Bully 03 02

"I've got it." Chen Huaimin clapped his hands. "I'll send someone to buy medicine from his shop, then immediately fall to the ground. I'll make him pay through extortion!"

He glared, his face full of malicious cunning.

Chen Huaimin didn't speak further; he was waiting for Fang Zhiyi's decision.

Fang Zhiyi spoke: "Extorting him is one thing, but what good does that do for us?"

Liu Acai looked at Fang Zhiyi, somewhat deflated: "Big Brother, you tell us then."

Fang Zhiyi revealed a kindly smile, which sent a chill down the spines of the two men before him. Big Brother rarely smiled, because the scar on his face was too frightening, and smiling made it even more terrifying.

"See that? Haha, see that?" Shopkeeper Li was currently pacing back and forth proudly in front of his wife and daughter. "The money's back again. That Fang Zhiyi may be a tyrant, but he sure adopted a righteous godson, hahaha."

"Husband, isn't this wrong?" his wife whispered. "That money did belong to them after all."

Shopkeeper Li glared: "What do you know! That fool brought it. Even if Fang Zhiyi himself came, he'd have to listen to reason, right?"

Just a moment ago he was praising Nian'an's conscience, but now his true thoughts came out—that idiot.

"We're going to have fun tonight!" Shopkeeper Li rubbed his hands together.

His wife held their young daughter: "Husband, are you going gambling again? Don't forget last time..."

"Shut your mouth! Last time, if you hadn't run to beg that bully, would I have gotten beaten? Is your skin itching for another lesson?" He shot a glare at his wife, then looked at his little daughter. "Gave birth to a money-losing girl. I'll sell her for cash sooner or later!"

As soon as the words left his mouth, several men barged through the door. Shopkeeper Li turned around, his expression freezing.

Liu Acai stood there holding a short blade, using it to scrape the stubble on his face. The place was a dilapidated wooden house—living quarters in the back, with a small front section left for selling medicinal herbs. With Liu Acai and his men arriving, they nearly filled the entire shop's space.

"L-Liu, Master Liu, why are you back again?" Shopkeeper Li's voice became much meeker.

Liu Acai glanced at him with a wicked grin: "The business isn't finished, of course we're back."

Shopkeeper Li had a bad feeling, but still asked: "What business?"

Liu Acai plucked a whisker, blew it against the edge of his short blade, and watched it get cut in half. He nodded with satisfaction: "Our boss's godson came out to handle some business today, but it wasn't handled properly. So, I'm here."

Shopkeeper Li was stunned: "Handle business?"

Liu Acai looked at him: "Shopkeeper Li's memory isn't so good?"

Shopkeeper Li remembered something: "You mean... those two strings of cash?"

Liu Acai nodded: "Exactly."

Shopkeeper Li quickly launched into his prepared speech: "That money was given to me by the young master..."

"That money was loaned to you by the young master," Liu Acai interrupted him.

Shopkeeper Li was dumbfounded: "Loaned to me?"

Liu Acai nodded: "Yes. Ever heard of lending? Our young master took pity on you, couldn't bear it, so he loaned you the money."

Shopkeeper Li was completely stunned, his body trembling slightly: "Loaned to me??"

Liu Acai didn't answer him, just pulled out a piece of paper: "This is the loan note. The young master asked me to bring it for you to sign. Of course, a thumbprint will do too."

Shopkeeper Li just glanced at it—he was literate.

"Loan period one month, repay four strings for two strings borrowed???"

Liu Acai pointed the knife at him: "Don't shout. One yell and I'll finish you."

Shopkeeper Li began trembling uncontrollably: "I, I didn't know the money was a loan! I didn't know!"

Liu Acai paid no mind: "Anyway, you took the money, so you have to repay it. Also, let me tell you, if you don't repay on time, we'll start calculating interest based on the four strings as principal."

"I, you..." Shopkeeper Li's hand had already reached for the money, but he hesitated. What's most important to a gambler? Gambling capital, of course!

"Come on, please sign here, Shopkeeper Li."

In a daze, Shopkeeper Li signed, but Liu Acai didn't leave. He just looked around the room, his gaze falling on Shopkeeper Li's wife and child.

"A loan always needs some collateral. If you can't repay on time, your wife, daughter, and this shop will belong to us," Liu Acai said with a laugh.

Shopkeeper Li grew anxious: "This, you people aren't..."

"Aren't what?" Liu Acai moved closer, a dangerous glint in his eyes.

In the end, Shopkeeper Li said nothing more. Perhaps he was thinking about recouping his losses at the gambling table that night, or perhaps he was simply afraid of the man before him.

But as soon as Liu Acai left, the first name that came to his mind was Nian'an.

"Fang Nian'an! You're even more vicious than your father!"

Escape was impossible. What would he live on elsewhere? Here, at least he had a livelihood.

Shopkeeper Li pinned all his hopes on the night's gambling session.

This western suburb was originally a settlement for refugees. As more people gathered, it gradually grew in size. The officials didn't want to manage it. The place was a mix of all sorts, and order was largely maintained by gangs. The current gang was Fang Zhiyi and his men. Report to the authorities? No one had that thought—the magistrates were even harsher than the gangs.

Shopkeeper Li just never expected that when he tidied up and sat at the gambling table that night, he would look up and see that same face full of wicked grin.

Liu Acai was there, munching on a pear in one hand, looking at him with a face full of smiles.

"Well, well, Shopkeeper Li planning to earn money to repay your debt?"

He despised people like Shopkeeper Li the most—willing to sell his own daughter for gambling money. If not for the boss stepping in to snatch her back, who knows which brothel she'd be doing odd jobs in by now. And this guy? Turned right back around to keep gambling. When he had money, he didn't pay rent or buy food, his whole mind was on the gambling table.

"You, what are you doing here? Where's Little Four?" Shopkeeper Li exclaimed in shock. Little Four was the owner of this gambling den, also a leader of the local ruffians. Fang Zhiyi and his crew didn't run these kinds of businesses; the scoundrels and ne'er-do-wells relied on them to survive. To put it nicely, it was a gambling den; to put it bluntly, it was just a small stall.

Liu Acai was amused: "Surprised? There's an even bigger surprise coming."

To tell the truth, he was also very surprised. Ever since the boss gave him the loan-sharking task today, he felt the boss was acting different. After all, who sets up their own son like that?

But then the boss's next move nearly made his jaw drop.

Fang Zhiyi took his men and, starting from one end of the western suburb to the other, spent just one day bringing all those businesses he used to scorn under his control. The underground brothels, gambling stalls, and labor brokerages—all now bore the Fang name.

Disagree? Fang Zhiyi's method was simple: negotiate first, intimidate if negotiation fails, and only fight if intimidation doesn't work.

"Hey, you lot, this place belongs to me now." Fang Zhiyi kicked the door open and addressed the people inside.

The local toughs inside stared at Fang Zhiyi in confusion, unsure what madness had seized this bully today.