Chapter 23: Hard to be at Peace (Please Collect)

  As for what his younger cousin was doing, Zhang Fugui's heart was naturally clear. Especially when he rushed in with a group of younger brothers, Zhang Fugui's heart was also racing. Could it be that this guy had recently gone crazy and wanted to extort money from his own older brother? So he took the initiative to go forward and try to probe him first, see how he would react, and then respond accordingly. If something urgent really happened, he could help him out if possible.

  For Zhang Fuhuan, his elder brother Zhang Fugui is the only one in their family who still treats him with respect. So usually he has some respect for Zhang Fugui, but because he rarely goes out recently, he didn't even know that the most popular beef noodle restaurant in Weidong County was opened by his own cousin Zhang Fugui. As a result, he unknowingly made such a big mistake, what should he do now? Should he still collect protection fees or not?

  Just as Zhang Fuhans was entangled there, his younger brother Lang Hu, in order to show off in front of his boss and also to avoid the trampling of the black-clothed woman, took the initiative to explain the purpose of their visit.

  "What a joke, you think a bowl of beef noodles can get rid of us? If you don't pay our Wolf Gang 10,000 yuan in protection fees, your beef noodle shop will be closed!"

  "What? Ten thousand yuan!" Wang Caixia, who was holding a large bowl of beef noodles, lost her composure when she heard this and dropped the bowl on the ground. Fortunately, there was nothing in the bowl; if it had been filled with scalding hot beef noodles, it would have caused trouble whether it splashed onto someone else or herself.

  "Bang!"

  "Who asked you to be so garrulous!"

  Zhang Fuhans scolded and slapped the fierce wolf, sending it flying out. He then walked anxiously to Wang Caixia's side and helped her pick up the broken bowl, saying apologetically as he picked it up.

  "Sister-in-law, I'm really sorry. Before I came, I really didn't know that this beef noodle restaurant was opened by your family! If I had known it was like this, I would rather be beaten to death by that woman than come here and collect protection fees from you!"

  Actually, Zhang Fuhans character is not bad, otherwise how could he have won over the hearts of his more than a dozen underlings with just the meager income from watching over those small KTVs and bars? So after seeing that this beef noodle restaurant was opened by his own cousin Zhang Fugui, he immediately gave up on the idea of collecting protection fees from them, and even cleverly told Wang Caixia about his reason for coming.

  "You said there was a woman who came to you for protection money?" Zhang Fugui and his wife exchanged a glance, both of them suddenly thinking of the black-clad woman from before.

  "Big brother, if we don't pay this 10,000 yuan protection fee, that woman in black will come to collect it from us tonight. If we fight with her for a few hours, do you think we brothers still have a way out?" The fierce wolf who was slapped by Zhang Fuhans walked over, covering his cheek and said grievously;

  "Yes, big brother, that woman's ferocity, you've also experienced it. Even if we ran away, wouldn't she go find others? If other people come, I'm afraid it won't be a matter of just 10,000 yuan here!"

  This guy Meng Lang is indeed rough but with a delicate side, he judged the relationship between Zhang Fuhans attitude and dialogue with the noodle shop owner couple, and instead proposed his opinion from another angle.

  "It must be her, the woman in black!" Zhang Fugui and his wife exchanged a glance, then nodded to each other tacitly.

  "Big brother, what exactly did you do to offend this woman? This woman is not just an ordinary person!" Seeing Zhang Fu Gui and his wife acting as if they had a plan in mind, Zhang Fu Han couldn't help but start worrying about his older brother.

  "That woman is after me!"

  Actually, when Zhang Fuhans brought his younger brother into the house, Chen Li had already noticed these people. After Wang Caixia accidentally dropped her bowl to the ground in a daze, Chen Li, who was kneading dough outside, immediately jumped into the noodle shop. However, after he came in, he saw Zhang Fuhan slap his younger brother and send him flying out, then voluntarily help Wang Caixia pick up the broken pieces on the ground. So Chen Li quietly stood to one side without making any reaction. Meanwhile, Zhang Fugui and his wife were so focused on the black-clad woman mentioned by Zhang Fuhans that they didn't even notice when Chen Li came in from outside.

  "Get up, nothing's going on, this is a fellow villager and brother who came specifically to see me, you can go outside to play instead!"

  Zhang Fugui gave a signal to Wang Caixia and Zhang Fuhang while thinking of pushing Chen Li outside, although this matter was caused by Chen Li, but the kind-hearted and simple-minded Zhang Fugui couple still wanted to use their own way to protect Chen Li and let him avoid harm as much as possible.

  "Yes! Li Er, there's really nothing to it. This is your older brother Zhang Fuhan, he's a close relative of our family and has come especially to congratulate us on the opening of our noodle shop!" Wang Caixia chimed in from the side;

  "Big brother, since this matter originated from me, let me solve it!" Chen Li couldn't help but see the thoughts of Zhang Fugui and his wife, but he couldn't bear to let them, whom he had already regarded as his own family, take on all this burden.

  "Li'er, haven't you heard that woman is very skilled in fighting? Rich Han's many brothers couldn't beat her, how can you solve this problem? Since she wants money, we'll give it to her. Even if I have to sell all my possessions, Zhang Fu Gui won't let his own brother suffer a loss!" Zhang Fu Gui shook his head in refusal, his face as stubborn as a drumstick.

  "No way, absolutely not! You, with your skinny arms and legs, how can you possibly win against that woman in black? Your sister-in-law will never agree to let you take the risk! If worst comes to worst, we'll just close down the shop and go sell noodles on the street instead!"

  Wang Caixia's attitude was even more resolute, and in her eyes, Chen Li's thin arms and legs were no match for a fight! Zhang Fuhuan's men, those big and rough Northwest guys, had all been beaten up so badly that their faces were still bruised and swollen to this day. If Lide went, wouldn't he be beaten to death in just two blows?

  But she happened to forget that the black-clothed woman who made this move, if compared with Chen Li in terms of arm and leg thickness, was even thinner by a lot, more slender by a lot. Otherwise, how could Chen Qi's body proportions be considered perfect golden proportions?

  "Big brother, sister-in-law, I can be certain that woman has no ill intentions towards me! However, if we don't get to the bottom of this matter, both this rich big brother and our beef noodle restaurant will probably have a hard time finding peace in the future!"