Wei Jie
Chapter 1 The Su Family of Dragon City
In the New Era Year 62, after more than forty years of the apocalyptic mini ice age, the establishment of political zones, resource wars, and warlord skirmishes, the world finally welcomed the revival of the land, a time of spring warmth and blossoming flowers.
From Year 42 to 62, the major regional governments began large-scale consolidation of ungoverned territories awaiting planning, reorganized resources, and fully entered the recovery phase. These twenty years were also known as the "Golden Twenty Years."
This is a magnificent era of new districts rising one after another, politics taking the stage, capital putting on a show, ambitious figures emerging everywhere, and heroes, powerful figures, and treacherous commoners rising together!
...
August, Year 62, world map, northern Dragon City.
A light rail train pulled into the Dragon City Zha Nan District train station. The bustling platform was composed of red and yellow Chinese-style buildings. Nine dragon-shaped sculptures lay horizontally on the platform's dome. Above the main building was a plaque that read, "Welcome to the Dragon City Chinese Living Special Zone."
The arrival announcement sounded in the train, and the doors of each carriage slowly opened, with crowds of tourists pouring onto the platform. A young man of twenty-one or twenty-two, with a camouflage backpack, stood in the center of the crowd, taking out his phone from his pocket.
The young man was about 1.78 meters tall, dressed in loose sportswear, looking fit, neither fat nor thin, wearing black-rimmed glasses, with delicate features, sunny and handsome, just like a student who had just graduated from university and was traveling.
The young man's name was Su Tianyu. His father was once a senior political staff officer in the First District's Chinese Expeditionary Force, but was sentenced to life imprisonment four years ago for political reasons. Three months after the verdict, Su's father died unexpectedly in prison, and half a year later, Su's mother, who was already in poor health, died of a sudden illness in the hospital, and the Su family fell into decline from then on.
Su Tianyu came to Dragon City this time, firstly to seek refuge with his second uncle's family, and secondly to prepare to apply for a civil service position here.
Inside the train station, Su Tianyu was about to dial the phone when his right shoulder was suddenly patted.
"Little Liu Zi!" A hearty and familiar voice rang in Su Tianyu's ear. He turned his head sharply and saw a young man in a white cotton short-sleeved shirt, dark and strong, with a buzz cut, appearing in front of him.
"Second Brother!" Su Tianyu called out with a smile.
The dark and tough young man in front of him, holding the latest model of mobile phone in his right hand, looked Su Tianyu up and down, then punched him on the shoulder: "Not bad, Gou Liu Zi, you've developed well in the four years we haven't met. I think you could even work at Charming Orient. It's just that your physique looks a bit weak, not suitable for entertaining older clients."
"You're wrong, I've always preferred to win with technique," Su Tianyu adjusted his glasses and replied modestly.
The young man who was teasing Su Tianyu was called Su Tianbei, the second son of the second uncle's family. From his words, it could be seen that this person was somewhat uninhibited, and could be said to be a progressive young man with rich life experience in all aspects.
"Oh, you're doing well now, you can even answer that? Dad always said that you were studious since you were a kid, better than all of us. Now after this exchange... You've already reached the point of winning with technique? Indeed better than me!"
"Haha!"
"Okay, I'll find a place to see your technique when I have time." Su Tianbei affectionately put his arm around his little brother's neck and said, "Let's go, let's go home first."
"Why didn't my elder brother and the others come?" Su Tianyu asked curiously as he walked.
Hearing this, Su Tianbei frowned unconsciously: "Something happened at home, he's in the city."
"What happened?" Su Tianyu pressed.
"Let's talk about it in the car later." Su Tianbei sighed, and the joy of welcoming his brother had unknowingly disappeared from his face.
...
The two brothers passed through the exit passage and entered the parking lot. All around were people selling local souvenirs, as well as counterfeit goods and fake watches. The crowd was bustling and looked very lively.
Su Tianyu felt that his cousin's reaction just now was a little strange. After putting down his bag in the car, he immediately asked, "What exactly happened at home?"
Su Tianbei started the car and drove out of the parking lot, while whispering: "Your second uncle was arrested for smuggling guns, and the situation is not optimistic... Eldest brother is working on it in the city."
"Second uncle smuggling guns?!" Su Tianyu was very surprised: "Does our family even touch that stuff?"
"Touch my ass! Are we tired of living, smuggling guns? Our family was framed." Su Tianbei gritted his teeth and cursed at this point: "A new deputy director came to the Environmental Sanitation Management Committee, he's from Changqing Company. As soon as this bastard came, he wanted to re-divide the territory and mess with our business. Our old man sensed the intention of the higher-ups and was not convinced, so he united with the other three dirty gangs in Zha Nan District, wanting to make some noise and resist. But I didn't expect the other side to move first, setting up a trap to get our old man and the other three leaders all caught."
