Chapter 86: I Won’t Drink with Scum

Yan Danni saw that Long Fei and Yang Batian seemed to be getting along remarkably well, and her heart eased a little. She smiled as she looked at the two men before her, each bound to her in a different way, yet equally important to her.

The hairy crabs at the Linglong Pavilion were imported from the Netherlands, and their flavor was exceptionally delicious.

It was said that these Dutch hairy crabs had originally come from the Yangcheng Lake crabs exported from China in the nineteen-twenties, later bred in a foreign land. No one had expected them to sell even farther than the crabs in China, with an even greater reputation. That was truly an embarrassing thing. Even more ironic was that these crabs, bred abroad, were eventually sold back in China, turned into delicacies and served to Chinese diners.

To put it kindly, these Dutch crabs stimulated domestic consumption and made a contribution to economic growth. To put it harshly, they humiliated the Chinese people. Why should a crab, after spending a while overseas, suddenly become so much more valuable, even more expensive than the most authentic Yangcheng Lake crabs at home?

But among the people dining here, there were very few who knew this background, unlike Long Fei and Yan Danni. So Long Fei had no choice but to eat his crab while sighing with mock solemnity and quoting this and that.

The three of them were eating merrily when the private room door was suddenly pushed open. A young man with snow-white hair, naked from the waist up, slipped inside. Seeing Long Fei and the others, he seemed startled for an instant, then delighted, and hurriedly laughed. "Oh, sorry, sorry, I interrupted your meal. Wrong room, wrong room!"

He withdrew, then pushed open the door of the room next door. At once, he shouted in excitement, as if he had won a huge lottery prize. "Brother Long, Brother Long, great news! The woman you just saw really is Yan Danni!"

Several of the men had already had quite a bit to drink. Qiu Long was taken aback, then said with delight, "Really? Then isn't she right next door to us?"

The man who had just returned nodded fiercely. The others immediately grew excited too, urging him on one after another. "Brother Long, let's ask Yan Danni for an autograph. I really like her!"

"That won't do. Have her drink with us instead!" someone else shouted.

"Just that? Since we've run into Brother Long, I say we should have her spend the night with Brother Long. Ha ha, now that's what I call exciting. Right, Brother Long?" One of the brothers had an overflowing imagination, and he was shamelessly lewd as well.

Fortunately, Qiu Long was not yet completely muddled. He shook his head and chuckled. "Sleeping together can be forgotten. I heard this woman has a big background, but since she's come to our turf to eat, whatever happens, she has to give me, Brother Long, some face. A drink should be no problem, right? Ha ha, and later I'll go over and toast her. You guys help me take a picture with my phone, all right?"

The brothers all cheered in agreement, and Qiu Long led them to open the private room door and head toward Long Fei's side.

To be honest, the walls between the private rooms were made of special soundproofing material, and the insulation was quite good. Still, Long Fei had accidentally overheard the conversation on the other side. He had not meant to listen, but whenever anyone mentioned Yan Danni's name at a time like this, he could not possibly ignore it.

Long Fei frowned and put the crab meat he had brought to his mouth back into the bowl.

Yan Danni had been watching him closely. Seeing him frown now, she asked carefully, "Long Fei, what's wrong?"

Long Fei pointed toward the next room and said gloomily, "Someone wants to come over and have you drink with him."

Yan Danni's expression changed at once. Yang Batian, seated nearest the door, even shot up his brows and stared with eyes wider than saucers. He said coldly, "Who the hell has the guts to make a move on my little sister? I'll tear him apart alive!"

No sooner had he said this than the door opened again. Qiu Long, naturally, was the first to enter. Seeing that Yan Danni was indeed in the room, his face lit up and he walked over with a bottle of wine in hand.

Yan Danni's slender brows had just knit together, about to speak, when Long Fei stopped her with a glance. In a scene like this, if anyone was going to clean things up, it ought to be Yang Batian. Long Fei knew him well: if he did not fight for a day, his whole body probably itched.

