Chapter 1033 - 1030: Happy World
When Lin Chuan and Helen returned to the London Hotel, Mu Bai was still not there. Lin Chuan had Mu Bai's phone number and called twice, but both times it was unreachable.
Originally, Lin Chuan returned to the London Hotel to tell Mu Bai that he would be leaving the United Kingdom for a few days. But now that Mu Bai had left quietly, it saved him the trouble.
Helen didn't come in but waited for Lin Chuan in the car at the hotel entrance.
After packing some things, Lin Chuan left the room and came to the hotel lobby entrance, only to see Mu Bai standing there with a smile, looking at him.
Mu Bai always had a knack for appearing out of nowhere, and Lin Chuan couldn't help but frown as he walked over.
"I knew you'd come back," was the first thing Mu Bai said upon seeing Lin Chuan.
Lin Chuan said, "I have something to attend to and need to leave for a few days. You go have fun yourself during that time."
Mu Bai's eyes sparkled as she said, "Where are you going? I'll follow you."
Lin Chuan frowned again, saying, "I'm afraid that's not possible. I can't take you with me."
Mu Bai pursed her lips, unwilling, and said, "Are you avoiding me because you don't want to see me anymore?"
Lin Chuan said with embarrassment, "Don't overthink it. I genuinely have something to do that requires me to leave for a few days. It's impossible to bring you along."
Mu Bai stared at Lin Chuan, biting her lip, and suddenly tears welled up and fell from her eyes.
Seeing Mu Bai cry, Lin Chuan's brow furrowed and his heart softened. He said, "Stop crying, you can come with me, but you have to promise me one condition."
Mu Bai immediately stopped crying and smiled, saying, "Sure, I'll agree to not just one condition, but three or even five."
Lin Chuan's expression turned serious as he said, "The matter I'm going to take care of, you should best act as if you know nothing about it. Do you understand?"
Mu Bai giggled, "Got it, rest assured, I won't ask anything I'm not supposed to know."
Taking Mu Bai to the car, they got in. Helen glanced at Mu Bai and said to Lin Chuan, "Who is she?"
Before Lin Chuan replied, Mu Bai cheerfully extended her hand to Helen, saying, "Hello, my name is Mu Bai."
Helen ignored Mu Bai and stared at Lin Chuan, clearly reprimanding him.
Lin Chuan chuckled, "She's a friend of mine coming with me to Washington. Don't worry, she won't interfere with us."
...
Taozi after much investigation finally discovered that Xiao Feng was being controlled by a Chinese man named Li Huaiqiang for prostitution.
Having mingled in Washington for years, Taozi had heard of Li Huaiqiang's infamous reputation.
This Li Huaiqiang may not seem impressive, but he controls over sixty percent of the prostitutes on this street. He has many men under his command, making him quite the local big shot.
In this so-called red-light district, Emory controls the drug trade, while Li Huaiqiang manages the prostitution business. However, Li Huaiqiang strictly avoids involvement in drugs. If it weren't for Emory being taken down by Lin Chuan, he wouldn't have let Mark's group run amok.
The reason Li Huaiqiang can maintain his footing on the street, apart from his own capabilities, he has a significant backing—Mr. Hua, Chinatown's leader.
In the United States, Tiansheng is quite a renowned figure. His gang, Sanhe Gang, is considered one of the most powerful in the country.
To rescue Xiao Feng from misery, they must find Li Huaiqiang.
Taozi initially wanted Huang Bo to find Xiao Feng and tell her about their plan to rescue her from misery, but Huang Bo refused, wanting to surprise Xiao Feng.
With no choice, Taozi led Huang Bo to find Li Huaiqiang.
Li Huaiqiang's headquarters is a bar named Happy World, a place he opened himself.
Taozi led Huang Bo into the bar. Huang Bo quickly scanned around; the bar was spacious with a large stage in the center, where a blonde woman, naked, was dancing seductively under flashing lights.
A crowd surrounded the stage, with whistles filling the air. The blonde woman's figure was impressive, and her seductive moves made watching men stare with lustful eyes.
Along the edges, there were many sofas and seats with scantily clad women mingling. Occasionally, someone would grope them, eliciting flirtatious laughter.
The whole bar was filled with lust, as if it was set up solely for men to seek pleasure.
A blond woman in provocative attire and a seductive smile approached Huang Bo and Taozi. Taozi seemed familiar with the place, slapping the woman's butt with a chuckle, "Zhuli, did you miss me?"
Zhuli leaned against Taozi with a seductive smile, constantly glancing at Huang Bo, "You vanished for ages. Did you forget about me?"
"No chance." Taozi brushed Julie's ample chest with his right hand, chuckling, "I'll find you for a real bout one of these days, but today I've come to see Li Huaiqiang, is he in?"
