Although the Qiaolou Hotel looked dilapidated from the outside, once you entered the gate, you would find that it was a completely different world inside. In this place where it was freezing cold everywhere, there was surprisingly a heating system inside, which made Lu Yuan admire the ingenuity of these people.
Upon entering the restaurant, Lu Yuan saw that the area on the first floor, which should have been a dining hall, had been converted into mahjong tables and various gambling equipment. However, there weren't many people inside. After all, people's lives had become extremely difficult at this time, and it would be quite challenging to survive here. But what Lu Yuan didn't expect was that people would still gamble in such a dangerous place as the outer city.
At this moment, accompanied by two security personnel, Lu Yuan walked towards the second floor.
"Brother, what's up there?" Lu Yuan asked while looking at the various devices around the corridor. After all, this kind of place was a mixed bag, and the fat guy he was looking for was no pushover either.
It was through this fat guy that Lu Yuan got into District 5. Fatty's real name was Zhu Yongfu. Before he got involved in the black market, he was always called Fatty Zhu. Later, when he became successful and powerful, no one dared to call him Fatty Zhu anymore. Gradually, people had to respectfully call him Fatty. After all, it's really not easy to make a name for yourself in the outer city. If there are various military and police controls in the inner city, then there are none in the outer city.
The reason why Fatty Zhu has such a large influence and is able to organize his own black market is actually closely related to his ruthless personality.
Having heard so much, Lu Yuan had to be careful. He didn't know if this place was within Zhu Pangzi's sphere of influence. His coming here alone this time was out of necessity, since he could no longer survive in the inner city. Since Chen Kaiming's downfall, Lu Yuan had gradually lost any chance of survival. In addition, he had offended Yuan Bing after helping Han Wen treat his son. This Yuan Bing was no ordinary person; his background was very mysterious, and he was said to be an extremely powerful force in the inner city. Lu Yuan knew he was no match for him.
Although Lu Yuan and Han Wen didn't have a close relationship, Yuan Bing was stubborn and kept trying to kill him. So Lu Yuan had no choice but to leave the inner city. The second reason was that Lu Yuan's investment was essential for the mine to start operations. Chen Kaiming had no other channels for borrowing money. After all, in the inner city, the money was controlled by the wealthy, while in the outer city, it was controlled by the black market and underground forces. Chen Kaiming preferred to operate openly and disdained getting entangled with these underground forces. Once the mine started, getting too involved with the underground forces in the outer city would make him vulnerable to being devoured. Chen Kaiming was well aware of these rules, so he could only rely on Lu Yuan.
However, Lu Yuan was new to the area and only had a basic understanding of the power structure in District 5. He was not very clear about the deeper aspects of the situation.
The reason Lu Yuan sought out Fatty Zhu was out of necessity. After all, if he wanted to get a lot of money, he could only turn to people in the black market. As for the inner city, Lu Yuan's network of connections was completely unusable, since he was relying on Chen Kaiming.
Upon hearing Lu Yuan's words, the bodyguard chuckled and said, "Brother, is this your first time here? This is the VIP area! We only serve VIPs!"
After saying that, the bodyguard stood at the top of the stairs and gestured for them to enter, saying, "Alright, we've arrived, we won't accompany you inside!"
Lu Yuan nodded, then gently pushed open the door. Just as he was about to go in, he heard a shrill scream coming from inside.
"Holy crap! What's going on?" Lu Yuan stopped in his tracks, but the two bodyguards beside him shook their heads, clearly not intending to say anything.
So Lu Yuan swallowed hard, forced himself to remain calm, and went inside.
In the lobby on the second floor, a few scattered gamblers sat, some playing dice, some playing cards. Everyone seemed to be used to the screams and just kept playing.
Then the screams rang out again.
"Ah! Fatty... Fatty, spare me! I'll never do it again! Please let me go! Ah..." A shrill scream accompanied by constant pleas came from the depths of the second floor.
A lazy voice rang out.
"Heh! Let you go? Do you think I, Fatty Zhu, am a philanthropist? Knife, keep going! Don't kill me, leave me a breath! I'm going to meet a guest!"
As he spoke, an overweight man wearing a blue nightgown with his shirt open walked out.
The henchman took out a lighter from his pocket, lit a cigar for the other man, and then stepped aside, no longer following him.
"Have the guests arrived?" Fatty Zhu asked, turning around.
A bodyguard standing behind him nodded and said softly, "We've arrived. We're already on the second floor!"
"Yes! Let's go see him!"
Lu Yuan stood at the bar waiting for Fatty Zhu to arrive. The constant screams made his scalp tingle, but he wasn't particularly afraid. He knew that Fatty Zhu was good at cheating and was extremely cunning, especially when it came to taking advantage of others. This time, Lu Yuan had come to seek cooperation with him, and the other party had left him here to listen to screams for several minutes, which was nothing more than a warning. Lu Yuan had seen this kind of drama many times on TV, and he understood it after a little thought.
Zhu Pangzi swaggered up to Lu Yuan and burst into laughter: "Haha! Isn't this Lu Yuan! I'm so sorry, one of my unruly gamblers played a dirty trick on me, so I caught him and taught him a lesson. I'm a bit late, you weren't waiting long, were you?"
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