A young man who didn’t finish high school followed by a few tattooed subordinates who also didn’t finish high school. It would be more satisfying if he managed to hook up with a rebellious girl while still studying and act as the boss in front of a bunch of students. Although in front of a real “boss”, Liu Hu was still nothing.
But compared to other punks, he was at least somewhat competent. He practiced a bit of martial arts, overlooked a construction site in the past and hustled cash from grade-schoolers… Ahem, that last part didn’t count.
In any case, the Hongyi Gang leader, Liu Changlong, recognized his ability during a street brawl. After being released by the police, he joined Hongyi Gang, and through his fighting prowess, he finally climbed to “success.”
However, his blissful life changed completely one day.
His brothers surrounded a b*tch with a beautiful face without a background during one of their modi operandi. Paying off debt was expected from anyone; otherwise, paying off using one’s body also worked fine. It wasn’t his first time doing something like this.
But an average-looking guy came by and not only he was physically strong, but he was also wielding a gun.
Liu Hu was scared, and it suddenly dawned on him that he messed with the wrong person. The man didn’t even bat an eye when he shot and maimed the leg of one of his thugs.
When he felt the hot muzzle pressing against his temple, his hands went cold, and his legs turned weak.
In short, although he had brought the money back, he failed to complete the task given to him by his boss (which was to bring the person back) and made an enemy with someone he shouldn’t have.
This normally shouldn’t be a big deal. After all, Liu Changlong had worked for Hongyi Gang for so many years and had earned plenty of merits, so he shouldn’t be kicked out just because of this.
However, something unexpected happened which made him relive his former street thug life.
It went something like this.
Liu Changlong had received a phone call from his younger brother, Liu Anshan, asking him if he wanted to get rich. Liu Anshan recounted the story about Jiang Chen selling gold and had emphasized the fact that this person had a lot of gold, and there must be a stable source where it came from.
Liu Changlong was tempted but gold alone was not enough to sway him; however, if it was a stable source of income, that was something entirely different. He didn’t care if it was a private mine or an ancient tomb. After all, how hard could it be to pry the secret out of someone with little or no background on his turf?
Though before making a move, he cautiously investigated beforehand.
The result of the investigation frightened him. This Jiang Chen was no simple character.
Being the chairman of Future Technology was not the important point. The crucial point was when he hinted at his friends in politics, the response he received was: “Do not touch this guy.” Even worse was the old city mayor personally made a directive with one word: “Support.”
His friend only vaguely explained to him that if he dared to touch him, all his hideous secrets would be exposed the next day, then he would be incarcerated and he would be beyond saving.
The gang could only scare the ordinary people. Not taking into consideration the people the city official personally stated to support, anyone with some background would be difficult to offend. Because of this, his action couldn’t be seen under the light.
Of course, he didn’t dare to make a move on Jiang Chen at the moment. He also didn’t dare to use Liu Hu who had offended Jiang Chen. Although Jiang Chen might not remember it, there was no point in taking the risk.
So Liu Hu lost his job and the thugs, who followed him, left one by one. Fortunately, one of his drinking friends recognized his talent in debt collecting, so he employed him to work in a debt collection agency.
Scaring and hoaxing people. This combination would certainly put pressure on most ordinary citizens to pay off their debts. 28% was not a bad commission rate, especially the faster it was completed, the higher the commission would be. For the stubborn ones, some punches and kicks would easily solve the problem and as long as he didn’t do anything extreme, the cops couldn’t do anything to him.
But what he didn’t expect was meeting the demon Jiang Chen again.
–
Liu Hu’s face looked like he just ate a piece of sh*t. Jiang Chen ignored him and looked at the person behind him who got up and said, “Boss.”
“Why can’t you collect debt nicely? What’s the point of being so angry and starting a conflict?”
The man wearing a pair of sunglasses looked over when he heard the words and guffawed.
“Are you involving yourself in something that’s none of your concern?”
“None of my concern? Isn’t that the job of an employer?” Jiang Chen surprisingly shrugged. His face betraying not the slightest hint of fear.
The one called Sir Qiang burst out laughing then slowly took off his shades. The thugs saw their boss was about to make a move, so they maliciously surrounded Jiang Chen.
“You son of a b*tch! Who do you think you are?”
“Boss Jiang, this is my business, so you don’t have to stand up for me—” Zheng Hongjie smiled bitterly while trying to persuade Jiang Chen.
He did not expect that his former good friend would make use of a debt collection agency to make him pay back the money he owed. He probably thought he would run away since one of their friends, whom they also had drunk with regularly, ran away after being deep in debt after losing big in the stock market.
“Sir Qiang, you, you can’t touch this person.” Liu Hu rushed forward to stop his brother but Li Qiang didn’t care at all. Debt collection was all about the aggression. What’s the point in collecting debt if they would just get scared, they should have just studied law instead.
