Chapter 134: The Three Guardians

Chen Huajiang certainly did not care that Zhang Hao had approached his cousin, Zhang Hao, with intentions to target him. Even if he had known, he would not have taken it to heart; at that moment, he was busy keeping Lin Jiayin company.

"Business here is getting harder and harder to manage. Wu Lei, Wu De, and Gou Weidong take turns showing up every single day. One stands at the entrance today, another comes tomorrow, and a third the day after."

"With the three of them rotating shifts like guards, nobody from the other departments or workshops—except for Liang Long and his security team—dares to come here to eat. If this continues, our shop will be left with nothing but thin air to feed on."

Looking at the empty shop, Lin Jiayin complained, her face full of helplessness. She no longer felt angry; that emotion had long since been exhausted over these past few days.

Chen Huajiang held her hand and gave it a gentle squeeze, comforting her: "You should look at it from a different perspective. We’ve managed to hire three gatekeepers who take turns standing guard every day. And the best part? They provide their own food and we don’t even have to pay them a salary."

At this, Lin Jiayin burst into a giggle. However, once she finished laughing, she pouted at Chen Huajiang. Although she knew her husband no longer cared about this shop—and their household income did not rely on it at all—it was, after all, their first shop, and it stood right at the factory gate, so she still held some affection for it.

"So, what do we do now?" Lin Jiayin asked.

Daguang, who was standing nearby, walked over and said, "I think we should just close the shop. Keeping this up is a complete waste of time." As a cook, he had been idle for quite a while and felt like he was starting to rust.

"Don't be anxious, Daguang. I have plans for you. I never intended for you to remain just a cook at a barbecue stand forever." Chen Huajiang smiled at him; he valued this brother highly. Talents like Hao Jianguo were hard to come by, but a loyal brother was even rarer.

"What kind of plans?" Daguang’s eyes lit up, and he asked excitedly.

"The secrets of heaven cannot be revealed yet. You’ll find out by the end of the year," Chen Huajiang said with a smile.

Seeing him act this way, Daguang could only roll his eyes and suppress his curiosity.

"Sister-in-law, Daguang, let’s have three orders of skewers and two bottles of—oh, Brother Chen, you’re here."

At that moment, Liang Long walked in with his men. There were four of them in total; besides Liang Long, there were two familiar faces, Duan Dawei and Li Bing. They nodded at Chen Huajiang to greet him, and Chen Huajiang smiled back. There was only one young man, about eighteen or nineteen years old, whom Chen Huajiang did not recognize.

"Brother Chen, this poor kid is named Xu Xie. He just used some connections to get into our factory."

"Tsk, tsk, tsk. It’s like joining the Nationalist Army in '49—he didn't even get paid his first month, and the second month is looking pretty shaky, too." Liang Long sat down and, noticing Chen Huajiang looking at his new subordinate, pointed at the young man and couldn't resist making a joke.

*Pfft!*

Chen Huajiang was just about to take a sip of water to moisten his throat, but upon hearing this, he spat it out, spraying Liang Long.

"Is it that funny?" Liang Long rolled his eyes and wiped himself off with a rag. He was just cracking a joke; he hadn't expected such an exaggerated reaction from Chen Huajiang.

"Sorry, sorry," Chen Huajiang said awkwardly. He knew Liang Long’s joke was actually spot on. It really was like joining the Nationalist Army in '49; this young man, Xu Xie, would go on to trigger a major incident the year after next.

The reason Chen Huajiang didn't recognize him was that he had never met the man in person, but he was very familiar with the name—it was quite infamous. After all, by the time the man caused his trouble, Chen Huajiang had long since left the Red Flag Factory and the city of Nanming; he had headed south to open restaurants in coastal cities. He only knew of him because he had heard his name and his story from others during later gatherings.

Xu Xie was known as the unluckiest worker in the Red Flag Factory. How unlucky? He spent a small fortune using connections to get the job, only to work for three years without receiving a single cent in wages. Then, the Red Flag Factory went bankrupt, and he was only given 150 yuan in severance and relocation fees. Mind you, he had spent 220 yuan in bribes to get the job in the first place. After three years, he hadn't earned a penny and had actually lost 70 yuan.

The guy couldn't take it, and during the critical moment of the factory's restructuring, he set a fire that burned down a processing workshop, getting caught red-handed on the spot. Arson was a serious crime, and he was sentenced to ten years. It was only by sheer luck that no one was killed, otherwise, it would have been a death sentence.

When people spoke of him at reunions in the future, they felt both sympathy and frustration, but mostly they just joked about how he wasn't very bright. Just like now, Xu Xie sat stiffly with a dull, wooden expression, as if Liang Long wasn't talking about him at all.

"Xu Xie, how much did you spend in bribes to get into the factory?" Chen Huajiang poured him a cup of tea and asked with a smile.

"Why do you ask that? My dad told me not to talk about it," Xu Xie said, taking the cup with a serious expression.

"Brother Chen, don't bother. I couldn't get it out of him, so you have no chance," Liang Long said, waving his hand dismissively.

"That’s not necessarily true. I can get it out of him in three sentences," Chen Huajiang said with a smile.

"Braggart!" Liang Long scoffed, not believing him at all.

"Brother Chen, let’s make a bet. If you can’t get it out of him in three sentences, you owe me five yuan. If you win, you win five yuan from me."

"Count me in, too. Brother Chen, you're a big boss now, surely you won't be stingy with a little wager?" Duan Dawei and Li Bing also smiled, looking at Chen Huajiang with anticipation. Xu Xie had been in their security department for nearly two months, and they had tried all sorts of subtle questioning to no avail. They didn't believe Chen Huajiang could get it out of him in three sentences.

"Add me, too," Liang Long added, rolling his eyes. "Can't pass up an easy win." He held the same opinion: Xu Xie was introverted and wooden, but stubborn and set in his ways. If they couldn't get the number out of him with their indirect approaches, there was no way Chen Huajiang could.

"Alright, but Brother Xu needs to cooperate. Otherwise, if I guess it and he intentionally says no, then it’s unsolvable."

"Brother Xu, you don't even have to speak. Just nod or shake your head. If I’m right, nod; if I’m wrong, shake your head. How about that?" Chen Huajiang smiled at Xu Xie.

With Liang Long and the others chiming in, Xu Xie hesitated for a moment and then nodded.

"When they asked you, were the amounts always round numbers—one hundred, two hundred, three hundred, four hundred, or perhaps 150, 250, 350?" Chen Huajiang asked his first question.

Xu Xie thought for a moment and nodded.

"The amount is between one hundred and three hundred, right? Anything under one hundred wouldn't have been enough to get it done, and anything over three hundred is too much; your family probably wouldn't have agreed to that," Chen Huajiang asked his second question.

Xu Xie nodded.

"Then it must be 220," Chen Huajiang said, firmly and quickly.

Xu Xie instinctively nodded.