Chapter 132: I'm Called Qiao Jiajin

My name is Qiao Jiajin. I lied. I don't actually live in Guangdong; I'm just here to find someone. But for me, it doesn't matter where I am. After all, after serving four years in prison for Rong Ye, Bo Lan Jie has changed so much that I no longer recognize it.

That day, when I was released, only one associate came to pick me up. None of the brothers from the gang showed up, and Rong Ye didn't either. Over the four years, only Jiu Zai visited a few times, but I hadn't seen him in a long while.

"Jin Ge! Over here!"The associate spotted me coming out and waved enthusiastically from across the street.

"You're..." I couldn't quite remember where I'd seen him before.

"Gun You Liang, Jin Ge."

Gun You Liang—that was such a common name; I'd heard it countless times and couldn't place it. Four years ago, I had over a hundred underlings, and they had their own underlings too. How could I remember them all? I just pretended to recognize him:

"Why did you come?"

"Jin Ge, I'm here to pick you up." He pulled me over to an old pickup truck. "Get in quick. Prison must have been tough! I'll take you to have some fun."

In that moment, I didn't know what to feel. I had taken the fall for Rong Ye, but in four years, he hadn't even glanced my way. But did I regret it? No.

When I was eleven, Jiu Zai and I stabbed a local thug to death with a knife. If Rong Ye hadn't taken us out of Jiulong Chengzhai, taught me how to fight, and given us jobs, we'd probably be dead in the streets by now. Four years wasn't enough to repay that debt. Rong Ye and Jiu Zai must have been busy, so I'd have to go to the gang to see them.

The car drove straight to Wong Gok, but instead of entering Bo Lan Jie, it circled around Shan Dong Jie for a while before stopping in front of a small noodle shop. It was a tiny place, and I wasn't sure why we'd come here.

Gun You Liang pulled the handbrake and turned back with a smile. "Jin Ge! Are you hungry? Let's get something to eat first?"

"I'm not hungry. Take me to see Rong Ye."

"Ah..." Gun You Liang opened the car door and got out. "You need to eat up before seeing Rong Ye. Do you want him to feed you?"

I couldn't argue with him, so I got out and went into the noodle shop. It was empty except for an old man running the place.

"What do you want?" the old man grumbled.

"Just bring us the signature dish!" Gun You Liang said with a laugh.

I sat down and couldn't help but sigh at how fast times had changed. Wong Gok looked totally different from four years ago. I wondered who was running Shan Dong Jie now. Was it still Lan Ya Zai?

The old man slammed two bowls of mixed noodle soup onto the table, splashing broth everywhere. I picked up my chopsticks and took a bite. It was delicious—so much better than the prison food. I barely chewed, just swallowed the hot noodles down in one go. In that moment, I felt truly alive.

As I put down my bowl, I noticed some other customers had entered the shop. A few old acquaintances were picking their teeth and staring in our direction. Once they saw I'd finished eating, the four of them stood up and came over.

Gun You Liang sensed trouble and quickly got to his feet. "Hey... brothers... what can we do for you?"

"Finished eating?" the leader said with a smirk. "Eating here means you pay the 'noodle fee'—a hundred bucks each."

I glanced at the old shop owner, who muttered under his breath, "You lot come every day, taking and taking. Go ahead, take it and use it for your mom's grave!"

Though he was cursing, the old man just kept washing dishes, clearly used to this kind of thing.

"You old fool, watch your mouth!" one of the lackeys snapped at him.

"What about it?!" The old man threw down a bowl and grabbed a kitchen knife. "You wanna start something?!"

"Alright, alright..." The leader waved his hand. "We've already collected the protection fee, so we can't hassle him per the rules. Today, we're just here for the noodle fee."

I was genuinely confused. Times had changed, and I didn't get it anymore. I could understand charging protection fees, but where was the "protection"? Now, they weren't even protecting the shop—they were shaking down the customers too.

"Who do you work for?" I asked.

"What about it? Looking for our boss?" The guy slapped the table. "Who do you think you are? Where are you from?"

"Where am I from?"

Hearing that made me furious. Wong Gok was Rong Ye's territory—how could someone not know me here? As I started to stand, Gun You Liang quickly held me back. "Don't, don't... Jin Ge, let me handle this!"

He pulled out some loose change from his pocket, counted out two hundred bucks, and handed it over.

"Sorry, brothers, we'll finish up and leave!"

The guy took the money and patted Gun You Liang's face with a grin. "Smart guy!"

I knew I'd only been out for less than three hours, so it was best not to cause trouble—especially since a strong outsider doesn't mess with local snakes. I let Gun You Liang deal with it. But then, the guy who took the money didn't leave. Instead, he said, "What about the soup fee? You didn't just eat noodles—you drank soup too. That's five hundred each."

"Ah..." Gun You Liang forced a smile. "Brother, we don't have that much. Could you cut us some slack? Maybe next time?"

I set down my chopsticks and slowly stood up. This was beyond what Gun You Liang could handle.

"Jin Ge, Jin Ge!" Gun You Liang came over and tried to hold me back. "I can handle it..."

"What? Gonna fight?" The guy pushed Gun You Liang aside and said to me, "You look like you're not happy about it."

"Shop owner, how much for a table and chairs?" I asked.

"Depends on how you use them," the old man replied. "If you break them, it's ten thousand. If those four idiots break them, it's free."

"Then you might take a loss."

I didn't expect it to take only ten seconds—or more precisely, eight and a half seconds—to deal with them. They didn't seem like they'd ever been in a real brawl with dozens of people. Had things changed so much that you could just bluff your way to money these days?

"Boss... stop... please..." The leader groaned and begged me. "I was wrong... Which gang are you from..."

"I don't care who you work for. Tell your boss that Qiao Jiajin from Bo Lan Jie is back. If there's any issue, have him come talk to me directly. I'll take full responsibility."

I saw Gun You Liang's face turn panicked when he heard that, but I'm not the sharpest; I didn't know what he was thinking.

"Qiao Jiajin..." The guy paused for a long time. "You're that Four-Two-Six Hong Gun under Gambler Rong?"

He gave me a meaningful look, then without another word, he and his crew got up and ran off.

"Jin Ge... this is bad..." Gun You Liang glanced anxiously in the direction they'd fled and turned to me. "The word about you coming back will get out. You should head to the mainland and lie low for a bit!"

"Lie low? What do I have to hide? Take me to see Rong Ye."

Had I done something wrong by serving time for him? I was too dense to figure it out.

"You can't see Rong Ye anymore!" Gun You Liang said urgently. "Jin Ge, Rong Ye took the gang's money and ran off with Jiu Zai!"

"What?" It hit me like a bolt from the blue. "Rong Ye stole the gang's money?"

"He took two million. Now the whole gang is after him!"

Hearing that, I slowly sat down. It had to be a lie. How could Jiu Zai and Rong Ye do something so foolish? Ever since we were kids, Rong Ye always used to say:

"A Jin, A Jiu, you two are like my fist and my brain—one is the strength, the other is the mind. I can't do without either of you."