The Mafia Empire

Early the next morning, Hu came to Julian, who had just awaked, with proof of ownership for his farm. The two wt to the "Land Use Office" in Ternell City to complete the transfer registration for the land asset.

The process was not complicated, both parties signed a sale and transfer contract, confirming that Hu was selling his farm to Julian for eighte hundred dollars, and they both signed and stamped their fingerprints. Once each party had a copy of the documt and the Land Use Office had filed their copy, the land belonged to Julian.

He handed eighte hundred dollars to Hu and had him sign a receipt.

Watching Hu quickly leave the office, Julian beckoned with his finger, and immediately a young man dressed in a shirt and suspders, wearing a checkered flat cap, ran over. This young man had fair skin, thick eyebrows, and big eyes, looking quite handsome. His name was Dave, a sprightly lad and a member of the local community association.

He lowered his head and stood behind Julian on his right side. "Presidt?"

Julian nodded and lifted his chin. "Take a few people to keep an eye on him. See where he goes. If he goes to find that guy named Morris, come back. If he goes straight outside the city, capture him and sd him to Morris. Tell Morris he's got money now."

The purpose of this was to prevt Hu from running away after receiving the money. Julian could easily imagine that once Morris discovered his two thousand two hundred dollars were missing, in his anger and despair, he would certainly blame Julian for it.

Although the complete paperwork could prove that he had bought the ranch from Hu, Morris would not hesitate to extort Julian to recover his losses.

Julian was not afraid of trouble, but that did not mean he was willing to actively seek it out, so it was better to keep an eye on things.

Dave stepped outside and whistled, and immediately four or five young m of similar age and attire approached. Passersby occasionally shot them disdainful looks. If it wer't for the knives poking out of their pockets as they walked, silcing everyone, someone would have probably scolded them by now. The excitemt on these young m's faces suggested they believed they were doing something great.

They followed closely behind Hu, tracking him to Sevth Street, where he tered a familiar deli.

"Dave, is our task just to follow him?" one of his companions asked.

Dave was relatively well known among the local youth, having served time in juvile prison for a year due to assault. He had stabbed a drunk man attempting to assault his sister thirty times, nearly killing him. If not for the circumstances and Mr. Heidler hiring a lawyer for him, he might not have be released for elev years, let alone one.

That drunk man had survived at first, but died days later from organ failure.

Thus, Dave held significant sway among his peers, and everyone followed his lead.

He nodded, saying, "The presidt ordered me to keep an eye on him. If he meets Morris, we'll return. If he goes directly out of town, we'll grab him."

As he spoke, Hu emerged from the deli in under five minutes, which seemed a bit too quick. Dave straighted up, tilted his head to his companions, and said, "Something's not right. You all stay here and keep an eye on him.

I'll go see if Morris is a." His companions didn't know how Dave intded to check if Morris was there, but they had an inexplicable trust in him, so they immediately vowed to watch Hu closely.

After arranging things, Dave walked a few steps down the sidewalk, oped the mailbox in front of a house, pulled out an velope, and ran back toward the deli.

Upon tering the deli, Dave glanced at the room's layout. Behind a counter selling smoked meats and hams, there was only one door. He lowered his flat cap a bit and walked toward it.

At that momt, someone blocked his way. "Hey, kid, don't wander a!"

Dave raised the velope in his hand. "Someone st me here to deliver a letter to a gtleman named Morris."

The deli employee, who had stopped him, reached out to grab it, but Dave dodged backward, avoiding his hand. "That won't do, sir. The person who st me said it must be handed to Mr. Morris himself, and he would also give me t cts!"

If Dave had only said the first half, the employee would have insisted on taking it. But wh Dave mtioned the t ct reward, the employee withdrew his hand and cleared a path. "Turn left wh you go in, the last room is it. Don't steal anything, and don't wander a!"

Dave smiled, nodded, and walked in. "I'm not a thief!"

Once inside, he looked a. To the right was a cold storage room, and to the left was a corridor about t meters long, with doors on both sides. At the d of the corridor, there was also a door. He jogged to the innermost left room and knocked on the door. A voice called out from inside, "Come in."

He oped the door, peeking inside. The room was small, featuring a large table, a set of worn out sofas, and a coffee table.

On the coffee table lay a lot of coins, and three shady looking individuals were counting money. Behind the large table sat a man in a suit with a pink shirt, slicked hair, and his feet propped up on the table.

He glanced at Dave, raising an eyebrow. "What's up?"

Dave raised the velope in his hand and shook it. "Someone st me here to deliver a letter to a gtleman named Morris. Is Mr. Morris here?"

The slick haired man lowered his feet, looking at Dave with curiosity, and introduced himself, "I am Morris. Who st you?"