"Gao Fei again?"
Zhou Long frowned, displeased.
It was a rare opportunity to have a film crew come to Beichang Street.
He had intended to extort some hefty protection fees from them with his brothers, a few hundred thousand to splash around, as film crews were never short on cash.
But to his surprise, the boss of the crew was Gao Fei again.
Noticing Zhou Long's darkened expression, his subordinates held their breath, afraid of incurring their boss's displeasure.
His younger brother, Zhou Hu, whispered by his side, "Brother, why don't I go talk to the person in charge? We'll take whatever they give. At least it'll look decent."
"Whatever they give? Do I look like a beggar?"
Zhou Long's face was stern, and he snorted coldly, waving his hand impatiently. "Ah Hu, I'll handle this. Your main task is to lead the men to collect sanitation fees from the shops.
Anyone who refuses, tell them not to do business!"
Zhou Hu wanted to persuade him further.
After all, Gao Fei was not someone they could easily provoke anymore.
But since his elder brother was adamant about handling it himself, he could only sigh and make other plans.
After assigning the tasks of collecting sanitation and stall fees, Zhou Long left with two men who had recently been released from prison.
Watching their retreating backs, Zhou Hu's brow furrowed, a sense of unease filling him.
A subordinate standing nearby said worriedly, "Brother Hu, you better think of a way to stop Brother Long. If we really go up against Gao Fei, we won't even know how we died."
As soon as he finished speaking, another trusted subordinate chimed in, "Yeah, Brother Hu, quickly think of a way to dissuade Big Brother. From the look on Brother Long's face just now, it seems he really wants to confront Gao Fei.
Putting aside Gao Fei's status in the underworld, just his title as chief engineer means a single phone call from him could have us labeled as a criminal gang and taken down."
After he spoke, the other subordinates nodded in fear, clearly unwilling to cross Gao Fei.
They all knew that their group had only risen to prominence recently, and at most, they collected exorbitant stall fees in the market.
If they were caught, each of them would be sentenced to at most one or two years.
But if they truly dared to oppose Gao Fei, a single phone call would be enough to label them as a criminal organization, even if they weren't one.
After all, Gao Fei's status was now far beyond what it used to be.
Not only was he a popular star, the boss of an investment company, but also a rising figure in the scientific research community, among other things.
Any one of these identities was enough to crush them, a bunch of street thugs making a living on the streets.
Zhou Hu was well aware of the stakes involved.
As the second-in-command of the group, he feared going back to prison more than any of his subordinates.
At the same time, he understood why his elder brother was so determined to confront Gao Fei.
Zhou Long wanted to use this opportunity to make a name for himself in the underworld.
If he could get through this, no one would dare to mess with them, and they would be shown respect even in passing encounters.
But given their current capabilities, confronting Gao Fei would be like a moth to a flame.
After much deliberation, Zhou Hu looked at the young man who had delivered the message. "Ah Xin, do you have the phone number of the film crew's person in charge?"
"Yes, the person in charge called me personally just now."
"Give me the number!"
Once he had the film crew's contact information, Zhou Hu, without his subordinates' knowledge, immediately dialed the number.
As soon as it was answered, he spoke directly, "Hello, I am Zhou Hu from Beichang Street, Zhou Long's biological brother."
"Oh, hehe, so it's Brother Hu. Didn't I tell you to talk to my boss? Why are you calling me again!"
"May I ask for your name?" Zhou Hu asked respectfully and softly.
"The director of the film crew, Bai Zhan!"
"Brother Bai, we were blind and didn't know you were a film crew from Feihe Company. Please forgive our ignorance."
Zhou Hu immediately lowered his tone and apologized, while also mentioning that Zhou Long might go to the film crew to cause trouble.
Upon hearing the news, Bai Zhan on the other end of the line said coldly, "So my boss can't even handle you people? Fine, I know what to do.
I'll call President Gao right now and have him talk to your elder brother himself!
As for whether President Gao will come, or who will come to talk, I'm not sure."
Hearing the cold laughter from the phone, Zhou Hu swallowed and hurriedly explained, "No, no, Brother Bai, you've misunderstood me.
Who doesn't know of Boss Gao's reputation? How could someone like us, small characters, be worthy of speaking with Boss Gao?"
"Then what do you mean?"
"I want to ask Brother Bai to do us a favor and find some official connections to scare my brother away! As long as you prevent my brother from making a mistake, I'll personally serve you tea and apologize later."
Just as Zhou Hu was desperately pleading for his gang, a white van was slowly driving towards the film crew's location.
Inside the van, Zhou Long's leg was trembling as he clutched the steel pipe beside him, his hand shaking uncontrollably.
His earlier demeanor of wanting to go head-to-head with Gao Fei was just an act.
As the leader of the gang, how could he back down in front of his subordinates?
To put it simply, he was just trying to save face and acting tough.
As they got closer to the film crew's location, Zhou Long's forehead was covered in a fine sheen of sweat, filled with fear.
Even the two men who had just been released from prison, one driving and the other in the passenger seat, were trembling with fear.
They had only been out for a short time, but they had heard Gao Fei's name countless times, both in prison and after their release.
Simply put, if Zhou Long hadn't been there, they would have turned around and gone home to sleep.
Anyone who feared death and feared going back to prison would not dare to confront Gao Fei.
However, Zhou Long had been loyal to them, helping them out a lot and giving them a lot of money.
Therefore, if Brother Long insisted on going, they had no choice but to follow him.
Ten minutes later.
"Brother Long, do we really have to cause trouble for the film crew? As soon as we make a move, we'll all be locked up!"
"Yeah, Brother Long, it's still not too late to turn back. There's no need to go head-to-head with a behemoth just for the sake of pride!"
As they saw the film crew's vehicles appear ahead, the two men warned him one after another.
Zhou Long's heart was also pounding.
Now that they had arrived, if they turned back, the news would spread, and they would become a laughingstock among their peers in the underworld.
Just as he was hesitating, a police car suddenly stopped in front of the film crew.
Seeing the person who alighted from the car, the van immediately braked to a halt.
"That middle-aged man in uniform looks a bit familiar!" the man in the passenger seat muttered.
The driver pointed directly and said, "It's Director Xu from the sub-bureau. He was the one who arrested me when I got into trouble."
Upon learning that the middle-aged man was an important figure, Zhou Long, who was sitting in the back, breathed a sigh of relief.
He feigned calmness, put away his weapon, and said, "I didn't expect the film crew to seek official protection directly. Forget it, let's go back. We need to develop and grow, we can't attract the attention of the authorities."
The two men also felt relieved.
They knew that Zhou Long was making an excuse to save face.
Even if the events of today were to spread, it wouldn't affect Brother Long's reputation.
After all, they were criminals, criminals who were about to engage in illegal activities.
Following that, the van turned around and left sheepishly.
...
After Zhou Hu begged Bai Zhan, he took seven or eight subordinates and began collecting sanitation fees from the shops on Beichang Street.
The Zhou brothers' names now carried considerable weight on Beichang Street.
When they went to collect sanitation fees, not a single shop dared to refuse.
Qiangsheng Mobile Phone Store.
The three Gao siblings were chatting and laughing in the phone store, tidying up while discussing where to eat later.
Just as they were about to close, two of Zhou Hu's subordinates suddenly entered the store.
The leader, a young man with dyed hair, glanced at the three siblings and said to Gao Qiqiang, "Old Gao, starting today, Brother Hu and his men will begin collecting sanitation fees from shops.
One thousand yuan per shop, payable at the end of each month."
Looking at the arrogant dyed-haired youth, the second Gao sibling, Gao Qisheng, his eyes gradually turned extremely cold.