21: The rules are clearly stated, and the Happy Building is blocked

Having made a good plan, it was time to collect the delicious fruits.

Thinking of the wealth of Changshun Street, Chen Cuo still felt a slight thrill.

Currently, the medicinal soup he consumed daily for his cultivation alone cost nearly a thousand taels of silver.

Without ample financial support, his cultivation progress would not have been so rapid.

To quickly enhance his strength, he still needed to earn more money.

In the Dao of cultivation, wealth, companions, methods, and land are all important, with wealth ranking first.

Resources are key to improving one's strength.

Chen Cuo quickly tidied up, washed himself, and called for Ding Xiang, the Fatty, and Hong Feng.

Ding Xiang and Hong Feng had both suffered greatly and endured much hardship recently.

These past few days, they had diligently cultivated without a moment's rest.

Chen Cuo was a good hands-off boss.

Aside from major street affairs, he basically didn't worry about any trivial matters, leaving everything to Gu Pang alone.

This worried the Little Fatty greatly, and these past few days, Gu Pang found everyone disagreeable, scolding and beating any disobedient subordinate he caught.

The three of them heard that Chen Cuo was going to take over Changshun Street and eagerly followed him, bringing over a dozen subordinates.

“Boss Chen!”

“Hello, Big Brother!”

Amidst the flattering calls of his many subordinates, Chen Cuo led the three to the entrance of Changshun Street.

At this time, many merchants from Changshun Street had already gathered outside, along with some of Ge Feng's former subordinates.

“Is this the Boss Chen who is taking over our Changshun Street? I heard he injured Fan Datoumu's adopted son, didn't he? Why does Old Master Fan still seem to favor him so much, even personally sending people to maintain order on the street for him?”

“What do you know? This Boss Chen is a ruthless man!

I heard that a few days ago, at the Hong Family Fort in the eastern suburbs, he almost killed Hong Family's Second Master, who had just returned to the Hong Family.

That Second Master's cultivation was the same as Boss Chen's.”

“Which master wouldn't like such a powerful disciple?”

“Ah! Is the new Laoda so formidable?”

“Of course, our Laoda is the most formidable.”

Unbeknownst to them, one of Gu Pang’s low-level subordinates had already stood beside the whispering group and interjected a remark.

Chen Cuo approached an old man and respectfully greeted him, “Uncle Yi, is everything handled inside?”

The old man nodded and said, “It's mostly cleared up.

Except for two large shops, all other merchants have handed over the contracts they signed with the Vajra Sect.”

The old man's name was Yi Yun, and he was also a brother who had gone through life and death with Fan Wufeng back in the day.

Now, he made a living under the Old Master.

Chen Cuo hadn't taken over Changshun Street too early to prevent Ge Feng from causing trouble and direct conflict.

The Old Master entrusted the matter to Yi Yun.

Relying on the orders conveyed by Shi Renhsan, he forcefully made Ge Feng withdraw from Changshun Street.

As an old hand, he had already cleaned up most of the street, both inside and out.

Yi Yun waved his hand, and a middle-aged man dressed as a merchant respectfully handed a wooden box to Chen Cuo.

Chen Cuo opened it and saw that it contained the cooperation contracts signed by most of the shops on the entire street with the Vajra Sect.

After carefully reviewing them, Chen Cuo found that, as Yi Yun had said, two shops had not handed over their cooperation contracts.

He wondered what their intention was.

“Uncle Yi, why are Qiuyue Tavern and Huanxi Pavilion unwilling to hand over their contracts?” Chen Cuo asked.

Qiuyue Tavern in Changshun Street was not the largest, only medium-sized, but Huanxi Pavilion was the highest-earning brothel in Changshun Street.

Within the Vajra Sect, once a street's managing head was to be changed, the shops that had signed cooperation contracts with the Vajra Sect had to hand over their original contracts, change the head's seal, and the managing head could also modify some cooperation terms.

The Vajra Sect only cared about the fixed monthly payment percentage for each street and did not care about the methods of managing the entire street.

Moreover, the amount of monthly payments collected was not fixed, but it could only be more, not less.

They were merely merchants, not Gang members; if one crop was cut, there would still be another.

Therefore, as high-ranking Martial Artists, these merchants were merely resources in their hands.

In comparison, Chen Cuo was truly a significant figure.

When doing business in Wei City, shop owners would never dare to offend the street's managers unless they wished to die.

Yi Yun shook his head slightly and whispered, “Those two bosses have backing; they probably have some agreement with Ge Feng.”

“The Old Master said you have to pull out these two nails yourself.

If the Old Master were to act, the fire wouldn't ignite!”

After a whispered instruction, Chen Cuo handed the wooden box to Gu Pang, then nodded solemnly and said, “Hmm! Let Ge Feng see my methods.”

