Chapter 107: Hong Kong Story (Part 2)

  A seaside fishing spot in Victoria Bay under the radiant sunshine. Gao Yang, wearing a wide-brimmed sun hat and biting on an iced coffee straw, stared blankly at the turbulent sea in front of him.

  From morning till now, Gao Yang has been fishing here and hasn't caught a single fish! Yuan Dian had also asked if he needed help. Gao Yang disdainfully said no need! It's just leisure and entertainment, if you have to cheat at this too, then what's the fun in life?

  Gao Yang is really not interested in fishing, his personality actually belongs to the more introverted type. He is very close to people he knows well and likes to show off his generosity, not being particular about details, and has a somewhat lively personality. However, asking him to sit still for a long time staring at the float is truly forcing him.

  Yesterday I accompanied my father out to sea and today came here, mainly just to be able to spend a little more time with my father, even if it feels awkward.

  Ever since going to university in Beijing, Gaoyang hasn't really spent time with his parents. Rarely having the chance to return home for holidays, most of the time was also spent accompanying his girlfriend. Now thinking back, it's truly filled with regret.

  Just as Gao Yang was getting restless, a sudden ringtone from his mobile phone sounded. Gao Yang, who was in a daze, came back to himself and reached out to take the call from Stock.

  "What's wrong?" Gao Yang asked calmly after answering the phone.

  "Sir, this morning a strange customer came here and expressed his desire to share some of the mahjong hall's profits for free. After I refused him, that customer started playing cards in your mahjong hall and has won a lot of money so far." Stock said in a low voice.

  "Huh?" Gao Yang was taken aback for a moment, his face stiffening. "Collecting protection fees?" Gao Yang's first reaction was actually happiness!

  "Covering his phone, he turned to his father who was concentrating on fishing and said, 'Dad, I have something to take care of, I'll head back first, you take your time, no rush.'"

  "Go! Go!" Dad said with his eyes fixed on the float, holding a fishing rod in both hands and wearing a sun hat, without turning his head.

  Gao Yang silently pouted, his face a picture of defeat. He stood up and handed the fishing rod to his life assistant standing beside him. Walking over to the bodyguards, he seriously instructed them, "Take good care of my father, you understand?"

  "Yes, boss!"

  Less than ten minutes after getting on the bus, they arrived in front of the mahjong hall on Yihe Street that Si Tuoke had bought.

  I tidied up my clothes and stepped into the mahjong hall. As soon as I entered, I saw a large crowd of people surrounding a mahjong table, packed so tightly that it was impossible to see what was going on inside.

  "Sir!" Stock hastened to Gao Yang's side and bowed slightly.

  Gaoyang nodded slightly towards the crowd and asked, "What's going on?"

  "Sir, according to the staff here, in Hong Kong's mahjong halls, there is a special type of game where the hall staff play with customers. Unless it's closing time, this type of game cannot be refused. The gentleman who wanted to share the mahjong hall's profits for free sat down at that mahjong table after I rejected him."

  Stoke turned his head and glanced over there, then said "That gentleman has been winning all along!"

  "Where's my mom? How much did he win?" Gao Yang's eyes turned cold. He scanned the crowd before asking in a low voice.

  "Your mother is playing cards with a few guests in the VIP room inside and doesn't know what's going on here." Stock glanced at the crowd and continued, "Over 7 million Hong Kong dollars have been exceeded within two hours."

  "Oh." Hearing his mother playing cards in the private room, Gao Yang let out a sigh of relief and responded faintly. It was just an old swindler, after all, and Gao Yang didn't take it to heart. However, it was rare to meet a card technique master like those found only in movies, so Gao Yang treated it as a way to pass the boring time.

  He stepped forward, parted the crowd and walked in, patted the employee wearing a work uniform and motioned him to get up and make way.

  After sitting down, Gao Yang lit a cigarette and looked at Zhang Xu sitting across from him. He slightly curled up the corners of his mouth and smiled, saying "You're quite spirited, young man, what's your name?" After finishing speaking, he turned his head to look at the dealer and said "Red Hair, hurry up and deal the cards."

  Hong's face stiffened, and the hand holding the sign also froze. He turned his head, with an angry gaze at Gao Yang. Zhang Xu kicked him under the table. Although Zhang Xu was young, he had a lot of experience, and from Gao Yang's demeanor, he could tell that he wasn't a simple person.

  Zhang Xu's card-playing skills didn't rely on hiding cards. Swapping cards was a low-level manual skill. After all, with technology being so advanced now, no matter how fast your hands moved, could you be faster than high-speed cameras? This was taught to him by his master Lei Jiuzhi, who used three of his own fingers as the price.

  Zhang Xu relied on memorizing and coding cards. With his clever brain and sharp eyes, Zhang Xu could remember the positions of all the cards in his mind before the game even started. After all, a deck of mahjong only has 144 tiles. If they were playing poker, it would be even easier.

  Since following Master Lei Jiu Zhi, Zhang Xu has never tasted the taste of failure again! Although he intuitively felt that Gao Yang was very dangerous in his heart. But strong self-confidence made him not take Gao Yang seriously.

  Unfortunately, Zhang Xu met Gao Yang with a cheating device today.

