The next morning, Zhao Yougen got up early and arrived soon after at the store that he had just purchased on the pedestrian street.
Although he was narrow-minded and arrogant, he wasn’t a fool. When he had first met Li Yundong, he had just been Cao Kefei’s little errand boy, young and naive. But now that he was seeing him again, Li Yundong’s bearing couldn’t be compared to the one he had had back in those in the past days. On top of that, there was a large group of beautiful women around him.
If a man could attract a rich beauty and get her to fall in love with him, he could live as a kept man. But if he could attract a group of gorgeous women with different temperaments to surround him and obey him, he was definitely not the one being kept.
Zhao Yougen subconsciously knew that Li Yundong was not an ordinary man, but he didn’t want to accept it. He would rather believe that with his skills and strength, he could easily defeat this guy whom he didn’t like.
But it was not until something happened that Zhao Yougen finally became alert. “How dare this young man speak so wildly? What is his background?”
After Zhao Yougen returned, he carefully look into Li Yundong’s background but found nothing. He was unwilling to give up, so he carefully investigated the woman that had been by Li Yundong’s side. After that, he was shocked. He couldn’t find anything about Su Chan, Zi Yuan, and Ruan Hongling, but when he investigated Zhou Qin, he was shocked to find that Zhou Qin was the successor of a senior official!
People in China never fought with officials. In the public’s eyes, Zhao Yougen was a rich businessman, but in the eyes of an official, he was nothing more than a fart. As for whether that was true or not, it depended entirely on the attitude of the officials.
Fortunately, Zhao Yougen soon found that Zhou Keqiang, Zhou Qin’s father, had stepped down. Now he was tending to flowers and walking his dog at home. It seemed that he had adapted to the life of a second-tier retired person and didn’t want to stage a comeback.
He was relieved and thought to himself, “It’s so dangerous. If Zhou Qin’s backer hadn’t fallen, I would have had to immediately go and ask for forgiveness. But now, the situation is totally different.”
As the saying goes, ‘The tea cools down as soon as its drinker is gone.’ How much power could an official who was removed from court due to corruption still have?
But Zhao Yougen had been in the business world for a long time. He knew that the business was official, so he didn’t dare to be careless and risk the other side taking drastic measures to deal with him. Therefore, he went to the shop in the early morning.
At this time, it was just past eight o’clock, and there were not many pedestrians on the street, but Zhao Yougen’s store had already been busy. When a foreman saw Zhao Yougen, he immediately greeted him with a smile on his face. “Mr. Zhao, what brings you here so early?”
Zhao Yougen saw that the shop was bustling. He nodded approvingly, put his hands behind his back, and pretended to look around. Then he said with a smile, “It’s too early for you!”
The foreman all smiled. “It’s all because Mr. Zhao paid a lot of money, so we’re all extra motivated!”
Zhao Yougen patted the foreman’s shoulder with satisfaction and said, “Well, you must do a good job. I still have money to pay you! By the way, if someone wants to hire you, tell me first and I’ll raise your salary!”
The foreman felt this was a little odd, but he still laughed from his heart. He said happily, “Mr. Zhao, you are such a good boss! I have been in this industry for so many years, and most bosses only think about how to deduct the workers’ money. I have never seen a boss who thinks about how to give more to their workers.”
Being flattered by the foreman, Zhao Yougen felt comfortable and said with a smile, “Don’t worry. I won’t treat you badly as long as you do well!”
The foreman nodded and bowed, saying, “Don’t worry, Mr. Zhao. We will do your job well even if it costs us our lives!”
Zhao Yougen was relieved. He withdrew out a pack of cigarettes from his pocket, squinted and said, “You want one?”
The foreman was flattered. He carefully slid a cigarette from the case and lit it happily. He then took a deep breath and said, “I only regret not meeting Mr. Zhao earlier! It’s really difficult to meet a good boss like you in this world!”
Zhao Yougen smiled noncommittally. He pointed to Li Yundong’s store and said, “Well, it’s over there. If you do it, how long will it take to finish?”
The foreman suddenly looked a little embarrassed. He thought to himself, “Didn’t I do the decoration of this store before? What does he mean?”
Zhao Yougen saw that the foreman’s expression was one of uncertainty, so he said with a smile, “Don’t worry. I didn’t mean anything. I was just asking casually.”
Only then did the foreman relax. He smiled obsequiously and said, “In my opinion, it’s impossible for this shop to be completed without a month. It can’t open for business in any less than two months.”
“You can decorate it in a month?” Zhao Yougen asked. “That fast? What about my shop?”
The foreman thought for a moment and said, “Should take about one and a half months.”
Zhao Yougen immediately flew into a rage. “What? The decoration of this b*stard’s shop will only take a month, while mine needs a month and a half? Are you kidding?”
The foreman was shocked and somewhat offended. He thought to himself, “I heard you say that a month is fast. I was afraid that you might think that the project was completed too quickly and suspect that we cheated you. Isn’t that what you mean?”
The foreman had no choice but to ask, “How long do you want it to take, Mr. Zhao?”
Zhao Yougen snarled angrily, “Whatever, just be faster than the shop opposite! Do you want me to see them open their shop before me? Do you think that I, a boss with who can produce hundreds of thousands of dollars at a moments’ notice, has nothing to do except come here to open a small shop because I’m purely bored? I just want to crush the opposite shop, so you can decorate more slowly than any other shop in the world, but not that one!”
Only then did the foreman realize what was going on. He thought to himself, “I was wondering why this big boss come to open a tea shop and offer us high salaries. It is to beat the opposite party! I thought this guy was a long-term owner, but unexpectedly it’s a one-off business! This is too bad!”