"Hey, what are you lot here to do?" Yang Batian said with a smile so pure it was almost innocent. Yet in Long Fei's eyes, he silently began to pray for Qiu Long and the others. He knew Yang Batian too well. The more cheerfully he smiled, the heavier his hand would likely be later.

Stopping beside Yan Danni, Qiu Long grinned. "I haven't even asked you yet. What do you do?"

"You mean me?" Yang Batian pointed at his own nose and said somewhat disgruntledly, "I don't have any proper job. Just treat me as unemployed, all right? And you people are..."

Qiu Long was slightly stunned, then laughed. "Your eyes are pretty sharp. But nobody calls it that anymore these days. We're people from a society. You get me?"

"That's just the same thing!" Yang Batian muttered.

Yang Batian was tall and broad, and he looked somewhat intimidating, which was precisely why Qiu Long had asked about his background first. But now that he knew Yang Batian was merely unemployed, he no longer took him seriously. So what if he looked formidable? Could he resist cleavers and axes? Could he withstand iron rods and clubs?

"Think whatever you want. We're from the Green Gang, and this man here is our boss, Brother Long! The whole Changning district is under Brother Long's control. Today's our lucky day to run into Brother Long, but Brother Long doesn't have time to bother with you. So you'd better shut that crow mouth of yours and learn from others. Look at him, he isn't nearly as talkative as you!" One of Qiu Long's underlings pointed at Long Fei and began lecturing Yang Batian.

With an "oh," Yang Batian quickly took out his phone and dialed a number.

The young man immediately moved to strike him, but Qiu Long stopped him and sneered, "What are you doing? Calling the police, or calling for backup? Do you know what we do?"

Yang Batian looked a little wronged. "You've got so many people, and you're with the underworld. If I don't call a few helpers, what am I supposed to do?"

"Good! You've got guts!" Qiu Long gave a thumbs-up, then laughed in fury. "Fine, I'll give you a chance. We'll also let you see how formidable our Green Gang is. Go on, call them. I won't make things hard for you for now. Let's see how many people you can bring!"

The call actually connected. Yang Batian chuckled and said, "Oh dear, I just got to Harbor City, and now I'm blocked in the Dragon Pavilion by some underworld thugs. What? There are no underworld thugs? They say they're Green Gang people, and there's some guy called Brother Long. Dare you come? No need to bring that many people. What? Are you crazy?"

Hanging up, Yang Batian smiled. "My friend said they're sending people over right away."

Seeing that Yang Batian did not take him seriously at all, Qiu Long even felt that Yang Batian must simply be putting on an act. Since the other side already knew he was from the Green Gang, how dare they still meddle in this business? Even the police would probably not bother coming, would they?

"Third Brother, make a call and have Sixth Brother bring some men over. Tell him we've got trouble today!" Qiu Long said viciously.

One brother answered and immediately stepped out to make the call. In no time he returned and said, "Brother Long, Sixth Brother's already been informed. He'll be here in five minutes."

"Good. I don't have time to waste words here with you. I'm here today to find someone to drink with me!" Qiu Long was truly arrogant, not taking Yang Batian seriously in the least. Yet he was somewhat curious about the friend Yang Batian had called, and in his heart he had already made up his mind that once the matter came to blows, he would beat up Yang Batian together with the reinforcements he summoned, so Yang Batian could truly understand the might of the Green Gang.

Having said that, Qiu Long walked toward Yan Danni. Long Fei still did not make a sound, only smiling as he watched Qiu Long. He knew the most miserable moment of Qiu Long's life was drawing very near. Yan Danni said nothing either, though one hand tightly gripped Long Fei's.

"Wait a moment. You want to drink, right? Then ask him. He's the best drinker here. Let him drink with you!" Yang Batian said with a chuckle, pointing at Long Fei.

