Chapter 4

Xiao Li stood silently at the side of a vanity sink and washed his hand beneath the running faucet. The pool of water that collected had already turned a light shade of red.

"You're wounded?" A tall and slim man suddenly asked from the doorway.

Not the least bothered by the imposing presence, Xiao Li simply spoke without spearing a glance, "It's not my blood."

"Who made you angry?" The man asked, leaning lazily against the door. "It's been a long time since I saw you do the job yourself."

The side of Xiao Li's lips curled, "I'm not in a good mood."

"Don't lie to me. Who has the ability to ruin your mood?" The man said sarcastically, yet his tone was pleasant to the ears. There was a rather enchanting smile on his lips before he laughed.

"There's no need to talk about it. Family matters." Xiao Li said, grabbing a towel to wipe his hands. "How has everything been lately? Still going smoothly, right?"

"Better than you guys who like to use violence to resolve everything." The man retorted, sounding pleased and satisfied with himself.

"Since the recent anti-prostitution campaigns conducted by the police force ended, the girls just need to spread their legs and the money will easily flow in again. However—"

"Don't spread your legs too wide," Xiao Li snorted, looking at him with a hint of malice. "Han Jia, you're not young anymore. It really isn't appropriate for you to do that again."

"Fuck off," Han Jia's arched eyebrows straightened in a disapproving manner. "Asshole, I'm talking serious business here. You know, Luo Dong might be coming back."

Hearing that name, Xiao Li's eyebrows suddenly rose. "What is he doing back here? He was already beaten by us then caught by the police twice. Even if he returned, he won't be able to accomplish anything."

Han Jia looked left and right before he drew close to Xiao Li. "Last week, a client told me the girls at Jin Ting9 were taking drugs. At first, I didn't believe it. You already know, Jin Ting is not a private prostitution nest. The clients are all rich, powerful and influential figures—some of them are downright picky as fuck. Don't even mention consuming drugs, if those girls were to have even the smallest trace of a needle hole in their arms, they'll be avoided or ignored. Clients are quite wary and afraid they have AIDS. Under those circumstances, who could have imagined those little sluts were taking drugs? I controlled my anger and did some research of my own back then and guess what I found out?"

"What?"

"At least three of my goods were damaged," Han Jia said with gritted teeth. "Fuck, where am I supposed to find three, not only educated but polite and beautiful girls to replace them in such a short period of time?"

Xiao Li drowned, "Did you find out how they got their hands on those drugs?"

"Yeah, I found out alright. Fucking shit…they said the person who gave them the drugs is one of Luo Dong's skilled subordinate, nicknamed 'Da Gui'". Han Jia lowered his voice, "I haven't talked about this situation with Ming Ge yet. I want to observe the situation first. For now, can you send a few of your men to Jin Ting to keep a look out? Or at the least, send them to check things out?"

Xiao Li was lost in his thoughts for a moment.

"Li Ge!" A subordinate quickly ran over.

"What are you being all flustered for?" Han Jia scolded with a bitter tone. "You're all fucking spoiled by your Li Ge. There seems to be no rules around here anymore. You best behave yourself!"

The subordinate's face reddened with embarrassment, "I'm sorry…it's not…Li Ge, Lin Ge just called. He said that teacher from yesterday, he came back—"

Xiao Li gave him a glance forcing him to close his mouth immediately.

"I'm leaving." Xiao Li pondered, "I'll let Lin Zi and a few others come to Jin Ting tomorrow."

Han Jia leaned against the wall and laughed arrogantly. "What's the matter, why are you in such a hurry to leave?"

Narrowing his eyes, Xiao Li glanced at Han Jia. "Family matters."

Qi Xiu Yuan checked his watch several times only to see that the handle was ticking away rather slowly. Just as he was about to check again, his cellphone rang, and he immediately connected the call.

Xiao Li's strong and smooth voice sounded from the other side. "Qi Laoshi? It's Xiao Li."

"Xiao Li, what's exactly is—"

"Qi Laoshi, don't worry. I have someone over here that has been following Xiao Yang. He and Qi Susu are together. They're both alright."

Qi Xiu Yuan let out a sigh of relief, "Where are they now?"

"Give the phone to Lin Zi, I'll let him bring you over here."

With an indifference expression, Qi Xiu Yuan stared at all the subordinates crowding around him. He lifted the phone in the air and asked, "Which of you is Lin Zi?"

A heavy built and strong looking guy step forward and took the cellphone. 'Li Ge,' he said followed by, '…understood'.

Then he respectfully gave the phone back to Qi Xiu Yuan. "Yuan Ge, please come with me."

It took Qi Xiu Yuan about five seconds to realize that Lin Zi was talking to him.10

-

Translator's Note

9 Jin Ting – an illegal prostitution place, that is 'not so private' to even the influential people of the city

10 "It took QXY about five seconds…". Lin Zi called Qi Xiu Yuan, "Yuan Ge" for respect but our Qi Xiu Yuan did not realize that Lin Zi was talking to him immediately because in this moment, 'Ge' is only for a senior member of gang.