After five days of renovation, Biao Biao, A Nan, and later Liang Liang and others finally completed the basic facilities of the casino.
The casino was located within the area of the Sixth Team. It was a recently abandoned railway primary school, covering an area of fifty mu.
The entire complex resembled a siheyuan, facing south. Except for a three-meter-high perimeter wall in the front, the other three sides were two-story buildings. The east and west sides housed classrooms for students.
The north side had two rows of buildings. The front row was the primary school's administrative building, and the back row was the local education bureau's office building.
Adjacent to the school was the Sixth Team's headquarters, which had been converted into the Xunsi River Demolition Command Center. Therefore, the school playground became the command center's parking lot.
Li Jin's demolition company was also located within the school. They had renovated two classrooms on the north side to serve as offices, where more than a dozen young men were usually on duty.
Two other construction companies had rented classrooms on the east and west sides, converting them into project departments, worker dormitories, and a mess hall.
The casino was situated in the education bureau's office building, a relatively hidden location. Access to the office building required passing through the corridor in the middle of the front teaching building. The sides originally had passages, but Biao Biao had hired people to brick them up.
The only passage was also equipped with two iron gates that could only be opened from the inside.
To ensure security, Biao Biao had installed surveillance cameras on the rooftops in the four directions of the office building, providing 360-degree coverage within a hundred-meter radius. This was more effective than external sentries.
Behind the office building, there was originally a grove of trees. Due to demolition, the trees had been cut down, leaving only bare ground covered in weeds.
Biao Biao had specifically opened a door in this direction to facilitate a quick evacuation of gamblers in case of a police raid.
There were two other such escape routes, located on the east and west sides of the corridor between the office building and the teaching building. Biao Biao had broken through the walls in these areas and installed two iron gates. These led to the passages between two rows of residential buildings, where few people lived anymore, making it quiet.
This layout was based on the model of Old Pan's casino. Unless plainclothes officers infiltrated the casino and broke through from the inside, the police would not be able to enter quickly from the front or sides, giving the casino enough time to evacuate personnel.
Biao Biao and the others ate and slept in the front office building, sharing the space with Li Jin's demolition company.
Since this area served as both a parking lot and a gathering place for migrant workers, the front of the school was bustling all day long. Biao Biao and his group staying here did not attract attention.
Upon receiving Biao Biao's call, Yang Jian and A Feng drove over. Jun Jun had also wanted to come, but he was still very weak, and A Feng had told him to rest at the factory for at least another month.
"Brother Jian, how do you think this setup is? Are there any areas that need improvement?"
Biao Biao accompanied Yang Jian as they inspected the overall layout of the casino, asking for his opinion.
"Biao Biao, you've all worked hard. This place is well done, but I think we should open another door in this front building, specifically as an exit. The corridor should be for entry only, which would be safer."
Yang Jian recalled how cleverly Old Pan's casino was designed. The entrance and exit were not the same passage, which not only facilitated rapid evacuation but also made it more discreet on the street. After all, entering and exiting through the same passage could easily attract attention.
"That makes sense. I'll arrange for workers to open a door in the classroom at the far east end immediately. There's a restroom there, and since many people come and go, gamblers exiting from there won't attract attention."
"Yes, with this change, it will be almost perfect. By the way, Biao Biao, how is Old Wu's wife at cooking?"
"She's very good. She cooks much better than Song Jianmei. Brother Jin and the others have come over for meals twice, and they all say she's a skilled cook and very clean. The kitchen and dining room are always spotless. If it weren't for fear of overwhelming her, the people from the demolition company would have wanted to join for meals too."
"Then Old Wu wasn't lying. Let her cook here. We'll pay her three thousand yuan a month, and let Old Wu work part-time buying groceries. We'll settle the food expenses at a standard of eighteen yuan per person per day."
Currently, the food standard on the construction site was eight to ten yuan per person per day. Eighteen yuan per day was already a very high standard, and Yang Jian was taking care of Old Wu.
"Will we prepare meals for the gamblers?"
"It depends. If the business is booming, like Old Pan's casino, we'll provide three meals a day for the gamblers. For now, we'll only operate in the afternoon and evening, and we'll provide one meal, dinner. We'll cooperate with a nearby restaurant to deliver boxed meals. You can decide the specific quantity based on the number of gamblers each day."
Yang Jian had already appointed Biao Biao to manage the casino's accounts, so he naturally had to give him these instructions.
"Okay. When do you plan to open?"
"I'll go to the Dong Sheng Group's project department first. On Sister Feng's behalf, this construction site will be under our protection from now on. Then I'll discuss the specific opening time with Li Jin."
"Then bring more people with you later. It's too complicated here. Just in the past few days, there have been four fights on the construction site, resulting in several serious injuries, two of whom were migrant workers."
"It's fine. I'll have A Feng and A Nan go with me. When there are really important matters, having too many people is useless."
After speaking, Yang Jian turned to head to the construction site, calling A Feng and A Nan along.
As Yu Feng had said, Dong Sheng Group's project was next to Zheng Guangyao's resettlement building project, but Dong Sheng Group's project was much larger.
The project department alone looked much more imposing, with well-organized office areas, dormitory areas, and mess halls. The office area even had landscaping and a basketball court.
Yang Jian had been working on construction sites for four or five years, and this was the first time he had seen a basketball court on a construction site. This indicated that Dong Sheng Group placed great importance on its corporate image and was building a modern, large enterprise.
After parking the car in the project department's parking lot, Yang Jian and the other two followed the signs on the prefabricated houses to find the project department office.
Four young men stood outside the office. Judging by their attire, they didn't seem to be construction workers. It was noisy inside, and many people seemed to be in a meeting.
"Who are you looking for?"
As the three approached the entrance, they were stopped by the four young men.
Yang Jian glanced inside. "Hello, we're looking for Manager Fan."
"Then please wait outside for a moment. They are in a meeting inside."
A young man with an earring in his ear sized up the three, feeling a bit pressured, and his attitude was humble.
"We're from our hometown in Xinhe, and we just need to say a few words to Manager Fan. It won't take more than a few minutes. Please go in and tell him."
It was past ten in the morning, the sun was scorching, and the weather was hot. Yang Jian didn't want to stand outside in the sun, and who knew how long the meeting inside would last.
"I told you to wait outside, so just wait. Why so much nonsense? Get lost."
Before the young man with the earring could speak, a tall guy behind him became impatient. He pointed a long, newspaper-wrapped object at Yang Jian with his right hand.