Chapter 143 Protection Fee (First Update)

Chapter 143: 143 Protection Fee (First Update)"Anzi," the man, with a cigarette in his mouth, looked at the gate opposite, "We agreed beforehand, causing trouble is fine, but if anything happens, we won’t get involved." "What could possibly happen?" Liu An scoffed, "I’ve told you guys, I know the owner of this factory very well, she almost became my wife. If it weren’t for me disliking the fact that she had a kid in tow, I’d be her man right now." This Su Xiaofeng, even if she became a boss, couldn’t change the fact that she had a kid in tow. Besides, just how capable Su Xiaotao really is, He Ximei knows best, how could she possibly have the ability to open a factory? It’d be better if she didn’t come out and make a fool of herself. "Anzi, such a pretty wife and you don’t want her, I might make a move soon. A woman all by herself at night, it must be quite a feeling. If she doesn’t mind, I’ll go and warm her bed tonight," the other man said, bursting into laughter at the thought. Upon hearing this, Liu An laughed as well, "That will depend on your skills. If you scare her, she might just come knocking on your door herself. A little girl with no man behind her, how much can she do?" Back in Lihua Village, she had to be careful about the villagers, afraid of provoking them and getting chased out of the village. Sёarᴄh the Nôvelƒire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Now it was different, he was now the son-in-law of Lihua Village, and Su Xiaofeng was all alone in the city, a stranger in a strange land with no backer. Listening to Liu An’s words, the others tacitly agreed. Exactly, Su Xiaofeng was just a woman staying here by herself. Without some support, they could do whatever they wanted with her. "Brothers," Liu An handed out cigarettes, "After the job’s done, I’ll treat everyone to a meal at the restaurant, we can drink and chat." "Sure," the three men perked up at the mention of drinks, "Let’s all put in some effort later." "Alright, it’s just collecting protection money, we’re old hands at this." Factory Director Zhou had come early to open up, and the others had arrived early as well. He Ximei and Guaizi had delivered nearly three hundred pounds of peppers early in the morning. The couple, each riding a cart. Xiaofeng prepared breakfast at home and waited for them to finish before heading to the factory together. Guaizi was astounded to hear that the factory had already taken a big order, several thousand a month. "It’s already business time and guests are coming on their own initiative?" He Ximei also found it incredible. "Yes, Wang Genlan brought them over. She also said that if you don’t have time to run to the railway station, she can sell the goods after picking them up from our house." "She is a good person, much more reliable than that pancake seller." He Ximei hadn’t expected that the other party had brought in the customers, "I’ll have to properly thank her later." "That means, in the future, I just have to focus on collecting peppers," Guaizi smiled foolishly, "We’re talking about tens of thousands of pounds of peppers a month." "I’ve been thinking, after delivering the first batch of goods to the Provincial City’s big restaurants, I’ll buy a truck. That way, it’ll be convenient whether I’m delivering goods or picking up peppers." Having no vehicle was very inconvenient. "But none of us can drive." It was fine to buy a vehicle, but who would drive it. "If worst comes to worst, we’ll just hire a driver. The factory’s business is getting bigger, and we can’t do it without a vehicle." She could drive, but she couldn’t always be out driving, could she? They needed a permanent driver, ready to haul or deliver goods at any time. "That works." Guaizi wasn’t concerned with these things, "I don’t understand the affairs of the factory nor does Fatty. You just take care of the arrangements." "Right, right." He Ximei didn’t understand either, as long as there was work and money to be made, she was good with any task. "Mom, I want to learn how to drive," Su Peng suddenly blurted out. "Go, go, stop making trouble. You think they’ll let you have a license? You barely recognize a few characters and have issues with your brain. The people handing out licenses aren’t fools, they don’t just give them to anyone." She knew her own son the best. Once they got to the factory, though there weren’t many people, seeing everyone working earnestly, Guaizi felt like he was back at his old job, everyone sitting together, chatting and laughing. There was a loud "bang" as the factory door was kicked open. Three ruffians with clubs stood at the entrance, one in the middle raised a wooden baton and struck the door with a clang, "Who’s the boss here?" Hearing the noise, everyone who was working stood up. Xiaofeng was arranging the day’s work with Factory Director Zhou and narrowed her eyes upon hearing the sound, observing the three unfamiliar men at the door she had never seen before. So, who had hired them? Su Xiaofeng stepped forward, her tone indifferent, "I am, and you are?" "Still calling yourself the boss, not even knowing who we are, how did you become a boss? Don’t you have any discernment? We are from the Liao gang, ever heard of it?" Liao gang or whatever, Xiaofeng was completely