Urban Martial Saint

On the morning of the third day, Ye Qing, as usual, tidied up the house and went straight to the orphanage. There would be dog fights at the Southern Suburbs Dogfight Arena tonight. After finishing up his tasks here, Ye Qing would need to head to the Southern Suburbs Dogfight Arena to prepare for those events. After all, that’s where the most money was made. With so many new underlings added to his ranks recently, Ye Qing’s daily expenses were no small sum; he had to earn more to support so many people.

The opening ceremony of the Southern Suburbs Dogfight Arena had been a success, helping Ye Qing establish his reputation in Shenchuan City and firmly turning the dogfight arena into his own industry. However, due to several major brawls that had taken place that evening, nearly every private room had been trashed. Especially the one occupied by Tie Yongwen and the Ghost-faced Judge, Liu Yuan was taken aback by the footprints all over the floor when he came to renovate, and the workers were so shocked they were at a loss for words—they had never seen anything like it!

Liu Yuan himself led a team and, within a few days, had restored those rooms to their original state. When Ye Qing arrived at the dog field, Liu Yuan was squatting with Li Lianshan in the pavilion of the courtyard smoking, with several excavators digging in the yard behind them. Seeing Ye Qing enter, the two waved at him from a distance.

These two men were indeed quite a sight, preferring to squat here and smoke rather than using the private rooms upstairs or sitting on the stone stools in the pavilion, looking like shepherds watching their flock.

As Ye Qing walked up, Liu Yuan offered him a cigarette, saying, ”Want one?”

”No, thanks,” Ye Qing waved it off, looking at the group that was busily digging away and asked curiously, ”Old Li, what are you doing here?”

Li Lianshan replied, ”Digging a hole to make a pond; one of these days, we’ll raise some fish, and when there’s nothing to do, we can fish here.”

”Raise fish?” Ye Qing looked at Li Lianshan in surprise and said, ”Why raise fish if there’s nothing wrong?”

”This is all part of the entertainment facilities,” Li Lianshan laughed. ”Nowadays, these rich and powerful folks— the younger ones like excitement, the older ones prefer tranquility. You see, the people who come to play in our arena are either wealthy youngsters or those from the underworld. If we keep going like this, even if we run the Southern Suburbs Dogfight Arena for ten or twenty years, it will always be a gambling venue and won’t change. Because the audience has been fixed, it’s not good for the development of the arena. So, I was thinking about starting projects that could attract those doing legitimate business and holding power. If we can turn the Southern Suburbs Dogfight Arena into a private club, that would be our ultimate goal!”

Li Lianshan was right, actually. When Tiger King opened the Southern Suburbs Dogfight Arena, he also wanted to set it up as a private club. However, Tiger King didn’t have as solid a foundation in Shenchuan City as Li Wenyuan and Shangguan Tian. When he tried to create a private club, he simply couldn’t attract the right crowd. In the end, he had no choice but to change its nature into a gambling venue, and that’s how the Southern Suburbs Dogfight Arena took off.

But gambling venues are ultimately shady businesses that can’t step into the limelight. To truly grow and be recognized by the majority, it is necessary to change the nature of the Southern Suburbs Dogfight Arena into a private club that attracts wealthy businessmen and such. That’s equivalent to gathering the city’s wealthy people. Regardless of whether the club makes money, the key is that gathering these tycoons alone creates an invaluable network of connections. Just like the Tianqing Gang and Fu Bang, they both hold private clubs and can almost influence the ups and downs of Shenchuan City’s business world. Hence, the major part of the Tianqing Gang and Fu Bang’s income doesn’t come from those entertainment venues; it’s from doing business.

The Tianqing Gang and Fu Bang are indeed different from the Fierce Tiger Gang. The Fierce Tiger Gang is almost entirely involved in the underworld, and they engage in illegal activities. However, Tianqing Gang and Fu Bang’s income mainly come from doing business— they walk a legitimate path, with some official figures willing to support them behind the scenes. Therefore, though the Fierce Tiger Gang is quite strong, it’s still not on par with the Tianqing Gang and Fu Bang. It’s like comparing domestic dogs with wild dogs. No matter how strong the Fierce Tiger Gang is, without official backing, they lack confidence!

In these matters, Ye Qing wasn’t very knowledgeable. However, Li Lianshan was well aware of these principles; that’s why he intended to transform the Southern Suburbs Dogfight Arena into a private club, starting to develop his connections. Once his network was considerably expanded, he could also engage in legitimate businesses and rightfully become a real entrepreneur.

Cleansing oneself from underworld ties is almost every underworld member’s dream, and Li Lianshan too harbored this desire!

Ye Qing said, ”Turning a gambling place into a private club won’t be so easy.”

