Chapter 25: Protection Money

"We've come today to offer courtesy before resorting to force; we hope you'll cooperate."

Cao Yang didn't want to pay, and he didn't think much of the two men before him. But if he didn't pay, they would wreck his shop. What was he to do? He glanced at Li Yan, who gave a faint nod. Six thousand a month was a significant sum, but given their current income, they could manage it.

"Well? Are you going to pay or not? Give us an answer," Mountain Eagle urged.

Before Cao Yang could speak, Li Yan stepped in. "We'll pay, big brother, we'll pay."

Mountain Eagle looked at Li Yan with a smirk. "You're the sensible one, unlike this kid who has a bit of a rebellious streak."

Cao Yang glared at him but remained silent.

Li Yan smiled and said, "Big brother, we're all from the same hometown, so of course we'll pay. It's just that we've only just opened, and we don't have that much cash on hand right now. Could you give us ten days or half a month?"

"Ten days or half a month? Are you playing with me?" Mountain Eagle said, displeased. "I'll give you one day to scrape the money together. I'll be back at this time tomorrow. If you don't have it, then shut the place down!"

With that, he grabbed a pen and paper from the counter, wrote down a phone number, and handed it to Li Yan. "This is my number. Call me if you need anything in the future; we don't take money for nothing." He then flashed a lewd grin. "And you can call your big brother when you're feeling lonely, too."

Li Yan offered a forced smile, nodding while holding Cao Yang back, fearing he might strike the man. Mountain Eagle left, feeling satisfied, while Cao Yang sat on the counter, wordless.

Li Yan shook him. "Don't be angry. It's just six thousand; we'll earn it back in a few days anyway."

"I don't like this feeling," Cao Yang muttered. He hated being threatened.

"Oh, just endure it. If you don't pay, they'll just keep causing trouble. I know you can fight, but there are so many of them—it's endless. You beat the small fry, and the big bosses come. It never ends, and it just stops us from making money."

Cao Yang said, "Maybe I should just go talk to that Tie Xiong directly. If that doesn't work, I'll just kill him. Wouldn't that solve the problem?"

"Don't do anything reckless. Just bear with it, and it will pass," Li Yan soothed him as if he were a child.

"Sigh..." Cao Yang sighed. "We don't even have six thousand right now."

Li Yan took three thousand from her bag and counted it—money she had set aside yesterday to deposit in the bank; now it would have to go toward protection money. There was a little over a thousand left in the register, still short by a thousand or more, but judging by the current business, if they stayed open late tonight, they should be able to make the difference.

Just then, Lightning came down from upstairs and asked Cao Yang what was going on. Cao Yang said it was nothing and gave a rough summary of what had happened.

Lightning shook his head after hearing it. "You shouldn't pay that money. They're just conning you."

"What do you mean?" Both Cao Yang and Li Yan looked at him.

Lightning explained, "The slot machine business is controlled by the Sichuan Gang; the Hunan Gang generally doesn't interfere. If you pay them, the Sichuan Gang will be here to cause trouble the very next moment."

As if on cue, three fierce-looking men stormed in.

"Who's the boss?!" the man shouted as soon as he entered. The other two rushed to the slot machines, yanked the power cords, and chased away the customers who were playing.

"What are you doing?" Li Yan asked angrily. Chasing away customers meant chasing away her livelihood.

"We're from the Sichuan Gang. Who the hell gave you permission to put machines here?" the man said viciously. "I'll let it slide this time since it's your first offense, so I'm just taking the machines. If you dare set them up again, I'll break your legs!"

With a signal from him, his two lackeys began to haul the machines away.

"Don't touch those!" Li Yan shielded the machines. "How much protection money do you want?" She assumed the Sichuan Gang was also here to collect, but they didn't even mention it. Because the Sichuan Gang operated their own machines in the area, they didn't allow anyone else to run them, and there was no such thing as protection money.

"Get lost, you bitch!" the men were far from polite. They shoved Li Yan aside and continued moving the machines.

