Ms. Floral casually moved a chair over and sat down. She took out an account book, and she flipped it through while saying, “You haven’t paid for this month, right?”Ben showed a bright smile. “I just opened this restaurant not long ago. We also agreed that I will start to pay next month.”Ms. Floral frowned slightly. “Next month? Haha! You can open the restaurant next month. Close it now.”“Don’t! Ms. Floral, we can talk about it. Please don’t close my restaurant. Don’t you just want the protection fee? I’ll give you. How much do you want?”Ms. Floral flipped through the account book. “The protection fee is 6000 dollars per month. Your restaurant is newly opened this month, so I’ll give you a 20% discount. You can just give me 4,800 dollars.”“Ms. Flora, there are less than five days remaining this month. Isn’t this too much?”“Why? Are you bargaining with me?”“No, I dare not.”Ben immediately went to the counter, took the money, and passed it to Ms. Floral. He dared not say
Ben looked depressed. He was very clear about Ms. Floral’s character. How could he just sit here and enjoy the meal?But, he also could tell that Thomas was angry.“Young Master, don’t make trouble. You don’t know who Ms. Floral is, but you can’t offend her.”Thomas looked aloof, and he asked, “Is she the owner?”Ben shook his head.Thomas asked again, “Is she the official management staff?”Ben continued shaking his head.Thomas smiled. “Why do you give her money without any reason?”Ben sighed. “You don’t know that this region is under her management. For whoever doesn’t give money, the shop will be immediately demolished. It’s also useless to call the police. Police chase them away today, but more people will come and make a fuss two days later. So, I can only spend some money for protection. I can’t just get away from this kind of person.”This meant that Ms. Floral was actually a person who collected protection fees.Meanwhile, Ms. Floral saw that Ben did not go to take
Ms. Floral took her phone out and made a call. The call was answered in a few seconds. Then, she kept crying while shouting that she was bullied, and she wanted Ballard to find justice for her. She even wanted to demolish the restaurant.After Ms. Floral hung up, she ruthlessly said, “Just wait. Within three minutes, my man will come and kill you!”However, Thomas just continued drinking and eating. He did not feel terrified at all.Ben felt so worked up.He had been in Southland City for many years. He was very clear about who Ballard was. His restaurant would definitely be demolished today. Whether he could live safely or not was still a problem.“Young Master, you’ve caused big trouble.“How could you still have the appetite?“Please run now. You’re the only member of the Mayo family. Don’t lose your life here.”Thomas smiled faintly without answering.Indeed, within three minutes, a big group of bald men walked over pridefully. Everyone was wearing a singlet and holding a
Thomas glanced around before he asked, “Why did you bring so many people here?”Ballard chuckled and said, “I saw that your restaurant has just opened recently, but the business is still not very good. So, I thought of showing you my loyalty by bringing my buddies here to eat and giving some business to your restaurant.”He was quite good at speaking good words.Thomas clearly knew that Ballard was bluffing. But, since Ballard had said that, nobody could continue feeling angry at him.However, Ms. Floral looked dumbfounded. She made a call and asked so many people to come, but all of them were as timid as tortoises. They dared not breathe loudly at all.Ms. Floral had initially thought of releasing her anger, but she felt madder now.She angrily walked over before she reached out to pinch Ballard’s ear.“How dare you, Ballard! I asked you to come here and find justice for me, but you came here and called him boss?“Could you be more shameless?“Is just a young jerk able to fri
Ballard forced a smile. “Boss, don’t make fun of me. I’m just doing some small business, so I can’t earn a lot.”Thomas asked, “Tell me honestly, how much can you earn from collecting debt and being a loan shark every month?”Ballard hesitated, but he was so frightened by Thomas’ gaze that he immediately spoke honestly. “I can earn about four hundred thousand dollars for debt collection every month. I use the money for loan sharks. If I’m lucky, I can earn one million dollars in a month. If I don’t have luck, I can’t earn a single cent.”Thomas nodded. “So, you mean you can earn about one and a half million dollars every month?”Ballard’s face darkened as he spoke, “Actually, it’s not that much. You can also see that about twenty buddies work under me. Besides, I have a few women, and they are so good at spending money. The income is not sufficient for me every month.”This was true.Other than Ms. Floral, Ballard still had other women. All of them were not easily dealt with, and
Thomas and Ben were drinking beer. Suddenly, Thomas’ phone rang. It was a call from Emma.He answered the call, and Emma’s anxious voice came from the other end of the call.“Thomas, are you free now? Can you come over and pick me up?”“Sure, where are you? I’ll immediately go over now.”“Abyss Science and Technology Park at 339 Freedom Road.”After Thomas hung up, he drank all the beer in the cup. He stood up and said, “I need to handle some personal matters. Uncle Ben, we’ll drink again next time.”“Okay. Go and do your work.”Thomas hurriedly left the restaurant before he called a taxi and rushed to Abyss Science and Technology Park.From the phone, he could hear that Emma was a little nervous and scared as if she was in danger. This made Thomas feel very worried.There were not many people whom Thomas felt concerned about in the world.He lost his younger brother, Scott. He could not let anything happen to his wife, Emma again.“Sir, please drive more quickly.”“Get pas
Emma was so angry that she scolded in a low voice, “He’s such a jerk!”Thomas patted the dust off her body, and asked, “Who is this? Why do you look so polite to him?”Emma’s face darkened as she said, “He is Javier Kennedy, the chairman of Fonda Enterprise.“Didn’t you get the big renovation project for our Hill family a few days ago? After the board of directors of the Hill family, we realized that the project is too massive. Our family alone could not gather enough preliminary funds for investment, so we have to do it with other companies.“Javier is the son of Grandpa’s old friend. They have a lot of business with our Hill family, and the scale of Fonda Enterprise is also not small. So, Grandpa thought of collaborating with them.“As the project collaborator, Grandpa naturally asked me to carry out the business negotiation. In the end, you also saw that Javier is a jerk. He is so indirect about the investment, and he keeps looking at me weirdly. I feel uncomfortable.”Thomas
At 8.00 pm, in private room number 6 at Gorgeous Night Dining.Javier booked a table of food and asked about eight colleagues to surround the table. Their common characteristic was that they were all men with big bellies.He let the waiter prepare a box of white wine, five boxes of beers, and a large bottle of red wine.The food on the table was very greasy, and it would make people feel sleepy after eating. He did not prepare any food to sober up.Javier chuckled and said, “We’ll do it as usual today. When the girl comes later, just keep making her drunk. After she is drunk, help me carry her into the car and send her to the hotel.”The man with glasses smirked while saying, “Javy, I’ve booked the hotel room for you, so you can directly go over there. Also, I even prepared some special toys for you.”Javier giggled. “You’re still the one who knows me the most.”The man with glasses said, “But Javy, can I make a request this time?”“Tell me.”“This girl is Emma Hill, the third