Urban Martial Saint

Ye Qing turned his head to look at Mad Dog, who nodded and whispered, ”Da Hong is indeed involved in usury too, often having girls use their bodies as collateral for loans. It’s true.”

Ye Qing’s frown deepened as he looked toward Wang Lili inside the house.

Knowing she couldn’t escape, Wang Lili lowered her head, tears plopping continuously onto the ground.

”Mad Dog also knows about these matters, the debt notes, black on white, clearly written. I didn’t force anyone into prostitution; it was her voluntary decision.” Da Hong took a step back and said, ”You... You smashed up my place over this, don’t you owe me an explanation?”

Ye Qing ignored him, just quietly watching Wang Lili and softly asked, ”Lili, is what he said true?”

Da Hong said, ”What, you don’t believe me? If you don’t, I can show you the debt notes!”

Ye Qing didn’t even glance at him, his gaze fixed solely on Wang Lili.

After a while, Wang Lili slowly nodded, seemingly admitting to Da Hong’s words.

”Why?” Ye Qing asked softly. Why did she need to borrow so much money? What exactly happened here?

Wang Lili kept her head down, remaining silent, but Da Hong could barely contain himself and came over, saying, ”Hey, Ye, no matter who you think you are. This is my turf. You smashed my place, beat up my guys, and don’t think just because you can fight, you can act all high and mighty here...”

Suddenly, Ye Qing turned to look at him. The icy stare frightened Da Hong into closing his mouth and stepping back two paces, sheepishly saying, ”I... I have the debt notes. You’re not thinking of reneging, are you?”

”Three hundred thousand, I’ll have someone bring it to you this afternoon!” Ye Qing said coldly. ”But, I’m taking her with me!”

Da Hong said, ”Why should I believe you? Also, so many of my brothers have been hurt. Is three hundred thousand enough?”

”Whether you believe me or not, I’m taking her with me. If you object, you can try to stop me!” Ye Qing said, and then, grabbing Wang Lili’s hand, he headed straight out.

Da Hong didn’t dare stop Ye Qing and could only anxiously say, ”I believe you, but, but you need to at least explain about my brothers getting hurt...”

Ye Qing replied, ”If they hadn’t attacked, they wouldn’t have gotten hurt. If you can beat me, I’ll pay for their medical expenses!”

Da Hong was immediately left speechless. Having seen Ye Qing in action before, he clearly understood that this time he had met his match.

Mad Dog followed and left, passing by Da Hong with a mocking smile, saying, ”Hey Hong, when you’re out in this world, you better keep your schemes clear. You should have asked around about the name Ye Qing. It serves you right to be unlucky!”

Da Hong rolled his eyes in frustration. Mad Dog would never have dared to talk to him this way in the past. But times had changed, and he didn’t dare to lose his temper, fearing it might invite a beating from Ye Qing.

Ye Qing reluctantly pulled Wang Lili into the car, then finally looked at her and asked, ”Can you tell me now, why did you borrow so much money?”

There was a long silence before Wang Lili replied softly, ”Mom was using a candle at home, and accidentally... accidentally burned someone’s car, paying... paying the person two hundred and fifty thousand yuan...”

Ye Qing furrowed his brows; he knew Wang Tiezhu’s mother was almost completely paralyzed, with only one hand barely able to move. Their house was lit only by a dim light bulb, which they usually couldn’t afford to use, so they mostly used candles. But, how could a nearly fully paralyzed person burn a car?

She couldn’t even move around, at most she might have knocked over a candle; how could it possibly burn a car?

”What exactly happened?” Ye Qing pressed, feeling there was more to the story.

Wang Lili explained in a low voice, recounting the event. After Wang Tiezhu was hospitalized, Wang Lili had to frequently visit the hospital to take care of him. Therefore, her mother was often alone at home. At night, she would usually light a candle while waiting for her daughter to come home.

However, four days ago when Wang Lili got home, that small house had already been burnt to ashes, next to it a car reduced to a frame. She learned from the neighbors that it was her mother’s candle that had accidentally started the fire, destroying both the house and the car.

Fortunately, the driver of the sedan was a good person who, disregarding his own car, rescued Wang Lili’s mother. However, his car was destroyed, burned down to its frame, along with that small house. All in all, he needed a total of two hundred and fifty thousand yuan to cover the damages.

Where could Wang Lili find such a sum of money? Moreover, her mother had some burns and was waiting for treatment in the hospital. Although someone had advanced the money for her brother Wang Tiezhu’s hospitalization, where could she find the money for her mother’s hospitalization?

The family’s only support, her brother, had already fallen, and she dared not tell him about the incident. When she was at her wit’s end, the sedan driver introduced her here to borrow three hundred thousand yuan from Da Hong, two hundred and fifty thousand for compensation, and fifty thousand for her mother’s hospital expenses. In return, she would have to work off the debt at Da Hong’s place.

By the time Ye Qing met her, she had already been working there for two days.

