money player

When the car reached Hengyang Road, Xie Zhanran suddenly said, "Miss Yang's classmate, would you like to stop the car?"

"stop."

As soon as he finished speaking, Sin Yiu-man looked away from the newspaper and out the car window. He saw Lee Lai-chun, dressed in a school uniform, standing two meters in front of the car on the roadside, watching the jeep.

He leaned out of the car window and called out to Li Lizhen, "Li, classmate."

Upon hearing the sound, Li Lizhen came closer. "Yaowen, are you going to Jingyi's place?"

"The same to you?"

Upon closer inspection, Sin Yiu-man noticed that Lee Lai-chun's malnutrition was even more pronounced than during their last meeting, clearly indicating that the typhoon season had been a major disaster for the Lee family.

"Yes, she invited me over to play."

"Get in the car, let's go together."

Upon hearing this, Li Lizhen happily walked around to the other side of the car, opened the door, and got in. As soon as she sat down, she began to look around.

Sin Yiu-man pulled out a chocolate bar from the multi-layered bag hanging behind the driver's seat and handed it to Lee Lai-chun, saying, "It's a new chocolate, have a taste."

Li Lizhen took it, her Adam's apple bobbing slightly, and her lower abdomen noticeably bulging inward. "Is it good?"

"It's probably delicious," Sin Yiu-man chuckled.

Li Lizhen tore open a hole in the chocolate's outer packaging, broke off a piece, and handed it to Xian Yaowen, saying, "You have some too."

Sin Yiu-man raised his hand to push Lee Lai-chun's soft hand away, saying, "I just finished dinner and I'm very full. I can't eat anymore. You eat."

"Ah."

Li Lizhen nodded, withdrew her hand, put the chocolate in her mouth, and then narrowed her eyes into slits, as if she was enjoying it immensely.

She ate the first bite slowly, letting it melt in her mouth. The second bite she chewed, one bite after another, and the whole chocolate bar was finished in no time. She licked her lips, still wanting more.

There was still chocolate left, but Sin Yiu-man dared not give her any more. Lee Lai-chun was clearly starving; her blood sugar spiked and then plummeted, causing her body to falsely report a famine. The feeling of hunger spread throughout her body, and the emptiness in her stomach made her feel anxious.

Li Lizhen's lingering enjoyment hadn't yet dissipated when they arrived at the Hengyang Hotel. Xian Yaowen followed Li Lizhen, who had gone ahead, and entered the hotel, where he saw Yang Lihua, Yang Jingyi, and the female manager having dinner.

Yang Lihua gave Xian Yaowen a look, then turned to Li Lizhen and said, "Lizhen, I'll get you some rice. Sit down and eat with me."

"Jingyi's mom, I've already eaten."

Li Lizhen's acting skills were not very good; her gaze, fixed on the braised pork, betrayed her.

"Eat some more even if you've already eaten. We've cooked too much food; we can't finish it all."

Without saying a word, Yang Lihua walked towards the kitchen.

After exchanging glances with Yang Jingyi, Xian Yaowen followed.

Upon arriving at the kitchen, Yang Lihua picked up a bowl and asked, "Did you meet me on the way?"

"Ah."

"Lizhen's mother was a woman with a hard life. Her husband arranged for her and their three children to come to Taiwan first, but he unfortunately took the Hai Zhang ship, leaving her all alone and helpless, having to raise three children. She had no choice but to find a man to help her."

The man is a good person, but he's just unlucky. He was hit by a car at the end of last year, and now he's lame in one leg and can't work. His family of five depends on her for food.

"The driver didn't pay any compensation?"

"That heartless bastard ran away. The medical bills wiped out our savings, otherwise we could have held on for a while longer."

Yang Lihua pressed the rice with a rice scoop, making the rice in the bowl very compact, about the amount of two normal bowls, with a layer of loose rice grains covering the surface.

After serving the rice, Yang Lihua put down her bowl and threw herself into Xian Yaowen's arms. "Thank goodness you're here, otherwise Jingyi and I..."

"Don't say things like that. Pack a plate of sunflower seeds and give me an excuse to come in."

Yang Lihua released Xian Yaowen and smiled, "There are only a few melon seeds left. I'll save them to give to the guests who will be staying at the hotel later. I'll cut some watermelon."

"You're using up sunflower seeds so quickly? Business was really good a few days ago?"

"The hotel is full every day after the rain stops."

Yang Lihua picked up the cleaver, wiped the blade with a rag, cut off a piece of watermelon rind, wiped the blade with the rind, rinsed it with water, wiped it clean, and then used the cleaver to cut the watermelon in half.

After she finished cutting the watermelon, Sin Yiu-man picked up the cutting board and followed her outside.