”For this kind of thing, what we need is a leading role,” Li Lianshan smiled. ”I’ve noticed those elder tycoons in Shenchuan City, what they do most is golf and fishing. The Southern Suburbs Dogfight Arena has so much space; I’ll build a fish pond here, a golf course there, just get the facilities ready. Then, you can invite big bosses like Lin Zhen Nan and heavyweights like Elder Master Ding and Elder Master Zhao to come and sit here. I guarantee, the next day, there will be people lining up to come. That’s the leading effect for you!”

Ye Qing glanced at Li Lianshan and said, ”You’ve got some good plans there.”

”Heh heh heh...” Li Lianshan chuckled, ”It’s not my plan, it’s from your Manager Lin. Ye Zi, your fellow villager is really capable. I think, if we develop according to her plan, I estimate that in no more than three years, we could shed our underworld titles and completely transform into successful businessmen!”

Ye Qing laughed, ”With your current situation, would you really be willing to go clean?”

”Going clean is just a way of speaking. The key is that we do legitimate business. As for these underlings, heck, who says you can’t have brothers once you become a businessman?” Li Lianshan slapped Liu Yuan on the shoulder and said, ”Right, Old Liu?”

”Of course, of course,” Liu Yuan chuckled and then looked at Ye Qing, ”Ye Zi, you went to buy a car the other day, didn’t you?”

Ye Qing said, ”Yeah, that’s right. That one is your little uncle, isn’t he? He’s quite a decent person.”

The last time he bought a car, Ye Qing had run into Liu Yuan’s little uncle, Chen Zizhong, and even gave him a pretty good discount.

Hearing Ye Qing’s comment on Chen Zizhong, Liu Yuan immediately grinned from ear to ear and said, ”I heard about it from him. That kid’s usually pretty slick, but he did alright this time. However, Ye Zi, if you need to buy a car next time, let me know in advance, and I’ll go with you personally. If that kid dares to tack on any extra fees, I’ll give him a pounding right then and there!”

”Big Brother Liu, business is business, after all; we can’t let people take a loss,” Ye Qing replied with a smile.

The three of them chatted idly for a while under the building. Li Lianshan had also asked Liu Yuan to design his fishpond and golf course. However, one sentence from Liu Yuan left him feeling rather disheartened.

”Li, designing a fish pond is no problem. But designing a golf course is not an easy task,” said Liu Yuan. ”Golf courses take up a lot of space, and your plot is simply insufficient. Besides, to build these things, you need official approval, which is quite troublesome to obtain. I suggest you drop the idea. A bowling alley, however, is doable since it requires less space.”

”Is building a golf course really that complicated?” Li Lianshan asked, wide-eyed.

”It’s quite complicated. There are a lot of hoops to jump through; it’s not as simple as having the space and just building on it,” Liu Yuan replied. ”I heard that Shangguan Tian from the Tianqing Gang wanted to build a golf course. He had even chosen a location, but he couldn’t get the approval, and in the end, it fell through. To get this done, Li, you would need connections at the provincial level at the very least.”

Li Lianshan promptly clamped his mouth shut, knowing it was futile to even consider provincial connections when he couldn’t even negotiate at the city level.

”However, if this golf course did get built, it would definitely be the first of its kind in Shenchuan City,” Liu Yuan continued. ”I’ve heard from our boss that the tycoons and top officials of Shenchuan City often fly to golf courses in other places to play. If Shenchuan City had its own, it would definitely become the premier private club in the city!”

Li Lianshan’s spirits lifted at these words. He turned to Ye Qing hurriedly and said, ”Ye Zi, this is an opportunity!”

”Forget it, let’s not make things complicated,” Ye Qing waved his hand and said. ”We set up the Southern Suburbs Dogfight Arena and so many people were green with envy over it, nearly costing us our lives. If we establish a golf course, especially the first private club of Shenchuan City, aren’t you afraid of attracting even more envy?”

”There’s a saying, ’Fortune favors the bold.’ Without risk, there’s no opportunity,” countered Li Lianshan.

Ye Qing curled his lips, about to respond when suddenly his phone rang. He took it out and saw that it was Black Bear’s number. A thought crossed his mind; perhaps Black Bear had some news.

Without paying much attention to Li Lianshan, Ye Qing stepped aside with his phone and answered. Black Bear’s honest voice came through immediately, ”Captain, we’ve found that fellow Old Bai.”

”How is it?” Ye Qing asked urgently.

”There’s quite a few people around him. We need to wait for the right moment to catch him. Yue Peng is tracking him. We plan to make a move tonight; once we catch him, we can head back!”

”He’s got quite a few people with him?” Ye Qing was a little surprised; he had thought that Old Bai would be just a small-time thug under the Beggar King’s command in Tianhui City.

”Yeah, he often has fifteen or so people following him. I checked it out, and it looks like he’s mainly keeping company with a couple, almost like he’s protecting them,” Black Bear explained.

”A couple?” Ye Qing was even more surprised. After thinking for a moment, he said, ”Be very careful when you take action tonight. If they have a lot of people, don’t stir up trouble prematurely. And try to avoid conflict with that couple at all costs; there’s definitely something off about those two!”