booktalesy Chapter 65 The Bald Man's Dilemma, the Secret Service
Chapter 65 The Bald Man's Dilemma, the Secret Service
At the same time, two young men dressed in tattered clothes and working-class attire exchanged a glance among the onlookers.
With light footsteps, he silently moved to a position two meters behind Lin Wan.
If anyone tries to harm her, the two of them can act immediately.
They used to be part of the city's anti-traitor squad, and they were very skilled.
This time, I came to Shanghai with Director Zheng to carry out a mission, and I was responsible for providing covert protection.
Normally, they would only follow from a distance and would not easily show themselves unless in a critical moment.
The bald man's eyes lit up; he was truly amazed by the young and beautiful girl in front of him.
However, after only three seconds, his restless heart was forcibly cooled down.
There are more than 400 gangs of all sizes in Shanghai. Every day there are shootings, vendettas, and brawls between gangs fighting for territory.
Many seemingly powerful underlings, who were swaggering around in the morning, might have been ambushed and shot dead at their doorsteps after drinking with their brothers in the evening.
To survive in the den of tigers and dragons of Shanghai, you need to be quite shrewd.
Baldy had only been in the gang for two years when he outlived two senior leaders and, with his clever mind, managed to become a minor leader.
Although he hasn't been given a prominent position yet, he's still guarding lucrative establishments like nightclubs or opium dens.
However, being able to manage and collect protection fees from these streets, and to lead a group of henchmen to swagger around, is already quite an achievement.
When he saw the beautiful woman in front of him, lewd thoughts flashed through his mind.
However, for any man, seeing a woman who catches his eye usually stems from lewd thoughts, only the way they are expressed is different.
There's a problem if a man's first thought upon seeing a beautiful woman is to become sworn brothers with her!
But despite his roguish appearance, the bald man was perfectly shrewd.
This is also why he was able to outlive two leaders and successfully take over in just two years.
The woman in front of me was young and beautiful, dressed in a stylish shirt, riding breeches, and imported calfskin boots—a typical upper-class outfit.
Based on his experience, she was either a mistress kept by some big shot or the daughter of some powerful and wealthy family.
That's not someone a mere underling like him can afford to mess with.
For a gang to survive, the first thing it needs is money.
Therefore, gangs are trying to build relationships with the upper echelons and find powerful backers. By currying favor with wealthy businessmen, they can gain some benefits and business opportunities.
The gang that the bald man belonged to handled some small businesses for a wealthy businessman.
If someone were to offend the children of a powerful political figure due to lust, they would likely be stuffed into a sack and thrown into the river by their elder brother that very night!
Moreover, in today's environment where starvation is widespread and ordinary people can only eat meat once every one or two months.
Those who can buy an entire wild boar in one go are no ordinary people.
For people like them who live on the streets, having a keen eye is essential.
Especially those who manage to reach the position of a minor leader, if they really didn't have any brains, they would have been used as cannon fodder and died in the firefight long ago.
The bald man's eyes darted around as he quickly weighed the pros and cons in his mind.
He glanced at the seven or eight henchmen behind him out of the corner of his eye.
In this world, people value their reputation. If you lose face and prestige, how will you lead your underlings in the future?
Since you've already asked for it, there's no reason to take it back.
Otherwise, his underlings will think that their leader is afraid of a woman, and who will respect him in the future?
But the bald man knew in his heart that he absolutely could not mess with the woman in front of him.
If you actually dare to have lustful thoughts, you probably won't even know how you died!
If he had known that it was this woman, who might have some connections, who bought the wild boar meat, he would never have asked for a hind leg!
There are many smart people, but there are also some fools who bully ordinary people at the bottom of society and are used to being arrogant.
Just as the bald man was pondering how to deal with the woman without losing face or offending her.
The burly man, holding a boning knife, hurriedly smiled apologetically and said, "I...we've already paid, could you please be lenient?"
If one pig's leg is missing, I certainly can't accept nine silver dollars from others anymore.
What he lost was all his money!
A thug behind him arrogantly said, "The pig leg is for our Baldy. This chick will also have a few drinks with him at noon. If you dare to utter another sound, believe me, I'll interrupt you...!"
boom!
Before he could finish speaking, the thug was slapped on the back of the head.
A righteous voice rang out in the air: "What the hell are you spouting? We江湖 (jianghu, the martial arts world) believe in righteousness and justice, not immoral womanizers!"
The bald man's forehead veins bulged, and he wished he could slap this brainless bastard to death with his own hands.
In this world, speaking recklessly can really get you killed!
If he really offends the person behind him, others will definitely hold him, the boss, responsible.
The bald man's eyes were bloodshot; he wished he could kick this brainless underling into the Huangpu River and feed him to the fish!
He swallowed hard, torn between saying something conciliatory to prevent the girl from telling the important person behind him what happened today.
Just as he was about to grit his teeth and admit defeat, two police officers in black uniforms walked over.
The taller one shouted loudly, "What are you all doing in that crowd?"
The policeman brandished his baton, startling the onlookers who quickly moved away.
Lin Wan said, "I bought a wild boar, and they want to steal the meat."
A single, simple sentence succinctly explained the matter.
"It's just a piece of meat...?" The tall man looked impatient and was about to scold someone and cause trouble when his sleeve was tugged.
The shorter colleague next to him said in a trembling voice, "He's Manager Lu's friend!"
The tall man was stunned for a moment, then turned around and realized that it was indeed the friend of Manager Lu that he had offended during the patrol a few days ago!
He quickly put on a smiling face and said, "Oh, it's you... Don't worry, I'll take care of it right away!"
When he turned his head again, his expression turned fierce.
He snapped, "You even dare to steal from Manager Lu's friend? Are you all tired of living?"
The bald man's eyelids twitched, and a look of awe appeared in his eyes.
The distance between Manager Lu and him was like that between a deputy director and a street thug!
They don't even have the right to meet him!
Others could crush him like an ant with just a single sentence.
The bald man's eyelids twitched wildly, and he secretly rejoiced that he hadn't said anything too offensive.
He quickly seized the opportunity, putting on a smiling face: "Officers, you've misunderstood. We just saw this lady had bought too many things and wanted to help her return them!"
He was giving the police officer face, not because he was afraid of that woman!
Then he urged the burly butcher, "Hurry up and load it onto the truck, we'll help you take it back!"
The onlookers looked at each other in disbelief, never expecting that the usually domineering gang member would back down, and even more surprised that the woman buying the goods had such a powerful background.
The burly man carried the pork upstairs, received the remaining payment, and a happy smile appeared on his face.
The two former policemen, eager to curry favor, followed behind and helped carry the items downstairs before leaving.
And she was promised that she could bring any wild game she caught in the future.
boom!
Lin Wan closed the door and glanced at the wild boar meat on the ground.
With a gentle wave of his hand, two hundred pounds of pork and offal were all stored in the Time-Space Treasure Chest.
at the same time
The office of the head of the Shanghai station of the Bureau of Investigation and Statistics was gently pushed open.