Urban Martial Saint

Upon hearing Lin Mengjie’s words, Ye Qing sighed despondently and said, ”I won’t hide it from you, I’ve only had this club for less than ten days. During this time, I haven’t checked the accounts, and no money has gone into my pocket. I really don’t understand this aspect of management, and I was just thinking of finding someone experienced to help me manage these places.”

”I see,” Old Fifth Yang nodded and said, ”Nightclub management is a tough business without experience. It’s not like military service, there are a lot of nuances, and it takes a year or two to really get the hang of things. It’s best to find someone to take care of it for you. You choose the person yourself.

As for the hundred or so people you mentioned, I’m afraid I can’t spare that many from my side. How about this, I’ll send fifty people to help you hold down the fort for now, how does that sound?”

”That’ll do!” Ye Qing nodded. In fact, he hadn’t planned to borrow many people from Fifth Brother Yang. After all, with Fifth Brother Yang’s development in the New District, he was short of manpower himself, so mustering up fifty people was already difficult.

Old Fifth Yang said, ”Right, didn’t you mention you had two things to discuss? What’s the second matter?”

Ye Qing smiled and said, ”That’s it, the second matter was about borrowing people!”

”Hey, and here I was thinking it was something else,” Old Fifth Yang chuckled, just about to say more when a waiter came through the door, whispering a few words into Lin Mengjie’s ear.

Lin Mengjie nodded and waved the waiter away, then looked at Old Fifth Yang and said, ”Fifth Brother, Hu Liang and He Biao are here, dining in the next room.”

Old Fifth Yang immediately frowned and said, ”Those bastards, they still dare to dine here? How many people did they bring?”

Lin Mengjie replied, ”Including a driver, just three people!”

”Three people?” Old Fifth Yang was momentarily stunned, having prepared himself for a confrontation, thinking the other party was here to cause trouble. The fact that only three had come made him quite puzzled.

Ye Qing stood up and said, ”It looks like they must be here to have a chat with us.”

Old Fifth Yang nodded and said, ”They’ve come to us, we can’t ignore them. Let’s go, Ye, and sit with them!”

Ye Qing and Old Fifth Yang entered the next room, and as Lin Mengjie had said, there were only three people inside. Sitting were Hu Liang and He Biao, and standing to one side was their driver.

Hu Liang was a slightly dark and thin middle-aged man with a shrewd look in his eyes. He Biao was a tall and muscular man with a crew-cut and a tattoo of a big eagle on his chest, giving off a fierce appearance.

”Well, if it isn’t Boss Hu!” Old Fifth Yang walked in with a smirk, completely ignoring He Biao sitting beside him, not taking him seriously at all.

Hu Liang chuckled and said, ”Ah, just here for a meal, didn’t mean to disturb Boss Yang. How have you been lately, Boss Yang?”

”Thanks to you, I’ve been pretty busy lately,” Old Fifth Yang walked up to the table, gestured for Ye to sit with him, then casually looked at Hu Liang and said, ”Boss Hu, coming all the way here just for a taste of one of our chefs’ cooking? If there’s a dish you like, just give me a shout, and I’d send the chef over to you, no need for you to trouble yourself by coming all the way here!”

”Hahaha…” Hu Liang laughed heartily and said, ”This chef, I’m afraid Boss Yang would find it very hard to part with!”

After finishing, Hu Liang looked at Ye Qing with a faint smile. Though no introductions were made, he could almost guess that this man was Ye Qing.

As for He Biao, since Ye Qing entered the room, his eyes hadn’t left Ye Qing. His gaze was filled with resentment and menace, as if he wished he could stab Ye Qing then and there.

Old Fifth Yang smiled lightly and said, ”As long as Boss Hu can keep him, I have nothing I’d truly miss!”

”No need for that, I’m not one to covet what others love!” Hu Liang slowly leaned back in his chair, glanced at Ye Qing, and said, ”This friend looks unfamiliar, I guess this must be Mr. Ye Qing Ye!”

Ye Qing ignored him, and Old Fifth Yang also remained silent, just leisurely watching Hu Liang. Old Fifth Yang knew Ye Qing’s temperament; when he didn’t like someone, he simply wouldn’t offer them any respect. Provoking him now was blatantly asking for trouble.

Seeing no one spoke, Hu Liang felt evidently awkward and said, ”Mr. Ye seems to have a bit of a temper, I’ve heard that Mr. Ye specifically warned Hou San, telling He Biao and me to roll out of Jiuchuan County. Is there any truth to this?”

”There is!” Ye Qing replied crisply.

Hu Liang sneered coldly, ”I’ve always felt that the phrase ’A young calf isn’t afraid of tigers’ isn’t meant as a compliment. Young man, you can eat recklessly, but you shouldn’t speak carelessly. There’s a saying that calamity comes from the mouth—spoken words can cost lives easily!”

”True, speaking careless words can indeed cost lives!” Ye Qing quietly looked at Hu Liang and said, ”However, hitting the wrong person can definitely cost you your life!”

Hu Liang’s expression changed. He coughed, and He Biao immediately stood up, pointing at Ye Qing and said, ”Mr. Ye, I heard that you’re quite the fighter. I’m someone who tends to overestimate myself and especially loves challenging those who can fight. I came here today to ask you if you dare to have a one-on-one fight with me? If you win, I’ll leave Jiuchuan County.

