Chapter 191: Protection Money
Xiao Han cautiously moved closer to Liu Xiaolei.
Liu Xiaolei's face was flushed red, and had it not been for the pitch-dark surroundings, she probably wouldn't have had the courage to say such things. As Xiao Han leaned in closer, preparing to grope her, suddenly Liu Xiaolei quickly covered her chest and exclaimed, "What are you doing?"
"Didn't you say I could touch?" Xiao Han quickly responded.
"I did say you could touch, yes, but why are you being so lewd?" Liu Xiaolei, blushing, said shyly, "I only meant for you to touch my hand, not my chest. What are you thinking about all day long?"
"Uh..." Xiao Han was immediately dumbfounded. This... this isn't fair, is it? Who touches a hand? If you let someone touch, wouldn't they naturally go for the chest? Xiao Han quickly added, "Of course, I would think it's the chest.
How would I know it's the hand!"
"That's why you're a little rogue!" Liu Xiaolei huffed.
"You're wrong." Xiao Han chuckled and said, "A man touching a woman's chest is driven by instinct, an innate instinct of a man, you see?" Explore hidden tales at My Virtual Library Empire
"How come you still make it sound reasonable?" Liu Xiaolei frowned.
Xiao Han was momentarily taken aback before he hurriedly said, "It's just true. Think about it, woman's chests stick out and a man's hand perfectly contours it. Once the palm touches, it just happens to grasp the chest."
"You... you filthy rogue!" Upon hearing this, Liu Xiaolei became instantly furious, saying, "You're not only depraved in thought but also in action."
"Haha…" Xiao Han laughed heartily.
"I'm not dealing with you anymore, I'm going to work." Liu Xiaolei huffed and then turned to leave.
Watching Liu Xiaolei's retreating figure, Xiao Han felt considerably more relaxed. Sometimes, life should have its diversions. Although Chen Zihan was far from him, she would always be in his heart. Chen Zihan was gone, but Liu Xiaolei was still around, right?
After strolling outside for a while, just as Xiao Han was about to head back, suddenly, two vans sped up and screeched to a halt in front of him. Immediately after, more than ten knife-wielding men jumped out of the vans and surrounded Xiao Han tightly.
"Who are you?" Xiao Han asked calmly.
"Kid, you've offended someone, you know?" the leader, a sturdy man wearing a tank top with tattoos on both arms, and the group stared coldly at Xiao Han then said, "Someone has paid money for one of your arms, heh heh…"
"How much?" Xiao Han asked.
"Twenty thousand!" the sturdy man chuckled but mistakenly held up three fingers.
"Boss, you've got it wrong." One of the underlings hurriedly said, "It should be like this."
After speaking, the underling quickly showed two fingers.
Hearing this, the sturdy man's expression drastically changed, and he slapped the back of the underling's head, cursing, "Damn, don't I know that?"
After cursing, he then held up two fingers.
Xiao Han smiled and said, "I'll offer fifty thousand, and you guys go chop off the other person's arm. How about it?"
"What?" The sturdy man hurriedly asked, "For real?"
"Yes!" Xiao Han nodded and said, "Fifty thousand dollars, I won't short you a penny, just as long as you chop off the other person's arm in front of me. If not, you can chop off mine."
"Bro, don't listen to this kid." The just-beaten underling quickly interjected, "Look at him, all shabby, he might not even have five dollars, how could he have fifty thousand?"
"Uh…" The sturdy man blinked and sized up Xiao Han, apparently thinking his underling had a point.
Just as he was about to speak, Xiao Han quickly said, "I can go with you. As long as you dismember the other person's arm in front of me. I'll immediately give you fifty thousand, if not, you can chop off my arm too."
The sturdy man was immediately delighted, "Alright, alright, that's a great idea."
"Boss, we're in this business. We need to have principles!" the underling hastily reminded, "Doing something against our principles and moral code for money, we can't do that!"
"Damn, aren't we in this business for the money?" the sturdy man snorted and then said, "Whoever pays more, we work for them."
"Uh…" The underling was stunned.
"Brother, let's go, get in the car!" the sturdy man hurriedly said.
Xiao Han swaggered onto the car, then sat down in the middle, flanked by two men. The car immediately sped off toward the outskirts of the city.
A few days ago, Brother De was bullied by Xiao Han, and not just once. The first time he was slapped in the face, and the second time, he even broke his arm and ribs. These past few days, Brother De, bandaged up, was out collecting protection money with a bunch of underlings.
As auxiliary police officers of the Urban Management Bureau, they wore the bureau's uniforms, yet engaged in actions devoid of any conscience.
