With a loud bang, the door to the chess and card room was kicked open from the outside!
A group of figures in black suits, whom Brother Snake was very familiar with, suddenly appeared at the doorway.
Then, a young man with parted hair walked into the room, looking at the panicked Brother Snake with a half-smile on his face.
When Brother Snake saw who it was, his face instantly drained of color.
Zhang Tao, one of the founding members of the Wanlong Society, and currently the head of their internet cafe projects.
He happened to be inspecting the internet cafe branches in Wushui County today when he ran into this matter, so he rushed over with his men from the county.
Zhang Tao and Brother Snake used to be in the same batch of brothers who followed Ma Da and the others to collect fish catches. Later, one chose to stay, and the other chose to quit, embarking on completely different paths from then on.
"Oh, isn't this Little San? Long time no see."
Brother Snake stammered, "Brother... Brother Tao."
His real name was Li Sansan, a rather weird name. At the time, everyone jokingly gave him the nickname Little San.
Zhang Tao looked Li Sansan up and down. "Little San, you seem pretty busy. Are you going on a long trip?"
Brother Snake managed to squeeze out a smile that was uglier than crying. "Brother Tao, why... why are you here? You didn't even give me a heads-up so I could prepare..."
"Prepare what? Prepare to run away?"
Zhang Tao walked over to the mahjong table and poked at the pile of cash in the bag with his finger. "Not bad, Little San. You've struck it rich now, haven't you? Carrying over a hundred thousand in your bag at all times. Should I be calling you Boss Li from now on?"
"Brother Tao, you're... you're joking. I'm just doing a little business, just enough to feed myself."
Zhang Tao pulled up a chair, took out a pack of cigarettes, put one in his mouth, lit it, and took a drag.
"You're too modest, Little San. Your business isn't small at all. You've been swindling people in Wushui County under the banner of our Wanlong Society, collecting protection fees, and tricking people into paying to join the gang. You're making money even easier than the internet cafe branches I manage."
"No! Brother Tao, I absolutely did not use the Wanlong Society's name!"
Li Sansan flatly denied it. "I was just bragging, trying to look tough. I really didn't dare to ruin the reputation of our Wanlong Society."
Zhang Tao raised an eyebrow. "Is that so? Bring them in, then."
As soon as he spoke, several men in black escorted Sun Neng and four others, along with Li Sansan's lackey named Little Jun, into the room.
Upon entering, Sun Neng and his group saw Brother Snake, Li Sansan, as if they had found a lifesaver, and hurriedly cried out.
"Brother Snake! Brother Snake! What is going on? Why did the big brothers from the Wanlong Society grab us?"
"Brother Snake, hurry up and tell these big brothers, we're on the same side!"
"That's right, Brother Snake, we already paid the money. You promised to bring us into the society. Please, explain it to them!"
"..."
Hearing their clamor, Li Sansan instantly panicked. "Shut up! All of you, shut the hell up! Stop talking nonsense! Who is on the same side as you? Who took your money?"
Sun Neng and the others didn't expect him to deny it outright and became anxious too.
"Brother Snake, what are you saying? What do you mean we didn't give you money? Just now, right here, we handed you a hundred and twenty thousand in cash. How can you deny it now?"
"Brother Snake, you even said you could get us into the society tomorrow. Are you trying to turn your back on us and pull a double-cross?"
"Aren't you a founding elder of the Wanlong Society? Don't you have a group photo with Brother Ma? Just explain to them that we're on the same side."
"Yeah, Brother Snake! Could it be that you're a scammer who deliberately tricked us out of our money?"
"Brother Snake, you must give us an explanation!"
"..."
Right at this moment, Zhang Tao slowly spoke up.
"Little San, they just said you still kept that group photo with Brother Ma? Come on, bring it over and let me have a look."
Li Sansan didn't dare to refuse. Trembling, he took out his phone and handed it over.
