Following Jiang Hao into the garage, Ling Chen immediately noticed a thirty-something-year-old man waiting inside. A long knife scar marred the side of his face, the man was ravenously devouring a greasy supper at a makeshift table.
"Bro Chen, he's Zhao Zhengxiong." Jiang Hao reminded him softly.
Ling Chen nodded his head to indicate his understanding and turned his gaze to his surroundings. He found Jiang Hao's men all kneeling on the ground, with their hands bound above their heads. Their clothes were extremely dishevelled, and their bodies were covered in injuries and bruises. On either side, five-odd coarse-looking brutes surrounded them. With steel rods being held in their hands they were glowering at Jiang Hao and Ling Chen menacingly.
At that time, Zhao Zhengxiong lifted up his head and glanced at Jiang Hao, completely Ling Chen, who was standing beside him. He asked concisely, "Did you bring the money?"
"Xiong..." Jiang Hao initially wanted to address Zhao Zhengxiong as 'Big Bro Xiong'. However, once he remembered that he had the formidable Ling Chen backing him, he mustered up his courage and fearlessly shouted,
"Zhao Zhengxiong! You better release my brothers and scram out of my territory with your lackeys!"
Hearing his confident words, the thugs surrounding them only burst out laughing in response.
"Oi, Jiang, did you hit your head on something? You actually dare to speak to Boss Xiong like that?"
"I'm guessing that this brat is itching for a beating!"
Zhao Zhengxiong wiped off the grease smeared across his lips and pointed to the empty space at his feet. "Kowtow to me three times and call me Granddaddy, and I'll ignore what you said just now."
"Bro Chen..."
"Leave it to me."
Ling Chen chewed on the toothpick in his mouth and clasping his hands behind his back, he slowly strolled towards the makeshift table. He plopped down on one of the chairs and helped himself to a beer on the table.
"Boss Xiong, is it? Jiang Hao is my brother, and everyone lives here in the old city district. Is there really a need to make things so difficult for him? Why don't we just settle this matter amicably and spare us all the unpleasantries?"
"This brat is the help you found?" Zhao Zhengxiong smirked and shifted his focus from Jiang Hao to look at Ling Chen. He then disdainfully sneered, "Kid, I don't care who you are, you better scram out of my sight right this instant. Or else, don't blame my men for getting nasty with you!"
"Boss Xiong, we can just talk things through. We are all people of culture here, there's no need to resort to violence and harm the relationship between us!"
"Oh? Brothers, did you hear him? This punk is actually trying to reason with us. Alright, since you want to talk sense, then let's talk sense. I'll give you one chance. Ah Zhao, come over here." Zhao Zhengxiong beckoned towards one of his underlings and gave a fearsome grin. "Come teach him a lesson on how we 'talk sense' here."
"Boss, 'talking sense' is what I'm most proficient at." A sly grin flashed across Ah Zhao's face, and he threateningly approached Ling Chen, with his hand tightly clutching the steel rod. Gleeful smiles adorned the faces of the surrounding onlookers, as though they were eagerly awaiting the good show that was about to happen.
However, Ling Chen merely raised an eyebrow and opened his mouth to warn them again, "This bro..."
"Who the fuck is your bro?" Ah Zhao angrily shouted at him and smashed down the steel rod on Ling Chen's head.
PENG!
A sharp cracking noise suddenly rang out.
The surrounding onlookers still had not come to their senses, only dumbfoundedly looking on as the rod in Ah Zhao's hand fell to the ground. He clutched his head and groaned in pain, fresh blood profusely bleeding from the gaps between his fingers.
Still sitting down nonchalantly at the makeshift table, Ling Chen gestured at them with a broken beer bottle in his hand and grinned deviously. "Oh, I forgot to tell all of you something. This kind of 'talking sense' is something that I'm very proficient in as well. Does anyone want to give it a try?"
Zhao Zhengxiong suddenly stood up and growled, "Brothers, let's give this punk a warm greeting!"
Instantly, more than a dozen men all rushed up, waving the steel rods in their hands, and smashing down on Ling Chen, as though being commanded by a single hive mind.
The corners of Ling Chen's mouth lifted slightly, and his body pounced out at them as though a cheetah pursuing its prey. In the blink of an eye, he broke through the encirclement. His target was Zhao Zhengxiong, who was sitting directly opposite him.
The one who captured the king first will be victorious. He didn't have time to play with small fries like them, directly aiming for their leader.
"Brat, you're looking for death!"
