LRAB Page 251
Page 251
But in just one round, James had cut down these henchmen, with two of them having their chests cleaved open, blood gushing out like a fountain.
Chai was startled by what he saw and quickly shouted sternly to his underlings behind him:
"Quickly, call for help!"
Soon, more than two hundred short mules ran out from several bars behind Chai Reng. They were all Luo Hansheng's underlings from Gaochang. Each of them was carrying a machete and an iron bar, and they looked very menacing.
Just then, a car engine roared from the other side of the street.
More than a dozen vans suddenly appeared from one side of the street. As soon as the vans came to a stop, nearly a hundred elite Dongxing knife-wielders jumped out, each carrying two kukri knives.
"kill!"
The elite henchmen of Dongxing, like a pack of hungry wolves, pounced on Chai Rang's group of henchmen in the blink of an eye, wielding their kukri knives left and right, each strike leaving a trail of blood.
It was only then that Chai realized that this was not an accidental fight at all, but a purposeful raid aimed at seizing Luo Hansheng's territory.
He gritted his teeth, glanced at James not far away, and pulled a pistol from his waist.
But just as he drew his pistol, James suddenly twisted his foot and shot towards him like a cannonball, arriving in front of him in the blink of an eye.
At that moment, Chai had just raised the muzzle of his gun.
chap!
A flash of cold light streaked across the sky, striking Chai Reng and sparking a burst of sparks.
He looked closely and saw that the barrel of the gun in his hand had been cut off diagonally, and even the finger at the trigger had been cut off in half.
The opponent could even cut through a gun barrel!
Before he could even react with surprise and anger, Chai felt a chill on his chest as James's wolf claw pierced through his heart in an instant.
Looking at Chai Reng lying on the ground, and Luo Hansheng's men running wildly through the street after being hacked to pieces by Dongxing's underlings, James sneered, retracted his wolf claws, and took out his phone.
"Hey! Boss, Gaochang has been captured!"
Xu Lang's voice came from the other end of the phone:
"Very good. Gaochang, as Dongxing's branch, will now be under your temporary control!"
Chapter 148 Li Ruolan renovates Temple Street, Hong Wentong admires A Ting
Just as Xu Lang sent Wolverine James to take over Luo Hansheng's territory on Gaochang Island in Thailand, Li Ruolan on Hong Kong Island was also planning her business expansion.
She has recently set her sights on the renovation project of old buildings on Temple Street in Yau Ma Tei, and has already reached an agreement with the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development, preparing to start the demolition and renovation once the documents are issued.
That evening, she took the secret technique and her driver and drove directly to Temple Street to conduct an on-site investigation of the situation there.
Temple Street, located in Yau Ma Tei, is a very distinctive street on Hong Kong Island. Its night market is internationally famous because it is often filled with counterfeit business cards and smuggled goods, such as counterfeit Rolex watches and designer bags. Therefore, many tourists will come here to visit when they come to Hong Kong Island.
A genuine Rolex costs tens of thousands of yuan, but the fakes here only cost a few hundred yuan. They are so realistic that they are almost indistinguishable from the real thing. Many people come here to buy a fake Rolex to impress others.
As a result, the night market here is extremely popular, and the gangs behind it are also very complex.
As soon as Li Ruolan got off the bus, she was surrounded by several vendors:
"Beautiful lady, would you like to see some luxury watches here? Rolexes, Patek Philippes, whatever you want, all for just 1,000 coins apiece, it's incredibly cheap!"
"Miss, take a look at my bags! How can a girl not have a designer bag? I guarantee you won't notice anything wrong with mine. I have Chanel, LV, everything. I can even get you the latest limited editions. The real ones cost hundreds of thousands, but mine are only a little over a thousand. Want to come and take a look?"
"Hey beautiful, I have all the latest movies here..."
Li Ruolan glanced at the nearby vendors and couldn't help but shake her head and sigh, feeling both annoyed and amused.
Although they drove an ordinary Toyota to avoid attracting attention, she was still wearing an expensive designer suit. Why did she look like someone who bought counterfeit bags and watches?
Seeing that the vendors were still lingering around them, probably mistaking Li Ruolan, who was dressed in designer clothes, for a fat fish, the secretary quickly pushed them away:
"Stop messing around, we're here to see Fiery Ming!"
Temple Street is basically Heng Kee's territory. The boss is Brother Min, and Fiery Ming is the head of the gang here. This time, Li Ruolan came to Temple Street for an on-site inspection, also wanting to talk to Fiery Ming about the demolition here.
Because of the booming night market in Temple Street, the old buildings nearby are extremely valuable, with massage parlors, saunas, and even prostitutes everywhere. Therefore, it would be impossible for Li Ruolan to successfully take over this area without the help of the triads.
Li Ruolan considered that Temple Street was not Xu Lang's territory, and she did not want to trouble Xu Lang with everything, so this time she came to Temple Street to talk directly with Huo Bao.
Upon hearing that they were looking for Huo Baoming, the vendors immediately stopped surrounding Li Ruolan.
The entire Temple Street is a hotbed of activity; anyone who dares to come looking for him must be extraordinary, so how could these vendors dare to provoke him?
After shaking off the vendors, Li Ruolan and her two companions turned to find Huo Baoming.
At this moment, a burly man from a nearby food stall raised his hand and waved to Li Ruolan and the other two.
The secretary turned her head and quickly whispered to Li Ruolan:
"Miss Ruolan, he is Huo Baoming!"
