“Lin Huai, you may go and claim ownership over the arcade tonight.”
Lin Huai acknowledged and agreed with the proposition. Tang Shi smiled and said, “Alright, now that we have gotten the formal topics out of the way, it’s time to enjoy the food and drinks!”
Although it looked as if everyone enjoyed the meal, the matter of fact was they merely kept their ulterior motives hidden. Tang Shi even provided Lin Huai with a transfer agreement of the shares to be signed. As such, Lin Huai officially owned half shareholdings of the arcade from then on.
Tang Shi’s men truly respected and feared him but they had their own plans to tackle Lin Huai’s sudden appearance.
When the meal was over, everyone walked out of Justice Inn. Lin Huai and Dao Zi were leading the way and along the way, Dao Zi stood by Lin Huai’s side. Even when Lin Huai was having his meal, Dao Zi remained by his side and was silent the entire time. Tang Shi glanced at Dao Zi a couple of times and displayed some signs of interest in him.
Just as Lin Huai walked out of Justice Inn, Gong Zhenglong suddenly dashed to Lin Huai’s side and snorted. He said, “Little guy, you are lucky to have gotten the attention of our boss. I have no idea how you caught his eye but you have to remember that we are actual gangsters and not just small kids getting into minor arguments in college. Thus, don’t think that it’s going to be easy to gain a foothold here.”
Lin Huai smiled and replied, “Thank you for the heads up. You are Gong Zhenglong, right?”
Gong Zhenglong solemnly said, “You should address me as Brother Long.”
Lin Huai smiled, “I only use such honorific titles toward my friends.”
Gong Zhenglong’s gaze turned cold and exuded an aura of someone from the Observable Energy Stage.
Dao Zi looked at Gong Zhenglong as he reached his hand into his pocket and grabbed his dagger. In return, the two henchmen standing behind Gong Zhenglong immediately dashed forward and blocked Dao Zi from both sides.
Lin Huai smiled and said, “Dao Zi, relax. No matter how arrogant Gong Zhenglong is, he would never dare to lay a hand on me, as the new Red Cane, in public. Gong Zhenglong, we are both Red Canes of Thunder Gang so there’s no point in trying to threaten me. Our hierarchies are equal so whether or not I address you as Brother Long is up to me. You are hostile towards me because of your cousin, right?”
Gong Zhenglong snorted and said, “Although I have not met up with my cousin for a few years, ultimately he is still under my watch. I am fine with you beating him up but you had the audacity to kill him under my watch. Don’t you think you should apologize to me?”
Lin Huai smiled and said, “Gong Zhenglong, I am going to be straight up and hope you don’t get angry but you can’t blame me for Zhou Minghu’s death. It was necessary to kill him because he was the one looking for trouble. Furthermore, he was the one that lacked skills and capability so you shouldn’t blame anyone for his death…”
“What?” Gong Zhenglong did not expect Lin Huai to be so arrogant. As such, he was extremely furious and there were flames bursting out his eyes. He gritted his teeth and said, “Little guy, do you have a death wish?”
“Do you actually dare to kill me?” Lin Huai could not help but chuckle. “Are you ready to bear the anger of Big Boss Lei?”
Gong Zhenglong took a deep breath and had no choice but to suppress his anger. He snorted and turned around to leave with his men.
Suddenly, Lin Huai shouted. “Where are you going in a hurry? You still have something to settle with me.”
Gong Zhenglong stared at Lin Huai and solemnly said, “What’s that?”
Lin Huai smiled and replied, “You should accompany me to the handover of the arcade.”
Upon hearing that, Gong Zhenglong was even more infuriated and he snapped. “Follow me then! Get a car and tail behind me.”
This time around, Gong Zhenglong’s ride was not a van but rather an ordinary sedan that costs around a hundred thousand. Gong Zhenglong’s car led the way and Lin Huai flagged a cab to follow behind him.
Dao Zi sat next to Lin Huai and coldly said, “He is hostile towards you.”
Lin Huai sighed and said, “Yes, I know as Zhou Minghu is his distant cousin. I am unsure how close they were but the very least, me killing Zhou Minghu was equivalent to a sign of disrespect toward him. Looking at it from another angle, if Zhou Minghu had united and dominated Yulan College, then the one who would have joined Thunder Gang would be Zhou Minghu. Even if he lacked skills to be a Red Cane, he would still be a rather important personnel in the gang. That would mean an increase in the group under Gong Zhenglong’s command which would result in a huge rise in his overall standing within the gang.”
Dao Zi nodded his head and said, “That’s true and by then he would have more power to stand up against the other three Red Canes.”
Lin Huai smiled and said, “Yes, exactly. I am glad you understand as well.”
Dao Zi coldly said, “Although I am not as smart as you, you were clear with your explanation.”
Lin Huai laughed and said, “Either way, he is hostile toward me and thinks that I disrespected him. I have also caused him to suffer some losses which is why he hates me the most out of the four Red Canes. The other three Red Canes should be less hostile towards me as I am an outsider which would not be of a huge threat. After all, their Boss, Thunder God, does not fully trust me as well.”
Dao Zi coldly said, “If that’s the case, why don’t we look for an opportunity to kill off Gong Zhenglong so that you won’t have any more enemies in the future?”
Lin Huai smiled and said, “Push aside those thoughts. Even if we do plan to kill him off, now wouldn’t be the right time. If he gets murdered now, wouldn’t everyone know that we were the culprit? Want of forbearance in small matters confounds great plans.”
