The boss, Mr. Yu, still wanted to instill his ideology in the youngsters. "Don't you think what I do is excessive? Many people do worse. I'm just doing what most people would do. If you harden your heart, no one will dare to resist you."
The youngsters didn't know what to say. They could only quietly eat the barbecue, but even as they ate, they were deep in thought. Would they also have to enter this industry in the future? If they did, wouldn't that mean they would have to do wicked deeds?
Seeing the youngsters' reactions, Mr. Yu felt a sense of smugness. He thought to himself, "These young people are so naive. I'll teach them a lesson. If I suppress them mentally, they'll obediently follow me in the future, just like those before them."
Thus, Mr. Yu began to recount his own struggles. "I'm afraid you're not resolute enough, so I'll tell you another story that happened before. Two years ago, a few outsiders came to me looking for work. Of course, I readily agreed to this good opportunity. Then, I assigned them the most arduous and exhausting jobs. To support their families, they had no choice but to work hard for me. However, I withheld three-quarters of their pay, calling it a deposit."
"But after a few months, these people somehow heard that they could get new jobs from the City Lord's Mansion, so they decided they didn't want to work for me anymore and resigned one after another. I told them directly that the deposit would not be refunded. If they didn't want to work, they could leave. The money wouldn't be returned to them. And they really left. But I didn't lose anything. I could easily obtain money, so why not?" Mr. Yu told another story.
When the youngsters heard about this, they breathed a sigh of relief. Those few people were indeed lucky. They were only docked a few months' wages, and there were no worse consequences. If they had stayed longer, they would have faced even more dire outcomes.
However, unexpectedly, Mr. Yu changed the subject and said, "You all think this is the end of it? I'm telling you, it's not that simple. After that, I hired a few thugs to beat them up and take back all the money they had taken from me. I used this incident to tell everyone else that it was impossible to leave my place safely."
The many youngsters were stunned after hearing the boss's speech. They knew that the boss wasn't telling this story for their amusement, but rather as a threat. If every worker had to be beaten before leaving, then as formal employees working in the intermediary business, would they also have to be beaten if they wanted to leave?
Mr. Yu saw the frightened expressions on the youngsters' faces and knew his objective had been achieved. Although these youngsters appeared fearless, they were actually inexperienced and had very little social exposure. A little scare would make them obedient and unwilling to resist.
The barbecue gathering by the river continued in a somber atmosphere. Many felt that the skewers in their hands were not just simple skewers, but stained with the blood and sweat of others. The intermediary industry was filled with sin, and those who embarked on this path had no way back.
Just then, Shen Feng stood up and said to the two children, "Let's go, fishing is over, time to eat."
Shen Feng had been listening for a long time. At this moment, he understood that the people around him were not good. Being with a group of man-eating wolves and tigers made even fishing feel uncomfortable.
After two hours of fishing, Shen Feng had strung up more than ten fish with grass, indicating that the catch in the Yangtze River was quite good.
Xiao Hu was lying on Shen Feng's back, while Xiao Long was diligently carrying a string of fish. Shen Feng held another string.
"Hey, friend, put down the fish in your hand." At this moment, Mr. Yu saw the fish in Shen Feng's hand and asked him to put it down.
Shen Feng was angry, but he didn't want to kill anyone in front of the two children, fearing he would scare them. He then looked at the other person coldly and asked, "Are you trying to rob us?"
Shen Feng had fought for many years in the apocalypse, and he naturally possessed a killing aura. As he glared at Mr. Yu, Mr. Yu felt immense pressure, as if he were being stared at by a fierce tiger. The other person's presence was incredibly powerful.
"No, no, no, I'm a law-abiding citizen. How could I rob? I mean, I want to exchange the fish in your hand. Here's the money, please take a look." Mr. Yu took out a wad of food stamps.
Shen Feng looked at Mr. Yu. This guy was engaged in the black intermediary business. He wished he could tear him to pieces, but with the two children present, he could only let him go for now.
"No need!" After saying this, Shen Feng left directly and walked towards the small city in the distance.
Mr. Yu had been a ruthless figure before, but his attitude ultimately changed with the other person's status. When facing ordinary people, he was naturally arrogant. However, after sensing that Shen Feng was not simple, he dared not approach or act impolitely.
On the road to the small city, Shen Feng saw many refugees by the roadside. These people were emaciated, with disheveled hair and dark, patched clothes, looking extremely miserable. Judging by their accents, most of them were from the north. Since the north was more chaotic, they had traveled a long way to reach Yuzhou, and their eyes showed a glimmer of hope.
Shen Feng was wearing a mask and a hat, so people who didn't know him well couldn't recognize him.
At this moment, Shen Feng thought to himself, "It's really not easy for you. You've finally arrived at a place with food and relative stability, only to be fleeced by intermediaries. I wish I could change all of this, but I can't."
As Shen Feng was walking along the road, Xiao Long suddenly ran out. It turned out that a mother and child had collapsed on the side of the street. The mother looked very weak, and the child's eyes were tightly closed. Compared to the mother, he was even weaker, unable to even cry.
"Auntie, this is for you," Xiao Long said in a childish voice.
Shen Feng was quite surprised when he saw this scene. Xiao Long had always lived at home and rarely went out, being well protected by Du Xinshi. Now, seeing others suffer, he actually wanted to help them. It showed that the child's heart was kind.
