Chapter 27: The Bright Pearl Nightclub

Pearl Nightclub.

Tie Xiong was listening to a report from Mountain Hawk. He waved his hand impatiently, dismissing him. Friction with the Sichuan Gang was a common occurrence; as long as no one lost their life, it was a trivial matter he couldn't be bothered to scrutinize in detail.

"Brother Xiong, that kid is the one from the Nightingale Club the other night," a lackey beside Mountain Hawk reminded him.

Sure enough, hearing it was Cao Yang, Tie Xiong became interested. "You mean that kid is running slot machines? Are you sure you didn't mistake him for someone else?"

The lackey nodded. "It’s definitely him. I saw him leap three meters high; his skills are top-notch."

Tie Xiong laughed. "Give me his address, and call the boys to come with me to find him."

"I only have the address of his shop. He ran off right after we finished the fight, so I don't know where he lives. But I do have his phone number," Mountain Hawk said, digging out Cao Yang’s number for Tie Xiong.

...

Cao Yang was eating stir-fried rice noodles at the entrance of a factory, his phone resting on the table. He glanced at it occasionally, appearing to wait for a call.

Sure enough, the phone rang shortly after—an unfamiliar local number.

"Hello," Cao Yang said, picking up the phone and wiping his mouth.

"Kid, do you know who I am?"

"Listening to your voice, so crisp and resonant, it must be my Brother Xiong."

On the other end of the line, Tie Xiong was taken aback. No one had ever complimented his voice for being "crisp and resonant" before; the flattery sounded rather bizarre.

"Hahaha..." Tie Xiong laughed. "Why couldn't I get through to the number you left me last time?"

"Really? Maybe I misread it, or perhaps you all wrote it down wrong."

Tie Xiong knew the kid was playing him, but he didn't care. "I heard you offended the Sichuan Gang?"

"Yeah, that’s about right."

"How about I help you settle this?"

"Really? Then thank you so much, Brother Xiong."

"Cut the crap, kid. I’m not helping for free; I need you to do something for me!"

"What is it? I’m not doing any killing!"

"Relax, this is very simple. Let's talk in detail when we meet. Where are you now? I can come to you, or you can come to me."

"I'll come to you. Give me an address."

"I'm at the Pearl Nightclub. I’ll be waiting for you."

...

Cao Yang took a taxi to the Pearl Nightclub. After identifying himself at the front desk, a waiter led him to a private room on the third floor.

There were only three people in the room. Tie Xiong was singing with two busty women in his arms.

Seeing Cao Yang arrive, he turned off the music and laughed loudly. "Brother, last time I asked you to join my crew, you gave me a fake number and had me running around in circles!"

Cao Yang chuckled sheepishly. "It really wasn't on purpose. You must have written it down wrong."

Tie Xiong didn't want to dwell on the issue. He pointed to the two women in spaghetti-strap dresses beside him and asked, "Brother, what do you think of these two? I don't have a gift for our first meeting, so take these two girls and enjoy yourselves."

"No... don't do that!" Cao Yang stood up, putting some distance between himself and the two women.

"What? Not to your taste?" Tie Xiong frowned.

Cao Yang thought to himself: I don't dislike them, and I’m actually quite worked up, but no matter how worked up I am, I can't just do it in front of you! I'm not an animal!

"Brother Xiong, let's talk about business."

Tie Xiong nodded at that and dismissed the two women. He pulled out a pack of cigarettes, offered one to Cao Yang, and they both lit up, filling the room with smoke.

"I heard you set up two slot machines?"

"Yes, your men even came to collect protection money from me."

Tie Xiong laughed. "That's normal. Around here, you either pay the Sichuan Gang or our Hunan Gang. They didn't know who you were; I’ll give them a heads-up later, and it won't happen again."

"But then again, how much money can you make with two slot machines? Think bigger—join me in some other business!"

"What kind of business?" Cao Yang asked, humble enough to seek advice.

"There are plenty of ways to make money. Anything you do would be more profitable than those slot machines."

Tie Xiong pointed toward the door. "Take those two girls from just now; the price here is five hundred per session. I take two hundred and fifty from each session. If they each do four sessions a day, I make a thousand. One person, a thousand; ten people, ten thousand. I have eighty people in this establishment—tell me, how much do I make in a day?"

Cao Yang was stunned. Five hundred was a bit inflated; in the urban villages, it was only fifty.

"Why do you take two hundred and fifty? That sounds unlucky."

"I’m just giving you an example. There are many ways to make money easily. Making money off their hard work is the upper-class way of doing things."

"And it’s not just the girls. Drugs, gambling—which of those doesn't pay better and faster than your slot machines?"

"But I can't do those things either, can I? Or are you expecting me to buy into your business for free?"

*Buy into it? Go to hell!* Tie Xiong cursed internally, thinking Cao Yang was absolutely delusional.

"I mean you should raise your standards and stop focusing on such low-level ways to make money."

Tie Xiong was speechless. He had only been showing off to impress Cao Yang, only to find the guy was a total idiot who didn't understand his point at all.

"Oh," Cao Yang nodded, looking as if he half-understood.

Tie Xiong couldn't be bothered to explain further; it was like playing the lute to a cow. He stubbed out his cigarette and lit another. "I’ll say the word to the Hunan Gang, and they won't collect protection money from you again, but you’ve offended the Sichuan Gang now. How do you plan to solve that?"

"Aren't you going to solve it for me?" Cao Yang looked at him in confusion, thinking, *If you didn't say you could help me with the Sichuan Gang, why the hell did I come to see you?*

*Am I indebted to you?!* Tie Xiong suppressed his frustration. "I can help you handle it, but I’m not doing it for free."

Cao Yang nodded. "Tell me your terms."

"Help me beat someone up!"

"Beat them to death?"

"No need, just defeat them."

"Fine." Cao Yang nodded in agreement.

Seeing him agree so readily, Tie Xiong hesitated. "Don't you want to ask who it is? Or what their strength is?"

"No need. Even if you told me, I wouldn't know who they are anyway."

"I'll help you take care of the Sichuan Gang's trouble first."

Tie Xiong smiled and pulled out his phone to call Jim.

"Hello, Brother Jim."

"What is it?" Jim’s voice on the other end was cold; he had just returned from the hospital after visiting Fatty Long, and a whole group of his men were laid up.

In truth, at their level, they didn't care much for the small profits from slot machines, but they didn't stop their underlings from earning extra cash. Because of these petty matters, the Sichuan and Hunan gangs often clashed, but as long as no one died, they didn't really care.