Don't Blame Me for Being Ruthless

"Please have a seat. It'll be ready in a moment."

Hmm?

Han Yang clearly sensed that Aunt Wang's reply today lacked its usual cheerfulness and carried a touch of restraint. He instinctively looked up and saw that both Aunt Wang and Uncle Wang seemed rather nervous.

Han Yang froze for a moment, then understood.

They must have heard about what happened to him last night.

Before long, a large bowl of beef noodles with extra meat and an egg was brought over. Aunt Wang looked tense as she said stiffly, "Your noodles."

Han Yang couldn't help laughing. "Aunt Wang, Uncle Wang, don't you recognize me? Why are you acting like this? You practically watched me grow up."

Aunt Wang smiled awkwardly. She was still somewhat reserved, but at least she seemed a little more relaxed.

Han Yang knew they needed time to adjust to the change in his status. Slowly did it.

He was wolfing down his noodles when that downtrodden middle-aged man came again. He carried a large plastic bag, and a faint fishy smell wafted from it.

He had not come for noodles. Instead, he went straight to Uncle Wang and Aunt Wang, pleading with them in a low voice. Aunt Wang hesitated for a long while before bringing him over to Han Yang.

"Aunt Wang, is something wrong?"

"Well, Han... Xiao Yang, it's like this. He... his name is Sun Gui. He wants to do a little business around here too. What do you think...?"

"Go ahead. It's fine." Han Yang answered casually. "What business?"

The bedraggled middle-aged man named Sun Gui gave a flattering smile and opened the plastic bag in his hand. A fishy odor immediately hit Han Yang's nose.

Han Yang glanced inside and found it full of chicken heads and chicken rumps.

"I want to braise some chicken heads and chicken rumps and sell them alongside the food at Sister Wang's stall. These things are cheap—fifty cents each. For every one I sell, I'll give Sister Wang ten cents and keep forty for myself. I'll make a little money, at least enough to get by."

Han Yang could not help looking at Sun Gui in surprise.

This man was capable. He had a good head on his shoulders.

Most people would not eat chicken heads or chicken rumps. They were usually bought for animal feed. But there were many poor people in the Vegetable Market District who could not afford good meat. No matter how unappealing chicken heads and chicken rumps were, they were still meat. At fifty cents apiece, they were even cheaper than eggs. The sales probably would not be bad. His target customers were well chosen.

And he even knew to use Aunt Wang's food stall as a sales channel, adopting a profit-sharing model to minimize his costs and risks.

Han Yang did not know, nor did he care, what kind of story Sun Gui had in the past. But judging by how destitute he looked now, no matter how low the startup cost was, this venture was still a gamble for him. Having fallen this far yet still possessing such courage, he was no ordinary man.

Han Yang found himself regarding him more highly. "Fine, go ahead and do it. If you run into any trouble, come find me."

"Thank you. Thank you."

Sun Gui thanked him repeatedly. Han Yang waved a hand and continued focusing on his noodles. After finishing the large bowl, he paid without hesitation and called out, "Aunt Wang, I'm off."

"Xiao Yang, you don't need to pay, you don't—"

Aunt Wang hurried after him with the cash in hand, looking anxious and somewhat frightened. Han Yang stopped her and said solemnly, "Aunt Wang, I'm still the same Xiao Yang. I won't change."

Aunt Wang was touched, and finally put the money away.

Along the way, countless people looked at Han Yang with awe and reverence.

Before he even reached the entrance of the Black Three Gambling Den, Li Hu and the others hurried over to greet him. They had clearly been waiting at the door for a long time.

"The accounts are all ready."

Li Hu and the others looked utterly obsequious before Han Yang. Especially the short, skinny man Han Yang had followed a few days ago—his back was bent so low it was nearly buried in the dirt.

Naturally, Han Yang could not be bothered to hold it against him.

After entering the room behind the gambling den, all twelve of Black Three's former core subordinates were gathered there.

A computer sat on the table, displaying a document packed with dense rows of numbers.

"Who handled the accounts before?"

"Black Three did. He handled them with me. My name is Zhao Fu."

A bespectacled man said this while bowing and scraping.

Han Yang said nothing. He simply opened the document, scrolled the mouse wheel, and began reviewing it rapidly.

To everyone else, Han Yang seemed to have merely skimmed through it, taking less than five minutes. But he had already read the entire account book from beginning to end. Every bit of income and every expense was clear in his mind.

After reading the accounts, Han Yang could not help sighing.

That was it? They were doing terribly.

According to the overall accounts, after deducting all expenses, their previous annual net profit with so many people involved had been around one million.

One bar, one KTV, and one gambling den—just that much in total.

"I'm announcing a rule. Starting today, we won't touch prostitution, gambling, or drugs. We can't control what others do, but if I find anyone secretly dealing in that stuff in our own establishments, don't blame me for being ruthless."

Huh?

"What? You have objections?"

Han Yang looked at his subordinates with a vicious gaze. Whoever he looked at unconsciously lowered their head.

"This gambling den is closing. Rent out the property. The bar and KTV will operate normally. Zhao Fu, calculate how much we'll earn after these changes."

Zhao Fu pulled a long face. "If we change things like that, we'll be lucky to keep sixty percent of what we made before."

They could still retain sixty percent after making those changes?

Han Yang was mildly surprised.

"Of that sixty percent, Zhou Zhi'an's thirty percent cannot be reduced. As for the remaining thirty percent, I don't want it. You can divide it among yourselves. We won't touch the money Black Three has in the bank. There's roughly two hundred and fifty thousand in cash left. That belongs to you too."

Everyone immediately breathed a sigh of relief.

That meant the twelve core members would split around five hundred and fifty thousand in total, even more than the five hundred thousand they had received in previous years.

They thanked him again and again. Han Yang had, for the time being, won them over.

"I've given you the benefits. I only have two demands."

Naturally, Han Yang could not give them benefits for nothing.

Facing everyone's eyes, Han Yang slowly said, "Pick ten capable, tough subordinates and split them into two shifts. They will patrol around my small courtyard twenty-four hours a day without interruption.

"And since we collect protection money, we must fulfill our responsibilities. On the three streets in our territory, whoever dares cause trouble for the merchants gets dealt with!"