Dong Ge had been in Yunzhou City for decades. Although his position wasn't high—just a small leader in Hongqing Hall—he was knowledgeable and knew many people. Since he was the big boss of Yunzhou City, just mentioning his surname would surely give him a clue.
"That's a good idea." Lu Chen nodded in approval. He'd had enough of showing off. He dipped his finger in his drink and scribbled a single character on the coffee table: Pang.
Dong Ge immediately shuddered, incredulous.
He stared blankly at Lu Chen, needing to confirm again: "Is…is it Pang?"
"One Guang, one Long," Lu Chen said calmly. "I didn't write it wrong, did I?"
Dong Ge gritted his teeth: "Yes, it's Pang, but…do you really know him?"
His gaze towards Lu Chen was filled with suspicion.
In the entire Yunzhou City, and even the entire Fuhai Province, there was only one big boss with the surname Pang. That man's reputation and status in the underworld were absolutely top-tier!
Moreover, his relationship with Hong Qingtang was extremely deep.
Brother Dong knew that if it weren't for...
this mysterious kid actually knew him?
Lu Chen smiled faintly: "Whether you know him or not, why don't you go ask? I won't ask unless I beat you all down, then I might call and ask."
"What the hell did you say?" One of Brother Dong's henchmen, oblivious to the danger, blurred things up again.
*Slap!*
He screamed, covering his face, tears welling in his eyes.
Brother Dong had slapped him hard across the face.
"Bastard, who told you to speak?"
Then, Brother Dong gave Lu Chen a deep look: "May I ask this gentleman's name?"
This address, from "boy" to "brother," from "brother" to "sir," truly indicated a man of exceptional talent!
Lu Chen cupped his hands in greeting: "It's nothing. My surname is Lu, Lu as in 'land,' and my given name is Chen, Chen as in 'good morning.'"
Dong Ge also cupped his hands in greeting: "Mr. Lu, please forgive me if I've offended you. Please enjoy yourself; I'll take my leave now."
Lu Chen nodded and waved.
Dong Ge and his two men retreated somewhat disheveled.
Liu Li was somewhat stunned: "They just left like that?"
Lu Chen chuckled: "I bet they'll be back within ten minutes."
"What should we do? Let's hurry and leave. It's all my fault. I shouldn't have dressed like that, shouldn't have come to a place like this. I've really caused trouble." Liu Li immediately stood up, grabbing Lu Chen's hand to run away.
Lu Chen pulled her back, and Liu Li fell back into his arms. He lightly pinched Liu Li's alluring thigh and snorted, "I told you, dressing like that easily attracts perverts. Believe me now, one after another. Let's see if you dare do it again!"
Liu Li said softly, "Alright, alright, I promise I'll only wear this for you from now on. Let's go."
She tried to stand up again.
Lu Chen held her tightly, preventing her from getting up. He calmly said, "Don't worry, they definitely won't cause trouble when they come back. They'll probably come to apologize further. I reckon that Dong Ge's boss, what's that Ling Zi guy, is already calling Lao Pang, subtly asking about my situation, right?"
A mocking smile appeared on his lips.
It seems that using Pang Bei's name really works when solving problems; look how scared that guy is.
However, the idea that you can use Pang Bei's name after hitting someone was just something Lu Chen made up. Actually, he just wanted to practice his skills and beat up a few fools.
Now it seems that the guy called Brother Dong did have some sense after all; it looks like the fight won't happen.
Sure enough, within ten minutes, Brother Dong arrived hurriedly with two henchmen. This time, his face was full of subservience, and his two henchmen were as docile as lambs.
Dong Ge's face was still full of apology, and he looked somewhat flustered: "Mr. Lu, I'm so sorry, so very sorry! We were truly blind to your true identity! Please forgive us!"
As he spoke, he respectfully handed over a gold UnionPay card with both hands, saying, "Brother Ling is with important guests and couldn't come to apologize. There's 100,000 yuan in this card; it's a small token of his appreciation. Please accept it. The PIN is 123456; you can withdraw it anytime."
"That's kind of you?" Lu Chen smiled slightly, took the card, and turned it over between his fingers, saying meaningfully, "Brother Ling is being so polite; how can I accept that?"
Dong Ge smiled ingratiatingly, "It's nothing, it's nothing. We were so blind to your greatness, we offended you unintentionally. Brother Ling said he'd come to apologize as soon as he's done with his work. The only thing we need your help with is that you absolutely mustn't tell Master Pang what happened earlier. To be honest, Brother Ling is Master Pang's godson. I called Master Pang earlier, but he didn't mention what happened directly. If Master Pang finds out, Brother Ling might… might have some problems."
He smiled awkwardly.
Lu Chen nodded generously, "Alright, I agree. Then I won't be polite."
He quickly slipped the card into Liu Li's small handbag.
"Thank you, Mr. Lu." Dong Ge said with a relieved smile, "Then we won't bother you any longer, we'll take our leave!" With that, he waved his hand, and his two subordinates also apologized repeatedly, their demeanor completely different from before, before following him away. "Wait a moment!" Lu Chen said calmly.
Dong Ge stiffened, turned around, and forced a smile at Lu Chen: "Mr. Lu, is there anything else you need?"
