Chapter 37: Informant

"Boss, two roasted sweet potatoes, please."

Bai Wei finished speaking, turned around and smiled at the short‑haired woman beside her: "Xiaoli, the roasted sweet potatoes here are a masterpiece; I guarantee you'll never forget them after you eat."

"Really, Senior Sister?"

Sun Xiaoli widened her eyes.

"Of course. If you don't believe it, just try it and you'll know."

Bai Wei immediately looked at Jiang Cheng and said, "Boss, I actually brought a guest for you today."

"Thank you for your hospitality."

Jiang Cheng smiled at the two women and handed over the prepared roasted sweet potatoes.

"These are my treat for both of you; no need to pay."

He thought Bai Wei was a decent person; of the three martial arts halls on the street—Dragon Walk Martial Arts Hall, which he avoided because of those people; Clear Breeze Sword Hall, which he wasn't familiar with—so he decided to go to Flying Eagle Martial Arts Hall instead, at least there was a familiar face.

Delivering two or three sweet potatoes is a trivial matter.

"You, you guy, you're actually quite adept."

A strange glint flashed in Bai Wei's eyes, then she smiled, "But I'm not the type who likes to take advantage of others."

After speaking, she took out twelve yuan.

Jiang Cheng, seeing this, also took it.

Watching the backs of the two as they left, many people seemed frozen as if under the Immobilization Technique; until the two graceful silhouettes vanished from view, many only then withdrew their gaze, still lingering in thought.

……

Poor District, somewhere.

Unlike most houses, opening the door here leads directly into an alley.

This is a courtyard, about thirty to forty square meters in size.

In the courtyard are various modified tricycles, some bearing signs for fried tofu, fried skewers, grilled sausages, and so on.

Two men sat at the doorway, puffing smoke and chatting.

At that moment, an old man timidly walked toward here.

Seeing the two men at the doorway, the old man shivered in fear.

"Did you bring the money?"

One of them exhaled a smoke ring and asked.

"Yes, I brought it."

The old man nodded repeatedly, terrified.

"Hand it over, let me see."

The old man stepped in front of him, pulled a handful of change from his pocket, and said, "Sir, this is three hundred yuan; I barely managed to gather it."

The two furrowed their brows and muttered something.

They counted it; not more, not less, exactly three hundred yuan.

"Go inside; after you find your cart, just push it out."

"Thank you, sir, thank you," the old man bowed repeatedly and expressed gratitude.

After a short while, the old man found his own dilapidated tricycle and pushed it out.

"Remember to earn more next time, so we don't have to repossess the cart again."

"Yes, yes."

The old man's face showed bitterness.

The three hundred yuan to redeem the cart was still cobbled together by him.

"But what else could he do?"

Not far away, a trio of people watched the scene.

If Jiang Cheng were here, they'd recognize him at a glance; these three are the Liu Yang and his two companions who blocked him yesterday.

"Brother Liu, do we really have to go over?"

A subordinate behind them glanced at the two men at the doorway not far away and shivered.

Those guys, relying on the backing of the Wild Wolf Gang, even snatch from thugs like us; normally we can't even dodge them in time.

"We've already come this far; can't we just go back?"

Liu Yang gritted his teeth and said, "That kid selling sweet potatoes must hate us to death. If we run into him again, we definitely won't get away unscathed. Moreover, can you swallow yesterday's tone? Is he really that strong? If he can fight, we can use this information to tell Brother Jiang and the others, see if he can still fight. That's one reason. The second is that it would bring us closer to Brother Jiang and his group. Think about it—if we could hang out with them, wouldn't it be much better than now? We could even make money just sitting here."

Those words also stirred the other two.

Watching the old man pushing his tricycle in the distance, they walked farther away.

The two couldn't help but imagine that if they were a few, they could also, like them, seize people's carts, wait for them to pay redemption, and just count money at home. But only Jiang Xiong and his crew dare to do such a thing.

Because they have backing, they're not afraid of retaliation.

If the three of them did it, Jiang Xiong would definitely not sit idle; it would be stealing his business, and the people whose carts are seized, when pushed to the limit, might even try to fight back—it's not impossible.

"Let's go."

Liu Yang took a deep breath.

He pondered for a long time before making this decision.

Since they've already come this far, there's no thinking of retreat.

The two behind gritted their teeth and followed.

The two at the courtyard entrance, upon seeing this, were first stunned, then a strange smile appeared on their faces.

"Young man surnamed Liu, you guys are bold, huh? We didn't go looking for you, but you came knocking on our door?"

"Brothers, you're joking, I want to discuss something with Brother Jiang, it's a good thing."

Liu Yang, with a flattering smile, took out a hundred yuan and handed fifty to one person.

The two took it, exchanged a glance, and immediately slipped it into their pockets.

Unlike the money the old man gave before, this was their earnings.

"You kid isn't bad, you actually understand something."

The man on the left nodded.

"But for such a small amount, you want to see our boss."

The man on the right shook his head.

In other words, they wanted Liu Yang to take out more.

It's fine if he doesn't take any; the previous fifty he could not produce.

"The two big brothers said."

Liu Yang said, and took out two more fifty‑yuan notes, handing them over.

The two accepted, slipped them into their pockets, and then asked, "What are you looking for Brother Xiong for? If you don't explain clearly, I can't pass the message for you."

"Please tell Brother Xiong that I have a money‑making deal I want to tell him about."

"What money‑making deal?"

"That, I'll tell you after I see Brother Xiong." Liu Yang shook his head.

He came this time specifically for Jiang Xiong.

If he said it in front of these two, he might not even get a chance to see the latter.

The two at the doorway exchanged a glance, after all they had just taken a hundred yuan from him.

And if there really is something good, they'll definitely find out later.

"Alright, wait here; I'll go in and ask Brother Xiong whether he's willing to see you."

The man on the left finished speaking, turned, and entered the courtyard.

Liu Yang and the two men instantly felt as if they were sitting on a bed of needles.

After an unknown amount of time, a footstep sounded.

"Brother Xiong has agreed to see you; come with me. By the way, Brother Xiong also asked me to tell you, if the deal you speak of isn't worth much, he'll give you a bit of color to see."

"Understood, understood." Liu Yang and the two men hurriedly nodded.

They crossed the courtyard, reached the house on the east side; the door was ajar, and they could easily hear a woman's laughter from inside.

Liu Yang swallowed.

He felt both nervous and envious.

"Brother Xiong, I've brought the person."

"Come in."

A coarse voice sounded from inside; judging by his age, he must be about forty.

When the few entered the inner room, they saw a middle‑aged man lying on the bed, enjoying a massage from two women, his hand occasionally stroking a woman.

Besides that, there were two more people in the room, seated at the table, also looking over.

"Brother Xiong, they are them."

"Hmm, you go first."

Jiang Xiong waved his hand at him, then looked disdainfully at the three in front of him, "Speak, what deal."

(End of chapter)