Second Update

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"Xiao Qin, come to your shop. Some friends from the streets have come to collect protection fees..."

Qin Fang had just finished all his business at the bank and was ready to head back to school for a meal with his buddies when Uncle Fang suddenly called.

Initially, Qin Fang was slightly surprised to see Uncle Fang's number, wondering what had happened. He hadn't expected that just after talking about this matter in the morning, within a few hours, they had already taken the initiative to find him.

"Uncle Fang, just stall them for a bit, I'll be right back!"

Qin Fang quickly instructed Uncle Fang and immediately headed back to the shop. Fortunately, the bank was not too far from the shop, just a few turns away.

Before heading there, however, Qin Fang pulled out Brother Li Dong's phone number and dialed it.

"Hello, Brother Dong, it's Qin Fang, Xiao Qin, yes, yes, I need to trouble you with something..."

Qin Fang got through to Li Dong, who recognized him immediately after he introduced himself, and his tone became much more amicable and polite.

Qin Fang briefly explained to Li Dong about the local thugs coming to his shop collecting protection money. He didn't mention what to do about it, just explained the situation.

"Xiao Qin, leave this matter to me. I'll give you a satisfactory answer!"

Li Dong had thought it was something significant, but it turned out to be a small matter and immediately agreed to take care of it. He sent out his men to investigate who was behind it while also checking up on Qin Fang's shop.

Qin Fang was someone Brother Hu valued, which Li Dong was aware of. It was said that Qin Fang had good relations with Young Master Tang and Young Master Ning, and Brother Hu had the Tang family's backing. As a lackey, he certainly did not want to offend Qin Fang, but even though he was a well-known gangster, he was far from having the status to mix with Tang Cheng or Ning Weiqiang.

For that reason, he valued Qin Fang even more, and he had thought about winning him over. He just refrained from being too blatant because of his pride. Besides, since Qin Fang had never sought his help, he hadn't had the opportunity.

Now the opportunity had come knocking. Qin Fang had reached out to him, and he was naturally going to show his worth, sending additional manpower to investigate.

But what he didn't realize until he checked was almost enough to scare Li Dong out of his wits.

"Damn it, which asshole wants to get me killed!"

The moment he found out about the identity of the shop's shareholders, Li Dong, who had been sipping imported fine wine and feeling up a lady, was so shocked by the news that he unintentionally twisted hard on the lady's chest, then violently smashed his expensive glass of wine onto the floor.

It was no big deal for Li Dong regarding the shareholders: Qin Fang didn't need mentioning as Li Dong wanted to win him over anyway, Xiao Nan came from another province with some money, but not enough to catch Li Dong's eye, and Xiao Muxue, just an ordinary girl with a good relationship with Qin Fang.

These were all trivial to Li Dong, but there was one shareholder—Tang Feifei.

Who was Tang Feifei?

That was Young Master Tang's own sister, the daughter of Ninghai City's Secretary. Even though she never revealed her identity, Li Dong was aware of it, but his status was such that he couldn't even consider winning her favor.

Now, on his turf, someone was collecting protection fees from Miss Tang's shop... Wasn't this like pushing him into a pit of fire?

If Brother Hu, or even Young Master Tang, found out about it, could he, Brother Dong, continue to operate?

"Four-Eyes, gather the troops now! Damn it, to dare make trouble on the god of earth's head, they're seeking death!!"

Originally, he had intended to simply teach those blind fools a lesson, but with Miss Tang, Tang Feifei, involved, the matter couldn't be settled so easily anymore.

"Yes, Brother Dong!"

Four-Eyes, the astute one, akin to a military advisor by Li Dong's side, noticed the sudden rage from Li Dong and realized the investigation must have taken a twist. He immediately rushed out to prepare the personnel and vehicles.

In a matter of minutes, Li Dong had mobilized ten cars and fifty to sixty thugs, leading them personally towards Fang Feixue Noodle Shop in Lanyuan.

...

Fang Feixue Noodle Shop.

"Old man, our patience is limited. You have five more minutes. If you don't pay up, we'll wreck the place! And if in the process your old arms and legs happen to break, that's on you!"

A thug with a peculiar haircut was yelling; his hair was long on one side, short on the other, dyed in various colors, looking like a cowpat thrown onto his head.

About a dozen thugs were sitting in the shop, led by a guy full of beard and brawn, exuding a very oppressive presence. His accomplices, though less noticeable, all sported similarly unconventional styles.

All the customers in the shop had been scared away, paying their bills and leaving, with Uncle Fang not having collected a dime; the thugs had pocketed all of it, and the idea of asking them to return it was nothing short of wishful thinking.

The wait staff in the restaurant were all sent to the back by Uncle Fang, to prevent them from getting hurt if the thugs really started causing trouble, leaving only him to watch over things at the front.

"Everyone, calm down, I'm just working for someone here, and the restaurant has rules. For anything over two thousand yuan, I need the boss's approval, there's really nothing I can do!"

