In mid-September, the weather in Longcheng is still a bit hot, and people feel very stuffy every night when there is no wind.
At around eight o'clock in the evening, the Inner Harbor in Zhanan District was brightly lit, with lush greenery and sparkling beaches. There was a bustling crowd near the tourist attractions, and stalls selling souvenirs and Chinese snacks were everywhere.
Several old cars were parked at the port boarding area. Bai Hongbo led a large group of people down, talked and laughed, and boarded a small cruise ship. He told the driver, "Go to Baole No. 1."
Longcheng is close to the sea and has a special political environment, so many night entertainment venues have come up with new ideas. For example, there are many flower boats in the inner harbor of Zhanan District. The girls inside are charming and provide good service. They can sing and drink with guests, and they can also enjoy the sea breeze, watch the night view, and talk about life with guests.
Of course, the current flower boats are different from the old ones. The decoration and settings inside are very modern, and some large cruise ships can even provide services such as bathing and sauna. However, there are few such large-scale ones in Zhannan District. After all, it is still a relatively remote area in Longcheng, and the economy is relatively backward, so the consumption is naturally lower.
Although Bai Hongbo looked like a prodigal son, he was not a super rich second generation. If you really asked him to go to the best cruise ship in Longkou to entertain guests, he probably couldn't afford it. He might even have to work as a gigolo for two days to pay back the money. So everyone didn't kill him. They chose a relatively friendly place to have some fun and improve their relationship.
…
After everyone boarded the Baole No. 1, Su Tianyu was completely amazed. The girls on the cruise ship were not in the workroom, waiting to choose a station, but wandering around on the deck. There were cold snacks and free drinks on each deck. The girls listened to music, chatted in groups of three or five, or sat alone on high chairs. If a guest passed by, they would just point to the other person's number plate if they liked him.
Each station is two hours long, and the station fee is divided into two levels of 100 and 200 yuan. You must open a package when boarding the ship, and the minimum consumption is more than 500 yuan. In short, this is definitely not low for the current consumption level in Longcheng. After all, this is a place for entertainment.
"Choose whatever you want, brothers. I'll cover all expenses tonight." Bai Hongbo called everyone and pointed at a familiar mama-san and said, "Find me a sister who has experience in rehabilitation training. I just recovered from my injury and need someone with skills."
"Okay, Brother Bai!"
"Your little mouth is so sweet. Come here, let me take the temperature of your mouth." Bai Hongbo hooked his finger.
"Haha, okay, wait a moment, I'll call someone over first." Mama Sang responded hypocritically and called the girls around to come over to choose someone.
Since they are out to have fun, everyone must be here for fun. Even Kong Zhenghui, a dull guy, has chosen a sexy girl, not to mention Su Tianbei, Su Tianyu and other good young people who love socializing.
After everyone selected the girls, they entered the box on the third deck together, opened the windows, faced the sea breeze, and looked at the brightly lit night view of the inner harbor of Zhanan District. The emotions in their hearts unconsciously relaxed.
Bai Hongbo is a gold belt in the nightclub. He is not only sexy but also very good at creating a good atmosphere. After two rounds of games, everyone was drunk and the girls in the room also dressed more lightly.
Su Tianyu also had a lot of fun. After all, he was an energetic young man. Before returning to Longcheng, he had been in the army. His life was hard and he had little contact with the opposite sex. Now that someone was paying for him to socialize, he naturally had to give face to the person who treated him.
In fact, Su Tianyu looks very sunny and optimistic in his daily life, and doesn't look like a wolf cub who can fight with people like Lu Feng.
Inside the house, people were toasting each other and the atmosphere was cheerful. Bai Hongbo was playing some tune and was already standing at the door, dancing wildly while hugging the girl.
The eldest brother Su Tiannan's alcohol tolerance was average. After playing for a while, he felt a slight headache and chest tightness. Then he took the cigarette box and patted Tianyu's leg: "Come on, accompany me out to smoke a cigarette."
