Chapter 105: Behind the Scenes
Tang Zheng patted his shoulders and comforted: “Your decision is correct. A man must act with character and integrity so as to be able to support the heavens and the heart. To do that one must know what they can do and what they can not do and drugs are something that should not be meddled with.”
Drugs are not only something that harms the individual; it also causes an incomparably deep abyss to appear within the family. Moreover, back in days, the country had even suffered humiliation and bullying by others because of the Opium Wars. Hence, as a proper young man, Tang Zheng deeply disdained drugs.
Lin Hu nodded his head. He took a deep breath to calm his nerves and said: “One’s actions lead to results and it is probably for this reason that police rarely investigate my territory; thereby saving me a lot of trouble.”
“Then what about casinos?” Tang Zheng could still vividly recall Chang Heng Resorts casino and how it held a deep attraction towards many people.
“Casino’s require large sums of money to support it, and my power is not enough, so I am unable to sustain it. But within my territory, there are a few small-scale casinos that my little brothers do take care of and receive protective fees for. In this case, we do not get any of the profits made.”
Tang Zheng now had a general idea of Lin Hu’s strength and said: “Then what is the situation with Fire Phoenix?”
“This woman is not simple, she is now thirty plus years but came out to become a delinquent when she was in her teens. She can fight and later married her boss, sadly her boss did not have a long life as he was hacked to death. Fire Phoenix then took up his position; originally people believed that she would not be able to succeed and looked at her territory with hungry eyes. Miraculously she managed to hold everything down, and for the past few years her position has been stable, and her power should be slightly stronger than mine.”
“Oh, how come I get the feeling that within these few bosses you are the one who is doing the worse.” Tang Zheng said with an involuntary laugh.
Lin Hu did not feel that it was anything to be embarrassed about hence he nodded and admitted: “Indeed, the north sector of the city is the old sector, so the profits are few. Moreover, I have even added all these restrictions on myself, so my brothers did not have many benefits.”
“Boss, we all follow you willingly and not purely because of the profits.” Dong’zi and said with righteous indignation.
Lin Hu gave a smile and signaled Dong’zi to sit down and said: “I understand all your intentions, so I am very thankful to you guys. So, now do you understand why I placed importance on the profits from the dumpsters.”
Tang Zheng expressed his acknowledgment and said: “Since we have already offended Huang Si we should do our best to whittle away his strength. Moreover, after we have successfully taken over Boss Fan’s territory our strength will have a great increase and that will attract his attention. Hence, we should set our target to Hoodlum and cut of this arm of Huang Si’s.”
Lin Hu passionately nodded his head: “That is my thoughts exactly as if we were to face off immediately with Huang Si our chances of success are not that great so we could only weaken him through other means. But Hoodlum is not like Boss Fan and has a brain; his strength is also not weak, making him not as easy to deal with as Boss Fan. Also, I have just fought it out with Boss Fan, so the police are onto me, meaning that I will have to lie low for a short period of time.”
“In that case, just appear to rest on the outside while secretly making preparations so as to avoid stumbling over ourselves in the future. In additional, what is Fire Phoenix’s relationship with Huang Si?”
“On the surface Fire Phoenix treats Huang Si very deferentially, but then again a woman’s heart is unfathomably deep, so no one knows what her thoughts are. Could it be that Tang Zheng wants to form an alliance with Fire Phoenix to go against Hoodlum? That may not be easy as Fire Phoenix has always been cautious and will not casually make a move.”
“Who was her husband cut up by?”
“This is unknown, but her husband was an amazing man. Back in the days when Huang Si had not stepped back, Fire Phoenix’s husband was already fighting against Huang Si.”
“Oh?” Tang Zheng’s eyes flashed, “Then could his death be related to Huang Si?”
“This can not be said for certain as there is no solid evidence.”
“Hei, so what if there is no evidence, as long as that belief exists. I think that Fire Phoenix also has her suspicions, but since she is not Huang Si’s opponent, she does not dare make a move. Hence, you should go and get close to Fire Phoenix and deeply investigate her. If she is willing to form an alliance, then our chances of victory will increase by quite a bit.” Tang Zheng planned.
Lin Hu agreed as his territory was not larger than Fire Phoenix and she may agree to the alliance under the threat of danger.
“Alright, we will end here today. Take care of your territory and come find me if there are any issues.” Tang Zheng said as he stood up and left.
“Young Master Tang, this is your territory.” Lin Hu corrected.
Tang Zheng gave a profound smile and said: “No need to give your territory to me as it is something you took down with your knife and gun. Moreover, I am a student and not a person of the underworld, so I would not want your territory to begin with. It is just that our goals are the same so if you need my help, then I will step forward.
Tang Zheng was a cultivator, and his goals are not small so how could he possibly be contained by the little benefits Chang Heng City could provide. His first priority is to raise his cultivation level and not on the fighting and killing that occurs daily in the underworld.
Also, if his grandfather were to know that he was deeply involved in the underworld, he would be worried.
Lin Hu watched Tang Zheng disappear out the front door; this open giving of benefits was not even able to move Tang Zheng’s heart. This caused Lin Hu to feel that he was unable to see through Tang Zheng.
