"Before we opened this store, this place had always been an antique store opened by my father, Gao Ting's grandfather, but one day..."
———— Xuzu District Commercial District Market 30 years ago
"Really? Mafia? What the hell is that?" an old man asked while wiping the antiques in his hands.
"I don't know where the black organization came from. I heard that from today on, they will control this business district!" said another old man who was chatting with the old man.
The old man put down the rag for wiping the antiques in his hand, a trace of worry flashed in his eyes. He walked to the door of the store and looked at the bustling crowd on the street, feeling a little uneasy in his heart. The Gao family has been working in this business district for generations, but now a mafia suddenly appeared, which made him feel a little heavy.
"So, your antique shop needs to be careful! Otherwise, if you offend them, the consequences will be disastrous!" said the old man.
"Abba! I'm back!"
While the two elders were chatting, Gao Hao, who was in his 20s and worked outside, just came back from get off work.
"Ah Hao is back? Have you heard about the mafia coming here? I heard they are very cruel!" the old man asked Gao Hao
"Mafia? What for?" Gao Hao asked with a puzzled look on his face.
"It seems to be a black organization that specializes in bullying people and collecting protection fees. You have been opening a store here for so many years, so be careful!" After the old man finished speaking, he left.
"Abba, is what he said true?" Gao Hao asked the old man
"I don't know either, but our Gao family has been here for generations and has developed to this day. No matter what organization it is, I will never give up here," the old man said.
"...I know dad, I will be with you!" Gao Hao said
"Um……"
The next day Gao Hao went to work as usual. He forgot about the mafia and didn't care about this black organization at all. If it was really so scary, would the people from the three sects not take action? That's what he was thinking, but...
"Ah Hao, are you going to have a drink today? I'm treating you!" Gao Hao's colleague invited him to have a drink with him.
"Um... just go. The worst is, I'll go home later," Gao Hao said.
"let's go!"
The two of them came to a tavern to have a drink. After working hard all day, the two of them were feeling the pleasure brought by alcohol. Perhaps only now could they relieve the fatigue they had accumulated throughout the day.
"By the way, have you ever heard of the Mafia?" Gao Hao asked while drinking.
"Mafia? What is it for? Is it also a factory?"
"No, I just heard that an organization called the Black Market Party suddenly appeared recently, and they will bully the people," Gao Hao said.
"Really? I've never heard of it!"
"Okay...just keep drinking..."
"OK!"
The two of them drank until late at night. The drunk Gao Hao was walking home swaying from side to side, but as he walked, he found that his shop was not closed yet.
"Abba, you haven't gone to bed yet?"
When he walked back and opened the door, the scene in front of him instantly sobered him up. He saw the old man lying motionless on the ground. The store was also destroyed. Countless antiques fell to the ground, none of them intact, but Gao Hao was good at selling antiques. , he hurriedly dropped his belongings, picked up the old man and ran to the nearest hospital.
"Abba! You must not let anything happen to you! If something happens to you...what will I do!"
Gao Hao ran into the hospital while crying. Upon seeing this, the nurse on the night shift immediately took his father from his back, put him in the ambulance and pushed him to the emergency room, while Gao Hao could only wait anxiously outside the door.
"clatter--"
After waiting for a while, the wait in the emergency room went out, and the doctors all breathed a sigh of relief and walked out.
"Doctor! How is my dad?" Gao Hao grabbed the doctor anxiously and asked
"Your father's current situation is not very optimistic. He needs to be hospitalized for a period of observation. You can go to the front desk to go through the hospitalization procedures." The doctor left after putting down his words. Gao Hao walked to the emergency room and looked at himself on the hospital bed through the glass. The motionless father was filled with self-blame.
"If I hadn't gone drinking! This wouldn't have happened! I'm so stupid! Why did I go drinking!" Gao Hao knelt on the ground and slapped himself wildly until his face was swollen and bleeding. He stopped after a nosebleed. He understood that now was not the time to blame himself. The primary purpose now was to save his father's life.
"Is there any mistake? A day of hospitalization costs 6,000 yuan? Aren't you robbing money?" Gao Hao said angrily while looking at the hospitalization information in his hand.
"The price is not set by us, and it is set by the upper-level leaders. If you have any questions, go to the leaders yourself!" the nurse who went through the formalities said with a look of disdain.
"Tsk...fuck! It's so annoying!"
Gao Hao ran out of the hospital angrily. His first goal now was to make money. Without money, he could not save his father's life. He started to make phone calls at the entrance of the hospital and asked all his relatives and friends, but the result was only He borrowed 9,000 yuan, but it was far from enough. It cost 6,000 yuan a day. He no longer knew what to do.
