One after another, the shopkeepers crowded in, and Ye Chen hastily waved his hands, yet he couldn't withstand the enthusiasm of those aunties on the first floor, who firmly escorted him into a corner, where he stared at the mountainous piles of colorful ladies' underwear. Ye Chen's stomach turned; was this exquisite underwear actually sold wholesale by weight like this?
"How much per pound?" Ye Chen quickly asked.
"Fifty yuan a pound, but if you buy in bulk, we can give you a discount!" The auntie chuckled, a fanny pack with bulging bills strapped around her waist, dazzling Ye Chen. Damn it, he might as well change careers and become an underwear vendor, being a bodyguard had no future at all.
"Well... maybe next time, if I need anything I'll definitely contact you!" Having said that, Ye Chen made a beeline for the stairs and ran up. The aunties behind him couldn't catch up even if they wanted to.
Phew...
Ye Chen wiped the sweat from his forehead, clutching the business card as he walked up. According to the address on the card, Jinxing Decoration Company was on the tenth floor of University City. He headed straight up to the tenth floor, which started the office area, with the nine floors below belonging to the commercial area.
He finally found the company, with a peeling sign hanging at the door and a green iron door that had been installed since the inception of University City. It seemed that this was the only company that had preserved such a 'perfect history'; other companies had long since renovated. Ye Chen couldn't help but admire inwardly how interesting the decoration company was, not even bothering to decorate their own front door.
Thump thump thump...
Ye Chen knocked on the door of Jinxing Decoration Company.
"Who is it?" A rough voice came from inside, slightly roaring, seemingly quite dissatisfied with outsiders. Ye Chen quickly replied, "I'm looking for Zhang Dadan!"
Click...
The door opened, revealing a bald head with a deep scar, a cigarette dangling from his mouth, his face menacing. He looked at Ye Chen questioningly, eyebrows furrowed like a tiger, and asked, "What do you want?"
"Oh, I'm from Tianya Group..." Ye Chen did a vague introduction of himself, just about to step inside.
Bang!
The green iron door slammed shut, narrowly missing his nose. Ye Chen's eyes widened in disbelief, shit, that's not fair, closing the door without even saying a word. He touched his icy nose, thinking how his handsome nose was nearly injured by that damn thug. A rush of anger welled up inside him.
Thump thump thump!
This time, his knocking was decidedly more forceful, no longer with his fingers, but with his fist. Raging, he shouted, "Open up, open the door!"
"What do you want!" The guy inside, still enraged, opened the door and peeked out with a fierce face at Ye Chen, bellowing, "Fuck, what do you want? Looking for trouble?"
Slap!
Without any courtesy, Ye Chen slapped him across the face. Although he might not be able to beat Yao Yue, that girl, taking on a few small-time thugs and ruffians was still no big deal. The sudden slap from Ye Chen made stars appear in his eyes. Holding his black face, he did two turns in place, not even recovering his senses. Ye Chen stepped right inside, where there was stained glass and a table, which appeared to be the reception desk of this shabby company.
Speaking of which, the guys at Jinxing Decoration Company were truly miserable, used to gathering a large group of brothers to play Mahjong on regular days. However, today, because the boss had called for them, they had all left the company temporarily to return to headquarters. Only four or five of them remained, and they hadn't expected to encounter such an incident. The few men were quite frustrated. Ye Chen strode in; a group was gathered in the room, playing Mahjong amidst the haze of smoke...
"Hey, what are you doing?" The guys inside glared angrily at Ye Chen.
"Oh, I'm here for a payment!" Ye Chen said with a light smile, then pulled out an IOU and a partnership agreement from his jacket pocket and stated, "Jinxing Decoration Company owes Tianya Group a material fee of US$ 306,200. Would you like to pay in cash or make a transfer?"
The people on-site exchanged glances. They couldn't believe their ears and, after a moment of silence, they burst into hysterical laughter. Finally, the black-faced brute managed to shuffle back in, his face full of rage: "Fuck, brothers, chop him up for me!"
"Wait a minute!" Someone inside the office area, wearing a white coat, suddenly waved his hand. He stood up and walked towards Ye Chen, step by step, saying, "Since you've come all the way to urge for a debt, you must have some ability. I wonder, where does your 'power' lie?"
