Urban Martial Saint

(The explosion of activity this month is set for a day next week; manuscript storage has begun, and I seek an increase in Monthly pass support to motivate additional writing.)

The man’s name was Chen Xueyi, one of the most loyal subordinates of Pi Junchao’s father. Pi Junchao had managed to survive under the Tiger King up to this day, precisely because of the protection provided by Chen Xueyi all along. Pi Junchao held him in high regard.

Upon hearing Chen Xueyi’s words, Pi Junchao hurriedly rose to his feet, apologized to Zhao Chengshuang and Ye Qing, and then turned and left quickly.

Chen Xueyi took a seat inside the room, looking at Ye Qing and Zhao Chengshuang, and said, ”It’s a debt of the Fierce Tiger Gang, and we definitely won’t deny it. Rest assured, we will give you a satisfactory response!”

Ye Qing and Zhao Chengshuang exchanged glances, neither of them being fools. They could see that Chen Xueyi was just making an excuse to send Pi Junchao out. After all, with Zhao Chengshuang and Ye Qing there, no matter how significant the issue in the establishment, there was no reason for Pi Junchao to leave.

Pi Junchao also understood Chen Xueyi’s intentions, so after he left the office, he headed straight for another private room. His father’s old subordinates were all sitting there, and when they saw Pi Junchao enter, they all immediately stood up.

”Uncles, you heard what Zhao Chengshuang said, didn’t you?” Pi Junchao said anxiously as he entered, ”The Poisonous Mantis actually sent someone to help her collect the debt, and now they’re going to come knocking. With this debt, how should we handle it? It’s the Poisonous Mantis’s debt, and I’m afraid we can’t just shrug it off.”

”Why should we shrug it off?” an elder said, ”We acknowledge this debt!”

”Acknowledge?” Pi Junchao immediately widened his eyes and said, ”Uncle San, that’s eighty million! If that debt’s paid, we’ll be left with next to nothing. With the Fierce Tiger Gang so scattered, if we’re out of money, surely many will set their sights on us!”

”It’s precisely because the Fierce Tiger Gang is fragmented that we should acknowledge this debt!” the elder said, ”However, this debt isn’t just ours to bear alone. This eighty million won’t just come from us!”

”Oh?” Pi Junchao was taken aback, saying, ”What do you mean?”

The elder and the others exchanged smiles and said, ”We can use this matter as a reason to call a meeting, gathering all the leaders of those forces to discuss how to repay this money. This is a matter for the Fierce Tiger Gang, and anyone who’s part of the Fierce Tiger Gang has the obligation to repay the debt, don’t they?”

Pi Junchao frowned and said, ”Will they come? We’ve been wanting to talk to them for a while, but these people are very wary of us and simply don’t want to talk. Now asking them to come up with money, I’m afraid even fewer will attend.”

”That’s why I say this is a very good opportunity!” the elder said, ”Send out the message, saying Ye Qing and Zhao Chengshuang are here waiting to discuss this matter. They may not respect us, but they dare not disrespect Ye Qing and Zhao Chengshuang, especially since that Ye represents the Poisonous Mantis—huh, I want to see who has the guts not to attend this meeting!”

Pi Junchao’s eyes lit up as he finally understood the elder’s point. If he could use this opportunity to gather the other leaders and make some moves at this meeting, and if he could leverage Ye Qing and Zhao Chengshuang, then he might have the chance to absorb those scattered forces back in, unifying the Fierce Tiger Gang once more.

Eighty million was indeed no small sum. But compared to unifying the Fierce Tiger Gang, this money was nothing!

”Uncles, your wisdom surpasses mine!” Pi Junchao was elated and said, ”Okay, I will go now and discuss this matter with Ye Qing and Zhao Chengshuang.”

Pi Junchao rushed back to the office, where Chen Xueyi was chatting with Ye Qing and Zhao Chengshuang. Seeing Pi Junchao come in, Zhao Chengshuang said with a half-smile, ”How are things downstairs? Need me to call the police for you?”

Pi Junchao chuckled awkwardly, replying, ”No problem, no problem, just some young folks who drank too much. Mr. Ye, Captain Zhao, I’ve thought about the matter you mentioned. Indeed, the Fierce Tiger Gang owes this debt, and we won’t default on it. But now, the gang’s not solely under my control, so naturally, I alone cannot shoulder the debt, right?”

”What’s your plan, then?” Zhao Chengshuang asked.

”Well...” Pi Junchao glanced at Ye Qing and said, ”I’ll call back all the former members of the Fierce Tiger Gang for a meeting, and we can discuss it collectively. Everyone can contribute a little to gather the eighty million.”

Zhao Chengshuang replied, ”As long as there’s money to be paid, I don’t care how you gather it.”

”Of course, we certainly won’t default on that money,” Pi Junchao smiled and said, ”How about this? I’ll send someone now to call all those people over, and we can discuss this matter here. Since Mr. Ye and Captain Zhao are present, you can oversee the proceedings. Once we’ve gathered enough money, we can immediately repay Mr. Ye.

What do you think?”

Ye Qing frowned slightly; he could see that Pi Junchao was trying to use him and Zhao Chengshuang to control the others. Ye Qing was just helping the Poisonous Mantis collect a debt, and to be frank, he didn’t want to get tangled up in these gang disputes.

