38: Chapter 38: Preparing to use money to smash the old street's foundation.

Fang Jiming stood at the school gate, pushing that small, rented electric scooter.

The autumn wind in Nanqiao City carried a hint of damp chill. The sky had completely darkened, and the scattered neon lights of Qiaonan Old Street, opposite No. 19 Middle School, lit up. The smell of cooking fumes from the food stalls, mixed with the scent of cheap cigarettes, drifted into the campus with the wind.

Fang Jiming looked up at the broken sign flickering with the four characters for "Kuangbiao Internet Cafe," his mind rapidly calculating the astronomical sum lying in his system account.

The daily limit of 100 million couldn't be handed directly to students, nor could it be used to buy college entrance exam answers for them, but the system didn't forbid uprooting the tumors that harmed the students.

Fang Jiming: ( ≖ _ ≖ )

He reached out and touched the phone in his hoodie pocket, deciding to do something big. Since Brother Long claimed he called the shots on Qiaonan Old Street, he would buy the whole street and leave these thugs with nowhere to stay.

Just as he was pondering the specific acquisition plan, the sound of high heels clicking on the concrete floor came from behind him.

Fang Jiming turned his head. Teacher Wen Ruyan had changed out of her professional attire and was wearing a beige trench coat. The thin-rimmed glasses on the bridge of her nose gleamed softly under the streetlights, and she was carrying that heavy canvas bag full of test papers.

"Have you been waiting long?"

Teacher Wen Ruyan walked up to him and stopped.

Fang Jiming patted the seat of the electric scooter.

"Just came out. Teacher Wen, I'll give you a ride."

He glanced at the small electric scooter, which didn't even have a backrest, and thought that he really needed to get a decent vehicle; he couldn't keep making her ride this.

Teacher Wen Ruyan also glanced at the small electric scooter and gently bit her lower lip.

"This bike is a bit cramped for two people."

Fang Jiming hopped onto the seat.

"It's warmer when it's cramped. The wind is biting today, don't dawdle."

Teacher Wen Ruyan sat sideways on the back seat, her hands properly gripping the edge under the seat. Fang Jiming twisted the throttle, and the electric scooter slowly drove onto the bumpy concrete road of Qiaonan Old Street.

The scene on Old Street looked even more dilapidated in the night. The trash cans by the roadside were already full, and several drunk middle-aged men were shirtless, playing finger-guessing games by the roadside. Deafeningly loud, tacky dance music blared from a barbershop. Teacher Wen Ruyan leaned a bit closer to Fang Jiming's back.

Teacher Wen Ruyan: ( Ծ ‸ Ծ )

She was clearly uncomfortable in this terrible environment and leaned close to Fang Jiming's ear, lowering her voice.

"This street is very chaotic at night. You just offended that Brother Long this afternoon; we should ride faster."

Fang Jiming, instead, slowed down even more.

"What's there to be afraid of? In a society ruled by law, does he dare to rob people on the street?"

His gaze swept across the storefronts on both sides of Old Street. There were internet cafes, billiard halls, chess and card rooms, and several unlicensed guesthouses without even signs. High school students like Ma Xiaotiao and Zhang Chi, whose minds were not yet mature, could easily be led astray by those social youths once they ducked in here after class.

"Teacher Wen."

Fang Jiming suddenly spoke up.

"How much do you think it would cost to tear down this whole street and rebuild it?"

Teacher Wen Ruyan was stunned by his question and glanced at the dilapidated illegal structures connected together all around them.

"This is a historical legacy issue. The property rights are very complicated, and to relocate so many merchants and residents, you couldn't possibly get it done without over a billion."

She sighed.

"The city has long had renovation plans, but no developer has been willing to take on this mess."

Fang Jiming smiled and didn't respond.

Teacher Wen Ruyan turned her head to look at him, not paying much attention to the question, assuming he was just casually remarking.

When the electric scooter passed the middle section of Old Street, Fang Jiming caught a glimpse of a scrawny, yellow-haired guy squatting at the mouth of an alley—it was the lackey who had followed Brother Long to the classroom to kick the door earlier that afternoon.

The yellow-haired guy had a toothpick in his mouth and was staring toward the direction of Old Street, as if he were keeping watch for someone.

Fang Jiming withdrew his gaze, didn't stop, and drove straight past with Teacher Wen Ruyan.

The electric scooter stopped at the entrance of the residential compound where Teacher Wen Ruyan rented an apartment. The environment here was relatively quiet, and the streetlights were much brighter. Teacher Wen Ruyan got off the scooter and smoothed the hem of her trench coat.

"Thank you for bringing me back today."

Fang Jiming turned off the scooter's lights.

"Don't mention it. You even brought me a hot coffee from nine kilometers away today."

