Chapter 76: Setting Terms

Once Chen Mo explained over the phone how Tung Hing had framed him, Thirteen Sister had nothing more to say.

Since it was Tung Hing's people who struck first, no matter how Chen Mo retaliated, it wouldn't be excessive.

Thirteen Sister wasn't someone who couldn't read the situation.

Even though she and Bai Tou Weng had a decent relationship, they were still two separate Triad Societies.

Chen Mo's relationship with her was clearly closer.

"Bai Tou Weng wants to ask me to act as a middleman and arrange a meeting with you. What do you think?"

Chen Mo thought for a moment and replied, "Fine. I wasn't planning to kill Sha Meng outright anyway."

"Then it's settled. I'll call Bai Tou Weng later to set the time. You can negotiate with him directly then. Go ahead and make your demands — the fault is theirs, so don't go easy on my account."

"Don't worry, Sister Mei. I'm not the type to take a loss."

Bai Tou Weng was very proactive about rescuing Sha Meng.

It couldn't be helped — among Tung Hing's Five Tigers, Smiling Tiger and Crow were Luo Tuo's men, and Situ Haonan and Lei Yaoyang's relationship with him was only so-so.

Only Sha Meng was his man.

If Sha Meng died, his faction's strength would be more than halved.

To show sincerity, that very evening, Bai Tou Weng found a restaurant in Wang Jiao and reserved a private room.

Of course, he didn't dare choose the address on Chen Mo's turf.

Chen Mo and Thirteen Sister arrived on time.

Inside the private room, two people were seated beside Bai Tou Weng.

Though Chen Mo didn't recognize either of them, one of them bore a slight resemblance to Shensheng.

Hmm, probably from the same character model.

Chen Mo guessed that must be Kele.

"Kele? When did you get back?" Thirteen Sister's voice, tinged with pleasant surprise, rang out first.

"Just got back. Long time no see!" Kele nodded and smiled at Thirteen Sister.

Bai Tou Weng's face, which had fallen when he first saw Chen Mo, softened slightly upon seeing Thirteen Sister and Kele greet each other.

Thirteen Sister didn't exchange much small talk and directly pulled up a chair and sat down.

Chen Mo, bringing Gao Jin along, also sat right down, paying no attention whatsoever to Bai Tou Weng and the two men beside him.

"Chen Mo, your men grabbed Sha Meng and took out Sang Bo and Se Mo Xiong. Aren't you being a bit too dismissive of us at Tung Hing?"

Bai Tou Weng opened coldly, trying to pin the blame on Chen Mo first.

Chen Mo didn't even lift his eyes. He lit a cigarette on his own, showing not the slightest intention of acknowledging Bai Tou Weng.

"Uncle Ben asked you a question — didn't you hear him?" Another man beside Bai Tou Weng slammed the table and stood up, barking angrily at Chen Mo.

Chen Mo maintained his indifferent attitude and leisurely poured himself a cup of tea.

Seeing Chen Mo's demeanor, Bai Tou Weng, who had been furious, instead calmed down and pulled back the man beside him. "Chen Mo, what exactly do you mean?"

Chen Mo's tone was flat: "Bai Tou Weng, if you invited me here today just to spout meaningless nonsense, then there's no need to continue this conversation."

"You..." Bai Tou Weng was momentarily speechless.

Kele glanced at Thirteen Sister and said in a low voice, "Thirteen Sister, Chen Mo is your subordinate. What do you say about this matter?"

Everyone present was well aware of the situation with Sha Meng.

Even if Chen Mo killed Sha Meng, it wouldn't count as wrong.

If they wanted Sha Meng back, they would certainly have to pay a steep price.

That was why Bai Tou Weng had tried to seize the initiative at the very start, aiming to overpower Chen Mo in presence.

Unfortunately, Chen Mo showed no intention of taking the bait. Bai Tou Weng's bluster had zero effect on him.

Kele had once helped Thirteen Sister avenge her father's murder, and had also saved Thirteen Sister's life.

Thirteen Sister had once had feelings for Kele, and Kele knew it.

He spoke up to Thirteen Sister hoping she would, for his sake, rein Chen Mo in a little.

After all, Thirteen Sister was Chen Mo's boss, so her words still carried weight.

Unfortunately, although Thirteen Sister had once had feelings for Kele, and even now still harbored a trace of affection for him...

She wasn't foolish. She knew full well that Kele had loved Ah Run back then, and still didn't love her now.

Sentimental affairs meant nothing to Thirteen Sister.

"I only brought my eyes and ears today, not my mouth. Whatever is between Uncle Ben and Ah Mo, I won't interfere."

Thirteen Sister's words made the Tung Hing men falter instantly.

Bai Tou Weng had brought Kele along to leverage his relationship with Thirteen Sister, but to his surprise, Thirteen Sister didn't take it seriously at all.

"Chen Mo, tell me — what will it take for you to release Sha Meng?" Bai Tou Weng asked with a dark expression.

There was no other way. If he had to bleed, he had to bleed.

The corner of Chen Mo's mouth curled up in a hint of mockery. "Wouldn't it have been better if you'd done this from the start? If you'd said so earlier, Sha Meng might already be home by now."

"First condition — I don't care how you do it, but within three days, get my venues back open for business."

"Second, compensate me for the losses to my venues. Based on past revenue, plus the potential fallout from your framing this time — let's round it to a casual twenty million."

"Chen Mo!" Bai Tou Weng slapped the table. "Don't push it too far!"

Bai Tou Weng was genuinely startled by Chen Mo's sky-high demand.

Resolving the closure issue, while troublesome, wasn't hard given the connections Tung Hing had built up in Gangdao over the years — just arrange a few underlings to turn themselves in at the police station and take the rap for the hidden drugs.

It would just be a bit tight on time.

But twenty million in compensation was a different story.

Tung Hing's money didn't just blow in on the wind.

That was obtained at great risk, packet after packet of white powder.

Chen Mo opens his mouth and it's twenty million; anyone would feel the pain.

"Your venue's shutdown problem, I can help you solve it, but time is tight; can you extend a few days?"

Also, twenty million compensation is too much.

You only have six venues shut down; at most you'd lose one or two million—don't be excessive!

"My six venues' daily turnover adds up to over two million; now shut down for so many days, plus reputation loss, is twenty million too much?"

Chen Mo glared, showing no intention to relent.

"As for the time to solve the shutdown issue, I can also give you a few more days. However, I don't know if Sha Meng can hold out until then!"

"What do you mean!" Bai Tou Weng was very anxious.

Chen Mo shrugged: "Nothing, after my people caught Sha Meng, they didn't do anything to him. Of course, that includes feeding him water and food."

"When you guys solve the shutdown issue for me, I'll release the person."

"I estimate, given Sha Meng's physique, starving for six or seven days shouldn't be a problem."

"You...." Bai Tou Weng gritted his teeth: "Okay! I'll solve the shutdown issue for you within three days. But you must guarantee Sha Meng's safety!"

"Then it's not certain." Chen Mo said nonchalantly: "After all, you guys from East Prosperity haven't given me Sha Meng's food expenses; I have no obligation to feed him."

Bai Tou Weng knew Chen Mo was just opening his mouth to ask for money.

Twenty million is no small sum; he really doesn't want to pay, but Sha Meng's life must be saved.

Spending twenty million may hurt, but once Sha Meng returns, letting Sha Meng come up with this money himself is also an option.

The urgent thing now is to first get the person back, then talk.

"Okay, I'll first send you the twenty million later."

Bai Tou Weng reluctantly agreed. At the same time, Bai Tou Weng's desire to kill Chen Mo grew stronger.