Chapter 26: Collecting Protection Fees

As he spoke, he inadvertently scanned Qin Chuchu, and after seeing the scenery beneath her long skirt, his nostrils involuntarily felt hot. This woman's figure was simply too perfect.

A bit more would be too plump, a bit less would be too little; she was so perfect she could rival the Venus in a sculpture, only she had two delicate arms more than Venus.

Precisely because of this, the sensation after a single glance was too stimulating, so he quickly turned his head away, afraid that he might uncontrollably get a nosebleed, which would be extremely embarrassing.

Seeing his expression, and recalling the two previous times they had been together, Qin Chuchu was startled. If Ye Bufan truly possessed a pair of X-ray eyes, wouldn't she have been seen completely naked?

Thinking of this, she felt a surge of fear and immediately covered her chest with both hands, nervously asking, "You’re not serious, are you?"

"Of course not, how could anyone have X-ray vision?"

Ye Bufan quickly found an excuse for himself, saying, "I just observed more carefully than you. The person just now had some tattoos exposed on his chest, which I saw."

Hearing him say that, Qin Chuchu felt it was reasonable and couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief, saying, "That’s more like it, you really scared me."

Ye Bufan secretly used his X-ray vision on the beautiful scenery on her chest again, immediately feeling his Face flush and his heart pound. This kind of scenery was truly too stimulating for him, so he quickly averted his gaze.

Seeing his reaction, Qin Chuchu complained again, "Why aren't you looking at me? Am I ugly?"

Ye Bufan secretly groaned. Women truly were strange creatures; looking was wrong, not looking was also wrong. What did she want?

Fortunately, they quickly arrived at the parking lot. Qin Chuchu got into her car and left, and Ye Bufan returned to the hotel he was renting.

Compared to the dormitory, the hotel conditions were much better, and most importantly, it was quiet, so he wouldn't worry about being disturbed while Cultivating.

The next morning, he left the hotel feeling refreshed and headed towards his mother’s breakfast stall.

Ouyang Lan’s cooking was excellent. After eating breakfast in so many places, none could compare to the steamed buns his mother made personally.

Ye Bufan hadn’t eaten yet and wanted to go enjoy his mother’s homemade breakfast, and help her out a bit.

Ouyang Lan’s breakfast stall was some distance from here, in Chengzhong Village in the East District. There had long been calls for relocation here, but nothing had happened yet.

Three years ago, Ouyang Lan was driven out of her home by her uncles. She came to Jiangnan City alone, rented a small room of over ten square meters to run a breakfast stall, and worked hard to earn money to support her two siblings’ schooling.

His younger sister, Ouyang Jing, was one year younger than Ye Bufan and was studying at a university in Jiangbei City.

Children from poor families learn to be independent early. Although it was summer vacation, Ouyang Jing was also working part-time and had not returned home.

Thinking of Ouyang Lan’s kindness to him over the years, Ye Bufan couldn’t help but feel moved. Although he was an adopted child, his mother always treated him as her own, even better than her biological daughter.

The environment in Chengzhong Village was extremely poor. The surrounding buildings were dilapidated, the nearby dirty ditch constantly emitted a foul odor, and since it had just rained last night, the roads were even more muddy.

Ye Bufan walked, frowning. Ouyang Lan lived here because the rent was cheap.

Fortunately, he now had money and his own restaurant. From now on, his mother and sister would no longer have to suffer.

Since Ouyang Lan returned from Jiangnan Hospital, she felt that her previous dizziness was gone, and her whole body was full of strength. She was energetic in everything she did, as if she had become ten years younger overnight.

She woke up early today and started selling buns. Because her buns were delicious and she had many regular customers, more than half of the dozen steamers of buns were sold quickly.

Just as she was busy, four or five colorfully dressed hooligans came to the bun stall.

“Boss lady, business is good!”

The leader, a hooligan wearing a Hawaiian shirt and a Mohawk haircut, said.

Seeing these people, Ouyang Lan’s expression tightened, then she said with a forced smile, “Little brothers, my bun stall looks busy, but it actually doesn’t make much money at all.

Have you eaten yet? My freshly steamed buns are still hot, please help yourselves.”

The Mohawk-haired man said, “Don’t talk so much nonsense. When are you going to pay this month’s protection fee?”

“Please, little brothers, extend it for a few days. I really haven’t made much money recently, and I just went to the hospital again…”

The Mohawk-haired man’s expression quickly turned cold, and he arrogantly shouted, “Extend what? What does you going to the hospital have to do with us? As long as you’re alive, not a single penny of the protection fee can be less!”

A flicker of anger crossed Ouyang Lan’s Face, but she quickly suppressed it. She took out a hundred-yuan bill from the canvas bag tied around her waist and said, “Little brothers, this is all I’ve sold today.”

The yellow-haired hooligan next to her stepped forward, snatched the hundred-yuan bill, and then said, “This isn’t even enough to give to beggars. You have to pay at least 1,000 yuan this month.”

Ouyang Lan pleaded, “I only earn two to three thousand yuan a month selling buns. I still need to eat and send my children to school. Where would I get that much money?”

The Mohawk-haired man shouted, “Are you out of your mind? Don’t you know what’s important? This money is collected by Ma Jiuye. Is your children’s schooling more important, or Ma Jiuye’s Face?”

The yellow-haired hooligan lifted his leg and kicked over a steamer next to him, and the white buns scattered all over the ground.

“If you can’t pay the protection fee, why the hell are you still selling buns? You can just go drink the northwest wind from now on.”

Seeing how unreasonable these hooligans were, the surrounding vendors were furious, but they knew these people were all subordinates of Ma Jiu, the big hooligan boss of the East District. They couldn’t afford to provoke them and dared not speak out despite their anger.

At this moment, Uncle Zhang, who sold fried dough sticks and fruit next door, said, “Sister Ouyang is a woman raising two children, it’s not easy. How about you gentlemen give her a few more days?”

“Give what? Her children weren’t born by me, what does that have to do with me?” the Mohawk-haired man arrogantly shouted, “If you meddle again, I’ll smash your fried dough stick stall too.”

Uncle Zhang sighed and said no more. Although he sympathized with Ouyang Lan, he indeed couldn’t afford to provoke these people.

The Mohawk-haired man said to the yellow-haired hooligan, “Bring her bag over and see if there’s any more money.”

The yellow-haired hooligan agreed and came in front of Ouyang Lan, reaching out to grab the canvas bag at her waist.

Ouyang Lan’s expression changed drastically. The 20,000 yuan Ye Bufan gave her was all in that bag. She quickly stretched out both arms to protect the bag.

“What are you doing? You can’t touch this bag…”

The Mohawk-haired man shouted, “Indeed, there’s still money! Grab it for me.”

The yellow-haired hooligan reached out and grabbed the canvas bag. Although Ouyang Lan desperately protected it, how could a woman be a match for a big man?

After two tugs, the yellow-haired hooligan grabbed the canvas bag and pulled hard, instantly tearing the bag in half. The two stacks of hundred-yuan bills and some loose coins fell out.

“So there was money, and he was still pretending to be poor with me.”

The yellow-haired hooligan cursed and reached for the two stacks of hundred-yuan bills, but just then, a large foot appeared out of nowhere and heavily stepped on his hand.