Teacher Wen Ruyan's face flushed in the night, and she pretended not to hear that sentence.

"Fang Jiming, please don't be impulsive and go head-to-head over the matter with Brother Long."

She looked at him with eyes full of worry.

"Those people have no bottom line. You are just a teacher; you can't fight a local bully."

Fang Jiming smiled looking completely relaxed.

"Don't worry, Teacher Wen. I'm a law-abiding good citizen. I never fight; I only like to reason with people."

Teacher Wen Ruyan sighed.

"Your mouth is the least reasonable thing."

She turned around, swiped open the gate of the residential compound, walked a few steps, and then turned back to remind him.

"Ride slowly on the way, and send a message in the WeChat group when you get home."

Fang Jiming waved and watched her walk into the residential compound. Only when her figure completely disappeared from his sight did the smile on his face slowly fade.

He turned the electric scooter around and rode back to Qiaonan Old Street.

At the alley entrance he had noted earlier, the yellow-haired guy was still squatting in the same spot, the light from his phone screen illuminating his face.

Fang Jiming parked the electric scooter at the entrance of a roadside kiosk, bought a pack of Zhonghua cigarettes, opened it, put one in his mouth, and walked slowly toward the alley entrance.

The yellow-haired guy heard footsteps and looked up. When he saw it was Fang Jiming, the toothpick almost fell out of his mouth, and he stood up with a start.

Yellow-haired guy: ( ꐦ ಠ _ ಠ )

He reached out to touch his lower back and spat on the ground.

"Yo, isn't this the tough teacher? What's the matter? Know you're scared, so you came to find Brother Long to apologize in the middle of the night?"

Fang Jiming stopped two steps away from the yellow-haired guy and pulled a cigarette from the pack, handing it over.

"Brother, have a smoke."

The yellow-haired guy looked at him suspiciously, took the cigarette, and tucked it behind his ear.

"You're sensible."

Fang Jiming lit one for himself, and the flame flared in the dim alley.

"My little brothers are ignorant. This afternoon, I was just trying to save face in front of the students. After thinking about it when I got back, I really shouldn't have been so rash."

Fang Jiming exhaled a puff of white smoke.

"The debt that Zhang Chi and Ma Xiaotiao owe Brother Long, I want to settle it for them. Do you think you can help me make the connection?"

When the yellow-haired guy heard this, he immediately laughed, leaning against the wall and picking his teeth with a toothpick.

"I told you, you book-teaching types are all spineless. This afternoon you were all acting so tough, but now that it's dark, aren't you still having to come and beg us?"

He shook his head triumphantly and gestured with his chin toward the end of Old Street.

"See that red brick building at the very end? Kuangbiao Billiard Hall, Brother Long's place."

Fang Jiming looked in the direction he indicated; a three-story red brick building was lit by a few pale lights.

"A billiard hall? Brother Long is into this too?"

"The billiard hall is on the first floor, and the chess and card room on the second floor is also Brother Long's."

When the yellow-haired guy said this, he straightened his back, as if showing off his boss's territory.

"Those two students of yours lost their money in the billiard hall, and then they welched on the debt. In the underworld, they would have been finished long ago."

Fang Jiming nodded and asked another question.

"Is Brother Long there now? Can I just go up?"

The yellow-haired guy sneered.

"Brother Long is playing cards on the second floor. You're going empty-handed?"

He held up two fingers.

"Twenty thousand. That's the debt those two brats owe. Bring the money before you go up. If Brother Long is in a good mood, the matter will be settled."

Fang Jiming memorized all this information.

"Alright, I'll scrape the money together and come tomorrow. Twenty thousand is not a small amount for a poor teacher like me."

He stubbed out the cigarette butt in his hand and turned to leave.

The yellow-haired guy made a clicking sound behind him.

"Tch, poor loser."

Fang Jiming walked out of the alley, hopped onto the electric scooter, twisted the throttle, and drove away from Qiaonan Old Street.

The speed wasn't fast. While riding, he organized the information in his mind. The reason Brother Long could throw his weight around on Qiaonan Old Street was merely because he relied on those few venues to gather a group of idle social undesirables. As long as he took down that building along with its property rights and shut everything down, Brother Long's foundation would be completely shattered.

When he arrived downstairs at his rental, he first sent a message to Teacher Wen Ruyan in the WeChat group.

"I'm home, Teacher Wen. Get some rest early."

Teacher Wen Ruyan replied with a "Mn" in a second, and then sent another message: "See you at the school gate tomorrow morning."

Fang Jiming pushed the electric scooter to the corner and locked it, took his phone out of his pocket, and dialed the number of Chen Jianhua from Xinghuo Public Welfare.

The phone rang three times before being answered.

"Mr. Fang, good evening."