"Framed?" Su Tianyu asked.
"Yes, two boxes of munitions were found in our garbage storage area." Su Tianbei said in a low voice: "Dragon City is very strict with firearms management. If these two boxes of goods are confirmed, the old man might be shot."
"What did our eldest brother say?" Su Tianyu immediately asked.
"He's also numb now. The Environmental Sanitation Management Committee is holding us accountable, wanting to say that we violated the contract. The police department is not only interrogating the old man, but also wants to drag the case onto our eldest brother, and Changqing Company is also looking for a chance to seize our territory." Su Tianbei sighed: "The situation at home is really not good now, but you don't need to worry about it, we can solve it. You just came back, so just adapt to the environment first...!"
Due to some historical reasons, Dragon City is a major city where overseas Chinese gather under the leadership of the European Union, and its political situation is very special. In addition, Dragon City has less than twenty years of history and is in a stage of barbaric development. It can be said that there is gold and opportunity everywhere, so the government managing Dragon City is also crossing the river by feeling the stones.
Corruption is rampant, regional populations gather, and all kinds of company-named gangs, "chambers of commerce," "business organizations," political groups, and military forces are firmly controlling all walks of life. Today someone rises and commands; tomorrow they may lose everything in one wrong move. Its political structure is a bit like a certain coastal city in the fifties and sixties before the Common Era, or the Republic of China in the twenties and thirties, but the living conditions are high-tech, low-life, the rich die rich, and the poor die poor.
The daily garbage disposal in Dragon City is the responsibility of the Environmental Sanitation Management Committee, which contracts all aspects of garbage disposal to private companies according to region. These companies are all composed of people with strong gang characteristics.
There are more than 20,000 garbage disposal workers in Dragon City. Because they are all tightly knit organizations, full of Jianghu (martial arts world) characteristics, and often have conflicts due to territory division, they are collectively referred to as—the 20,000 Dirty Gangs.
The Su family in Dragon City is a small group in the dirty gang, responsible for garbage disposal in some areas of Zha Nan District, with 800 dirty gang workers under their command.
In the car, Su Tianyu heard that his second uncle was imprisoned, and did not show excessive worry or panic: "Before second uncle had the accident, didn't he leave any words?"
"Before he went in, he said that he would rather die than give up the territory, but now... alas, I can't explain this to you clearly in a few words. You just came and don't understand the situation here, so don't worry about it." Su Tianbei frowned slightly and replied: "Damn it, if Changqing Company really wants to kill us all, I will definitely not let them have a good time! Don't worry, our family knows what to do."
If someone else heard that something happened to their family, they might be very anxious and keep asking about the various reasons and details, but Su Tianyu would not. He would not express his emotions on his face in some matters.
The joy of family reunion was diluted by the sudden accident in the Su family. The two brothers sat in the car and could not be happy, and returned home in a slightly dull atmosphere.
At the end of Tianhe Road in Zha Nan District, there is a courtyard covering an area of about 1,400 square meters. The overall architecture is mainly Chinese style. There are many sundries and dilapidated vehicles in the courtyard, and it looks full of everyday life, like a large compound with a large family.
This is the residence of the Su family, where more than fifty members of the second uncle's family live.
Su Tianyu is back, and all the old and young members of the family came out to greet him, especially a hot girl with refined short hair, who was very lively and happy: "Gou Liu Zi, did you miss your third sister?!"
"I miss you so much, third sister!" Su Tianyu looked at his cousin and greeted her with a smile.
"Second brother, second brother!"
At this moment, a young man of seventeen or eighteen ran out of the courtyard, shouting slightly flusteredly: "Something happened in the storage area. Changqing Company sent more than seventy people to talk to us about the receiving area. Xiao Wei called me and said that their people are all carrying weapons."
At the gate of the Su family, everyone looked into the courtyard when they heard this.
Quiet, after a brief silence, Su Tianbei directly waved his hand and roared: "If we can't hold the cargo area today, Changqing Company will demolish our house tomorrow! All the men in the Su family, grab your weapons and follow me!!"
"Second, calm down," Third Sister immediately shouted, "Wait for eldest brother to come back."
"What are we waiting for! If we can't hold the cargo area, all eight hundred workers will definitely run away tomorrow." Su Tianbei turned and walked towards the car: "Everyone grab your stuff and follow me to the cargo yard!"