Chapter 43 Protection Fee

  Your casual standing posture presents a standing-at-attention attitude, when looking at the words on the wall, both arms naturally hang down, shoulders are level and not raised or tilted like ordinary people's habits, chin is tucked in, making your face from top to bottom present a flat surface, especially your waist remains straight.

  "All these natural and habitual characteristics of yours have already revealed your identity as a soldier."

  "Moreover, your cheekbones are sunken and dark, your eyes are full of spirit and determination, wearing a suit but giving people a sense of incongruity. Especially the base of your thumb on your left hand and the tip of your right index finger are covered with calluses, which can only be obtained by holding a gun for a long time. Finally, the position of your left hand now, if I'm not mistaken, there should be a military knife."

  The middle-aged man described Zhao Ziyang's behavior and characteristics, a smile appearing on his face.

  "There's a scar on your cheek, triangular in shape and dark purple in color, it should be an old wound from many years ago." Zhao Ziyang continued in a calm tone: "That's the mark left by the Trident, your eyes are filled with a murderous aura that can only be gained from experiencing the battlefield, and there's also a hint of bloodlust that can only be obtained from crawling out of a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood. If I'm not mistaken, you're also a soldier who has been through a brutal battle. Judging by your age, it should have been during the Self-Defense Counterattack War."

  The middle-aged man stared at Zhao Ziyang for a long time, then threw his head back and burst out laughing, extending his thick, rough hand to him.

  "Zhao Zhenzhen!"

  "Zhao Ziyang!"

  Two hands clasped tightly together.

  "Long March!" Zhao Zhengying shouted loudly to his son, "Tell the kitchen to get some authentic and delicious dishes ready, we have guests from our hometown!"

  "Alright!" Zhao Changzheng turned his head and smiled at Zhao Ziyang, then ran into the back hall.

  "Nothing more to say, this meal is on me." Zhao Ze Rong patted his chest and said to Zhao Zi Yang: "You are the first brother I've met in this godforsaken place, and we even share the same surname Zhao, that makes us even closer, hahaha..."

  Zhao Zhen's military demeanor is evident, and it can be seen that he was also a brave general on the battlefield in the past.

  "Good!" Zhao Ziyang smiled and shook Zhao Zhengying's hand hard, without any pretence.

  Just then, a few British young men with red and green hair walked into the restaurant, swaggering over to a table and sitting down.

  "Brother, sit down first, I'll go greet the guests."

  Zhao Zhen Rong casually threw down half a box of Hongtashan cigarettes and said to Zhao Zi Yang, then smiled at An Qi Er and Ling Hu, walking over to greet the few British young men who had just arrived.

  Hongtashan, this cigarette is not available for sale in Britain.

  Zhao Ziyang lit a cigarette and took a drag, savoring the flavor of his homeland.

  "Special soldier, you have friends here too?" Ling Hu asked Zhao Ziyang curiously, grabbed the cigarette box and pulled out a cigarette, lit it up and started smoking in a stylish manner.

  With a swish, the cigarette in Ling Hu's mouth was snatched away by Zhao Ziyang.

  "It's bad for women to smoke."

  Who knew that as soon as the words fell, Angel also pulled out a cigarette and started smoking, with an air that was even more than Líng Hú's, obviously a woman who really knew how to smoke.

  "Who says it's bad for women to smoke?" Angie elegantly held the cigarette with her right hand, took a puff and blew out a wisp of smoke towards Zhao Ziyang, saying: "I like cigarettes."

  For Angel, Zhao Ziyang didn't have any tricks up his sleeve and just let Angel smoke away.

  But after a while, he saw Angel's face as cold as ice, fiercely pressing the cigarette butt into the ashtray, staring at him with sapphire-like blue eyes.

  It's inexplicable, this is Zhao Ziyang's feeling, he doesn't know where he offended An Qi'er.

  A loud commotion broke out, and several British young men who had just entered began shouting loudly, with one of them slamming his teacup to the ground.

  No need to guess too much, these young people with green hair are here to collect protection fees. Such things are not uncommon abroad and are also common at home.

  Every region has its dark side and you can't eradicate the existence of underworld organizations in a region. Protection fees are equivalent to alternative taxation, only paying taxes to private individuals.

  The dark side has its own order, like a malignant tumor that cannot be eradicated, only controlled and maintained. While striking them, their power is kept in a state of balance under control. If such a dark side were to be completely annihilated, the people would truly fall into dire straits.

  Remember one thing, the darkest is never an underworld organization, but a massive national law enforcement system.

  。

  Zhao Zhen Rong accompanied the British young men with a smile, constantly speaking kind words. However, those seemingly young guys simply ignored him, and one of them even flashed a fruit knife at Zhao Zhen Rong, with a fierce appearance on his clothes.

