A Bumpy Road to Power

Chapter 744:

Dirk Carter grabbed her hand.

He said, "Miss, are you in some kind of trouble?"

Honestly, the little girl had pretty big eyes. She stared blankly at Dirk Carter and asked in confusion, "Trouble? What trouble?"

"How come you're doing this at 19? Did that woman just now force you into it?"

Dirk Carter asked.

The little girl was stunned for a second, then suddenly burst out laughing.

She said, "Boss, you're overthinking it. That was my mom just now. How could my mom force me?"

"What did you say? That's your mom? Your real mom?"

"Yeah, my real mom."

"Then those women in the rooms I went to just now?"

"You mean next door to me? That's my aunt. The room opposite my aunt's is my sister."

The girl said it with a look of complete indifference.

Dirk Carter was dumbstruck.

He couldn't snap out of it for a long time.

After a pause, he asked, "Then what about the owner of this restaurant? That big burly guy."

"Oh, that's my dad."

"Your real dad?"

"Listen to yourself. Of course he's my real dad."

Another bolt from the blue.

He'd seen prostitution.

He'd also seen people forced into prostitution.

But he really had never seen a whole family operation like this.

Especially that big guy, watching his own wife, sister‑in‑law, and daughter get fucked by other men right in front of him to make money—this really was the ultimate joke.

"Boss, I'm ready. You can come up now."

Suddenly.

The little girl called out.

Dirk Carter turned his head to look.

He saw that the young girl, who wasn't even that old, had already pushed her short skirt up to her waist.

Below her flat belly was a not‑so‑dense patch of hair.

She spread her legs, patted the stream's source with her hand, and asked, "If you don't want to be on top, I can be on top too."

This room.

There was no way Dirk Carter could stay in it any longer.

He took a deep breath.

He pulled a thousand yuan out of his pocket, tossed it to the girl, and said, "Forget it, I suddenly lost interest. I'll still pay you, but you should put your clothes back on."

When she heard this.

The smile on the girl's face suddenly dimmed.

She crawled off the bed.

She took Dirk Carter's arm and said, "Boss, you haven't touched me, I can't take this money. Don't be fooled by how young I am, I'm really good in bed. My mom trained me herself. Why don't you give it a try? If you're not satisfied, I still won't take your money, okay?"

A 19‑year‑old girl saying something like that.

A wave of bleak sadness surged up in Dirk Carter's chest.

He asked, "Your name's Yumei, right?"

The girl nodded and made a little sound of assent.

"Yumei, is your family having a really hard time? Why are you doing this kind of work?"

Dirk Carter asked.

Yumei shook her head innocently and said, "I don't know. Everyone in our village is like this. You see that row of restaurants outside? They're all like this. What's so strange about it?"

"You're in this line of work—aren't you afraid the cops will bust you?"

Dirk Carter asked again.

When Yumei heard that, she started laughing again.

She asked, "The cops bust us? Why would they do that? They can make money too."

"They make money too?"

Dirk Carter asked in surprise.

Yumei nodded.

She said, "Of course. Like, you pay me 500, they take 100, and Cat Lord takes 100. If there's money in it, they're not gonna arrest anyone. Relax, boss, it's very safe to play here."

"Who's Cat Lord?"

Dirk Carter asked.

Yumei suddenly opened her mouth wide.

It was obvious she was very surprised.

She asked, "You don't know Cat Lord? This your first time in Helios County?"

"Yeah, first time here."

Dirk Carter replied.

The girl suddenly shivered, hurriedly pulled down the tank top she'd pushed up, straightened her short skirt, stuffed the money back into Dirk Carter's hand, and said, "You're a good person, I'm not gonna set you up. You need to leave, quick."

"Leave? Why should I leave?"

Dirk Carter asked, holding the money.

Yumei looked anxious, and said in a panic, "Don't ask so many questions, just go, now. If you don't go it'll be too late."

After she said that.

She was just about to go open the door.

Outside, there came a rapid pounding on the door—thud thud thud.

"Police inspection, open up!"

As soon as that voice sounded.

Yumei's face was full of despair. She muttered under her breath, "It's over. Too late."

Thud thud thud.

The knocking came again.

Yumei glanced at Dirk Carter again.

Her eyes were full of apology.

She reached out and opened the door.

Standing at the door were one officer and two auxiliary cops.

The lead officer looked to be in his thirties. With a righteous expression, he walked inside.

He took one look at the messy bed.

He asked sternly, "What were you doing just now?"

"We weren't doing anything, just talking."

Dirk Carter said.

The officer's brows furrowed at once. He pointed at the bed.

And snapped, "Nothing? This is what you call nothing? I suspect you of soliciting prostitution. You're coming with us."

With that.

He pulled a pair of handcuffs from his belt.

Dirk Carter still thought it was a real police operation.

He hurried to explain, "Officer, you've got it wrong, I really didn't do anything. Ask her if you don't believe me."

The officer turned around and glared at Yumei.

Yumei stood off to the side, terrified, not saying a word.

The officer gave a cold little laugh and said, "So you still want to play dumb? Don't blame me for getting rough, then."

With a click.

He cuffed Dirk Carter's wrist.

"Take him away!"

The officer waved his hand.

The two auxiliary cops closed in on either side and shoved Dirk Carter out of the room.

When he was marched out by the cops.

Arlo Yarbrough was nowhere to be seen.

Just like that.

Dirk Carter was taken into the police car by the two auxiliaries.

The officer who had led the raid was still in the restaurant, talking about something with the big guy.

As he was trying to figure out how to get himself out of this.

A young auxiliary cop next to him patted him on the shoulder and said, "Bro, you wanna turn a big problem into a small one, and a small one into nothing?"

Dirk Carter froze.

He asked, "And how do I turn a big problem into a small one, and a small one into nothing?"

The auxiliary cop gave a greasy little chuckle.

He said, "Look, you get busted for whoring, you'll be detained and fined, they'll notify your family, you might even lose your job. Not worth it. There's a saying, spend money to avoid disaster. You shell out a bit of cash, and this whole thing just goes away."

Hearing this.

Dirk Carter finally started to see what was going on.

He caught on and asked, "How much?"

"Not much. Ten thousand in cash, plus two cartons of Huazi, and we can let you go."

The auxiliary cop said it without even blinking.

At this point.

Dirk Carter fully understood the routine.

No wonder Yumei had been so surprised when she heard it was his first time in Helios County.

Looked like this was the standard setup for out‑of‑towners coming to Helios County.

This is what they call collusion between officials and gangsters—he was looking right at it.

"And if I don't want to pay?"

Dirk Carter asked.