纪夏愕然地抬头打量着店老板，不认识。
Looking at Chen Jing again, after a moment of confusion, his face lit up with surprise and delight. He excitedly patted the shop owner on the shoulder: "Brother Wei, it's you? You're setting up a stall here too? Where's Brother Song?"
"Brother Song? Brother Song is here too. A lot of our brothers have come to Baima to claim territory."
Ji Xia listened for a while before she understood.
Last year, Chen Jing helped Old Man Sun and his grandson inquire about his biological daughter, Sun Xiaoyu's aunt, and made a trip to the provincial capital.
Boss Song is the head of the black market in the provincial capital. When Chen Jing was looking for someone last year, Boss Song helped a lot. He also became close friends with several brothers in the provincial capital.
Wei, who runs a shop selling men's trousers, is one of them.
The two old friends were naturally excited to meet, and they chatted happily about the past.
As evening approached, Brother Wei packed up his stall, invited the two to have dinner together, and planned to go find Boss Song.
Chen Jing brought his girlfriend along, not wanting to alert Boss Song and the other gangsters.
However, since Brother Wei had already extended the invitation, it would be impolite to refuse, so he readily accepted.
Ji Xia and Chen Jing helped pack up the goods on the stall, loaded them onto a small cart and pushed them back to a nearby warehouse before leading them away from the White Horse Exhibition Area.
That evening, Ji Xia witnessed firsthand how Chen Jing dealt with his underworld brothers.
Since the two started dating, Chen Jing has been attentive and considerate, like a devoted boyfriend, and even his speech has become much gentler.
After befriending the gangsters, he seemed to become a different person—generous, forthright, and righteous. The gangsters and Boss Song had a very good impression of him.
They booked a private room in the restaurant, ordered two or three dozen beers, and a table full of dishes, drinking as if it were water.
Ji Xia sat quietly beside Chen Jing, smiling and eating quietly with her head down. When someone praised her to Chen Jing, she returned the compliment with a shy smile.
After a few rounds of drinks, someone whispered a few words to Boss Song, who couldn't help but glance at Ji Xia again.
After they had eaten enough, Boss Song took out a cigarette from his breast pocket and beckoned to Chen Jing: "Little Chen, come out and have a smoke."
"good."
Chen Jing no longer smokes, but he could tell that Boss Song wanted to talk to him, so he followed Boss Song out of the private room.
Standing outside the restroom at the end of the corridor, Chen Jing naturally took out a lighter and lit a cigarette for Boss Song, then respectfully asked, "Brother Song, is there anything I can help you with? Just let me know."
Boss Song smiled faintly, exhaled a puff of smoke, and pointed his pinky finger out the window: "I didn't come looking for you, but you've had two men following you the whole time, you know that? When did you offend that Liao guy?"
"The one surnamed Liao? Who is that?"
Chen Jing frowned slightly, looking out the window with a puzzled expression: "We only arrived in Huacheng yesterday evening, and we didn't have any conflicts with anyone along the way. How could we have offended him?"
"No conflict?"
Old Song narrowed his eyes, puffed out smoke for a while, and then asked, "Did you arrive in Huacheng by train?"
"Yes, we came by train, but it was only a few hours' journey. We stayed in the carriage the whole time and didn't have any conflicts or grudges with anyone."
Chen Jing frowned deeply as he spoke: "Who is this Liao guy? What does he do?"
When Song thought of Chen Jing's fiancée's beautiful and exquisite face and her curvaceous figure, he understood.
"If there's no conflict, then there's no grudge. I'm afraid he's attracted to your girlfriend. You'd better be careful, kid."
"What's their background? Brother Song, are you familiar with them?"
"We may know each other, but we're not on good terms, and they won't care about my feelings."
Chen Jing frowned: "They don't even respect your feelings? Who are these people?"
Boss Song sneered. As the leader of an old gang, Boss Song certainly knew about Boss Liao of the emerging gang.
They're both gangs. Boss Song used to be the head of the black market, leading a group of henchmen to make money by trading. Boss Liao, on the other hand, is a ruthless thug who spends his days causing trouble with his gang.
Now that Huacheng has opened up, there's no need for a black market. People can set up stalls anywhere on the street, and the government has even allocated areas for them to buy and sell, allowing them to make money.
With the black market gone, Boss Song and his gang of henchmen openly acquired goods, seized market share, and became legitimate businessmen, striving to turn their small business into a big one.
Boss Liao, however, gathered a group of petty thugs who spent their days stealing chickens and dogs, and they started doing illegal things.
Buying and selling is illegal, but Boss Song profits from the price difference by adhering to the principle of willing buyers and sellers, and has never harmed anyone.
Liao Laoda's illegal activities ranged from petty theft and trafficking of women and children to forcing women into prostitution; he was doing all sorts of risk-free business.
If they've never offended Boss Liao and don't know him, then their targeting of Chen Jing and Ji Xia suggests they've set their sights on Chen Jing's woman.
After hearing about their background, Chen Jing's face turned ashen.
No wonder I felt like someone was watching me from behind the whole way after I got off the train.
I thought it was just my imagination, but now I know it's true.
He pondered for a long time with a serious face: "Brother Song, do me a favor and find me a few brothers who know some martial arts. Consider it money I'm paying them."
Boss Song patted him on the shoulder: "Don't worry, even if you weren't our brother, we brothers would still be willing to lend a hand if we saw something like this."
Dinner lasted two hours. The group didn't eat much food, but they drank several dozen beers. Most of them had flushed faces and their breath reeked of alcohol.
Chen Jing and Ji Xia waved goodbye to Boss Song and his close brothers, and boarded the bus back to the guesthouse.
Even at night, Huacheng is very lively, and the buses are crowded with people, packed like sardines.
Chen Jing squinted and gripped the handrail tightly as he stood in the aisle, holding Ji Xia close to his chest to prevent anyone from hurting her or taking advantage of the situation.
The two thugs who had been following him had been replaced. They watched Chen Jing from afar, his eyes half-closed and his drunken state clearly visible, and exchanged a knowing glance.
I've been following him for two days but haven't found an opportunity. Now that he's drunk, is it time to make my move?
The two thugs had also heard that this man was not someone to be trifled with; last year, when five or six men attacked him, he beat them all to a pulp.
The bus is the best place to take advantage of a situation, but while it's easy to steal money, it's not so easy to get someone away from him while he's in his arms.
They exchanged a glance, and the short man slowly squeezed his way to the back of Chen Jing with the flow of people.
The train quickly arrived at the platform. As the train braked, Chen Jing swayed slightly, but quickly grabbed the handrail to steady himself and shielded Ji Xia in front of him.
At this moment, the bus stopped, the back door opened, and a group of passengers lined up to get off.
Just then, someone patted Chen Jing on the shoulder: "Brother, your wallet in your back pocket has been stolen. He just got off the bus, why don't you go chase after him?"
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