Then, his eyes widened.
Lu Chen pulled two thick stacks of banknotes from his pocket.
These two stacks of banknotes were the compensation he had obtained from Miao Wan. He had originally intended to buy Liu Li expensive pearl jewelry as a birthday gift, but due to a series of unforeseen circumstances, he had instead earned 500,000 yuan worth of pearl jewelry from Zhu Nengzhang. Therefore, buying pearls for Liu Li became unnecessary, and he still had 20,000 yuan left.
Lu Chen slapped the two stacks of banknotes together and tossed them to Dong Ge. Then, he said generously, "I also want to thank you all for letting me earn 100,000. This money can't all be mine; let's split it. Here's 20,000, Dong-ge, you get 10,000, and the two younger brothers each get 5,000."
Dong-ge was a little surprised: "Mr. Lu, how can this be? Absolutely not!" He was about to put the money on the coffee table.
"Stop!" Lu Chen pointed at Dong-ge's hand, expressing his displeasure: "Dong-ge, you're an old hand in this world, don't you understand the rules? We've become friends through a fight. According to the rules, since I accepted your compensation, you're doing me a favor, so you should get some profit too. What's this called? This is called江湖礼礼!"
"Take it. If you don't, you're disrespecting me. I don't dare take the 100,000! Take it back!"
Actually, Lu Chen was completely talking nonsense. This so-called江湖礼礼 was all made up by him. But he made it up so earnestly and sincerely that Dong-ge and his two henchmen were completely dumbfounded.
As he spoke, Lu Chen actually pretended to take the card back from Liu Li's small handbag.
Dong Ge quickly withdrew his hand, his words no longer polite, but filled with sincerity and gratitude: "Mr. Lu, you're a very good person. No wonder Boss Pang considers you a brother! We brothers can't possibly be worthy of someone of your status, but if anything happens in the future, really, I'll go to great lengths for you!"
He thumped his chest loudly as he spoke.
"Yes, we'll go without hesitation. Mr. Lu is a good man!"
"That's right, we were clearly in the wrong first, but you didn't hold it against us and even gave us money to spend. Mr. Lu is truly rare!"
These were the words of Dong Ge's two henchmen.
Lu Chen laughed heartily, "We're all just trying to make a living in this world. Everyone understands the principle of resolving conflicts rather than letting them fester, right? More enemies mean more walls, more friends mean more paths! Any misunderstandings, let's just let them go."
He paused, then added, "To clarify the misunderstanding earlier, it's my girlfriend's birthday today, and she was a little excited, so she dressed like that… haha! Actually, we own a pastry shop, Sister Li, where are your business cards?"
Liu Li said "Oh," and quickly pulled three business cards from her bag, handing them to Lu Chen.
Lu Chen forwarded the documents to Dong Ge and his two henchmen, smiling as he said, "Here, Moon's Tooth Pastry Shop, that's ours. Come over sometime, have a drink and a pastry, and please spread the word!"
Dong Ge slapped the back of his head, "Got it! My wife's bought pastries from this shop before; it's her favorite. Ah ha! So Mr. Lu and this lady are the owners of Moon's Tooth! My apologies, we'll definitely be regulars!"
The other two thugs quickly chimed in, saying they'd get everyone to buy pastries. Then, in front of Lu Chen, Dong Ge split a stack of hundred-yuan bills in half, giving each of his two henchmen five thousand.
The three men bid Lu Chen a respectful and enthusiastic farewell, their initial arrogance completely gone.
Watching them leave, Liu Li stared at Lu Chen, sighing, "Chen, you're really good at handling people."
Lu Chen scratched his ear, shrugged, and chuckled, "It's necessary. These people aren't anything special, but it's good to have them on our side. We'll inevitably encounter disputes when we open our pastry shop. We'll need people from the legitimate world to handle things, and the underworld will certainly be involved too. Anyway, it's not our money; we're just using their resources."
Lu Chen was very skilled at this. Back when he was a playboy in Jiaying City, he was particularly adept at winning people over. The carrot and stick approach is always the best way to win people's hearts.
Not only did he earn 80,000 yuan, but he also won over those guys who had previously treated Liu Li badly. They might actually come in handy in the future, so Lu Chen was quite pleased.
Recalling the scene of Miao Yuemei bringing people to cause trouble, Liu Li wholeheartedly agreed, nodding repeatedly. Remembering the 100,000 yuan card in her bag, she asked, "What should we do with this card? Are we really going to keep it?"
Lu Chen smiled faintly, "It was a gift, of course I have to accept it. It's not that I'm greedy for the money, but I'll put their minds at ease if I accept it. That guy called Brother Ling, isn't he supposed to be Old Pang's godson? He offended his godfather's brother. How can he feel at ease without paying compensation? Haha, do you think he'll call me 'Uncle' when he sees me?"
"You little rascal!" Liu Li said, and couldn't resist grabbing Lu Chen's hand and giving it a light nibble. The nibble wasn't hard, but Lu Chen immediately cried out, "You dare bite me? I'll bite you back!"
Saying this, he grabbed Liu Li, looked around to see where to start, and seeing her large, prominent breasts, his mind went blank. He lowered his head and nibbled at them through her clothes.