Damn it, I'm in the garbage book I wrote

Chapter 589 Playing with Dogs
Hu Ye found Xia Lin just one night later, but now his eyes were like those of an old beast trapped in a trap, filled with greed and murderous intent.

"What should we do?!"

When Xia Lin saw his eyes and those four words, he knew that this bandit was just a bandit after all. All he could see was that little bit of wisdom. Who was he trying to fool with that cunning and shrewd act? It was laughable.

After getting dressed, Xia Lin personally poured tea for Master Hu. After sitting down, he pondered for a moment and then said, "Brother Hu, it's always important to have a legitimate reason for doing things. That Boss Sun next door and you are essentially two branches of the same tree. If you rush into provoking him, it won't look good. I have a method, though. I wonder if you would like to try it?"

"Brother, hurry up and tell me! Oh dear, you scholars always talk like this, it's driving me crazy! Just tell me what you want to say!"

Xia Lin chuckled twice, then got up and went into the room to take out a box. After opening it, he found about 30,000 taels of silver notes inside: "Brother Hu, here is 30,000 taels."

"Brother, what's this?"

“This is all my worldly possessions.” Xia Lin tapped the table lightly. “I plan to use this 30,000 taels to partner with Brother Hu to open a trading company here.”

"And then? You tell me."

Seeing how impatient Master Hu was, Xia Lin couldn't help but find it somewhat amusing. He had no idea what those 30,000 taels of silver represented.

"To be honest, if Brother Hu really takes these belongings, there's nothing I can do. But since I dare to expose this wealth to Brother Hu, it's because I trust you from the bottom of my heart."

Even a ruthless man like Master Hu was captivated by these repeated calls of "Big Brother." The title of the number one succubus of the Great Wei was no empty boast. He could be the head of the emperor's harem or the wife of a bandit chieftain. This was Xia Daosheng.

"Brother, don't worry, I, Hu, would never be so greedy as to covet my own brother."

He spoke very eloquently, but Xia Lin didn't believe a word he said, not even the punctuation marks. But succubi are masters of deception.

“Of course I trust Brother Hu’s character. Besides, this money is meant to help Brother Hu become the leader of these counties. If Brother Hu takes it, I will just be starting from scratch again, while Brother Hu will probably never have another good opportunity.”

"How so? But Brother Zhang, why are you helping me like this?"

"Does my brother want the truth or a lie?"

"Haha, listen to your lies."

“I think Brother Hu has the bearing of a dragon and a phoenix, and wants to emulate the famous scholars of the past and achieve the merit of following the dragon.”

At this point, Old Hu laughed so hard he slapped his thigh, tears welling up in his eyes. He was over forty years old and knew his own worth. He didn't care about his looks or appearance; any hero in the world could easily defeat him. He was content to live here as a local tyrant, and he didn't even dare to dream of anything else.

"Alright, alright, brother, you really love to joke. Well then, let's hear the truth."

Xia Lin coughed and said, "To be honest, firstly, I'm a businessman, so naturally I'm thinking about returns when I do these things. The money I've invested in Brother Hu will be earned back several times or even ten times in the future. Secondly, I don't have any relatives or friends in this area, so being able to get in touch with Brother Hu is naturally a good thing. So this money is not only mine, but also Brother Hu's principal."

"Good buddy, what are your plans?"

Since Master Hu was already prepared, Xia Lin no longer needed to hide anything, so he revealed his plan in its entirety.

Actually, the whole plan is very simple. After all, even Master Hu wouldn't understand something too complicated. Xia Lin would use the money to open a grand trading company in Yao County, transforming himself from an unknown itinerant merchant into a wealthy tycoon. However, the real boss behind this trading company is Master Hu.

Hearing this, Old Hu was a little confused, so he asked curiously, "Isn't this supposed to be about suppressing bandits? How did it turn into doing business?"

Xia Lin chuckled: "Where would we go to fight bandits if there were no bandits? Your brother Hu is a respectable businessman, how could he get involved in bandit suppression?"

"You mean..." Old Hu's eyes suddenly lit up: "A double-cross!?"

Xia Lin did not answer directly, but continued, "The new trading company is still the property of a well-to-do family in the county. They just robbed them like that. Shouldn't the bandits be eradicated?"

"Suppress them! We definitely have to suppress them."

"Yes, we definitely have to eliminate them. But who should do it is the trick. Brother Hu can't show up himself, because you're too familiar with that Boss Sun. Being too familiar makes it difficult to take action, doesn't it?"

"Yes, yes, this is really difficult."

Xia Lin continued to coax, "If things go wrong, Brother Hu will naturally have to make contact. I'd like to ask Brother Hu, what kind of person is Boss Sun?"

At this point, Old Hu even put himself in the role of a legitimate businessman in the county. When he mentioned Boss Sun, he would grit his teeth and say, "That guy is ruthless, greedy and lecherous. If anything falls into his pocket, it's a sure way to die. And that old fellow is also incredibly jealous."

