Chapter 47 (2/2)
The man who previously discussed with Ning Que about the compensation showed a hint of fear, but after he saw the official guards behind him, straightened his back and smiled coldly, “Fourth Master Qi, we need to speak clearly about this. We have never done those things because they are shaddy. If this young owner is a smart man, then why would I need to do those things?”
Fourth Master Qi spit toward the foot of the man, “Yeah right, you, Poor Gu should shut your mouth! If Forty Seventh Street wasn’t the business of my brother, would you imbeciles act nicely?’
Poor Gu yelled, “What are you going to do? Firstly, I never used a knife. Secondly I never used a stick. I followed the rules and discussed business with this young owner. I used my money to buy his contact and this is still bad? If you believe that I violated any Tang Rules, then we can go to the court and sort this out!”
Fourth Master Qi spit again, turned toward Ning Que and bowed once more, “Young owner, your willingness to open your shop here is a sign of respect to my three thousand brothers. Don’t worry, you can stay here and do your business. If anyone dares to touch you, I, Fourth Master Qi will chop off their heads for you.
Seeing the two sides collide, Ning Que’s face was filled with nervousness but he was actually not disturbed. He observed the actions of the Chang An gangs with interest and then noticed that the middle aged man who rented the shop to him was clearly a big character in the capital. While he was being a spectator of a gang violence show and guessing when they would start fighting, he didn’t expect the problem to move to him once again. He smiled and gestured, “Fourth Master Qi, the previous landlord dismissed three months of rent, and I’m truly grateful of it. But the price that Mr. Gu gave is fair as well.”
Ning Que purposely didn’t finish his thought so that the others could continue their argument. Poor Gu heard Ning Que’s words and joy filled his face. He looked at Fourth Master Qi and laughed, “Fourth Master you heard him, the young owner spoke for himself.”
Fourth Master scoffed and turned around to look at Ning Que, “How much money did he promise you?’
“Two hundred silver coins,” Ning Que stuck out two fingers and thought for a moment and added a comment, “If my business was harmed, Mr. Gu is willing to compensate more.”
Fourth Master Qi looked at Ning Que mockingly and suddenly pointed at the road beneath his feet and said seriously, “Two hundred silver coins? Is there still such a fair price in the entire Chang An? Yeah there actually is, only on Forty-Seventh Street! Why? Because my brother is kind enough to protect all of the shop owners of this street! The southern gangs have no way of forcefully dismantling and therefore had to give such a high price. But what’s the result? Those b.a.s.t.a.r.d shop owners took the money and left!”
Poor Gu’s face was filled with embarra.s.sment. Speaking from truth, the business in the street continued for about half a year. After fighting for such long time, the backgrounds of the two sides were angry as well. They stopped caring about the benefit and wanted to occupy this street disregarding the cost. The government couldn’t intervene and the southern gangsters couldn’t cause the landlord trouble on this street either. Therefore, they could only use money to get the land. Some shop owners ran after obtaining the money and some owners sold their land for a low price because they didn’t want to start trouble with either side. Regardless of what happened, the southern gangsters earned some money without violence.
After hearing this and calculating silently, Fourth Master Qi noticed that the actions of the landlord didn’t regard his own profit. If he really cared about the shop owners, then he was a kind person.
Fourth Master Qi looked at Ning Que coldly and was about to get angry, but suddenly he remembered his brother’s words and pushed down his anger and yelled, “They will give you two hundred silver coins? We’ll dismiss one year of your rent, and secure your safety without charge!”
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