Chapter 133 Reclaiming the Protection Fee

There were about six to seven people in the room and most of them were smoking. As such, the entire room was clouded with smoke. Gong Zhenglong held some poker cards in his hand and he was shirtless. Upon seeing Lin Huai, he snapped. “All of you shut up and sit down!”

The thugs who had planned to make a move had no choice but to sit back down. Gong Zhenglong then stared at Lin Huai sternly and coldly said, “Lin Huai, isn’t it rude of you to barge into my bar? I hope there’s a good reason for this.”

“I’m going overboard?” Lin Huai laughed and strolled over. He kicked out at one of the thugs who was seated down. He was sent flying and Lin Huai took his seat.

The thug that was sent flying fell and knocked his head on the ground. As such, blood flowed down his forehead. He stood up and glared at Lin Huai angrily. However, at the end of the day he was forced to keep his anger in and let things go.

Lin Huai looked at Gong Zhenglong and asked, “Are you sure you don’t remember the event that occurred this morning? I wonder who is the one going overboard. Shouldn’t you be the one to provide me with an explanation?”

With a confused look on his face, Gong Zhenglong asked, “This morning? What happened this morning? Is there something I missed?”

Lin Huai smiled and said, “There is no need to play dumb. Let me ask you, Big Boss Lei instructed you to pass over the ownership of this street to me, right? However, you went over this morning and immediately collected the protection fees from the shops. You even collected an advance payment of 6 months. Am I right?”

Gong Zhenglong smiled and said, “Oh, so you are here because of that. What’s wrong? Do I still have to get consent from you prior to collecting protection fees in my territory? You have yet to take ownership of the street at that time, so what’s wrong about me and my men going there to collect the protection fees?”

Lin Huai asked, “Why do you need to collect an advance payment of 6 months?”

Gong Zhenglong smiled and replied, “It’s up to me to decide how much protection fees I would like to collect and when I would like to collect them. Lin Huai, you don’t have to stick your nose into my business.”

“Alright, I get it.” Lin Huai suddenly stood up. Then, he turned around and left.

Gong Zhenglong sneered. After Lin Huai left, Gong Zhenglong looked at a few of his men and proudly said, “He is just a newbie that got out of college which is why he would get frightened so easily by me. Fortunately, you all didn’t lay a hand on him. Otherwise, that would constitute going against your leader and it would not be worth it if he chose to bring it up to Thunder God. Now that he’s run out of money, let’s see how he’s going to survive.”

The thug that fell on the group gave Gong Zhenglong a thumbs up and said, “Brother Long is so powerful. You are our idol.

Gong Zhenglong was pleased and said, “He’s still too young to be playing tricks with me!”

Just as Gong Zhenglong was deeply engrossed in his thoughts, Zhang Sheng ran in hastily. Zhang Sheng was an important personnel in Gong Zhenglong’s team so when he saw Zhang Sheng out of breath with a pale look on his face, Gong Zhenglong panicked and asked, “What’s wrong?”

“L-Lin Huai is smashing everything up in the bar!”

“What?” Gong Zhenglong stood up and he was extremely furious. He roared, “Let’s go and check it out!

After Lin Huai exited Gong Zhenglong’s office, he smashed everything within his reach along the way. He broke a couple of vases, tables and chairs. He even flipped over a few of the dining tables on the first floor. There was a dissatisfied customer that chose to fight back and Lin Huai beat him up. Eventually, he left in a scurry.

Lin Huai sneered and snorted. “Gong Zhenglong, since you are going to play dumb, I will make your life difficult as well!”

Dao Zi asked, “So, can I smash everything within my reach?”

“Yes!”

Dao Zi immediately turned around and dashed over to the bar counter. There was a female bartender that wanted to stop him but upon seeing him whip out his dagger, she fled the scene while screaming. Without any further ado, Dao Zi smashed all the luxurious wines onto the ground.

The sound of people screaming and shouting could be heard all around the bar. The bar was in utter shambles as everyone was screaming and fleeing the scene. Lin Huai ran onto the stage and smashed all of the instruments that belonged to the band.

Just then, Gong Zhenglong who was on the second floor shouted, “Lin Huai, are you f*cking crazy? Don’t expect to leave this bar in one piece.”

