You Spurned My Respect

Gu Sheng came home in the middle of the night to find Kong Sang curled up on the sofa, holding a bag of chips and watching TV with rapt attention.

"You're back?" Kong Sang tossed aside the chips and came over with a spring in her step to help him out of his jacket, then pulled him over to sit on the sofa.

Then she said happily, "Guess how many deals we closed today?"

"A dozen or so?" Gu Sheng thought for a moment. He had seen them taking people to view apartments that morning, but hadn't checked again afterward.

By his estimate, since they had torn down all the ads pasted on utility poles, people looking to rent now had nowhere else to go. Surely they could close a dozen or so deals.

"Over twenty! And a few people said they wanted to go home and think it over! If we hadn't run out of people to show apartments this afternoon, we could've closed even more," Kong Sang said happily.

"Not bad. How much did we make?" Gu Sheng thought the numbers were even better than he had expected.

It looked like this untapped market really was huge.

"The biggest deal made over three thousand, and the smallest only three hundred. But there were more cheap deals than expensive ones, so we averaged a little over seven hundred per deal. We made almost twenty thousand today alone. At this rate, that's hundreds of thousands a month!"

"That much?" Gu Sheng was a little surprised.

"Of course! Shocked, aren't you? If you ask me, you should stop running with gangs. Running a company is so much better!" Kong Sang hugged his arm.

"How could I run a company without being in a gang?"

These days, eight out of ten tycoons claimed they had made their first fortune selling plastic flowers or electric fans. Those feel-good stories weren't worth taking seriously.

"I'll get you a few vehicles later. Then you can drive clients to view apartments. It'll save time and make us look good." Gu Sheng thought it over and decided to get a few vans first to ferry clients around.

Once those other shops opened, he would see how things went. If business was good, he would expand the rental business into other districts.

"Great!"

After they watched TV for a while, Kong Sang climbed straight onto Gu Sheng's lap and wrapped her arms around his neck. It was obvious she was very happy today.

Gu Sheng reached out and shoved her off to the side. "Are you trying to block me? You're in the way of the TV."

Actually, this show was pretty good. So pale, so big.

"You bastard!" Kong Sang grabbed a cushion and hurled it at him.

By the time Gu Sheng climbed out of bed, Kong Sang had already gone to the shop.

"Ahhh-" Gu Sheng stretched. It was wonderful not having anyone at home nagging him in the morning.

Sure enough, women shouldn't have too much free time.

Once they did, the trouble started.

Gu Sheng drew the curtains and stood by the window, looking outside. The weather was nice. Perfect for fishing.

Kong Sang had left a note on the coffee table: "There's seafood congee in the kitchen. Remember to eat it. I'm heading to the shop first."

Gu Sheng checked the kitchen. Sure enough, she had made congee, and it was just the right temperature.

He had only eaten half when Big-Eyed Hua knocked on the door.

"Don't you have anything else to do? Why are you always coming over here?" Gu Sheng snapped.

"Brother Sheng, I haven't eaten yet. I'm starving," Big-Eyed Hua said with a grin.

"Fuck! Come in."

Kong Sang had made plenty of congee anyway. Lucky bastard.

Within minutes, Big-Eyed Hua was exclaiming, "Sis-in-law's cooking is amazing!"

"Did you find anything out?" Gu Sheng asked as he ate.

"I did."

"Let's hear it."

"Mad Dog's dad was a gangster too. He got hacked to death later. His mother died young as well, so it was just him and his younger brother. But his brother works in Central. He's a regular working guy."

"No wife or kids, but he does have a girlfriend called Bik Kei."

After finishing his congee, Gu Sheng ordered Big-Eyed Hua to clear the table, then got dressed and headed out. "Come on. Let's visit Brother Mad Dog."

"Brother Sheng, should we call a few more boys?"

"No need."

They bought a random fruit basket and found Mad Dog's home. One of his underlings opened the door.

"What are you two doing here?" Mad Dog had bandages wrapped around his head and one arm in a sling.

The moment he saw Gu Sheng, his expression soured.

"We're in the same gang, after all. I came to see how you're doing." Gu Sheng walked inside and looked around. The place was shabby but fairly spacious, sixty or seventy square meters.

