September in the Hebei Plain is exactly when the "Autumn Tiger" (Indian Summer) rages. Unlike the miserable state after the Anhui flood, Hebei did not suffer disaster. Crops have been harvested smoothly. In the autumn fields, there are piles of wheat straw, sorghum stalks, and some other crop stalks everywhere. These are fuels for farmers' families, so naturally, they must be prepared well.

This year's harvest in Hebei is neither good nor bad, a normal year. Life can pass by so-so. According to rural custom, at this season, there should always be some celebrations or something. But this year, the countryside of Nangong County, Xingtai, Hebei, seems to have something more attractive to the common people's attention.

Although the vast majority of crops have been harvested, farm work still has to last for a long time. Now there is no need to go to the fields; most villagers work in the village. Hejia Village, like usual, had signs of human habitation early. But today everyone had no intention of working seriously. Although doing some things in hand, most people ran to the street, looking towards the village entrance constantly. A cyan flag was planted by the road at the village entrance. In the middle of the flag was a white round bottom, with a black character "Pang" written on it. This flag stood solitarily by the road at the village entrance, but no one moved it.

The sun rose slowly. Suddenly someone at the village entrance shouted: "King Pang is here!" This voice seemed to explode a thunderclap. Everyone put down the work in their hands and swarmed towards the village entrance.

In the distance, a dozen riders and thirty-odd horses galloped towards Hejia Village along the dirt road. The one in the lead held a big flag, cyan flag face, white round bottom in the middle, with a big character "Pang" written on it. Except for the size, it was exactly the same as that flag outside Hejia Village.

The horse team came very fast. Villagers didn't wait long before the horse team arrived at the village entrance. Children had already surrounded them joyfully. They raised their small faces looking at Pang Zi sitting high on the horse, shouting excitedly: "King Pang! King Pang!"

Pang Zi laughed *haha*, took out a handful of copper coins casually, and scattered them to the side. Children cheered and pounced on them to pick up money. The road ahead was unobstructed. Pang Zi urged his horse, leading the horse team to continue forward. When passing by that flag at the village entrance, Pang Zi pulled up the flag smoothly and laughed loudly.

Villagers looked at Pang Zi's appearance; many young people were already eager to try. They saw Pang Zi finish laughing. Only then did he shout loudly: "Fellow villagers and elders, I, Pang Zi, said when I came here a few days ago, if anyone feels I, Pang Zi, shouldn't manage this village, when I come, bring the flag to see me. How to compete, I'll let that person set the rules. If no one looks for me, then I'm going to look for everyone to compete."

"King Pang, what do you want to compete in?" A young villager couldn't help shouting already.

"Exactly, compete in what? Say it quickly."

Pang Zi looked at the young villagers being impatient one by one, but deliberately not rushing to speak. His slightly frowned brows looked around. Seeing no one around really had hostility towards him. Pang Zi then suddenly laughed loudly *haha*, "I, Pang Zi, am a wine sack and rice bag (*jiu nang fan dai* - glutton/good-for-nothing). Let's compete in eating meat and drinking wine."

As soon as these words came out, the villagers already cheered thunderously. Especially young villagers began to move tables out impatiently, preparing bowls and chopsticks.

Pang Zi waved his hand. His subordinates unloaded wine, meat, and food from the pack horses. Chicken, duck, fish, and meat were all there, but mainly pork and chicken, and also prepared Nangong smoked vegetables. White flour steamed buns were packed in a dozen big cloth bags, all steamed just this morning. Although no longer steaming hot, they were still fresh and soft. Wine wouldn't be less either. Water had long been boiled in the village. These meats, vegetables, and steamed buns were re-steamed hot, and immediately the aroma overflowed.

Although it was called a competition, Pang Zi dared not lack any courtesy. The elders in the village were invited to the seats of honor. Wine, meat, and food were placed in front of them first. Pang Zi toasted the old masters first. After the old masters moved their chopsticks, he returned to the table where young people gathered. This was a long big table made of a dozen tables put together. Hejia Village was not big, just fifty-odd households. A hundred or so young men. Such a big table could seat them. Seeing Pang Zi come over, everyone stood up one after another, "King Pang, we have to compete with you." The leader laughed.