“Boss, how could he refuse? Do we still listen to him now?” Dong’zi asked in disbelief.
Lin Hu firmly replied: “Of course we listen to him. Even though he did not accept, we still have to protect the businesses for him as he will act as our guardian behind the scenes. If there is ever anything and he commands it, then we will definitely go and help.”
Lin Hu knew that Tang Zheng’s gaze did not just end here, in this city, or this pond nor does he know the specifics of the other’s goal, he could tell that by following him he would be able to see sights he would never dare to dream of seeing.
When Tang Zheng returned home, the sky was darkening, and from a distance, he could see the silhouette of two people standing at his door. The shabby little house formed a stark contrast from the two, who attracted the gaze of everyone passing by, as they were simply too beautiful like two pearls.
They walked quickly towards him. Fang Shishi was like a fluttering butterfly as she basically flew into Tang Zheng’s embrace who unconsciously hugged her.
Feeling her soft figure caused his heart to quicken as he patted her shoulder and asked: “Why did you two come over today?”
“We came to see you. When did you go out? Shouldn’t you be at home taking care of your body?” Fang Shishi asked with great concern.
“I am all better now, so I went for a walk to get a breather.” Tang Zheng moved around his limbs to show that his injuries were better.
“You shouldn’t make such big movements for a hundred days after breaking your ribs. But since your body is better it seems you won’t have to miss the month’s mock test.
“This month’s mock test?” Tang Zheng froze as he immediately thought about how he must test number 1 in the whole school for Liu Qingmei. This did not fit in with his original plan, but since he had no way he was about to give in. Now he realized he had a way to stumble his way past this obstacle as long as he continued to pretend to be injured and not go to school for a few days.
“Shishi, can you tell the teacher that I need to rest at home, so I am unable to participate in this month’s mock exam?”
“No problem, just wait until the real high school exam to reveal your strength to shock everybody.” Fang Shishi said in agreement.
“Hey, can you two stop being so greasy and intimate?” Ye Dingdang finally said, unable to resist any longer. After her mom had sent her to find Tang Zheng and making a trip with lots of twists and turns, she discovered that Fang Shishi had long since waited outside his house.
Ye Dingdang didn’t leave at this because wouldn’t leaving be admitting that she was afraid of Fang Shishi? Hence she too waited at the front door. The two ended up standing there like two door guards as they occasionally met each other’s glances but did not exchange a single word.
“Did you need me for something? Tang Zheng released Fang Shishi, but Fang Shishi continued to hold onto his hand, as they walked towards Ye Dingdang.
“Of course.” Ye Dingdang fiercely stared at the two holding hands as her expression became complicated.
“What is it?”
“Let’s talk alone.”
“Then I will first go into the house.” Fang Shishi obediently opened the door and entered.
Ye Dingdang looked at him and said: “First, I want to thank you for giving me the Jade Woman’s Heart Sutra as it is very suitable for me. Moreover, this technique is very precious, and I do not know how to express my gratitude.”
“I already said that you do not need to thank me as I only helped you because I can.” Tang Zheng shrugged his shoulder as he said magnanimously.
Ye Dingdang’s eyes lit up because Tang Zheng at this moment possessed an indescribable charm. For anyone who can so easily give away a priceless treasure to someone else and not ask anything in return has this subtle way of charming others.
She controlled her emotions as she continued: “I already know about the matter concerning the Life Continuing Pill.”
Tang Zheng did not find this weird as he nodded and signaled her to continue.
“I did not think that you would not agree to help him.”
“You also saw how he treated me so why do you think that I should help him?” Tang Zheng refuted.
Ye Dingdang squeezed out a thin smile and said: “You really do have a sort of charm to you. When I heard this from Feng Siniang, I felt it was unbelievable, and I actually praised you for it.”
“You over compliment me. I may not have any grand principles but this little principle I still possess.”
“Do you know that the old gramps is furious as there has never been anyone in recent years who dared treat him like that?”
“As humans, there is always a first.”
Seeing him all proper, Ye Dingdang could not help but smile and said: “I really respect you.”
“You couldn’t possibly have come here just to tell me your respect me right?” Tang Zheng calmly asked.
“Do you really not know how much danger you are in?” Ye Dingdang decided to first not talk about her personal matter and was prepared to test out Tang Zheng’s reply.
“I have never been completely safe, but right now I possess a little bit of power to protect myself, so I temporarily will not die yet.”
“But this time it is different as the old gramps is a Ninth Grade Innate stage practitioner and that in itself is very scary. You are not his opponent.”
Tang Zheng gave a light laugh and said: “It seems like he really wants to kill for profit. That’s okay too, then I will just wait for him.”
“Are you stupid? Are you not afraid of dying?” Ye Dingdang gave him a white eye.
“Everyone is afraid of death so how could I not be afraid of death? But since he wants to kill me that doesn’t mean I will just sit tight and wait for death.”
“Hei, you really do have guts that can cover the sky but seeing as how you have given me the Jade Woman’s Heart Sutra I will give you a path that could dissolve this danger.”
“Oh? You are that kind?”
“Of course, I am kind; I always have been, do you not know that?” Ye Dingdang said with a slight tone of teasing.
“Then I’m all ears.”