Chapter 30 If We Don’t Accept It, Someone Else Will
After dinner, Di Qing and Feilong returned to the Rose Bar.
Although we have taken over Temple Street, the case on Temple Street has not been closed yet, so the business there cannot be opened, and there is no point going there now.
It would be better to think of a way now to gain a foothold in Temple Street.
This street is an important achievement of his in office and must not be lost!
……
After two days of cleanup, the bar has reopened and the broken items have been replaced.
There were quite a few customers in the bar tonight. When Di Qing arrived at the bar, he saw Qiu Di had also come to work tonight and was selling wine in the place.
Di Qing walked over and said hello.
"Brother Qing, are you back?"
Seeing Di Qing, Qiu Di also breathed a sigh of relief, obviously knowing that they were going to Yau Ma Tei to negotiate.
Di Qing nodded and asked, "Where's Arun?"
Qiu Di said: "Arun went to class. She also has to go to night school."
Di Qing suddenly realized, thought for a moment, and said, "Don't go to work for the time being. Come here and I'll tell you something."
"Oh."
Qiu Di nodded obediently, without asking why, and followed Di Qing to the innermost room of the bar.
This is an office. Feilong, Tang Bao and others are waiting inside. Tang Shier is also sitting next to Feilong.
Seeing Di Qing coming, Tang Twelve quickly stood up and offered his seat: "Brother Qing, you are here."
Di Qing nodded and said, "Don't be polite, sit down and talk."
Feilong and the others had never seen Qiu Di before, so they looked at Di Qing and asked, "Qingzi, who is this?"
Di Qing smiled and said, "She is Qiu Di, my girlfriend, the one I rescued the other night."
"It turns out it's her!"
Everyone suddenly understood.
Ah Bao took a closer look at Qiu Di, and couldn't help but slap his thigh. He looked at his younger brothers with annoyance on his face: "Fuck, you didn't even notice such a beautiful girl in your place, and now Qingzai got her first. How did you do it?"
Looking at Qiu Di's exquisite face, everyone couldn't help but feel amazed.
Only Wang Zhicheng was not surprised and curled his lips.
You are a bunch of ignorant guys. If you knew that he has another equally beautiful girl at home, you would be jealous to death.
Di Qing smiled, took Qiu Di to sit on the sofa, and said to her: "Our talks with Zhongqing Society broke down, and things may not be peaceful recently. I'm worried that the people from Zhongqing Society will do something to you. You should not go to work for the time being, and come out to work after we have resolved this matter."
Qiu Di nodded and said, "I understand, Brother Qing, what about Arun?"
"Arun should not go to school for the time being. I will tell her when she comes back." Di Qing said.
Arun attends adult night school, which offers a high degree of freedom and he can go or not.
Feilong frowned and said, "Qingzi, there's no need to be like this, right? People who are involved in gangs should not bring disaster to their families. The people of Zhongqing Society are not so despicable, right?"
"Brother Feilong, don't be afraid of ten thousand, just be prepared for the worst."
Di Qing shook his head and thought to himself, "Brother Lian Kun eventually wiped out the entire family of Big Boss B. You still believe that the disaster will not affect your family. You are too naive!"
"Anyway, you better be careful, otherwise it will be too late to regret if something happens."
Seeing that no one cared, Di Qing still reminded them.
Tang Twelve also said at this time: "Brother Bao, Brother Feilong, Brother Qing is right. The gangs nowadays are not the same as before. That bastard Li Ming used to mess with my adopted grandfather and adopted mother."
Hearing this, Feilong and the others also looked serious and nodded, "Okay, we will pay attention."
Ah Bao frowned and said, "But it's not a good idea to keep on guarding against those bastards. We can't just sit there and wait for death, right?"
Feilong shook his head and said, "Brother Bao, now that the matter of Li Ming has passed, we have already taken advantage. If we take the initiative to cause trouble for Zhongqing Society again, then we will be in the wrong, and no one will obey us if the news gets out."
Di Qing nodded and said, "Brother Feilong is right. If you are out there, you still have to follow some rules. Otherwise, you will be the enemy of all societies. Now we can't take the initiative. We can only wait for Zhongqing Society to move against us, and then we will fight back."
"But don't worry. The Temple Street case should be resolved in a few days. Once the police lift the blockade, we can send people over."
"By then, the people from the Zhongqing Society will definitely not just watch us step into Temple Street. They will definitely find a way to deal with us. That will be the time for us to fight back."
Everyone nodded.
Ah Bao frowned and said, "These idiots, I don't know what methods they will use to deal with us." Feilong stood up and sent out a cigarette, saying lightly, "It's just the common ones. They will either fight directly, or let the police deal with us, or they will go after those shops."
“So we have to prepare in advance!”
Di Qing said in a deep voice, and then looked at Tang Twelve: "Twelve, what's the situation over at Temple Street? Tell me about it."