"Oh, okay." Su Tianyu nodded with a smile, then walked out with his elder brother.
Most of the cabins on the ship have independent doors, which you can push open to enter the deck and stand next to the guardrail to enjoy the beautiful night view of the inner harbor.
The two Su brothers walked out together, stood beside the guardrail and each lit a cigarette.
"Haha, I see you and Bai Hongbo get along well." Su Tiannan asked with a smile: "It seems that you are very adaptable to the environment of Dragon City."
"No, although Bai Hongbo looks cunning and selfish, he is actually a very honest person." Su Tianyu replied softly, "He is easier to get along with than Kong Zhenghui.
"Yes, he likes your third sister," Su Tiannan replied with bared teeth, "but your third sister said he is a slut and doesn't bother to pay attention to him."
"Haha, there's nothing wrong with that!"
"Xiao Yu, you helped with a lot of ideas for this family matter." Su Tiannan smoked a cigarette, looked at the sea and said, "You are more capable and courageous than I thought. In fact... I was really scared after you fired the gun that night. Once this matter is found out, it will be very troublesome."
Su Tianyu paused and replied: "Do you know why I dare to shoot?"
"Why?"
"If Wang Daolin wasn't interested in the dirty gang's business, then he wouldn't have come out to meet you every time I asked you to make an appointment with him." Su Tianyu chuckled and said, "No one is a saint. In this era, how many officials don't love money?"
"That makes sense." Su Tiannan nodded slowly, looking his brother up and down, and said, "Sixth son, listen to me and stay at home to work in the future. Your second uncle is old, and sooner or later it will be up to us brothers to run this family business. Let's stick together and move forward together, and we can live a good life in the future."
"Haha." Su Tianyu looked at him and smiled.
"… How about staying?" Su Tiannan continued to persuade him, "I don't have many connections in the civil service exam, and I'm not sure I can achieve anything. Look at many employees in the unit, they are in their thirties or forties, earning a salary of a few hundred yuan, and they can't get promoted or demoted, which is quite uncomfortable."
Su Tianyu slowly put his arms on the railing, looked down at the surrounding night scene and said: "Brother, let me tell you a story."
"What story?" Su Tiannan asked.
"When I was 17, my father sent me to join the army. At that time, my family had strong connections, and my personal development plan had already been arranged. I spent a year in the army, and when I was old enough, I applied directly for the military academy, and then I could serve in the grassroots units. After a few years, if I was lucky, I could quickly get the position of a colonel and staff officer." Su Tianyu said softly, "I was really naive at that time."
Su Tiannan listened quietly without interrupting.
Su Tianyu stared at the sea with deep eyes, and continued in a low voice: "There is one thing that I remember very clearly. The day after my 17th birthday, I followed the usual practice of patrolling with my classmates. At that time, our troops had the task of coastal defense. You also know that since the failure of the war against China in District 1, the political struggle within District 1 has been very serious. The republican faction suppressed the civil faction, and the secret struggle was fierce, which led to the subsequent war of independence. So during that period, many of our coastal troops had the task of coastal defense."
"Yes, I know." Su Tiannan nodded.
"When I was in that company, I had a very good friend named He Yudong. He was about the same age as me and was from Shandong. His family also fled overseas with the warlord Lao Zhou after the Unification War." Su Tiannan narrated softly, "I love reading, and he loves reading too. We have similar interests, so we have a very good relationship. That day we were on a helicopter to perform a coastal defense mission until around three o'clock in the afternoon. It was almost time to change shifts, but the battalion headquarters suddenly received a distress call saying that a cruise ship belonging to District 1 was bombarded by private armed forces in the planning area in the sea not far from our patrol area. There were more than a thousand people on board, as well as cargo, so the battalion headquarters sent us to rescue them first. There were a total of twelve people in our two helicopters, including the pilot and co-pilot."
"Yeah." Su Tiannan listened carefully.