"Dad, I want to learn from big brother too," Xiao Hu said at this moment.
Shen Feng still had another string of fish in his hand, so he put Xiao Hu down from his back and handed the fish to Xiao Hu, saying, "Then go ahead."
Xiao Hu didn't have enough strength to drag the string of fish to the other people and give it away. These dirty refugees also spoke, all thanking Xiao Hu.
"Thank you, young master. You will surely prosper and have a boundless future. May you succeed in the imperial examinations and work in the City Lord's Mansion in the future." The refugees could only express their gratitude by repeatedly saying thank you.
Xiao Long gave the fish to others because he saw they were pitiful. As for Xiao Hu, he was simply imitating his brother's actions. He didn't have any concept of good or evil.
The mother, holding her son, thanked them profusely after receiving the fish. Then, she found dry firewood nearby, started a fire, and began to roast the fish.
"Thank you so much. These fish of yours have saved our lives!" The mother knelt on the ground to thank Shen Feng and Xiao Long and Xiao Hu.
Shen Feng quickly helped the mother up, then sat down nearby and began to inquire, "Is it very difficult in the north? I see so many people rushing this way!"
"Kind person, you have no idea. Life is unbearable in the north now. Last year, the north began to suffer from drought for a full four months. No crops could be grown. In the autumn, we finally managed to plant some beans, but then those damned birds came and ate everything in our fields, leaving nothing behind. I still have elderly in-laws at home who can no longer walk, so they had to stay in the village. I, being young, had no choice but to bring my son out to beg. We heard that Yuzhou had food, so we came here," the woman replied respectfully.
"If you stay in Yuzhou for now, you can only do one job, which is to cultivate land in the big mountains to the south. But it will be very dangerous in the mountains. Are you really willing to do this?" Shen Feng asked directly.
"Even if it's dangerous, I still have to work. I want to live, and I want my son to live too. If I don't work, I won't have food to eat. I know this, but the world is not peaceful. I wanted to stay in my hometown and farm, and at least be able to serve my in-laws. But unfortunately, the north can no longer be farmed, so I had to come south to seek a glimmer of hope," the woman said sadly.
Those who could escape were always the young and strong. The elderly were mostly left behind in the villages, awaiting either starvation or death by wild beasts. When talking about fleeing, countless people had sad pasts. Who would want to leave their homeland for an unfamiliar place? It was only because they wanted to survive.
Shen Feng was silent for a moment, then got up and took the two children to say goodbye. As they reached the edge of the small city, he saw a woman lying on the ground, laughing foolishly, staring intently at other people's children. Her clothes were ragged, and she was extremely unkempt, appearing to have gone mad.
Shen Feng sighed, found a secluded spot, and began to fly. He let Xiao Long rest on his back and held Xiao Hu in his arms as he sped towards Yuzhou.
"Dad, weren't we going to eat here?" Xiao Hu asked innocently.
"We'll eat when we get back to Yuzhou. Eat whatever you want," Shen Feng said with a smile.
On the way back, Shen Feng looked down at the ground. Along the roadside, there were many ragged people fleeing. Their destination was Yuzhou City, showing their desire to survive there. Originally, Shen Feng didn't pay much attention to these people, but after hearing the words of the intermediaries today, he finally understood that these refugees were seen as prey by others.
"They're eating people! Mr. Lu Xun was right. There really are people who eat people in this world, just not as nakedly as in the books," Shen Feng thought to himself.
After returning to Yuzhou, Shen Feng first took the two children to a restaurant for a meal. After leaving the food stamps, he returned to the Wind God Palace, handed the children over to Hua Jingran and Wang Xiran to look after, and then went to the City Lord's Mansion.
Subsequently, with his conscience troubled, Shen Feng directly summoned his three chief strategists, took them to an office, and began to recount his experiences of the day.
"That's what happened. I saw intermediaries in a certain place. These intermediaries are truly ruthless. I don't believe there aren't people like this in Yuzhou, so I want to ask for your opinions on how to eradicate them," Shen Feng began to inquire directly.
Feng Shicheng knew quite a bit about this matter and shook his head and sighed. "This matter is too difficult and involves too much. However, in my opinion, the only thing that needs to be resolved quickly is the housing rental issue. The City Lord's Mansion has taken possession of all properties. If you want to live in the city, you have to rent a house. There's nothing wrong with that, but it doesn't stop the middlemen."
Shen Feng asked, "Before, I saw many people speculating in real estate, and housing prices were extremely high. I hated this behavior, which is why I changed all housing to rentals, and all properties were taken by the City Lord's Mansion. Those who could own their own property were those who had made contributions. But why are there still intermediaries? Why can't some people afford housing?"
After Shen Feng asked this question, Feng Shicheng explained, "The property rights have indeed been reclaimed, but the usage rights have not. As a result, a group of intermediaries monopolizes rental housing through their own means, and they still control the housing sources. The solution I've proposed is that renters must be registered by their real names, and each person can only rent one property. This way, it will be difficult for intermediaries to profit from renting."
Shen Feng nodded and then asked, "There's another issue that I think needs to be resolved, and that's the issue of foremen. To put it bluntly, these people are black intermediaries. They take on tasks first, then act as middlemen to outsource their own tasks, exploiting the labor of others. These people do nothing in the middle but gain huge profits. Is this reasonable? This is completely unreasonable!"