Around ten o'clock at night, while Liu Yutong was half asleep, Lan Die knocked on her bedroom door.
She got up to open the door. As soon as Lan Die entered, she immediately reported the situation.
"Miss, news came from Xiao Liu. Those swindlers drove off, but our people followed them. Eventually, their car stopped at an agricultural machinery station on the edge of Wushui County. It seems they are going to rest and spend the night there."
Liu Yutong nodded and instructed, "Tell Xiao Liu to keep a close eye on them. If necessary, he can mobilize personnel from Wushui County for backup. Remember, catch the thieves with the loot."
"Yes, Miss."
It was impossible for her to personally take action just to catch a few petty scammers. There was no need. After giving her instructions to Lan Die, she went back to sleep with Yaya.
She figured that when the villagers woke up tomorrow, they would probably be completely dumbfounded.
...
On a dark and windy night, a perfect time for dirty deeds...
A white van and a small truck, one after the other, quietly slipped into the courtyard of a place called Xingwang Agricultural Machinery Repair Station.
As soon as the vehicles came to a steady halt, five figures couldn't wait to jump out. It was exactly the four men and one woman who had been running scams in Duan Village earlier that day.
Right after getting off, they hurriedly tried to close the main gate.
"Hurry! Close the gate quickly!" urged Sun Neng, the leader.
After the gate was shut, Sun Neng impatiently pulled open the side door of the van, took out a canvas bag, and dumped all the money inside onto a table.
Stacks of red banknotes scattered across the surface. At a rough glance, it was no less than a hundred thousand yuan. The underlings standing nearby stared with wide, mesmerized eyes.
"We're rich! Brother Sun, we really hit the jackpot this time!"
"I didn't expect those old geezers in Duan Village to be so wealthy. Today's profit is almost equal to what we made from the last two or three villages combined."
"Yeah! If it weren't for the rule that our business can only pull one job per place, I would've wanted to go back to Duan Village to sell more health supplements."
"Speaking of which, they are all villages, so why did that one look so different? It's my first time seeing a rural village with so many streetlights and such a grand public square."
"I heard the villagers gossiping that a big shot came from their village, and they donated the money to build all that."
"Sigh, why does it feel like it's so easy for others to make money, while we have to be on edge just to earn a little..."
"Stop talking and let's start splitting the cash."
"Right, right, split the money first."
...
Sun Neng had Xiao Cui, the only female member of the gang, take charge of the accounting, and then began dividing the money by head. Everyone took ten thousand first, and he took twenty thousand for himself. The remaining seventy thousand or so was stuffed into a black bag; the money in this black bag could not be touched.
"You all know the rules, right? The bulk of this has to be saved as tribute for Brother Snake. Without Brother Snake's connections and reputation covering us, could we have pulled this off so smoothly?"
"Of course, it's only right to show our respect to Brother Snake!" the crowd immediately chimed in.
"By the way, Brother Sun, since we performed so well this time, could you mention that matter to Brother Snake? You know, about joining the Ten Thousand Dragons Gang?"
"I'll give him a call first and ask."
The Ten Thousand Dragons Gang!
These words rang loud and clear in the underground world of Pearl City and its surrounding areas. The Brother Snake they mentioned was one of the founding members of the Ten Thousand Dragons Gang.
Of course, that was just what they believed.
For anyone mixing in the underworld, who wouldn't want to join a powerful and wealthy syndicate? They were no exception.
It wasn't as if they hadn't seen how impressive the Ten Thousand Dragons Gang members in Wushui County looked. Wearing sharp black suits and traveling in black sedans, they commanded respect wherever they went. People had to treat them with the utmost courtesy. It was incredibly badass!
Sun Neng and his crew's dream was to join the Ten Thousand Dragons Gang. Ideally, if they could gain the appreciation of the gang's legendary underworld young lady, they would truly skyrocket to success.
Even though they had managed to scam a few hundred thousand recently, this kind of work wasn't sustainable in the long run. Plus, they always had to sneak around, terrified of getting caught.
Then they thought about Brother Snake from the Ten Thousand Dragons Gang. All he had to do was reach out his hand, and the money came pouring in. The people delivering the money were always wearing apologetic smiles, even begging him to accept it.
