Chapter 37: The Whole World is Without Thieves

  The car drove for more than half an hour on the road and stopped at a relatively prosperous street. I got off the car, and a three-story building stood in front of me. The facade was quite good! The entire wall of the building was painted with dark paint, not only eye-catching but also looked very high-end. Although the large floor-to-ceiling windows were misty, they still looked very comfortable to the eyes. The retro wooden signboard had a classic flavor.

  Yes, it's great! I pushed open the glass door and walked in with satisfaction. As soon as I entered, a warm breeze blew towards me. The heating was turned up high, making my whole body feel warm and comfortable. I quickly scanned the entire hall, the first floor lobby was decorated nicely, not luxurious but quite upscale. A light and elegant piano melody floated through the hall, due to the New Year's occasion, the entire hall was filled with small red lanterns, making it look very festive. There were several tables of guests sitting in the hall, a large round table caught my attention with several people sitting around it.

  Several brothers who hadn't seen each other for half a year were all sitting there, with several unfamiliar people also present, all wearing chef and waiter uniforms, presumably hotel-hired chefs and waiters. I had long heard that they had found a few old classmates to work as chefs. However, the atmosphere at the table was clearly not quite right, with everyone having a gloomy expression, silently lowering their heads without speaking, while Da Bao San Jin chain-smoked one cigarette after another.

  I was stunned for a moment, then smiled and relaxed. The few people must have encountered some difficulties, or they wouldn't be so worried. It seems that business is not easy to do either.

  I smiled and pulled my luggage behind them, nobody noticed, slightly brewing for a moment, then suddenly let out a loud shout.

  After shouting, I regretted it because my voice was really too loud! Several people were frightened and trembled with fear, Ah Kun's water bottle also fell to the ground with a crash, and several guests who were eating in the distance stared blankly over here.

  I glanced around at the dozens of eyes staring at me, rubbed my nose and smiled awkwardly. After a while, the brothers finally came to their senses, cheered in unison, threw away what they were holding, and rushed over like a swarm of bees, surrounding me tightly. I struggled for a long time before managing to break free from their encircling arms, and the group of people burst out laughing as they dragged chairs to pin me down.

  He had just sat down, and the fatty suddenly pounced on me, holding my face with both hands and pinching it hard. As he pinched, he shouted loudly: "Wow... half a year has passed, how did you become an African? Are you mixed in America or mixed in Africa?"

  I knocked his paw away, grabbed a pack of cigarettes from the table and threw it over, before I could even respond, everyone burst out laughing and started asking questions in unison.

  How are you? How did you get so dark? Did you go to Africa or something? It can't be that hot in the US, right? Are you going to the beach and wearing a bikini every day? You look like you've gained weight! How much did this outfit cost? Can I borrow it for two days... Faced with such enthusiastic questioning, I had no choice but to shut my mouth and wait until they finished asking their questions. Only then did I take out a stack of photos from my luggage, which were given to us by the driver before we boarded the plane. The contents were all "photos" made according to our wishes by the "company". During the flight, Kim Ji-hoon and I had already taken a look at them. Tolst's subordinates are really something else, their fake-making skills are top-notch! Looking at those photos, both Kim Ji-hoon and I started doubting whether we actually went on that business trip or not.

  After distributing the photos to everyone, I repeated the excuses that had been compiled long ago. Everyone looked at the photos one by one, nodded in admiration and praised them, looking for over 20 minutes before they finished admiring all the photos. As I was putting away the photos, I raised my head with a smile and asked: "Just now when you came in, it seemed like you were discussing something? You looked worried, what's wrong? Have you encountered any difficulties?"

  At these words, the crowd that had just been smiling and laughing slowly froze their smiles. The old cow sitting next to me let out a sigh, looking like he wanted to say something but was hesitant.

  I put down the photo in my hand, took a look at the worried faces of the crowd, and chuckled: "What's wrong with you all? Doing business isn't that easy, encountering difficulties is inevitable. If there's something on your mind, speak up, maybe I can offer some advice or think of a solution."

  "Ah......!"

  The old cow sighed again, picked up a lighter on the table and played with it, saying: "Actually, our business has been doing well. We found several middle school classmates who went to study cooking together to work hard, used the 100,000 yuan you gave to rent this store, borrowed some money to decorate and renovate it, and then recruited a few more from society. Their craftsmanship is very good, and our service is also very good, so the business is booming."

  A few young people wearing chef uniforms sitting at the table, I had already noticed them. When we were just fooling around, they were smiling and sitting there, now they also looked worried, I nodded to a few people and greeted them, then stared at Old Cow waiting for him to continue speaking. Old Cow looked at me, sighed, and then told us about the reason why they were worried.

  It turned out that as their business was getting better and better, they were actually targeted by a group of thugs on this street. These people were organized and made money from collecting protection fees, fighting, and other illegal activities. They were a complete black society organization. The entire street was under their control, and everyone could only swallow their anger and pay them money to ensure safety. Even if they were bullied, they could only endure it and swallow their pride. Some people had resisted before, but the result was very tragic. So everyone became numb and helpless. Old Cow and his friends originally wanted to pay some money to buy peace, as surviving in society is not easy, and no one wants to cause trouble. However, just because you don't go looking for trouble doesn't mean they won't come looking for you. One time, several of the organization's thugs came to the hotel, ate and drank a lot, but not only didn't pay, they even harassed a service worker at the hotel. Old Cow and his friends couldn't stand it anymore, so they went forward to reason with them. The other side not only didn't listen, but also started fighting. Everyone was young and hot-blooded, and facing such arrogant thugs, everyone got thoroughly angry and started a big fight! The customers in the store were all scared away, and many things were broken. We had more people, so we didn't suffer any losses. In the end, the police arrived at the scene and took several people away. However, the next day, the few thugs came to the hotel again, pointing at their injured faces and asking for 300,000 yuan in medical fees, and threatened to smash the store if they didn't get the money.

  "Three hundred thousand! Who the hell can afford it?! For that injury, even three hundred yuan would be left over!" Ah Kun, usually gentle and refined, took over from Old Cow and burst into a loud scolding.

  The other side saw that Lao Niu and Ah Kun didn't take the money, so those little rascals kept sending people to stir up trouble every few days. Their purpose was very clear: they were trying to make it impossible for Ah Kun and his crew to continue operating. Either pay up or get out! Customers came to eat, not to be scared off. Before long, the once-thriving restaurant had become a ghost town. Occasionally, a few clueless patrons would wander in, but after more than a month, the restaurant's profits had turned into losses. They couldn't even afford to pay rent, utilities, and employee salaries. It was heartbreaking to see a thriving business on the verge of closing its doors, saddled with a huge debt.

  Today, everyone sat together again. If they still can't think of a solution, they'll have to sell the hotel at a low price and disperse, with the money from the sale not even enough to pay off their debts.

  After listening, I couldn't help but frown again. Why is it always this kind of thing? From the sound of gunfire ringing out all over the world to the thugs and gangsters on the streets. How can nowhere be found peaceful and harmonious? All day long shouting about harmony and happiness, yet the streets are filled with thugs causing trouble, making people unable to live in peace. Cutting them down is not enough, executing them is not enough. Where exactly is this so-called utopia?

  "Where are the police? Don't they care?"

  "Can you manage? Without any evidence, who knows when someone will smash the glass in the middle of the night. Who wants to manage that? Even if they're all arrested, they'll be released within two days."

  ;