Li Ruolan turned her head and glanced at him, only to see that the other person was indeed dressed like a typical gangster, wearing a suit but no shirt underneath, revealing the bruised tattoos and bulging muscles on his chest, and his fake smile looked rather frightening.
However, Li Ruolan was naturally not intimidated by someone like Huo Baoming. She turned around, smiled, and walked over, sitting opposite him and extending a hand to him:
"Hello, Ming-ge! I'm Li Ruolan!"
Huo Baoming reached out and grasped Li Ruolan's hand, but squeezed it lightly, his lewd intentions quite obvious.
Li Ruolan shook off the other person's hand, feeling extremely displeased, but in order to ensure the smooth completion of the Temple Street redevelopment project, she could only suppress her anger and maintain a slight smile on her face as she said:
"Ming-ge, my secretary should have already told you about the Temple Street demolition issue. How do you plan to resolve it?"
Huo Baoming grabbed Li Ruolan's fingers, sniffed them, and chuckled:
“Miss Li is indeed straightforward. My request is very simple: this entire building belongs to Hengji. We don’t need anything more. Just give us a new building of the same size, and we’ll provide another 100 million!”
Upon hearing his words, Li Ruolan's heart sank instantly.
Although Temple Street is indeed bustling, the buildings here are all decades old. These buildings are basically replicas of the originals at a 1:1 or 1:2 scale, but the other party asked for another 100 million, which is clearly an exorbitant demand.
Huo Baoming then continued:
"And the neighbors here are all very difficult to deal with. If you don't come to Hengji for the demolition, you'll find it hard to move an inch. So you have to show your sincerity in helping with the demolition."
Li Ruolan suppressed her anger and said:
How much are you planning to ask for in assistance with the demolition and relocation?
Huo Baoming scratched his head and said:
"It's not much. With so many buildings and businesses on Temple Street, it would take at least a hundred million to get them all to move out obediently!"
"The total comes to two hundred million. You bring out the money, and I'll take care of the rest!"
Hearing this, Li Ruolan was so angry that she wanted to just pack up and leave.
Although Temple Street is bustling, it is only a few hundred meters long. If the entire area is renovated, Li Ruolan will only make a maximum of one billion yuan. However, Huobao Ming asked for two hundred million yuan right off the bat. If the remaining properties all ask for such exorbitant prices, Li Ruolan will probably have to pay out several hundred million yuan more after the demolition of this area.
However, considering that she had already negotiated the demolition plan with the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development, Li Ruolan was unwilling to give up easily. After a moment of silence, she said:
"Brother Ming, there are dozens of buildings in Temple Street. If they were all like you, I wouldn't need to develop this project. I might as well just give each of you tens of millions of dollars!"
"If you really want to cooperate, give me a concrete idea, don't make such outrageous demands!"
"You think I'm asking for too much?"
Huo Baoming glanced at Li Ruolan with a smile, then suddenly reached out and pinched her chin, saying:
"You're quite pretty, why don't you have a few drinks with me tonight? If I'm in a good mood, I might just give you a few million less?"
Hearing this, Li Ruolan could no longer suppress her anger. She shook her head to avoid Huo Baoming's hand, stood up, turned around, and walked out.
Seeing her leave in anger, Huo Baoming burst into arrogant laughter.
Huo Baoming had already found out Li Ruolan's identity. The other party was just a real estate developer with no particularly powerful background. At most, he was familiar with some gangsters and officials from the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development.
Therefore, Huo Baoming was convinced that the other party wouldn't dare to do anything to him, so he simply made exorbitant demands and even brazenly flirted with Li Ruolan in front of her.
Back in the car, Li Ruolan was so angry that her face turned ashen.
After a moment of silence, the secretary said:
"Heng Kee has a lot of influence here. If you want to demolish Temple Street, it's impossible without negotiating with them first!"
Li Ruolan glanced through the car window at Huo Baoming, who was still laughing wildly at the food stall, and gritted her teeth, saying:
"What's the point of talking to this guy? I refuse to believe I can't handle Temple Street without him!"
After saying that, she immediately took out her phone and dialed a number.
When the call connected, Xu Lang's slightly lazy voice came from the other end:
"Miss Ruolan, what brings you to me today? Why did you suddenly come to see me?"
Li Ruolan smiled:
"You're one to talk! I was just bullied, and I realized that only you can help me with this, so I called you!"
Xu Lang raised an eyebrow on the other end of the phone and chuckled faintly:
"Who dares to bully our Miss Ruolan? Tell me!"
"It's hard to explain over the phone. Are you free now? I'll come over to find you later!"
Xu Lang glanced at Arun and Nanako, who were watching a drama series next to him, and smiled:
"Okay, you tell me where you want to go!"
……
Half an hour later, Xu Lang and Li Ruolan were seated in a luxurious private room in Lan Kwai Fong. Although there weren't many dishes on the table, each one was exquisite and could be described as having excellent color, aroma, and taste.
Li Ruolan personally opened a bottle of Royal Salute, poured Xu Lang a glass, and said:
"I'm planning to develop Temple Street, but I've run into some trouble, so I've come to you, Brother Lang!"
"oh?"
Xu Lang raised his two sword-like eyebrows slightly and said:
"Temple Street is Heng Kee Hotpot Ming's territory. That guy is said to be very arrogant and cocky. Are you sure you can handle him?"
Li Ruolan sighed:
"I just couldn't figure it out, so I had no choice but to come to you. So, are you interested?"