Upon reaching the coffee table, two more low stools were found. Li Lizhen sat on one of them; Yang Jingyi and the steward Chen Shufen switched places, and Xian Yaowen sat down next to the other empty stool, with Yang Jingyi's knees resting against his armpits.

Yang Lihua urged Li Lizhen to eat, while Yang Jingyi leaned her head towards Xian Yaowen and whispered, "How about you take me to see a movie later?"

"I can't today, I already have an appointment to meet someone."

"Where to? Can you take me there?"

"I don't know yet, but it'll probably be at a restaurant."

"Please take me there, I've never been to a restaurant before."

"Don't be silly, restaurants are not places for a girl like you."

"She's just a hostess," Yang Jingyi pouted. "At most, I'll sit next to you and not say a word."

Xian Yaowen took out a stack of folded hundred-yuan bills from his pocket, stuffed them into Yang Jingyi's skirt pocket, and whispered in her ear, "Go to the Hengyang Theater with Li to watch a movie. After the movie, eat something on Hengyang Road and come back early. Don't wander off."

"No." Yang Jingyi leaned her head on Xian Yaowen's shoulder as if no one else was there. "Take me with you, I want to go with you."

Xian Yaowen gently stroked Yang Jingyi's hair and said tenderly, "Listen to me, restaurants are not a place for you. Another day I'll accompany you from morning till night, and you can decide where we go."

"Really?"

"Ah."

"Pinky promise." Yang Jingyi extended her little finger.

Sin Yiu-man chuckled and extended his little finger, hooking it with hers.

Yang Jingyi whispered, "Pinky promise, never to change for a hundred years."

"constant."

Yang Jingyi smiled broadly, picked up a piece of braised pork, and poked the fatty side towards Xian Yaowen's mouth.

Sin Yiu-man bit down two millimeters on the leaner side of the meat, removing all the fat.

Yang Jingyi put the lean meat into the bowl, covered it with rice from the side, and then took a piece of braised pork from the plate and did the same.

Thus, Xian Yaowen ate five pieces of fatty meat in a row, while Yang Jingyi contentedly picked at the rice wrapped around the lean meat and put it into her mouth. As her cheeks bulged, she chewed happily.

After finishing five pieces of lean meat, her chopsticks reached for the braised pork, but just as she was about to pick it up, Yang Lihua's chopsticks blocked her way. Yang Lihua said with a dark face, "You've been eating your fill for a few days and you've forgotten who you are? You can't even finish a bowl of rice with seven or eight pieces of braised pork? If you pick it up again, I'll beat your butt to a pulp."

Yang Jingyi reluctantly put down her chopsticks, put them in her mouth and gently bit them twice, then reached into another plate and picked up some sweet potato leaves.

Xian Yaowen, standing to the side, stared at Yang Lihua's angry face, finding it hard to guess whether she was simply stating the facts or making a fuss out of jealousy.

Buying more meat at once allows you to negotiate with the butcher for a lower price or extras; cooking it all at once makes it easier to render lard and saves on firewood and ingredients.

There was quite a bit of braised pork on the plate, weighing over two pounds, but it was clear that they weren't planning to eat it all at once. Instead, they intended to save a lot for the next day or the day after, or even for three to five days or longer, until the meat started to spoil.

Of course, we shouldn't eat for that long at the Hengyang Hotel. Two more meals tomorrow should be enough, since the restaurant will cover the food costs, and Wang Chaoyun won't be too demanding. However, on the other hand, eating two jin of braised pork in one meal is obviously a bit excessive, especially since food prices are at an abnormally high level.

From the initial concern about being mindful of when eating at someone's home, to the fact that most families simply couldn't afford Yang Jingyi's extravagant lifestyle, Yang Lihua's outburst was understandable. However, from another perspective, Yang Lihua probably still harbors anxieties about the future and doesn't want to see Yang Jingyi's standard of living rise too much, lest she revert to her previous state and become disoriented.

To put it bluntly, they didn't have complete trust in Xian Yaowen and were worried that he would get tired of the mother and daughter one day and leave. They always had the thought of "preparing for a famine" hanging over their minds.

In a flash, Xian Yaowen analyzed Yang Lihua's thoughts, but did not interfere with her teaching her daughter. He simply picked up a slice of watermelon and ate it slowly, glancing at Li Lizhen with concern.

Li Lizhen's way of eating is the current mainstream. She eats a piece of braised pork with other dishes and finishes off most of her bowl of rice. The braised pork is less than half a centimeter less than the amount she eats. She starts eating from the fatty side, as the fatty meat is easy to eat with rice. She leaves the lean meat for the end, scrapes the rice grains out of the bowl with her chopsticks, and finally puts it in her mouth to savor it.

Suddenly, the sound of wooden clogs treading on the floor came from the direction of the gate. Chen Shufen looked over, and after a moment, a sleazy voice came, "Sister, today's safety fee is 15 yuan."