"Bring it on!" Pang Zi laughed. Everyone sat at the table and began to eat. Drinking wine first, everyone held a steamed bun in the left hand and chopsticks in the right hand, eating non-stop. Where had young people seen so much meat? Smelling the meat, saliva was already flowing long. Seeing Pang Zi move his chopsticks, everyone started eating immediately. Bowls of strip meat were served on the table like this, and then eaten clean. Whole roast chickens came up; everyone could even get one in front of them. Everyone buried their heads and ate fiercely, but after eating only half a chicken, they couldn't eat anymore. The vast majority of young people had never eaten so much meat and swallowed so much oil in one meal. At this time, although the mouth still felt very insufficient, the stomach already felt full. Although trying hard to eat some more, they couldn't stuff it down no matter what.

Pang Zi didn't have this problem. He ate meat and steamed buns at the same time. Two bowls of strip meat went down to the stomach, and he ate half of that chicken. Then he took a flatbread (*lao bing*), put Nangong smoked vegetables, big meat, and chicken in the flatbread, poured a lot of bean paste inside, sprinkled shredded green onions, rolled the bread into a roll the size of a fist, and ate it holding it. Finished it in a while. A big bowl held red bean and millet porridge, which was left to cool aside from the beginning. At this time Pang Zi took it and drank the porridge up with a slurping sound. Looking at the crowd at the same table again, a lot of unfinished food was left in front of them. One by one, they stared dumbfounded at Pang Zi eating so freely.

Pang Zi smiled complacently: "Just this little stuff; I haven't let go to eat yet. Eating three or five *jin* of meat in a meal doesn't tire me. Otherwise, where do you think my strength of several hundred *jin* comes from?"

Whether the fatty had a strength of several hundred *jin*, the young men of Hejia Village didn't know. But Pang Zi's appetite was solidly visible. So everyone tended to believe Pang Zi's words.

"Gentlemen, do you have anything else unconvinced?" Seeing admiration in everyone's eyes, Pang Zi said while striking the iron was hot.

"This..." The young men had nothing unconvinced, but everyone was a junior; what they said themselves didn't count.

The fatty knew this clearly in his heart. He laughed *haha*: "Actually, this is not something you can decide either. I don't collect grain from everyone, nor do I ask everyone to pay me any profit money. I just want to tell everyone, if you encounter any difficulties in the future, just come to find me directly. If you are unconvinced and think who among you is better than me, then stand out, let's compete. Won't it be clear who is strong and who is weak? We are all men; speak a straightforward word!"

Pang Zi failed to convince the young people successfully, but he didn't care either. He encountered this kind of thing a lot these days. From anxious dissatisfaction at the beginning to being able to treat it calmly now. Pang Zi felt he also improved a lot. After eating and drinking, Pang Zi always had to leave some polite remarks. The object of persuasion this time was those elders, "Fellow villagers and elders, I, Pang Zi, am just a wine sack and rice bag, but I always want to exert some strength for everyone. Now I opened an Escort Agency (*Biao Ju*), running in our Nangong County, running the business of our Xingtai. If everyone doesn't despise it and wants to find something to do, come to find me."

After saying this, Pang Zi didn't stay long either. Mounting the horse with his subordinates, Pang Zi cupped his hands towards everyone, "If there is any place where you old and young men can use me, I will absolutely not decline." After speaking, Pang Zi turned the horse's head and whistled away with his subordinates.

Although everyone had their own thoughts in their hearts, the urgent task now was not to consider Pang Zi's words, but to move this table full of wine and meat home as much as possible. Women at home couldn't come to the table; they had been waiting anxiously at home for a long time.

Horses galloped. Pang Zi felt very happy. Not only the refreshment after a big meal, but those envious and longing eyes of the villagers made Pang Zi feel that a large part of the meaning of his life had been realized. Being born means making everyone envy and jealous. This was one of Pang Zi's views. So he actually knew that he could never catch up with Uncle Jing Tingbin in this life.

This was not something that could be expounded directly with very clear words. If forced to say, Pang Zi knew Uncle Jing was a "decent person." While he was far from having Uncle Jing's "rules." Back then, whether people who liked Uncle Jing or people who didn't like Uncle Jing. Whether landlords, gentry, or common people, all considered Uncle Jing's actions as "reason" (*Dao Li*). Whether dealing with him perfunctorily to his face or stabbing him in the back. But even those who opposed Uncle Jing actually dared not say that what Uncle Jing did lacked reason.