"Didi didi - didi didi -" At this time, his cell phone rang. It was his ex who divorced him less than a year after getting married.
"Hello..." Gao Hao answered the phone
"I have completed the procedures for my daughter, and the court has decided to give her to your custody. Don't come to me again in the future. Go with your little cutie!" The other end of the phone hung up after saying this. .
"Please! God, why are you doing this to me!" Gao Hao sat at the door of the hospital with resentment and fell asleep. When he opened his eyes again, it was already dawn. He returned to the factory where he worked. It was very factory. The director reported on the situation at home.
"Ah? No? Who did it?" the factory director asked with a shocked look on his face.
"I don't know... maybe it's the mafia they were talking about! All the money in the store is gone! I suspect they came to the store to collect protection money, and then Abba didn't pay it, so the mafia people took action on him! Gao Hao said excitedly
"Don't get excited yet. Since you have worked with me for more than two years, let's do this. I will lend you 20,000 yuan and you can pay me back when you have money. Okay?" The factory director patted Gao Hao's face. shoulder said
"Thank you, director! I will definitely pay it back!" Gao Hao took the money and rushed to the hospital. But when he ran to the hospital as if he saw hope and was about to pay part of the hospitalization fee, the doctor called him Bad news.
"Your father's heartbeat stopped at 9:40 just now. We are sorry that we did not save his life..." the doctor said to Gao Hao
"How...how could it be...Abba...is dead..." The cash in Gao Hao's hand was scattered on the ground. He knelt on the ground and couldn't let go for a long time. Maybe at this moment, he felt extremely desperate.
"Mafia! I'm going to kill you!" Gao Hao ran out of the hospital angrily. He took a sum of money and ran to a knife shop and bought two sharp machetes. Then after asking around for information, he Finally one afternoon I found several men who were preparing to collect protection money from a fruit shop.
"Hey! Grandma! I advise you to be wiser! Don't force us to do anything!" said a yellow man holding a baseball bat on his shoulder.
"Here...here you...don't do anything!" The old woman selling fruit was frightened and took out a wad of bills from her bag and gave it to Huang Mao. The passers-by were just angry but dared not say anything, because they knew the mafia's fear.
"Mafia!" Gao Hao suddenly raised his machete and slashed at the mafia man.
"Shua——"
"Ahhhh--killing someone!"
In an instant, blood spilled all over the street. Gao Hao kept slashing the mafia people until a total of 8 people were hacked to death on the street. At this time, the security guards patrolling the business district heard the sound and came to arrest Gao Hao.
"Hey, put down the machete! Follow us to the police station!" The security guard took out his stick and warned Gao Hao
"Ha... what were you doing when my dad was hurt by them? Ah! Tell me! Why didn't anyone save my dad!" Gao Hao roared, then he put down the machete, knelt on the ground and cried bitterly. , the security guard had never seen such a strange scene, so he had to call people from the relevant departments to take Gao Hao away.
————Xuzu District Court
In the court, Gao Hao is being tried by the judge for this murder.
"Gao Hao, you are suspected of intentional homicide and have injured a total of 8 people including so-and-so. The court has decided to sentence you to death!" the judge said.
"No, judge! Those gangsters did it on purpose! They randomly collect protection fees from nearby residents, don't you care?" said the fruit seller.
"Yes, yes! They just came to collect our protection money a few days ago. Are they still reasonable?" said the man selling shoes.
"My family is the same. If I don't give it to them, they will start destroying my store. Is there any justice? Is there any law?" said the woman selling furniture.
"There's no surveillance, so why do you think he's one of ours?" said the mafia man.
"That's right! Whoever you are trying to collect protection money from is one of ours?"
"If you can, bring out the evidence!"
"It's obviously you! Still quibbling here!"
"Yes, yes! Everything you said is right!"
The quarrel in the court became more and more fierce, but due to insufficient evidence and the fact that the Mafia lawyers came well prepared, the people had no choice but to admit defeat. In Gao Hao's case, due to insufficient evidence and his father's matter, there were also In the case of his daughter, due to humanitarian reasons and the public's support for Gao Hao's injustice, the court finally ruled that Gao Hao was not guilty.
The mafia didn't take this matter seriously, because in their eyes, it was just the loss of a few errands. In order to please the three major sects and the court, they were fully prepared, so that people would have nothing to do with them. .
After this incident, Gao Hao took over his daughter, Gao Ting, from his predecessor. With the 20,000 pairs borrowed from the factory director, he simply renovated his father's shop and turned it into a small restaurant with all the kitchen equipment. It was bought second-hand, but this store has supported the living expenses of Gao Hao and Gao Ting's father and daughter over the years.