Chen Shufen put down her chopsticks and walked over. "Wasn't it 10 yuan yesterday?"

"Yesterday is yesterday. Today, the CCP broadcasts that Taiwan is going to be liberated. Security measures are being strengthened, and an additional 5 yuan insurance fee is being charged... She's really beautiful. Let the brother touch her."

"Ah~"

When Chan Suk-fan screamed, Sin Yiu-man quickly turned his head and looked over. He saw a paw touching Chan Suk-fan's face, with a lewd face attached to the end of the paw, and another face next to it.

“Take down.”

Before he finished speaking, Xie Tingyun pulled out a tactical baton from his waist and swung it at the two thugs.

Outside the shop, Xie Zhanran surrounded them.

Whew... Whew Whew... Whew...

A rhythmic whooshing sound rang out, followed by two muffled thuds as heavy objects hit the ground.

"That claw."

Upon hearing this, Xie Tingyun stepped on the neck of the thug who had just harassed Chen Shufen with his left foot, used his tactical baton to pry the thug's right hand into a position where he could exert force, and swung the baton twice at the elbow joint.

She heard two clicking sounds and saw redness under the skin at the elbow joint. She pulled away her left foot, which had been restricting the thug's movements and preventing him from making noise, and made way for the pig-slaughtering sounds to run wild.

"Ah...~..."

As the sounds of slaughtering the pig subsided and gradually ceased, Xian Yaowen approached the thugs and said to them, who hadn't had their extra meal, "Tell your boss a message for me..."

Before Sin Yiu-man could finish speaking, the thug shouted, "Dare to mess with the Ruan Xiamen Gang? You'll be collecting their corpses!"

Leaving aside Chen Yonghua, the Taiwanese godfather known as "Chen Jinnan," the earliest origins of Taiwanese gangs can be traced back to the Japanese occupation period.

The Japanese implemented a policy of "using Taiwan to control Taiwan," organizing unemployed vagrants to monitor the people and often using ronin such as the Black Dragon Society to oppress them. The Black Dragon Society ronin colluded with local thugs to engage in opium smuggling and fraud.

Because of this historical connection, Taiwanese gangs have a very close relationship with the Yakuza in Japan, and Taiwanese gang members often regard the Yakuza as their backers.

With the retrocession of Taiwan, gang members lost their former backers. In addition, Chen Yi seized the opportunity to arrest them everywhere, which led to the disintegration of the gangs and the escape of gang members.

Some fled to Japan to find their former backers, joined the Yakuza, learned gangster skills, and waited for an opportunity to return to Taiwan to seek development; others fled Taipei, occupied territories outside Taipei, became local tyrants, and left only a few gangsters to manage their own territories.

After the war, a power vacuum emerged in some bustling areas of downtown Taipei, with only a few petty thieves roaming around. When the Nationalist government moved to Taiwan, it brought with it a group of restless sons of military and political officials. Relying on their fathers' power, they imitated the old gang members, forming gangs based on their shared vices.

They roamed in gangs, fought, skipped school, stole, and engaged in illicit relationships. They were numerous, unreasonable, arrogant, and committed petty evils.

Calling them gangsters would be an exaggeration; they're really just a bunch of good-for-nothing rich kids who've managed to get by. Luckily, they've all been educated, so they haven't completely lost their knowledge and haven't given themselves any fancy titles like "gangster bosses."

However, there are always exceptions. While others may just be messing around, the Xiamen gang is different.

The core members of the Xiamen Gang were veterans from Tong'an, Xiamen, who had experience in Shanghai or in the Xiamen port area, serving as marine police. The former were the main members, and the latter were secondary members, hence they were also known as the "Little Shanghai Gang".

Take, for example, a hotel in Hengyang that opens its doors to do business; it needs to pay "fees" to three parties:
For government-owned properties, a business tax of 1.5% of total revenue and a property tax of 10% of rent are required. For properties owned by the government, the tax is based on the rent of similar shops in the surrounding area.

Secondly, there is the levy for security, including spring, summer, autumn, and winter defense, with defense fees for all four seasons, as well as additional fees for slogans and garrison duties, totaling 100 yuan per month. The receipt issued by the police station is for "temporary security assistance fees".

The levy is not a tax and has no legal basis. You can refuse to pay it as long as you can withstand the frequent targeted inspections and the fact that everyone in the hostel is on the CCP's list.

Thirdly, there's the Xiamen group. They charge various fees, including dock tax, vendor licenses, entertainment donations, and insurance premiums. There's bound to be one that suits your needs. For example, the insurance premium that Hengyang hotels offer used to be 10 yuan a day, but it seems like the price has temporarily increased today.

