Urban Martial Saint

Ye Qing narrowed his eyes slightly—he had finally understood what Liu Yibing meant. It seemed to him that he was accused of using charity as a pretext for embezzling funds for the orphanage he was building, and now Liu Yibing also wanted a piece of the action, even openly discussing the mere facades put up for appearances. It was quite brazen indeed.

Ye Qing chuckled and said, ”So, you’ve done quite a few of these kinds of things before, huh?”

Seeing Ye Qing’s expression, Liu Yibing thought there was a breakthrough and hurriedly smiled, ”I haven’t done many, but around Eryao Town, out of the construction projects that used various pretexts to embezzle money, nine out of ten were done by me. Look at the bridge at the entrance of Front Gate Village—I built that one. When it was inspected, there wasn’t a single issue.

They allocated three million to build that bridge, do you know how much money I actually spent to get it built?”

Liu Yibing said this, smiled proudly, held up three fingers, and continued: ”Three hundred thousand! I only spent three hundred thousand, and I built that bridge spotless. When they came down to check, there wasn’t a single issue. Do you know how much the contractor made?”

Ye Qing said, ”Three hundred thousand to build a bridge—is the quality even guaranteed? Aren’t you afraid of an accident happening while someone is crossing it?”

”Hey, Boss Ye, I see you don’t quite do this often. This kind of thing is all about keeping up appearances. Who cares about what happens afterward? It’s not as if it’s your house that’s falling on you. Besides, once the inspection is done, you just demolish the building to avoid any responsibility if it collapses and kills someone,” Liu Yibing said with a proud smile.

”Like the bridge at the entrance of Front Gate Village, after it was built and passed the inspection, and the money was secured, that was pretty much it. However, the guy who contracted the work was afraid of taking responsibility, so he asked me to find a solution. Do you know what I did?”

”I don’t know,” Ye Qing shook his head.

”Hahaha…” Liu Yibing, looking quite smug, said, ”I found a truck near scrap condition, loaded it with a heavy load to cross the bridge, and then just let the bridge break under the weight. Later, when they came to investigate, I just bribed them a little, and the assessment concluded that the bridge breaking was due to the truck’s overload, not the bridge’s quality.

That way, the responsibility was shifted from us. With the bridge gone, no one could use it anymore, and we didn’t have to worry about the future. Quite convenient, right?”

Ye Qing frowned slightly; he hadn’t expected that building a bridge involved so many shenanigans. No wonder the bridges that were built later were of such poor quality—it all seemed to be because certain people were manipulating things from within.

”So, you’re planning to turn my orphanage into a shoddy construction project as well?” Ye Qing asked with a light smile, with Liu Yibing completely oblivious to the chilling starkness in Ye Qing’s eyes.

”Ah, yes, a shoddy construction project!” Liu Yibing smiled and said, ”Boss Ye, if you’re worried about potential problems, you can totally leave that to me. Once the inspection is done and you have the money, I will simply stage an accident and burn the buildings down. That way, no one will be able to live there, and you won’t have to worry about any responsibilities later!”

”You really have a way, huh!” Ye Qing’s voice suddenly turned cold, making Liu Yibing start.

Seeing Ye Qing’s grim look, Liu Yibing didn’t understand what had changed. Weren’t they just laughing and talking a moment ago? Why did his demeanor suddenly shift?

However, having experienced big scenes before, faced with Ye Qing’s expression, he just chuckled and said, ”Boss Ye, it’s not so much a method, but here in Eryao Town, I, Liu Yibing, still have a say. To tell you the truth, if you work in our Eryao Town and don’t get our town’s people on board, I’m afraid your project won’t even get off the ground.

Let me put it to you this way, see that Young Master Peng? He is the son of our town’s mayor. Our construction team is personally managed by Young Master Peng. Working here, trying to do anything, I reckon you can’t bypass Eryao Town.”

Liu Yibing had now basically made a threat. Ye Qing glanced at him and replied, ”What if I can’t bypass? Are you saying that you can stop me from building? This land is mine now!”

Liu Yibing sneered and said, ”Boss Ye, the land is yours, alright. But to build a house, do you have the necessary permits, the town’s approval? Without those, don’t even think about starting construction!”

”I don’t see it that way!” Ye Qing shook his head and responded, ”You needn’t worry about the paperwork. I’ll repeat, your architectural qualifications are not sufficient to join the bidding.”

Liu Yibing’s face turned icy as he said sternly, ”Boss Ye, after all I’ve said, you’re still coming back to this? Are you trying to make a fool of me?”

”That’s right, I am playing you!” Ye Qing responded crisply.

Liu Yibing suddenly burst into anger and yelled, ”Don’t get too cocky, I’m telling you, this is Eryao Town’s territory. Without my word, you won’t even be able to build a toilet here!”

Liu Yibing’s two brothers also stood up, looking menacingly at Ye Qing as if ready to gang up on him at any moment.

