Li Chonglou had long seen that something was amiss, but had never exposed it. All this talk of chance encounters and two deliberate approaches were clearly orchestrated by someone.
After entering the room, the woman’s demeanor turned cold. She sat on the bed by herself and took out a cigarette, lighting it.
*Thump, thump, thump.* Hurried footsteps sounded from downstairs. Sanyang, with his hands raised, charged in with several burly men.
“Kid, catch him red-handed!”
Sanyang held up his phone, pointing it at Li Chonglou with a smug expression.
Li Chonglou immediately recognized the man who had stolen his wallet and phone at the bus station.
He was speechless. He had thought some powerful entity had taken notice of him, setting up this elaborate trap, only to find it was just a petty thug.
Without wasting words, Li Chonglou moved his right hand, and the phone was already in his possession.
Sanyang was shocked, then enraged.
“You really don’t know your place, attack!”
Three burly men, cursing, lunged forward with iron rods. Li Chonglou remained unfazed. Just as the weapons were about to strike, he suddenly sidestepped, dodging the rods and landing a punch on the stomach of one of the men.
*Bang.* Li Chonglou then turned and kicked another man away. The remaining one only saw darkness before Li Chonglou’s palm strike rendered him unconscious.
The entire process took only a few seconds. The two men on the ground began to wail in pain.
Li Chonglou, as if he had accomplished a trivial task, walked slowly behind Sanyang.
“I don’t understand, why target me?”
Sanyang immediately dropped to his knees, begging, “Brother, I was wrong. I just wanted to make some quick money, I had no other malicious intent.”
“Is that really the truth?”
Li Chonglou leaned down slightly, staring into Sanyang’s eyes. The latter felt an inexplicable chill creep up from the bottom of his heart.
It’s over, I’m going to die.
Only now did he realize what a dangerous person he had encountered.
*Clap, clap, clap!*
Applause suddenly sounded from within the room. Li Chonglou looked up to see the alluring woman clapping her hands, looking quite amused.
“Kid, you’ve got some skills. I wonder if you’re interested in…”
Before the woman could finish speaking, Li Chonglou directly rejected her, “Sorry, not interested.”
The woman seemed to have an unusual background. She showed no panic in this situation and appeared remarkably composed.
Seeing Li Chonglou’s refusal, her expression showed a hint of displeasure.
“You know what I was going to say?”
“No, but as I said, I’m not interested.”
Li Chonglou then walked to the side and sat down, addressing the two with a sigh, “Tell me your story. A mere station pickpocket wouldn’t dare do this.”
Sanyang’s face was contorted with embarrassment, but he remained silent, casting his gaze towards the woman.
The woman exhaled a puff of smoke and said, “This is my sworn brother. I’m from the Green Gang. Oh, right, you’re not from here, so you might not know about the Green Gang.”
The woman was about to explain further, but Li Chonglou interrupted her, “Wait a moment. All I want to know right now is one thing: why did you target me?”
The woman’s expression faltered slightly. “Didn’t my brother just say it?”
Li Chonglou was perplexed. Was it really just about getting some money from him?
Sanyang then explained, “Actually, I wanted revenge at first. You caused me trouble at the station, and the security guard saw me. According to their rules, not only could I not go there this month, but I also had to pay a fine.”
Li Chonglou’s brow furrowed slightly. He hadn’t expected the underworld in Shangjing to be so complex, with not only territorial disputes but also their own unwritten rules.
Sanyang continued, “But then I followed you all the way and saw that you not only stayed in high-end hotels but also went to Panjiayuan. That’s why…”
Li Chonglou finally understood. His moment of carelessness had brought him great misfortune.
Hearing this, Li Chonglou no longer wished to dwell on the matter. He said directly, “I can let today’s incident slide, but I hope you won’t bother me again. I have other matters to attend to, so I’ll take my leave.”
As Li Chonglou spoke and turned to leave, the woman suddenly spoke again, “You came to Shangjing by bus alone, yet you can afford to stay in high-end hotels and visit Panjiayuan. You must have some ulterior motive for coming to Shangjing, right?”
Li Chonglou paused, asking doubtfully, “What do you mean?”
The woman smiled slightly and said, “The Green Gang is not what you imagine a typical gang to be. It’s hard to explain clearly in a moment, but I can tell you unequivocally that in Shangjing, if even the Green Gang can’t accomplish something, others will find it very difficult to help you.”
Li Chonglou glanced at Sanyang, then at the woman, and said calmly, “You’re helping your sworn brother commit such acts. Do you really expect me to believe you?”
The woman was taken aback for a moment, then chuckled lightly, “What are you thinking? Sanyang is only my sworn brother. As for my background, although it’s not very glorious, there’s nothing to hide. I used to be a prostitute.”
“Sister…” Sanyang started to say something, but the woman raised her hand to silence him.
The woman looked at Li Chonglou earnestly, “I’m used to it, and I don’t really care about these things. But I don’t want you to misunderstand the Green Gang because of me. As the saying goes, you don’t get to know someone without a fight. If you’re holding a grudge about today’s events, I apologize.”
The Green Gang again. Li Chonglou noticed the woman mentioning the Green Gang in almost every other sentence, which piqued his interest.
However, Li Chonglou didn’t show it. He said, “Alright, are you done speaking? If you have nothing else to say, I’m leaving.”
“Wait a moment.”
Seeing Li Chonglou about to leave, the woman quickly took a card from her bag and walked up to him.
“This is my contact information. You can go and inquire about the Green Gang first. If everything checks out, contact me.”
Seeing her persistence, Li Chonglou accepted the card and left immediately.
This time, the woman finally didn’t stop him.
“Sister, why did you…”
Sanyang looked at the woman with a bewildered expression. In his memory, the woman hadn’t been this polite to anyone in a long time.
The woman sighed and said, “Sixth Master is in urgent need of talent. I think highly of this person and hope he contacts me.”
Sanyang, unconvinced, said, “I wasn’t prepared this time. How about I call Brother Hu…”
The woman’s eyes flashed, and she reprimanded him, “Shut up! Don’t you understand that he just didn’t want to escalate things? If he had wanted to, you and I would be dead by now!”
Sanyang’s pupils constricted, and he quickly lowered his head.
Outside, Li Chonglou couldn’t help but sigh. Shangjing was indeed a place of mixed crowds.
“Never mind, I’ll just consider it my bad luck.”
Returning to the hotel, Li Chonglou took out Ya Lili’s contact information and dialed the number.
“Hello, it’s me…”