My Co-renting Lady Boss
Chapter 55 - 0055: Collecting Protection Fees

Chapter 55: Chapter 0055: Collecting Protection Fees

Tang Ming looked at her attitude, feeling very annoyed. Nowadays, sellers are more arrogant than customers.

After both had sat and finished eating, Tang Ming stood up to pay the bill, and Xia Wei’er coldly said, "One hundred yuan."

"What? Ten yuan each? Isn’t it written here as eight yuan?"

Tang Ming had barely scraped together a thousand yuan, and spending one hundred all at once was quite painful for him.

"Please, you ate blueberry ice cream, they are ten yuan each."

Xia Wei’er said with a cold face, "You aren’t trying to dodge paying by causing a scene, are you?"

"Fine, ten yuan each then!"

Tang Ming, feeling dejected, fished out a hundred-yuan note from his pocket and slapped it on the counter.

Xia Wei’er quickly took the money, and with a sneer said, "Thank you."

"I mean, I am a customer in your shop after all, can’t you be a bit nicer as the owner?"

Tang Ming, upset and very annoyed, said, "I came here to eat, not to be mistreated by you."

"Then you don’t have to come to our shop."

Xia Wei’er said, laughing.

Tang Ming had enough and thought to himself, "No wonder they say only petty men and women are troublesome. It’s really true."

He turned and walked over, Zhou Youfu was still eating his ice cream, sneaking glances at Xia Wei’er, looking ridiculously infatuated.

"Fatty, let’s go."

Tang Ming spoke up.

Zhou Dafu was taken aback and said, "Brother Ming, it’s still early for afternoon classes, no need to rush."

Just then, four muscular men entered the ice cream shop. All in their thirties, dressed in uniform black tank tops, black joggers, and sneakers, either bald or with very short haircuts, and looking menacingly at no one good.

"Ha, this will be interesting."

Tang Ming wasn’t in a rush to leave anymore, he sat down to watch Xia Wei’er’s misfortune unfold.

One of the muscular men, also the oldest with a noticeable scar on his forehead, went up to the counter, slammed his hand down, and said, "Where’s the boss?"

Xia Wei’er turned pale, somewhat scared but still tried to suppress her panic and asked, "What... what do you want?"

Xia Wei’er’s mother also heard the noise, came out from the kitchen and saw the fierce and hostile look of these men, knew they weren’t good news, and quickly smiled saying, "What would you like to have? Our blueberry ice cream and homemade popsicles are quite good."

The four men heard this and burst into laughter. The leader, Scarface, slapped the counter and laughed, "Madam, we’ve been collecting money on the food street these past few days, haven’t you heard?"

"You’re here for protection money?"

Wei’er’s mother’s face changed instantly. She had heard from the shop next door yesterday about a group demanding protection fees on the food street, smashing shops that didn’t pay, resulting in several shops sustaining losses of tens of thousands.

Originally, Wei’er’s mother didn’t quite believe such rumors, but now seeing with her own eyes, she realized there really was a group collecting protection fees on the food street.

"Guys, we run a small business here, there’s hardly any money to be made. How about you all have something to eat, on the house? What do you say?"

Wei’er’s mother said, with a flattering smile.

"On the house?"

Scarface suddenly slammed the counter and shouted:

"I’ll tell you this, not only will you not pay today, but I can also ensure you won’t have a shop anymore, believe it?"

"I... I believe."

Seeing she couldn’t afford to provoke them, Wei’er’s mother hesitantly asked,

"Bro, how much do you want to collect?"

"Three thousand a month, that’s the rule. The shops up front each pay ten thousand."

Dao spoke, his voice raspy.

"Three thousand."

Upon hearing this, Xia Wei’er immediately became agitated:

"Why don’t you just rob us? Always bullying orphans and widows like us."

"Careful how you speak, little beauty. If you don’t pay up, better watch out at night. If acid splashes on your face, you can forget about seeing anyone ever again,"

Dao said, lips curling into a threat.

"Wei’er, stop talking! Fine, I’ll give you the money, just don’t cause any trouble."

Heartbroken for her daughter, Wei’er’s mom quickly counted out three thousand from the drawer and handed it over.

As soon as Dao received the money, his face broke into a grin: "Good that you understand. If there’s trouble at your shop, you can call us, but remember, each intervention comes with a fee."

After collecting the money, the four burly men left the shop laughing loudly, leaving Tang Ming feeling relieved.

"Brother Ming, why didn’t you take action and teach those four a lesson for extortion?"

Once they had left, Zhou Dafu asked curiously.

"Teach them a lesson?"

Tang Ming shook his head: "I’m not about to play the good Samaritan. What if people think it was a setup by me? Then I’d really be unable to clear the air."

"Ah, these extortionists are vile,"

Zhou Dafu said, standing up angrily.

Tang Ming also stood up, ready to leave the cold drink shop, but right then a questioning voice called out from behind him: "Don’t some people like playing the hero? Why not step up now? Or is it all just for show? I knew you were the most hypocritical."

After hearing this, Tang Ming’s face clouded with frustration, and he said, "Just consider me unlucky."

With that, he ran out of the cold drink shop. Outside, those four strong men were about to leave the next place.

Tang Ming approached them and demanded, "Hand over the protection money you just collected."

The four men turned and burst into laughter, the leader—Dao with a scar—smirking at Tang Ming with a cigarette hanging from his lips: "Are you out of your mind?"

"Enough talk, hand over the money, and I might go easy on you later,"

Tang Ming said, spreading his hands.

"Damn, looking for death?"

Dao flicked his cigarette at Tang Ming, who easily dodged it.

Walking up to Tang Ming, Dao sneered, "Believe it or not, I can kill you."

"Plenty have wanted to kill me, but they’re the ones who ended up dead!"

Tang Ming replied cheerfully.

Dao scoffed disdainfully and suddenly struck, aiming a punch at Tang Ming’s head. Tang Ming dodged and countered with a punch to Dao’s face, a crack indicating a broken nose. Dao fell unconscious, crashing to the ground.

The other three men pulled out knives and rushed at Tang Ming.

They were no match for Tang Ming, weaker even than Chen Cang’s men. He dodged and weaved through the trio, throwing punches and kicks, incapacitating all three in less than a minute. Then he walked over to Dao.

"Fuck your mother."

As Dao regained consciousness, he fumbled for a small knife from his pocket, aiming for Tang Ming’s thigh. Tang Ming was faster, kicking downward immediately, knocking Dao out again.

"So cheap, one beating wasn’t enough, and you want a second round?"

Tang Ming casually fished out the money from Dao’s pocket, grabbing handfuls of cash, easily amounting to several thousand yuan.