In Zhannan, at the Su family's junkyard, Su Tianyu led the team, joined by Kong Zhenghui, Bai Hongbo, Su Tianbei, and other core members of the family. Since this was their first job, everyone was quite invested, mobilizing their full strength.
After discussing the delivery route, the group was ready to depart. However, before they left, Da Xiong, who hadn't gone home that night, approached Su Tianyu alone. "Brother…Xiao… Xiao Yu we're working tonight, right?"
Da Xiong was known for not going home often. Even when his workday ended early, he preferred staying at the junkyard, sometimes even spending the night there.
Su Tianyu glanced at him. "Who told you that?"
"I overheard Third Sister mention it at noon, heh, heh," Da Xiong said with an innocent smile. "You… you think you can take me along?"
"This job's a bit dangerous. We're picking up goods on the sea."
"I... I'm fine! If you can all do it, I can too. I'm not afraid of hard work. I just want to earn some extra money," Da Xiong replied eagerly. "Please, take me with you."
"You're really eager to earn extra, huh?"
"…I have to take care of myself. Save up to buy... buy a house, get married," Da Xiong said earnestly.
"Alright, then, follow along, but listen to the orders!" Su Tianyu warned.
"Got it! I'll listen," Da Xiong nodded vigorously.
After their discussion, Kong Zhenghui waved and called out, "Let's go, everyone, get in the cars!"
Around 11:30 PM, about 30 kilometers from the Zhannan district civilian port, near a sandbank, Su Tianbei and Bai Hongbo led the group, pushing three speedboats into the water and covering them with tarps to prevent the metal from reflecting under the moonlight.
Su Tianyu, smoking a cigarette, stood on a reef, gazing at the sea. He glanced at his watch.
"They're not here yet?" Kong Zhenghui asked, walking over.
"Not yet," Su Tianyu replied, looking at Kong Zhenghui with some doubt. "Do you really think the higher-ups have it covered? With so many goods coming in, if the coast guard catches us, we're in for a long sentence."
"Brother, what job doesn't have risks these days?" Kong Zhenghui countered.
Su Tianyu fell silent.
"We live in this era. The brave get rich, the timid starve," Kong Zhenghui continued, looking out at the sea. "When the opportunity comes, you have to seize it."
Su Tianyu smiled. "True."
The cold wind blew as the group hid behind the reef, silently waiting.
More than an hour passed. Just as Su Tianyu was about to call Yu Mingyuan, his phone rang. "Hello?"
"Go into the water. Everything's arranged on my end," Tang Baiqing's voice came through.
"Got it!"
"Hurry up, we only have an hour and a half before the tide turns," Tang Baiqing urged.
"Understood," Su Tianyu nodded and hung up the phone. He turned and shouted, "Push the boats into the water, let's go!"
With that, over twenty people swiftly uncovered the tarps, jumped onto the speedboats, and the helmsman immediately started the engines. The roar of the engines filled the air.
Su Tianyu sat at the front of the first boat, thinking to himself, "Damn, I graduated from the Army Command Academy, and now I'm doing this shady business."
"Stop whining, you still care about your face while making money?" Bai Hongbo urged from inside the boat. "Hurry up, let's go!"
The engines roared as the three boats departed the shore, speeding toward the outer harbor.
On the sea, the wind howled and the waves crashed.
After about half an hour, the boats reached the edge of the inner harbor and spotted an 80,000-ton cargo ship.
Su Tianyu turned his head, scanning the surroundings. He could see the lights of the coast guard's patrol boats in the distance.
"Signal, quickly!" Su Tianbei ordered.
As soon as the command was given, three people took out flashlights and began signaling to the cargo ship.
About half a minute later, the second deck of the cargo ship responded with a flashlight.
"Steer over," Su Tianyu gestured to the boats.
The three speedboats circled around the left rear of the cargo ship, attaching ropes to the iron anchor hanging from the ship's side. The ship's crew then began lowering the cargo with ropes.
Boxes of sealed goods were dropped from above, and the crew quickly organized and stored the cargo to save space.
Throughout the operation, Su Tianyu kept an eye on the coast guard patrol boats in the distance but noticed that they didn't seem to be moving toward their side.
Time passed steadily. The goods, worth about 400,000 yuan, were neatly loaded onto the three boats. At this point, their available space was almost full, leaving them to sit on the goods.
This was their first time running goods, so the quantity wasn't too large, but even so, the initial profit was still about 50%.
