Chapter 57: 57 Black and White!

Chapter 57: Chapter 57 Black and White!

Chen Yuan narrowed his eyes, focusing on the chicken soup, a fragrance quickly filling the entire room.

“This person is…”

Chen Yuan turned to the elder.

Zhu Sihai smiled and said:

“This is a top chef from the finest restaurant in Prefecture City, whose chicken soup is incomparably tender and fresh. Even the Magistrate has praised Shanbo’s skills. Aside from women, my greatest pleasure is this chicken soup. I had planned to invite Officer Chen to a feast in a few days, but today turned out to be a lucky coincidence…”

“Oh? This elder has such culinary skills that even the Magistrate couldn’t stop praising them. Did he discover them himself, or are they a family tradition?” Chen Yuan asked in surprise, looking at the ordinary-looking old man.

...

“This lord jests. It’s not as extraordinary as the rumors suggest, but the taste is still quite good. The ingredients are nothing out of the ordinary; all the flavor lies in the chicken itself.”

“How so?”

Chen Yuan asked calmly.

“These hens have been raised for exactly two and a half years, neither a month more nor a month less. Only then can they be considered the finest among chickens, at their freshest…”

The old uncle elaborated.

Chen Yuan chuckled inwardly. When the old man mentioned the two and a half years, he had thought what followed would involve singing and dancing.

“Shanbo, bring the next dish,” Zhu Sihai waved his hand and then gestured for Chen Yuan to try some chicken soup.

Although Chen Yuan ladled some soup, he didn’t drink it, knowing Chen Yuan’s extreme caution. Zhu Sihai stepped forward, ladled a bowl for himself, and brought a spoonful to his mouth.

“Officer Chen, although chicken soup is common, you can’t find such freshness outside.”

Chen Yuan smiled and tasted a small sip. The flavor was really good. Although it lacked the variety of seasonings from his former life, it had a unique taste. No wonder Zhu Sihai favored it so much.

“The flavor is indeed good, Gang Leader Zhu is quite fortunate.”

“Haha, the best is yet to come…” Zhu Sihai laughed a few times. The previously departed Shanbo came back in, carrying a white porcelain plate.

The plate held about a dozen dark objects, resembling black cucumbers, covered with rice-like spikes.

Shanbo set the plate in front of Chen Yuan and then walked out. Zhu Sihai pointed to the items on the plate:

“Officer Chen, do you know what these are?”

Chen Yuan glanced at it, already understanding, but pretended ignorance:

“Gang Leader Zhu, stop playing coy.”

“Haha, forgive me, Officer Chen. This item is extraordinary. I went through a lot of trouble to get some from Prefecture City. Originally, I was planning to present it to the Huang…”

Zhu Sihai suddenly hesitated but quickly pretended as if nothing had happened and continued:

“This item reportedly comes from the East Sea, a treasured nourishing item known as the sea cucumber, regarded as the ginseng of the sea.”

“Sea products are indeed rare.”

Chen Yuan knew. Qingzhou was far from the East Sea, and news from there was rarely heard. Zhu Sihai must have some connections to have acquired such an item.

“Officer Chen, please taste and see if it suits your palate.”

Chen Yuan waved his hand and took another sip of chicken soup:

“Chen is not fond… Chen doesn’t like sea products.”

Zhu Sihai sighed:

“Well, then I will have to taste it myself.”

After a few tentative sips, Chen Yuan set down his chopsticks and spoke solemnly:

“Gang Leader Zhu.”

Zhu Sihai revealed a bitter smile:

“Officer Chen, I swear, the Beihai Gang has absolutely no ties with the demons of the No-Life Sect.”

He did not say anything like ‘you may search as you wish,’ because that would mean no compromise, and Chen Yuan could easily find so-called ‘evidence.’

Chen Yuan raised a finger and gently waved it:

“That’s not important.”

Zhu Sihai fixed Chen Yuan with a tight gaze.

“The arrest officer says if Beihai Gang is involved, it’s involved; if the arrest officer claims it’s not, then it’s not. With the official seal endorsing both inferences, does Gang Leader Zhu, after dealing with Officer Huang for so long, still not understand?”

Chen Yuan’s expression changed to a calm one as he cast a sidelong glance at him.

“Would you step out first?”

After a moment of silence, Zhu Sihai instructed the Hall Master beside him and then shifted his gaze towards Wang Ping by Chen Yuan’s side, the implication was clear.

“You should also go out and walk it off…”

Chen Yuan murmured softly.

Wang Ping nodded and paused briefly to look at Zhu Sihai before he turned and left with the man from Beihai Gang.

In an instant, only Chen Yuan and Zhu Sihai remained in the room, the atmosphere growing somewhat tense.

Eventually, Zhu Sihai broke the silence:

“Officer Chen, just state any conditions you have directly. As long as it’s feasible, old Zhu will not shirk it.”

Chen Yuan: “It’s not that I have any conditions, but that the higher-ups have their demands. It was not easy for me to reach my position; how could I possibly stir up trouble unnecessarily?”

“Gang Leader Zhu, it’s beyond my control.”

Zhu Sihai did not speak, nor did he believe Chen Yuan’s nonsense for a moment—considering his authoritative stance earlier, was it really just luck that he had attained his position?

“Four hundred Silver Taels every month. Just meet this amount and Beihai Gang can henceforth rest easy,” Chen Yuan stretched out four fingers.

Zhu Sihai’s expression changed:

“Impossible, even if you wiped out Beihai Gang, you still wouldn’t be able to produce that amount. That’s just too much to ask…”

Even the Huang Family only took just under two hundred Silver Taels a month.

To start with four hundred Silver Taels, they really regarded money as nothing!

He felt a surge of anger, and if it weren’t for Chen Yuan’s status, he would have turned hostile already, perhaps even finding a new backer!

“Gang Leader Zhu, do not rush; the money is not for me but from someone else whom I am merely conveying for.”

Zhu Sihai took a deep breath:

“Please inform Magistrate Li that four hundred Silver Taels is absolutely impossible; Beihai Gang can’t produce that amount.”

“Beihai Gang is the number one faction in North City, how could it not produce a mere four hundred Taels?”

“As Officer Chen also said, while Beihai Gang is the first faction, it isn’t the only one. There are nearly a hundred disciples in the gang, and the Silver Tael spent each month isn’t small.”

Chen Yuan leaned in closer, lowering his voice:

“What if Beihai Gang becomes the sole faction in North City?”

Zhu Sihai’s heart stirred, his eyes gleaming with a sharp light:

“What do you mean by that, Officer Chen?”

“Exactly what it sounds like. I will help Beihai Gang clear all rival forces to dominate North City alone. Would Gang Leader Zhu then be willing to contribute four hundred Silver Taels a month?”

Zhu Sihai was silent for a long time, seemingly weighing something, his gaze fixed on Chen Yuan:

“Beihai Gang is already the top faction in North City; even if we eliminated the other powers, we could only muster up to three hundred Taels a month at most.”

Chen Yuan stood up, raising his right palm:

“Alright, then three hundred Taels it is!”

The two men clapped hands as a pledge, exchanging glances, then simultaneously revealing a smile.

Chen Yuan patted Zhu Sihai’s broad shoulder, whispering:

“From now on in Ping’an City, in the light, I rule; in the shadows, you rule!”

————

Many thanks to the generous Da Lao Mei Ying Bing Xin for the reward of ten thousand point coins!

Thanks to Sword Immortal fellow reader for the reward of one hundred point coins.