”Liu Yibing, watch how you speak!” Da Fei immediately rushed over glaring, ”Boss Ye is my big brother, you better show some respect!”

”Da Fei, this has nothing to do with you, back off!” Liu Yibing glared back, ”Don’t think the few men you have under you make you bold enough to strut around in front of me. Believe it or not, with just one word from me, all of you could wind up in detention!”

Da Fei angrily retorted, ”Then you just try it, Liu Yibing. If you dare to lock me up, I can make sure your Liu Family won’t have a moment’s peace either!”

Furious as Liu Yibing was, he knew Da Fei actually had the means to do so. Both being from Eryao Town, although Da Fei didn’t have money, his brothers were truly loyal. Whereas their family, despite being wealthy, didn’t have many people under them, and that was where the difference laid.

”Ye Qing, don’t think that just because you got Da Fei, this loser, to back you up, you can call the shots in Eryao Town. Let me tell you, this is Eryao Town, and without my say, you can forget about building anything!” Liu Yibing shouted angrily.

”Yibing, how can you say such things?” Huang Fulin approached and said, ”Boss Ye isn’t building the orphanage to make money, but to provide a place for the children to live. He isn’t one of those who scams money under the guise of charity—he genuinely wants to do something for the kids.

All the money for the construction and the orphanage’s expenses are coming from Boss Ye himself—it’s all his own money!”

Liu Yibing said, ”I don’t care whose money it is, as long as it involves construction in Eryao Town, without letting me make a profit, that’s impossible!”

Huang Fulin sighed, ”Yibing, Boss Ye just wants to build sturdy houses so the children can live in peace. How can you expect children to live in the houses you build? Yibing, can’t you just accrue some goodwill for the children and stay out of this matter?”

”Old man, shut your mouth!” Liu Yibing waved his hand and glared at Ye Qing, ”Ye Qing, you don’t want to give the project to me, that’s fine. Give us two million, and I guarantee you can build whatever you want in Eryao Town without any obstacles; nobody will stop you!”

Da Fei shouted, ”Two million? Why don’t you just go rob someone!”

”Yibing, why are you like this?” Huang Fulin said urgently, ”Boss Ye agreed to meet you out of respect for your uncle. By acting this way, aren’t you embarrassing your uncle?”

”Get lost!” Liu Yibing pointed at Huang Fulin, ”Stop acting so high and mighty because you’re old. I’m talking to Ye Qing, not you. Keep it up, and see if I don’t throw you out!”

Huang Fulin trembled with anger, his mouth agape but unable to retort.

”Two million?” Ye Qing finally spoke up, glancing at Liu Yibing and his men, ”It’s not expensive!”

Liu Yibing and his men suddenly brightened, ”Boss Ye is a wise man; two million really isn’t much. If you can’t build your houses here, you’ll lose much more than two million!”

”Two million, not expensive!” Ye Qing looked at Liu Yibing and his men, slowly shaking his head, ”It’s just that you guys aren’t worth that much!”

Liu Yibing and his brothers were taken aback. Just then, Young Master Peng stepped out and said, ”They may not be worth it, but am I?”

Ye Qing shook his head, ”In my eyes, you’re not even worth as much as they are!”

”Go fuck your mother, how can you talk like that?” Young Master Peng shouted angrily, pointing at Ye Qing, ”Do you know who I am? I’ll have you know, my dad is the town chief of Eryao Town, Peng Shanglin, you motherf...”

Before Young Master Peng could finish his sentence, Ye Qing suddenly slapped him across the face. Young Master Peng stumbled to the ground, blood trickling from the corner of his mouth, his appearance utterly disgraceful.

Ye Qing said calmly, ”Speak properly, I don’t like anyone cursing my parents!”

”Fuck your mother, how dare you hit Young Master Peng!” Liu Yibing shouted loudly, rushing forward with his brothers to show off in front of Young Master Peng.

”Big brother, I’ll handle this!” Da Fei swung a chair and ran forward.

”Let me do it!” Ye Qing waved for Da Fei to step back and faced the charging Liu Yibing and his men, suddenly stepping forward and kicking Liu Yibing in the abdomen.

Liu Yibing was sent flying, crashing to the ground, coughing up blood incessantly. The other two were immediately frightened, not daring to move a step closer, watching Ye Qing with horror as if they had seen a demon.

Only then did Liu Yibing finally realize that the man before them was absolutely not someone they could handle with force. Clenching his teeth, he said, ”Ye Qing, you’re ruthless... we’ll see about that!”

Liu Yibing and his men helped Young Master Peng up, limping out of the farm, occasionally turning their heads back with venomous glare filled with resentment.

”Bro, you were so cool!” said Da Fei excitedly. ”How did you kick him like that? How were you so powerful?”

But Huang Fulin expressed his concern, ”Boss Ye, these people... we really shouldn’t offend them. If we do, I’m afraid it will be hard to start construction!”