Hearing Xiao Wang's voice, Zhang Liunian shifted his gaze to his face. Seeing that he was indeed awake, a rare smile appeared on his face. "You performed very well last night. I will have all the security team employees take you as a role model. Once your injuries have healed, you will become the head of my security team and lead them in protecting the department store's property. Do you have the confidence to do it well?"
Upon hearing his boss's words, Xiao Wang's eyes lit up instantly. This was the first time in his twenty years as a street loafer that someone had praised him like this, and in front of twenty people, no less. He was even being made a role model for them. This was truly the most glorious moment of Xiao Wang's life.
Most importantly, he was going to be the head of the security team. Getting promoted after only one day of work felt incredibly good.
"Yes, I have the confidence." Xiao Wang's cheeks flushed with excitement, wishing he could get up right now and demonstrate his abilities.
Xiao Wang's parents were dumbfounded; they had never seen their son like this before.
"It's good that you have confidence. From now on, you just need to focus on recovering. Once you're better, come to the department store and be the head of the security team. Oh, right, I wanted to ask if you saw those people yesterday. Do you know who they were?" Xiao Wang was the first to discover the arsonist. Perhaps he had seen those people. Zhang Liunian asked with a tentative hope, not expecting much.
Unexpectedly, Xiao Wang actually knew who they were.
"I saw them. They were setting the fire, and the flames illuminated their faces. I recognized them. They are from the provincial capital's largest gang, the Tiger Dragon Gang. Their signature look is black clothes and black pants. The people who set the fire yesterday were from the Tiger Dragon Gang, I can confirm that."
Xiao Wang had been on the streets for so long that he indeed knew who they were.
The Tiger Dragon Gang? Wasn't that Zhu Lao San's gang? So, the arson was orchestrated by Zhu Lao San?
This Zhu Lao San only knew how to play dirty. He was truly something. It seemed he needed to make proper arrangements before leaving the provincial capital. Otherwise, given Zhu Lao San's nature, who knew what he might do tomorrow.
"I heard that Zhu Lao San's brother is the gang leader. Is that true?"
Zhang Liunian still wanted to confirm the accuracy of the information.
"That's right, it's his brother. Everyone who roams the streets knows that in the provincial capital, you can offend anyone but not Zhu Lao San. So, was last night's arson by the Zhu family?" Xiao Wang trailed off, suddenly realizing.
Zhang Liunian neither confirmed nor denied it, then proceeded to ask about the underworld situation in the provincial capital.
"Besides the Tiger Dragon Gang, there's also the Black Dragon Gang in the provincial capital. They've been constantly clashing over territory, but for some reason, the Tiger Dragon Gang has been on top of the Black Dragon Gang for the past two years..." Xiao Wang didn't know why his boss was asking about this, but he told him everything he knew.
After all, this was where his boss was professional. Zhang Liunian was just an individual businessman. How could he deal with thousands of people?
"Do you know how to contact the Black Dragon Gang, or where their stronghold is?" Zhang Liunian thought. If he had to be away for a few days, he still needed to find some trouble for Zhu Lao San. Otherwise, just letting Zhu Lao San stab him in the back wouldn't do.
"I know they're in the village behind our Liberation Road."
"..."
Having obtained the information he wanted, Zhang Liunian got up and took Zhang Qian to find the Black Dragon Gang.
"Brother Liunian, why are you looking for them? They're criminals. Is there anything for us to discuss with them?" Zhang Qian was extremely puzzled when he saw Zhang Liunian really intending to find these people, unsure of what he wanted.
"I plan to be away for a few days. Zhu Lao San, that time bomb, might cause trouble every day. I want to ask them to help me cause trouble for Zhu Lao San, so he won't have time to worry about the department store, at least to keep him occupied until I get back."
Zhang Liunian looked at the scenery outside the car and expressed his thoughts.
If possible, he would rather kill Zhu Lao San, but he didn't have the time to deal with him right now. He could only sort out the department store's matters first.
Only then could he figure out a way to get rid of Zhu Lao San. To get rid of Zhu Lao San, the Tiger Dragon Gang definitely couldn't be left alone.
"No way, can he be that troublesome?" Zhang Qian had never imagined that after they left, Zhu Lao San would come to the department store to cause trouble every day. After all, he came from a village and had never seen such a bad person.
"He caused trouble yesterday and set fire last night. What is he incapable of? You absolutely must not underestimate him."
"But the Black Dragon Gang might not necessarily side with us or listen to us."
"Have you heard the saying, 'Money makes the mare go'?" Zhang Liunian's trip was to hire them with money. Plus, they had a common enemy, so he believed they could achieve this.
Indeed, things went as Zhang Liunian thought. When he found a small stronghold of the Black Dragon Gang and gave them a deposit of fifty thousand to help him, they immediately became interested. When they heard it was to cause trouble for Zhu Lao San, they became even more excited.
The deal was struck very smoothly. Zhang Qian couldn't believe how easily they had accomplished it.
"Let's go. I'll brief Group Leader Gu and the others. We're leaving for Pengcheng tonight." Sitting back in the car, Zhang Liunian began to mentally plan the matters he needed to attend to in Pengcheng. First, he would buy a house near his good friend from his previous life, Kang Da Fu, to settle down. Then, he would withdraw the thirty million to avoid any unforeseen complications. Next, he would check with the industrial and commercial bureau to see how many manufacturers there were in Pengcheng.
He would use the vase and Kang Da Fu to re-establish contact and ask him to help broker a deal.
Carefully calculating, Kang Da Bao had only established his factory a little over a year ago. The factory was probably not very large, so it shouldn't be too guarded against outsiders.
Once he had planned it out, the car arrived at the department store. The department store was still operating normally, but there was a repair team outside working on the signs of fire damage on the exterior walls.
The business was still somewhat affected, but not very obviously.
"Group Leader Gu, I'll be away on a business trip for a few days. The department store will be temporarily handed over to you. Pay close attention to both security and business. If you do well, I'll promote you to supervisor later." Zhang Liunian had gotten to know Group Leader Gu during these past few days. He was timid but had good execution abilities.
He was currently a loyal employee, but he didn't know what the future held.
Zhang Liunian didn't consider such long-term matters. He only knew that this person could temporarily handle the responsibilities of a supervisor, and that was enough.
Upon hearing this, Group Leader Gu was overjoyed and said excitedly, "I will definitely look after the department store properly and not let you down. However, many goods are currently in short supply, and I can't find any sources."
"My business trip is to find sources of goods. If there are no goods, we'll rest for now. I'll notify you immediately once I find them and have people deliver the goods. You can list the items that are currently missing, and then I'll know which ones are urgently needed and which ones can wait, as well as the types of goods our department store sells." With these lists, he could understand which goods were urgently needed, easy to sell, and in high demand, and which ones were not.
At the same time, he could also estimate how much of these goods would be sold per month.