  Zhao Ziyang couldn't help but laugh at this. In Zhao Xingming's eyes, the fruit knife was like a toy for kids and didn't pose any threat at all.

  But what surprised him was that Zhao Zhen Rong actually accompanied a smile, with a obedient face, took out several banknotes and respectfully handed them to the young people.

  In the midst of curses and shouts, several young men turned around and walked out, casually snatching a bottle of red wine from the bar counter as they left.

  Having solved the problem of protection fees, Zhao Zhen Rong walked over to Zhao Zi Yang and his group with a nonchalant air, sat down on a stool, lit a cigarette and smiled.

  "It's nothing, this kind of thing is normal here." Zhao Zhen Rong had an air of nonchalance.

  He naturally saw what Zhao Ziyang was thinking from his eyes, but this is also inevitable. In a country like the UK with rule of law, many things are different from those in China.

  "The little hooligans will stop if they're paid some protection money, but if a fight breaks out in the store, it's hard to collect. If your restaurant has a fight, the police will immediately intervene and assist relevant departments in ordering the restaurant to close. The reason is that your restaurant had a fight, which means your restaurant makes customers feel unsafe."

  "Are you willing to be like this?" Zhao Ziyang asked.

  "It's just small change." Zhao Zhenzhen said calmly to Zhao Ziyang: "The wool comes from the sheep, and what I sell to foreigners is fake Chinese food at a hefty price."

  "Hahaha......" Hearing this, Zhao Ziyang burst out laughing. He thought that Zhao Zhengzheng was actually quite interesting.

  "I'm not a foreign devil, I'm Swedish." The cunning fox blinked his eyes at Zhao Xiang and said carefully: "You have to give us real Chinese food, because I'm not a foreign devil."

  This sentence made Zhao Zhen Rong amused, he kicked Zhao Zi Yang with his foot under the table, and a ambiguous light appeared in his eyes, using his body to block him and stretched out his thumb: "For the country's glory!"

  Mapo tofu, cured meat with bamboo shoots, boiled chicken feet in chili sauce, bang bang chicken, sour cabbage fish

  。

  Several authentic Sichuan dishes were placed in front of Zhao Ziyang and the other two people, with a strong aroma that made their mouths water.

  "Does this taste good?" Ling Huo grasped the chopsticks with both hands, swallowing his saliva and turning to ask Zhao Ziyang: "How are these two wooden sticks used? Are they for inserting? Don't they have a spoon?"

  "When eating Chinese food, you have to use these two wooden sticks to pick it up, only then can you bring out the flavor of Chinese food." Angelina skillfully picked up a piece of tofu with her chopsticks and slowly chewed it in her mouth, smiling slightly at Ling Hu and saying: "The taste is really not bad."

  The Ling Fox, who could tell that the dish smelled delicious just by smelling it, stretched out her chopsticks and stabbed at the tofu. Unfortunately, the tofu was so soft that no matter how she tried to pick it up, she couldn't. The chopsticks in her hand had completely become two useless sticks.

  It seems like other dishes can't be picked up with chopsticks, but she has a way of picking them up.

  "I, I..." The spirit fox gazed pitifully at Zhao Ziyang and An Qi'er as they ate the fragrant food, her eyes fixed on the steamed pepper chicken feet.

  This doesn't need to be picked up with chopsticks, just eat it by hand!

  Ling Hu threw away her chopsticks, reached out to grab a chicken claw and started gnawing on it. As she gnawed, her face turned red, her small mouth puffed inwards sucking in cold air, while one hand continued to fan herself.

  "Is it very spicy? Otherwise, I'll buy you a hamburger to eat?" Angie smiled again, while picking up the delicious dishes and intentionally asking Ling Hu.

  The atmosphere is a bit off, Anqi'er, who rarely smiles, has smiled twice, and the killing intent is very strong.

  "It's delicious!!! The fox spirit's eyes sparkled as she tightly guarded the plate of spicy chicken feet in front of her, taking deep breaths while eating hastily, as if afraid others would snatch it from her. She occasionally stuck out her pink tongue to lick her lips, savoring the lingering flavors."

  As she ate and ate, the spirit fox was no longer satisfied with just chicken claws. She stretched out her hand without any hesitation to grab the drumstick, and a glint of light flashed in her eyes once again.

  "Oh my, it's so spicy... Sizzling... Special forces, your Chinese dishes are delicious, but why are they all bones and no meat?" Ling Hu asked Zhao Ziyang with her hands full of soup and licking her fingers.

  "Chinese cuisine emphasizes color, fragrance and taste. If it's just to fill your stomach, you might as well eat a hamburger." Zhao Ziyang explained to Angie, pointing at the pile of chicken bones in front of her: "Look, this is called Steamed Chicken Feet with Peppers, isn't it delicious? But there's not much meat on it."