"Everything matches up?" Kong Zhenghui asked, looking at Su Tianyu.
"Enough," Su Tianyu nodded.
"Signal, let's move," Kong Zhenghui ordered.
The people on the boats waved their flashlights again, signaling to the cargo ship. Su Tianbei and the others unfastened the iron chain attached to the ship's side, and everyone quickly left the loading area.
On the return trip, the speedboats cut through the waves. The group sat on the goods, their faces serious, and no one said a word.
Everyone was tense. They knew that the money from these goods was tempting, but they also understood the severe consequences if they were caught.
Soon, the shore came into view. When the boats reached the docking spot, even Kong Zhenghui, with his rock-solid composure, let out a sigh of relief and wiped the sweat from his forehead.
"Damn, finally made it back. This hour felt like a century," Su Tianbei grumbled as he disembarked. "When I fought with Lu Feng, I wasn't this nervous."
This wasn't an exaggeration. Courage was a strange thing. Some people might be reckless in a fight, but when it came to stealing, they wouldn't dare. They just didn't have the mental fortitude.
Everyone got off the boats and began unloading the goods onto the trucks designated for the dirty work. Su Tianyu then ordered, "Let's go, time to leave."
"Quick, get in the cars!" Bai Hongbo called.
"Leave a few people behind to get the boats back to the third floor and clean up," Kong Zhenghui instructed.
"I'll stay," Da Xiong volunteered, clearly eager to keep working. He had been quiet the entire time, focusing on the task at hand, proving to be a good worker.
"Alright, you stay and handle the cleanup," Su Tianyu said, opening the car door. "Everyone else, take the goods and go."
Just as they were about to leave, the sound of engines suddenly roared from the left side of the road.
Su Tianyu looked up and saw two cars' headlights approaching.
"Shit, the coast guard! Run!" Bai Hongbo shouted, ready to flee.
"Stop messing around, the coast guard couldn't possibly just be two cars," Su Tianbei cursed. "Why panic?"
Bai Hongbo stopped, hid behind a car, and looked at the intersection.
The two cars quickly pulled up and stopped in front of the trucks.
The headlights blazed. Seven or eight burly men stepped out of the vehicles. The leader, a man around 1.75 meters tall with a crew cut, a square jaw, thick eyebrows, and a determined face, walked forward with a steady pace.
"Looks like a dirty gang's truck," the square-jawed man glanced at the truck, then walked up to Bai Hongbo. "Brothers, you're crossing the line, huh?"
"Who are you?" Bai Hongbo, seeing the man wasn't from the coast guard and realizing there were only seven or eight of them, immediately raised his guard.
"Who are you to come to the sea trade without even giving a heads-up?" one of the young men with a smile said as he stepped forward, hands behind his back. "Leave the goods, and you can go. Tell your boss to come pick it up later."
"Who the hell are you to take our goods?" Bai Hongbo, understanding that these men were just common thugs, wasn't intimidated and stepped forward. "Get out of the way!"
As he spoke, two of Bai Hongbo's men pulled out knives and surrounded the square-jawed man. Su Tianbei, Kong Zhenghui, and the others also moved forward.
"You really want to fight?" the young man asked, giving Bai Hongbo a sideways glance.
"I told you to get out of the way!" Bai Hongbo sneered, reaching out to push the square-jawed man.
"Smack!"
The square-jawed man swiftly blocked Bai Hongbo's arm, then kicked him in the stomach with one swift movement.
"Thud!"
Bai Hongbo, who weighed at least 180 pounds, was knocked to the ground with a single kick.
"Damn it!" One of Bai Hongbo's men, on the left, lunged forward with a knife, aiming at the square-jawed man.
"Smack!"
The square-jawed man didn't even move his left hand. He sidestepped, grabbed the arm of the man with the knife, twisted it, and kneed him in the stomach.
"Thud!"
The man holding the knife fell sideways, collapsing to the ground.
Without missing a beat, the square-jawed man dodged another attacker's position and elbowed him hard in the side of the head.
"Bang!"
The young man, dazed with stars in his eyes, staggered back, crashing into the car, but didn't fall.
Su Tianbei and the others froze for a moment, then grabbed their weapons and rushed forward.
The square-jawed man stood still. One of the young men beside him pulled out a shiny black handgun and pressed it onto Su Tianbei's head, speaking in a calm tone, "You idiots! Do you even know who he is? This is Wei Xiangzuo, the boss of the Zhannan Mabu gang! And you dare to make a move here?!"