On the other hand, the cab driver was drenched in cold sweat. My goodness, what are these people? They are so scary. Oh well, all I can do is pretend to be deaf and dumb eventhough I am drenched in cold sweat.
Finally the cars entered Chengbei District and soon after, they arrived at the outside of an arcade with a huge entrance. Gong Zhenglong’s car stopped and so did the cab Lin Huai was on.
Lin Huai and Dao Zi got off the cab and only then did it strike Lin Huai’s mind that he had yet to pay the driver. Just as he was about to get cash out of his wallet, the cab driver drove off and left in a hurry. Lin Huai was dumbfounded and said, “My god, I didn’t even pay him. Did he forget?”
Gong Zhenglong who was in front turned and looked at Lin Huai as he snorted and said, “This is the place, follow me.”
Lin Huai smiled and said, “Dao Zi, come along with me.”
Lin Huai and Gong Zhenglong walked in together as they were considered to be the same hierarchy within the gang. There was no way Lin Huai was going to tag along behind him as that was what his henchmen would do.
There were a few thugs standing by the entrance and when they saw Gong Zhenglong, they stood upright and shouted, “Brother Long!”
Gong Zhenglong replied in acknowledgement with a solemn look on his face.
The few thugs then stared at Lin Huai with hostility. Lin Huai knew that things were going to be more challenging as he was certain that Gong Zhenglong had passed on his orders as they were on their way here. Lin Huai knew that these people were going to make things difficult for him.
Lin Huai and Gong Zhenglong walked into the arcade together and to Lin Huai’s surprise, there were no customers at all. The only people inside were thugs smoking and the entire arcade was filled with the odor of cigarettes.”
Lin Huai frowned. Although I expected business wasn’t going to be great in the arcade not till this extent where there isn’t even one customer! What’s the point of the arcade being open?
Lin Huai could not comprehend the situation. However on second thought, he sort of understood why this was the case. Perhaps it was because of Gong Zhenglong. Maybe there were customers but they were all chased out by his henchmen.
Ultimately, Lin Huai chose to keep quiet and not voice out his thoughts. Without circumstantial evidence, there was no point in confronting Gong Zhenglong. At the very least, the same thing would not happen on a daily basis as his henchmen could not possibly come over and chase all the customers away. Lin Huai also planned to run the arcade well as there were many people that were his followers and it did not make sense for them to do so without pay or income. At the end of the day, any relationship formed purely on the basis of loyalty would not last long, similarly any relationship formed purely on the basis of benefits would not be strong. Therefore, the two factors have to be merged for a long lasting relationship as everyone needs money to survive.
Lin Huai said, “Gong Zhenglong, you can leave with your men now, right?”
“Oh no.” Gong Zhenglong gave a sinister smile as he looked at one of his men with a moustache and said, “ Old Li, pick a few men so they can stay behind and help Lin Huai out. Big Boss Lei is the one that gave this order.”
Old Li, the man with the moustache said, “Yes.” Then he pointed towards a few people and said, “You, you … you. The eight of you stay behind and help Brother Huai. I am sure Brother Huai would treat us like how Brother Long had in the past. He wouldn’t treat us badly.”
The eight of them acknowledged in a listless fashion.
Gong Zhenglong then said, “The rest of you follow me.”
Lin Huai said, “I don’t think they need to stay behind and help me out. I have enough manpower with me.”
Gong Zhenglong had a faint smile on his face as he said, “This was an order given by Big Boss as he was worried that your men were freshies and wouldn’t be able to understand operations. I am sure you won’t disobey the orders of our big boss, right?”
Lin Huai frowned as Gong Zhenglong had the audacity to utilize Thunder God, Tang Shi, to threaten him. However, he was right as it could be seen that Tang Shi does not place much trust on me. Thus, he chose to allocate some informants here so there’s no point in complaining about this to Thunder God as he wouldn’t agree with my proposition anyway. If that’s the case, there is no choice but to accept it for now.
Gong Zhenglong seemed to have seen Lin Huai’s thoughts. Thus, he was extremely delighted and laughed loudly. “Don’t worry, Old Li has been running this arcade for many years and with his help, I am sure you would pick things up very quickly. The rest of you, let’s go!”
Gong Zhenglong left while laughing as he seemed to be in a joyous mood. The more he laughed, the more Lin Huai knew that the men left behind were purely to make things difficult. Especially Old Li, who despite looking like an honest person, could possibly cause a lot of problems for me.
However, there was nothing Lin Huai could do for now so he just looked at Old Li and asked, “What’s your name?”
Li respectfully replied, “Brother Huai, I am Li Zheng. As I am forty two and the oldest among us they all address me as Old Li.”
Lin Huai nodded and said, “Since you are much older than me, I shall address you as Old Li.”
Li Zheng smiled and said, “It makes sense that Brother Huai addressed me as such.”
Lin Huai then said, “Alright then. Give me a brief introduction about this place and I would also like to look at the accounts as well.”
There was a glint in Old Li’s eyes and with a smile, he said, “With regards to the account, we are all not good at it as we were not highly educated and had no idea how to bookkeep, thus…”
There was a form of deception and cunningness behind Li Zheng’s honest character.
Lin Huai could tell right away that Li Zheng was trying to brush him off and trying to be cunning and sneaky. Lin Huai’s gaze turned cold and with a stern voice, he exclaimed, “If you can’t even complete such simple tasks, what’s the point of leaving you and the other old people behind?”
Lin Huai’s stern voice and fierce vibe struck Old Li right in the face.