Chapter 39: If He Can Give It, I Can Take It!
Lai Hou looked at Li Er Yong with confusion. “What’s going on?”
Li Er Yong sighed and spoke in a low voice. “Monkey, you still don’t know, do you?”
“Old Square is Snake’s territory now.”
Lai Hou’s eyes widened. “Sna… Snake!?”
“You mean… that crazy guy who raises and plays with snakes?”
Li Er Yong nodded. “Yeah.”
“Snake got into trouble before and did an eight-year stretch in prison.”
“Ever since he got out six months ago, he’s been even more insane. He straight-up took over Old Square.”
Li Er Yong held up his fingers, analyzing the situation. “That place used to have seven arcades, run by three different owners.”
“Snake showed up and shut them all down, banning them from doing business.”
“The result? Those three owners didn’t dare to make a peep. They shut their doors and went out of business without a fight.”
Li Er Yong turned toward Chen Xue Wen, his expression serious. “Zhou Jing Hui—he was one of those three owners!”
Chen Xue Wen remained calm. He leaned back in his chair, eyes slightly narrowed, his thoughts unreadable.
Lai Hou, however, paled in shock. “Damn it! I was wondering why that bastard Zhou Jing Hui was being so generous this time.”
“Turns out, he wasn’t being generous at all!”
“Giving us those two arcades? He just wants us to provoke that lunatic Snake!”
Li Er Yong gritted his teeth. “That scumbag Zhou Jing Hui is trying to use us as his knife.”
“Wen Zi, we can’t take these arcades.”
“How about we get him to swap for another two?”
Chen Xue Wen shook his head. “There’s no swapping.”
“Zhou Jing Hui never sincerely wanted to give us those arcades in the first place.”
“He gave them to us because, first, he can’t operate them himself anymore. They’re useless to him.”
“Second, he wants to use us while also testing our strength.”
Chen Xue Wen looked at Li Er Yong and Lai Hou, speaking softly. “If we can’t even hold onto these two arcades, it proves we don’t have what it takes.”
“If that happens, forget about swapping them—Zhou Jing Hui will probably come after us for the whole debt.”
Li Er Yong and Lai Hou exchanged glances, their expressions tense. Li Er Yong asked in a low voice, “Wen Zi, so what’s your plan?”
Chen Xue Wen stood up with a faint smile. “Since these arcades are ours now, we’re keeping them.”
“This is our first step to making a name for ourselves in Peaceful City.”
“If we succeed, we’ll have stomped on both Zhou Jing Hui and Snake. After that, people in Peaceful City will have no choice but to take us seriously.”
“If we fail, it just means we’re not cut out for this line of work. Might as well go find a factory job and start screwing in bolts.”
Both Li Er Yong and Lai Hou looked shaken. Lai Hou gasped. “Brother Wen, are you saying we’re gonna fight Snake?”
“Brother Wen, do you even know what kind of guy Snake is?”
“That lunatic owns a snake farm—he was raised around those things.”
“Anyone who crosses him, he just fills a sack with snakes and dumps it in their house. A lot of people have been scared out of their minds!”
Li Er Yong added anxiously, “Wen Zi, Snake is insane!”
“Do you even know why he went to prison last time?”
“Eight years ago, he messed with another man’s wife. That guy grabbed a knife and tried to kill him.”
“But in the end, Snake threw him into his snake pit. The guy was nearly bitten to death by a thousand snakes.”
Lai Hou shuddered, sucking in a cold breath, his body instinctively trembling.
After all, who isn’t afraid of snakes?
“And then?” Lai Hou asked.
Li Er Yong spoke in a somber tone. “The guy was rescued in time, so he didn’t die, but he was scared out of his mind.”
“That’s why Snake got locked up for eight years.”
“Since getting out, he’s only gotten worse. Word is, he’s even keeping pythons now.”
“Those three arcade owners? They’re on the same level as Zhou Jing Hui, but they all bowed their heads to him.”
“If we mess with him, it’s suicide!”
Lai Hou turned to Chen Xue Wen in panic, hoping he would reconsider.
Chen Xue Wen remained unfazed. “It’s just a few snakes. What’s the big deal?”
“The most venomous thing in this world isn’t snakes—it’s the human heart.”
“I’m not afraid of people. Why would I be scared of some snakes?”
With that, Chen Xue Wen stood up. “I’ve made up my mind. Those two arcades are ours.”
“Er Yong, Monkey, if you don’t want to go up against Snake, I’ll set aside some shares for you. You don’t have to be involved.”
Li Er Yong clenched his jaw and spat on the ground. “Bullshit, what the hell are you saying?”