"We quickly flew to the location of the cruise ship, but from the bird's-eye view, I knew the ship was doomed. The stern of the hull suffered a devastating blow, and the hull had no power. The stern broke the keel when it sank, and the whole ship had split in the middle." Su Tianyu frowned unconsciously when he said this: "Everyone on the ship was calling for help at the bow, and the crowd was boiling and desperate. When our company commander saw this situation, he knew in his heart that he would definitely not be able to save everyone, and the stern had already sunk, and the lifeboats on the ship were not enough. There were no other patrol troops around, so he immediately reported to the higher-ups, saying that there were too many people on the ship and we couldn't save them, what should we do! But do you know what the higher-ups said?"
Su Tiannan shook his head.
"The higher-ups immediately drew up a list and told the company commander to rescue people according to the list. I've seen the list, and there are probably less than 40 people, almost all of whom are Chinese officers or wealthy businessmen from District 1." Su Tianyu paused, lowered his head and continued, "Soldiers must obey orders. We have to do whatever the company commander tells us to do, so we immediately used the lock to lower the boat, guard the bow, and let the people on the list get on the plane first. But this made the ordinary workers, ordinary people, and staff on the boat all quit. They questioned us like crazy, why didn't we take them with us? Even if the helicopter couldn't accommodate so many people, why didn't we let the elderly, the weak, women and children go first? The company commander couldn't give an explanation, so he could only fire a warning shot. But at that time, people were in desperate situations, so how could they be afraid of you having a gun in your hand? More than a hundred people got angry and knocked down two of our soldiers."
Su Tiannan also frowned when he heard this.
"The company commander had no choice but to ask for instructions again, but the superiors said that we soldiers should stay on the ship to maintain order and wait for follow-up rescue, and give the vacant positions to the elderly, women and children on the ship... to appease the public anger!" Su Tianyu lowered his head and gritted his teeth and said, "I was very scared at that time. I was afraid that the company commander would leave me behind. But after he assigned the task, he told me alone to get on the plane first and not to worry about the rest. I was very happy and was about to get on the helicopter by pulling the lock rope, but at this time... my best friend He Yudong grabbed my wrist. He... he asked me... I would die if I stayed, right? He asked me to help him plead with the company commander and take him on the plane... But I was scared at that time. I was afraid that if I didn't leave now, I wouldn't be able to get on."
"Then what?" Su Tiannan asked.
"Then I boarded the plane and saw He Yudong staring at me with despair. When the plane flew away, I saw the cruise ship sinking at a speed visible to the naked eye." Su Tianyu turned his head, raised his finger with red eyes and said, "There are more than a thousand people. The survival rate of those on the list is 100%, and the survival rate of ordinary people is about 10%. My friend He Yudong, who loved to study, didn't even have a body found in the end. In the end, the matter was suppressed by the higher-ups and was never exposed in the media."
Su Tiannan took a deep puff of his cigarette.
"We are both soldiers, why can I leave?" Su Tianyu raised his arm, pointed at the line between the sea and the sky and said, "Because my father is a senior colonel and staff officer of that army, and He Yudong is just an ordinary soldier's descendant. He and I have a very good relationship, but there is a wall between us that no one can see. Brother, what do you think that wall is?"
Su Tiannan already understood what Su Tianyu wanted to say.
"It's class, it's stratum!" Su Tianyu squinted his eyes, looking at the rolling waves on the sea under the influence of alcohol: "In such an era, an era full of opportunities, ordinary people may have a little chance to break through the wall, but relying on the dirty gangs is obviously not possible. Brother, I am different from you. I can't get over my father's affairs... So, I have to do everything I can to stand up again! Live up to myself, and live up to this era. My future is not in this family business, I believe you are the same, right?"
…
Late at night, Wang Daolin's car stopped at the gate of the Su family compound. The skinny old man in the flowered shirt who had been beaten in the detention center walked into the compound and shouted, "I'm back, where are the kids?!"
The third sister came out and complained directly: "They all went out to have fun."
"Fuck!" The old man cursed in a loud voice.