Chapter 309 Protection Fee!
"Mom, how was business today?" At that moment, a girl walked over from not far away.
As soon as Hao Jian saw the girl, he was torn between laughter and tears. Could it really be such a coincidence? Meeting her mother while eating barbecue?
"Mom, why are you crying?" Seeing her mother's tear-streaked face, Jiang Yutong was also stunned.
"Yutong, come here and meet the benefactor of our family," the mother hurriedly walked over to Jiang Yutong's side.
"Benefactor? What benefactor?" Jiang Yutong was confused, feeling that her mother's words were all over the place.
"It's that young man, he said he is a teacher at your school, and just after a few words, he agreed to treat your father," the mother said.
"A teacher from our school? You couldn't have been deceived, right? Where in the world do such good things happen freely?" Jiang Yutong expressed her doubts, knowing that there's no such thing as a free lunch in this world.
"Just come over here," the mother pulled Jiang Yutong in the direction of Hao Jian.
When Jiang Yutong saw that the person her mother was talking about was Hao Jian, she couldn't help but be greatly shocked: "It's you?"
"Hi," Hao Jian said with a bitter smile.
"So, you two know each other?" the mother also said in surprise. Experience exclusive tales on My Virtual Library Empire
In an instant, Jiang Yutong's expression darkened, and she pulled her mother aside, "Mom, don't listen to him, he's not a good person."
"Ah? Really? I thought he seemed quite nice," the mother said in surprise, not understanding why Jiang Yutong would say such a thing.
"How could it not be? He's been bothering me for a long time, first at my workplace, and now he's pretending to be a good person at the place where you set up your stall," Jiang Yutong coldly snorted, looking icily at Hao Jian.
The mother, hearing this, couldn't help but gasp, and upon reflection, she too began to think that there might be some plausibility in Hao Jian's actions, as how could a normal person randomly help a stranger?
At this point, the mother began to believe that Hao Jian had ulterior motives for Jiang Yutong and was pretending to be a good person for that.
"Hey, Jiang Yutong, are you paranoid or just an extreme narcissist? Who said I have to like you?" Hao Jian was really upset. It was tolerable once or twice, but every time it was Jiang Yutong saying this about him. Doesn't he have any self-respect and dignity?
The mother was surprised; they were already whispering, how could Hao Jian still hear them?
Realizing that Hao Jian had heard, Jiang Yutong simply blurted out: "You dare say your being here is a coincidence?"
"I was just finished having dinner with my students and was about to head back to school, passed by here, and thought of buying some barbecue. How could it not be a coincidence? Moreover, how would I know she is your mother?" Hao Jian felt speechless, as Jiang Yutong was trying to overshadow everyone else.
"Yeah, Yutong, he didn't know I was your mother, could you be mistaken?" the mother also felt that Hao Jian made sense.
"Mom, have you forgotten that he is a teacher? Teachers can access students' family information, and many students know that you set up a stall here; maybe he found out about it from someone else?" Jiang Yutong still insisted that Hao Jian must have unsavory intentions. Where in the world are such coincidences, encountering Hao Jian in the two places where it was least likely for them to meet?
Then the mother was silent.
Hao Jian sighed and, while taking out his wallet, said to the mother, "Please pack up my barbecue, I won't eat it here."
After such an incident, he no longer felt like staying there.
"This," the mother hesitated for a moment. She really didn't think Hao Jian was a bad person, and then turned to Jiang Yutong, "Yutong, might you be mistaken?"
"That... That might just be him faking it," Jiang Yutong said uncertainly, not entirely convinced that Hao Jian was not there for her, but how could she admit it was a misunderstanding on her part now? If she admitted it, wouldn't it be her fault?
The mother sighed and said to Hao Jian, "Teacher, I'm sorry, this was our mistake. This barbecue is on me."
But Hao Jian smiled and shook his head: "It's okay, auntie, there's no need to apologize. This isn't your fault, and no one wanted this to happen. Plus, I'm not angry. You're running a small business, and you couldn't earn much on this late night; if I ate for free, how much would that cost you? Keep the money."
Despite the mother's protest, Hao Jian forcefully stuffed a handful of bills into her hand.
The mother looked awkward and was at a loss for how to respond for a moment.
Hao Jian then silently packed up the barbecue himself and prepared to leave.
Seeing this, the mother looked reproachfully at her daughter: "You really misunderstood him."
Jiang Yutong bit her red lips and remained silent.
At that time, another group of customers approached from a distance. The older woman couldn't continue scolding Jiang Yutong any longer and hurriedly went to meet them.
"What would you young men like to eat?" the older woman asked.
