Chapter 221: Friction
The restaurant owner felt that it was better not to escalate the situation. It made sense to just accept his losses since the other party had the strength in numbers, and their intentions were clearly hostile. As a foreigner, it wasn’t easy to open up restaurants here, and they were sometimes treated as outcasts. They might even be subjected to hara.s.sment if this incident were to be blown out of proportion.
After pondering a little while, he looked at the blonde-haired man and said: “On behalf of our restaurant, I’m really sorry for this incident. The dish will be on the house, come, everybody, let’s go and smoke a cigarette and cool our heads a little.”
He pulled out a pack of cigarettes as he spoke and pa.s.sed it around.
Knowing that the other party had deliberately put the dead c.o.c.kroach in the dish, yet still having to apologize and compensate them for it, made the restaurant owner feel victimized and helpless.
The blonde-haired man pushed him away and yelled angrily, “Don’t f*cking pull this on me.” He then picked up the dish with some remnants of the food and continued, “We finished the entire dish that had a c.o.c.kroach in it. What if we were to suffer from food poisoning the next day? How would you compensate us then? You still expect us to pay the bill? Did your brain f.u.c.king cramp up, huh?”
After he shouted, he smashed the plate on the ground in a show of anger.
SHATTER!
The plate was smashed to pieces, and the remnants of food were scattered around as well.
The restaurant owner had a look of horror on his face. He realized now that they wanted more than just a free meal, they also intended to extort money from him.
w.a.n.g Yongjia intervened at that moment, “I clearly saw it from here just now. The c.o.c.kroach was obviously placed in after you finished the meal. Putting aside the fact that you want to get a free meal, you still want the restaurant owner to compensate you? Are you trying to “calculate your wishes with an abacus?” [1]
The blonde-haired man reacted to the intrusion and angrily said, “And who are you? Are you tired of living? This doesn’t concern you, hurry up and scram, or else I’ll kill you.”
“Kill me? Brat, are you sure about that?”
w.a.n.g Yongjia forced a smile and took out his police badge.
The faces on the gangsters changed after seeing the badge.
The restaurant owner regained some confidence. An outsider couldn’t argue with these hoodlums, but having a police officer around would naturally make all the difference in the world. It gave him a boost of confidence.
“Yo, I see that you are a police officer. Apologies for the disrespect, but you are off duty right now, so quickly put that police badge away. Don’t take it out, it’s embarra.s.sing,” said the blonde-haired man. He was slightly taken aback at first but returned confidently as he was not intimidated by a mere police officer.
“What’s so amazing about being a police officer? You are the same as us after taking off your uniform.”
“Police officer, don’t put yourself in the position of a judge. People will only think you are a fool.”
“That’s right, why don’t you just enjoy the time you have after work? Instead, you come here, stand up and refuse to mind your own business, going so far as to show off your police badge. Just who are you trying to scare?”
These seven or eight men were all in a group with the blonde-haired man, and they showed no fear when w.a.n.g Yongjia identified himself as a police officer. They stared at him c.o.c.kily and chose to make a mockery out of his badge.
w.a.n.g Yongjia knew the situation in Guangming District very well. He knew that these gangsters were a.s.sociated with the Dragon Gang, and therefore they dared to act audaciously without care, even in the presence of a police officer. The blond-haired man had also proclaimed that the underworld rules took effect after midnight, and their hearts would not waver.
w.a.n.g Yongjia shook his head and, with a hint of warning, said, “I advise you not to stir trouble and properly pay for the bill. Or else, I’ll arrest you all and take you to the police station.”
The blonde-haired man gave him an enigmatic smile, “Officer, having a brain is a good thing, so I do hope you have it. Did you not see the dead c.o.c.kroach in this dish? As consumers, if we find a dead c.o.c.kroach in our dish, don’t we deserve some rights for compensation?”
