The fight that happened at the chess and card hall on Tuesday night spread throughout Liuqiao Village and the nearby factories that same night.
Everyone who had bought numbers here was in a state of panic, especially those who already knew they had won. They couldn't sleep all night.
They were all worried that the number house would abscond due to the fight, as this had happened once before at a small shop south of Liuqiao Village.
Therefore, early on Wednesday morning, people were already waiting at the entrance of the chess and card hall.
At seven o'clock, when Ma Yuan, Fang Hai, Ah Nan, and others arrived with cash, there were already over a hundred people at the entrance.
Some of these people were there to claim their winnings, while others were there to watch the excitement and find out if the number house had run off.
Old Ma and Old Xie were also in the crowd. Seeing his son, Old Ma hurried over.
"Xiao Yuan, I only heard from your Uncle Xie this morning that you got into a fight yesterday. Are you alright?"
Old Ma looked his son up and down.
Ma Yuan, while unlocking the door with his key, said, "Dad, I'm fine. I didn't even throw a punch last night. Those guys weren't even enough for Brother Yang to chew on. With Brother Yang and the others here, no one in the entire Dongjiang City dares to bully us. Thirty-odd people came yesterday, and half of them were taken down. Brother Yang and the others were unharmed."
Old Xie asked from the side, "Xiao Yuan, is the number house still open?"
"Of course, it's open. We're here today to redeem your winnings and also to tell everyone that our number house is absolutely trustworthy and has the strength. We've prepared a reserve fund of ten million yuan to run this number house. No matter how big your prize is, we won't run away."
Ma Yuan raised his voice so that the onlookers could hear.
"Ah, finally relieved. I won four thousand yuan yesterday and thought the number house had run off. I didn't sleep well all night."
"This number house is good. Not only do they have money, but the people they hired are also quite formidable. Four people took down twenty to thirty people. These are masters!"
"Exactly. A number house like this makes people feel at ease. Let's not run around anymore; we'll just buy numbers here from now on."
The crowd buzzed with discussions, all expressing their approval of this number house.
After the main door was opened, the winners entered the chess and card hall in an orderly fashion to queue for their winnings.
Old Ma called Ma Yuan aside: "Xiao Yuan, where's Xiao Yang? I don't see him."
"Brother Yang has something to do and will be here later. What's up?"
"Nothing, just asking. Your sister has already started her holiday and asked if we're going back to our hometown for the New Year. What's your opinion?"
"I'm not going back. Brother Yang and the others are just starting out. I need to stick with him. With Brother Yang's ability, he'll soon surpass Fang Zhicheng and even Zheng Jingfa, becoming a big shot in Dongjiang."
"Xiao Yang is that capable?"
"Of course. Dad, I have something to tell you, but don't tell anyone else. Brother Yang took people to cause trouble on Phoenix Street last night and even tied up Buddha. Buddha shouldn't dare to deal with us anymore."
"That's great! I've been worried about the Yuzhong Gang retaliating against you. I don't even dare to leave Liuqiao Village to collect scrap metal, nor do I dare to go to the fruit market."
Old Ma was truly relieved now. Ever since Ma Yuan had committed the stabbing, he hadn't had a peaceful day.
The subsequent events were all triggered by his buying numbers, and even the outsider Xiao Yang was implicated. Fortunately, Xiao Yang turned out to be a hidden master who repeatedly averted disaster, and this time, he finally resolved all the crises.
Suburbs of Dongjiang City.
A small house of about a hundred square meters stood isolated in the middle of a large freshwater fish farming base. There were no people to be seen for miles around.
Inside the small house, Buddha lay like a fat pig, snoring on a bag of fish feed, undisturbed even by the sound of a car approaching.
The visitors were Yang Jian, Afeng, and Fang Zhicheng. They brought breakfast. Four brothers were on duty here in shifts.
"Good morning, Brother Cheng."
The two young men guarding the door greeted Fang Zhicheng proactively. They didn't recognize Yang Jian and Afeng, but they still smiled and nodded at them.
Fang Zhicheng handed them the breakfast: "How is Buddha? Has he been making trouble?"
"No, he's been groggy the whole time. He must have been beaten yesterday; his head seems to have taken a heavy blow."
"Head injury?"
Fang Zhicheng looked at Yang Jian with confusion.
Yang Jian nodded: "When I captured him yesterday, I elbowed him in the head. Otherwise, I wouldn't have been able to subdue him."
"You're awesome. Go in and take a look, but don't kill him."
Fang Zhicheng signaled for the door to be opened.
Hearing the sound of the door opening, Buddha finally woke up. He rubbed his eyes and his face changed drastically when he saw Yang Jian and the others.
"Yang Wu, was it you who kidnapped me last night?"
"That's right, it was me. Including Cheng Guang and Ah Liang, I crippled them all."
"What do you want?"
Thinking of the fate of Cheng Guang and Ah Liang, Buddha felt a bit panicked. This Yang Wu was too cruel. He had already crippled many of his brothers, and even Ah Chao had fled back to his hometown out of fear of him.
Yang Jian sneered: "What do I want? Haven't I warned you more than once or twice not to provoke me? I told you to be your boss and me to be your migrant worker, or I'd kill you in minutes. But you just wouldn't believe me, insisting on fighting me to the death, trying to kill me again and again. What do you think I'll do?"
"Let me go. Tell me your conditions directly. As long as I can do it, I'll satisfy you. Is one million enough?"
"Slap."
Yang Jian slapped him across the face: "Now you know to beg for mercy, don't you? If I let you go, will you continue to send people to assassinate me later?"
"I wouldn't dare, I wouldn't dare. I promise I won't provoke you again."
The once formidable Buddha now had no trace of a gangster boss. He knelt before Yang Jian with a thud. He dared not provoke Yang Jian, fearing that he would cripple him on the spot.
"What guarantee do you have? You know now that I kidnapped you. If I let you go, you'll report me to the police later. Wouldn't that be a huge loss for me?"
"You, you, you want to kill me? Mr. Yang, I beg you, let me go. I promise I won't report you. I'll give you money, five million, no, ten million. I'll give you all my assets in Dongjiang, just spare my life."
Buddha trembled all over. He sensed the signal of death from Yang Jian's tone.
If he were handling this situation, he would also silence the witness.
Yang Jian turned to Fang Zhicheng: "Brother Cheng, you guys go out for a bit. I'll talk to him alone."
Fang Zhicheng nodded and walked out with Afeng, closing the door behind them.
Yang Jian picked up a chair and sat down: "Buddha, we didn't have any deep enmity to begin with. It's not impossible for me to let you go."
Buddha quickly nodded: "Yes, yes, yes, I have no conflict of interest with you. I attacked you for the sake of face. If you let me go, I will never provoke you again, nor will I report you. I'll also give you a large sum of money."
"Slap."
Yang Jian slapped him again: "Damn it, stop mentioning money to me, okay? Do you really think money can solve everything? Believe it or not, I'll bury you in this wilderness right now."
"Alright, alright, I won't mention money. Tell me whatever conditions you have."
Buddha held his face in his hands, tears streaming down his face. He had never suffered such humiliation before, but now his life was in someone else's hands, so he had no choice but to bow his head. He didn't even have the thought of revenge in his heart; he just wanted to escape as soon as possible.