Volume 1: Hidden Dragon in the Abyss Chapter 34: Extortion with No Worries

  Less than a minute later, when Duan Yue got off the bus... The front and back of No. 7 were already surrounded by many onlookers, a small young man was hugging his own legs in front of the wheel and shouting: "Killed someone! Outsiders killed someone!"

  In the old days, Tianzhou was a place of southern barbarism, with a fierce folk custom. Moreover, the locals liked to drink millet wine, which made them prone to hot-headedness and easily led to trouble.

  After a long time, the Tianzhou people became an existence that many outsiders and those in power feared to avoid, and even after liberation, the bandits hiding in the northern mountains of Tianzhou were still unusually rampant.

  In the 90s, a very popular TV series "Gui Yi Xi's Bandit-Suppressing Record" told the story of Hei Longjiang Military Region's bandit-suppressing in Tianshui Mountain, where the name of Tian Zhongying, the bandit leader, shook the whole region.

  Even in the 21st century, Tianzhou people's bravery and ferocity have not changed much, and watching the excitement is even more unafraid of trouble!

  No, as soon as Duan Lei got out of the car, some idle young rascals on the street began to stir up trouble, shouting: "Hit someone! Pay compensation! Pay compensation!"

  Duan Lei remembered that when he was driving, he didn't lean over at all, let alone hit anyone. The guy in front of him, who was now holding his head and then his calf, had fallen down more than a meter away from the car.

  Du Lian immediately knew he had encountered a swindler!

  Duan Lei had studied at a middle school nearby before and knew that there was a group of people on this traffic artery who specialized in bumping into cars with non-local license plates. This national highway is crowded with vehicles, passing through the downtown area, and drivers will slow down cautiously when driving by, making it an ideal opportunity for them to stage accidents.

  Out-of-town private cars, especially those driven by out-of-town women, once encountered such a situation, even if they know they have been blackmailed, most of them will choose to settle the matter and pay compensation.

  Report the incident? This thought rarely occurs to car owners who are away from home. When traveling, what they fear most is trouble. Once a report is made, a whole set of procedures will follow, which can be time-consuming and laborious, and may not even yield a good outcome.

  As a result, the collision gangs on the main roads of Tianyi Zhou, one county and one city, are becoming more and more rampant, and have become an existence that makes many out-of-town car owners change color. The police have heard about it, but due to the fact that very few car owners report to the police, the evidence collection work is also quite difficult, and there is a situation where these ugly phenomena are not being dealt with effectively.

  When Duan Lei was reading, he and his classmates had discussed this phenomenon before, and even watched the commotion with relish on the side of the road. At that time, Duan Lei did not realize what kind of negative impact this behavior would have on the image of Tianzhou County as a whole, let alone think that on the first day he drove home in his new car, he would encounter such a thing.

  Duan Yue was so angry that he couldn't help but laugh at this point.

  Seeing Duan Yue's face change colors after getting off the car, he finally smiled, and everyone around him was guessing whether this young man had been scared silly?

  "What a pity that this young man is so handsome!" An old lady passing by looked at the scene and then glanced at Duan Lei's appearance, shaking her head and sighing.

  To put it bluntly, Duan Yue's current height has reached the filling, compared to the relatively short Tianzhou people, he is considered very tall. Plus, after practicing Tiangong Fist, his muscles make him look like a model, and what the old lady said was actually not wrong.

  A few young men with green hair and tattoos on their arms turned around, glared at him and cursed: "Old fart, get out of the way!"

  The old lady, upon hearing this, was so angry that she wanted to grab the vegetable basket and come up to reason with them. However, after quickly analyzing the balance of power between the two sides, she reluctantly turned around and left, still muttering to herself.

  "These killers, doing all sorts of evil things, have disgraced the people of Tianzhou! If I, Li Erniang, were twenty years younger, I would definitely chop up those little rascals with a kitchen knife!"

  Duan Lei's ears were sharp, and as soon as he heard the old lady's scolding words, he burst out laughing. The folks from his hometown were still quite lovable, and for a moment, Duan Lei's depressed mood suddenly dissipated.

  Duan Yue smiled again, and the people around him were even more puzzled. Could it be that this young man was really an idiot?