The "land fee" has no legal basis, but refusing to pay it is really not an option. The Xiamen gang is equally adept at the methods used by Hong Kong triads, and the Nationalist government is extremely fond of the gangs as a chamber pot—they are easy to use and easy to discard. The Xiamen gang has been used in the last two years, tacitly allowed to collect "land fees" in exchange for "anti-communist" intelligence.

So, the Xiamen gang has gold in one hand, ready to splatter it on your face and disgust you, and dirt in the other, ready to frame you however you like. If you've messed with the Xiamen gang, please call Ms. Cai immediately and beg her to let you sing the line, "My life is worthless."

"Oh, it's not formal enough to just send a message verbally. I'll write a letter and ask you to pass it on."

As Xian Yaowen spoke calmly, he flicked the clogs off the thug's feet with his toe, sending the clogs flying. Xie Zhanran caught them with his hand, then stomped on the thug's neck with his right foot. The thug opened his mouth in pain, and the clogs were shoved into his mouth with lightning speed.

Xie Zhanran used his right foot to push up the thug's chin, closing his mouth. He then pulled his right foot back and tapped it on the wooden clog. Crack! The sound of a front tooth breaking rang out.

Xian Yaowen bent down and pulled the wooden clogs out of the thug's mouth, glanced inside, and then comforted him, "It's alright, only one and a half front teeth are broken, the root is intact, it's fine. Once you save enough money, you can get gold teeth. Right now, you'll just have a slight lisp when you speak, but it won't affect your ability to carry messages."

Alright then, I won't write a letter. But please pass on a message for me, sir. I'll begin now.

Everyone needs to eat. Whether it's entertainment donations or insurance premiums, I, Sin Yiu-man, can pay them. But please, do things properly. You can't just touch a young woman's face like that, and you can't expect others to clean up your messes. That's not good, it's very bad.

"I've finished conveying what you wanted to say, sir. Now, I'd like to say this to you, sir. You just cursed me to death, but I, Xian Yaowen, am magnanimous and only intend to give you a minor punishment as a warning and let it go lightly..."

Sin Yiu-man waved his hand, "Sorry, sorry, that's too formal for you to understand, sir. Let me be more direct. You just cursed me to die, so I'm going to curse you back and that'll be it. Listen carefully."

Sin Yiu-man whispered in the thug's ear, "I curse your mother, sister, and younger sister, every single one of them, to be fucked to pieces in this brothel. There's only one way to break the curse: before this time tomorrow, you must cut off your own head."

He looked up, moved away from the thug's ear, and said in a normal voice, "Now, sir, please take your brothers and leave. Have a nice day!"

Sin Yiu-man's curse made the thug furious, but he knew the wisdom of not fighting a losing battle. He couldn't beat him in a fight, so he left first, went back to get reinforcements, and then came back to retaliate.

One of the thugs got up from the ground and helped another thug up. The two stumbled towards the door, but were stopped by Sin Yiu-man.

"Please bring today's insurance premium with you, otherwise you two won't be able to explain yourselves when you get back. Ms. Chen, please take care of it."

"Yes."

Watching the two thugs leave, Xian Yaowen returned to the coffee table and picked up the half-eaten slice of watermelon. Yang Jingyi leaned her head on his shoulder, her eyes sparkling, "You were so dashing and dignified just now."

“Being carefree and dignified often comes at a price,” Xian Yaowen chuckled in response, then looked at Yang Lihua, “Don’t worry, someone will be watching over you later.”

Yang Lihua nodded slightly, then lowered her head and continued eating.

Ten minutes later, dinner ended. Yang Jingyi and Li Lizhen chattered as they left, Chen Shufen stayed at the front desk, and Xian Yaowen helped Yang Lihua clear the dishes and take them to the kitchen.

After placing the bowls and chopsticks into the wooden basin, Yang Lihua wiped her hands on her apron and then threw herself into Xian Yaowen's arms, pressing her face tightly against his chest. "Can you and Jingyi stop playing around? I can't take it anymore."

“Okay.” Xian Yaowen gently patted Yang Lihua’s back. “Give me some time. At Jingyi’s age, her thinking is prone to getting stuck in a dead end. If not handled properly, it will affect your relationship with her, and she may also experience a drastic change in temperament.”

Yang Lihua looked up, her face full of worry, and asked, "What do you plan to do?"

"Young girls' feelings come and go quickly. If I ignore her for a while, and another nice guy happens to appear in her life, she'll probably fall for him. Just when she's about to fall for him, another even better guy will appear. At that point, she'll be overwhelmed with choices. Will he be the better one or the other?"

"Ah~" Yang Lihua exclaimed in surprise, "How can this be? What will Jingyi become in the future?"

"What could it become?" Xian Yaowen chuckled. "Was Jingyi's father the man you most wanted to marry back then?" (End of Chapter)