The foreman felt rueful it in his heart, but on second thought, he thought, “Now that the die is cast, why don’t I kick this guy’s ass? Forget this place, we can go to other premises to work!”
The foreman made up his mind and said to Zhao Yougen, “Please rest assured, I can finish it in fifteen days at the soonest! We’ll work overtime every night, but as for the money, well…”
Zhao Yougen immediately said, “You needn’t worry about money as long as you can guarantee the quality of this project! If you dare to cheat me, I promise that you won’t see a penny!”
The foreman immediately thumped his chest and said, “Don’t worry, President Zhao!”
Zhao Yougen finally felt relieved. He took a drag from his cigarette and looked at Li Yundong’s store, sneering in his mind, “Hum, you want to fight with me, rookie? I have hundreds of ways to deal with you in the business world!”
While he was feeling pretty good about himself, suddenly the foreman next to him patted him on the shoulder and said, “Mr. Zhao?”
Zhao Yougen was immersed in his daydreaming. He shrugged his shoulders impatiently and said, “What?”
Pointing to the left of Zhao Yougen, the foreman stared and said, “Look!”
Zhao Yougen turned around. At first glance, he was so shocked that his eyes bulged out of their sockets and he almost fell to the ground.
They saw a group of young people coming up in the middle of the pedestrian street. The leader was a young man, dressed in ordinary gray-white casual clothes, but he looked elegant and had an extraordinary temperament. Behind him was a gaggle of more than a dozen women in different clothes. They had different appearances, but all of them were extremely beautiful, stunning the surrounding passers-by.
This group of people was none other than Li Yundong, Zi Yuan, Ruan Hongling, and the fox spirits of the Fox Zen School. What surprised people the most was not their appearances, but what they were carrying in their hands.
Su Chan was carrying a large bundle of snakeskin bags in one hand, and a bucket filled with pure water in the other. The bucket weighing more than twenty kilograms was being held by Su Chan’s with one hand, as if it were nothing. She chatted and laughed with Li Yundong as they walked.
Next to her was Ruan Hongling, who was also holding a bucket of pure water in one hand and carrying another on her shoulder with the other hand. She was dragging a huge black plastic bag with each step. Every time she took a step, there would be a tinkling sound coming from inside the bag. It seemed that it was the sound of a lunch box and chopsticks colliding. The proud, arrogant beauty from Linggong Sect looked ominous. She glared unkindly at Li Yundong, who was not far from her. She seemed to want to smash the bucket in her hand over this guy’s head.
In the hands of Zi Yuan were a further two huge plastic bags, which were bulging and had distinct edges and corners. No one could guess what was inside.
Behind them were Fox Zen School’s little foxes and three Shibos. Each of them was happily carrying wooden planks that even two men wouldn’t have been able to manage. Cao Yi and the others were carrying boxes of dozens of kilograms of tiles in their hands. They were walking fast and chatting happily, as if they were strolling into the countryside.
Zhao Yougen was so shocked that he couldn’t close his mouth. The cigarette fell from his lips to his clothes, burning a big hole in his shirt. The foreman next to him was also stunned. He stared blankly and said, “My God… What, what the hell is going on? Am I dreaming? Why are there so many beautiful women doing such rough work?”
At this time, Li Yundong and the others all arrived at the door of the shop. The movement of their group attracted the attention of almost everyone around. The workers who were in the opposite shop also heard the movement and ran out to watch the eye-catching scene. After a single glance, they were suddenly dumbfounded, rooted to the spot like the rest.
“I’ve seen people order people around like animals… But I’ve never seen anyone order so many beautiful women like they’re pack mules!” Zhao Yougen felt like he was about to lose it. He knew that he was a person who often tortured beautiful women, but he had never imagined that there would be someone who was even more ruthless than him in this world!
Once it was all over, the foreman reacted. He was stunned and asked, “What, what are they going to do?”
Zhao Yougen also said in a daze, “I, I don’t know!”
The onlookers around also whispered to each other and secretly guessed at Li Yundong’s intention and purpose for being here. But not long after, they saw the little foxes stack up the wooden boards one by one, and then open the package of the tiles, putting them in the corner one at a time.
Li Yundong nodded with satisfaction and said to Zi Yuan, “Zi Yuan, when will the other materials, like cement and sand, be delivered?”
It was obvious that Zi Yuan was not used to this kind of situation. Her expression was a little strange as she said, “Probably in the afternoon. Li Yundong, are you sure you want us to do this ourselves?”
Li Yundong smiled encouragingly. “Of course! Is there a problem?”
A rare girlish expression appeared on Zi Yuan’s face, but then she pursed her lips and rolled her eyes at Li Yundong. “It’s too late even if I start complaining now.”
Li Yundong laughed and said, “Glad you understand! Girls!”
The little foxes loved jollification most. When onlookers saw that they were doing the kind of heavy labor that was even hard for men, they thought that Li Yundong was persecuting these girls. However, they did not know that the little foxes were enjoying themselves. All the girls thought was that it was exciting and fun. It was much more fun than cultivating in the mountains or at home!
When the little foxes heard Li Yundong’s shout, they immediately replied crisply, “Yes!”
The crowd watching the scene felt extreme envy and jealousy and cursed in their hearts, “What a shame! How difficult it is to find a beautiful girlfriend these days! And even if you find one, you still have to worry her leaving for someone else someday. How hard it is to secure a beautiful wife! D*mn! There are so many beauties here! Forget cherishing them, he treats them like they’re servants! However, these beauties seem so happy, as if they’re the ones taking advantage of him!
“It’s so bizarre! How can there be such a thing in the world!”
“Who on earth is this man?”
