Substitute Driver's Notes

Chapter 21: If you search diligently, you'll always find the right person.

Zhu Changfei would swear to God that he had never reacted so quickly in his entire life.

As soon as Lao Zhu heard the bear utter its first word, he knew the guy was about to blurt out the absolute truth.

He leaped to the bear's side and slapped him hard across the face, interrupting him completely.

He shouted, "Shut up, all of you! Anyone who dares to utter a single word will lose their salary!"

Ersha hurriedly raised his hand to cover his mouth, afraid that he might accidentally utter a word and that this heartless and unscrupulous boss would really deduct his wages.

Zhang Shang'e handed the dagger to the other employees, looking at the three of them with suspicion: "What's wrong, Lao Zhu? What did you do that you shouldn't be doing? Why are you so nervous?"

Zhu Changfei was shocked: "How could that be? I just suddenly realized that after all these years, I haven't been paying enough attention to you, so I came to see if you're tired from work. Oh dear! Honey, your job must be really tough! Why don't you quit? We're not short of money right now. Yes! That's what I meant."

Zhang Shang'e's eyes suddenly welled up with tears: "Old Zhu, why are you saying this? We've been married for so long, aren't you afraid people will laugh at us? I'm capable, I'll save more money for the kids, and when I can't work anymore, I'll go home and rest, and you'll support me."

Zhu Changfei wiped the cold sweat from his forehead: "Alright then! It's nothing else, I...I'll go back."

He came in a hurry, and he left in a hurry. Old Zhu waved his hand, leaving without taking away a single cloud.

On the way, Zhu Changfei looked at Ersha in the rearview mirror and secretly made plans in his mind.

Although the old woman is a bit simple-minded and easy to fool, who knows what she'll do when she finds out?

I've known her so well over the years. She used to focus on herself, but later she devoted herself entirely to her children.

What if I have a moment of weakness and act impulsively? Will I be in danger?

It's decided, we'll keep it a secret for now.

Then find a capable and loyal employee, and at most give them an extra two or three hundred yuan in salary each month.

.........

At the hospital, Li Wei insisted on being discharged. After coordination and review of various data, Li Wei was discharged from the intensive care unit and moved into a regular ward.

Not long after settling in, someone relayed a message to Li Wei, hoping to resolve the matter through negotiation.

Li Wei sneered and dismissed the matter, then made an excuse to send his wife out of the ward, entrusting a messenger to relay a message:

"Pay the hospital fees first, then we can arrange a meeting place after I recover and discuss the matter amicably. Otherwise, you can expect a lawsuit!"

After everyone left, Li Wei calmly lay down. Did they really think Brother Wei was a pushover? Who doesn't dream of being a chivalrous knight? If it weren't for the old man's strict discipline and the lingering effects of the crackdown a few years ago, what would these petty thugs be now? They really weren't worth Brother Wei's attention.

Now that's settled, I have a wife and kids, and I need to take on the responsibility of being the pillar of the family.

But that doesn't mean it's over. Everyone knows what kind of thugs they are. If the authorities let them off the hook, they might pay a small fee. But if they handle things strictly by the book, they'll definitely play dead and refuse to pay.

Most of the thugs are single, so there's really no good legal solution for them.

Okay! Let's settle the financial issues first. Once Brother Wei is better, we'll naturally arrange a gathering to resolve the problems.

The message was relayed to Zhang Hao's boss by an intermediary.

This is a dilapidated little factory, only about 1,000 square meters, which has been rented out by this group of people and converted into residential space.

In the old factory office, there was a plaque with the three large characters "Juyi Hall" written in regular script, hanging in the center.

Next to it was the business license of Dawei Tianlong Business Consulting Company, which looked out of place.

This thug in his twenties, whom his underlings called Brother Long, sat on the sofa and laughed heartily.

"This Wei guy is quite interesting. At his age, he still plays by the rules of the underworld. He's willing to pay money and arrange a venue."