”Sounds good!” Zhao Chengshuang replied promptly, ”Since the debt is owed to my brother, it’s only right that we’re here to oversee. The sooner we get the money, the better.”

Ye Qing looked at Zhao Chengshuang, who winked at him, signaling him to remain silent. Ye Qing didn’t know what Zhao Chengshuang was plotting, but it was clear that he wasn’t going to be so easily used by Pi Junchao.

Hearing Zhao Chengshuang’s words, Pi Junchao was overjoyed. He said, ”Don’t worry, this money will definitely be settled tonight. I’m going to arrange this matter right away, and I might need Mr. Ye and Captain Zhao’s help later. Those people are very wary of us. Just me calling them is probably not enough to get them to come over.

If Captain Zhao could say a word, I think they would surely feel reassured.”

Zhao Chengshuang readily agreed, ”No problem, just come and find me when you need me to speak up!”

”Captain Zhao is really straightforward!” Pi Junchao happily went out to handle the matter. Chen Xueyi also followed him out, leaving only Ye Qing, Black Bear, and Zhao Chengshuang in the room, along with a few hostesses.

”You all go out first.” Zhao Chengshuang sent the hostesses away and turned to Ye Qing, saying, ”Ye Zi, this is a great opportunity to ’knock on the bamboo’.”

Ye Qing, surprised, asked, ”What great opportunity to ’knock on the bamboo’?”

Zhao Chengshuang said gleefully, ”Pi Junchao is gathering all these leaders together so we can pressurize them into being ready for the takeover. But, as the saying goes, ’when two tigers fight, one is sure to get injured.’ With so many people together, no one will respect the other, and they will surely divide the spoils unevenly. Isn’t this the perfect opportunity for us to ’knock on the bamboo’?”

”If you put it that way, it sounds more like ’when the snipe and the clam grapple, it’s the fisherman who benefits’!” Black Bear interjected, ”Chengshuang, did you even graduate from elementary school?”

”Is that so?” Zhao Chengshuang was taken aback, then glared at Black Bear with annoyance, saying, ”You, an illiterate, have the cheek to correct me!”

Black Bear: ”At least I graduated from elementary school.”

”...” Zhao Chengshuang was speechless, then looked at Ye Qing and said, ”Ye Zi, this is a good opportunity. If we ’knock on the bamboo’ successfully tonight, we could earn much more than just a twenty percent commission.”

Ye Qing said, ”A twenty percent commission is enough, it’s sufficient to open an orphanage for the kids.”

”Damn, are you planning to open an orphanage with the money?” Zhao Chengshuang’s eyes widened instantly, ”You better think this through. To set up an orphanage, you will have to invest at least ten million. With your twenty percent commission, that’s at most sixteen million. If you put it into that, you’ll probably have nothing left!”

Ye Qing said, ”I just want to arrange things for the children well.”

Zhao Chengshuang stared at Ye Qing for a while and said, ”Are you some kind of Lei Feng? With sixteen million, don’t you plan to spend a dime on yourself?”

Ye Qing responded, ”Wealth is material and does not follow us in birth or death. Having enough to eat and live is all that matters. Beyond the essentials for life, any extra money is nothing more than a number.”

Zhao Chengshuang: ”Nonsense, with more money, wouldn’t your quality of life be different?”

Ye Qing: ”If my quality of life can be exchanged for those children’s lives, I don’t care.”

Zhao Chengshuang was suddenly at a loss for words and turned to Black Bear, ”Xiong Zi, I can’t persuade your stubborn Eldest Brother, you try to convince him!”

”I think what the captain says is quite right!” Black Bear said, ”Chengshuang, look at those so-called rich people in Shenchuan City, their lives are indeed good. But do they have a conscience? There’s a saying, ’Those who are righteous often end up leading humble lives.’ It doesn’t matter if you live in wealth or poverty over a lifetime, but it’s important not to lose your conscience.

That so-called Boss Lin, how many lives were sacrificed for his high-quality life? Do you envy that?”

Zhao Chengshuang was again rendered speechless by Black Bear, and after a while, he helplessly waved his hand, saying, ”You two really are brothers, I’m convinced. Why are all you soldiers like this, everyone knows it’s good to have money. But you two, you treat wealth as if it’s dirt!”

Black Bear earnestly said, ”If you really gave me some money, I wouldn’t treat it as dirt!”

Zhao Chengshuang nearly choked, ”Isn’t that obvious, give me money, and I won’t treat it as dirt either. I don’t know what to say about your way of thinking!”

Ye Qing didn’t say much more. His childhood had not been pleasant. He could deeply empathize with those children’s pain; it was not that he didn’t like money. However, as he mentioned, if he could exchange his quality of life for the lives of those children, he would be willing to do so.

Black Bear had gone through similar hardships; he had been raised single-handedly by his grandparents after his parents died. So he could especially understand Ye Qing’s feelings.

As for Zhao Chengshuang, someone who grew up with a silver spoon in his mouth, how could he understand the hardships of the people at the bottom of society? Naturally, he did not share the same sense of dedication.

Zhao Chengshuang said, ”Regardless, getting more money could also provide more funds for your orphanage, giving the kids a better life. That should be okay, right?”