Chapter 1828
Encountered a Madman
After Wang Li finished asking the question, the boy named "Tie Ming" replied very firmly:
"Okay, two yuan. Your car is too heavy. Look how much it's weighing down the bridge. It's shaking. I can't charge you another yuan. It has to be two yuan."
Ever since Wang Li started practicing martial arts with Wang An, relying on his height, strength, and martial arts skills, his personality has become quite impulsive. It can be said that he wants to fight anyone, and Wang Daliang and his wife can hardly control him anymore.
Fortunately, Wang An kept him in check. Whenever he showed any bad signs, Wang An would beat him up, which prevented him from going astray in life.
But Wang Li, provoked by the boy's words, immediately lost his temper, his face instantly turning sour. Then, Wang Li pointed at Tie Ming's nose and said:
"Are you fucking giving me attitude? Two yuan? Do you even have a head that's good for taking two yuan?"
In those days, a regular employee's daily wage was only 1.2 yuan. Those who carried heavy loads and did manual labor could only earn about 1 yuan a day. But what you should know is that the vast majority of people, more than 90 percent, could not earn 1 yuan a day.
These are all facts!
This shows how valuable two yuan was in those days.
But Tie Ming and his gang, who collect tolls for the bridge, actually dared to ask for two yuan. This was practically robbery. What was most disgusting was that when Wang An and his three companions came over, it was only one yuan.
As soon as Wang Li uttered these very forceful words, the guy named Tie Ming immediately became enraged and retorted in a very forceful tone:
"If you want to cross the bridge, then hurry up and pay up. Otherwise, get the hell out of here. Who the hell are you trying to compete with?"
After Tie Ming finished speaking, Wang Li, who was already furious, suddenly sneered and pointed at the one-yuan coin in Tie Ming's hand, saying:
"Fine, fine, give me back that dollar, and I won't cross this bridge anymore. I'll take a detour from below, okay?"
There are many ferry crossings like this on every river, because people living near the river will try to find a way to cross it. Where the river is wider, they use ferries, and where the river is narrower, they build bridges.
Therefore, Wang An and his companions had more than one bridge to cross the river; there were many other places to cross if they were willing to take a detour.
The only thing they had in common was that no matter which way they crossed the river, they had to pay money to do so.
As soon as Wang Li finished speaking, the boy named Tie Ming was stunned. He never expected that Wang Li would say that they would not cross the river from here.
Why isn't this behaving the way it should?
Tie Ming's lips moved slightly. He twirled the one yuan he had just received, raised his hand slightly, and then immediately pulled it back, clearly unwilling to return the one yuan to Wang Li.
Seeing this, Wang Li impatiently urged:
"What are you bastard for? Hurry up and give me my money back, I'm not leaving here, you know? Can you please give me my money back quickly?"
Wang Li's words were reasonable and well-founded. It's fine for you to ask for an exorbitant price, but it's also fine for me not to leave with you. We didn't make a transaction, so I must get my money back. That's still perfectly reasonable.
Wang An almost burst out laughing at the sight of the two of them.
Actually, when Wang Li got angry with this kid, Wang An wanted Wang Li to pay another dollar. In Wang An's opinion, a problem that could be solved with a dollar was not worth arguing about or even fighting over, as it would ruin his mood.
However, the fact that this kid could raise prices so arbitrarily and so brazenly was getting to Wang An. While one yuan wasn't much to Wang An, the humiliation was hard to swallow. So, Wang An remained silent, simply watching Wang Li confront the kid.
After Wang Li finished speaking in a hurry, the guy named Tie Ming raised his hand again, but then pulled it back again.
He blinked rapidly, jumping up and down as he said:
"This dollar is to make up for the bridge toll you paid earlier. The toll was two dollars, but you only gave me one dollar. This dollar will make up for it, understand?"
This time, it was Wang Li's turn to be dumbfounded!
Wang Li originally wanted to reason with the other party and settle the matter peacefully, but the other party wouldn't let go of the money and wouldn't listen to reason at all.
Wang Li didn't say anything more, mainly because he had nothing to say. He glared at Tie Gang and was about to push open the car door to get out when he subconsciously turned his head and looked at Wang An with a questioning gaze.
It was obvious that Wang Li was asking Wang An, "Can I get out of the car and beat this kid up?"
Wang An didn't stop him, and nodded, saying:
"Go ahead and give him a good beating."
Upon receiving the order, Wang Li immediately became excited, turned around, pushed open the car door, and got out.
When the guy named Tieming saw Wang Li get out of the car, he immediately took a few steps back, stuffed the money into his pocket, and with a shrug, pulled out the double-barreled shotgun from his shoulder.
Upon seeing the other party draw their gun, Wang Li, who had initially intended to beat them up, immediately calmed down. His eyes darted around, and he gave a thumbs-up, saying in a very convincing tone:
"Fine, fine, you're awesome, you're awesome, okay? We don't want that one dollar anymore, we'll leave right now, we'll leave right now."
As he spoke, Wang Li turned around and tried to open the car door and get in.
No one expected that the other party would pick up a gun over a mere dollar. That's just too crazy.
Although Wang Li was impulsive, he didn't want to risk his life for just one yuan!
But even though Wang Li had said that, which could be considered an admission of weakness, the other party still wouldn't have it.
The guy named Tie Ming, probably because he had a gun, felt like he was the coolest guy around. Whether he'd lost his mind or been possessed, he suddenly shouted:
"Leave? Where the hell are you going? You can leave, but leave the car and everything inside. You son of a bitch, you've really got too big for your britches."
As soon as Tie Ming uttered those words, coupled with his actions, not only were Wang An and his three companions dumbfounded, but the three people with Tie Ming were equally stunned.
The main thing is that Tie Ming's actions completely changed the nature of the whole matter in an instant.
Because this is no longer a normal toll collection; he's clearly trying to stage an "armed robbery"!
Wang Li turned around, his face full of disbelief, and asked:
"No, dude, are you... are you serious?"
At this moment, Wang Li was completely dumbfounded. He truly hadn't expected the other party to be so crazy, resorting to outright robbery.
This is insane! We've clearly run into a lunatic! (End of Chapter)