"You're which one?" Ye Chen looked at him curiously.
"Who I am doesn't matter, what matters is whether you have the ability to get the money back!" The other side laughed coldly.
From his eyes, Ye Chen finally saw a clue. It seems this guy is a practitioner. Otherwise, he wouldn't dare to talk like that. Ye Chen didn't want to waste time and went straight into battle mode. He smiled at the opponent, saying, "Come on!"
The other party was taken aback, never expecting Ye Chen to declare war directly on him. He immediately hooked up a smile, saying, "None of you move, this guy is mine!" After speaking, he posed as if ready for an open fight. Then he smiled slyly.
Ye Chen was not polite, regardless of whether it was the host or the guest, he just threw punches straight up. The opponent immediately responded.
"Ouch!" Just as Ye Chen charged forward, he suddenly exclaimed, "Damn it, I suddenly forgot something!"
"What is it!" The other party almost fumed with rage at Ye Chen's sudden stop, unable to help himself from dropping his fighting stance and said in frustration, "Can't you finish the fight before talking!"
Bang!
Ye Chen swung his fist hard at the guy's abdomen, and that punch immediately made the guy vomit out all his meal from the night before. Ye Chen showed a cold smile, then looked at him and laughed, "Actually, I forgot to tell you, I love surprise attacks the most!"
Thump!
Just as the guy tried to struggle to stand up, he heard this and immediately went down, unconscious. Several guys around immediately took out their weapons from under the table, each with a chilling look, their eyes on Ye Chen flashing an aggressive light.
"Shit, kid, who let you in?" A pale-faced man holding a glittering machete pointed at Ye Chen and cursed, "Do you no longer want to mix in our circles? Daring to oppose Brother Dandan?"
"That's right, you dare to collect Brother Dandan's money? Didn't you inquire at the crematorium in East Suburb before you came?" The guy with the dark face who was initially battered by Ye Chen yelled along. Having been beaten for so long, he finally recovered.
Ye Chen looked at his watch. It was already half-past eight. Remembering that he had to go to the police station to discuss a cooperation with Zhang Yantong at nine, he was now delayed because of the debt collection and was starting to get annoyed, he cursed, "Damn it, hurry up and give the money, or you'll see what happens!"
Click-click!
Several men almost simultaneously brandished their machetes and surrounded Ye Chen. Ye Chen was not afraid. His hand reached into his waistband, and there were still two chilling daggers. He gently flicked them, releasing the catch, then he pinched the blade between two fingers. Suddenly, he threw it, and the dagger plunged into the arm of one of the men with the speed of lightning.
Ah ah...
The man immediately dropped his machete to the ground, clutching his arm and howling. Joking aside, this was real deal— the sharp sting of the blade as it cut through muscle and nerve could make one feel the piercing pain instantly.
The remaining three men quickly exchanged glances, gritted their teeth, and encircled Ye Chen from three different directions, nodding to each other.
"Kill him!" The dark-faced man spat, brandishing his machete and charging forward.
"Ah!!" The other two rushed forward with their machetes, shouting as they went, all three attacking at the same time. Ye Chen's eyebrows raised; such an attack held no threat at all. Compared to Yao Yue's Half Moon Curved Blade, the disparity in power was not just a little. Having been pursued by Yao Yue for nearly a year, Ye Chen's strength and evasion had soared remarkably. He was not afraid at all as the three men charged, instead standing his ground, motionless.
Bang!
When the dark-faced man's fierce eyes got within two meters of Ye Chen, he suddenly flew up with a kick, hitting hard in the dark-faced man's chest. In the moment the man was stunned, Ye Chen used the recoil to spring up again, his legs like scissors, and almost simultaneously struck the throats of the two men.
Pfft!
The two men immediately spat out blood, their throats almost punctured. Luckily, Ye Chen controlled his force a bit; if he had killed them, that would've been troublesome. The two fell down, and while the chest of the dark-faced man burned, upon seeing that four out of five had fallen, he suddenly felt it was no fun anymore. Holding his machete, he didn't know what to do next.