"This is the old street of the flower market, called Yuehua Street. Although it's a bit out of the way, the food stalls and late-night snacks are really good!" Tang Bao explained from the side.
Gao Jianfei immediately understood... Tang Bao had agreed to let him treat him, but he chose some low-end roadside stalls.
This was done with Gao Jianfei's money in mind.
Of course, Gao Jianfei wouldn't put on a show of wealth beyond his means. Although there was still 500,000 yuan in cash in the ghost den, that was retirement money for his parents and aunt, and Gao Jianfei would never touch a single penny of it! Right now, Gao Jianfei only had a little over 7,000 yuan in his pocket.
If you're going to a high-end place for a late-night snack, spending over 7,000 yuan is really too stingy!
Tailoring to individual needs is Gao Jianfei's consistent principle.
"Yes, Uncle Tang, let's eat here!" Gao Jianfei smiled, neither humble nor arrogant.
Before long, the road became increasingly narrow, so narrow that even cars could not pass. A long string of lights appeared ahead, like a fiery dragon!
An open-air parking lot was already filled with all kinds of vehicles, mainly mid- to low-end cars.
Tang Bao ordered his men to drive the car over and park it properly, and then everyone got out of the car together.
The middle-aged man in charge of parking fees didn't dare to come over to collect parking fees when he saw Tang Bao and his group; he cowered to the side in fear.
"Yuehua Street is just ahead, nephew, let's go." Tang Bao led Gao Jianfei and his men forward on foot.
After walking several dozen meters, the view suddenly opened up before me!
As Gao Jianfei looked around, he saw a long, narrow path lined with densely packed plastic awnings and countless incandescent light bulbs, forming a series of simple night market stalls.
The noisy sounds of diners playing drinking games, clinking glasses, and shouting filled the area, along with wisps of smoke and strange aromas!
"Gulp..." Gao Jianfei subconsciously swallowed a mouthful of saliva.
"It looks like it should taste pretty good..." Gao Jianfei muttered to himself.
"Alright, nephew, let's find a decent food stall and have a feast! Come to think of it, it's been a long time since I've been here!" With that, Tang Bao put his arm around Gao Jianfei's shoulder and stepped into the narrow alley. A dozen or so of his men followed closely behind.
Perhaps it was because high-class thugs like Tang Bao had such distinctive features and such an imposing presence that the diners at every stall they passed would immediately fall silent, staring blankly at Tang Bao and his gang, too afraid to utter a sound. Even the cooks, the owners of the late-night food stalls, and the waiters were all trembling with fear.
The arrival of Tang Bao and his group gradually quieted down the once bustling street.
Tang Bao's thugs, far from being deterred by this phenomenon, swaggered around, smoking cigarettes and looking around. If anyone dared to glance at them, they would immediately cast a murderous glare, scaring the person into lowering their head and keeping their eyes down.
Gao Jianfei felt very uncomfortable in this atmosphere, so he quickly found a random late-night snack stall and said, "Uncle Tang, let's do it here!"
"Alright! Nephew, you're in charge!" Tang Bao picked his nose and waved to his men. "This is it!"
At that moment, Gao Jianfei suddenly saw a pair of eyes filled with resentment staring intently at him...
In front of the night market stall that Gao Jianfei had chosen, there was a young girl sitting on a small wooden chair, wearing rubber gloves on both hands, holding a sharp knife in her right hand and a sea fish whose belly had been cut open and whose scales had been scraped off in her left hand.
She was dressed very simply, in a white shirt with blue floral print and a rubber skirt around her chest. She looked to be about eighteen or nineteen years old, with a healthy wheat-colored complexion, a small nose and mouth, but large, delicate, and clever eyes. Her hair was short, reaching her shoulders.
A few fish scales were still stuck to her face. In the large wooden basin in front of her, fresh, live fish splashed around, spraying water onto her face. She wiped them off with her hand, her gaze still fixed on Gao Jianfei.
Then, she glanced at Tang Bao and the dozen or so thugs, and said to Wang Wei, "Why did you choose our place when there are so many other food stalls... Let's go! We don't welcome people like you!"
Under the incandescent light, there was a clear look of disdain on her face. She frowned, as if it were an unconscious expression of impatience.
"Damn it! You little bitch, what the hell are you saying?" Immediately, one of Tang Bao's men, very impulsively and violently, pointed his finger at the girl's nose, "Believe it or not, I'll sell you to a brothel, damn it!"
Chapter Twenty-Eight: Prices are really low here.
Chapter Twenty-Eight: Prices are really low here.
"Damn it!" Tang Bao's dozen or so thugs immediately surrounded them!