Immediately, he pointed to a group of bowing servants and low-level subordinates in front of him and said, “You were formerly Ge Laoda's subordinates, but now, Ge Feng has left Changshun Street.

Changshun Street is now under my management.

If you are willing to stay, you will follow me from now on.

Those who wish to leave will receive one tael of silver as severance pay.

Make your choice!”

These people were all low-level ruffians.

When Old Master Fan sent Yi Yun to take over Changshun Street, Ge Feng left with his close associates.

The remaining useless ruffians were left behind.

Changshun Street, running along the city moat, spanned most of Wei City, making it larger than Jingshui Street and Qingshui Street.

Relying solely on a dozen close Gang members was not enough to manage the numerous shops, so Chen Cuo could only use these people for now, intending to cultivate some trusted subordinates later.

However, Chen Cuo called out several times, but no one moved.

They were all idlers, not fixed subordinates of any particular Laoda.

If they took Chen Cuo's severance pay and left the Gang, they didn't know how they would make a living.

More importantly, they had also heard that the businesses on Qingshui Street and Jingshui Street were unbelievably good, and Chen Cuo's subordinates were all living prosperously, so they also wanted to follow Chen Cuo and earn some big money.

“Since no one is willing to leave, then you are now my, Chen Cuo's, subordinates.

Since that is the case, you must abide by my rules.

From now on, no more arbitrary taking or eating is allowed on Changshun Street, and you are not to disturb shops or affect their business.”

“Have you all understood?” Chen Cuo roared, asking the crowd.

“Understood!” Nearly thirty people in front of him mostly answered, though their voices were not very clear.

Chen Cuo's gaze swept over them, remembering a few faces.

He then spoke again, “Louder, I can't hear you! Have you understood?”

“Understood!” As Chen Cuo's stern inquiry, some people's tone changed, and their voices grew louder.

“Good that you've understood.

Now, distribute the silver, one tael per person!” Chen Cuo noted down a few of the most spirited Gang members in the crowd, already having a plan in mind.

He then signaled Hong Feng with his eyes.

Seeing this, Hong Feng took out two bags from his embrace and began to have his subordinates distribute the silver to these “newcomers.”

Chen Cuo's action was precisely to win over people's hearts.

His subordinates in Jingshui Street and Qingshui Street mostly received over ten taels of silver in monthly pay and didn't care about these small sums of one or two taels.

Seeing the excited expressions of the low-level subordinates on Changshun Street, they even secretly felt a sense of pride.

At this time, almost every one of the thirty to forty people remaining on Changshun Street was extremely excited, some even had red eyes.

As the saying goes, money moves hearts.

As the lowest-level hooligans in the Gang, one tael of silver was an astronomical sum to them.

“Since everyone has received my silver, will you follow me to do business, my brothers?” Chen Cuo asked softly, a smile playing on his face.

“We are willing to obey Laoda's orders! We are willing to die for Laoda!”

“We are willing to obey Laoda's orders! We are willing to die for Laoda!”

Someone started it, and upon hearing the sound, everyone followed suit, shouting the slogan.

Chen Cuo immediately led his many subordinates straight towards Changshun Street.

Yi Yun followed beside him, pointing the way.

He wanted to go to Huanxi Pavilion first to take a look.

A large group of people arrived imposingly in front of Huanxi Pavilion, creating a stir throughout the entire street.

Huanxi Pavilion was the largest brothel in the vicinity, and they had seen Chen Cuo's movements from afar.

Chen Cuo ignored their preparations and went upstairs alone.

Just as he was about to step onto the stairs, a graceful, tall, and beautiful woman appeared at the stairwell entrance, speaking in a sarcastic tone: “Oh my, isn't this Boss Chen from the neighboring Qingshui Street? What wind has blown you to my Huanxi Pavilion? My small establishment truly cannot bear the might of Boss Chen.”

“Beautiful lady Huo Xiangsi, hmph hmph hmph, why I have come here, I presume you understand.

Let's be straightforward.

Hand over the contract signed with the Vajra Sect and reach a new agreement with me, and I guarantee your profits will more than double.”

Chen Cuo did not say much.

The woman in front of him was the owner of Huanxi Pavilion, Huo Xiangsi, once known as a femme fatale, now called the Beautiful Lady by the people of Wei City.

“Boss Chen, you all are truly overbearing.

But didn't we just sign a contract with the Vajra Sect a year ago, with Ge Feng managing Changshun Street? Why is there another change of personnel?”

Changshun Street was precisely captured by the Vajra Sect during the Gang war with the North Dipper Gang a year ago, and it later became a pillar of the Vajra Sect.

At that time, Ji Ang contributed the most, and this street was then allocated to Ji Ang for management, and subsequently, to his most capable subordinate, Ge Feng.