Chapter 242: This Score Must Be Settled
The Local Bully stood up. "Fine."
He looked at Xiao Ye. "I'll let you off the hook this time. You can get the hell out of here!"
The eyes of the surrounding crowd turned red with envy.
They, who worked so hard every day, couldn't even make ten thousand a month.
Yet these extortionists could make a million in minutes!
'How ironic!'
Xiao Ye looked at them and suddenly laughed. "Who said you could leave?"
Just then, someone outside suddenly shouted, "The detectives are here!"
The crowd immediately parted to make way.
A detective walked forward. "We received a call about a large-scale extortion."
Before he could finish his sentence, he saw the bag at Brother Nan's feet.
With a single look from Xiao Ye, one of his men immediately went to open it.
"HOLY SHIT!" Even the detective couldn't help but curse. So much money? The sight was dazzling!
Saying "one million," or seeing it as a bank transfer or a check, was nothing compared to the overwhelming spectacle of a million in cash!
Xiao Ye said, "They are the ones who extorted this one million from me."
Brother Nan hurriedly said, "What extortion? This is clearly for medical fees! There are more than ten of us, and we were beaten this badly. Is it unreasonable to ask for one hundred thousand each for our medical bills?"
"Is that so?" Xiao Ye said with a smirk. "Then why don't you go get your injuries examined?"
His men had been vicious. Their strikes were incredibly painful but wouldn't leave many visible marks. Even if they were examined, the injuries would likely be classified as minor, if they even qualified as injuries at all.
After all, on the surface, they probably didn't even have any broken skin, just a bit of subcutaneous bruising at most.
The detective had already received word that the person who made the call was not someone to be trifled with, so there could be no delays. He had to act immediately.
He didn't give Brother Nan another chance to speak, ordering the other detectives forward to haul everyone into the police cars and take them to the hospital for an injury assessment.
"Alright, you can all disperse now!"
The crowd still wanted to watch the show. They all wanted to know what would happen to Brother Nan and his crew.
But now that everyone had been taken away, there was nothing left to see.
As the victim, Xiao Ye naturally went along as well.
「At the hospital.」
Brother Nan wasn't panicking.
'His whole group was beaten so badly they couldn't even stand up, and they were still in agonizing pain. Their injuries must be serious!'
'So what if he asked for too much money? Worse comes to worst, he'd just insist that the other party was trying to settle things privately!'
The assessment results came back quickly.
The detective looked at the report, his expression turning cold. "Take them all away!"
"You don't have any injuries on you at all, yet you have the gall to demand one hundred thousand each. This is clearly extortion!"
From the conversation after the Local Bully arrived on Xiao Ye's side, the police could confirm this was likely an entrapment scheme.
The detective didn't believe for a second that they actually couldn't get up. A professional hospital examination was no joke.
They must have been faking it, just lying on the ground and refusing to move!
Even as he was being led away, Brother Nan still wore a look of utter disbelief.
The Local Bully was smart. Instead of arguing, he called his lawyer.
「Half an hour later.」
The one million, which they hadn't even had a chance to enjoy, was returned to Xiao Ye's hands.
The Local Bully wasn't considered the main perpetrator, and with his cooperative attitude in admitting fault, he was temporarily released on bail.
As for Brother Nan, he was destined to do time.
If it had been extortion of ten or twenty thousand, it might not have been so serious. But this was over a million!
The detectives had already logged the amount: one million and one yuan!
It just happened to cross a new sentencing threshold!
Xiao Ye was also quick with an explanation. "My card had exactly one million and one hundred yuan on it. The teller must have withdrawn all of it."
This was a perfectly normal excuse. After all, who would think that someone withdrawing a million yuan from a card would leave a hundred yuan behind? The teller probably just took it all out.
By the time the Local Bully left, it was already the middle of the night.
It was the coldest part of the night outside.
He got into his underling's car, his entire demeanor grim.
As a Local Bully, this was the first time he had ever been so thoroughly set up and humiliated!
If word of this got out, his reputation would be ruined!
He wasn't afraid of gossip, but of his authority being undermined!
"Boss, what do we do now? Are we just going to let that kid go?"
"Of course not!" The Local Bully fiddled with the ring on his finger. "If I just let him go, how will anyone look at me in the future!"
"I have to settle today's score!"
"Here's what you do. Find a few guys who are good fighters and have them pay a visit tomorrow night!"
"Remember, do it when no one's around! Don't go for the head. Break his legs first!"
"Yes, sir!"
「The next day.」
Li Ming and Li Yue were deeply moved by the help they had received. They were already prepared to leave the city at a moment's notice.
Li Ming sat in the hotel's presidential suite, so tense he didn't know where to put his hands.
He and his wife came from a small village and had never seen much of the world. They only came to the city to find work.
Other than getting plastic surgery, they had never done anything daring in their lives.
'Who knew a hotel room could be this luxurious? So this is how the rich live!'
Xiao Ye handed the one million yuan directly to the couple.
He wasn't doing it out of kindness, but as a test.
He would have people keep an eye on them to see what they did and how they would use the money.
Looking at the money in front of him, Li Ming was so emotional he almost burst into tears on the spot. "This... we can't possibly take this!"
"So much money... how could you just give it to us!"
Xiao Ye waved his hand dismissively. "Like I said, I'm rich. This much doesn't matter to me. You were lucky enough to meet me. Just take it."
The couple truly had no money. They were uneducated, and their factory jobs only paid a few thousand yuan a month.
They had managed to save up a fair bit, but a single surgery had wiped out all of it.
'Whatever you do, don't get sick. Whatever you lack, don't lack money!'
"Thank you!" Li Ming pulled Li Yue down to kneel on the floor.
His face was full of excitement, but it quickly clouded over as if he had remembered something.
'Li Ming looked at the money. As much as he wanted to just take it, his conscience wouldn't allow it!'
After a long struggle, and after Li Yue squeezed his hand and gave him an encouraging look, he kowtowed and spoke.
"Mr. Xiao, we have wronged you!"
"We didn't know you were such a good person before. We thought you were a bad guy, so... so we tampered with the last file we sent out!"
"The couple before us told us about a secret code to be used in the text, which means 'we are in danger'."
"They told me that if anyone came asking about them, we should use this method to pass on a message. And if things were okay again, we should send it one more time..."
Xiao Ye raised an eyebrow. He had seen that file, but he hadn't noticed any tampering.
"Explain this secret code to me in detail."