After hearing all this, Ye Qing sighed deeply. This family’s fate was truly tragic; their situation had already been sad enough, and now one misfortune after another had befallen them, it was lamentable indeed. It was pitiful that Wang Lili, a high school student, had to resort to selling her body to raise money for her mother’s hospitalization.

Ye Qing didn’t blame her now at all but felt only pity for the girl. At the tender age of fifteen or sixteen, her youth would forever be shadowed by this incident.

”Where is that driver from?” After a long silence, Ye Qing finally asked. He always felt there was something off about the driver. If he was a good person, capable of rescuing Wang Lili’s mother from a sea of flames, why would he then push Wang Lili into a pit of fire, forcing her to borrow money from loan sharks?

Wang Lili wasn’t familiar with the driver’s background, only knowing where he lived and how to contact him. After hearing this, Ye Qing gently patted Mad Dog on the shoulder, signaling him to remember to investigate this man.

”Ye...” Wang Lili bit her lip, saying in a low voice, ”the thing that I’m doing… can you… can you not tell my brother?”

Ye Qing sighed. Telling Wang Tiezhu about this would probably be too much for him to handle. But then, how long could this secret be kept from him?

Ye Qing took Wang Lili to the hospital, then called Black Bear to take three hundred thousand yuan to Da Hong, also giving him a warning to not let anyone trouble Wang Lili and her mother anymore.

After settling Wang Lili’s matters, Ye Qing rushed to another hospital to see Wang Tiezhu. Mad Dog didn’t go with Ye Qing but went straight to investigate the driver’s situation.

Wang Tiezhu’s recovery was going well; he had been able to walk around for a few days. Mainly, he had lost too much blood and needed nourishment. Aside from being a bit weak, there wasn’t much wrong with him, and it seemed he would be able to return to school in a few days.

Long Hair had been taking care of Wang Tiezhu throughout, now becoming one of his closest schoolmates. Seeing Ye Qing, Long Hair immediately greeted him respectfully and moved a chair for Ye Qing to sit by the bed.

”Ye, you’re finally back...” Seeing Ye Qing, Wang Tiezhu’s eyes reddened as he said, ”I heard from Long Hair that a lot has happened to you outside… I… I was worried you might run into trouble. Ye, you… you weren’t hurt, were you?”

”It’s okay.” Ye Qing smiled lightly, saying, ”It was just some minor issues, all taken care of now, you don’t need to worry.”

”That’s good to hear!” Wang Tiezhu chuckled naively, ”There have been various rumors circulating outside recently, a lot of them about you. I don’t know exactly what happened, but I believe good people will receive good karma, and certainly, nothing bad will happen to you!”

Ye Qing smiled, but he felt a twinge of sorrow in his heart. This poor, honest man, even while lying in a hospital bed, still worried about others, warming Ye Qing’s heart. However, thinking of Wang Lili’s situation, Ye Qing’s heart ached. If Wang Tiezhu knew about it, how would he react?

Ye Qing sat with Wang Tiezhu for an hour but never mentioned Wang Lili’s situation. He dared not bring it up, fearful that Wang Tiezhu couldn’t handle the shock.

In idle chatter with Wang Tiezhu, Ye Qing also learned another piece of news. Fang Cailiang had visited twice, and it was he who had paid for Wang Tiezhu’s medical expenses, suggesting that Fang Cailiang truly intended to apologize.

Young Master Fang and his mother, however, had never visited, and Young Master Fang had been discharged from the hospital already, his injuries having been much lighter than Wang Tiezhu’s.

Ye Qing was quite satisfied with Fang Cailiang’s actions, happy that there was at least one reasonable person in the Fang Family. As for Young Master Fang, Ye Qing still harbored animosity towards him, feeling that this person likely wouldn’t change after just one setback.

After having dinner with Wang Tiezhu at the hospital, Ye Qing left Wang Tiezhu ten thousand yuan and also gave Long Hair one thousand yuan. Wang Tiezhu tried to decline repeatedly but could not manage to. As for Long Hair, his family circumstances weren’t good, and receiving one thousand yuan, he felt incredibly flattered and continuously thanked Ye Qing.

Leaving the hospital, Ye Qing went straight back to Tian Sheng. Li Lianshan called to inform him that there were no longer any outsiders watching the Southern Suburbs Dogfight Arena, which seemed to confirm Ye Qing’s suspicions that the foreign powers had indeed withdrawn.

With the withdrawal of Fu Bang and Tianqing Gang, they were likely unable to understand the situation clearly nor dared to make any rash moves.

The second call Ye Qing received was from Mad Dog, who had clear information on the identity of the sedan driver.

”His name is Jia Zhengze, also known as Jia Zi, a member of the underworld. He has two prior fraud convictions and was released from prison six months ago, jobless and living mainly by deception. Moreover, he doesn’t actually own a car!”

Ye Qing frowned. If that was the case, there was definitely something fishy about Jia Zhengze. Could it be that he orchestrated the fire, intending to defraud Wang Lili and swindle money from her? If so, this man’s character was despicable beyond belief!