Compared with Uncle Jing Tingbin, Pang Zi completely lacked such a reputation. In Nangong County, Pang Zi was famous for liking to associate with those dubious guys. The direct result of this reputation was that Pang Zi's image was greatly affected. And Pang Zi himself had no intention of imitating Uncle Jing Tingbin. Regarding being called liking to associate with "lowlifes," Pang Zi didn't feel anything wrong at all.

The rebellion led by Uncle Jing Tingbin and Uncle Zhao Sanduo almost mobilized all the bloody men from Xingtai to Shandong. After the uprising failed, Yuan Shikai led the Beiyang New Army to suppress it cruelly. Those who dared to fight either died in battle or left their native places to go elsewhere. Those remaining were scared out of their wits. Asking them to do something, these people thought over and over again; where was the heroism of predecessors pledging life and death over a bowl of wine?

Previous predecessors didn't pledge promises of life and death for that bowl of wine, that meal. What allowed everyone to associate sincerely was the "righteousness" (*Dao Yi*) possessed by Uncle Jing. As the saying goes, shoulder righteousness with iron shoulders. Uncle Jing was that kind of person; he almost hated evil as an enemy. Encountering things that didn't conform to righteousness and etiquette, Uncle Jing could always stand out. He was not upholding justice, but maintaining righteousness.

Pang Zi was not this kind of person who could undertake righteousness. When Uncle Jing was alive, he was scolded a lot. Reasonably speaking, Uncle Jing passed away; Pang Zi should be able to develop freely, and no one could restrain Pang Zi anymore. But what surprised Pang Zi himself was that what he wanted to do most now was actually become a person like Uncle Jing. Not imitating Uncle Jing Tingbin, but possessing that kind of "righteous" life from the root.

In these years, Pang Zi discovered one thing. Unknown for what reason, this world began to change. In the past, wherever foreign missionaries and foreign goods went, that place would definitely be chaotic. Uncle Jing and the others devoted their lives to eliminating foreign religions and boycotting foreign goods. Just to be able to restore traditional righteousness. But now, Chinese missionaries and foreign goods produced by Chinese themselves began to appear constantly. Previously seeing those curvy and bending characters, one knew it was foreign goods. Now it's all Chinese characters; how do you know it was made by fake foreign devils?

Pang Zi's theoretical and practical knowledge were both insufficient. He didn't know what exactly happened to this world. He only knew that this world was undergoing slow but irresistible changes. The whole country became impetuous, and the relationship between people no longer relied solely on "righteousness" as the standard. Many things were changing constantly. In Uncle Jing Tingbin's view, Pang Zi was already a rebellious child. But facing such overall changes, Pang Zi's first thought was actually hoping this society, this world could return to the path Pang Zi was familiar with.

To make this world return to the path Fatty wanted, there must be people and guns. Otherwise, before Pang Zi achieved his ideal, he would be killed by others. Pang Zi was very clear about this. After Uncle Jing died, the forces once suppressed in Xingtai surfaced one after another. Those guys who were ignored by everyone originally now also felt they were characters. Pang Zi believed his current opponents were them. If he couldn't suppress this gang, he would absolutely not become a leading figure in Nangong County.

Even adopting unusual methods, as long as he could regain the dominant position in Nangong County in the short term, Pang Zi didn't care who he cooperated with, nor did he care what means he used. This was Pang Zi's thought before meeting Chen Ke.

After meeting Chen Ke, more specifically, after getting Chen Tianhua's help, Pang Zi found suddenly that he had many new chips to use. Chen Tianhua devoted himself to building a breeding farm. At that time Wu Xingchen was still in Nangong County; with him sitting in town, Pang Zi dared not oppose directly either. The breeding farm was just done like this.

It experienced many twists and turns in the middle, but finally succeeded. First eggs, duck eggs. Then chicken meat, duck meat. More than half a year later, the piglets raised in the breeding farm actually grew to about a hundred *jin*. If according to ordinary pig raising, such pigs could already be killed for meat. And Pang Zi did exactly this. Calling himself "wine sack and rice bag" was not Pang Zi's hobby. Now Pang Zi didn't have more means to buy off surrounding villagers. Anyway, the breeding farm didn't have much investment either. If spending money to buy these meats and eggs, it would indeed require a lot of money. But taking them out as favors was very cheap. Pang Zi hoped this kind of life with wine and meat all day could attract those youths to join his team.

