Seeing that the man remained silent, Wang An squinted his eyes and asked
"You're the owner of this dance hall, right?"
The man nodded, a smile on his face but a murderous glint in his eyes, as he spoke
"That's right, I am the owner here. My name is Luo Hongchang. Little brother, your temper is a bit too hot. How about I find a few girls to help you blow off some steam?"
It was clear that the owner of the dance hall, Luo Hongchang, had already developed murderous intent toward Wang An. However, constrained by the credentials and the Type 54 pistol in Wang An's hand, he hadn't yet found a way to deal with him. He wanted to stabilize Wang An for the time being while using women to test his attitude.
There was no helping it; no matter how powerful a "grey society" was, they would never choose to clash head-on with an armed police officer right away. Usually, they would first appease and offer benefits; only if those failed to solve the problem would they consider extreme measures.
However, Wang An knew why the man wanted him dead. It was because there were people using "white sugar powder" in this dance hall. Once a police officer looking to make a name for himself spotted such a thing, no matter how powerful the owner was, they were doomed sooner or later.
Wang An gestured with his chin toward the people using "white sugar powder" and sneered
"Don't worry, Boss Luo. I'm here to have fun; I have zero interest in your messy business."
But as soon as he finished that sentence, Wang An pointed his gun at the crowd holding machetes and clubs, his eyes wide and fierce, shouting aggressively
"But these fuckers actually dared to snatch our women! Now tell me, is there something wrong with me shooting them? Huh? Is there something wrong with that?"
By the time he reached the last "Is there something wrong with that?", Wang An was practically roaring.
It was no exaggeration to say that at this moment, Wang An's arrogance was absolutely off the charts.
There was no other way; when dealing with people like dance hall owners, you either had to admit defeat and speak politely and let the other party resolve the matter, or you had to completely overwhelm them with presence so they couldn't read your play.
Given Wang An's personality, he couldn't do the former. More importantly, once he showed cowardice, it wouldn't fit his current identity as a police officer. Furthermore, he would likely be forced to pay a large sum of money and would probably face retaliation from those thugs with machetes and clubs after leaving.
Hearing this, Luo Hongchang's face immediately clouded over, as if a blizzard were about to break at any moment. He turned and asked the man beside him
"Xizi, is that how it happened?"
The man named Xizi immediately nodded and said
"Yes, Boss. Those three women were dancing, and when they finished and were walking back..."
Following that, Xizi gave Luo Hongchang a complete account of what had just occurred.
Once Luo Hongchang finished listening, his previously sinister expression instantly turned into one of uncontrollable rage.
Turning back, Luo Hongchang forced a sliver of a smile and spoke to Wang An in a manner that was neither subservient nor arrogant
"Comrade Police, I am truly sorry. This was a failure on our dance hall's part. How about this: today's expenses for the honored guests will all be on me, Luo Hongchang. Furthermore, if you come back to visit in the future, we will not charge you anything. How does that sound for a resolution?"
Exactly as Wang An expected, although Luo Hongchang was very dissatisfied and had felt murderous intent, he still chose to appease and offer benefits due to Wang An's status as a police officer.
Wang An wasn't particularly interested in the free visits in the future; mainly because coming to Anguo was far too much effort. He couldn't have come all this way just to dance the disco, right?
Still, Wang An nodded and said with a smile
"Fine, that's a good way to handle it. Very good, no problem at all, hehehehe..."
The reason Wang An agreed so readily was that he understood perfectly well that such benefits had to be accepted. If he dared to play the part of the "pure and incorruptible" officer, he doubted that even his group of six would make it out the door of this dance hall, primarily because the nature of "white sugar powder" was far too severe.
After saying this, Wang An gestured toward the people lying on the floor and those holding machetes, pretending to test the waters
"Now then, Boss Luo, should I find someone to take these things back for processing, or..."
Before Wang An could finish, Luo Hongchang hurriedly waved his hand and said
"No need, there's no need to trouble little brother with such a small matter. We'll handle it; I guarantee it will be handled cleanly and efficiently."
In truth, Wang An was testing him on purpose. When something like this happened in a dance hall, internal handling was the safest bet for the establishment.
As the saying goes, "pulling out a radish brings up the mud," or "following the vine to find the melon." If these thugs were taken away by the police and said something they shouldn't during interrogation—like mentioning "white sugar powder" or "girls"—Luo Hongchang would be in deep trouble.
Many things were handled by turning a blind eye, but if someone actually played it by the book, things would immediately spiral in an uncontrollable direction. Although Luo Hongchang's power meant he could likely resolve it in the end, the cost in money, connections, manpower, materials, and energy would be enormous.
Thus, Wang An smacked his lips and said with a feigned sense of helplessness
"Alright then, I trust Boss Luo's way of doing things. We'll definitely come back here to play next time, hehehehe... Well, you're busy, so we'll take our leave."
As he spoke, Wang An turned to Mu Xueli and the other five
"Old Five, Xueli, let's go."
Just as Wang An was leading the way out, Luo Hongchang's gaze suddenly sharpened, and he asked with a smile
"Little brother, judging by your accent, you're not from around here. May I ask which department you're from? How come I've never seen you before?"
Wang An took out his police ID again, handed it directly to Luo Hongchang, and spoke without lying
"We aren't local police; we're from the Northeast. We came here to chase a few people and investigate a major case. We just finished up and thought we'd relax a bit, only to run into this annoying mess."
Although Wang An's words were half-truth, half-lie, they were enough to dispel Luo Hongchang's suspicions.
Luo Hongchang took the ID, and upon seeing the official seal and Wang An's rank as a Middle Captain, he immediately breathed a sigh of relief and said with a smile
"Whenever you come back, you must come to our dance hall!"
Wang An took back his ID and smiled
"That's a given, hahahaha..."
After taking the ticket money that Luo Hongchang had Xizi hand over—intentionally displaying a greedy face for Luo Hongchang to see—Wang An had Wang Li and Mu Xueli retrieve their clothes and belongings from the booth and led the five of them out the door. (End of Chapter)