"Brother De, we collected 5,800 from West Street." The underling responsible for collecting fees on West Street came running back excitedly.
"Hmm, not bad!" Brother De, wearing a tank top with an arm in a sling and draped in an Urban Management Bureau uniform, said.
"Brother De, East Street collected ten thousand." The underling had a bag hanging at his waist, full and bulging. He grinned as he took all the money out.
"Why is everyone being so enthusiastic about paying up today?" Brother De asked curiously.
"We used the old trick you taught us, kill the chicken to scare the monkeys." The underling chuckled and then said, "We took out a troublesome resident, beat him up, and everyone else paid up quietly."
"Damn, don't make too much of a scene," Brother De hurriedly said.
"Don't worry, sir, no one knew when we took him." The underling grinned, then added, "We locked him in a room, beat him up, and sent him back. A group of people saw a bloodied man, they knew it was us, but they had no evidence."
"Good, that method works well." Brother De chuckled and said, "This time was good, we collected several thousand. Go give Deputy Director Liu thirty thousand. We'll keep the rest. Let's put more effort tomorrow and collect from the other streets too."
"Sure thing!" The crowd nodded.
Just as everyone was joyfully counting the money.
Suddenly, two vans sped in, and Xiao Han led a group of sturdy men charging in.
"Hit them!" Xiao Han gestured.
"Go!" the sturdy men yelled urgently.
More than ten people, brandishing machetes, hacked at everyone they saw, with a reckless abandon. Brother De's underlings were all cowards, they usually just bullied the shopkeepers on the streets, who were all meek people. These underlings had never seen such a spectacle, and dropped the money on the table and ran.
The sturdy men quickly surrounded them. Brother De, with a bandage around his head, looked bewilderedly at them, "What... what is this about?"
"Heh heh..." The sturdy man chuckled.
"You... weren't you supposed to be helping me chop people? Why have you come back to chop me?" Brother De exclaimed in shock.
"Brother De, sorry, but your rival offered fifty-thousand for your arm," the sturdy man chuckled.
"Damn, you... you ungrateful bastard!" Brother De roared angrily.
At that moment, the sturdy man's lips curled into a strange smile and said, "Brother De, sorry about today."
"No no, I... I'll give sixty thousand!" Brother De hurriedly said.
The sturdy man hesitated, just about to speak when Xiao Han interjected, "You've already chopped his men, do you think he would let you off easily? And even if he would, do you think he would still pay you?"
The sturdy man, realizing Xiao Han made sense, chuckled and said, "Brother De, I won't be able to earn your money. So, I'll just have to chop off your arm. Don't worry, I'll make it quick with one chop, and I'll make a clean cut so it's easier to stitch up at the hospital."
"I... damn!" Brother De cursed, knowing he had no say anymore in whether the chop would happen. He looked desperately at Xiao Han, "Brother, please... it's said that conflict leads to friendship, I... I was wrong, okay? From now on, we're brothers.
Can you let this slide?"
"Sure!" Xiao Han nodded and said, "Didn't you just offer sixty thousand for an arm?"
"Uh..." Brother De paused, not understanding what he meant.
"You offer sixty thousand, and I'll let this go," Xiao Han smiled. "If I chop you, it'll cost you more than sixty thousand eventually, what with the recovery and multiple surgeries, probably seventy to eighty thousand, right? I'm actually saving you money here."
"This…" Brother De looked embarrassed.
"I'll give you ten seconds to think," Xiao Han issued an order.
"Fine, fine, no need to think anymore," Brother De quickly said as he trembled, got up from the ground, and shakily took out six stacks of cash from the safe in his office and handed it to Xiao Han.
Xiao Han counted it, indeed sixty thousand. He gave fifty thousand to the sturdy man, "Brother, here's your appearance fee. I promised you fifty thousand, right? Nothing wrong, right?"
"Right right, brother, you're generous!" The sturdy man hugged the fifty thousand, grinning from ear to ear.
"Let's cooperate again next time!" Xiao Han patted the sturdy man's arm, chuckled, and said, "I'll be going then."
"Okay, okay!" The sturdy man nodded.
Xiao Han turned and walked out, then hailed a taxi on the road and quickly left the scene.
The sturdy man, holding the fifty thousand, excitedly said, "Damn, finally made some money, brothers, time for a feast."
Afterward, the group quickly left the scene.
The group was particularly lively and unusually excited. An awkward underling said, "Big brother, Brother De gave that guy sixty thousand, but he only gave us fifty thousand. Does that mean we actually earned him ten thousand?"
"Uh..." The sturdy man scratched his head, then said, "Why worry about so much? As long as we got the fifty thousand, it's fine. Later, let's split it among ourselves well."