PCJ – Chapter 670 The Local Bully

Zhang Jiaohua smiled. “It’s nothing to do with you. My residence is already ready. I’m just more comfortable staying at my own place.”

Sun Jizuo wiped the sweat from his forehead and let out a sigh of relief. “So that’s what it was.”

He was still a bit disappointed that he hadn’t managed to get on the good side of the new deputy county magistrate.

That afternoon, Zhang Jiaohua tidied up his residence. With nothing else to do, he stepped out alone from the county government housing complex. Just outside the compound gates was a street. The area around the government compound was relatively quiet, with very few street vendors. But after walking a short distance, he arrived at a livelier area. Although it was already late, the place seemed even more bustling. Night food stalls had already been set up along the road.

A few tables with plastic stools were arranged in front of the food stalls. It was still a bit early for late-night snacks—most people had just finished dinner—but for those who had skipped their meal, this was now their dinner. Each stall had at least one or two tables already seated.

Zhang Jiaohua hadn’t had dinner yet. Not that it made much difference to him, but he wanted to hear the voice of the people. So he sat down at a table.

“Hey, brother, how many of you?” The food stall owner walked over warmly.

“Just me. I didn’t eat dinner. Give me a few skewers of barbecue, an egg fried rice, and a bottle of beer,” Zhang Jiaohua said.

“Alright.” The stall owner looked pleased to have a customer.

“Got some business, eh Old Yang?” A nearby stall owner, Xiang Kehui, came over after finishing up with a customer.

“Not bad, not bad. Today’s start was good.” The night stall owner, Yang Chenglin, despite being a competitor, had a decent relationship with Xiang Kehui.

“Good or not, we’re still working for someone else. The stall fees have gone up again this month. That Zhi Shengfeng is getting greedier by the day. At this rate, he’ll suck us dry,” Xiang Kehui said resentfully.

“Tell me about it. Not only has he raised the fees, he comes every night with his thugs to eat and drink for free. We can’t keep running a business like this,” Yang Chenglin shook his head.

“I heard a new deputy county magistrate has arrived and plans to develop tourism here. In my opinion, that’s a pipe dream. We’ve got too many local tyrants in this county. If outsiders come, these guys will pounce on them like starving wolves. Tourism? Not likely—unless that official can clean out all the thugs and hoodlums,” Xiang said, slapping the table in frustration.

Zhang Jiaohua listened silently. He wasn’t worried. When it came to dealing with bullies, he had plenty of ways. He could even bring in cultivators from Meishan Sect to train here.

Yang Chenglin looked nervous, glanced around, and whispered, “We can talk like this privately, but be careful those cursed bastards don’t hear it. That’d be real trouble.”

“If I didn’t have aging parents and young kids, I’d have fought those bastards already. We work hard for our money—why the hell should we support these bloodsuckers?” Xiang grumbled.

“Who are you calling bloodsuckers?” A voice cut in.

No one had noticed a few people arriving. One of them, shirtless and muscular, had a fierce tiger tattooed on his back. This was Zhi Shengfeng, a local thug who had learned martial arts and was unmatched in a fight. He had gathered some lackeys and was running a racket collecting protection money.

“Zhi… Zhi Shengfeng, you’re here! Please, take a seat! I’ll grill some pork kidneys for you right away,” Yang Chenglin stammered nervously.

“I asked you a question! Who were you calling bloodsuckers?” Zhi Shengfeng glared at Yang and Xiang.

“Oh, we were talking about those county officials. Heard there’s another deputy magistrate coming. Our poor county’s full of officials. If we didn’t have so many, maybe we wouldn’t be this poor. So yeah, those officials are the real bloodsuckers,” Yang said hastily.

“I’ve been standing here listening to you from the start. You really think you can fool me? Smash this place! Then I’ll deal with these bastards properly. I’m a bloodsucker, sure—but not some parasite. I’m a bloodsucking tiger!” Zhi Shengfeng shouted, grabbing a table to flip it over.

But the table he reached for still had someone sitting at it—Zhang Jiaohua.

“There’s someone here,” Zhang said calmly.

“I don’t care! Get the hell outta my way!” Zhi Shengfeng snarled and tried to flip the table, aiming to hit Zhang Jiaohua with it. But the table didn’t budge. Instead, Zhi’s fingers got badly scraped. He’d used too much force—and it backfired.

Zhang wasn’t in the mood to be polite. He simply pushed the table forward.

Bang!

Zhi Shengfeng was thrown backward, crashing hard into a camphor tree nearby, shaking loose a flurry of leaves.

Pfft!

Blood sprayed from his mouth like a flower in bloom.

Everyone was stunned. They’d all assumed Zhang was doomed. Instead, the bully was knocked flat in one move.

Zhi’s goons stared at Zhang, then at their boss bleeding on the ground. None dared to take a step forward. If even their strongest man was defeated instantly, they’d just be cannon fodder.

“Quick! Get him to the hospital!” one of the henchmen shouted. They hurried to carry Zhi Shengfeng away—glad for the excuse to escape this terrifying man. No way they were sticking around to get killed.

Once they were gone, Yang Chenglin and Xiang Kehui rushed to pack up their stalls.

Yang said anxiously, “Brother, you’d better get out of here! Zhi Shengfeng won’t let this go. We can’t set up here anymore. But thank you for helping us. Still, he’s got protection. You’d better lie low before they track you down.”

“No one’s managing people like that?” Zhang asked.

“You must be an outsider,” Yang sighed. “If someone were managing this, do you think Zhi would be this bold? He’s not scary—his backer is.”

“His backer? Who? Public Security Bureau?” Zhang asked.

“Exactly. His uncle is Deputy Director Zhi Huming of the County Public Security Bureau. Don’t be fooled by the ‘Deputy’ title. He’s a native here and has been in the system for decades. He has deep roots. The Director Liu Tiande and Political Commissar Tang Jun are outsiders—they can’t control him. That’s why Zhi Huming is untouchable. And his nephew, even more so.”