Uncle Fang had been in business for so many years, and with Qin Fang's consent, naturally he was placating the thugs, "Don't worry, I've already notified the boss, he'll be here soon!"

"Old man, stop playing tricks on us, otherwise you're definitely going to die a nasty death!"

Seeing that Uncle Fang still wasn't willing to hand over the money, the young thug didn't dare to do much to an old man who looked like he could collapse at any moment. If something really happened, it would be a big deal.

The restaurant was bustling inside, and there was no shortage of excitement outside either. By now, a crowd had already formed, consisting of customers coming to eat, as well as owners, mistresses, and clerks from nearby shops and stalls.

"This is getting interesting, someone's going to be unlucky!"

"Serves them right! With business that good, it's hard not to be targeted!"

"Hehe, best if those hooligans smash his shop to pieces, let's see if he's still so cocky!"

"Alas, how unfortunate, these people are like vampires, once you give in once, there will be a second time! If something really happens, they won't care about you at all!"

The crowd outside was noisy, with some gloating over the misfortune and some sympathizing, but they were only moving their lips, talking about it. After all, it wasn't their business. They were just there for the spectacle, not caring about the final outcome.

"Yo, their young boss is back… there's a show to watch now!"

Someone with sharp eyes spotted Qin Fang coming from a distance and immediately called out, causing the crowd to automatically part and form a path.

With such commotion, of course those inside the shop knew about it too, and you could see the thugs already standing up, crowding around their boss, the one with the beard.

Uncle Fang also walked to the front of the shop, watching Qin Fang come back alone, feeling somewhat nervous.

"Xiao Qin, they..."

"Don't worry, Uncle Fang, I've got this!" Qin Fang indeed didn't give him a chance to speak, interrupting Uncle Fang's words, trying to reassure him.

"Are you the owner of this shop?"

The bearded man didn't move, but the strangely-haired young thug who had been making a scene stepped forward and said, "Now that you're back, it's just perfect. Hand over this month's management fee to us right away, or else... huh!"

Following his words, the other thugs struck an arrogant pose, as if they were really about to smash the place if the money wasn't handed over.

Qin Fang glanced around briefly, but accidentally caught sight of an acquaintance, despite his effort to hide towards the back of the crowd.

"Hold on… isn't that Brother Qiang? Long time no see!"

Qin Fang waved his hand, ignoring the young thug and headed straight for the familiar face, who turned out to be Mouse Qiang, who had caused trouble at his ramen stall before. However, Mouse Qiang seemed to be faring much worse now, as Qin Fang approached, he saw Mouse Qiang with a bruised face and one eye swollen like a panda's.

"Bo... Boss, I... this has nothing to do with me! I... wanted to help you, and they beat me up for it..."

Actually, after Mouse Qiang came to collect protection money the last time, he had gone back and made a point to inquire around, happening to see Qin Fang hanging around here, which scared him quite a bit.

He hadn't planned on coming today, but his boss, Brother Beard, wanted to make a big spectacle to intimidate people, and insisted on dragging him along. Mouse Qiang got beaten up for being disobedient, ending up in his current state.

He had hoped to quickly take the money and leave, but he hadn't expected Uncle Fang to refuse to pay, insisting on waiting for Qin Fang's return. So, Mouse Qiang was caught red-handed by Qin Fang, and he remembered he still owed Qin Fang a sum of money with the debt note still in Qin Fang's hands.

"Oh, is that so?"

Qin Fang's smile was neither here nor there, and he didn't seem inclined to haggle with him, turning around and asking the bearded man, "This boss, the management fee, I'll certainly pay it! Uncle Fang, go get three thousand yuan for them..."

"Three thousand yuan? Are you trying to brush off a beggar? Five thousand... eight thousand... no, ten thousand, at least ten thousand! Otherwise... we'll smash the shop!"

When the people thought there would be trouble were taken aback by Qin Fang's promptness to pay and couldn't help but hiss in contempt, only for Brother Beard to feel dissatisfied, immediately hinting to his underling with a glance. The underling got the message and promptly jacked up the price, spouting several figures, till he reached ten thousand, and Brother Beard seemed somewhat satisfied.

"Ten thousand yuan! Quite the appetite! Can you even stomach it? You're not afraid of overstuffing yourselves..."

Hearing that figure, Qin Fang couldn't help but let out a cold laugh. These thugs really were bullies when faced with softness and cowards at the first sign of resistance, seeing Qin Fang giving in, they immediately raised their price.

"Let me tell you, we're giving you the honor of collecting a thousand from you. Haven't you seen how many brothers we've got here? Are you looking to get beaten up?"

The kid kept on shouting, but he didn't notice at all that a fleet of cars was quickly approaching from outside. (To be continued, for the sequel please visit www.qidian.com. More chapters are available there, support the author, support genuine reading!)

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