"By the way, let this old man born in the 70s know that now it's the era of us young people born in the 80s. It's not just about having strength; you need brains to survive in society."

"When the time comes, go to the school, find those brainless idiots, fifty yuan each, tell them that if they behave well, they can follow Brother Long later, give me five thousand yuan first, I'll scare them to death."

The younger brother who accompanied him to the hospital replied with a wry smile, "Brother Long, do you know how much the hospital fees are? I asked around, and the total cost is about 40,000 yuan."

Brother Long was stunned, and hesitantly asked, "Forty...forty thousand...? That's outrageous! What did Wang Fugui say?"

"Him? He said he'd paid all the money he was owed, and that everything else was none of his business. He said we were the ones who beat him up, and he'd take responsibility for it."

"Holy crap! Wang Fugui is so disloyal? No way, I'll be bankrupt if this happens. Tell his wife, if we're going to die, we'll all die together. I can't afford that much money anyway. By the way, who did this Wei Ge hire?"

The middleman laughed and said, "You can't afford to mess with them. They're from the criminal investigation team. If they really investigate, they could bring your triad organization into the mess."

Brother Long shook his head helplessly, dismissed his underlings, and said to the middleman, "This deal was a terrible loss. How did we get caught red-handed? What a bunch of good-for-nothings."

"It's said that someone called the police in advance."

"Who is it? Help me find out who it is. I'll see if I can get some money to get my brothers out of trouble. Otherwise, I'll lose face in front of my underlings."

"You can try, but it costs money."

"Money, money, money, money is needed everywhere. Here's two thousand for now! I'm not exactly flush with cash myself, but once we get concrete news, the amount will definitely be substantial."

The middleman smiled: "Same as always, we'll split it 30/70, information will be calculated separately. If we weren't old friends, it would be at least 40/60 from now on, you know they've been cracking down really hard lately."

"Most ordinary people would be intimidated immediately, but this time we encountered such a tough opponent. Nine of my men were lying on the ground, and they're spending a lot of money in the hospital every day. There are also police watching over us. If every fight is like this, I might as well just close down and go home."

The middleman suddenly sneered: "You wish! A few kids call you Brother Long every day, do you really think you're something special? Let me give you some advice from an old man in his seventies: If it weren't for someone needing you to do something inconvenient, I would have killed you long ago for your ungratefulness."

A bead of cold sweat trickled down Brother Long's forehead. He'd gotten so used to being arrogant that he'd really forgotten who he was.

It's all my fault for watching too many gangster movies like "Young and Dangerous: Shanghai Bund" and forgetting about the realities of society. Here, someone can solve the problem of someone like me with just a few words.

Think about the movies, all those gangs and bosses, where is there any contemporary mainland background? They're all set in Hong Kong or the old society.

Like a balloon pricked by a needle, Brother Long deflated instantly, looking pitifully at the middleman:

"Brother, I'm just an ignorant scoundrel. Please show me the right path. You know us, we can't sleep at night if we don't spend all the money we have. I really can't afford to lose this much money!"

The middleman carefully counted the twenty RMB bills repeatedly.

After a long pause, he looked up at Brother Long with a helpless expression, put the money in his pocket, and stood up. "Sigh! With your IQ, you should read a book! Two thousand yuan is only enough for a meal. I'll give you a free tip: the person who called the police was Li Wei's sister-in-law, and it's said that Qian Zhaonan is pursuing her. Think about it."

"Qian Zhanan? He's just playing around, it's nothing serious."

"Do I really have to spell it out? This kind of person is different from those poor people. Tens of thousands or eighty thousand doesn't matter to them. Poor people might fight you to the death for tens of thousands of dollars. Would Qian Zhanan fight you to the death for ten thousand or eighty thousand? Think about it!"

Brother Long immediately bowed in admiration: "Brother, you're a good person! Thank you!"