confused, "So?" "Well, let’s just say we are the security personnel for the nearby individual stores and private factories. As long as you pay us a sum of money every month, of course, this sum has to be in the triple digits at least. Anything less, and we guys won’t agree. See what I’m holding in my hand? It doesn’t have eyes, and if it happens to smash something, well, we wouldn’t know." Liao’s gang swung the club in his hand, his eyes brimming with smugness. He was one of Brother Wu’s men. Brother Wu had been bitten by Scorpion on a recent job and was currently recuperating at home. With Brother Wu out of the picture, this was his chance to step up. Brother Wu had been performing poorly lately, and there was talk he’d be kicked out by the boss. If he could just make a name for himself, perhaps when Brother Wu left, he could take his place. The thought pleased him immensely. "Boss Su." Zhao Deyou knew them and approached cautiously, "They’re just some idle ruffians making a living by threatening shop owners for protection money. A few days ago, a shop that didn’t pay got trashed, I heard." In this era, as the market economy began to revive, some punks, neither achieving much nor sinking too low, gradually formed their own factions, preying specifically on private entrepreneurs, under the pretentious claim of collecting protection fees. "Such things happen, and the authorities don’t intervene?" Xiaofeng quirked her lips. "These are just private entrepreneurs; they don’t have many connections. Who would dare to report it? If these thugs found out, they’d surely retaliate," said Manager Zhou, who was also familiar with them. When General Manager Xia started the factory, they had come by, and the General Manager had suggested that he just pay them off. "So what you’re saying is, I should pay this money?" Xiaofeng said, her red lips curling at the words of Manager Zhou and Zhao Deyou. "They’re no good bunch; better to avoid trouble when possible," Manager Zhou advised to pay. Boss Su had weak connections; how could she stand up to these thugs? To confront them would mean not just production halts, but the factory could even be demolished. "Yes, Boss Su, I think we should downplay this issue. As long as their demand is not too excessive, we should just pay up to avoid disrupting our production, don’t you agree?" reasoned one of the individual entrepreneurs. Facing these unreasonable punks, even a just argument falls on deaf ears. Hearing Manager Zhou’s words, Liao’s gang broke into a grin, "At least there’s someone sensible here. Paying for peace is the right move. Your boss is a beautiful woman, so no need to pay extra, just a thousand a month will do." They had come specifically for Su Xiaofeng today. A mere one or two hundred wouldn’t solve the problem; it had to be a thousand or two. Upon hearing this, Manager Zhou was dumbstruck. A thousand or two, that’s daylight robbery. His eyes fixed on Su Xiaofeng, he said no more. He had already paid a hundred before, thinking that would be enough to settle the matter. But they were demanding a thousand right off the bat, clearly taking advantage of the situation. "How much?" He Ximei repeated. Instantly, Liao’s gang raised a finger and sneered, "Don’t need that much, just a thousand a month. If it’s less, we can’t guarantee we won’t make trouble." The club hit the ground with a thud that echoed ominously. Wang Genlan and the others, hearing this noise, tensed up and instinctively stepped back. Xiaofeng watched them, sneering inwardly. It seemed someone else wanted to taste how spicy her family’s chili powder was. "Youngsters with able bodies, instead of working, you’re here robbing others of their hard-earned results. My daughter is about your age; aren’t you ashamed? I’m embarrassed for you," Su Xiaotao couldn’t help but shout out. These three youths didn’t look much older than Xiaofeng. Xiaofeng worked hard to start her factory, and here they were, demanding money outright, and starting at a thousand no less. With perfectly good arms and legs, engaging in this line of work, he found it disgraceful. Enraged by Guaizi’s words, Liao’s gang raised his club at Guaizi, "You decrepit old fool, who are you talking about? I’m just making an honest living here. Put it this way, I’ve taken a liking to your daughter. If she goes with me, I won’t just waive the fee, I’ll also..." Before he could finish, Xiaofeng stepped forward, snatched the club from his hands, and struck him on the leg, "People need to have manners, or someone will have to teach them. If your parents didn’t teach you, I’ll do it for them." "Ouch!" Liao’s gang never imagined that Su Xiaofeng would dare to take his club, much less land a deliberate blow on his leg. "Cowboy, Hu Le, what are you waiting for? Come on, didn’t you see I just got hit?" Liao’s gang could hardly stand from the pain in his leg. Damn it, he had underestimated his opponent. Cowboy and Hu Le looked at each other, then raised their clubs simultaneously, about to strike at Su Xiaofeng. "Xiaofeng, watch out!" Guaizi instinctively moved to shield Xiaofeng. Xiaofeng told him to stand behind her, "Dad, it’s okay. They don’t see where we are." She picked up a bucket of chili sauce, ready to throw it at them. They had chili sauce readily available, why not use it?