  Duan Yue's eyes scanned around and found that apart from the guy lying on the ground as a prop, there were five or six young people standing nearby, who looked like they were waiting to help. As soon as the car owner was not very cooperative, they would assist by shouting slogans or using force. Moreover, Duan Yue even saw two people directing traffic at the back of the car, letting other vehicles pass quickly from the side, perhaps they also had the important task of spreading rumors.

  At this time, about 40 or 50 people had already surrounded the car. Some were excitedly watching the commotion, while some older residents couldn't bear to look but, intimidated by the extortion gang's power, didn't dare speak out and could only stand on the roadside a short distance away and watch.

  In a short while, Duan Lei had basically judged the situation on site and smiled as he walked towards the prop lying under the car wheel.

  "Excuse me, sir. I'm not sure what happened to you. Do you need me to take you to the hospital for a check-up?" Duan Yue deliberately didn't use the local dialect of Tianzhou and instead spoke in standard Mandarin.

  As soon as he heard the standard Mandarin, the prop immediately understood that the other party was a genuine outsider, and his heart became more at ease. After a while, he shouted that his head hurt, and after a while, he hugged his leg and said it was broken!

  To say the least, this guy's performance is not professional at all, full of loopholes, and anyone who takes a look can tell he's pretending; however, Duan Yue still has to admire his opponent's professionalism.

  It's now 10:30, and the scorching sun south of the Tropic of Cancer is something that only those who have experienced it firsthand can understand. Standing on the ground, Duan Lei could feel the heat rising from the cement road surface. Not to mention the other person was lying directly on the scorching hot road surface, their work ethic was also something that made Duan Lei sigh in admiration.

  As soon as Duan Yue spoke up, the helpers around him began to speak out. One said that this injury is estimated to be quite serious and Duan Yue should prepare himself mentally; some suggested that Duan Yue report to the police; others explained the disadvantages of reporting to the police; and there were also those who suggested that Duan Yue settle the matter privately, etc.

  In fact, Duan Wei understood that these people were just part of the psychological tactics, using the car owner's panic and fear of trouble to guide them towards a private settlement, achieving their ultimate goal.

  Duan Yue also tried to put himself in the shoes of an out-of-town car owner and thought about it. Sometimes, settling privately is indeed the best choice when encountering such things. These thugs seem to be very clear about the car owners' bottom line, and the prices they offer are not outrageous, allowing the car owners to grit their teeth and pay to leave. After all, people who can afford to drive good cars won't care too much about a few thousand yuan, what they want most is to get out of these troubles as soon as possible.

  And these groups have a poisonous gaze, they can see through the car owner's brand and model of their car, as well as their age and attire, it can be said that they already possess a considerable degree of professionalism. Now Duan Lei just wants to hear what kind of price they will quote.

  "This also requires Mr. to stand up first, otherwise we can't communicate!" Duan Lei pointed at the non-professional actor who was still performing on the ground and said.

  "Hou San, hurry up and get up, the boss from outside has agreed to a private settlement!" A yellow-haired thug heard Duan Yue's words and kicked the actor with his foot, shouting.

  "He almost scalded me to death!" Hou San cried out in pain, getting up with mud and water all over him, still managing to put on a painful expression. He asked Duan Lei, "I wonder how much medical expenses the boss is willing to pay? My head was hit so hard that even my calf hurts..."

  ………”

  Duan Yue watched as Hou San chattered on and on in front of him, talking about where he was hit and how painful it was, but somehow still found it a bit comical.

  Hou San still hasn't changed much, still with that pointed mouth and monkey-like appearance, looking quite amusing.

  Hou Sanben's surname was originally Hou, and he was the third child in his family. As people called him Hou Sanben, nobody remembered his original name anymore. His home was located on the main street of the county town, but after his mother remarried and left, there was an old drunkard who didn't discipline him at all. He dropped out of middle school and hung around on the streets, becoming a notorious young punk in the county town.

  Before that, he had also colluded with other young rascals to extort money from Duan Lei and Yan Xiaoqing, who were then in their first year of high school, on the playground of the Sports Bureau. However, it turned out that Duan Lei and Yan Xiaoqing had been trained in martial arts since childhood and were skilled fighters! As a result, the two young rascals, armed with bricks, chased Hou San and his gang through the streets of Tianzhou County, becoming a sensational topic of conversation among the people.

  It was also through this battle that Duan Yue and Yan Xiaoqing gained fame in Tianzhou County, shaking off the fate of being extorted by thugs during their three years of high school.

