Translator: Atlas Studios
Editor: Atlas Studios
The dog meat was so delicious that even immortals would go weak at the knees when they smelled it. The fragrance of this restaurant’s specialty dog meat was so alluring that everyone could no longer hold back. It was as though they had to snatch them off the plates to have a better appetite, and someone announced the battle for dog meat in jest. These young people had yet to reach the blue sky, but their chopsticks were already flexibly shuttling through the chaos with ease.
Boxes of beer were placed on the table. They bit the caps off or pried them off with chopsticks instead of using bottle openers. The restaurant did not turn on the heating, and they should have gotten colder as they drank the beer, but they had fragrant soup base and dog meat in their stomachs, warming them to the heart along with the bubbling beer. They were alternating between hot and cold, like fire and ice. People who liked baijiu ordered Red Star Erguotou. Everyone had their fill and made themselves at home.
A gust of cold wind suddenly swept into the room, making everyone who was eating and drinking happily shiver.
“Boss, I’m here to collect your debt!” Seven people in thick denim with all sorts of dyed hair, nose rings, and earrings came through the door. They were obviously up to no good. They stepped onto the tatami mats without changing their shoes, leaving black footprints behind.
“Yo, so many people. Seems like business is good today!” These frivolous guys saw the four large round tables and another few tables of customers but still squeezed in, filling up all the space in the store. One of them smiled insincerely, and his face suddenly turned cold. “It’s closed now. Go, everyone! Pay up and leave now!”
“Hey, I’m talking here. Why are you still eating? Pay up and get lost!” A guy with yellow hair on his forehead kicked the small stool under one of the diner’s butt. The force of the kick was not weak, and the diner’s butt was in midair before he noticed.
Some people were not used to sitting cross-legged on tatami mats, so the store would provide small stools for them.
“You—what the hell are you doing?!” That diner was indignant and looked like he had something to say when two slaps landed directly on his face. He saw stars immediately and turned dizzily to the woman sitting opposite him. She realized that something was not right, so she threw two hundred yuan on the table and dragged the male diner out of this place.
These little hooligans started chasing people out of the restaurant arrogantly. The face of the boss, who was busy bringing dishes to and fro, changed greatly. He quickly pulled out a few packages of Soft Chunghwa cigarettes and came up to them. “Come, everyone, have a smoke. Please have a seat. Tell me what you’d like to eat. It’s on the house. Let’s sit down and talk, all right?!”
“Who are these people?!” Chen Haiqing’s expression turned dark. Thick denim outfits were not just for fashion. The defense of thick denim was comparable to that of leather armor when encountering a knife. One look, and he knew that they had to be experienced gangsters.
“What’s there to talk about?! We’re here to collect your debt. We won’t be able to explain to our bosses if we don’t bring the money back! Be quick! Get the money together. The total is 128,000 yuan. We’ll leave when we get it!” The redhead with an earring, who seemed to be their leader, shouted and pushed the shop owner.
“Brothers, can you give me a few days? Business isn’t very good these days. I’m about to save enough. Also, could your calculation be wrong? No matter how I calculate, it’s only 97,000 yuan. I only borrowed 50,000 yuan.” The boss did not dare to be angry at all as he handed out the cigarettes.
These gangsters snatched and pocketed them impolitely. They looked around the store and continued to terrorize the diners.
The leader of the gangsters said in a strange way, “I don’t care. The boss has spoken, and you have to get the money together by today. You know as well. Lend nine, return thirteen, compound interest. These are the rules. Drag it out any longer, and you won’t be able to catch up. Who knows if you’ll run away or not? Boss Kim, you’d better open your eyes. We’ve been in this line for a long time and have seen all sorts of people. Some are obviously rich but insist they’re not. Last week, some idiot refused to return our second master his ten. Guess what happened? His hands were chopped off to feed dogs. He coughed up the money in the end. Some people just hold out in hope of escaping until they’re faced with the grim reality.” The ten here referred to ten thousand yuan. Depending on the place, it could refer to five hundred yuan or ten thousand yuan. Different places, different rules.
The words of the gangster terrified the boss of the Korean restaurant. His voice trembled. “Brother, I really don’t have enough money now. Please put in a good word for me and help me calculate the interest again. It’s not right, even according to the rules. I’ll be eternally grateful. In the future, all your meals will be on me if you eat here.” My god, chopping someone’s hands for compensation was as good as telling him to go and die.
