A Midnight Reckoning

At eleven o’clock that night, Chen Ran had already returned to his room, intending to sleep, when he received a call from Nishiki.

“Big Bro…”

“Who’s your big bro?”

“…”

His words seemed to have startled the kid, for Nishiki immediately blurted out…

“Dad!”

“Who’s your dad?”

Chen Ran continued to roll his eyes, wondering how he could possibly have such a son.

“Get to the point.”

“Alright…”

Nishiki’s voice was somewhat slurred, suggesting he had quite a bit to drink.

“That… the information you asked me to look into… I found it… Ugh… *retch*…”

It sounded as though he was vomiting while on the phone.

Chen Ran, however, patiently listened as Nishiki recounted the entire story.

Havng received the “mission” he had issued that very morning, Nishiki had promptly contacted Brother Wolf, his boss, and through that connection, located Saburo the Scarred, the big bald man from before.

Using a casual excuse, he had invited them to a KTV for “a night of fun.”

Some drank, others called for girls; in any case, he had successfully placated the gang leaders, and naturally, managed to extract some information from them.

The long and short of it was this:

The old street where the Jiang family resided, located in Linzhou City, was slated for government-led demolition in about a year or two.

Saburo and the other yakuza members of the Six Wen Society (TL Note: A structured criminal organization, often compared to the Japanese yakuza or triads) had received this news in advance.

Consequently, they devised a scheme.

Initially, they planned to promote a lending business throughout the entire street, using compound interest loans to drive most of the old street residents into bankruptcy, ultimately forcing them to mortgage their properties and land to the gang at low prices.

Once they acquired these properties, they could then renovate the entire old street, transforming it into an entertainment and commercial district—after all, the compensation prices for residential and commercial properties during government demolition would certainly differ significantly.

The Six Wen Society’s objective was to seize control of the entire old street where the Jiang family lived—or at least the vast majority of its land and houses—to then profit handsomely from the government’s demolition next year!

“I spent a month’s worth of my allowance today just to get this information out of those two bosses…”

Nishiki was still complaining and seeking credit.

Chen Ran, of course, understood.

He merely said softly.

“You’ve worked hard. Go get some rest.”

“Eh?”

Nishiki seemed momentarily taken aback, but soon, violent retching sounds emanated from the phone once more.

Chen Ran pursed his lips, then chose to end the call.

Having grasped the full context of the matter, the current situation became remarkably clear.

Their loan scheme had been ruined by him.

This meant the Six Wen Society’s Plan A had essentially been declared bankrupt, prompting them to execute Plan B: using intimidation and violence to forcibly compel the old street residents to sell their properties to them.

No wonder Saburo the Scarred, that big bald man, had been so enraged, bringing so many of his men to retaliate against him.

After all, he had just derailed their grand money-making scheme.

Chen Ran lay on his bed, deep in thought.

First and foremost, he certainly couldn’t tell Jiang Zilin and Jiang Lengleng.

Informing the two sisters would only cause them worry, serving no practical purpose.

Thus, Chen Ran decided to tackle the problem alone.

As for how to solve it…

After a brief moment of contemplation, Chen Ran, whose intelligence attribute had already reached 10 points, quickly conceived a method.

He rose and dressed, then, under the cloak of night, quietly went downstairs and left the house.

****

It was a late summer night.

The warm sea breeze of mid-September drifted in from afar, making the air feel somewhat muggy and sticky even beneath the stars and moon.

The entire street was silent.

As one of Linzhou City’s many intricate, century-old ancient districts, the old street where the Jiang family resided possessed no semblance of “modern life.”

Though it was barely approaching midnight, there were no shops still open, not even a single mobile vendor selling late-night snacks to be seen, and the residential houses had largely extinguished their lights.

Only the cold streetlights at the intersection and the occasional faint glow from a vending machine prevented the entire street from plunging into utter darkness.

A black van quietly pulled up to the roadside.

Saburo the Scarred, the big bald tough guy, sat somewhat tipsily in the passenger seat, directing his subordinates to get out while gazing towards the convenience store across the street.

The convenience store had no signboard.

Only the interior shelves visible through its transparent display window allowed one to identify it as a convenience store.

“That’s the kid’s family store,” Saburo snarled.

Tonight, a subordinate’s subordinate had invited him for drinks and girls, yet he hadn’t forgotten his main objective.

Even with his head swimming, he was determined to smash this convenience store first!

Damn it, so what if he couldn’t beat the guy himself? He had plenty of ways to ‘pivot’ (TL Note: A sarcastic term for finding an indirect solution when direct confrontation fails)!

Like smashing his family’s convenience store. Let’s see that kid act arrogant then, heh.

If it weren’t for the need to keep things from escalating, he could have directly kidnapped the kid’s family.

“Pah, damn that pretty boy!”

He spat disdainfully onto the ground.

The Six Wen Society was a legitimate yakuza organization; therefore, while they could engage in illicit activities, it was always best to abide by the law when possible—at least, kidnapping was something best avoided.

In short, things hadn’t reached the point of outright hostility yet; it wasn’t necessary.

Moreover, the news of the old street’s government-led redevelopment next year was still confidential.

Members of the Six Wen Society could know, but if it blew up and other yakuza gangs in Xijing learned of it, finding a reason to get involved, it would be a huge loss.

Being a yakuza also meant making money for your subordinates.

If you had no money, which subordinate would follow you?

They’d be clubbing with young models every day, while you’d be squatting on the street eating boxed lunches, right?

This was also why, when they threatened and intimidated people, they only did things like smashing windows, trashing shops, or splashing paint or feces on people’s doors in the dead of night.

Because if they were too blatant, doing such things in broad daylight, it would cause too much of a stir.

Not only would it be difficult to explain to their superiors, but it would also attract the covetous eyes of rival gangs, making it a net loss.

Saburo, as the “project manager” for this operation, felt his high-interest loan plan had been excellent, a pity he ran into such an oblivious fool of a “pretty boy.”

Recalling Chen Ran’s handsome face, Saburo gnashed his teeth in anger.

What was most infuriating was that the guy was not only handsome but also a skilled fighter.

Didn’t that make him, who worked out his muscles every day and even lost his hair because of it, utterly useless?

Thinking of this only fueled his rage further.

Saburo hefted a steel pipe, motioning for the three or four subordinates who had accompanied him to walk towards the nearby convenience store.

“Smash it to smithereens, damn it! F*ck, if we couldn’t go too far, I’d burn this motherf*cker’s place down!”

With Chen Ran absent, the big bald tough guy’s words were certainly bold.

However, just as the group reached the convenience store door, and had raised their iron bars, intending to smash the glass door, a subordinate’s startled cry suddenly came from behind them.

“Boss!!”

“What is it?”

Saburo turned around, asking in confusion.

“There… in the convenience store… there seems to be someone!!”

“?”

Saburo thought, ‘What the hell are you talking about? The convenience store is locked from the outside; how could anyone be inside?’

Yet, following the subordinate’s pointing finger, Saburo also saw it: on the edge of the shelves inside the convenience store, a shadowy figure seemed to be standing there, staring directly at him.