Chapter 229: Try Out and Decision
The operation for Hou Zhenhan's mother went well. There were no major threats to her life except that the wound had opened. The middle-aged woman in the ward had exaggerated. There wasn't any major bleeding.
However, the time for discharge had been delayed. Yang Ming withdrew another three thousand yuan and handed it to Hou Zhenhan so that he could use it for any future emergencies. Hou Zhenhan hesitated but still accepted Yang Ming's money.
At this moment, Hou Zhenhan decided to do what Yang Ming had asked. There were two reasons. Firstly, is that he really had nothing else to do. All he had were martial art skills which couldn't be applied anywhere else. Even if he were to become a bodyguard, he would only earn about eight hundred yuan a month which was only sufficient for his basic expenses. In this era of inflation, eight hundred yuan was not enough.
Secondly, also the most important reason was that Yang Ming helped him at his most critical moment. He had already run out of ways to the point that he had to become a robber. Yet, Yang Ming still believed in him and lent him money. Hou Zhenhan felt that he would do anything for this friendship and trust!
Hou Zhenhan lost his father from an early age and was raised only by his mother. Later, he became a soldier and was away from home to perform some special forces tasks. He felt the sorriest for his mother, so he vowed to honor his mother after he returned home. Yang Ming saved his mother. For Hou Zhenhan, this was much more important than saving himself. Therefore, Hou Zhenhan had decided to do it according to what Yang Ming requested.
The two of them found a cafe with very few customers. There were not many people at that time and was just convenient for the two to chat.
Yang Ming told his idea to Hou Zhenhan briefly. Hou Zhenhan didn't question much but nodded and agreed to do exactly as Yang Ming said. This was a form of trust! He trusted Yang Ming, just like how Yang Ming trusted him at the start!
Sometimes things can be really simple. Hou Zhenhan had no doubt about Yang Ming's plan. Yang Ming nodded and then went to a mobile phone store with Hou Zhenhan to buy him a cell phone for easier communication. Hou Zhenhao insisted on buying a fifty yuan ancient Nokia phone.
"This thing can even be used as a weapon while fighting!" Hou Zhenhan smiled as if he didn't care.
"Hehe, but what you said made sense. It may be very useful at a crucial moment!" Yang Ming also smiled.
Then he bought an unnamed cell phone card. After topping up, Yang Ming asked him to keep it on for 24 hours a day and be ready to get in contact with him at any time.
In the evening, Yang Ming returned to the dormitory and called Bao Sanli.
"Brother Bao, I am Yang Ming," saidYang Ming.
"Brother Yang, why are you calling me?" Bao Sanli felt surprised. Yang Ming had never initiated contact with him!
"How are you and Yu Xiangde?" Yang Ming probed.
"Damn! It was such a joy today. I sent someone to attack his right-hand man. I heard that he went to the hospital to get four to five stitches!" Bao Sanli said happily, "Yes, Brother Yang. Did you call me because you made up your mind?"
Yu Xiangde's men went to the hospital? Yang Ming was stunned. Looking at the situation in the hospital today, it was most likely that they were the gang of the men who were cut and had pushed Hou Zhenhan's mother to the floor!
"Hehe, not really. Today, I accompanied my friend to the hospital and heard that Yu Xiangde's men were injured. I am guessing that you did it!" Yang Ming laughed. He hesitated and didn't say his intentions. Now was the time where Bao Sanli held an advantageous position. He would be proud of himself and not pay much attention if Yang Ming's requested someone to assist him. However, if the proposal was made when Bao Sanli was at a disadvantageous position, it will undoubtedly be a gift of coal in the snow [1], and Yang Ming's bargaining chip in the future would be far higher!
Therefore, Yang Ming had decided to wait for a while before saying it again. In a sense, Yang Ming was not a completely selfless person. Before he does anything, he will first consider his own interests, and then secondly, the interests of others.
In fact, this was the nature of most people. Yang Ming was only one of them.
"Haha, of course, that was my doing! It was so good!" Bao Sanli laughed and said, "It seemed like the people from Yu Xiangde weren't that capable after all!"
"Yeah, there was nothing else. I was just simply asking. Stay in touch!" said Yang Ming.
"Okay, yes. Brother Yang, what about the thing that I proposed to you?" asked Bao Sanli.
"Oh, let's talk about it later. You don't really need me now, do you?" Yang Ming smiled and said, "My main job now is still to study!"
"What you said is right too. You are a college student. It is very difficult for you to join the underworld." Bao Sanli nodded and said, "That's fine too. I will not force you. If you ever think about helping me, just let me know. Then you will be my best right-hand man."
