Chapter 142: Chapter 99: Bro, Merry Christmas

He shook his head. "I became a doctor, but I haven’t earned a single cent. The principal and interest have already snowballed to at least 700,000 to 800,000 USD."

"But I’ll pay it back slowly," Michael said, full of optimism. "A doctor with five years of experience can make at least 200,000 USD a year. By then, I’ll still have plenty left over. I’ll move Mom and Kevin out of the South Bronx, and who knows, maybe I’ll even be able to afford a big house in Dyker Heights like you."

"I’m sure you can do it... We’re here," Li Wei said. "If things get really tough... you can give me a call."

"Thanks! As long as I can manage," Michael laughed. "But if I do end up having to ask you for a loan, could you give me a lower interest rate? The rates on these loans in the United States of America are just insane."

"Of course," Li Wei nodded. "Merry Christmas." 𝓯𝓻𝒆𝙚𝒘𝓮𝙗𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝒍.𝙘𝓸𝙢

"Merry Christmas!" Michael hopped out of the car.

...

「At the same time, in an alley several blocks away.」

"Last batch!" Kevin pulled up the collar of his down jacket, covering half his face. "This is really the last batch!"

He hissed in the dark alley, his hands a blur. The junkies in front of him, with their sunken eyes and trembling bodies, were like baby birds chirping for food. They held up crumpled bills, scrambling to shove them into Kevin’s hands.

Some of the bills were even stained with blood, but Kevin didn’t care.

"Gimme! I want five bags!"

"This isn’t enough! Get the fuck out of here!" Kevin unceremoniously kicked an old man who tried to pay with a fake watch. "I only take cash! If you don’t have it, then fuck off! You want a bullet in you?"

Even though he’d secretly jacked up the price to an exorbitant 30 USD a bag, the crowd still flocked to him. For them, if they didn’t get a fix tonight, the feeling of a million ants gnawing at their bones would be worse than death.

In just half an hour, the 500 bags in his pockets were completely gone.

Kevin felt like his jacket pockets were about to burst.

The heavy, dragging weight made him feel a little unsteady on his feet. A rough estimate told him that after setting aside the cut for Scarface, he’d pocketed nearly 7,000 USD for himself from this run alone!

With his previous savings, the shoebox was about to overflow.

’Dumbass Michael,’ Kevin thought smugly as he walked back. ’He wants to send me to rehab? My daily haul is his yearly salary!’

He’d already planned it out. When he got back, he would hide the money first, then act casual and eat those damn canned foods with Michael. The next time Michael started nagging, he’d throw ten thousand USD in his face and enjoy the dumb, shocked look on his face.

However, just as he crossed two blocks and prepared to take a shortcut to deliver the money to Scarface, an instinct honed by years on the streets made the hair on the back of his neck stand on end.

Someone was following him.

It wasn’t an aimless drifter. The footsteps were rhythmic, deliberate.

Kevin’s heart skipped a beat. He whipped his head around. The street behind him was empty—just swirling snow and dim streetlights.

You play with fire, you get burned. Kevin didn’t know the Celestial Dynasty proverb, but he knew that jacking up his prices and selling so much product wouldn’t go unnoticed.

He just hadn’t expected to get cornered on Christmas Eve.

’He hadn’t wanted to come out tonight, but Michael told him yesterday that the money he’d saved for three years was to pay for his rehab. What a fucking dumbass. Wouldn’t it have been better to use all that money for his own tuition?’

But the money was already spent. There was nothing Kevin could do about it.

’Since Michael had spent 6,000 USD, he’d just earn it back tonight. Including what was in the shoebox, he’d saved up over 10,000 USD in total. That should be enough for Michael’s tuition. After all, high school was free.’

’He’d heard college was expensive, but a little over 10,000 USD should be enough. If not, he could always earn more.’

That had been his original plan.

Kevin quickened his pace and turned a corner.

The footsteps also quickened.

Kevin’s hand instinctively reached inside his jacket and gripped the cold steel of his gun.

Just as he was about to exit the mouth of the alley, two tall shadows shot out from the darkness ahead, blocking his way.

At the same time, the footsteps behind him closed in.

Three of them in total.

"Well, well, isn’t this Scarface’s little errand boy, Kevin?"

The burly man in the lead brandished a handgun. He wore a grimy leather jacket, his face fleshy and mean, his greedy eyes fixed on Kevin’s bulging pockets.

"Where you off to, little man?" The one behind him closed in, a baseball bat in his hand. "Heard you had a good night’s business. Me and the boys haven’t eaten yet. Don’t you think you ought to show some appreciation? How about a little Christmas present?"

"This is Scarface’s money," Kevin said, taking a deep breath. "You dare touch it? Scarface will chop you into pieces and feed you to the dogs!"

"Ha!" The leader scoffed as if he’d heard the funniest joke. "Scarface? We kill you, toss your body in the Hudson River, and who’s gonna know it was us?"

’In the past, Kevin might have just chickened out, handed over the money, and walked away.’

’But tonight was different,’ Kevin thought. ’He had too much cash on him. He’d moved 500 bags, a total of over 15,000 USD.’

’This was enough money to start a war between two gangs. They weren’t going to let him walk out of this alley alive.’

"What? Scared stupid?" the burly man said, confident in his victory. He took a step forward, ready to search him. "Hands up—"