290: Chapter 286 Conditions 290: Chapter 286 Conditions Dafa Pawnshop Company’s main entrance, once the rolling shutter was pulled down, their place of business was completely cut off from the outside.
With the nature of their business, it was natural for small conflicts to arise between their clients and the employees upon entering.
Once the rolling shutter was down, whatever happened inside the company was completely unknown to outsiders.
Just installing a rolling shutter and not putting a glass door at the entrance, the people from Dafa Pawnshop did this for their own convenience.
“Gentlemen, harmony brings wealth!”
“Where is your boss, Ding Laosan?
Have him come out, I have something to discuss with him—a good chat!”
Seeing the guys inside Dafa Pawnshop as tensed up as if facing a formidable enemy, Chen Hai chuckled faintly and spoke casually.
Originally, he had planned to go straight into the office to find Ding Laosan!
Now, though, with a crowd surrounding him and Bai Xiaohang, he didn’t bother moving forward.
Instead, he found a chair, sat down with a carefree pose.
Standing behind Chen Hai, Bai Xiaohang was full of vigilance, looking around cautiously.
He had come here with Chen, trusting him, and therefore he came unarmed.
However, now, though he was standing, one of his hands was continuously hovering over the back of a nearby chair.
In case of an emergency, if people like Yue and the rest suddenly attacked him and Chen Hai, he would definitely use the chair as a weapon.
Then, there would be nothing more to say, and it would just be a matter of one word: fight.
Inside Dafa Pawnshop’s lobby, like Yue, there were at least a dozen guys who were ostensibly employees but actually Ding Laosan’s thugs.
At this moment, however, these guys were looking at each other hesitantly, with three or four of them reaching toward their waists.
Though they were numerous and powerful, Bai Xiaohang’s martial prowess was well known to them.
Of the more than ten people present, perhaps only a few had actually exchanged blows with Bai Xiaohang and witnessed his fighting ability.
As for the others, even if they hadn’t eaten pork before, they should at least have seen a pig walk.
The last time, many people attacked Bai Xiaohang alone, only to be knocked down by him—a fact clearly remembered by everyone present.
Without using the weapons hidden at their waists, a mere melee, these men from Dafa Pawnshop had no absolute confidence that they could handle both Bai Xiaohang and Chen Hai.
Chen Hai’s demeanor, however, left them completely unable to gauge his intentions.
Moreover, with Ding Laosan not making a statement, they were hesitant about whether to start a fight right away.
“Bai Xiaohang, you’ve got guts to dare come to Dafa Pawnshop?”
“Since you ran away from the Capital City, wouldn’t it be better to stay away?
Coming here, are you asking for a longer life?”
“What is this?
It’s like you refuse the road to heaven and break into Hell instead!”
With a look of disdain, Ding Laosan slowly emerged from his office.
The commotion outside, just one door away, was something he had been aware of from the very beginning.
The reason he only came out now was simple: he believed the situation was already under the control of his subordinates.
“I come and go in the Capital City as I please.”
“Ding Laosan, in my eyes, you’re not worth a damn!”
“I can take on two of your kind with just one hand!”
Bai Xiaohang sneered, his face full of scorn as he curled his lip.
Such a tough guy as himself, even if he were to lose, would definitely not lose face.
Not to mention that his boss, Chen Hai, was here to back him up—even if it were just him alone, he would never show any sign of weakness in front of Ding Laosan.
“Kid, you look kind of familiar.
Where do you hang out?
What’s your surname?”
“Are you and Bai Xiaohang here to compensate our company for its losses on his behalf?”
Ding Laosan’s expression darkened with a cold snort.
His gaze, however, passed over Bai Xiaohang and settled on Chen Hai.
Chen Hai was sitting, and Bai Xiaohang was standing obediently behind him, making it obvious to anyone that Chen Hai was the one in charge.
“My surname is Chen.
Bai Xiaohang works for me.
I was out on business, and it wasn’t until a few days ago that I heard about the conflict between him and you!”
“I came here to ask, how do you plan to resolve this matter?”
Chen Hai looked Ding Laosan up and down without expression, responding offhandedly.
Although the world nowadays was somewhat chaotic, it was ultimately a society ruled by law.
Furthermore, Capital City, under the foot of the Emperor, and the location of Dafa Pawnshop Company in the bustling center of the city.
Starting a fight and killing someone without a word?
That just wasn’t suitable.
If the conflict between Bai Xiaohang and Ding Laosan could be resolved peacefully, that would naturally be the best outcome for Chen Hai.
Constantly shouting about fighting and killing?
If it really came to that, he would certainly feel relieved!
However, inside Dafa Pawnshop Company at the moment, there were more than a dozen people.
If he were to kill someone, he wouldn’t be able to let any of the other witnesses go either.