"No problem." Yang Ming said quickly.
After he hung up the phone, Yang Ming fell into deep thought. Earlier, Bao Sanli had stated that the two of them would be cooperating to fight the world together. But today, it had become helping him as his right-hand man!
It seemed like that everyone is selfish at the core. If it was possible, who wouldn't want to be at the top of the hierarchy? A person like Hou Zhenhan is few and rare in society now! However, it was normal for Bao Sanli's self-confidence to expand disproportionately because he had just won a fight today. But in general, he was still a loyal friend. Yang Ming believed that even if he were to go and help Bao Sanli right now, Bao Sanli would probably agree to the previous conditions that he had made. However, since there would be a better time, why not wait for it instead?
Yang Ming skipped a day of class, and he had already informed the tutor earlier. If it wasn't because of that, he would have been in some trouble now. Since Xie Yongqiang had spoken out, Sun Zhiwei couldn't do much as he was only a class monitor! He was just a spokesperson for the tutor.
Soon the weekend arrived. It was the day to promote the seven forbiddens, five disciplines and four graces [2]. This was an activity jointly organized by the Student Union, the Environmental Protection Department and the Urban Management Department. All of the students from the other classes who had attended were class committee members. Yang Ming was the only one not in a class committee. At the very least, the others were something like a dorm leader.
The students from the Computer Science department's level 08 class 2 who went together with Yang Ming was Song Yu and another nerd whom Sun Zhiwei didn't want to meet. In fact, this was a good opportunity for the class committee. The secretaries and tutors from the computer science faculty were present, and they could take this opportunity to establish a good relationship with them. This way, it would be very convenient for them regardless of whether they are running for more student positions or if they were to join the faculty in the university in the future.
Maybe Sun Zhiwei didn't need these things. He left these opportunities to Song Yu and Yang Ming. The secretary first asked the tutors to register the volunteer students who were present. Yang Ming knew that this list would become a guideline for the secretaries to determine the quality of the students. But Yang Ming didn't intend to join the student union nor stay in this university. So, this wasn't very useful to him as well.
The students who came from the classroom opposite them, the class of level 08 class 1, were all part of the class committee. They were class monitor, Yu Shuai, the assistant class monitor, Zhou Jiajia, and the general affairs commissary, Li Xiaozhi. Because the classes were right next to each another, the six of them were inevitably put into the same group.
The train station was generally the most chaotic place in every city. Not only was there a flow of people from all over the country, some ticket scalpers, second-rate punks, thieves and social gangsters gathered here too.
Although the city was being rectified, this kind of effort only masked the symptoms instead of treating the root cause. It would be restored to its original state in one or two days. Therefore, considering the safety of the students, the university only agreed that the students had the right to spread the awareness but not the right to stop anyone who went against the rules of the seven forbiddens, five disciplines, and four graces.
Even if this was the case, the university still sent some sports teachers and security guards to ensure the safety of the students.
Yang Ming's group was led by Zhou Jiajia and Song Yu. Song Yu had better say as she had the highest position among the members of the two classes. However, the class monitor from class 1, Yu Shuai, said ladies first. In fact, many people in the class had understood that Yu Shuai was interested in Zhou Jiajia and deliberately let her be his leader.
For Yang Ming, he didn't care who the leader was. He just wanted to get this day over with. Originally, he wanted to take leave with Xie Yongqiang, but he thought that Tutor Xie had already given him a lot of leeway. It was a bit too much if Yang Ming didn't even give this face to him.
Yang Ming was holding a publicity board with the guy whom Sun Zhiwei neglected, Liu Huang. Zhou Jiajia and Song Yu held the leaflets. Yu Shuai and Li Xiaozhi rushed to the pre-planned area with a propaganda speaker after setting up the functions.
They were responsible for spreading awareness near the ticket gate of the railway station, which was a relatively chaotic area. The ticket scalpers and thieves concentrated more in this area. Of course, these were only understood better by Yang Ming. Those students who had yet to enter into society did not understand these at all, and just thought that the area was livelier.
After setting up the publicity board and connecting the amplifier to the speaker, the publicity activities began. Yang Ming along with the rest of them picked up a stack of leaflets and distributed them. Yang Ming generally distributed the leaflets to some old people. Only such type of people would be more interested in these leaflets. If you were to give to some young people, they would take it and throw it away within seconds.
The leaflet had also clearly printed: Seventh forbidden, No littering anywhere.