My cousin-in-law helped me achieve my ambitions.

Upon hearing that voice, Su Ming was overjoyed and shouted at the top of his lungs, "Okay! Coming right away!"

He flagged down a motorcycle taxi and headed straight for the Yinshan Industrial Zone.

Just as Bao Yazhong had predicted, the arcade was bustling with noise and filled with smoke. Not only were the three slot machines surrounded by gamblers with gleaming eyes, but even the arcade machines used as cover were occupied by many young people killing time. The arcade had also recently added a freezer and two shelves, stocked with drinks, snacks, and cigarettes. Two energetic young women, Xiao Mei and Xiao Li, moved through the crowd, busy exchanging coins, handing out cigarettes and water. Their swaying hips and coquettish voices added a touch of ambiguity to the small arcade.

Bao Yazhong, like a big shot, sat behind the cashier with his legs crossed, leisurely smoking a cigarette. Beside him was a half-empty bottle of Red Bull, with cigarette ash flicked into the empty bottle. As soon as he saw Su Ming enter, he immediately stood up with a smile to greet him.

"Haha, buddy, you've come at the perfect time!" Bao Yazhong led Su Ming around the store, then pulled him into a corner, leaned close to his ear with a smug look, and whispered, "I lowered the odds a bit more today, preparing to make a killing! If nothing unexpected happens, we'll each earn at least a thousand dollars more tonight than yesterday!"

Upon hearing this, Su Ming was incredibly excited! At this rate, wouldn't he be making 2,500 yuan in net profit every day? That would be 75,000 yuan a month, and over 100,000 yuan in a month and a half! If he could also find a way to get some more from Lin Shumei, he might even be able to fill half of the 285,000 yuan hole!

He finally saw hope.

However, just as he was feeling happy, the door to the arcade was suddenly kicked open.

A tall, burly man with a menacing scar on his face stormed in, leading seven or eight equally fierce-looking thugs. Each of them was carrying a gleaming steel pipe; their posture clearly indicated they were there to cause trouble.

As soon as the scarred man entered the store, he rushed to the slot machines and yelled at the top of his lungs, "Stop fucking playing!"

The sound was like a thunderclap from a clear sky, startling everyone in the shop. The gamblers, who were in the middle of a thrilling game, all backed away, and the more timid ones simply threw down their coins and ran out.

Upon seeing the situation, Bao Yazhong's expression changed, but he still steeled himself and stepped forward, shouting at the top of his lungs, "Hey! Buddy, what's going on? Which gang are you from?"

The scarred man glanced contemptuously at Bao Yazhong and said coldly, "Who gave you permission to set up slot machines here?"

Bao Yazhong's eyes darted around, and he immediately reached out and pulled Su Ming into his arms, putting his arm around Su Ming's shoulder and laughing in a threatening tone, "This arcade is owned by our Brother Ming! Let me tell you, my Brother Ming is a big shot. Even Brother Fei Ma from the Hunan gang in Snake Mountain Industrial Zone has to kneel before him! If you offend him, you'll suffer a terrible fate!"

These words were both a way of revealing his identity to intimidate others and a signal to Su Ming: Brother, it's your turn to step up and settle things.

Su Ming knew that if he backed down now, not only would the arcade have to close, but his "brotherhood" with Bao Yazhong would also be over. He took a deep breath, straightened his back, took a step forward, raised his face, and looked at the scarred man with neither arrogance nor servility.

"Dude, let me put it this way. In the Snake Hill Industrial Zone, Pegasus has to call me 'brother.' Even Chai Gou from the Sichuan gang has to offer me a cigarette. So who are you from?"

Upon hearing this, the scarred man was slightly taken aback, then burst into a wild laugh.

"Hahahaha! Anyone can brag! I fucking know the provincial governor! Who do you think you are?"

His henchmen behind him burst into laughter.

"Exactly, anyone can brag!"

"I even know Sun Wukong!"

Su Ming was extremely anxious! This trick had failed him; he was about to be exposed.

His mind raced, but his face remained calm. He smiled, his tone softening slightly: "Hey buddy, how about this? Looks like you're involved in this kind of thing too. Introduce yourself first. I'll invite Pegasus and Chai Gou out sometime, and we can sit down, have a few drinks, and become friends."

His plan was that as long as he could coax Pegasus over and use his power to intimidate the scarred man in front of him, the situation would be resolved.

To everyone's surprise, the scarred man wasn't buying it. His face darkened, and he roared, "Enough of this nonsense! My name is Liu Yidao, and I'm here to talk business, not to listen to your bragging! Listen carefully, your slot machines have caused many of our factory workers to lose money, probably over ten thousand yuan in total! You have to return that money today! Otherwise, you can forget about running this arcade!"

"Yes! We have to pay compensation! We absolutely must pay compensation!"

"Refund immediately!"

"Pay up!"

His henchmen behind him also started shouting.

Upon hearing this, Bao Yazhong chuckled and stepped forward, saying with a forced smile, "Brother Dao, that's not very nice of you. We've only been open for two days, and the total revenue we've made is less than ten thousand. Where would we get more than ten thousand? You're clearly making things difficult for us!"

"Damn it! I'll make things difficult for you, so what?" Liu Yidao suddenly raised the steel pipe in his hand and smashed it hard against a slot machine next to him.

With a loud crash, the slot machine's screen shattered instantly, and its plastic casing broke into pieces.

The girls in the shop screamed in terror.

Su Ming gritted his teeth, knowing that he couldn't avoid this fight today. He glanced ahead and saw eight people on the other side, with Liu Yidao, the leader, and his seven henchmen keeping a distance of more than a meter between them.

To catch the thief, first catch the king!

He had to subdue Liu Yidao in the shortest possible time and intimidate the others, otherwise, if a brawl broke out and the police arrived, the arcade would be completely ruined.

Thinking of this, a smile appeared on his face, and he nodded calmly to Liu Yidao: "Buddy, all you want is money, right? Okay, I agree."

Liu Yidao laughed, arrogantly stretching out his hand: "Alright, give it to me! Ten thousand yuan! Listen carefully, we're here to refund your money, not to ask you for it back!"

"No problem," Su Ming replied with a smile, walking slowly toward Liu Yidao as he spoke.

Bao Yazhong panicked and quickly grabbed his arm, whispering, "Ming-ge! We haven't earned that much yet, we can't give it to him!"

He's a seasoned veteran who knows the rules of the game. If he gives it to Liu Yidao today, Li Yihu will come tomorrow, and then Wang Masan will come later. How can he do business like that?

"It's alright, leave it to me!" Su Ming gave him a reassuring look and continued walking forward.

Just as he was less than half a meter away from Liu Yidao, Su Ming suddenly changed his footing.

He took a step forward, his body suddenly sinking, and with lightning speed, his right hand picked up a piece of plastic from the smashed slot machine from the ground; the edge of the piece was as sharp as a knife.

Immediately afterward, he stood up abruptly, took a step forward, and locked Liu Yidao's throat with one hand, pressing the piece of plastic firmly against Liu Yidao's carotid artery.