  Half an hour later, "Slap!" Gaoyang slapped the card in his hand on the table. "Hu Le! Qīng Yī Sè, Mǎn Guàn."

  "Oh~~~" The crowd around let out a burst of exclamations. Zhang Xu's originally confident and handsome face had turned a pale green, with sweat constantly dripping from his forehead.

  Looking at the opposite side, puffing on a cigarette, with a cold expression, staring at Gao Yang, Zhang Xu suddenly let out a long sigh and pushed away the cards in front of him, saying "Brother, I admit defeat today. I didn't expect that this place would be hiding dragons and tigers. Little brother concedes defeat. Tonight, little brother will treat you to wine at Fulin Building to make amends!" After finishing speaking, he bowed deeply to Gao Yang.

  Gaoyang leaned back in his chair, propping up his legs and said faintly, "Your skills are quite good, unfortunately you met me! As for the wine banquet, forget it. Don't come here again in the future, do you understand?"

  "Yes!" Zhang Xu slightly lowered his head and responded with a single word. After taking a deep look at Gao Yang, he turned around and left.

  After watching his mother play a few rounds, Gaoyang left the mahjong hall. Standing on the street, looking at the bright sunshine in the afternoon, he shook his head slightly, and for a moment, he didn't know what to do next.

  In 1925, in the space of time, the officers and soldiers of the Sixth Division had already got up before dawn to pack up their tents and prepare for breakfast. The cooks on the dining car had prepared a sufficient amount of breakfast, pot after pot of rice porridge, and countless white steamed buns.

  The officers and soldiers of the Sixth Division mostly came from north of the Yangtze River, with eating habits that were a blend of northern and southern traditions, enjoying both rice and noodles.

  The officers and soldiers use their personal lunch boxes to fill with rice porridge, and the cook will add a spoonful of pickled vegetables or chili sauce according to the soldier's request. They were all purchased in bulk by Gao Yang from modern times, with a long shelf life, no retail packaging, and directly transported over in large unmarked vacuum-sealed containers.

  As for the buns, they were taken at will, and the soldiers, who came from poor backgrounds, would not waste food. After packing up their gear, the soldiers sat on the truck and finished their breakfast during the bumpy march.

  How fast can the army move all trucks? Not to mention modern ones, in 1925, American-made Dodge trucks could reach speeds of over 40 kilometers per hour on highways after using new steel wheel rims and tires!

  It's really fast in this era. Of course, comfort is out of the question, it can't be said, and it's impossible to maintain this speed all the time.

  The terrain in Fujian Province is complex, with many mountains and dense forests, and the road conditions are also extremely poor. The only slightly better ones are some highways along the coast, of course, the quality of the highways is not ideal. This is also one of the reasons why Weixi chose this route to attack.

  The truck troops of the Sixth Division on the Fujian highway had a maximum speed of about 25 kilometers per hour, but compared to Commander Sun's troops, it was already a terrifying speed.

  Judging from the current deployment of various troops, when the Sixth Division arrived in Fuzhou, most of Sun's troops had not even had time to return to their defensive positions!

  Don't look at Commander Sun shouting about his 100,000-strong army every day. When the Sixth Division attacked Fuzhou, the Fujian Army that could really rush back to the vicinity of Fuzhou was only the Second Infantry Division and some local troops originally deployed near Fuzhou.

  From Fuding to Fuzhou is just over 200 kilometers, and if everything goes smoothly, it's just a day's journey. Of course, it won't be that smooth, the truck needs to be repaired after running for a while, and refueling and so on. But arriving in Ningde should not be a problem.

  At this time, Commander Sun in Fuzhou had already made up his mind to fight to the death! The things I've worked so hard for all these years, how can I just hand them over to you? Even if I exhaust everything, I'll still have a good fight!

  General Sun chose the location of the decisive battle in Ningde, and ordered all troops from Jiangxi to advance through Xianxia Ridge towards the Jiashan line. The southern Fujian troops rushed to Xiamen Island, and General Sun, who had already gone all-in, staked everything he had. "I'll fight to the end and not leave anything for you!"

  Ningde is located at the southern foot of the Donggong Mountains, on the eastern side of the Qifeng Mountains, and borders the East China Sea to the east. The central and northern parts, as well as the central and southern parts, have two mountain ranges, the Taijiu Mountains and the Tianhu Mountains, which run in a northeast-southwest and northwest-southeast direction, forming a coastal hilly terrain.

  The mountains and hills within Ningde are mostly mountainous and hilly, which is the best place to resist the full mechanization of the Sixth Division! Once the Sixth Division reaches Fuzhou, it will be a case of internal and external troubles, and there will be no chance to fight back at that time!

  General Sun's decades of military career were not in vain. After making up his mind, the experienced General Sun quickly chose the most favorable battlefield for himself. He led the Second Division to Ningde overnight.

  As expected, the second division, which was given high hopes by Commander Sun, really arrived in Ningde before noon the next day with a night of forced march!

  Although the troops had long been scattered and completely disrupted, they did indeed arrive! Before departure, Commander Sun had already ordered the Ningde garrison to destroy all highways in the north and lay a large number of landmines, evacuating local residents.