"Eat what?" The leader, Little Yellow Hair, immediately laughed upon hearing this: "We're not here to eat anything."
"Not to eat, then what are you here for?" The older woman asked, looking puzzled at the young men with a rough demeanor, feeling a bad premonition.
Yellow Hair sneered immediately: "Ma'am, are you aware of the protection money you need to pay for setting up a stall here? Don't you know that this area is all under the control of Blade Club?"
The woman's expression stiffened: "But I've had this stall here for several years and nobody has ever demanded protection money."
Seeing how weak and vulnerable the older woman appeared, the gangsters became even more unbridled: "That's because we weren't here yet. Now that Blade Club has arrived, you must pay the protection fee on time!"
"But I don't have any money," the woman lamented, already not a courageous person, her face turned pale with fear in the face of these menacing gangsters.
"No money? Then you shouldn't set up a stall here!" Yellow Hair said arrogantly.
"Who are you to decide whether we can set up a stall?" Jiang Yutong quickly stepped forward, staring coldly at the gangsters.
"Hey, this little girl looks pretty dashing. Ma'am, I've changed my mind. If you let this little girl beside you spend a night with me and my brothers, you won't have to pay any protection fee in the future, and we'll still protect you for free." Little Yellow Hair's lustful gaze swept over Jiang Yutong.
"No, absolutely not!" Hearing that Yellow Hair was targeting Jiang Yutong, the older woman panicked and quickly shielded Jiang Yutong behind her, like a hen protecting her chick.
"No? Then pay up!" Yellow Hair glared, bellowing angrily.
"How much do you want?" the older woman sighed, realizing that this trouble was unavoidable, and she could only obediently pay up, considering it a loss to avoid disaster.
"Three thousand!" Yellow Hair demanded outright.
"Three thousand? But I don't even make that much in a month!" the older woman said stiffly. Struggling to maintain her barbecue stall, she barely made a little over two thousand a month. Yellow Hair demanding three thousand was more than she earned to pay as protection money.
Yellow Hair sneered coldly: "Can't pay? Then you're not allowed to set up your stall here!"
"On what basis do you get to decide? We're not hurting anyone by setting up our stall here, what does it have to do with you? If you don't leave now, I'm going to call the cops!" Jiang Yutong retorted angrily, pulling out her phone as if to threaten.
"Call the cops?" Yellow Hair also got angry, his face ferocious: "Go ahead and try calling them. At most we'll be locked up for a few days, and once we're out, we'll kill you all! I see you're wearing a school uniform from Chinese Medicine Hospital; you must be studying at Traditional Chinese Medicine, right? We will be waiting for you every day at your school gate."
Hearing this, both Jiang Yutong and her mother's faces turned pale.
If that was the case, then Jiang Yutong wouldn't be able to attend Traditional Chinese Medicine ever again.
"Forget it, we won't set up here anymore." The older woman shook her head, her face showing defeat. She knew she wasn't capable of standing up to these men and prepared to close her stall and leave.
Jiang Yutong also felt very angry but was utterly helpless.
"Leave? You can't leave now." Yellow Hair grabbed Jiang Yutong's hand, leering with a sneer: "You've set up here today already, so you owe us today's protection fee as well. Otherwise, you cannot leave."
Jiang Yutong became visibly distressed but quickly calmed down, pulling out a hundred yuan from her pocket and throwing it to Yellow Hair: "Here's your protection fee for today!"
But Yellow Hair didn't even glance at the hundred yuan, sneering coldly: "A hundred yuan, do you think I'm a beggar?"
"The protection fee for a month is three thousand, so a day should indeed be a hundred—what's wrong with that?" Jiang Yutong argued angrily.
"According to my rules, we charge by the month every day, so you must pay three thousand." The lustful intent was clear on Little Yellow Hair's face, he was just making excuses—grasping the opportunity to harass Jiang Yutong.
Of course, compared to a mere three thousand yuan, spending a night with a beautiful university student was worth every penny!
"But we don't have that much money right now, can we do it tomorrow? I'll definitely give you the money tomorrow, please spare my daughter!" the older woman pleaded.
"Tomorrow? Do you think I'm an idiot? If you can't produce the money now, your daughter will have to stay with us, and you can come to redeem her tomorrow!" Yellow Hair smirked and then pulled Jiang Yutong along, "Brothers, take this lady and let's head back!"
The gangsters all chuckled lewdly.
"No! Don't take my daughter!" The older woman hurriedly lunged forward, trying to pull Jiang Yutong back from Yellow Hair, aware of what would happen if Jiang Yutong was taken with them.
"Get lost!" Yellow Hair kicked her hard, sending the older woman tumbling to the ground where she hit her head hard, bleeding profusely.