“Can’t touch him? I, Li Qiang—”
“Although I don’t know who you are—I won’t tolerate you cursing my mother.” Jiang Chen’s eyes narrowed and fastly becoming enraged.
“Funny, daddy didn’t even curse. I’m going to fu*k you up—” Li Qiang’s eyebrows shot up provocatively and he became even more aggressive. The man in front of him didn’t look like he could fight.
However, before he could even complete his words, his eyes began to blur as he flew into the closet.
Kong Jie covered Jiajia’s tiny head to prevent her from witnessing this violent scene. Zheng Hongjie looked dumbly at his boss. He could not imagine his boss, who was not even taller than him, had the ability to send someone flying with a kick.
When the thugs saw that their boss was beaten, they hesitated for a moment before lunging at Jiang Chen with their fists out.
Jiang Chen let out a sigh, his eyes suddenly turned fierce and then he stretched out his hands.
Liu Hu, on the other hand, didn’t make a move. He smiled wryly and closed his eyes. He had experience firsthand how vicious he could get.
The fight ended almost instantly with the previously mocking hooligans splayed awkwardly on the ground.
What a joke. With Muscle Strength +30, even a boxing champion wouldn’t be his opponent. With Reflex +32, even if they sprouted two more hands, it would yield the same result.
Jiang Chen shook his fist and looked at Liu Hu, who was standing on the side, with a sardonic smile.
“You don’t need to do anything; I’ll do it myself.” Liu Hu smiled bitterly before raising his fist ready to knock himself out.
“Don’t be nervous. Do I look that vicious to you? Just hold still, and everything will be okay,” Jiang Chen smilingly told him.
“Is there even a point of watching?” Of course, Liu Hu would not dare to say it out loud. His raised hand was frozen in midair, and he had a peculiar expression on his face.
“I thought you were collecting debts for Hongyi Gang? What, the pay is too low, so you started your own business?” Jiang Chen watched Liu Hu thoughtfully and a hint of mockery laced his tone.
Zheng Hongjie and Kongjie were utterly stunned. Jiajia was flapping her hands in her mother’s arms, wanting to get a good look at her surrounding. Liu Hu glanced at his brothers on the floor and sighed.
“Got fired.”
Liu Hu explained everything that happened after that night including the things he knew and the thing he shouldn’t have known but heard.
When he heard the gold store manager, Liu Anshan, had leaked his information and the Hongyi Gang leader, Liu Changlong, was ready to make a move on him, Jiang Chen cursed in his mind.
Although he was not afraid of these scums of society, what happened here made him reflect on the carelessness of his past actions. Selling gold attracted unwanted attentions of a different kind. He was lucky that his improvement skyrocketed that made Liu Changlong backed off right away or else he would be facing far more treachery and danger.
“All right, you may now excuse yourself.” Jiang Chen didn’t want to waste too much time on a cannon fodder.
Upon hearing those words, Liu Hu immediately left, leaving his comrades on the floor without a second thought.
Zheng Hongjie saw that Liu Hu had left. He glanced at the thugs on the floor and asked Jiang Chen with a troubled tone, “Mr. Jiang, how do we take care of this?”
Jiang Chen watched the people lying on the ground and scratched his head in annoyance.
Three of them probably had their ribs broken and two of them definitely had their hands fractured. Li Qiang was knocked out with just one kick. Because he didn’t fight that often, he didn’t know how to control his power.
Jiang Chen secretly activated fury and when he saw that no one had died, he secretly let out a sigh of relief.
He took out the phone from his pocket and called 110.
“Hello, 110? I want to report a crime. This is what happened.” Better blame it on them first.
After explaining the situation, Jiang Chen hesitated for a bit before calling Wang Zhiyong’s number.
“Hello, Brother Chen, what’s up?” Wang Zhiyong’s brash voice came through from the other side of the phone.
“Just a bit of trouble. Some punks were giving me trouble, so I injured all of them,” Jiang Chen cut straight to the point.
The last time they had a drink, they started calling each other brother. So in the moment of trouble, the only one Jiang Chen could think of was him.
“Fu*k, who dares to touch my brother? Where are you? I’ll bring my people to beat their asses,” Wang Zhiyong cursed and was instantly incensed.
Jiang Chen was speechless at his words. This guy didn’t even inquire about the injuries but was already ready to give them a beating once again.
“Ahem, I already beat them down but I have to go the police station to give my statement. Do you have some connections with the police?”
“Woah, you beat all of them? Don’t worry about the evidence, it’s self-defense. Although I am not close to the police, I am tight with their superiors.” Wang Zhiyong chortled.
“Er, I hit them first.”
“Don’t worry, if I said it’s self-defense, it’s self-defense! You only need to say that during the investigation.”
[Damn! Political influence sure is a great thing.]