Chen Ye hung up the phone and slowly closed his eyes.
Those damned rats must have been the S.H.I.E.L.D. group that was monitoring Chen Ye earlier.
This made Chen Ye even more displeased with S.H.I.E.L.D., and he decided that if there was a next time, he wouldn't mind giving them some trouble.
Chen Ye glanced at the clock in the restaurant; it was almost dinner time again, and he needed to prepare for business.
"Pietro, go prepare the ingredients for me. We're about to open," Chen Ye quickly instructed.
"Chen, I'm not coming back for dinner tonight. I'm going to the bar next door to pick up girls," Deadpool quickly interjected.
"It's time to find a chef for the restaurant. Doing it myself is too tiring. I also need to hire a waiter, or I'll be swamped," Chen Ye grumbled softly.
...
At night, the empty "Good Fortune Comes" restaurant gradually began to fill with people.
"Old Chen, the usual. Give me a General Tso's Chicken, a plate of fried dumplings, and a Yangzhou fried rice."
This was Butler, a regular customer of Good Fortune Comes and a snakehead trafficker from Hell's Kitchen.
He was accompanied by two shy Asian girls.
A moment later, Chen Ye served the dishes, then wiped his hands and looked at the two young Asian girls, saying, "What, bringing two more girls to pay respects today?"
"They just smuggled over. I told them to leave, but they insisted on staying. They said they came here just to make money, so I brought them here to pay their respects. Everyone knows that in Hell's Kitchen, you're the only one who can let them do business with peace of mind."
The snakehead trafficker Butler said while picking up food with his chopsticks.
"Alright, then take them to Ginny's place. These are all minor matters," Chen Ye said indifferently.
Butler listened and gestured to the two girls, which must have been agreed upon before they came.
The two girls pulled out scattered money from their bags, totaling less than a thousand dollars, and handed it to Chen Ye.
"No need, keep this money for yourselves. Do I look like I'm short of this money?" Chen Ye quickly waved his hand, refusing.
The two girls seemed not to hear him and tried to force the money onto him.
"Take it. All the other streets take it, and if you don't, they'll have an opinion. Besides, if you don't take it, these girls won't feel safe. Just consider it helping them," Butler said, picking up a piece of General Tso's Chicken.
"Alright, alright. I'll take this money. I'll save it for you for now. When you've saved enough money and want to leave Hell's Kitchen, come find me. Eat, both of you, hurry up and eat. Do you want anything else? I'll make it for you."
Chen Ye reluctantly took the money and then gestured for them to eat quickly.
Just as Chen Ye was chatting with the two young girls, a figure walked from the direction of the apartment towards the restaurant.
"Oh, isn't that Old Marcus? It's rare to see you come to the restaurant today. Don't you always dislike Chinese food?"
Pietro saw Marcus approaching and teased him.
Chen Ye heard Pietro's voice, stopped talking to the two young girls, and looked up towards Marcus.
"It's not time to pay rent today, is it? What's up, Old Marcus?" Chen Ye asked.
Old Marcus first found a seat near the bar, then looked at Chen Ye with a solemn expression and said, "Chen, I need your help."
Chen Ye also sensed that something was wrong, as he smelled faint alcohol and blood on Old Marcus.
"Tell me, what is it that even the Continental Hotel can't solve, and you have to bother a small landlord like me?" Chen Ye immediately felt a bad premonition.
Marcus was an old man over fifty, and also one of the assassins of the Continental Hotel.
At first, Chen Ye thought Marcus was the Green Goblin from Marvel, but later he learned that he just looked like the Green Goblin.
It was just that he was rescued by Chen Ye in an accident, and then he had been living in Chen Ye's apartment, usually keeping a low profile and rarely socializing.
The Continental Hotel could be described as a jack-of-all-trades, as long as you paid, they could do anything from gathering intelligence to hiring assassins and bodyguards.
Of course, they didn't use U.S. dollars, but a type of gold coin.
Basically, eighty percent of the assassins in all of New York would register as members of the Continental Hotel.
The Continental Hotel was a gathering place for assassins.
Of course, there were still many various assassin organizations outside, but none of them were strong enough to contend with the Continental Hotel.
This showed how powerful the Continental Hotel was. Of course, everything was because the Continental Hotel had another organization behind it - the High Table.
"It's just that I have an old friend who recently got into some trouble, and then he was chased by assassins and fled here to find me, wanting to recuperate for a few days."
Marcus's voice was so low he could barely hear himself.
Chen Ye's eyes widened when he heard this. "Don't tell me that the people from the High Table and The Hand who have been frantically searching for someone in Hell's Kitchen these past few days aren't looking for your friend."
Marcus nodded sheepishly after hearing this.
Chen Ye stared intently at Marcus and continued to press loudly, "You're not going to tell me that your friend is in our apartment right now!"
At this moment, Chen Ye so wished Marcus would say the words "not true."
But Chen Ye's hope was shattered, as Marcus slowly nodded his head.
"Damn it, how could you bring this trouble over! I'm going to raise the rent, raise the rent severely," Chen Ye said helplessly.
"So what kind of resentful thing did your friend do? Why didn't he stay at the Continental Hotel and instead ran to my small place to find you?"
Seeing that the matter had come to this, Chen Ye could only ask.
"This friend of mine is named John Wick, and he's also an assassin. He's an old friend of mine. As for why he fled here, I haven't asked clearly yet, but he has a gunshot wound and hasn't woken up yet. I just came to tell you now, didn't I?" Marcus quickly said.
Chen Ye heard this somewhat familiar name, as if he had seen it in a movie in his previous life.
After all, he had been transmigrated here for more than twenty years, and even if Chen Ye was smart and had a good memory, he couldn't remember everything.
Chen Ye asked uncertainly, "Does your friend have a middle part in his hair?"
Marcus nodded.
Chen Ye continued to ask, "Does your friend like dogs very much?"
Marcus continued to nod like a relentless nodding machine.
The last question: "Does your friend have a nickname called the Night Demon?"
Looking at Marcus, who was nodding beside him, Chen Ye confirmed that the person was the male protagonist of an action-packed movie.
Pietro, who was beside them, also interjected, "That's the Night Demon who wiped out an entire Russian gang for a dog. Wow, that's so cool."
"So, Chen, you'll help us, right? If it's really not possible, I'll take him and leave here immediately. We won't implicate you," Marcus quickly continued to ask.
Chen Ye was silent for a while, and Marcus beside him looked at Chen Ye expectantly, waiting for his answer.
Chen Ye took off his apron and said, "Go, where can you go? The people from the High Table are here to assassinate. It's clear he's offended a high-ranking member of the High Table.
As for implicating or not implicating, once you step onto my territory, you are by default my people.
Old Marcus, you are my tenant after all. For your sake, I still have to go see that guy.
Besides, our apartment lobby is still missing a security guard."
"Won't it be too much trouble for you? After all, the opponent is the High Table," Old Marcus said uneasily.
Chen Ye rolled his eyes: "You've already brought the person over and you're asking me if it's troublesome or not. I don't care what High Table or Low Table it is. This is Hell's Kitchen, let's go upstairs."