Julie lifted her right hand and lightly tapped Taozi's sensitive spot, saying, "Alright, remember to find me another day, Li Huaiqiang is in his office on the second floor."
Taozi thanked her and headed to the stairs with Huang Bo, but as soon as they reached the staircase, they were stopped by two big men.
"I'm Chen Tao from Jvyi Gang, here to discuss some matters with your boss," Taozi said in a low voice to the two big men blocking their way.
The two big men exchanged a look and then glanced at Taozi and Huang Bo. One of them said, "Wait a moment."
After waiting for less than five minutes, the big man who left returned and said, "Follow me."
The big man led the two to the second floor, stopping in front of a room door, saying, "The boss is waiting for you inside."
Taozi knocked on the door, and a voice from inside said, "Come in."
They pushed open the door and went inside, seeing a person sitting behind a large desk in the room. Without needing to think, this person was undoubtedly Li Huaiqiang.
Li Huaiqiang didn't look very old, around thirty or so, with a very ordinary face, but his eyes flashed with a captivating cold glint, looking up at Taozi and Huang Bo.
"Mr. Hua, hello, we're from Jvyi Gang. I'm Chen Tao, and this is my brother Huang Bo." Taozi wasn't new to this scene, knowing that Li Huaiqiang liked being called Mr. Hua, so he politely introduced himself first.
Li Huaiqiang stared at them, not even offering a seat, and said, "Jvyi Gang, I've heard of you. You guys are the ones who took down Emory a while ago, right?"
Taozi smiled and said, "That's right."
Li Huaiqiang snorted coldly and said, "I have no dealings with you, what do you want with me?"
Taozi said, "Mr. Hua, we've come today hoping you'll release someone."
Li Huaiqiang made a sound of interest and asked, "Who?"
Taozi said, "She's a girl in your possession, named Alice."
Li Huaiqiang pondered for a moment and said, "Why should I release her?"
Taozi didn't intend to hide anything from Li Huaiqiang, saying, "Alice was my friend's ex-girlfriend. They met by chance a few days ago, and my friend doesn't want her to suffer like this anymore, so we've come to ask your favor, Mr. Hua."
Li Huaiqiang shifted his gaze to Huang Bo and said, "It's possible for me to release her, but she owes me a lot of money. If she repays it, I can release her immediately."
"How much does she owe you?" Taozi asked.
Li Huaiqiang said, "Not much, only a bit over a million."
Taozi was stunned upon hearing this. The million Li Huaiqiang mentioned was in US dollars, nearly ten million CNY. How could a woman like Xiao Feng owe him so much money?
Huang Bo had been standing aside without speaking, not because he didn't want to, but because he didn't understand English. Seeing Taozi stunned, he asked softly, "Taozi, what's the matter?"
Taozi also whispered to Huang Bo, "Li Huaiqiang said Xiao Feng owes them money, and if the debt is cleared, she can be released."
Huang Bo said, "Alright, tell him I'll pay the money to release her."
Taozi smiled bitterly and said, "Bozi, Li Huaiqiang said Xiao Feng owes them over a million US dollars, do you have that much money?"
Huang Bo knew the exchange rate of US dollars to CNY to some extent. Hearing this, he was also stunned. It was nearly ten million CNY, even selling himself wouldn't be enough.
How could Xiao Feng owe this guy so much money? Huang Bo didn't believe it to death. It must be this guy's attempt to extort a large sum from them. Without thinking, he said to Li Huaiqiang, "This is extortion."
Though Li Huaiqiang, being Chinese, understood Chinese, his face darkened upon hearing Huang Bo's words, replying in Chinese, "Yes, I'm extorting you. If you don't like it, you can just drop it."
Huang Bo didn't back down and said coldly, "I insist on taking her with me, but I don't have that money. At most, I can give you a hundred thousand dollars, please release her for the sake of Jvyi Gang."
Li Huaiqiang laughed heartily and said, "What is Jvyi Gang anyway? Why should I give you any face? I'm telling you, if you don't have one and a half million, don't even think about taking her away."
Darn, he dares to belittle Jvyi Gang. Huang Bo was furious and said to Li Huaiqiang, "Jvyi Gang may not be much, but we're stronger than you by thousands of times. We would never force anyone into such filthy deeds."
Enraged, Li Huaiqiang suddenly stood up and yelled, "You punk, daring to act wild here, you really think I'm just a paper tiger without showing you some colors, don't you?"
As he finished, the room door was pushed open, and four big men rushed in.
Taozi saw things were going south and promptly said to Li Huaiqiang, "Mr. Hua, let's discuss this nicely. Isn't this a bit too much?"
Li Huaiqiang sneered and ordered the four big men, "Take these two outside and give them a proper greeting."