Chapter 38: Hu Qing

The visitor was a woman, and a stunning one at that. If Cao Yang were to rate girls, Li Yan would be an 8.7, Lei Yu a 9.0, but the woman before him was at least a 9.5. This was even accounting for her slightly more mature age and a style of dress that suggested she was a young matron—perhaps even a mother—otherwise, she would have scored even higher. Yet, come to think of it, perhaps it was precisely this age and style that gave her such a unique air of sophistication.

"Hello there, young man." The woman extended her hand, revealing a set of pearly white teeth. Her smile was as radiant as the spring sun, making Cao Yang feel not a shred of malice.

"Hello..." Cao Yang reached out, dazed, and shook her hand. All he could think was that her skin was as smooth as lard and her bones as delicate as jade.

"My name is Hu Qing, the general manager here. I apologize for inviting you over in such a manner."

Hu Qing was beautiful, her voice sweet, and her demeanor polite and courteous. It was a complete reversal of what Cao Yang had imagined, leaving him momentarily unable to adjust.

"Sit down, young man." Hu Qing invited him to take a seat and even personally poured him a cup of tea.

Cao Yang took a gentle sip, finally snapping back to reality and remembering why he had come. "I've brought the goods. You should let her go now."

Hu Qing offered a sweet smile, not even glancing at the chip Cao Yang had brought. She pressed a button on her desk, the door opened, and Sun Xiao poked his head in.

"Have someone bring that young girl over."

Soon, Lei Yu entered the office. Seeing Cao Yang, her eyes welled up with red; she hadn't expected him to actually come to her rescue and was moved to the verge of tears. Cao Yang breathed a sigh of relief when he saw she was fully clothed and unharmed.

"Miss Hu, I've brought the goods as requested. Can I take her and leave now?"

Hu Qing chuckled. "You tried to swallow our cargo and beat up our men, and you think you can just walk away?"

"It wasn't me trying to swallow it; it was you forcing my friend to do so. My friend was transporting goods for you, two of his brothers were lost in the process, and you still demanded compensation from him. Could he even afford that? You forced his hand!"

"What do you mean?" Hu Qing looked puzzled. She had never heard a word about demanding compensation.

Cao Yang repeated what Lei Dian had told him. Hu Qing fell into deep thought as she listened. They would never demand compensation from a courier who had already been caught—that made no sense. However, she couldn't deny that her underlings might have used harsh words to intimidate the couriers.

She smiled faintly. "There seems to have been a misunderstanding. We would never do such a thing, though my subordinates might have used some harsh language to scare people. Let's just call it a misunderstanding."

"Since it’s a misunderstanding, can we go now?"

"No," Hu Qing shook her head. "You also injured our men. We need to discuss that."

Cao Yang thought for a moment. "How about I pay for some of your medical expenses?"

"Hahaha..." Hu Qing laughed, more boldly than most men. "Seven of our ten brothers were sent to the hospital by you, and you're offering to pay for medical bills? Do you think the Yihe Society is short on medical expenses?"

"Then what do you want?" Cao Yang sensed trouble. Subconsciously, he moved to shield Lei Yu behind him, his eyes darting toward the window, weighing whether to jump out with Lei Yu or take the woman in front of him hostage. After a moment of deliberation, he decided that taking the woman hostage was the more reliable option. They were on the seventh floor; he wouldn't dare guarantee he could jump alone without injury, let alone while carrying Lei Yu. That would be a death wish.

"You don't need to be nervous. If I truly wanted to harm you, I wouldn't have let you get this close to me," Hu Qing said, noticing his tension. "Let me be blunt: the Yihe Society is hungry for talent. We need experts like you. I want to know if you're interested in working for me."

Hu Qing was telling the truth. She was busy every day and usually wouldn't bother with such trivial matters, but she had become interested after hearing that one man had single-handedly taken down ten of her people.

"Work for you?" Cao Yang looked at her skeptically. A woman running a criminal syndicate?

"What? Do you look down on me?"

"No, no..." Cao Yang shook his head. "What’s in it for me if I work for you?"

The question caught Hu Qing off guard. What was in it for him? She honestly didn't know how to answer. She just wanted to use him as a high-end enforcer or bodyguard, and such people usually just received a salary.

"I can offer you a decent salary," Hu Qing said dryly, unsure if money would even entice him.

"How much a month?" Cao Yang asked, feeling a bit dismissive. How high could a salary really be?

Hu Qing held up two fingers, then decided it was too low and added a third.

"Three thousand?" Cao Yang asked, puzzled.

"Thirty thousand!"

In that era, thirty thousand was an incredibly high salary, but Cao Yang wasn't impressed. He had six hundred thousand in cash on him and wasn't hurting for money. Besides, if he really needed cash, fighting in underground matches with Tie Xiong would be more profitable than being a bodyguard. Most importantly, he felt that being a bodyguard or an enforcer meant living by violence, which didn't align with his goal of making money using his brains.

"If I refuse, will you let us go?"

"Of course." Hu Qing’s expression softened. She added, "You might turn your nose up at thirty thousand a month, but there are many other benefits to joining us. If you become one of my trusted aides and get involved in our business, your income will exceed your imagination." She was hinting that thirty thousand was just the entry point; his future would depend on his loyalty and potential.

Cao Yang didn't buy the empty promises. He shook his head and said, "Could I have a few days to think about it?"

Hu Qing was stunned, knowing it was just a stall tactic, but after two seconds, she nodded. "Fine."

"Can we go now?"

"Go ahead." Hu Qing wasn't angry at the rejection. She even took out a business card and handed it to him. "Call me when you've decided. You can also reach out if you run into any trouble."

"Thank you." Cao Yang took the card and led Lei Yu out.

A group of black-clad bodyguards stood at the door, watching them coldly. At first glance, they looked cool, but Cao Yang couldn't help but think that standing in a line like that made them look like idiots.

...

"Big Sister, you're just letting him walk away like that?" Sun Xiao asked, carrying two bags as he walked into the office.

Hu Qing nodded. "What else? Kill them, or give them a beating?"

Sun Xiao replied, "At the very least, we should teach that kid a lesson so he knows the consequences of offending the Yihe Society."

Hu Qing shook her head with a smile. "It's a trivial matter; don't blow it out of proportion. Hurry up and hand the goods over to the client."

Sun Xiao nodded, picked up the bag Cao Yang had left, poured out the cargo, and combined it with the bags he had brought. If Cao Yang were still there, he would surely be curious: hadn't the other two batches of goods been seized by the coast guard? How did they end up in Sun Xiao's hands?

What he didn't know was that the Yihe Society had immense reach; even items seized by the coast guard could be retrieved. One might wonder, if they were so powerful, why bother sending small-time thugs like Lei Dian to run the errand? Why not just take the goods openly?

That came down to cost. Sending Lei Dian's crew cost almost nothing, whereas the cost of retrieving goods from the coast guard was tens or hundreds of times higher.