Some of the thugs rolled up their sleeves, while others reached for their waists. Gao Jianfei glanced over and noticed that the thugs' waists were slightly bulging, clearly indicating they were carrying weapons!
The little girl killing the fish threw it into the wooden basin with a "plop!" splash, and then she stood up abruptly. The sharp knife in her right hand gleamed sharply in the light of the incandescent bulb.
"What do you want? A bunch of social scum!" There wasn't a trace of fear on her face; on the contrary, there was a hint of provocation in her eyes!
Gao Jianfei was a little stunned... What kind of girl was this? Young in age, yet incredibly bold! Facing more than a dozen vicious, high-level professional thugs, she dared to confront them head-on without a trace of fear!
The girl's tough stance caught the dozen or so thugs off guard.
Of course, no matter how strange a peasant girl selling late-night snacks at a roadside stall in the lower class behaves, she cannot scare these thugs who are begging for food on the edge of a knife. After being stunned for two seconds, they all pulled out daggers from their waists!
Just as a bloodshed was about to erupt, Gao Jianfei was about to have Tang Bao dissuade his men from taking action. But then…
A tall, thin figure darted out from inside, blocking the girl killing fish. He hurriedly spoke in a fawning tone to the restless thugs, "Brothers, please, please, don't take it to heart with my daughter. She's young and doesn't know any better. Please come in! Please come in! Today's prices are 20% off!" He bowed and scraped as he spoke, appearing extremely humble.
Gao Jianfei glanced at him and saw that he was a man in his forties, very tall, about 1.9 meters, but surprisingly thin, like a bamboo pole! His face was full of fawning and humble smiles, as if he would gladly accept being slapped a few times, with a smirking expression.
"Dad!" the girl who was killing fish called out hurriedly from behind.
"Xiaoxiao, shut up! Get back to work, this is none of your business!" the tall, thin man scolded with a stern face. "You're all talk and no action! Sigh... get to work, get to work!"
After scolding his daughter, he turned his face away, bowed, and said, "Brothers, please come in, please come in."
The dozen or so thugs all turned to look at Tang Bao. Tang Bao picked his nose while staring at the tall, thin man, a glint of shrewdness in his eyes. After a few seconds, Tang Bao smiled, "Alright, don't be so hard on a young girl. We're here for a late-night snack, not to fight. Hmm, come in and sit down."
"Uncle Tang, how about we go to another place?" Gao Jianfei tugged at Tang Bao's sleeve.
"What are you going to change? Nephew, didn't you hear the owner say it's 20% off? Let me teach you, my good nephew, when there's a discount, you can't miss it, understand? Haha!" After saying that, Tang Bao picked his nose and put his arm around Gao Jianfei's shoulder as they walked into the late-night snack shop.
As Tang Bao brushed past the tall, thin boss, he suddenly paused, then gave the boss a chuckle.
The tall, thin boss looked apprehensive and said, "Please come in, please come in."
Gao Jianfei's gaze unconsciously fell on the girl killing fish, "Xiaoxiao".
Just then, Xiaoxiao was also looking at Gao Jianfei. However, her gaze was quite fierce, as if she was about to rush up and fight Gao Jianfei!
Gao Jianfei glanced at the sharp knife in Xiaoxiao's hand and couldn't help but give her an apologetic smile.
"Hmph!" Xiaoxiao glared at Gao Jianfei with a disapproving look.
Fortunately, when Gao Jianfei and Xiaoxiao passed each other, she did not do anything drastic.
As Gao Jianfei passed by Xiaoxiao, a scent mixed with a faint, pleasant fragrance wafted into his nostrils. He instinctively glanced back at Xiaoxiao. Under the stern reprimand of the tall, thin man, she had already sat back down on the wooden chair and continued scaling the fish.
This late-night food stall wasn't big. There were only five small tables inside, with about a dozen customers sitting around them. However, at this moment, these customers all looked a little strange. When they saw Tang Bao and his group enter, they quickly pulled out their money, threw it on the table, and then rushed out in a swarm.
"Bang!" Xiaoxiao was cleaning a fish when she slammed it into the wooden basin, splashing water high into the air. Her shoulders twitched slightly, clearly trying to suppress her anger.
This late-night food stall doesn't have any dedicated waiters; there are only three people there.
The tall, thin man was both the owner and a waiter. On the other side of the stove, a sturdy man was chopping meat and vegetables and cooking, while Xiaoxiao was killing fish.