Zhao Zhengxiong yelled and sent a flying kick towards Ling Chen.
Seeing this, Ling Chen stretched out his right hand and quickly grabbed on to the ankle with unerring precision. He then twisted it slightly, and the sharp sound of bone fracturing immediately filled the air.
"Argh!"
Zhao Zhengxiong's features immediately distorted into a grimace. He was in so much pain that tears involuntarily gushed out from his eyes.
"Release our boss!"
One of the grunts angrily shouted and charged towards Ling Chen, intent on saving Boss Xiong.
"Puh!" Ling Chen spat out the toothpick in his mouth and calmly spoke to the grunts surrounding him. "If anyone dares to come close, I'll make sure that he'll never leave a wheelchair for the rest of his life."
"Scram, all of you get lost!"
Zhao Zhengxiong was terrified by the prospect of Ling Chen following up on his promise, and he yelled at his underlings, ignoring the pain lacing through his thigh.
"B...B...Bro, we can talk things thr...through rationally, n..no need to resort to violence. Release me first."
Ling Chen clicked his tongue at him, shaking his head and said, "How can you be like this? Just now I wanted to reason nicely with you, but you insisted on 'talking sense' with me. But now that I'm 'talking sense' with you, you actually want to reason with me. What exactly do you want me to do?"
"It's my fault. Brother, everything can be blamed on me." Zhao Zhengxiong hurriedly pleaded, wanting to placate Ling Chen.
"It's good that you know you erred. Speak, how do you want to resolve today's matter?"
"I...I guarantee to never step in Brother Hao's territory in the future." Beads of sweat were profusely rolling down Zhao Zhengxiong's forehead as he struggled to speak past the pain. "And the medical fees for Brother Hao's brothers, I...I'll cover all of his bills."
Ling Chen nodded his head. Zhao Zhengxiong's conditions seemed pretty reasonable to him. Just as he was about to open his mouth and agree, Jiang Hao suddenly spoke up, "Five Mile Street as well. In the future, Five Mile Street would belong to me. Brother Xiong, you have no opinion on that, right?"
"That…...that..." Zhao Zhengxiong was hesitant, torn between losing his territory and preserving his own safety.
"Do you still want this leg of yours?" Ling Chen reminded him.
"No! Stop! Alright, you can have Five Mile Street!" Zhao Zhengxiong gritted his teeth, feeling pain not only in his thigh but his heart ached now as well. One must know that Five Mile Street was a prime piece of territory that he had gotten his hands on after much struggle. Ling Chen loosened his grip, and Zhao Zhengxiong crumbled onto the ground in a messy heap, letting out another pained yelp.
"Remember, if you dare to find trouble with us again in the future, your leg would not be the only thing that I break. Hehe, Jiang Hao, let's go!"
"Yes yes yes, I'll etch it in my heart!" Meeting someone as fierce as Ling Chen, Zhao Zhengxiong dared not to talk back to him, frantically nodding his head in agreement.
"Boss, what do we do now?"
"What else can we do, hurry up and send me to the hospital!"
Zhao Zhengxiong roared at his underlings, who scrambled to move.
Watching the departing backs of Ling Chen and the rest, he gnashed his teeth, darkly thinking to himself. Fuck! The debt today, I'll make sure to repay it a hundred times over!
"Bro Chen, sorry to trouble you."
On the way back home, Jiang Hao beamed with happiness and chattered on excitedly, "Later this little bro will act as a guide and bring you to all the food stalls to celebrate!"
"Let's do it another day. Your brothers are all injured, I think it's better to go to the hospital and check for any internal injuries, to avoid any complications in the future."
"Alright, then let's have a good celebration another day." Jiang Hao was now practically brimming with worship and adoration for Ling Chen, treating him like a deity. If not for Ling Chen making a move, how else would he be able to get back his brothers so quickly and even get the right to manage the Five Mile Street territory?
"Jiang Hao." Ling Chen's originally gleeful face suddenly grew solemn, and he said gravely. "I treat you as a friend of mine, so let me give you a word of advice. No matter what you do, you better have your own bottom line. There's no shame in being a hoodlum, but the problem lies with what kind of hoodlum you're going to be. If you can make it such that everyone does not fear you, but respects you instead, that's when you know you have achieved true success."
Jiang Hao pulled a face and complained to Ling Chen. "Bro Chen, your words are too profound, I don't really understand them."
However, Ling Chen just waved his hand dismissively. "Think about it on your own. I'm heading off."