Liu Yutong sat poised at the head table, under the gaze of nearly a hundred pairs of eyes fixed upon her.
Many in the crowd were visibly stunned.
"Is that the young mistress? She’s nothing like I imagined—so young!"
"Yeah, she looks about our age, but her presence is undeniable."
"..."
Liu Yutong’s attire was simple, almost like that of an ordinary girl next door, radiating an air of effortless grace.
There wasn’t a trace of the hardened demeanor one might expect from someone in her position.
The surprised underlings didn’t dwell on it too much. After all, who said the daughter of a gang leader had to look intimidating?
Wasn’t it common in movies for underworld heiresses to appear gentle and refined?
Liu Yutong swept her gaze across the room and asked softly, "Is everyone here?"
Ma Da promptly replied, "Yes, Young Mistress."
She picked up the wineglass before her and rose slowly. The others followed suit, raising their own glasses.
"It’s a pleasure to meet you all. Gathering like this today is a rare stroke of fate."
"Honestly, I never imagined I’d be standing here. But since you’ve placed me in this role, I won’t back down. I’ll do everything in my power to lead us forward."
"I don’t know much about underworld codes or the ways of violence, but I believe one thing—if we stand united, we’ll reach the top together."
For a few seconds after her words, the room fell silent.
Then, someone shouted, "To the Young Mistress!"
"To the Young Mistress!"
"To the Young Mistress!"
"..."
The crowd erupted in cheers, downing their drinks in unison.
Liu Yutong drained her glass as well—bold and unflinching.
Among them sat Yu Xin, fresh out of her college entrance exams, her heart inexplicably racing.
She had never witnessed anything like this, nor could she have ever imagined it.
Yu Xin had always been a well-behaved girl, her greatest ambition to study hard, get into university, and earn enough to give her grandmother a better life.
But today, after accepting Liu Yutong’s invitation to this gathering, she was completely overwhelmed by the scene before her.
She could hardly believe that all these people were her classmate Liu Yutong’s subordinates.
After three years of school together, Yu Xin knew Liu Yutong’s background—just an ordinary girl from the countryside, like herself.
Yet in the blink of an eye, Liu Yutong had transformed into some kind of young mistress, commanding over a hundred followers.
As Yu Xin gradually processed this new reality, she didn’t feel fear. Instead, surrounded by so many hardened figures, she felt an unexpected sense of security.
For a girl who had always been deeply insecure, this reaction surprised even her.
After all, she had always been terrified of street toughs.
Then, Liu Yutong spoke again.
"Alright, now that we’ve had our toast, I’ll keep this brief. Besides treating everyone to dinner today, there’s one more important matter—payday!"
She turned to Ma Da. "Ma Da, bring it out."
Soon, Ma Da emptied a bulging sack of cash onto the table.
The pile looked like it held several hundred thousand.
At the sight, everyone’s breathing grew heavy.
Ninety-nine percent of the people present had never seen so much cash at once, and many couldn't help but swallow hard, their eyes gleaming with excitement.
"That's a hell of a lot of money!"
This only strengthened their resolve to stand by the young mistress.
After all, for most of them, this was the first time they'd ever seen their boss handing out money like this.
While many knew these earnings were tied to their hard work in smuggling seafood and lobsters, the feeling was entirely different.
One scenario was slaving away like cattle, waiting for a boss to pay wages.
The other was being part of a brotherhood where the young mistress shared the spoils, rewarding them as equals.
This sense of recognition and importance only deepened their loyalty and gratitude.
After months of smuggling seafood, they'd netted nearly 900,000 yuan in total.
Leasing the restaurant at Youth Plaza cost 280,000, leaving them with 610,000.
Ma Da and his crew weren’t in the habit of banking their money—a holdover from their days running protection rackets, when they considered banks unsafe.
Besides, most businesses still paid wages in cash, and they hadn’t even registered a company yet.
Handing out cash also made the rewards more tangible, reinforcing the team’s unity.
For these streetwise men, the sight of real money packed a far greater punch.
To them, this wasn’t just payment for work—it was proof that the young mistress valued them enough to share her fortune.
Earlier, Liu Yutong had instructed Ma Da to categorize the crew based on when they’d joined, so payouts varied.
Yun Cheng and Ma Da, as de facto leaders, each took 5,000.
The earliest followers—former brothers from the Righteous Union—got 3,000 apiece.
The rest were divided into tiers: 1,500, 1,000, or 800, with 800 being the lowest.
By the time the distribution wrapped up, about 170,000 had been handed out, leaving 440,000.
Once the main payouts were done, Liu Yutong pulled Zhao Tianyi aside and gave him 10,000.
"Take this. Consider it either an investment in your law firm or payment for teaching everyone about the law."
The rules for lawyers joining partnerships were more complicated than for regular companies, so for now, she kept it verbal.
Zhao Tianyi was stunned.
As a lawyer, attending a gathering full of gangsters already felt bizarre.
Now he was being handed money?
He wanted to refuse, but his firm was barely scraping by.
Aside from the Zhao Zhu case, he’d only landed one small job recently, netting him a few thousand.
As for handling legal matters for Ma Da’s crew or teaching them—those were unpaid gigs.
Mainly because he didn’t know how to ask.
Ma Da called him "brother" every day—how could he demand payment from a brother?
Well, apparently, he could.
"Thank you, young mistress!"
Zhao Tianyi took the cash without hesitation.
Liu Yutong wasn’t surprised. If he’d declined, it would’ve betrayed the reputation he’d earned in his past life.
Zhao Tianyi knew accepting the money meant he was now fully tied to this group.
But that didn’t matter. Money mattered.
What Liu Yutong didn’t realize was that this small gesture had prematurely awakened Zhao Tianyi’s latent hunger for wealth.
Being a lawyer isn’t as lucrative as one might think. Under normal circumstances, it takes at least eight to ten years before you can really start earning decent money—especially for criminal defense lawyers.
The big earners in this field are usually those specializing in commercial law, where high-profile clients and hefty commissions are more common.
But now, Zhao Tianyi suddenly felt like he had stumbled upon a golden path—one that could lead even a criminal defense lawyer to substantial wealth.