Hejia Village was not too far from Gaojia Village where Pang Zi was located. Going there carrying a pile of wine and meat took a longer time. Coming back was light travel. Plus taking advantage of the alcohol, Pang Zi, who spent more than two hours riding back to Gaojia Village, didn't feel the fatigue of the past at all. At this time, he was glowing with health and radiating vigor. After dismounting, Pang Zi threw the reins to the subordinate waiting at the gate of his compound. Then he strode into the courtyard.

This courtyard didn't change much from when Chen Ke and Chen Tianhua came together. Except that Pang Zi had actually given this courtyard to Chen Tianhua to live in, there was nothing different. Now Pang Zi was mainly active in the county town. This was the most beautiful thing he thought he had done in his life so far.

Four months ago, one month after Wu Xingchen left Xingtai, the breeding farm started by Chen Tianhua and Wu Xingchen could already provide eggs and duck eggs stably. That was exactly April, soon to be the days when the green crop was not yet ready. Pang Zi immediately summoned landless poor men from Nangong County town and surrounding areas. This gang of brothers was about two hundred or so. When Pang Zi got them to Gaojia Village, he really felt he found the right people.

These people looked like brothers who no longer sought any future, typical of getting drunk today when there is wine today. When greeting everyone to eat, everyone ate neither fast nor slow. Drinking wine and eating meat was no different from eating steamed buns. Although that decadence could be seen in their eyes. But from another angle, this gang also had a temperament Pang Zi cared about very much. To put it nicely, that was a kind of demeanor. What made these people despair was not the helplessness of life, not just unable to survive.

If one must say, it was a kind of despair produced after being abandoned by the mainstream. If in the eyes of many others, the setbacks these people encountered were only temporary. But these people had a thought that they could never be accepted by the "correct path" again. Rather than saying they were forced into this precarious life, it was better to say this gang chose self-exile, wanting to face the end of life on this road of idlers.

Why did these people have such an attitude? Pang Zi really couldn't understand. But Pang Zi knew he found the people he needed. Facing everyone, Pang Zi asked, "Afraid of losing heads or not?"

These people below neither said afraid nor said not afraid. Everyone asked back: "Give enough to eat?"

Pang Zi laughed: "As long as everyone is in the county town, I want to scare the government. Don't know if everyone is afraid."

"Afraid of what? Beheading? Beating with boards?" Everyone laughed.

Pang Zi laughed too listening; these idlers didn't mean to be afraid, "Beheading may not be necessary; beating with boards and being cangued probably can't be avoided. But what should be given to everyone to eat and use, I, Pang Zi, will absolutely not short you. Moreover, if everyone wants to work here in the future, just work. I don't lack here. If you don't want to work, this mouthful of rice won't be short for everyone either."

"As long as providing food, what are we afraid of? Even if we can't do things, can't we even make a fuss?" The idlers gave the bottom line of what they could do. And what Pang Zi needed was exactly such a bottom line.

After some discussion, Pang Zi led more than two hundred idlers to occupy the street in front of the Nangong County Yamen first. The idlers lined up and walked from this end of the street to that end, walking back and forth several times. The team began to circle around the county yamen. If just walking back and forth on the street, it only aroused the curiosity of the bailiffs. Circling around the yamen, the bailiffs panicked immediately.

The Magistrate got the report and sent someone to inquire. Seeing a bailiff coming to question, the idlers clamored immediately, "You ask what we want to do? Now life can't go on; we want to rebel!"

Hearing this, the bailiff's face turned somewhat pale instantly. "Brother, don't joke." The bailiff tried to ease everyone's mood.

Pang Zi and the idlers had discussed things long ago. Hearing the bailiff say this, the idlers shouted instantly, "Life can't go on! Rebel and be done with it (*Zao Fan Le Suan Qiu*)!"

While speaking, they took out various guys and surrounded the county yamen. Seeing things were wrong, the bailiff was scared into running back to the yamen to report hurriedly. And the idlers surrounded the county yamen tightly and began to make a fuss.