Bi Shenghua drove there according to the location sent by Old Wang, only to find that the place was extremely remote and not a teahouse at all, but a mahjong parlor. The surrounding area was a demolition zone with few houses left, and it was pitch black at night with not a soul in sight. When the car headlights shone, many stray cats and dogs darted out.
The mahjong parlor had only one storefront; downstairs there were three tables, and upstairs were two small private rooms. Old Wang and Auntie Zhang were in one of the private rooms upstairs.
The Crow followed Bi Shenghua into the private room, and upon seeing the dried fruit on the table, said disappointedly, "Too low-class!" But it still jumped onto the coffee table and began pecking at the olives and pistachios.
Auntie Zhang would start complaining as soon as she saw Bi Shenghua, her face contorted with distress. She lamented how much prices had gone up, how much private school her child attended cost per year, and how housing prices had doubled recently, saying she was barely surviving...
Old Wang, however, acted like a man, not complaining about being poor or miserable. He only talked about the recent economic situation, saying that big capital had entered the rental market, and rents would definitely rise sharply in the future. He also said that the bar industry was already in decline, and that young people nowadays preferred to stay at home, reading novels, doing live streams, and posting on Douyin (TikTok) were enough to entertain them.
Bi Shenghua entered without saying a word, listening to the two of them chatter on and on before coldly asking, "How much more money do you want?"
Auntie Zhang glanced at Old Wang and said, " Old Wang, you tell us."
Old Wang coughed, opened his mouth, but didn't say anything. Auntie Zhang couldn't stand it anymore and said, "Alright, alright, look at you, you coward. Let me say it—" She spat out the sunflower seed shells from her mouth and held up three fingers at Bi Shenghua, "We don't want your shares anymore. The rent plus transfer fee is a flat three million. My shop is a bit bigger than Old Wang's. Anyway, consider it a loss on my part, and we'll split it evenly."
Bi Shenghua slammed his fist on the table and roared, "Three million! Why don't you just rob us? Your shops are worth at most 300,000 per unit when rented out, and even with the transfer fee, two units would be a million at most."
Seeing that Bi Shenghua was angry, Auntie Zhang stopped talking and kicked Old Wang's foot hard under the table. Old Wang said, "Oh, isn't that just the market changing? There's supply only when there's demand. If there wasn't this market demand, we wouldn't be offering this price."
Bi Shenghua said, "Anyone who fucking pays three million to rent your shop is a moron!"
Old Wang said, "You can't swear at people! They definitely said that price. If we weren't neighbors for over ten years, and if we didn't think you had priority, why would we waste our breath on you here!"
Auntie Zhang also said, "That's right, we didn't raise the price because of our neighbors. They said the price is negotiable."
Bi Shenghua was furious and said, "Neighborhood my ass! What kind of neighbors are you? Do you think I'm stupid?! Your two shops are on opposite sides of each other, and I'm in the middle. What idiot would rent two shops that aren't next to each other?"
Old Wang said, "I don't know, maybe they just own two stores."
Bi Shenghua had originally intended to negotiate with them properly; as long as the price wasn't outrageous, she'd be willing to add a little. But she hadn't expected Old Wang and Auntie Zhang Lion be so greedy, demanding three million right off the bat. Knowing there was no point in continuing the discussion, she stood up and coldly said, "If someone actually offers three million to rent your shop, I'll accept it. If no one wants it, don't expect me to raise the price by a single penny!"
After she finished speaking, she said to the Crow, "Let's go!"
The Crow had almost finished eating and had long lost interest in the old-fashioned candies and melon seeds on the table. So it hopped onto the windowsill with a whoosh. "I've taken a super shortcut!" With that, it flew out the window.
Bi Shenghua opened the door, she saw two men in black, holding pistols with the dark muzzles pointed at her.
She took two steps back, turned around and asked Old Wang, "What's going on? Are they filming a movie?"
Old Wang and Auntie Zhang were also bewildered, saying, "No, no, this isn't happening! Hey, hey, hey... you guys..."
A gun was turned and pointed at Old Wang and Auntie Zhang, and the two of them dared not speak.
A man in a white shirt walked in, sat down, and said, "I'll take all three of your shops."
Auntie Zhang said, "Oh, you should have said so earlier! Huahua is our neighbor, she'll definitely agree to the price you offered. Huahua, don't you think so?"
The man in white smiled and said, "What price should I offer?"
Auntie Zhang said, "Didn't you say two shops would cost three million a year?"
The man in white burst into laughter. "Do you believe me?"
Auntie Zhang said, "Didn't you give us a deposit of 300,000 yuan?"
The man in white said, "That 300,000 is all you have! Old woman, don't you think about it? Do you even think your shop could possibly make 3 million a year? Hahaha..."
Auntie Zhang said, "This is fraud! Forget it, we won't rent it anymore, Old Wang, let's go!"
As she stood up to leave, the man in black next to her slapped her, causing Auntie Zhang to stumble and fall to the ground, chair and all.
"Why are you hitting people?" Old Wang asked anxiously.
"Hitting people? We kill people too!" the man in white said, taking the gun from the man in black and shoving it into Old Wang's gaping mouth.
Old Wang was so frightened that Ku Tong immediately knelt down.
Auntie Zhang also shakily got up from the ground and knelt there, not daring to say a word.
Crow flew in through the window again, landed on the windowsill, and said, "Why hasn't he come out yet? Ruhua, your movements... Oh... Is this Brother Haonan or Brother Mark... Cool..."
The three men with guns glanced at the Crow, when suddenly a talking black bird flew in from nowhere.
Bi Shenghua winked at the Crow, then asked, "Who exactly are you people? What do you want?"
The man in white snapped out of his daze and said, "It's nothing, I just wanted you to call your man."
What call are you making?
"Can't you tell? You've been kidnapped. Make him pay the ransom."
How much money do you want?
"It's not up to you to decide how much money you want; you're a hostage now."
Bi Shenghua said, "His money is all with me. If you want money, ask me. He has no money."
"Oh ho, I didn't realize you, this tomboy, were so good at taking care of your man!" the man in white sneered. "Never mind whether he's rich or poor, call him and tell him to bring twenty million in cash to the old power plant in the north of the city to ransom him."
Bi Shenghua cursed, "Fuck your mother's twenty million? Are you crazy?! If you're so capable, why don't you kidnap a tycoon?"
The man in white didn't expect Bi Shenghua to curse under these circumstances. He turned his gun on her and said, "Damn it, if it weren't for Master Jiang's orders, I would have shot you dead!"
He angrily pointed the gun back at Old Wang and Auntie Zhang, who were kneeling on the ground. "Are you going to shoot or not? If you don't, I'll kill them both." Seeing that Bi Shenghua didn't respond, he pulled back the safety, "I'll count to three, one... two..."
Old Wang and Auntie Zhang were so frightened that they wet their pants while kneeling on the ground.
Bi Shenghua said, "Let them go."
The man in white slowly moved the gun away. "Then why don't you make a call?"
Bi Shenghua then took out her phone and dialed Qingmu's number.