Lin Huai sneered as he picked up a stool and flung it around as he wished. All of the thugs stood by idly as they knew that Lin Huai was the fifth Red Cane. Thus, they dared not make a move at him.

Gong Zhenglong loudly bellowed, “What are you all doing? Go and beat him up!”

Just as his men were about to dash forward, Lin Huai mocked, “Don’t think that you’re the only Red Cane here. I am a Red Cane as well and we are of equal standing. You can lay a hand on me but if your men did that, it would be going up against their leader. They would be severely punished, for that. So unless they wish to throw their life away, they would not be able to lay a hand on me.”

Gong Zhenglong scolded, “F*ck! Going against their leader? You are the one that barged into my territory. Even if I murder you here, it would be justified. Don’t think that you can be so arrogant just because you are of equal standing with me!”

Lin Huai smiled and said, “If I bring up the incident that occurred this morning to Big Boss Lei, do you think he would still stand by you? If that’s what you think, it’s fine by me as well.”

Lin Huai casually took out his phone and called Chu Wenxing while being on speaker. Chu Wenxing picked up the phone and anxiously asked, “Brother Huai, is everything okay? Why haven’t I heard back from you after such a long time? Do you need me to charge in with all our men?”

Lin Huai smiled and said, “It’s okay. I’m having a discussion with Gong Zhenglong but if I’m not out in 5 minutes, charge in and beat everyone up. At the same time, smash all of the objects within your sights. In fact, go one step further and burn down the bar. If something goes wrong, I will take the fall.”

Chu Wenxing firmly replied, “Alright, Brother Huai!” before hanging up.

Gong Zhenglong was stunned. He cursed, “F*ck you! Are you prepared to suffer the consequences if something goes wrong from burning my bar down?”

Lin Huai grinned and said, “I have nothing to lose so why not go all out? I am not used to people stabbing me in the back. Oh right, I’m supposed to finish this conversation with you in five minutes. If I am not out by then, things would blow out of proportion. I no longer care who Big Boss Lei sides with or whoever he thinks is in the wrong. It’s up to him to decide whose fault it is.”

Zhang Sheng leaned in close to Gong Zhenglong and whispered. After that, Gong Zhenglong’s expression changed and he gritted his teeth while saying, “What do you want to talk about?”

Lin Huai knew Zhang Sheng must have informed Gong Zhenglong about the number of men he had with him. There were around eighty people standing guard outside and Gong Zhenglong only had around twenty people in the bar. Even if the twenty of them were ferocious and strong, it was still a dumb move to go up against a group of people that outnumbered them by four times. Furthermore, if Lin Huai’s people actually burned down the bar, it would be a huge loss to him. Not only would he suffer a loss of over ten thousand in renovation fees, he would also be out of business for at least a month or two.

Lin Huai smiled and said, “Are you finally willing to engage in a discussion with me?”

Gong Zhenglong hesitated for a moment. He thought about the possibility of gathering more of his men but it was not possible for them to arrive in five minutes. As a wise man, he chose not to go against his odds so he gave in and said, “What do you want?”

“Return the protection fees you collected this morning to me!”

Gong Zhenglong gritted his teeth and said, “That’s my money.”

Lin Huai smiled and said, “Those were mine and you were the one who snatched it away! Does that mean if I went and stole your house, it would become mine?”

Gong Zhenglong’s expression changed. The protection fees was a huge sum of money and he was planning to destroy Lin Huai with it. Without that money, Lin Huai would not survive and he would have no choice but to return to Yulan College and continue living his life as a kid. Therefore, Gong Zhenglong was reluctant to hand over the protection fees.

However, if his bar was burnt down and everything was smashed, coupled with the renovation fees and 2 months of downtime, he would suffer an extremely huge loss.

Lin Huai smiled and said, “Don’t be so calculative. By the way, if Big Boss Lei found out about what happened this morning, do you think he would side with you or me? If things were not blown out of proportion, he would try to appease both of us and resolve the problem. However, if we go all out and let loose, do you think Big Boss Lei would still show partiality for you? Think about that.”

As Gong Zhenglong went over the pros and cons of the situation, Lin Huai glanced at the clock and said, “There’s only two minutes left!”