The tall, thin owner quickly cleaned up the money and leftovers on the table, then wiped down every chair. He bowed slightly and said, "Please sit down, everyone. Don't let our small size fool you; our food is exceptional. On the entire Yuehua Street, our food is the best in terms of both taste and portion size!" He gave a thumbs up.
"Sit, sit," Tang Bao gestured to his men to sit down.
Gao Jianfei and Tang Bao sat together.
"Uncle Tang, what would you like to eat? Please order. I'm not very familiar with the late-night snacks around here," Gao Jianfei said to Tang Bao with a smile.
Tang Bao didn't stand on ceremony. He ordered a few beers first, then some local snacks from the flower market... wonton noodles, stir-fried snails, honeycomb taro dumplings, crab roe soup dumplings, thin-skinned shrimp dumplings, steamed dumplings, and grilled seafood...
They ordered a whole bunch of snacks, but Gao Jianfei had never heard of any of them before!
After ordering, the tall, thin owner quickly handed the menu to the chef and then helped him prepare the food.
They were very quick and efficient; before long, plates of delicious-smelling snacks were served on the table.
Everyone began to eat and drink.
Gao Jianfei was eager to try new things, sampling every single snack. The tall, thin owner wasn't exaggerating; everything Gao Jianfei tasted was incredibly delicious!
Although the spicy snacks in the flower market were different from those in his hometown of ZG City, Gao Jianfei still found them very tempting and enjoyed them immensely.
Gao Jianfei mainly focused on eating, while Tang Bao and his men devoted their energy to drinking.
In two hours, they drank 28 cases of beer!
Each case of beer contains 32 bottles, meaning that these dozen or so people drank more than 800 bottles of beer within 2 hours!
During that time, more than a hundred plates of snacks were served!
The tall, thin guys were exhausted.
They ate and drank with lingering enjoyment, while Gao Jianfei, who was already full, simply chatted with them and occasionally checked the time on his phone.
3:30 a.m.
After finishing his beer, Tang Bao stood up. "Alright, it's about time. Let's go!"
Gao Jianfei hurriedly went to pay the bill.
"Boss, how much?" Gao Jianfei asked as he took out his wallet.
The tall, thin man glanced at Tang Bao and the others behind Gao Jianfei, then looked at Gao Jianfei again. "Uh, well, after the discount, it's 300 yuan..." His expression was somewhat unpleasant, as if he were reluctantly parting with something.
Gao Jianfei was stunned for a moment.
They drank over 800 bottles of beer and 100 plates of snacks... and it only cost 300 yuan?
"I didn't expect prices to be so low in your coastal cities!" Gao Jianfei said instinctively. He didn't think before he said it.
The tall, thin boss smiled awkwardly and didn't dare to say a word.
"Get lost!" Suddenly, Xiaoxiao, who had been washing dishes and scaling fish, lunged at Gao Jianfei!
Her movements were incredibly agile, like a leopard poised to pounce!
Chapter Twenty-Nine: Masters, True Masters
Chapter Twenty-Nine: Masters, True Masters
A strong sense of crisis suddenly surged in Gao Jianfei's subconscious!
It was a terrifying feeling. Gao Jianfei remembers being six years old when he passed by a wealthy family's villa. The family had forgotten to close their large iron gate, and the four tall German Shepherds inside rushed out, glaring menacingly at Gao Jianfei! Although the four dogs were eventually called back by their owner, Gao Jianfei was so frightened that he broke out in a cold sweat. Even years later, the memory still sends shivers down his spine.
At this very moment, Xiaoxiao, who was rushing towards Gao Jianfei, brought back the fear that Gao Jianfei felt when he was 6 years old and surrounded by four German Shepherds!
Instinctively, the thin, thread-like heat within Gao Jianfei's body began to circulate rapidly! Suddenly, Xiaoxiao's fierce and swift movements seemed to freeze in Gao Jianfei's eyes, turning into slow motion! Gao Jianfei's right hand darted forward, already grasping the throwing knife at his waist.
The throwing knife that Li Xunhuan gave to Gao Jianfei!
In an instant, the panic in Gao Jianfei's eyes was replaced by extreme calmness and confidence!
locking!
Gao Jianfei has already locked onto Xiaoxiao! Now, with just a wave of his hand, a throwing knife will be inserted into Xiaoxiao's throat—a deadly throwing knife!
Just then, the tall, thin man reached out and pulled Xiaoxiao, who was lunging at Gao Jianfei, into his arms! Strangely enough, Xiaoxiao had obviously charged forward with considerable force, but the tall, thin man's embrace seemed to dissipate the force of her attack in an instant, without him exerting much strength.
Xiaoxiao instantly transformed from a nimble rabbit into a virgin.