“We all know in our conscience what the real situation is. If it really is the fault of the restaurant, then I will certainly stand on your side. However, you are trying to stir s.h.i.+t after you’ve had the meal, and you’re even blackmailing the restaurant owner now. Right, I’ll add one more charge to your offenses, insulting a police officer.” w.a.n.g Yongjia said.
“Then there’s nothing else to say!” the blonde-haired man said, readying his hands.
At the same time, the other seven to eight men walked towards an empty table and began picking up the beer bottles lying on the table and checking the st.u.r.diness of the stools.
“Everyone, it’s our restaurant’s responsibility. How about this, let’s just forget about the bill. Let’s treat this as a meal to make friends, what do you think, brothers?”
Seeing that these people were about to fight, the restaurant owner hurried out to calm the situation. He was afraid that his restaurant would be destroyed, and even if it wasn’t, it would definitely scare away the diners who were still eating. Considering the gains and losses, he would willingly give up on collecting payment for the meal this time around.
The blonde-haired man shoved the restaurant owner aside roughly and started scolding him, “Make friends with your mum’s f*cking c*nt! There’s a c.o.c.kroach in your dish, and you still expect me to f*cking pay for this meal? Let me tell you this, if you don’t pay at least 700 to 800 for the mental damage we’ve suffered, we will not let this rest. Don’t think you are f*cking big just because you have a police officer on your side. He can protect you now, but can he protect you forever? What’s more, can this garbage police officer even protect you now?”
“What did you say?” w.a.n.g Yongjia said. He was incensed, and his face darkened with rage.
“Yo, you’re angry? I see you have some bloodl.u.s.t in you.”
The blonde-haired man laughed with a happy-go-lucky att.i.tude, then pointing straight at w.a.n.g Yongjia, he said, “I said you are garbage, so what? Not happy? If you’re not happy, then come for me.”
w.a.n.g Yongjia c.o.c.ked his eyebrows fiercely, slapped the blonde-haired man’s hand aside, and gave him a crus.h.i.+ng kick right to the chest.
As the captain of the drug enforcement task force, he was well-trained and definitely possessed a set of skills. The kick sent the blonde-haired man straight to the ground. He crashed heavily into the wall, which caused him to immediately bleed on the spot.
The blonde-haired man wiped off a handful of blood from his forehead, then he shouted at his companions, “F*ck it, go get him!”
The seven or eight men immediately picked up the beer bottles and stools and began charging w.a.n.g Yongjia like a pack of wolves.
w.a.n.g Yongjia was unafraid and started to unleash a series of military combat style punches towards the hooligans.
The lobby of the entire restaurant immediately became a mess. The diners who were still having their meals hurried over to the corners as the fight between w.a.n.g Yongjia and the thugs began to encroach across the entire restaurant floor. Stools were flung around, and the sound of shattering beer bottles could be heard one after the other.
“Stop fighting, stop fighting now!”
The restaurant owner felt like crying, but there were no tears, only his desperate screams to stop the brawl. If the fight continued on, his restaurant would be completely destroyed.
CLANG!
The blonde-haired man picked up a wine bottle and slammed against the edge of the table. The broken part of the bottle was rimmed with sharp edges looking like the pointed teeth of a ferocious canine. He pointed at the restaurant owner and shouted, “You shut up! If you talk again, I will kill you!” Then he looked over at w.a.n.g Yongjia fighting for his life, and continued to scream, “Beat him, beat him relentlessly! This police officer is really tired of living!”
As he looked for an opening to strike, he used his sleeve to wipe the fresh blood flowing down his forehead.
At that moment, a large hand, vice-like and hard as steel, grabbed him by his collar and tossed out as if he were garbage.
CRAs.h.!.+
The blond-haired man was thrown in an arc across the floor and fell smas.h.i.+ng into a table, breaking it apart. The half-broken beer bottle sailed out of his hand in the process.
Before he could even recover, the big hand grabbed the back of his collar and lifted him up like a puppy with his feet barely touched the ground. He was dumped unceremoniously on the floor, and when he regained his vision, he only saw a man with both hands in his pockets. The handsome young man stared at him with a cold, hard glare.