Where else could you find such a sweet gig where you could make money just by standing there?
Sun Neng had met Brother Snake by pure chance. Brother Snake had promised that as long as they scraped together three hundred thousand yuan in tribute money, he would arrange for them to join the Ten Thousand Dragons Gang, allowing them to make easy money in the future too.
The call connected quickly.
After finishing the call, Sun Neng told the group, "Brother Snake wants us to head over. He's waiting for us at the chess and card room."
"Brother Sun, with the seventy thousand we're handing over this time, plus the previous amounts, that should be enough for the three hundred thousand, right? We should be able to get into the Ten Thousand Dragons Gang now, shouldn't we?" one person asked.
"It's more than enough. Who is Brother Snake? He's a veteran of the Ten Thousand Dragons Gang. If he said three hundred thousand would get it sorted, he'll definitely let us in."
As soon as he finished speaking, everyone became excited, chattering away as they fantasized about their future glorious lives as underworld bosses.
"I asked around a long time ago. The Ten Thousand Dragons Gang pays a base salary of five thousand a month, plus allowances for running errands. They even issue black suits, and each set costs over a thousand."
"I have a distant cousin who runs a restaurant in Wushui County. He said members of the Ten Thousand Dragons Gang never have to wait in line to eat. The boss even has to come out personally to offer a toast. It's super prestigious."
"I just want to get my hands on one of those black sedans to drive. So cool!"
"Just thinking about it gets me pumped!"
Right then, Xiao Cui suddenly thought of something and mentioned it to them. "Hey, when you guys were in Duan Village, did you see a few women wearing black suits? I kept feeling like their clothes looked a bit familiar."
"Xiao Cui, you don't actually think they were people from the Ten Thousand Dragons Gang, do you? You've got to be kidding me. Why would the Ten Thousand Dragons Gang go down to the countryside?"
"But I heard the young lady of the Ten Thousand Dragons Gang is originally from a rural village."
"Really? How come I heard she was the daughter of the former boss of the Yilian Society in Pearl City? That her hometown is in Pearl City?"
"Xiao Cui, you must be mistaken."
"Alright, alright, stop chatting. Let's go see Brother Snake."
"Okay!"
Not long after they drove off in their van, a black sedan also emerged from the shadows, maintaining a safe distance as it quietly tailed them.
...
West side of Wushui County.
Inside a chess and card room in an old residential area opposite the Experimental Elementary School, even though it was past 11 p.m., there were still people playing cards inside. It was extremely lively.
"Boss Li, I have to say, you opened an internet cafe without telling me in advance. If I hadn't put the word out, those punks from the East Street would have smashed your place up a long time ago."
"What? You want to cut this month's protection fee in half? Boss Li, that's just not cool..."
"Fine, fine, for the sake of our old friendship, I'll take off a thousand, but no less than that. I have a lot of brothers under me who need to eat."
"..."
Hanging up the phone, the young man sitting in the main seat spat at his phone and casually tossed it onto the table.
Seeing this, a young underling nearby immediately handed him a cigarette and lit it for him.
"Brother Snake, is Fatty Li trying to pull a fast one again?"
The man known as Brother Snake took a deep drag of his cigarette and exhaled. "Damn it, business is getting harder and harder these days. These bosses are all as shrewd as monkeys."
"That is just them being ignorant. What is your status, Brother Snake? A founding member of the Wanlong Syndicate! In Wushui County, who would dare to disrespect you? It is only because you are so magnanimous that you didn't hold it against them."
A brief look of discomfort flashed across Brother Snake's face, but he quickly masked it.
"Keep a low profile, keep a low profile. Our Wanlong Syndicate is on a legitimate path now. We can't be fighting and killing all day long. This is exactly what Brother Ma taught me back in the day."
Just as he was speaking, a knock came from outside the door.
"Brother Snake, Sun Neng and the others are here."
Brother Snake's eyes lit up. "Let them in."
The door opened. Led by Sun Neng, the five of them filed into the room.
As soon as they entered, they bowed and scraped, greeting Brother Snake respectfully.
"Good evening, Brother Snake! Sorry to bother you!"
"Good evening, Brother Snake!"
"........."