  。”

  "Hmm! Hmm!" The spirit fox nodded heavily, turned its head and shouted loudly: "I also want phoenix claws, come on! It's best to bring the phoenix legs and phoenix wings too, they're so delicious!"

  This kind of chicken claw is really unheard of, they don't eat this kind of chicken where they are from, most of them eat turkey, the kind that can grow to tens of kilograms. Zhao Ziyang said it was phoenix claw, and she actually thought it was the claw of a phoenix, doesn't China have dragons and phoenixes?

  After a meal, Zhao Ziyang didn't eat much, An Qi'er and Ling Hu swept the dishes on the table clean, covering their stomachs and groaning.

  According to An Qi'er, such a authentic Chinese meal is also hard to come by in their home. If they want to eat it, they need to make an appointment with a Chinese chef, but even if they find a Chinese chef to cook, the taste is not good and the price is expensive, which is unbearable for ordinary families.

  After dinner, Zhao Ziyang asked Zhao Zhengying about the nearby hotels and went to a hotel with An Qi'er and Ling Hu to open three rooms, planning to stay for one night before returning to Africa.

  The hotel environment is very good, and it's not far from Zhao Zhen Rong's restaurant. Zhao Zi Yang, who has nothing to do, simply strolls around and stays in Zhao Zhen Rong's restaurant chatting idly. It's been too long since he spoke Mandarin, and he feels suffocated.

  The restaurant was basically empty in the afternoon, and Zhao Ziyang chatted with Zhao Ziying for half a day before leaving. Zhao Ziyang then pulled his son Zhao Changzhen to continue chatting.

  Just chatting and chatting, things came to the door, the restaurant's door was pushed open by a group of Chinese people who were smoking oily cigarettes.

  "Hey, the young master is here, haha......" The leader, wearing a tight black T-shirt, revealing strong muscles, with a dragon tattoo on his arm.

  "Damn it!" Zhao Changzheng cursed loudly, his eyes staring fiercely at the guy.

  "Scold me if you want, as long as you hand over this month's money. Whatever you say is fine." The leader sneered at Zhao Changzheng and Zhao Ziyang, casually sitting in a chair with his feet tapping on the table.

  Seeing this Chinese person's appearance, Zhao Ziyang furrowed his brow, and a wave of disgust flashed in his eyes.

  Overseas Chinatowns have local gangs, but the most powerful are still Chinese gangs. The most famous ones include the Big Circle Gang and the Green Gang. They rely on extorting money from their own compatriots in Chinatown to survive, and their methods are even more ruthless than those of foreigners.

  No money

  Zhao Changzheng had a fierce look on his face, completely different from his father.

  Young people naturally have a fiery temper, Zhao Changzheng is absolutely that kind of passionate and impulsive type.

  A lifetime of "wha", a table was overturned by another Chinese person, and bowls and chopsticks fell to the ground with a clatter.

  Immediately afterwards, a baseball bat appeared in the hand of the Chinese man behind him. He raised the baseball bat and smashed the fish tank at the entrance with a loud crash.

  "With a crash, the fish tank shattered, and the fengshui fish that were raised inside struggled for oxygen on the ground, jumping about desperately. The glass was scattered all over the floor, with a puddle of water flowing out, making everything look extremely chaotic."

  "I'll screw your mother!" Zhao Changzheng suddenly became furious, picked up a chair and rushed over, fiercely pouncing on the Chinese man holding a baseball bat.

  His fiery temper is undoubtedly revealed, this kid absolutely can't tolerate even a speck of dust in his eyes.

  With a "bang", a Chinese man holding a baseball bat knocked the chair out of Zhao Changqing's hand and grabbed his neck with his left hand.

  This tall and strong man was definitely not someone that a 17 or 18 year old Zhao Changzheng could handle.

  "No money? Alright!" The tattooed Chinese man in the lead showed a helpless smile, and then cruelly said: "No money means one leg!"

  Threats are always the favorite means of underworld organizations, they are well-versed in human weaknesses.

  "You'd better kill me, or I'll take you all down! As long as you don't kill me, I'll take care of every single one of you!" Zhao Changzheng shouted loudly with his teeth clenched, showing no fear despite being choked.

  "Break one of his legs." The leader's cold voice came over.

  The Chinese man grasping Zhao Changzheng's neck with one hand swung the baseball bat and struck it heavily at Zhao Changzheng's calf, making a loud whistling sound as it went down, this strike was enough to break Zhao Changzheng's leg.

  With a "slap", the life of this Chinese man was grasped by a large hand, his wrist sent a wave of iron-like pain, forcing him to let go and drop the baseball bat.

  The rest of the people who saw this scene quickly shifted their eyes to Zhao Ziyang, looking at his unfamiliar face.