“Cut the crap. It’s whatever I say it is. Blame your son for following the wrong path and borrowing money to chase after a girl. Let me give you a way out. If you really have no money, you can just mortgage this shop. It’ll save both of us trouble, and we won’t need to come every two or three days either. This society is all about economic benefit. Time is money, boss! Give me an answer quickly. I have other business!” The gangster lit a cigarette in a filter with his lighter. He inhaled deeply as he crooked his head to one side and looked at the four remaining tables that did not move. This pissed him off, and he pointed at them. “Hey, are you deaf? Pay up and leave. Business is closed for the day! Go, go, go!”
There were many people at these four tables. These gangsters were not blind, so they did not dare to start a fight but fell back on clamoring. Two gangsters rushed into the back hall aggressively.
The kitchen stopped work as well, and everyone inside was brought out. Next, they turned over the boxes and cabinets in search of money. They did not even let go of the money on the chef and the assistant. They even rubbed their oily hands around the Korean girl’s breasts and butt, causing her to shriek and flee into a corner in tears. Everything was chaotic, and it was no different from robbery.
They had never encountered such a scene and did not dare to speak. Chen Haiqing held up his beer mug and said to the gangster leader, “Hey, brother! Come and have a drink. Let’s talk this out! It wasn’t easy for us to come here, so let us finish our food before we leave.”
“Heh heh. I say, brother, you’re rather polite. Normally, I would have drunk a few mugs with you, but now…” The gangster leader suddenly pulled out a butcher knife the length of a ruler and inserted it into the large round table. The two-inch-long knife tip passed through the table, and its cold blade reflected the fear on everyone’s faces. The leader seemed to be very satisfied with the effect it produced. He raised the corner of his mouth and sized up everyone around the table. “Brother, apologies. This is called using peaceful measures before resorting to violence. Leave immediately, and we’ll just take it as making friends.”
The righteous students lost their courage once they saw the butcher knife inserted into the table. These gangsters were not some newbies. Their speech and actions all screamed experience. They would do anything if provoked, and the students might get stabbed if they looked down on them.
“Hmph. I don’t believe we can’t finish this meal!” Smack. One of the students slapped the table directly, his tone obviously unhappy. The others looked over. It was Lei Dong from Qinhuang Island, Lin Mo’s roommate. His face was red, and he was shouting loudly. It seemed like it was courage coming from the alcohol. No one would be happy to be disturbed while eating happily.
The other gangsters were like firecrackers that set off. They jumped up on the spot and pulled out their butcher knives. How could they survive in this area if they could not even control this scene?
“Boy, you’ve some courage!” The leader’s face darkened, and he glared at the guy who dared to slap the table. “Looks like big brother here is too kind today. Brothers, come and drag this boy into the ‘submarine’. Make him remember what disaster originates from the mouth means!” The other gangsters ignored the others and rushed directly to the drunk Lei Dong.
‘Submarine’ was a trump card used by the loan sharks against people who did not pay their debts. They would barge into a person’s house in the middle of the night, put them into a sack, and throw them into water. They would pull that unlucky bastard out just before he drowned and repeat this process a few times. Adding on to the usual methods of constant surveillance and restricting their actions, debt collection was always successful.
“What are you going to do?!” The angry students could no longer hold back. They stood up one after another, glaring at the gangsters about to drag Lei Dong to the ‘submarine’.
“Brothers, my brother didn’t say anything wrong. We just want to have a safe and happy meal today. We have no other meaning, so please give us some face. I’ll pay the remainder of what Boss Kim can’t pay. We’ll just treat it as making friends today. Let us finish our food first. If you don’t believe me, I can write you a cheque now or even transfer it online.” Chen Haiqing was sullen. He just wanted to have a good meal and had given enough face. He would not have been so lenient on others. If they were shooed away by these idiots today, how could he establish his prestige among the students?
“Yo! I didn’t realize we had a God of Wealth here. You’ve some cheek.” The leader of the gangsters finally sized Chen Haiqing up seriously with flashing eyes. His tone changed suddenly. “Sure. Boss Kim and I have to thank you for being so kind. How about this? Give me one million yuan, and I’ll turn around and leave. We’ll then take it that the account is settled.”