Free Web NovelChapter 480: Chapter 476: An Mingjiang
Mr. Jiu had lost money, and on top of that, a woman had scratched up his face.
A man secretly watching from a distance saw the crowd disperse and quickly slipped away to report the situation to Lu Yuanbin.
Lu Yuanbin listened with great relish.
But his underling grew worried.
"Third Master, Mr. Jiu was beaten and humiliated. I’m afraid the big shot behind him won’t let this slide!"
The reason Old Nine was so audacious was because he had the backing of Qingshan County’s second-in-command—a man that even the top official, Zhang Tianming, wouldn’t dare to cross.
He came from a powerful family in Beijing.
He was incredibly powerful. To put it in old-fashioned terms, he was as untouchable as The Buddha’s own uncle—practically imperial royalty.
Old Nine had some connection to him, paying an astronomical sum in tribute each year in exchange for his protection.
Regardless of who Old Nine was, he was still the second-in-command’s man. After being publicly humiliated today, Mr. Jiu would surely not take it lying down.
Lu Yuanbin also knew Old Nine’s backer was not to be trifled with, but he couldn’t just let the man shit on his head.
"I have my own plans for this matter. You all should be careful for a while; things are tense right now."
It was already the tenth of the twelfth lunar month; tomorrow would be the eleventh. With the New Year just twenty days away, things had gotten tense at the black market, and patrols were coming around more often.
With the end of the year approaching, the black market was bustling with more customers, and the men were eager to cash in. Even with things being tense, they wanted to earn some money for the New Year.
Lu Yuanbin didn’t stop them, only reminded them to be careful.
The underling acknowledged his words.
Lu Yuanbin, still uneasy, pulled his bicycle out of the storage room and started riding toward the Qingshan Team.
Meanwhile, Old Nine, having taken such a beating, was in no mood to let the matter drop. He took his injuries directly to a small courtyard home and knocked on the door.
The door was opened by a man of twenty-three or twenty-four. He had a pair of slender phoenix eyes, filled with roguish charm. He took one look at Old Nine and opened the door wider to let him in.
He recognized Old Nine—the one who was always bringing money to his family.
’Although, with his face covered in a woman’s scratches... could he have gotten himself tangled up in some affair?’
"Dongyang, is your father home?"
An Dongyang led Old Nine into a guest room. "You wait here. I’ll go get my father."
With that, he left.
Before long, An Dongyang’s father—the second-in-command of Qingshan County—emerged. An Dongyang had already filled him in on Old Nine’s situation.
He hadn’t wanted to get involved, but when he thought of all the years of tribute from Old Nine, he came out anyway.
The moment Old Nine saw An Mingjiang, tears nearly streamed down his face.
"Mr. An, you have to stand up for me on this!"
An Mingjiang patiently soothed Old Nine. "Calm down first. Sit, and tell me what happened, nice and slow."
Only then did Old Nine sit. The moment he opened his mouth, a torrent of grievances poured out.
"Mr. An, you know times have been tough these last two years. I just get by selling a few things. The whole market used to be mine, and when I earned more, I could offer you more in tribute. But someone got jealous and started stealing my market share."
Just then, someone brought in two cups of tea.
An Mingjiang picked up his teacup, used the lid to skim away the floating leaves, blew on it gently, and then took a small sip.
He understood what Old Nine was getting at. The entire black market had once been Old Nine’s territory. Then Lu Yuanbin appeared and snatched a piece of it. As Lu Yuanbin’s power grew, he eventually took control of three-quarters of the entire black market.
But this kid, Lu Yuanbin, was hard to read. An Mingjiang himself had only been sent to Qingshan County by his family after making a mistake, and he didn’t want to cause any trouble right now. That was why he had never made a move against Lu Yuanbin.