“Wen Zi, we grew up together as brothers.”
“No matter what you do, I’ve got your back!”
Lai Hou took a deep breath and looked at Chen Xue Wen. “Brother Wen, to be honest, I’m scared.”
“But I respect you. And I believe in you.”
“Fortune favors the bold. Screw it—I’m in too!”
“Brother Wen, just tell me what to do, and I’ll do it!”
Chen Xue Wen laughed heartily, clapping both of them on the shoulder. “Good. Tomorrow, we’ll pick a lucky day and prepare to open shop.”
“For now, let’s go grab some food—consider it our preemptive victory feast!”
Just then, after sitting in silence for over an hour, Li Tie Zhu finally spoke up.
“Eat? Eat what?”
Chen Xue Wen, Li Er Yong, and Lai Hou exchanged glances before suddenly bursting into laughter.
“We’ve been discussing serious business for ages, and you were off in another world the whole time. But the moment you hear ‘food,’ you snap right back?”
Chen Xue Wen clapped Li Tie Zhu on the shoulder, grinning. “Alright, let’s go eat some meat!”
He stepped into his place, grabbed twenty thousand cash, then swaggered out of the alley with his three brothers in tow.
But instead of heading straight to a restaurant, he made his way to Peaceful City Technology Market.
With their upcoming business plans, it was time to get each of his brothers a mobile phone—essential for staying in touch.
As they entered the bustling market, Li Er Yong grumbled, “Wen Zi, why are we buying mobile phones? These things are ridiculously expensive! A personal handy-phone is way cheaper!”
Chen Xue Wen waved him off. “The signal on those things is terrible. You don’t want to miss an important call just because your phone decides to lose reception.”
He had seen it firsthand—Wu Li Hong’s personal handy-phone was constantly cutting out or dropping calls. That kind of unreliable communication wasn’t going to work for them.
Lai Hou, meanwhile, was scanning the crowd, lowering his voice as he muttered, “Brother Wen, we don’t have to buy them. It’s just four mobile phones. Give me a minute—I’ll go out and ‘find’ four real quick. Save us the money.”
Chen Xue Wen smacked him on the back of the head. “Monkey, you need to quit that habit. We’re running a business now. No more petty theft.”
Lai Hou chuckled, scratching his head. “Habit’s hard to break, Brother Wen. But I got it, I got it. I’ll be careful from now on.”
They entered a mobile phone shop and spent some time picking through the options. After much deliberation, they settled on a Nokia 7210. After some aggressive haggling, they walked out with four phones for eleven thousand.
Then came the SIM cards, and because they were feeling flashy, Li Er Yong and Lai Hou also grabbed belt holsters—the kind that clipped onto their waistbands. They strutted out of the shop with their jackets lifted, letting their mobile phones sway from their hips with every step, acting like big shots.
Li Tie Zhu, on the other hand, was a bit slow with technology. He fiddled with his mobile phone for ages before finally figuring out how to make a call.
After that, he was like a kid with a new toy—dialing Chen Xue Wen, Lai Hou, and Li Er Yong over and over again.
Chen Xue Wen picked up a few times before realizing the guy was just playing around, so he simply switched off his phone. No point wasting battery.
Lai Hou and Li Er Yong, however, were thoroughly enjoying the game. Each time their mobile phones rang, they would dramatically pull them out, glance at the screen, see Li Tie Zhu’s number, and hang up. Then they’d clip the phones back to their belts and strut on, only for them to ring again seconds later. This cycle repeated endlessly.
Watching this, Chen Xue Wen could only shake his head in disbelief. These guys…
He, on the other hand, kept his mobile phone tucked away discreetly in his jacket pocket. No need to show off.
Just as they were about to leave, Chen Xue Wen suddenly stopped, eyes lingering on the display case. Inside were sleek flip phones, one in particular—a pink Motorola—caught his eye.
“How much for this one?” he asked.
The shop owner, still riding high from the recent sale, beamed. “Brother, you’ve got good taste! This is Motorola’s newest model this year. Not expensive—four thousand three!”
Chen Xue Wen shot him a look. The owner laughed sheepishly. “Alright, alright, for you—four thousand flat!”
In the end, Chen Xue Wen walked out with the Motorola flip phone for three thousand eight.
The shop owner, still grinning, packed it up neatly and nudged him. “Let me guess—buying it for your girlfriend?”
“This kind of mobile phone is perfect for a lady. I promise you, hand this to any girl, and she’ll be yours by tonight!”
Chen Xue Wen shook his head. “I don’t have a girlfriend. It’s just for a friend.”
This novel is translated and hosted on Bcatranslation