56: Protection Fee

Just as Qu Huaixuan was thinking this.

A knock on the door suddenly sounded!

Qu Huaixuan glanced at Qu Wan'er.

The room immediately quieted down.

She turned and walked to the door.

"Who is it?"

"Water meter reader."

Qu Huaixuan frowned slightly at the words.

It was the middle of the month.

Usually, they came at the end of the month.

Why did they suddenly come early?

She looked through the peephole.

It was a familiar middle-aged man.

Plus, it was daytime.

So she didn't think much of it.

She opened the door.

Almost as soon as the door opened.

Bang!

A hand pressed firmly against the doorframe!

Under Qu Huaixuan's shocked gaze.

Seven or eight hooligan-like fellows emerged from beside the middle-aged water meter reader.

They forced the door open!

The red-haired hooligan leading them glanced at the middle-aged man behind him, who was full of shame.

He laughed heartily: "Well done!"

"You're not needed here anymore!"

"Get lost!"

Watching the middle-aged man scurry away in a panic.

The red-haired man forcibly entered Qu Huaixuan's room.

He looked around.

He couldn't help but shake his head.

"It's too rundown!"

The room was too dilapidated!

At a glance, there didn't seem to be much money to be made.

However.

His gaze shifted.

When he saw Qu Huaixuan.

He immediately couldn't take his eyes off her!

He scrutinized her from head to toe.

He couldn't help but swallow hard!

It wasn't just him.

Even his subordinates behind him.

Their eyes were wide with desire at this moment!

Qu Huaixuan's delicate brows were tightly furrowed, her face full of vigilance, and she questioned, "Who are you people?"

The red-haired man snapped back to attention at her words.

He sneered: "We are from the Wang family."

"From now on, this territory is under our protection!"

"Our purpose for coming today is also very simple!"

"We're here to collect protection fees!"

As he spoke.

The red-haired man acted completely at home.

While speaking.

He casually walked over to the dining table.

He sat down next to the innocent and bewildered Qu Wan'er.

Leaning back in the chair.

He reached out and stroked her beautiful hair.

Even though the red-haired man was well-traveled and experienced.

He couldn't help but exclaim.

This mother and daughter were truly exceptional!

There was no need to say more about Qu Huaixuan.

Even the little girl was exquisitely delicate.

A true beauty in the making!

Who would be so lucky to have them?

Qu Huaixuan's face changed instantly when she saw the red-haired man sit next to Qu Wan'er.

She couldn't help but say:

"I already paid the protection fee half a month ago!"

The red-haired man and his many subordinates exchanged glances.

They burst into laughter!

"Are you talking about that Zhao Hu guy?"

One of the subordinates said, "That lunatic drank too much a few days ago."

"He publicly harassed Wang Shao's woman, and now he's probably lying in some concrete pillar somewhere."

"Now our Wang family is taking over this area."

"So..." The red-haired man grinned, interjecting, "Your previous protection fee doesn't count anymore."

"You must pay a new protection fee now!"

Qu Huaixuan's face was a little pale.

She said with difficulty, "But... I don't have any money this month."

She was just an office worker.

Her income was very limited.

And she had a child to raise.

Where would she get so much money?

The red-haired man's expression changed instantly!

The smile on his face gradually turned cold.

"So, you're not planning to cooperate?"

The red-haired man waved his hand and said, "Search!"

He had seen countless people feigning poverty to avoid paying protection fees.

Naturally, he wouldn't believe Qu Huaixuan's one-sided story.

The surrounding subordinates grinned at the words.

Two were left to block the door.

The rest headed towards the various rooms.

They were already very familiar with such matters.

They didn't need any instructions at all.

Qu Huaixuan's face was somewhat grim.

But she was powerless to stop them.

The red-haired man casually picked up the chopsticks on the table.

He took a bite of oilseed rape.

"The taste is quite good."

He gave an objective evaluation.

He glanced around.

He shook his head and said:

"It's just that there's no meat on the entire table."

At this moment, Qu Wan'er seemed to still not know what was happening.

She looked left and right with a curious expression.

Finally.

At this moment, the subordinates who had entered the rooms came out one by one.

In their hands, they held a thousand yuan and a silver ring.

"Boss, we've searched everywhere, and this is all there is."

Speaking of which.

One of the subordinates couldn't help but complain, "I thought this ring was made of silver!"

"Who knew it was just painted with a layer of silver paint!"

The red-haired man glanced at it.

He couldn't help but frown.

The thousand-plus yuan was directly ignored by him.

It was simply too little!

He casually picked up the ring that his subordinate had mistaken for silver.

He took a look.

Aside from feeling a bit heavy when held,

He didn't know what it was made of.

Everything else seemed normal.

With a flick of his hand.

He looked at the bottom of the ring.

He saw two small characters engraved on the back of the ring.

"Qi Lin?"

The red-haired man was stunned.

As if struck by some memory!

He seemed to have seen this name somewhere.

That was... a family wanted poster from three years ago!

His pupils suddenly constricted!

To be able to take over this area.

The red-haired man, in terms of seniority, was considered an old-timer in the Wang family!

Now seeing the name Qi Lin.

After a moment of reaction.

He immediately recalled that rainy night three years ago!

The entire Qi family.

Not a single soul was left!

Except for the eldest son of the Qi family, named Qi Lin...

At that time, the Wang family issued a bounty.

To hunt down the last man of the Qi family.

However, in the end, nothing was found.

Because the matter was of great importance, the bounty was never withdrawn.

It remained until today.

In the beginning.

Many people searched.

But.

As time passed.

By today.

No one was paying attention to this person anymore.

If the red-haired man hadn't been senior enough.

He would never have connected this matter.

He immediately stood up and looked intently at Qu Huaixuan.

His voice trembled with excitement: "Where did you get this ring from?"

The other subordinates were all startled by their boss's strong reaction!

It was their first time seeing their boss show such a mixture of excitement, anticipation, and eagerness.

A bolder hooligan couldn't help but ask:

"Boss, what's wrong with this ring?"

The red-haired man didn't pay attention to the others.

He just stared intently at Qu Huaixuan.

Qu Huaixuan also didn't expect the red-haired man to have such a big reaction after seeing this ring.

However, seeing that Qu Wan'er was still next to him.

Plus, she didn't know what this ring represented.

So, she honestly said, "Three years ago, a man fainted from hunger on the roadside. I took him home and fed him a bowl of hot porridge."

"Before he left, he gave me this ring..."

"He also said..." Qu Huaixuan's face showed a trace of unnaturalness.

"What else did he say?"

"He also said that when he came back, he would marry me..."

Qu Huaixuan, blushing, repeated what Qi Lin had said back then.

And the red-haired man's heart was filled with a surge of ecstasy!

At this moment, he could already confirm.

This ring belonged to Qi Lin!

Countless people had sought it in vain back then.

He never expected.

Such a huge Credit would fall into his lap!

Overwhelmed by the immense surprise.

He didn't even think.

He immediately took out his phone and dialed the number of the Wang family's steward!