That counted as a large apartment.

Only Mad Dog and his underling were there. No one else.

"You came to laugh at me, didn't you?" Mad Dog's expression grew uglier.

"Of course not. Oh, right, I took care of that Tung Sing guy who slashed you while I was at it. You owe me a thank-you. Remember to buy me dinner sometime."

Mad Dog became even more convinced that Gu Sheng had come to mock him. His face turned livid.

"Brother Dog, how about we go fishing one of these days? I've really gotten into fishing lately," Gu Sheng said.

"Fish your fucking mother! Stop acting so cocky. Watch you don't fall to your death walking home some night." Mad Dog pointed at Gu Sheng's nose and cursed him.

A vicious gleam flashed in Gu Sheng's eyes. He grabbed a nearby beer bottle and smashed it over Mad Dog's head.

Even Big-Eyed Hua jumped in fright.

Mad Dog's underling started charging forward. "What the hell are you doing?"

Big-Eyed Hua shoved him away.

"I fucking hate it when people curse me." Gu Sheng crouched and jabbed a finger into the wound on Mad Dog's head, once with every word. Mad Dog cried out in pain and swung a fist at his face.

Gu Sheng hammered another punch down, then stood and kicked him twice.

"Brother Dog, I showed you respect, and you spat on it."

Gu Sheng glanced around, grabbed another beer bottle, and smashed it down again.

Mad Dog's underling grabbed a cleaver and swung it wildly, forcing Big-Eyed Hua back before charging at Gu Sheng. "I'll fucking hack you to death!"

Gu Sheng kicked him aside, leaving him unable to get up for a long while.

Big-Eyed Hua immediately snatched the cleaver away.

"Big-Eyed Hua, kill him." Gu Sheng's eyes gleamed viciously.

"LS, what are you doing? Don't do anything crazy! We can talk this out!" Mad Dog tried to get up, but Gu Sheng stamped him back down. He could only lie on the floor and shout.

Fear had now taken hold of Mad Dog. He had never expected LS to be this insane.

"Now you want to talk?" Gu Sheng sneered. Mad Dog had threatened him before, and today he had dared to do it again. Even if I'd been a saint for nine lifetimes, I couldn't let you live.

Big-Eyed Hua flinched at the look in his boss's eyes. He hesitated, but a chill immediately ran through him, and he brought the cleaver down on Mad Dog's underling.

"Send Brother Dog on his way too."

"LS, Sheng, Brother Sheng..." Mad Dog was scared out of his wits.

"What are you waiting for?" Gu Sheng urged. Big-Eyed Hua gritted his teeth and brought the cleaver down again.

Big-Eyed Hua wasn't especially brave, but just now he had felt that if he didn't act, there would probably be one more body on the floor.

"All right. Wash your face and wipe the blood off yourself. From now on, you're my right-hand man."

"Thank you, Brother Sheng." Big-Eyed Hua was instantly delighted.

Gu Sheng wrapped a towel around his hand, opened the drawers and cabinets, and searched through them. He only found a few tens of thousands in cash.

"Broke bastard!"

Gu Sheng cursed and tossed the money straight to Big-Eyed Hua.

"It's yours. Take it."

"Thanks, boss!" Big-Eyed Hua had never seen so much money. He immediately forgot everything else.

When Gu Sheng left, he didn't forget to take the fruit basket with him.

"Mad Dog won't be eating it, so there's no point wasting it. I'll take it to Big B later."

"Oh, and that cleaver and the two bottle necks. Pick them up and throw them down a sewer."

Mad Dog's death caused another considerable stir in Hongxing.

This time, however, no one could even find out who had done it.

After all, what gangster didn't have a whole pile of enemies?

With Mad Dog dead, Chui Gai, Four-Eyed Kid, and Gu Sheng absorbed a good portion of his men and territory. Gu Sheng didn't hold back this time. He swallowed up an entire street, one not far from his own turf.

It would bring in over three hundred thousand more a month. After the tribute to his superiors and payments to his men, he would have at least a hundred thousand left.

Mad Dog's turf was far more lucrative than Gu Sheng's.