“Fine, I agree!” Gong Zhenglong took a deep breath and coldly said, “Bring your men with you and leave.”

Lin Huai smiled and said, “I’m not in a rush. Give me the money first as I want to leave with them right away. Of course, if you chose to pocket some of the money, heh, I won’t mind paying you a visit once more!”

“F*ck!” Gong Zhenglong scolded. However, there was nothing he could do at this point in time. Thus, he turned around and walked upstairs. Shortly after, he walked down with a huge briefcase in his arm and he flung it over to Lin Huai. He angrily said, “I have yet to use them and there are eight hundred and twenty thousand here. I’ve only managed to collect two-thirds of the protection fees in that street as the rest of the stores were nightclubs and were not open in the morning.”

“Alright.” Lin Huai took a look inside the briefcase and with a smile, said, “Thank you for your help!”

Lin Huai clung onto the briefcase and glanced at Dao Zi before leaving.

One of Gong Zhenglong’s henchman standing behind him unhappily said, “Brother Long, are we going to let him go just like that?”

Gong Zhenglong had a resentful look in his eyes. He clenched his fists, gritted his teeth and said, “What else am I supposed to do? I can’t let him blow things out of proportion. That way, Big Boss Lei would find out. Lin Huai is too arrogant, eventually I will make him pay for this!”

Upon seeing Lin Huai walk out of the bar with a briefcase in his arm, Chu Wenxing and the rest of his men heaved a sigh of relief. They were fearful of smashing things up in Gong Zhenglong’s bar as well. However, if Lin Huai gave the orders, they would still abide by it. Now that Lin Huai is back in one piece, they did not have to barge into the bar and their worries vanished.

Lin Huai walked over to Chu Wenxing and with a smile, he said, “Let’s go. Now we have enough money for our renovation.”

Chu Wenxing excitedly asked, “Brother Huai, he returned all the money to you? Is the briefcase filled with cash?”

Lin Huai smiled and said, “Yes. This time around, Gong Zhenglong suffered a huge loss. Not only did we reclaim the money, I broke a lot of things in his bar just now. Haha, I am sure he is pissed.”

Chu Wenxing was worried and said, “However, I’m sure he is not one to give up. Eventually, he would seek revenge.”

“Even without this incident, he would still seek revenge on us. Thus, there is nothing to worry about,” Lin Huai said so in order to boost the confidence of his men. “Time to head home and have a good rest. From tomorrow onwards, you can start working on selling the arcade machines.”

Chu Wenxing clapped his hands and said, “Alright then, everyone is dismissed. Listen to Brother Huai you all are dismissed.”

Everyone agreed and left accordingly.

Lin Huai looked at Chu Wenxing and Dao Zi as he said, “Let’s head back as well.”

“Alright.”

“Alright!”

“Dao Zi, remember to continue practicing.”

“Yes, Brother Huai. I understand.” Dao Zi agreed and he was clearly filled with excitement.

By the time Lin Huai arrived home, it was already late at night. He decided that he would deposit the eight hundred thousand in the bank first thing tomorrow morning. This is considered my first pot of gold. However, Lin Huai could not afford to relax as he had over eighty men to take care of. Although he now had a huge sum of money, it was an advance payment of six months. On the bright side, there was still one third of protection fees left to be collected. That would be another considerable sum of money but these advance payment methods would not be feasible in the long run. The important thing was to get the bar up and running as that would be a sustainable business.

Lin Huai lay on his bed when Captain Wang gave him a call. Lin Huai answered the phone and heard Captain Wang saying, “Hey, I heard you almost started a fight with Gong Zhenglong.”

Lin Huai smiled and exclaimed, “You are very well informed. How did you find out about this?”

“I have spies that blended in as Gong Zhenglong’s men.” Captain Wang gasped in admiration. “Fine, I have to admit that I do admire your bravery. No matter where you are, you would bring trouble along with you. However, try not to offend other people as you need to try your best to blend into their inner circle. I feel that despite being a fifth Red Cane, Thunder God doesn’t fully trust you yet.”

“Yes. Otherwise, how is it possible for me to have a fall out with Gong Zhenglong so soon?”

Captain Wang suddenly asked, “Do you need my help? We can work together and take him down.”