Chapter 21 Appetizer

  At this time, several employees of the nightclub came in one after another. According to the boss, the person in front had moved down and sold all the tea tables and sofas from the twelve rooms. Everyone surrounded Cong Ye with a curious and disbelieving expression.

  "Call the police, call the police."

  As soon as the young boss with dyed hair gave an order, someone immediately dialed 110. Congye was also stunned at this time, and everything about Brother Jia and the security guard turned out to be fake. He suspected in his heart that it must have been another trick by Yu Xiaopeng, who had investigated the nightclub's hours of operation beforehand and sent someone over early to secretly unlock the door, then had the so-called "Jia Cheng" lure him over.

  It's clear that I understand the details of this scam, but if I just let it go and don't pursue my own criminal liability, I won't be able to escape my economic responsibility. Twelve sets of coffee tables and sofas aren't something you can buy for just a few thousand yuan.

  "Was it your newspaper that reported this?"

  "Officer, he broke in and robbed us."

  The police looked at the young boss, then at Cong Ye, and were also confused. In broad daylight, they robbed a nightclub that was closed for the night. What could they have stolen? After Cong Ye explained the situation clearly, everyone present knew that the veteran in front of them had been deceived, and it was a premeditated trap.

  "Is it about Cong Ye? Are you going to settle this privately or publicly?"

  At this time, the young boss spoke up:

  "I won't force you, as long as you move the coffee table and sofa back to their original positions in the room before sunset, and we can still open for business tonight, let's just forget about it. If they can't be found, then buying new ones and moving them in according to the original layout is also okay."

  "What did you say, Cong Ye?"

  Cong Ye Xindao thought that the person who happened to come and collect second-hand goods should also be arranged, originally said to come back in the afternoon, but until now he has not shown up.

  "I'll accompany you. The old estimate is that it can't be found, so I can only buy a new one for you. You send someone to follow me, first go to the furniture market to see the style and price, and then we'll discuss it later?"

  The police saw Cong Ye's attitude and said to the boss:

  "In that case, you can handle it privately, Congye is also a victim, fortunately, there was no major loss."

  After finishing speaking, the two police officers turned around and left.

  Here is the translation:

  On this side, Congye was accompanied by his boss and two employees to the furniture market, where they found a coffee table and sofa of the same style as the nightclub. After inquiring about the price, each set cost 550 yuan. Twelve sets would be a total of 6,600 yuan. The owner of the furniture store gave them a discount of 300 yuan since they were buying so much, making it 6,300 yuan. Congye couldn't afford to pay that much. He only had over 2,000 yuan in his pocket initially, and now he was left with just over 1,300 yuan. Adding the money he earned from doing odd jobs recently, he barely had enough for 3,000 yuan, which wasn't even half of what they needed. Congye felt very anxious about this; no matter what, he couldn't let his sister-in-law spend more money on their behalf. Originally, he was supposed to come and take care of his sister-in-law, but one thing after another had caused a lot of trouble instead.

  "Boss, can I buy half first? I only have 3,000 yuan in total."

  "That won't do, you've only bought half, what if guests come at night, how am I supposed to entertain them, who will bear the loss caused by this?"

  "Boss, like this, let's move half of them back today. If the guests coming tonight exceed the existing rooms, I'll take responsibility for the extra losses."

  "Are you kidding me? You're just 3,000 yuan, where did all that money go?"

  Congye also knew that the other party would not agree with him, and after thinking about it, he could only ask his comrades for help.

  "I'll call my friend right now and borrow some money."

  The young boss of the nightclub didn't make things difficult for Cong Ye and handed him the phone in his hand.

  "Hit him now."

  Congye took over, and in his mind, he only remembered Liu Bin's phone number. It was just that after calling once last time, Liu Bin never responded, and Congye didn't know if it was because Liu Bin was unwilling to lend him money or for other reasons. Now that Congye was in a difficult situation, he couldn't care about many things and quickly dialed Liu Bin's phone number.

  "Hello, who is it?"

  "Liu Bin, it's me, Cong Ye."

  "Oh, Congye, I remember what we talked about on the phone last time. These past few days after coming back, I've been busy with other things and haven't had a chance to take care of it yet."

  "Liu Bin, I'm in a bit of trouble now. Can you lend me 4 or 5 thousand yuan first to help me get through this emergency?"

  "What's wrong? Why such a hurry?"

