"Yang Chen, is the money I asked you to prepare yesterday ready? My brothers are waiting to get it for breakfast and drinks." Chen Feng twirled a silver chain in his hand, leaned forward and asked with a strange smile. Old Li was furious. He stood in front of Yang Chen and shouted, "Chen Feng, don't go too far! Even if your father, Boss Chen, is the boss of this area, what qualifications do you have to collect protection fees? Boss Chen already said that those who don't run a shop don't have to pay protection fees. Do you think we don't know that?!"
Chen Feng's father, Chen Dehai, was one of the most prominent underworld bosses in the West District. Otherwise, Chen Feng wouldn't have been so brazen in collecting protection fees. Hearing Old Li using his father to pressure him, Chen Feng's eyes suddenly gleamed coldly. "Old man, who do you think you are... Do you think I'm afraid of you just because you mentioned my father? He's my dad, not your grandson! I'm collecting protection fees because I respect you! Don't refuse a toast and then drink a forfeit!"
"You..." Old Li said, realizing he had almost offended Boss Chen. After all, they were biological father and son. Who was he? But he couldn't swallow this anger. Just as he was about to say a few more words to defend Yang Chen, Yang Chen grabbed him from behind. Yang Chen frowned, rubbing his forehead with a slight headache. He pulled Old Li back and said to Chen Feng calmly, "Your name is... Chen Feng, right? I'll call you Brother Feng. Don't bother looking for trouble. I hate trouble. But I don't have any money today. I'll give it to you in a few days. You can go back now."
"Hey!" A henchman laughed loudly. "Brother Feng, this kid thinks he's the boss!? He tells us to go back, so we go back?"
The other thugs also laughed wildly, even shouting, "Give this kid a beating."
Chen Feng also felt like he'd witnessed the funniest joke in the world, but inwardly, he was furious at Yang Chen's words. He sneered, "Yang Chen... if you have the guts, say that again, or I'll cut your tongue off..." By the end, a fierce edge had already etched itself into his words. Yang Chen's impatient expression suddenly turned cold. He looked at Chen Feng with a complicated gaze and said, "Do you know what I hate the most?"
"What…"
Before Chen Feng could finish his question, he suddenly felt his body fly through the air! Immediately afterwards, with a twisting pain in his abdomen, his body slammed into the garbage pile on the roadside with a "bang!"! Vegetable leaves, fish, and debris ate into his body, and his clothes were soaked in the rotten water!
"I hate being threatened the most..."
As if with a casual push, Yang Chen stood where Chen Feng had been standing and retracted his outstretched hand.
Chen Feng was stunned by this push and collision. The smell of blood filled his mouth and nose, and the stench of the garbage pile penetrated his nasal cavity, instantly causing him to retch!
"You b*st*rd, you dare to hit our Brother Feng? You're courting death!"
"Beat him to death!"
Because they were outnumbered, the thugs saw their boss being beaten. Without giving much thought to how Yang Chen pulled it off, they swarmed over with punches and kicks!
Yang Chen didn't bother to watch. No matter how hard they threw, he caught them with his palms and dragged them to the side of the road.
The thugs felt their hands or feet clamped down by a tremendous force, their bodies uncontrollably flung into the air, and they slammed into the hard concrete floor, screaming in pain.
Seeing that Yang Chen hadn't even scratched a hair, they finally realized they were outmatched. Even Chen Feng, who had just crawled out of the garbage dump, broke out in a cold sweat! He had seen the tactics of some of his father's retired special forces soldiers. Each of them was his father's aces, easily holding their own against ten. But even those few men didn't possess such immense strength or speed. They flung five or six people away with such ease, as if they were throwing cats and dogs. You have to understand, although these thugs had never practiced martial arts, they had grown up fighting all day long. How could an ordinary person possibly defeat them?
"Go!" Although Chen Feng's teeth were itching with rage, he didn't care about saving face. The sight of Yang Chen's calm face was as terrifying as seeing a ghost. He hurriedly called out to his henchmen and ran away.
Old Li and the onlookers exclaimed in delight at Yang Chen's skill. These thugs were used to being domineering, and the vendors were afraid of them. Yang Chen's actions today naturally vented their anger. However, these people didn't dare get too close to Yang Chen. After all, Chen Feng wasn't scary, but if Chen Feng's father, Chen Dehai, came to deal with Yang Chen, they were worried about being implicated. Old Li was incredibly excited. "Xiao Yang, I didn't expect you to be so skilled. Have you ever learned martial arts?"
"Hmm... a little." Yang Chen didn't want to elaborate. In truth, if Chen Feng hadn't gone too far and offended him, he wouldn't have fought him in such a busy city. However, as he told Chen Feng, he had his principles—he hated being threatened! Perhaps, no matter how much he tried to keep a low profile, he couldn't erase this quirk, because he had the dignity of a strong man! Seeing Yang Chen talking so much, Old Li stopped asking questions and began to ask worriedly, "Xiao Yang, you've beaten Chen Feng back now, but what if he calls his father, Chen Dehai? What are you going to do? You know, Chen Dehai is one of the two major gangs in our West District and a key figure in the Western Alliance. No one in this area dares to mess with him!"
Western Alliance... Yang Chen smiled nonchalantly and suddenly asked Old Li, "Do you have cigarettes?"
Old Li could only worry when he saw Yang Chen's nonchalant expression. Hearing Yang Chen asking for cigarettes, he couldn't help but smile bitterly, "Didn't you say you wanted to quit smoking?"
"Forget it, I'm not quitting. I'm not used to not having cigarettes after beating someone up." Yang Chen sighed silently. He hadn't expected Chen Dehai to be a member of the Western Alliance. He had originally not intended to have anything to do with these people, which was why he had been reluctant to interact with Qiang Wei. But he hadn't expected to be on the front line. Old Li pulled out a pack of Lanhua cigarettes worth one yuan and fifty cents from his pocket and lit one for Yang Chen. "Since you're poor, you should choose the cheapest. This one's strong, so just make do."
"Hiss..." Yang Chen took a puff with immense enjoyment, grinning, "Not bad, I want something strong."
"Young people should smoke less, it's bad for your health," Old Li said kindly with a smile.
Yang Chen smiled slightly, but inwardly thought: If smoking harms me, all my years of training would be for nothing.
After a short rest, the two of them got back to business. Yang Chen started heating up the lamb skewers and grilling the raw ones, holding a skewer in his mouth, thinking it was his own breakfast. Although the work was dirty, he enjoyed it very much, and from time to time he would grin at the surrounding vendors.
But not long after, a police car drove up from a distance. Two policemen and a police officer in a white shirt jumped out, approaching Yang Chen with serious expressions. The leading police officer asked indifferently, "Are you Yang Chen?"