Qiu Long stopped, frowning. He felt that Yang Batian was truly troublesome, and some vague unease began to stir in his heart. By rights, Yang Batian should have been nervous, but not a trace of nervousness showed on his face. From the content of his phone call just now, Qiu Long could be certain of one thing: Yang Batian did not seem to be from Harbor City. And if he really were from Harbor City, he could not possibly not know about the Green Gang. So was he the sort who would not cross the river unless he were a fierce dragon, or was he simply ignorant and fearless? But even so, how could he not know that Yan Danni had stayed in Harbor City for so long and should know how formidable the Green Gang was?

"No, no, I won't drink with him. I only drink with people. I never drink with trash!" Long Fei said hastily, waving his hand.

The moment Qiu Long heard that, he was about to explode. Several of his underlings even drew fruit knives from their waists one after another, while those without knives searched the room with their eyes for something handy, eager to find an object they could bring crashing down on Long Fei's head in a moment.

Before Qiu Long could speak, Yang Batian laughed again. "Ah, they're not people? Then haven't I just been playing the lute to a cow?"

Long Fei smiled. "How could they be people? They're obviously trash. People and trash are completely different things. Don't mix them up."

Yang Batian gave a hum and laughed along with Long Fei, while Yan Danni on the side could not help but laugh too.

The two of them traded jests so naturally that they utterly toyed with Qiu Long and his gang. At last Qiu Long realized that from beginning to end, it seemed he had been the one being played by Yang Batian. The other side had never been afraid of him at all. Then what was he supposed to do? Of course he had to show Yang Batian some color. Since you aren't afraid, I'll beat you until you are!

Just as they were about to act, the private room door was shoved open, and a group of young men dressed in rather revealing clothes surged in together. In an instant, the room was packed with nearly forty people. Luckily the room was spacious, or else there would have been nowhere to stand.

Manager Liang was among that crowd. When he came in, he glanced cautiously at both sides. He happened to know Yan Danni, and he also happened to know her background, so he was in fact not worried about her safety. As long as Yan Danni revealed her identity at the critical moment, there was no fear that these Green Gang people would not kneel and kowtow. But he also did not want to offend the Green Gang. No matter how formidable Yan Danni was, once she left, would Qiu Long not come looking for trouble with the Dragon Pavilion? The Green Gang was not to be trifled with either.

Manager Liang looked troubled, but he still said miserably, "Brother Long, I think we should just let this go today. There's no need to make things this strained. If you really start fighting later, neither side will come out ahead."

"Mr. Liang, get out!" Qiu Long no longer showed the manager any courtesy and directly ordered him to leave.

Manager Liang's expression changed. He seemed about to speak, then held back and did not pay attention to Qiu Long, instead turning his eyes to Yan Danni.

Yan Danni smiled. "Manager Liang, you should go out. This has nothing to do with you anymore. If there are any losses later, just come to me for compensation."

Manager Liang was only too eager to get away from the matter. Even if this room were reduced to chaos, at worst he would lose a little furniture. As long as no one got hurt, that was better than anything.

Seeing Manager Liang dismissed by Yan Danni, Qiu Long was somewhat annoyed. He had not expected Mr. Liang to ignore his words, so he vented his anger on Long Fei and Yang Batian. Turning to his brothers, he said, "Brothers, these two men are damnably disrespectful toward our Green Gang. Beat them. As long as no one dies, it's fine. But don't hurt Miss Danni. She's my idol, and I still need a photo with her later!"

Qiu Long was the first to slam the wine bottle onto the table. The bottom of the bottle shattered at once. He gripped the bottle neck, but did not rush forward. That was a habitual move in a fight, usually startling but not actually harmful. The ones he had summoned, however, all seized iron rods and cleavers and charged in with loud shouts.

Long Fei did not even move a muscle, and even Yan Danni had no intention of standing up. She only tightened her grip on Long Fei's hand.

Yang Batian sprang up from his seat and burst into laughter. "If you're going to fight, don't look for him. If you do, you'll all be dead. Look for me instead. I'm a bit kinder. At most I'll break a few of your bones; your lives, in normal circumstances, should still be safe. I said normal circumstances."