The Strongest Dandy in the City-Chapter 253: Trip to Yun City

"Don’t rush to put these two prescriptions into production just yet; take it slow, step by step," Ye Chenfeng instructed. "Try to recruit some talent in management. If you want Tengtian Pharmaceutical Factory to have a presence throughout Huaxia Country, it’s essential to open pharmaceutical branches in every city, so management talent is very important."

Ye Chenfeng knew that the development of a business cannot be rushed. If it grew too fast, there would inevitably be various problems along the way. A steady and solid approach is more reliable.

"Boss, you just relax. Monkey and I will handle Tengtian Pharmaceutical Factory’s matters. We absolutely won’t let you down," Li Pangzi promised, thumping his chest.

"Right, boss, we’ll give it our all to develop Tengtian Pharmaceutical Factory. We won’t let you lose face," Monkey said, his spirit high as he clenched his fist.

After receiving the two prescriptions, Li Pangzi became restless; he couldn’t wait to see the effects of these prescriptions for himself. With the example of the Instant Beauty serum already evident, Li Pangzi was confident the effects of these two prescriptions would be exactly as Ye Chenfeng had described.

...

In the following two days, Ye Chenfeng spent some time playing outdoors with Tang Xin and Han Chuxue, and then visited Victory Sky Society to catch up on their recent activities with Fang Nanxiang.

Since Victory Sky Society had settled its issues with the Qinglong Club, their influence had been growing steadily. However, the several major gangs in Tianhai had not taken any action against this suddenly emerging group, perhaps considering Victory Sky Society not significant enough yet to prompt a reaction from these major gangs.

Instead, some of the lesser gangs in Tianhai repeatedly provoked Victory Sky Society. But how could these small-time gangs compare to the Victory Sky Society? Under Fang Nanxiang’s leadership, those small gangs that dared to challenge were almost completely eliminated. For a time, Victory Sky Society began displaying the potential to develop into a mid-tier gang.

"Brother Fang, you’ve worked hard these days," Ye Chenfeng acknowledged, knowing that without Fang Nanxiang managing Victory Sky Society, he couldn’t have been such a hands-off leader.

"Master Ye, please don’t say that. This is the life I wanted. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have left the Zhaos to help you conquer territories. I believe that Victory Sky Society will go a long way in the future," Fang Nanxiang said, his tone tinged with excitement.

"Master Ye, now that you’re back, does that mean you’ll manage Victory Sky Society personally?" Fang Nanxiang inquired.

Ye Chenfeng waved his hand and replied, "That’s not possible for now. Tomorrow, I must go to Yun City! This trip to Yun City should enable us to take over a major gang, which would pave the way for Victory Sky Society’s influence to enter Yun City."

Back when he was in Xiyuan Town, Tie Niu’s father, Wang Youli, gave Ye Chenfeng an Iron Token and entrusted him with the Heavenly Saber Association, a major gang in Yun City. All Ye Chenfeng needed to do, according to Wang Youli’s intention, was to take that Iron Token to Yun City and he would be able to take over the Heavenly Saber Association.

Ye Chenfeng had nearly forgotten about this matter until last night when he suddenly saw the Iron Token Wang Youli had given him in his room and remembered the issue.

"Brother Fang, I’ll have to trouble you to look after Victory Sky Society a bit more. I feel more at ease with you in charge," Ye Chenfeng said with a slight smile.

...

The next day, Ye Chenfeng took the train to Yun City. Of course, before leaving, he could not escape a thorough scolding from Han Chuxue, who criticized him severely for being a huge jerk and hoodlum who didn’t consider Tang Xin’s feelings at all, not spending more time with her, especially since he had only returned to Tianhai for a couple of days before leaving again.

Tang Xin, the girl, was quite sensible. Before parting, she simply gave Ye Chenfeng a gentle kiss on the cheek and said with a hint of reluctance, "Chenfeng brother, you must come back soon."

Yun City was very close to Tianhai, and it only took about three hours by train. However, it was said that in recent years Yun City’s public security had become rather chaotic. Gangs large and small had sprung up like mushrooms after rain, and even stabbings on the streets had become frequent, giving the local police and government agencies constant headaches. Despite their severe crackdowns on underground forces, such incidents were occurring more frequently.

When Ye Chenfeng got off the train, it was already one o’clock in the afternoon, and he hadn’t even had lunch! He wandered to an old street near the train station, which was lined with various street food stalls. Ye Chenfeng settled at a wonton stall that looked relatively clean and ordered a bowl of wontons.

Since it was past lunchtime, there were hardly any customers at the stall. The owner, an old man in his sixties, quickly served up a steaming bowl of wontons for Ye Chenfeng.

"Young man, are you visiting Yun City? The public order here hasn’t been great these years! You must be extra careful when you’re out and about," the sexagenarian said as he sat down next to Ye Chenfeng. Since there were no other customers, he started chatting amiably with Ye Chenfeng.

The wontons tasted quite good, especially the broth which was particularly delicious, even better than what some restaurants offered. Ye Chenfeng couldn’t help but give an internal nod of approval to the bowl of wontons.

"Young man, how is it? The wontons should be quite tasty, right? The recipe for this broth is an ancestral secret. If you had come here during mealtime, you would probably have to wait in line to get a taste of my wontons!" the old man said with a laugh, his face radiating with a simple and genuine warmth.

"Time to collect protection money, time to collect protection money. Everyone better behave."

Just as Ye Chenfeng was about to speak, four or five youths walked in from the entrance of the street, some even wielding machetes! They were collecting what they called "protection money" from each of the snack stalls.

"Young man, don’t bother watching. This bunch comes here often to collect protection money. Otherwise, we can’t do business here. Sigh, the public order in Yun City is getting worse day by day. Hurry up and eat your wontons. Just remember not to meddle in affairs when you’re in Yun City," the elderly shopkeeper cautioned kindly.

As the old man spoke, the group of young men had already reached the wonton stall. The red-haired youth in the lead said, "Old Wang, cough up two thousand yuan!"

The elderly shopkeeper, who was about to hand over the money for peace, was startled and asked, "Did you make a mistake? Wasn’t it a thousand yuan before? Why has it doubled now?" fгee𝑤ebɳoveɭ.cøm

The red-haired youth kicked over a chair in front of the stall and barked, "Old Wang, I’ve heard that your stall does the best business on this street every day. Nowadays, everything’s getting more expensive; even the price we pay for women has gone up, so why shouldn’t the protection fee increase, too?"

"Big brothers, can you give me a break? I’m just a small business, barely making a few thousand yuan a month. If I have to give you two thousand per month, I might as well not work at all," the elderly shopkeeper pleaded.

"Old Wang, stop whining in front of us. If you want to keep your stall here, just hand over the money honestly, otherwise get out right now and don’t ever show your face here again," the red-haired youth said aggressively.

"Okay, big brothers, I will leave this street later and never set up my stall here again," the elderly shopkeeper decided after a moment of contemplation. Paying these people two thousand yuan a month for protection was not worth it; he might as well find another place to set up his stall. If he agreed to their demand now, they would surely raise the price next time.

"Old fool, it seems you’re getting senile," the red-haired youth said scornfully. "You can leave, sure, but you have to fork over thirty thousand yuan. After all, you’ve been setting up here for so long, and it’s because of our protection that your stall has remained safe. Now that you’re leaving, you should pay us for the trouble," he said without anticipating the old man’s intention to leave.

"Big brothers, where am I going to find thirty thousand yuan? You know the situation at my home," the old shopkeeper said, with panic showing on his face. (To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to vote for it with recommendation tickets and monthly tickets at qidian.com. Your support is my greatest motivation.)