11. I Truly Mean No Harm! (Please Vote!)

After Chen Ling left the supermarket, his mind raced rapidly.

“If it’s Jin Youde, besides taking action to seize the market, what’s even more crucial is that he must get rid of me. Otherwise, if I’m ruthless enough to start a price war with him, it will only end in mutual destruction, which benefits no one.”

“I bet he doesn’t have many ways to deal with me. The simplest and most effective way would be to use force. After all, I’m just a college student—he probably thinks a bit of intimidation will scare me off.”

With that in mind, Chen Ling patted the spring knife in his pocket, squatted down to tighten his shoelaces, preparing for any sudden attacks that might come his way.

However, there was only one road from the school to the business office. In broad daylight, no matter how arrogant the other side was, they wouldn’t dare make a move on the main street.

So, to make it convenient for them to “ambush” him, Chen Ling turned and slipped into a small alley nearby.

“It’s about time, isn’t it?” Chen Ling thought. “I went and showed off in front of Jin Youde, and now I’m even graciously creating an opportunity for them. Where else could you find such a cooperative victim?”

Sure enough, just as the thought crossed his mind, two men suddenly darted out from a corner behind him, striding quickly in his direction…

This alley was lined with old houses from the sixties and seventies, their walls marked with circles containing the character for “demolish.” Many of the houses were already deserted, while those remaining were rented out cheaply, a favorite among nearby college students and new graduates.

At this hour, the alley was nearly empty, so as soon as Chen Ling entered, the vest-wearing man—who’d been fretting about how to make a move—felt that his chance had come!

What he didn’t know was that the most cunning hunters often appear as prey.

“Hey, kid, stop right there!” The vest-wearing man came up behind Chen Ling, reaching out to lock his neck, only for Chen Ling—who was already on guard—to duck swiftly, sidestep them, and end up behind both men, his hand gripping the spring knife, though he didn’t take it out.

“What do you want?” Chen Ling asked knowingly. “Is this a mugging?”

“Heh.” The vest-wearing man sneered. “Who mugs people these days? You’re Chen Ling, right? Been selling cards lately?”

The moment Chen Ling heard this, he realized the man knew about his card business, knew his name, and had tracked him so precisely—there was no doubt he was one of Jin Youde’s men.

“What do you want?”

“Nothing much. Just here to tell you it’s time to quit while you’re ahead. We’re taking over your business,” the man said.

“And if I refuse?”

“If you refuse?” The man grinned viciously. “Then we’ll see how much you can take!”

As he spoke, he began to move slowly toward Chen Ling.

Chen Ling, unruffled, asked, “Jin sent you, didn’t he?”

The question caught the man off guard.

“How did you kn—hell, none of your business!” he snapped, deciding not to waste any more words and lunged forward, fist raised.

But he stopped abruptly midway, freezing in a comically awkward stance.

Because Chen Ling had already pulled out the spring knife. With a sharp click, the shiny blade snapped into view, making the man think twice about advancing.

Damn it! the man cursed inwardly.

He’d assumed the kid was just a college student—should be easy to handle. Who would have thought this outwardly unremarkable young man was actually carrying a knife and wasn’t afraid to use it?

They’d fought over turf with other scalpers before, sure, but knives? That was a whole different game.

“Careful!” Chen Ling said coldly. “A knife doesn’t have eyes. If I leave you with a hole, it won’t patch up so easily.”

The man’s expression was uncertain; he was already having second thoughts. After all, the worst that could happen was Jin Youde would give him a tongue-lashing if things went south.

But if he tried to fight…just as Chen Ling said, getting stabbed was no joke. He didn’t have the guts to try taking a knife barehanded.

“Heh.” Seeing that he’d intimidated them, Chen Ling smiled. “Brothers, can we talk?”

“What’s there to talk about?” the man muttered, starting to back away.

Chen Ling instinctively stepped forward, which made the man retreat another two paces in fright—then he turned and ran.

His sidekick hadn’t even processed what was happening, but had no choice but to follow.

Seeing their backs, Chen Ling could hardly believe it. He wanted to shout after them, Why are you running? You’re supposed to be the ones ambushing me!

So the alley witnessed a ridiculous scene: two burly-looking toughs being chased in panic by a student with a backpack.

“Hey! Don’t run!” Chen Ling called after them. “Stop! You’re the ones lying in wait!”

The vest-wearing man thought, Like hell I’m stopping—what, so you can carve me up? I’m not stupid! He ran even faster.

In his panic, he darted into a dead end.

When he realized his mistake and saw Chen Ling closing in, he made a snap decision.

“Big bro, let’s talk this out!” He pressed himself against the wall, bowing in terror. “We meant no harm, really!”

Chen Ling couldn’t help but laugh. “I really don’t mean any harm.”

Liar! the man cursed inwardly, putting on a pitiful face. “How about you put the knife away first?”

“This?” Chen Ling put the knife away with a smile and tried to sound as gentle as possible. “Don’t worry, I just have a few questions for you.”

“Ask whatever you want. I’ll tell you everything I know!” The man was completely cowed. What else could he do when faced with a guy who carried a knife around? It was just scalping cards—no need to risk his life.

Chen Ling hadn’t expected the man to be all bark and no bite, but that was even better—less trouble for him.

“Jin sent you?”

“Yes.”

“You’re his underling?”

“Not exactly. He brought me into the business, but now that he’s made it, I do my own thing. Sometimes he asks me to help out, sometimes I ask him for favors…”

“The cards he buys, does he sell them all to you?”

“No, he has his own channels. I actually rely on him for connections sometimes. So if he asks me to keep an eye on you, I do as I’m told.”

“Besides you, would he send anyone else my way?”

“Probably not. All his connections now are upward, not downward. Other than me, I haven’t heard of anyone else.”

So Jin Youde doesn’t actually have any muscle of his own—nothing to fear, Chen Ling thought, relaxing. He switched tracks: “How many people can you muster? If you needed a dozen, or even a hundred, could you?”

“No problem at all!” the man said quickly. “If you’re hiring, I can get as many as you want.”

Chen Ling nodded, forming a preliminary plan. “What’s your name?”

“Zeng Fucai. This is my younger brother, Zeng Fuli.”

“All right, leave your number. If I have business in the future, I’ll call you. Don’t worry about Jin—you won’t get in trouble with him.”

“Huh?” Zeng Fucai was at a loss. He’d just tried to jump Chen Ling, and now he was offering him business?

Chen Ling read his thoughts and laughed. “Better to make friends than enemies. We fought, but now we know each other—maybe we can help each other out in the future.”

“Thank you, really.” Zeng Fucai gave him his number, then cautiously asked, “If there’s nothing else, can I go now…?”

Only when Chen Ling waved him off did he dash away, not daring to look back, afraid Chen Ling might come after him again.

He didn’t forget to whisper to his brother, “Don’t breathe a word of this to anyone!”

After dealing with the two, Chen Ling now had a rough outline in his mind.

Now that the feud with Jin Youde was set, there was no way he could rely on that channel to cash out supermarket cards again!

More than that, for someone brazen enough to covet his first pot of gold, Chen Ling felt he had to teach him a lesson…