If you lose...”

”No need to say more!” Ye Qing stood up and said, ”Beating you, there’s no way I could lose!”

He Biao flew into a rage, ”Mr. Ye, don’t be too arrogant. Do you really think that little bit you learned in the military is useful? Let me tell you, I’ve met many retired Special Forces soldiers like you, and not one has lasted more than ten minutes under my hand.”

”Are you here to fight or to talk nonsense?” Ye Qing glanced at Hu Liang and said, ”If you’re too scared to fight, then get lost sooner rather than yap so much!”

Hu Liang grew even angrier, glaring at He Biao. He Biao’s expression turned cold, and through clenched teeth said, ”Fine, let’s settle this with our fists!”

Ye Qing pulled back his chair, and He Biao shouted sharply on the other side, charging toward Ye Qing with a flying kick.

He Biao truly had some skills, moving extremely fast. Ye Qing reached out to grab his ankle but caught nothing. Ye Qing dodged the kick by swerving to the side, about to close in and counterattack with Bajiquan. At that moment, however, the door suddenly burst open, and Yuan Xiaoyu appeared at the door with tears streaming down her face, urgently saying, ”Brother, Xiao Zheng...

Xiao Zheng has had an accident...”

Ye Qing’s face changed, and in that brief moment, he was hit hard on the shoulder by He Biao’s kick. Unable to dodge, Ye Qing staggered backwards and, ignoring He Biao behind him, quickly turned and ran to Yuan Xiaoyu, asking urgently, ”What happened?”

Distracted and trembling, Yuan Xiaoyu said, ”Xiao Zheng was fighting with someone at school, and the police caught him...”

”Xiao Zheng got into a fight?” Ye Qing furrowed his brows. The last time he had visited Yuan Xiaozheng at school, he was already involved with some local thugs. He didn’t expect that this time it would escalate to a fight with a classmate, getting caught by the police on top of that. How serious could this be?

Old Fifth Yang said urgently from the side, ”Ye brothers, be careful!”

Only then did Ye Qing regain his senses, but by that time, it was already too late. He Biao’s kick hit him squarely in the back. If Ye Qing fell forward, he would inevitably knock down Yuan Xiaoyu. In that critical instant, Ye Qing twisted his body but still crashed heavily onto the corridor floor.

Several waiters were in the corridor, and they all jumped when they saw Ye Qing falling.

However, Ye Qing couldn’t care about anything else at the moment; he got up and raced downstairs. No matter why Yuan Xiaozheng was fighting, he was still his brother and he couldn’t just ignore the situation!

”Mr. Ye, where the hell do you think you’re running off to!” He Biao chased after him, shouting, ”What, you know you’re no match for me, don’t have the guts to fight me anymore? Weren’t you all high and mighty just now? Come on, fight me! Didn’t you say you couldn’t lose? If you have the guts, come and fight me!”

He Biao stood in the corridor, yelling aggressively, drawing the attention of many people in the restaurant. People whispered among themselves, especially the girls, who were in shock: did Ye Qing just lose like this?

Old Fifth Yang also hurried out of the room, but by then, Ye Qing had already run far. Old Fifth Yang quickly signaled Lin Mengjie and said, ”Quick, let’s follow and see what’s going on.”

Lin Mengjie acknowledged and was about to go downstairs when He Biao grabbed her arm, pulling her into his embrace and sneered, ”Beauty, in such a rush to go where? It’s not worth fussing over that Mr. Ye, your boss is almost bankrupt anyway. You might as well stick with me, I’ll make sure you live in luxury!”

As he spoke, He Biao began to grope Lin Mengjie’s body. In desperation, Lin Mengjie stomped hard on He Biao’s foot with her high heel. The pain made He Biao tremble uncontrollably, and he instinctively let go, allowing Lin Mengjie to break free.

”You bitch, you’re dead!” He Biao cursed loudly, raising his hand and slapping Lin Mengjie hard across the face, sending her staggering back several steps, her cheek swelling up.

”He Biao!” Old Fifth Yang shouted furiously, clapping his hands loudly and bellowed, ”Watch it! Do you know whose turf this is?”

At Old Fifth Yang’s shout, twenty or thirty people immediately ran out from upstairs and downstairs, quickly surrounding the scene.

Seeing this, He Biao scowled, coldly watching Old Fifth Yang and said, ”Mr. Yang, what’s this? Using numbers to bully the few? Alright, alright, come on, all of you gang up on me. If I fight back, then I’m your grandson! Come on, all of you together, kill me, how glorious!”

Hu Liang chuckled as he walked out, saying, ”Boss Yang, we came here today alone, you wouldn’t stoop to using numbers to bully us, right? You’ve seen it yourself, Ye Qing lost, and he lost thoroughly.”

Yuan Xiaoyu shouted angrily, ”Nonsense, my brother could never lose, he just didn’t have time to bother with you!”

”I don’t know what he had, but he ran off, so he lost!” Hu Liang sneered coldly, ”Boss Yang, you wouldn’t be sore losers, would you? If you can’t handle losing, you might as well slaughter us right here since escaping is something you’d do anyway, aren’t you afraid of losing face?”