The Alibi Room.
Some of the wealthy men and women hadn't left yet.
"You said you have ten priority meal cards a day, right?" a beautiful woman asked Kevin. "Can I reserve tomorrow's batch now?"
"Yeah, yeah, me too."
"Give me the day after tomorrow. I'll take all ten."
As they spoke, these rich folks decisively pulled out wads of cash.
Ten cards meant $750...
And so.
Kevin's vision blurred.
How much money was in front of him right now?
Thousands!!!
If he took all this money, in just this short while, the income would be over ten grand!!
Jackpot!!
He calculated silently in his head... because his math was truly terrible, Kevin struggled for a good while before he got the numbers straight. Once done, he was overjoyed, grinning brilliantly, and quickly pulled a notebook from under the bar. "Okay, reservations accepted. One by one."
In the blink of an eye, ten minutes passed.
Kevin collected over eight thousand dollars, selling out more than a hundred meal cards for the next week and a half. Then, he enthusiastically sent off the rich patrons. Afterward, he danced excitedly, twisting his hips, and laughed loudly at Kermit and the others, "Dexter is a freaking genius!!!"
Kermit and the others nodded in agreement, then one by one emptied their wallets to reserve meal cards too.
This afternoon.
Kevin took in over ten thousand dollars in one go.
Looking at all that money, Kevin nearly lost his mind, his hands trembling with excitement.
Calming down a bit, Kevin took a deep breath. Without a shred of hesitation, he went into the storage room and chose to hide the cash. The thought of depositing it in a bank didn't even cross his mind.
Seeing Kevin's behavior.
In the corner of the bar, two illegal immigrants from Colombia exchanged a knowing smile. An idea formed. They decisively stood up, paid their tab, and walked out.
---
Xiu's Fruit Stand.
Svetlana was also swamped.
The dozens of meal cards she had saved up over the past few days were swept clean by the influx of wealthy men and women.
Then, she pre-sold a huge batch.
And, being the smarter one, Svetlana improvised a bundling strategy. As a result, her intake was far greater than Kevin's.
"Welcome back tomorrow to pick up your cards," Svetlana said, seeing off the customers. She immediately finished her bookkeeping, grabbed the ledger and the cash, locked up the shop, and headed straight for Xiu's Restaurant.
This wave brought in too much money.
In a hellhole like the South Side, carrying this much cash was no joke.
Svetlana didn't dare leave the money in the shop. Her first reaction was to find Dexter, give him his half, and then have him write her a cashier's check for the rest.
A check was easy to hide anywhere. Much easier than a pile of cash.
Arriving at Xiu's Restaurant.
Svetlana greeted Veronica and Vivian, then walked into the kitchen. She got straight to the point, telling Dexter what had just happened and her plan.
Dexter had no objections. He paused his work, took out his checkbook, and wrote Svetlana a cashier's check.
Svetlana took the check but didn't leave. She looked at Dexter seriously. "Boss, my sisters are going to find another place to open a fruit stand and continue their business. Is that okay?"
Making so much money in one afternoon was all thanks to Dexter!
On the way over, Svetlana had made up her mind to work hard at Xiu's Fruit Stand and not branch out on her own.
Dexter smiled and looked at Svetlana. "Can you guarantee your business with them won't have any connection to me? If in the end, I get dragged into it, even just a little bit..."
"You'll find that staying in Russia would have been a very good choice."
"Do you understand what I mean?"
Svetlana's heart jolted, and her expression turned serious and solemn. She nodded. "Understood. I promise!"
"Good. Then, go ahead," Dexter replied with a harmless smile.
"Thank you. I'm leaving now; gotta get back to business," Svetlana said, turning to leave.
"Not staying for lunch? There's a new dish today," Dexter asked with a smile.
Svetlana indeed hadn't eaten lunch yet. She hesitated, glancing at Dexter who had just threatened to end her moments ago...
It was a strange feeling.
"Okay. I'll have a portion. Thanks, Boss," Svetlana nodded.
"Sure. Go wait outside."
---
Front of the Restaurant.
Veronica received a call from Kevin and, quite reasonably, went crazy with excitement too.
The two of them chatted happily for a while.
You could say birds of a feather flock together...
Anyway, Veronica completely forgot to tell Kevin to deposit all that money in the bank.
Call ended.
Veronica was overjoyed, daydreaming about their wonderful future life.
Just then.
Karen walked in. Seeing Dexter wasn't in the front, she headed toward the kitchen.
Veronica and the others were used to Karen walking straight into the kitchen, so they didn't say anything.
Entering the kitchen.
"Mr. Ding, I'm here for lunch," Karen said with a sweet smile.
"Perfect timing. New dish today. Want one?" Dexter smiled back.
"Yes, please," Karen nodded obediently. She didn't leave but proactively continued, "Something happened last night. Lip went crazy."
Heh, now you've got my attention.
Dexter smiled. "Tell me about it."
Karen didn't waste time and recounted the details.
After listening.
Dexter thought for a moment. "Don't call the police in the future. If he goes to jail, at most he gets his ass busted, gets beaten up, suffers some physical injuries. That kind of pain is boring."
"Understand?"
Karen was actually quite smart. She understood instantly. "Psychological pain is what's interesting!"
Dexter smiled faintly. "Both physical and psychological pain, constantly. That's the most interesting."
Hearing this, Karen gave a wicked smile. "I get it. I'll work on it."
"Mmh."
Karen returned to the front of the restaurant to wait for her meal.
Dexter continued working, in a great mood.
Lip, Frank, even Fiona...
Kill them? Cripple them?
Heh.
Death is brief. It's over in a flash.
Letting these Gallaghers suffer endless torment... isn't that more fun?
The truth was.
By now.
Dexter basically didn't care about the Mission anymore.
Could the Mission be completed? Of course. It was just a matter of time.
Because sooner or later, as Debbie and Carl grew up, as they no longer needed Fiona, Fiona would wake up on her own and make a choice...
Previously, the reason he wanted to complete the Mission was simply that he didn't want to wait that long.
But now, having money, people, and status here, living a happy life, occasionally going on "business trips" to experience other worlds... it was pretty good.
Why rush back to the real world?
In the real world, he basically had nothing.
So.
Let's play.
Enjoy the fun of torturing those Gallaghers and other shameless bastards.
---