  Duan Yue never thought that after a few years, Hou San would become a member of the porcelain collision group. But thinking about it, it's also normal, after hanging out on the streets for so many years, these young rascals like Hou San wouldn't and couldn't settle down to do honest work, this kind of job is the most suitable for them.

  Even if Duan Yun stood in front of Hou San now, Hou San still couldn't recognize that this tall and majestic farm owner was the high school student who had chased him to the point of fleeing in panic back then.

  The reason is that it has been several years since Hou San's memory was a bit vague, and another point is that Duan Lei's change in the past half year is quite big.

  After practicing the Lianhuantui, Duan Yu's height increased by several centimeters and his build became more robust; more importantly, he started to establish the rapidly developing Maca Biotechnology. His temperament was a bit too proud.

  It is said that when one moves their residence, they should also adjust their temperament and nurture their body accordingly.

  "Name a price! How much do you want?" Duan Lei showed an impatient look, interrupting Hou San's performance and asked: "I don't have that much time to waste here, we still have a long way to go!"

  Hou San Yi heard this and was delighted, thinking to himself that his brother had been pretending to be dead for half a day, just waiting for him to say these words.

  "Five thousand yuan! Not a penny less!" Before taking action, they had discussed an amount of only three thousand yuan, but Hou San saw that the car owner was so young and temporarily added it to five thousand.

  "50,000 yuan?!" Duan Yue stroked his chin thoughtfully and said: "This isn't a lot, I can give it to you! But I want to ask, don't you really recognize who I am?"

  At this time, Duan Yue's bad taste suddenly emerged, wanting to see if Hou San could recognize himself?

  "Boss, you're joking!" Hou San cupped his hands and bowed to Duan Yue, saying: "You are the dragon in heaven, I am a crawling insect on earth. We met by chance, how could I possibly know you?"

  As soon as Duan Yue agreed to give money, he immediately rose to the position of "clothing and food parents" in Hou San's mind. Therefore, saying some auspicious words to Duan Yue was also a matter of course. Anyway, since they were going to spend money, shouldn't we make them feel comfortable? Thinking of this, Hou San suddenly felt that he was an excellent representative of the porcelain industry, and he would take care of customers' psychological feelings, which made him somewhat proud.

  The onlookers were a bit disappointed that Duan Lei had agreed to pay so readily, and they started discussing in hushed tones. When Duan Lei first got out of the car, his tall and powerful build made many people think that a good show was about to begin. They thought that Duan Lei, being young and hot-headed, might not be willing to accept the extortion by these thugs, and if a fight were to break out, it would be exciting to watch.

  However, Duan Lei, who seemed to have considerable fighting power, turned out to be a useless person. He agreed to the conditions set by Hou San without even bargaining, which made the hot-headed people of Tianzhou feel disappointed and uninterested.

  "Money is no problem, but I don't have that much cash on me right now. Let me get my friend to send some over, just wait five minutes!" Duan Lei said with a smile.

  "You'd better hurry up, it's not good to get stuck here!" With that, Hou San felt a bit uneasy in his heart.

  This guy shouldn't know anyone in the county town, right? Tianzhou County is not big, and it's possible to get acquainted with someone after a few turns, but at that time, it would be somewhat embarrassing.

  "No problem!" Duan Yue rushed towards Hou San with a smile, but only made Hou San's hair stand on end. He then took out his phone and dialed the number.

  "Xiao Qing, I just crashed into someone named Hou San near the Post and Telegraph Building. They want 5,000 yuan in compensation. I don't have enough cash on me, can you send some over?" As soon as he finished speaking, Duan Lei hung up the phone without saying another word to Yan Xiaoqing.

  He received a call from Duan Lei, and Yan Xiaoqing started to feel a bit confused. He quickly reacted and knew that it was definitely another one of Duan Lei's pranks. Why else would he speak in Mandarin instead of the local dialect? Hou San was just a street urchin, wasn't he? Back then, he had been chased by Shi Tou and himself with bricks for half the county, crying and wailing. It would be strange if Shi Tou couldn't see through his tricks!

  With a sudden turn of his head, Yan Xiaoqing immediately thought through the cause and effect of things, grabbed the motorcycle key, said a word to his mother at home, and the motorcycle roared out of the store.