A voice neither cold nor warm ca through, Ling Chen fixed his gaze, only to see the speaker was a man in his thirties, looking fierce and nacing, wearing a white vest that revealed strong chest muscles and solid build.
"His na is Cao Bin," Tang Guolun whispered in Ling Chen’s ear, "He recently rose to prominence, has quite a few n under him, and has taken over many entertainnt venues in the South District. Half of those venues were ours, but he’s seized them."
Ling Chen nodded, saying nothing. At this mont, an elderly man walked in, surrounded by several n in suits. Seeing the old man appear, everyone stood up and stepped forward to greet him. Ling Chen sized up the elderly man, who was over seventy, with white hair, energetic, and a seemingly kindly face, smiling benignly at everyone.
"Boss Tang, who is he?"
"He’s the elder who facilitated this eting, Wang Gui. I hear Wang Gui is an old hand on the streets, sowhat respected, and anyone involved in street dealings must give him so face. He’s gathered everyone here probably to diate and resolve disputes among various forces."
So he’s the middleman! Ling Chen realized. He only knew Tang Guolun called him over to et the bosses of various forces to discuss the territory allocation issue properly.
"Everyone, the reason for gathering you here today, I’m sure you all know," Wang Gui began, "Lately, everyone has been fighting for the biggest profit. It’s normal in street dealings, since we all have many people under us to support. However, things are different now; if things get too ssy, the police will surely trouble us all. So, I hope everyone can sit down and talk things over, aim to resolve this issue over a al."
"Elder Wang, you’re a senior figure, since you’ve spoken, I must give you face. But how do you plan to resolve this allocation issue?"
Wang Gui chuckled, "If everyone takes a step back, this problem isn’t hard to solve. Beijing is a big pie, no one can swallow it whole, not even Hong Wei back in the day. So no one needs to worry about going hungry. To be clear, what everyone truly cares about is who gets more and who gets less."
After a pause, Wang Gui continued, "Beijing is divided into five districts, plus a suburban area. We have eleven people here, each district can have two forces, just perfect for even distribution. What do you all think?"
Burly Cao Bin nodded, "This proposal is good, the Central District has the smallest territory, why not let have it?"
"Boss Cao, your appetite is too big, isn’t it, everyone knows the Central District’s profits are the greatest," soone sneered.
"I want the land in the North District, that’s where I started out; I trust no one will fight for it?"
Listening to the crowd’s territorial argunts, Ling Chen and Tang Guolun kept silent, not saying a word.
"Everyone, please quiet down," Wang Gui gestured to signal for the crowd to listen to him temporarily, "I know territorial allocation will lead to many disputes, so I’ve prepared in advance." Saying so, Wang Gui gestured to the suited n behind him. They imdiately handed over a briefcase and took out docunts from inside it.
As the docunts were distributed among the crowd, Wang Gui smiled slightly and said, "I’ve already distributed the territories based on the size of your forces. I can’t guarantee everyone will be satisfied, but I can at least guarantee everyone’s interests will not be affected. What does everyone think?"
At this mont, Little Hua peeked from behind Ling Chen, looked at the contents of the docunt curiously, and asked, "Big brother, why isn’t there any land for you?"
Ling Chen raised the corner of his mouth with a smile and said, "There is, you just didn’t see it." After speaking, Ling Chen lightly tapped the bottom right corner of the docunt with his finger.
Beijing’s suburban area... this was the territory Wang Gui allocated to Ling Chen.
"Elder Wang, I think it’s acceptable," Cao Bin spoke first.
"I also think it’s very reasonable."
Everyone expressed their opinions one after another, except Ling Chen and Tang Guolun. Soon, everyone’s gaze was fixed on Ling Chen.
Wang Gui smiled kindly, "Mr. Ling, are you satisfied with this allocation?"
Ling Chen casually tossed the docunt on the table, crossed his legs, and looked at everyone with a playful smile, "This act was played quite well. You all want to push out and take my territory, I can understand, but... using such clumsy ans is quite laughable. I’ll say this clearly today, listen carefully, I’ll only say it once. If it’s my territory, don’t think any of you can touch it. Also, I own a lot of entertainnt businesses, many of which have been occupied by you. I give you three days. If you don’t return what’s mine, I’ll have to take so less rational asures."
Upon hearing this, everyone’s complexion involuntarily darkened.
"Ling Chen, giving you so face, you really think you’re sobody," Cao Bin said coldly, "Don’t forget, we outnumber you, if it cos to a fight, who knows who’ll win."
Ling Chen smiled calmly, "I don’t even regard Hong Wei, do you think I’d care about you all? When Hong Wei was around, you all acted like cowards, didn’t dare provoke him. Now that Hong Wei is gone, do you think your ti has co? I’ll tell you, listen and obey, perhaps I’ll give you a bowl of rice to eat. If anyone wants to play tricks, I have a hundred ways to make them die, Hong Wei was the best example. Three days! Rember, you have only three days."
Finished speaking, Ling Chen stood up, heading towards the restaurant door with Tang Guolun and others.
"Stop him!" Cao Bin shouted loudly, "Ling Chen, since you don’t want us to have it easy, then don’t think about leaving here alive... uh... uh..."
Cao Bin’s words hadn’t finished when his throat suddenly turned into a gurgling sound. Everyone turned to look, their faces instantly horrified, seeing a dagger plunged into Cao Bin’s throat, scalding blood gushing profusely and splattering on the table.
Seeing Cao Bin lying on the floor, everyone was stunned. From beginning to end, none of them saw who had made the move.
"Does anyone else want to stop ?"
Ling Chen’s calm voice brought the stunned crowd back to reality. At this mont, everyone looked at Ling Chen with deep fear in their eyes.
"Ling... Ling Chen, you... you dare to kill," Wang Gui raised his trembling arm, pointing at Ling Chen.
"Elder Wang, which eye did you see kill him? A word of advice, don’t speak carelessly, or you won’t know how you died. Also, you’re already at an old age, go ho and enjoy your retirent, stop ddling."
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