"Bang!"

"Ah!" A scream erupted as a glass soda bottle struck one of the lackeys' hands, causing his fingers to bend at an unnatural angle—a compound fracture.

Cao Yang had struck. These people had gone too far. The Hunan Gang at least spoke civilly, but these guys started moving the machines immediately. He couldn't忍 it any longer!

"Fuck you! You're dead!" The other two were enraged and pulled out butterfly knives, lunging at Cao Yang.

Li Yan shrieked in terror. Lightning grabbed a stool and smashed it over one of the men's heads. Cao Yang remained calm, moving with ease to grab the other man's wrist and twist; the man cried out in pain, and his butterfly knife clattered to the floor.

Lightning seized the opportunity, bent down to pick up the fallen knife, and plunged it twice into the man he had just struck with the stool.

The blade went in white and came out red. The man collapsed, clutching his stomach, as a pool of blood quickly stained the floor. Li Yan screamed again, while Cao Yang delivered heavy kicks to the other two, tossing all three out of the shop.

The two men struggled to their feet, pointing at Cao Yang and Lightning, seemingly about to spout threats, but they bit their tongues—the threats didn't seem to scare these two. They hoisted their stabbed companion and fled, but the vicious glare they cast back suggested they would be back soon.

"Let's go, quickly!" Li Yan was pale with fright, pulling at Cao Yang to run.

But Cao Yang didn't move. Instead, he sat down in a rocking chair and calmly lit a cigarette.

"Let's go!" Li Yan urged him.

"Where to?" Cao Yang asked.

"Just hide for a while."

"Hide? Then are we going to keep the shop open? Do you still want your capital back? Do you still want to get rich?"

"Everything is ruined now, you're still thinking about money? Saving your life is what matters!"

"You go hide first. I'll get this sorted out, and then you can come back."

"They have the numbers! How are you going to solve this?"

"If I can't solve it with them, I'll just go to the Nightingale Club and have a chat with their boss."

Li Yan wanted to say more, but Cao Yang waved his hand to stop her. He turned to Lightning and smiled. "Not bad, having the guts to stab someone."

Lightning chuckled. "I was planning on running away anyway, so what's there to be afraid of?"

"Where do you plan to go?"

"Back to my hometown in Sichuan to hide for a while until the heat dies down."

Cao Yang nodded. "Then you should go now, before you get trapped here."

Lightning shook his head. "If I don't leave now, I can't just abandon you."

Cao Yang was stunned, looking at him with intrigue. "Aren't you guys supposed to be disloyal?"

"Look at what you're saying. Loyalty depends on who you're dealing with. If you treat me with loyalty, I'll treat you with it. If you don't, I won't. You saved me once, and I remember that."

Cao Yang patted his shoulder with a smile. "I appreciate the sentiment, but you really should go. They have many men; I can escape if I can't beat them, but if you're here, you'll just drag me down."

Lightning thought about it and realized it made sense, though it felt awkward. He opened his mouth to say something, but stopped.

"What is it?" Cao Yang asked, noticing his hesitation.

Lightning mumbled, "I don't have any money. I wanted to borrow some travel expenses from you."

Cao Yang smiled. "How much?" As he spoke, he reached for the counter to get the money, only to realize there wasn't a cent left—Li Yan had put it all in her bag.

"One thousand should do."

"Give me the bag." Cao Yang reached out to Li Yan.

Li Yan held onto it tightly, refusing to let go. Cao Yang reached out to grab it, but she bit her lip, still refusing. Lightning stood by, feeling incredibly awkward.

"Give it to me!" Cao Yang pulled hard, snapping the strap of the bag. He counted out two thousand and handed it to Lightning. "Here."

Lightning took the money, looked deeply at Cao Yang, and then said to Li Yan, "Cao Yang's sister, don't be like that. I swear I'll pay this money back."

Li Yan ignored him completely, her eyes fixed on Cao Yang, filled with tears that threatened to fall at any moment.