"Yes, Brother Qing."
Tang Twelve nodded, and then said, "The most common places on Temple Street are horse stables and gambling stalls. Of course, there are also many saunas, tobacco shops and small nightclubs. In addition, there are many stalls selling all kinds of things."
"The people inside are a mixed bag, including gamblers, Taoist nuns, and many from the mainland. There are all kinds of people, and it's very chaotic, so the police can't investigate at all. Unless something serious happens, they basically won't investigate."
"It's just that everyone knows that things in Temple Street are very cheap, and those vendors don't make much money, and they can't collect much protection money. In addition, the people in Temple Street are very united and don't allow outsiders to go in and bully the vendors inside."
“So over the years, apart from the Zhongqing Society, no one has set their sights on Temple Street.”
Ah Bao frowned and said, "Temple Street is so big, and there are so many vendors. Even if we collect a little from each vendor, we can still make a lot of money every month, right?"
Tang Twelve shook his head and said, "Brother Bao, that's what you said, but most of the people inside are vendors, and most of these vendors are poor people. We won't charge them protection fees."
"Our Temple Street is different from the outside. All the shops in Temple Street contribute some money to form a council, which rents out the vacant storefronts and stalls. The rent collected is used to maintain the operation of the council, and everyone gets dividends at the end of the year. However, when things go wrong, the council has to come forward to protect everyone from being bullied by outsiders, so we don't make much money on normal days."
Hearing this, everyone frowned slightly. It would be strange if the shops could make money by collecting dividends from the vendors.
A moment of silence.
Di Qing said, "It was fine to do this before, but since Temple Street is under the protection of Hongxing from now on, we still have to collect the protection fee. Otherwise, if we don't collect the money, we won't be able to explain it to the society."
Tang Twelve's face changed slightly, and he said, "Brother Qing, most of the people who set up stalls in Temple Street are poor people. They can't make much money in the first place, and they still have to pay rent. If they charge protection fees, they won't be able to survive at all."
Di Qing nodded: "I understand what you mean, but rules are rules, and we don't have the ability to change them now."
"In this way, we don't have to charge them protection fees in the future, but we can take a portion of the rent they pay as protection fees, and the price will remain the same as before."
Tang Twelve frowned and said, "Then what about the board of directors..."
Di Qing looked at him: "You are the chairman of the board of directors, right?"
Tang Twelve nodded: "I grew up in Temple Street and I am very familiar with the neighbors. In addition, I am a godfather and godmother, so everyone gave me face and let me be the chairman of the board of directors."
"Ah."
Di Qing nodded and said, "In that case, you will go and negotiate with the council. From now on, a portion of the rent of these vendors will be used as protection fees."
"And not only these vendors have to pay, but all the shops inside have to pay, based on their rent and business conditions, just like outside, they will be charged as much as they should."
At this point, Di Qing paused and said, "Tell them that we will do our job if we collect protection money. It's okay if they don't pay. If someone goes there to cause trouble, it has nothing to do with us. Do you understand what I mean?"
Tang Twelve's face changed slightly. He naturally understood what Di Qing meant.
For those who don't pay protection fees, we can send people to cause trouble every few days. When that happens, they won't be able to do business and will naturally understand the benefits of paying protection fees.
After a moment of silence, Tang Twelve nodded and said, "I understand, Brother Qing. I will go talk to them tomorrow."
"Ah."
Di Qing nodded: "It's good that you understand. You have to know that this is the era now. If you want to do business properly, you have to pay. Even if we don't charge, someone else will. If Temple Street is occupied by the Zhongqing Society, they may charge more than us."
"Yeah, I know Brother Qing."
Tang Twelve nodded.
"Okay, I'll leave this matter to you. It must be done before Temple Street reopens."
After Di Qing finished speaking, he looked at Feilong and Abao and said, "Brother Bao, Brother Feilong, do you have anything else to add?"
Feilong shook his head: "No, Qingzi, you are right. This is the way things are in this era. It is impossible to run a stable business without the support of a society."
"Even if we don't step into Temple Street, other gangs will come there to collect protection money."
"If that's the case, we might as well collect the money ourselves. At least we in Hongxing aren't too harsh in collecting protection fees, and those vendors can accept it."
Ah Bao also nodded and said, "Fei Long is right. As far as I know, some gangs are going too far in collecting protection fees. They are directly asking for the lives of those shops."
"There are also some shops that have no gang protection. Today this gang comes to take over, tomorrow that gang comes to take over, and the day after tomorrow some gang-less thugs may come to take over. In the end, those businesses have no profit, so they can only declare bankruptcy."
Di Qing nodded and said, "Okay, let's do this first. Let Twelve go and negotiate first. If he can't reach an agreement, we will intervene. When Temple Street reopens, we will bring people over."
Everyone nodded, indicating that they had no objection.
(End of this chapter)