Should such a situation arise, even if Chen Hai had the Corpse Transformation Talisman to eliminate the body and leave no trace, it would still bring him a great deal of trouble in dealing with the aftermath.
“Are you pleading for Bai Xiaohang?”
With undisguised contempt, Ding Laosan let out a strange laugh, “If you want me to spare him, it’s very simple.”
“Chen’s house must be handed over to me, that’s a must.”
“On top of that, the medical expenses, lost wages, and emotional damages for the brothers he chopped up…
I won’t ask for much, just fifty thousand per person will do!”
“Besides, I had a whole bunch of guys out on the streets looking for Bai Xiaohang for a while, I spent quite a bit on manpower and resources.”
“I’ve carefully calculated the costs, and together they come to over three hundred thousand.”
“But I, Ding Laosan, have always been kind-hearted.
I’ll round down the loose change for you.”
“If you want to stand up for Bai Xiaohang, just compensate me with three hundred thousand…”
He said as though he had come out on the losing end of the deal, sarcasm oozing from his tone.
In an era where the average salary is no more than three hundred, to ninety-nine percent of the people in Yanhuang Country, three hundred thousand is undoubtedly a huge sum of money.
The cost to purchase the courtyard house that Chen Hai bought in Liuhua Alley was just that amount.
By putting such terms on the table, what peace was Ding Laosan trying to negotiate?
He was clearly taking this opportunity to extort a large sum from Chen Hai and Bai Xiaohang.
“A house I bought with hard-earned money, you want to take it away with just a word?”
“Besides that, you want me to compensate you with three hundred thousand?”
“Ding Laosan, I suspect you’ve been kicked in the head by a donkey.
If you have mental issues, you should go get a good look in the hospital, instead of embarrassing yourself out here!”
With Bai Xiaohang’s fiery temper, he wanted to lift a chair then and there and smash it on Ding Laosan’s head.
However, seeing how his own boss Chen Hai, despite his expressionless face, had made no other move, Xiaohang managed to keep his rage under control and didn’t let it show.
“Ding Laosan, your terms are a bit too much to bear.”
“If you really want to resolve this issue peacefully, couldn’t you offer more sincerity and come up with simpler conditions?”
“Like, say, compensating us with three hundred and fifty thousand or so, or perhaps, giving us the site of your company directly, so we can have a place to do some small business?”
Before, Chen Hai was expressionless, but as he spoke these words, a slight smile actually appeared on his face.
“What…” Ding Laosan was taken aback.
Halfway through what Chen Hai was saying, he thought Chen Hai was just haggling over the offer.
But when Chen Hai finished speaking, Ding Laosan was confused.
He thought he must have heard wrong.
“I can tell you for sure, that’s exactly what I mean, and you definitely didn’t mishear!”
“Moreover, I’m not discussing it with you.
I’m merely informing you of my terms.”
“You can choose to refuse, I never like to coerce people, but I must kindly remind you, you bear the consequences!”
Chen Hai, lounging back with one leg crossed over the other, the smile on his face now brighter than before as he spoke these words.
When you’re asking for compensation of three hundred and fifty thousand or to give away the company’s premises,
Are the terms he proposed too much?
Chen Hai himself certainly didn’t think so.
In his view, the conditions he set forth were simply an eye for an eye.
However, just a few steps away, Ding Laosan, having heard everything, had already turned an ashen hue with rage boiling over.
“A man surnamed Chen dares to play with me, seeking death!” Shouting furiously at the top of his lungs and pointing a finger at Chen Hai.
Click-click-click…
Several crisp sounds in quick succession.
The men from Dafa Pawnshop, already on high alert with weapons at their waists, pulled out their guns and loaded their chambers as soon as Ding Laosan spoke.
“Ding Laosan, if you have the guts, let your lapdogs fire at me!”
“If I even furrow my brow, I’m not Bai Xiaohang!”
Bai Xiaohang stepped forward instantly, his burly frame shielding most of Chen Hai behind him.
A regular handgun wasn’t very powerful, but he was only flesh and blood; at such close range, he definitely couldn’t stop a bullet.
Otherwise, when Ding Laosan was searching everywhere for him, he wouldn’t have fled Capital City.
But at this moment, in Bai Xiaohang’s eyes, the safety of his boss Chen Hai was of the utmost importance.
Everything else couldn’t be considered.
“Didn’t you act all arrogant before?
Come on, show me some more of that arrogance!”
“This room has good sound insulation; firing a gun here is like setting off a small firecracker outside!”
“Don’t think I won’t shoot.
If you don’t want to die, kneel down right now!”
Looking straight at Bai Xiaohang, standing in front of Chen Hai, Ding Laosan scoffed disdainfully with a cold laugh.