YM778.TV Chapter 204: 203
“Mr. Marsh, I don’t have time to cozy up to you! Give me a straight answer, can you cough up the money or not?”
The man known as Jett reached out his hand, and an employee behind him immediately handed over an axe.
Crack!
Jett swung the axe down onto the wooden table of the food stall, speaking viciously, “The word from above is clear, if you can’t produce the money today, we’ll start by taking one of your hands!”
“Dad!”
Hearing the noise, Lory Shaw ran out from the back kitchen, standing in front of Jett and the others, “You gangsters, what do you think you’re doing!” “Wife, take Ives and leave, I’ll talk it over with Jett.”
“Wife, take Ives and leave, I’ll talk it over with Jett.”
Mr. Marsh quickly pushed his daughter into his wife’s arms, explaining with a forced smile, “Jett, it’s not that I won’t pay, but the sanitation fee you’re demanding is too high. This small stall of mine only makes a few thousand a month, and you’re asking for five thousand right off the bat, I really can’t afford it!”
“Damn it! Today you have to pay, whether you have it or not! Let me tell you straight, Alton Bread has already put out the word: without the money today, don’t even think about leaving this street!”
Jett clearly was not buying it, tilting his head slightly, and the employees behind him immediately surrounded the mother and daughter, blocking their attempt to leave.
“Jett, let the mother and daughter go, can’t I stay behind instead?” At that moment, Mr. Marsh spoke with a pleading tone.
“Mr. Marsh, we’re all from the old neighborhood, I don’t want to make things too hard for you! Just hand over the money, and we can put this matter to rest. Otherwise…
Jett glanced at Lory Shaw, chuckling with a sneer.
This chuckle not only terrified Lory Shaw to lose all color, but Roosevelt Shaw also shuddered with fear.
This was his only daughter, he couldn’t afford to take any chances with her.
“Jett, I’ve only got three thousand on me, you take this first, I’ll figure out a way to come up with the rest!”
Roosevelt Shaw quickly turned to the cash register, pulling out a wad of crumpled bills.
“Mr. Marsh, the sanitation fees for three months come to fifteen thousand! That’s not even including interest! This three thousand you’re giving can be considered as interest. When are you going to pay off the remaining fifteen thousand?”
Jett passed the money he received to his employee behind him, still relentlessly pressing the issue.
At barely over twenty, he was already thoroughly corrupt.
“You’re bandits!”
Lory Shaw, biting her lip in anger, tears continuously streaming from her eyes, exclaimed.
“Bandits? Heh heh!”
On hearing her words, Jett laughed, “You should just be grateful you were born in this era; otherwise, my brothers would have executed you a long time ago!
You wouldn’t have made it to today!”
While speaking, he didn’t bother hiding the desire in his heart.
Lory Shaw was twenty years old, in the prime of youth, not just sweet-looking but also with a top-notch figure.
“But we don’t dare, that doesn’t mean Alton Bread doesn’t! On this street, as you know, there’s nothing Alton Bread wants to do that anyone can stop!”
While verbally threatening Roosevelt Shaw, he squinted at Lory Shaw, even swallowing hard.
“Jude, check the other cash registers for more money!”
“Got it!”
A youngster with a mischievous smile strode toward the cash registers. That was where Roosevelt Shaw had just taken the money from.
“Jett, give me a few days’ grace!”
Seeing the youngster heading for the cash register, Roosevelt Shaw felt a pang of fear and hurried over to stop him.
The cash hidden there was for Lory Shaw’s school fees for the start of the term. If these hooligans took it, what would Lory Shaw do when school started in half a month?
“Get lost! ”
Whoosh!
The hooligan unceremoniously kicked Roosevelt Shaw in the chest.
“Roosevelt!”
“Dad!”
Mother and daughter cried out together, rushing from behind to support Roosevelt Shaw.
During the commotion, the hooligan had already rummaged through the register and found a stack of bills.
“Fuck! Eighteen thousand! Roosevelt Shaw, you old bastard, playing so dirty. Got money but not paying the sanitary fee, you’re asking for trouble!”
Upon seeing so much money, Jett immediately couldn’t hide his grin.
The sanitary fee was split seventy-thirty, they took thirty percent, and the rest went to Alton Bread.
Today, with over ten thousand in hand, each of the brothers could pocket at least three thousand, not including the money from other merchants. Even Jett had already figured out where to enjoy himself that night.
“That’s Lory Shaw’s school tuition, nobody touches it!”
Roosevelt Shaw rushed in front of the hooligans, trying to snatch the money back. “Beat him up!”
Whoosh!
A few charged in, pummeling with fists and feet.
“Dad!”
Seeing her father getting beaten, Lory Shaw grabbed a beer bottle and smashed it hard onto Jett’s head!
Crack!
The girl mustered all her strength, shattering the bottle!
“Motherfucker, you’re asking for it!”
Jett, gnashing his teeth, slapped Lory Shaw across the face.
“Today I’ll deal with you too!”
Having said that, he rolled up his sleeves, furious and ready to hit someone.
“I’ll fight you all!”
Roosevelt Shaw on the ground, seeing his daughter hit, found strength from somewhere, pushed the young man in front of him away, and rushed to the back kitchen to grab a cleaver.
“Roosevelt Shaw, have you gone fucking mad!”
Seeing Roosevelt Shaw coming at him with red eyes, Jett quickly got out of the food stall, threatening fiercely, “Just you wait, even Alton Bread isn’t afraid of your shit!”
After that, he and a few hooligans fled in panic.
When everyone had left, the family hugged each other and burst into tears. “Lory, your tuition is gone, daddy is so sorry…”
The forty-something Roosevelt Shaw squatted on the ground, crying like a child.
“Dad, it’s okay; I won’t go to school. I’ll stay and help you and mom with the business!”
Lory Shaw said sensibly.
Meanwhile, at a nearby table, Ives Abbott’s eyes reddened. If it weren’t for her father holding her back, she would have gone up to beat those thugs long ago.
“Why didn’t you let me go!”
She looked at Miguel Abbott with teary eyes and asked.
Lory Shaw was her age. Seeing her bullied made Ives Abbott feel incredibly upset.
“Sometimes you can help momentarily but not for a lifetime. These are problems they must ultimately face themselves. If we weren’t here today, what would they do?”
Julius Reed, seeing a choking Ives Abbott, said, “The world is just that cruel. Your dad went through the same once. If you weren’t Miguel Abbott’s daughter, what you’d face could be even worse than hers!”
Ives Abbott, never wanting for anything and pampered from childhood, whereas Lory Shaw worried over tuition and even when others her age dated or traveled, she stayed home to help with work.
“Boss, here’s the money for the meal. If it’s convenient, please help by making it. After all, we’re hungry. If it’s inconvenient, we’ll leave.”
Julius Reed took out five thousand from his pocket and handed it to Roosevelt Shaw.
“This… A meal costs only one hundred and eighty; what are you doing!”
Seeing the thick stack of money, Roosevelt Shaw immediately tried to refuse it,
“Thank you for your kindness, but trouble will come looking soon. You better
“Mr. Marsh, quit acting like a woman! Just cook, and we’ll eat. I want to see who dares to trouble me!”
Miguel Abbott took the money from Julius Reed and stuffed it into Roosevelt
Shaw’s hands, “We’ve known each other for years, right? This money is for Lory’s schooling; you can pay it back slowly. I’ll come eat here every day, deduct a meal’s cost from this. If you delay her schooling, you are the sinner!”
“This…”
Roosevelt Shaw stomped his foot and sighed, “Thanks, brother.. Wife, start cooking! “