppliers want full payment, or they won't release the goods. I don't have enough money right now. Hey, why don't you buy a share? We'll secure the goods first, and I'll find someone to haul them to Casaro. We can sell them in three to five days. We'll split the profits fifty-fifty. What do you say?"

Before Order Number One came down, these border trade laborers had received some advance notice, especially people like Xiao Yucheng who had good relations with the Chi Army. They knew the situation about half a month in advance, so some had already sold off their stockpiles.

After listening to the other person's words, Xiao Yucheng immediately replied, "Forget it. The order has already been issued. I won't do it. It would be too much trouble if I got caught."

"Damn, they're already hoarding goods over there, adding three or four times the price. The order just came down. Who's going to catch you?! This one trip is enough for you to earn half a year's worth of work." The other person tried to persuade him again. "Why don't you partner with me on this?"

"No, I really don't want to do it anymore."

"Ah, okay then. I'll ask someone else."

"Alright."

They chatted for a few more sentences and ended the call. Xiao Yucheng turned to look at his child and smiled. "Just wait a little longer. It'll be ready soon."

As the father and son continued to wait, two men in their thirties walked over from not far away. One of them was smoking, and had a noticeable scar on his left face.

"Hey, brother, you just got back from the south?" The scarred man took the initiative to strike up a conversation, asking Xiao Yucheng.

Xiao Yucheng turned around. "Yeah, what's up?"

"Which batch of laborers left? Do you have a hukou (household registration)?" The other person asked.

"What's it to you?" Xiao Yucheng replied cautiously.

The other person glanced around, secretly pulled out a business card from his pocket. "I handle hukou applications. If you don't have a Dragon City hukou, you can come to me. Thirty thousand dollars, processed the same day, registered in a week."

Xiao Yucheng looked at the other person in disbelief. "When we left, we all registered for hukou. Now that we've been recalled, according to the original employment contract, we should be registered immediately."

"If everything was so easy to do, could I still be in this business?!" The other person replied sarcastically, "The leaders who sent you people away, they've long since disappeared. Now it's a new team with new rules. How can it be so easy to get registered? Look at how many unregistered people there are at the docks. Even the associations can't solve their problems, let alone you."

"I'm not doing it." Xiao Yucheng waved his hand directly.

"Take the business card. You can call me if you need anything." The other person shoved the business card into Xiao Yucheng's hand and turned to leave.

Xiao Yucheng looked at the other person suspiciously. Seeing that they were only talking to laborers, he couldn't help but feel a little anxious.

A little while later, the pies were ready. Xiao Yucheng left with his son, and made some calls to several friends, asking about the hukou situation. They almost all said the same thing: it's not easy to handle.

...

Two days later.

Feeling that the time was right, Yu Mingyuan brought Su Tianyu to see Wen Xiaorou's father, Wen Zhanbo.

At the same time, at the Chi Army base, Zhao Weihu sat in the conference room, his face grave as he said to the logistics unit cadres, "We're buying as much as we can get right now, no limits! I've already spoken with the official army. If we don't have enough money, they'll supplement it for us."