Hearing Zhang Tao's words, Sun Neng and the others breathed a slight sigh of relief. They really thought Brother Snake was a scammer just now, but hearing this Wanlong Society big boss also mention the photo, they figured things were taking a turn for the better.
Zhang Tao took the phone, pressed a few buttons on the keypad, and his gaze landed on a somewhat blurry group photo.
The background of the photo was a private room in a restaurant. Over a dozen people were gathered around a round table. The slightly chubby young man sitting in the middle was raising his glass and smiling, and sitting right next to him was Li Sansan, who was smiling very happily.
Seeing this photo, Zhang Tao's eyes did change slightly—not with anger, but with melancholy.
Back then, they were still driving a broken-down minivan in the countryside to collect fish catches. When they came back in the evening, Brother Ma treated everyone to a meal at a restaurant to reward the brothers who worked with him.
At that time, Little San was still a newcomer who worked quite hard.
But a year later, everything had changed.
"Little San, I remember Brother Ma was quite happy that time. He said that although you were a bit slick, you were diligent and clever. That's why he specifically let you sit next to him, telling you to eat more and work hard in the future."
Hearing Zhang Tao bring this up, Li Sansan felt a sourness in his nose and almost genuinely shed a tear.
Although it was hard and tiring back then, everyone's goals were aligned, and their hearts were at ease. The Young Lady and Brother Ma truly never mistreated their brothers.
"Later, The Young Lady knew that going up against Niu Ben would be very dangerous, so she gave everyone a choice. She would never mistreat those who were willing to follow her, and she also gave severance pay to those who wanted to leave, allowing everyone to part on good terms."
"You took the money and left back then. None of us said you were wrong; everyone has their own ambitions."
Zhang Tao suddenly turned stern. "But what the hell are you doing now!!!"
"You use this photo to swindle people everywhere, saying you are a founding elder of the Wanlong Society? Saying you are Brother Ma's trusted confidant? Saying you can arrange for people to join the gang? You are really asking for a prison sentence!" Saying this, he angrily picked up the phone and threw it directly at Li Sansan.
Li Sansan didn't dare to dodge. The phone smashed forcefully against his head, making him bare his teeth in pain, but he didn't utter a single sound.
At this point, after hearing the whole story, Sun Neng and the others completely realized what was going on. This bastard really was a scammer!
"You bastard! Li Sansan! Screw your ancestors! You really are a scammer!"
"My money, give me my money back!"
"You dog, you'll die a horrible death!"
"..."
Being cursed at by Sun Neng and the others, Li Sansan knew that everything was over. He then scrambled over to Zhang Tao's feet, kowtowing loudly and crying for mercy.
"Brother Tao! Brother Tao, I was wrong! I'm not human! I let greed blind my heart!"
"For the sake of the times we used to hang out together, please spare me this once! I won't take a single cent of that money, I'll pay it all back in compensation! I'll compensate!"
"Also, I promise to disappear immediately and never appear in front of you or the brothers of the Wanlong Society for the rest of my life."
"I beg you, Brother Tao, give me a way out! I know I was wrong, I really know I was wrong!"
Zhang Tao's face remained entirely unmoved. Instead, he asked him a question.
"Little San, tell me, for someone like you who has swindled hundreds of thousands, how would you be dealt with according to the law? Let's hear it."
Li Sansan's crying hitched for a moment, and he answered instinctively, "This... this counts as an exceptionally huge amount. According to the penal code, defrauding public or private property of an exceptionally huge amount carries a sentence of three to ten years in prison. If there are other particularly serious circumstances, the penalty is ten years to life in prison, along with a fine or confiscation of property..."
After rattling off the legal statutes, he froze. A flash of panic crossed his eyes, as if he had only just realized what he had let slip.
A brief silence fell over the card room.
Sun Neng and the others went deathly pale.
What did he mean, ten years or more? Life in prison?
Damn it, what kind of organization was the Wanlong Gang anyway? Could they really just hand out criminal sentences to people directly?
Were they actually that ruthless?