"Oh? What do you mean?" "The other day, didn't you teach me to make a fortune in the county? Somehow, word got to that old Sun, and he actually dared to come to my door demanding it back. Tell me, where in the world is there any justice? Isn't this just blatant robbery by bandits?"

"He was a bandit to begin with."

"Not only that, he also secretly communicated with several wealthy merchants in Yao County, telling them to hand over their share of the money directly to him in the future. He said that they were suppressing bandits in Yao County, but these bandits could not be suppressed in Li County below. If their goods still wanted to pass through the Li Yao River, they would still have to obediently pay up."

"Isn't this blatantly undermining you?"

"Who can disagree! Just thinking about it makes me furious."

Xia Lin stood up and paced back and forth in the room: "That's fine then. I'll refuse to pay the money. We'll lure that guy surnamed Sun in little by little."

"Alright, everything is up to Brother Zhang. Make sure you give me a legitimate reason to act."

Very good. Everything is progressing along the path Xia Lin envisioned. The invincible enemy on the outside needs to be defeated from within first. Let them fight each other. The good days are numbered.

The next day, Xia Lin's business opened in a grand manner. After all, it was under the protection of Master Hu, and all preparations were made extremely quickly. In fact, the opening ceremony alone cost nearly three thousand taels of silver.

The purchasing power of three thousand taels of silver in this place is simply unparalleled. The scene on the opening day was incredibly lively. More than a hundred people were invited to sing and dance. The place was packed with people, filled with the sounds of gongs and drums, and red flags were waving everywhere.

High-profile, recklessly high-profile.

On the very night that the Zhongchun Trading Company opened, someone came to visit. Sure enough, the plot unfolded exactly as he had imagined. This was all the bandits were capable of; this was all they could do.

The man who came up was a man in his thirties with a fawning face, but his smile was the kind that hid a knife in his heart. He was wearing a small straw hat, but after seeing Xia Lin, he took off the hat and started wandering around the shop.

"Manager Zhang's shop is quite impressive." He picked up something from the shelf and looked at it: "Oh, fine Fuliang porcelain, not bad, not bad. It could fetch a high price anywhere. I heard that a teacup like this can be exchanged for a wife in Baiyue."

Xia Lin followed behind him and politely asked, "May I ask who this gentleman is?"

"Oh, the shopkeeper looks quite young. You don't need to know who I am. You just need to know that you pay me 1,500 taels of silver every month."

"Why?" Xia Lin, of course, pretended not to know. He frowned and asked unwillingly, "I only make two thousand taels a month from marketing."

"Isn't there still five hundred taels to be made? That's about enough. I see you're new here and don't know the rules, so I'll tell you this: you can rest easy here in Yao County, but let me ask you, does your business cross the Li Yao River? If it does, you'll have to pay. Otherwise, once you cross the river, no one will be there to help you."

"No." Xia Lin raised her head and pointed to her shop: "Do you know who owns this shop?"

"No matter who it is, even if it's the Emperor himself, you still have to pay! Your Yao County's rules are rules, but my Li County's rules aren't?"

After saying that, the man picked up the teacup, turned around and walked out. As he passed Xia Lin, he patted him on the shoulder and said, "Young man, a wise man submits to circumstances."

Xia Lin pointed coldly at the teacup in his hand: "Put it down."

"I can sleep with girls in brothels and no one dares to ask me for money. You dare to ask me for a piece of your broken cup?"

This guy's arrogant demeanor is indeed impressive. Xia Lin has been in power for so long, and he has never seen anyone dare to be so arrogant in front of him.

He went up to the man, pinned him to the ground, snatched the cup from his hand, and smashed it repeatedly on the man's head until it shattered into pieces and the man's head was bleeding profusely. Only then did he let go.

"Stop pretending in front of me." Xia Lin stood up, dusted off his clothes, and kicked him in the waist. "Go back and tell your master that I dare to run a business here because I'm not afraid of anything. If you've got the guts, rob my goods. If not, just wait and see!"

Who would have thought that such a fair-skinned, handsome, and refined young man would be so ruthless? He didn't hold back at all when smashing that cup; he was aiming to kill him.

This whole scene was witnessed by Master Hu, who was peeking from the doorway. When he saw Xia Lin smashing someone, all his concerns and doubts vanished.

This young man is ruthless, a ruthless man who has killed people. Back when I was his age, I couldn't even come close to his level.

At that moment, two words popped into Hu Ye's mind—gambler.

Yes, Brother Zhang is a gambler, a ruthless and desperate scoundrel. Now he understands how his forty-odd men died. They've been so focused on making money that they've completely forgotten that he's a top-tier expert and a ruthless scoundrel.

"Alright." Old Hu stepped forward at this moment: "If we fight any further and someone dies..."

(End of this chapter)