  "It's hard to say on the phone, can you lend me 4 or 5 thousand yuan for now?"

  "Alright, fortunately I haven't used up my settlement fee yet. You tell me a card number and I'll transfer the money to you tomorrow."

  "Not tomorrow, it must be now, urgently needed."

  "Alright, alright, send over the card number and I'll go take care of it right away."

  After hearing Liu Bin's response, Cong Ye's heart finally settled down. After hanging up the phone, he immediately sent his bank card number to Liu Bin.

  Things went smoothly, and soon Liu Bin's money arrived, a total of 5,000 yuan was transferred over. Adding to his original savings, he managed to redecorate the twelve rooms before sunset.

  When Tong Ye returned to Ri Zhao Lane with a lack of energy, the sky had already darkened. Yan Qing Cheng had just finished cooking dinner and was waiting for him in the house.

  "Sister-in-law, I'm back."

  "Wash your hands and let's eat, it's just been cooked."

  Cong Ye washed his hands and came into the house, his expression on his face inevitably falling into Yan Qingcheng's eyes.

  "What's wrong, isn't everything going smoothly today?"

  Nothing, just accidentally broke someone's thing, and a day's wages were just enough to compensate for it.

  "Don't mind it, just make more tomorrow. Come on, have a drink."

  Yan Qingcheng took out the half bottle of white wine that Cong Ye had left on the table drawer last time and personally poured a cup for Cong Ye. Although Yan Qingcheng let Cong Ye drink some when he wanted to drink last time, Cong Ye didn't have the habit of drinking every day, and after that, he hadn't drunk again.

  A belly full of pent-up anger, tonight indeed wanted to drink some wine, soon half a bottle of wine was drunk. When the hot flow in the meridians ran quickly, Congye only felt a little better.

  When Cong Ye and Yan Qingcheng were having dinner, in the three-story building across from City Hall Plaza, on the second floor of another room, Yu Xiaopeng sat in the boss chair behind the table, listening to a middle-aged man's report. If Cong Ye was there, he would definitely recognize him at a glance, this person is none other than Jia Chengge.

  "Did Congye buy new furniture for the nightclub?"

  "Yes, General Yu."

  "Where did he get the money?"

  "It was borrowed from a friend and made on the spot at the furniture market. Judging by the name, the other party seemed to be called Liu Bin."

  "Liu Bin? Shouldn't be a friend, probably his comrade-in-arms. Forget it, no need to care about that Liu Bin. Does Yan Qingcheng know what happened today?"

  Cong Ye went back and didn't tell Yan Qing Cheng.

  "Alright, you've done well today, go down now."

  "Thanked General Yu for his praise, Sun Cheng took his leave."

  After Sun Cheng left, Yu Xiao Peng supported his chin with one hand and habitually tapped the desktop with his index finger and middle finger, muttering to himself:

  "Twelve sets, six thousand three hundred yuan. This morning I sold one hundred and eighty, and added six thousand one hundred and two to it. Borrowing money always needs to be repaid, let's see how you'll make this six thousand yuan in Guanhai City in the future."

  Yu Xiaopeng picked up the phone and dialed a number at this point.

  "I'm fine, thank you."

  "Don't be polite, I heard you've been doing great lately, can you still remember me?"

  "What have I been saying all along? If it weren't for your care and support back then, I, Di Rong, would still be out there struggling to make a living. Is there something you need me to help with, Brother? Just give the order."

  "You're still somewhat decent, I need your help with something."

  "No need to mention helping out, it's all Di Rong's responsibility."

  "It's like this, I met a retired soldier here who is quite capable of fighting. You have two people under your command, can't you lend them to me for use?"

  "Haha, yes, there are two of them, twin brothers, Zhao Yi and Zhao Er. General Yu, please don't be polite with me, no need to mention borrowing or not, as long as they can be useful to you, I'll send them to you tomorrow."

  "No need, I'll just borrow it for a bit and return it to you in a few days."

  Then the two of them said a few more words, and Yu Xiao Peng hung up the phone. He stood up, walked around the room for a couple of steps, and came back to the room where Yan Qing Cheng's past photos were hanging on the wall. He looked at the photos with his hands clasped in front of his chest, as if he was talking to Yan Qing Cheng in the photo:

  "Tell Cong Ye, today's events are just an appetizer, there's still a long way to go."