A life of success begins with being a landlord.

Sister Li thought for a moment and said, "You have full authority. Handle it however you see fit."

I nodded, preparing to meet with Liang Laosi and Niu Jie.

Sister Li hesitated for a moment, then said, "How about we just let it go, Yaozu? Sister Liang has suffered a huge loss after we gave her such a beating, at least tens of thousands. Why don't we just let her go and then leave her alone?"

"Logically speaking, that's how it is. We've gotten our revenge." I nodded. "Let's see what Liang Laosi has to say first."

This time, Sister Liang was wiped out by Director Nie.

All of his dozen or so men were arrested, and his three stores were raided and smashed to pieces.

Including the loss of rent, personnel losses, and lost wages, it must amount to tens of thousands of yuan.

But I have no intention of letting her off the hook, or letting Liang Laosi off the hook!

Let's see what Liang Laosi has to say first. If he's arrogant and tries to blackmail me with the power of his hometown, I'll continue playing this game.

So I called Niu Jie and asked him and Liang Laosi to wait for me at the Changhong Restaurant in Sanlichuan.

After I hung up the phone, Zhang Bazi called again.

I understood what Zhang Bazi meant and said proactively, "Brother Bazi, the money has arrived in my account. The remaining 800,000 will be paid to you in the next couple of days. I've just been too busy with some troublesome matters and haven't had time to go to the bank to withdraw the money."

Zhang Bazi wants cash, so I have to make an appointment at the bank first.

But then Liang Laosi came looking for me, and I really didn't have time!

Scarface Zhang asked, "What trouble is it? Do you need my help?"

"Want to help for free, Scarface?" I chuckled. "I'm a bit broke lately and can't afford to pay you much. I'm afraid I can't hire you."

Zhang Bazi said, "We're friends, helping out once or twice for free is no problem."

"Thanks, Scarface. If I can't handle this, I'll ask you to step in." I smiled and said, "How about tomorrow morning? You can come with me to the bank to withdraw the money."

There's no way to renege on this final payment of 800,000.

I gave it to him anyway, so I wouldn't worry about it.

At 3:30 p.m., I met Liang Laosi, Mu Hu and Niu Jie again in a private room on the second floor of Changhong Restaurant.

Niu Jie didn't care and didn't dare offend me, so he bowed and scraped to me: "Brother Zu, so you and Sister Liang had a misunderstanding before. If I had known, I would have mediated it, and things wouldn't have turned out like this..."

"Brother Niu Er, how do you plan to mediate?"

I smiled faintly and pointed at Liang Laosi: "Liang Laosi has come. Brother Niu Er, you can mediate now."

Niu Jie smiled ingratiatingly: "Don't worry, Brother Zu. I've already spoken with Liang Laosi. We'll clear up the past today. From now on, we'll still be friends."

Liang Laosi nodded: "Yes, Brother Zu, I was wrong before, I'm sorry to Hu Xiaogang. I'm willing to make amends and atone for my sins in the future."

"To atone for your sins? How do you plan to atone?" I sneered.

"Last time I went to Beihu to visit Hu Xiaogang. You should know what life was like in the labor camp, right? Every day you had to harvest rice, two mu of land. Why don't you try harvesting rice? If you can harvest two mu of land in one day for ten consecutive days, I'll listen to you."

Harvesting two acres of rice in a day is something most people couldn't do.

The women in our village who are most adept at bending over to do heavy work can swing their sickles so fast they're smoking, yet they still can't finish one and a half acres in a day.

I don't know how Hu Xiaogang went to Beihu and became a super robotic arm, harvesting two acres of rice a day!

As for Liang Laosi, well, he couldn't even finish harvesting half an acre of land in a day.

Sure enough, Liang Laosi smiled bitterly: "Brother Zu, if you lock me up in Beihu, I can harvest two mu of land a day, but at home, I can't..."

I nodded. "Now, even urinating requires a report from Hu Xiaogang. Tell me, as Hu Xiaogang's brother, shouldn't I take revenge?"

"I understand, I wouldn't blame Brother Zu." Liang Laosi sighed, "On the contrary, I respect Brother Zu very much. He's a hero who would go to great lengths for his friends."

"It's not really about going to great lengths for her, just a little trick. If I really wanted to kill Sister Liang, I could have participated in the operation that night, creating an accident so that Sister Liang would die on the spot."

I lit a cigarette: "Here, many criminals, trying to escape arrest, drowned in the river or fell to their deaths from buildings. There are many examples."

Niu Jie nodded in agreement, confirming my point: "Brother Zu is absolutely right. People die here all the time, many... unidentified corpses. It happens several times every month, and there are even more unknown deaths."

I sighed: "Hu Xiaogang was sentenced to three and a half years, so I plan to have Sister Liang also serve three and a half years, so we can even things out."

Liang Laosi, puffing on his cigarette, pondered, "Brother Zu, could you please show some mercy and let us off the hook?"

"Yes, you can buy out Hu Xiaogang's situation over those three and a half years with your money!"

I pointed at Liang Laosi: "And there's also the damage to Hu Xiaogang's reputation and compensation for emotional distress. Liang Laosi, you do the math yourself."

If it were me now, even if I were given a million a year, I wouldn't want to live the prison life that Hu Xiaogang is living now.

Even if you offered me 30,000 a year, I wouldn't go to jail, even if I was the arrogant person I used to be!

Therefore, the wages and compensation for mental distress owed to Hu Xiaogang over the past three and a half years are an unresolved issue.

Liang Laosi suddenly stood up, frowning, and said, "Brother Zu, don't push your luck. My third sister lost at least 100,000 this time. How do you calculate that?"

"Liang Laosi, you still dare to settle scores with me?"

I flicked my wrist, and the lighter flew out.

boom!

It hit Liang Laosi squarely on the forehead.

"Ouch..." Liang Laosi cried out in surprise, covering his head.

Upon seeing this, Mu Hu also stood up abruptly.

I remained seated, looking at Mu Hu: "What, you want to make a move?"

"Brother Zu, don't be impulsive, let's talk this out!" Niu Jie hurriedly spread his arms to stop Mu Hu.

Mu Hu didn't dare to turn hostile at all, and instead took two steps back.

Liang Laosi released his grip; a cut had broken his forehead, and a thin line of blood was trickling down.

"Brother Zu, there's a saying in our hometown: 'If you don't fight at home, no one will fight you outside.' In Dongguan, I can't beat you. But back home, the four Liang brothers aren't going to be bullied!"

Sure enough, that bastard tried to intimidate me by using his hometown's influence!

"Fourth brother, your four brothers are so amazing! I'm so scared!" I laughed and tossed away my cigarette butt.

"Are you planning to go back and cause trouble in Hu Xiaogang's hometown? Go ask around in our hometown. The ancestral hall of Hu Daying is filled with the sounds of gongs and drums, and Hu Xiaoying is known for its swords, spears, and clubs. Hu Xiaogang and his clan have over seven thousand members. You four Liang brothers, even if you're made of iron, how many nails can you hammer in?"

Liang Laosi stared at me without saying a word.

I nodded: "I understand. You don't dare go to Hu Daying, but you dare go to my house and beat up my old man, right?"

"Every wrong has its perpetrator, and every debt its debtor!"

Liang Laosi gritted his teeth, pointing at me: "Brother Zu, if you want revenge for Hu Xiaogang, you should come directly to me. We'll each shoot a hole; whoever dies is unlucky. But you, why did you mess with my third sister?"

I chuckled and said, "Because I like messing with your third sister, it feels really good."

"You bastard, I'll fight you to the death!"

Enraged, Liang Laosi rolled up his sleeves and roared as he charged forward.