Northern Myanmar: Bloodshed in the Golden Triangle, Have I Become a General? - Chapter 47

Chapter 47: Even the Dogs in the Village Must Act as Police Dogs

After giving orders to Zhao Bao, Zhao Renzhou found a recliner and reclined in it, squinting his eyes. He didn’t know how much time had passed when Zhao Hu returned from Yabei Town.

As soon as he entered the base, he shouted loudly, “Big Brother!”

“Big Brother!”

Zhao Renzhou was awakened by his loud voice and sat up from the recliner. “Alright, stop shouting.”

Zhao Hu hurriedly ran over. “Big Brother.”

Zhao Renzhou nodded, picked up a box of cigarettes from the nearby table, took one for himself, and tossed the rest to Zhao Hu. He lit his cigarette and placed it in his mouth. “How did it go? Did you get injured yesterday?”

Zhao Hu also lit his cigarette and took a puff. “No.”

“Dealing with those trash was too easy.”

“Moreover, that injection of yours, Big Brother…”

“It works too well.”

“You have no idea.”

“Just standing on that armored pickup.”

“With my current strength, I can handle two light machine guns without shaking a bit.”

“The armed Dian militias were nothing against me.”

“It was like mowing the lawn.”

Zhao Renzhou chuckled and gave Zhao Hu a kick. “Don’t be so arrogant.”

“What’s there to be proud of in beating up a bunch of militiamen?”

“That doesn’t even count as a battlefield.”

“In the future, our business will expand internationally.”

“When that happens, if you charge ahead like you just said,”

“You’ll be the first to die.”

“That serum only enhances physical fitness,”

“It doesn’t turn you into a superhero.”

Zhao Hu grinned, “I know, I know.”

Zhao Renzhou gave him a disdainful look and continued, “Don’t take it lightly.”

“This time, I’ve hired a few mercenary teams.”

“Zhao Bao is out picking them up.”

“They should arrive late tonight.”

“For now, put your current tasks aside.”

“You don’t need to worry about Yabei Town right now.”

“Just train here at the base for a while, then go back.”

As soon as he finished speaking,

Zhao Hu’s expression instantly turned sour. “Seriously?! Big Brother?!”

“I still have to train?!”

“Look at my physique right now!”

“You think those mercenaries can beat me?”

“I can take them all on myself!”

Zhao Renzhou replied without mincing words, “Can you stop bullets?”

Zhao Hu hesitated for a moment but still wanted to argue.

Zhao Renzhou didn’t waste any words. He took out two silenced pistols and tossed one to Zhao Hu. Then, he pointed to six bottles randomly placed several meters away.

“Six rounds for each of us.”

“You call the start.”

“Let’s see whose gun is faster.”

Zhao Hu looked at the pistol in his hand. He called for the start.

That was practically a guaranteed win…

“Big Brother?”

“Are you sure?”

Zhao Renzhou said, “Quit the nonsense.”

“Get on with it.”

Zhao Hu nodded. “Alright.”

He held his breath and looked at the bottles…

“Begin!”

Bang, bang, bang…

The moment the shots rang out, Zhao Hu had already squeezed the trigger, but it was Zhao Renzhou beside him whose gun fired first. Six shots in quick succession. Zhao Hu watched as the bottles exploded almost simultaneously, feeling somewhat stunned. He had only fired four rounds.

In other words, Zhao Renzhou, his big brother, had already emptied his gun.

“This…”

Zhao Renzhou casually tossed his pistol aside. “Having good physical   fitness is just one aspect.”

“My gun is faster than yours.”

“Is your physical fitness going to be useful?”

“In the future, when you encounter landmines, bombs, shells,”

“And those RPGs you’re familiar with,”

“Do you know what to do?”

“The three teams I hired through Zhao Bao,”

“All have combat experience in the Middle East.”

“Every one of them is battle-hardened.”

“Perhaps they don’t have the same physical fitness as you, but their battlefield experience,”

“Is a thousand times more valuable than yours.”

“You, Zhao Bao, and Zhao Zhan,”

“What you need to do is absorb all of their experience,”

“So it becomes our own asset.”

“Our group will grow bigger and stronger.”

“We can’t just hire people and train them under us.”

“We need to have our own assets.”

“Right now, just hiring them costs us 750,000 Longguo Coins per month.”

“We can’t waste money.”

“You both need to study well.”

After saying this, Zhao Renzhou looked at Zhao Hu, whose eyes had widened.

“What?!”

“750,000 Longguo Coins per month?!”

“My goodness.”

“Big Brother, how many people did you hire?”

“This is too damn expensive!”

Zhao Renzhou chuckled, “There are a total of fifteen.”

“Five from Longguo, five from Maoguo, and five from the Free Nation.”

“How much you learn depends on yourselves.”

Zhao Hu grimaced, “No problem.”

“You just watch.”

“I’ll try to finish learning from these guys as soon as possible.”

“And get rid of them.”

“Damn…”

“Fifteen people, 750,000…”

“That means each person costs a whopping 50,000…”

Zhao Renzhou chuckled, patted Zhao Hu on the shoulder, and gestured for him to sit down. Zhao Renzhou himself lay back in the nearby recliner. It seemed that money was still the best motivator.

After all, these brothers had gotten used to a life of hardship. When they earned some money before, they didn’t spend it on themselves but sent it back to their hometown to support development.

Over the years, it had accumulated to millions. Combined with Zhao Renzhou’s substantial funds, he wondered how things were back in their hometown now. He suddenly felt a sense of empathy. Thinking about this, Zhao Renzhou asked Zhao Hu beside him:

“By the way,”

“How’s it going back in our hometown?”

“The money you’ve been sending back these years, along with the money I’ve given…”

“They must have built nice houses by now.”

“You went back once three years ago, didn’t you?”

“Tell me.”

Upon hearing this question, Zhao Hu’s expression changed.

Zhao Hu immediately brightened up and said, “Big Brother, you haven’t been back for too long.”

“But that’s not even the best part.”

“Now, every family, every person has a little estate.”

“They live in two-story houses.”

“It’s all uniformly planned.”

“Just in the village square alone, they’ve built three of them.”

“And there are department stores, small markets.”

“Back in the day, our hometown…”

“That rugged mountain road.”

“Now it’s paved with asphalt.”

“The village even has its own bus.”

“It goes to the town every day.”

“And there are kindergartens, primary schools.”

“They’re all newly built, no need to trek through mountains and climb through mud like we did when we were kids.”

“So many people want to move to our village now.”

“There are only newcomers; no one is leaving.”

“They all can’t bear to leave here.”

Listening to Zhao Hu’s description, Zhao Renzhou’s lips curled up slightly, and he started forming images in his mind. “That sounds really nice…”

There was a sense of nostalgia, as he remembered his hometown becoming better. But there was also a tinge of sadness, as he realized that even in this rebirth, he remained alone.

Zhao Hu looked at Zhao Renzhou and fell silent for a moment. Then, he suddenly asked:

“Big Brother,”

“Why don’t you go back and take a look?”

“Uncle San has been talking about you all the time.”

“They’re getting old now.”

“It might be too late if you don’t go back soon.”

Zhao Renzhou closed his eyes, memories flashing in his mind. Back then, Zhao Father and Chen Father were into drugs and were in debt. This forced him and Chen Jinlong, both not even 14 years old at the time, to beg their way back to the village. They were still chased and eventually caught in the village.

It was this Uncle San who went door-to-door in the village, asking for donations from each household, just to repay the debts.

After that, Zhao Renzhou and Chen Jinlong sold the remaining few acres of land at home, scraped together some money for the journey, and set out to make their own way. That’s how it’s been up until now.

In between, Zhao Renzhou went back once, just to bring seven people out from the village to help him. But…

Zhao Renzhou rubbed his temples and said, “Go back…”

“How can I go back…”

“You guys all followed me when we were kids.”

“When I brought the seven of you out back then.”

“And now, three of them are gone in just a few years.”

“How can I face Uncle Liu, Aunt San, and the others?”

“I have no face to go back…”

Another reason was that Zhao Renzhou didn’t have any close relatives left. They were all uncles and cousins, and going back alone would feel meaningless.

Zhao Hu fell silent for a moment and said, “It’s not your fault, Big Brother.”

“It’s all fate…”

“When you’re licking blood on the edge of a knife, there’s bound to be casualties.”

“Besides, how much money have you given to the village these years?”

“In the past, our village was so impoverished, you could see everything at a glance.”

“People lived with their faces in the yellow earth and their backs to the sky.”

“Who would have dared to dream of living in a two-story house like now?”

“The village even has its own kindergarten, primary school, department store, and a direct bus stop to the town….”

“You’ve already done a lot….”

“Uncle Liu, Aunt San, they also have other children.”

“This whole situation isn’t your fault.”

“When I called home a few days ago,”

“Uncle Liu said he misses you.”

“And Uncle San is getting old….”

“If you don’t go back soon…”

For a moment, there was silence, and then after a while, Zhao Renzhou took a deep drag of his cigarette and exhaled.

“Phew…”

He tossed the cigarette to the ground, crushed it with his foot, and looked in the direction of Longguo.

“Wait until this busy period is over.”

“Maybe in two months.”

Hearing this, a smile appeared on Zhao Hu’s face, and he stood up.

“That’s great.”

“I’ll call Uncle Liu right away!”

“I’ll let him know!”

Zhao Renzhou shook his head, amused, and gazed into the distance.

“Go ahead.”