Chapter 81: When the Underlings Are a Mixed Bag, Even the Boss Has a Headache
“Who the hell is that guy? Acting like he owns the place—doesn’t even give Brother Wei any face! Damn it!”
Although Xiao Liang had worked in Yunshe for two years, he rarely showed up in places like the arcade. Most of Zhang Wei’s underlings didn’t recognize him at all.
“Hey, Wei, you know that guy? He dared to point at your face and talk like that?”
Someone asked the slick-haired youth who had just been scolded into silence.
“He’s a town official,” the young man muttered, still flushed with humiliation. “That guy from the juice factory investigation—the one Xiao Yujun almost had locked up. Turns out Xiao Yujun slipped up and got bitten back instead. Ended up getting himself thrown in jail. I heard this guy’s doing pretty well now—really strutting around.”
The young man’s name was Gu Wei. Back when Xiao Liang had dealt with him on the bus, he had only vaguely guessed Xiao Liang’s identity. Harboring a grudge ever since, he had spent time piecing together everything that had happened around the Xiao Yujun case.
He knew Xiao Liang was now the deputy director of Nanting Lake Juice Factory—someone who counted in Yunshe. Someone who didn’t even hesitate to slight Zhou Bin, the son of Deputy Party Secretary Zhou Jianqi.
But what he hadn’t expected was that even Zhang Wei couldn’t get a cigarette accepted from him.
Gu Wei didn’t think he had the standing to challenge someone at Xiao Liang’s level, but he still felt indignant on Zhang Wei’s behalf.
“That Xiao Liang bastard really doesn’t know his place—thinks he’s somebody now!”
“Enough of your damn chatter. Get back to work!”
Zhang Wei snapped, glaring at the small crowd that had gathered.
By now, he had realized that the man in uniform was likely Yuan Wenhai—the new station chief who had just taken up his post.
There were things in the arcade that couldn’t stand scrutiny. Seeing a uniformed officer walk in had thrown him off balance earlier. Losing his composure in front of his underlings wasn’t entirely shameful under the circumstances.
Still, he usually called Gu Xiong “uncle” out of respect when they met in Nanting Village. Even if Xiao Liang didn’t know he was Zhang Feili’s cousin, Zhang Wei had already lowered himself enough.
And yet the man hadn’t even taken his cigarette.
That stung.
Zhang Wei’s face darkened. He clenched the cigarette between his teeth, chewing on the filter slowly.
He wasn’t the hot-headed young man he once was. After barking orders to disperse the others, he dragged Gu Wei into his office, his voice low and grim.
“What’s your issue with Xiao Liang? Why’s he targeting you?”
“What issue could there be?” Gu Wei replied evasively. “I didn’t even know him before. That one time, Monkey and I took the bus into the city—we ran into Lin Xuetong’s daughter. Didn’t know who she was. Just thought she looked pretty, so we said a few words. Didn’t do anything out of line. That guy just went crazy out of nowhere—grabbed Monkey by the throat like he was trying to snap it. We held back and didn’t fight. Thought it was over.”
“You idiots! Picking on Lin Xuetong’s daughter—do you even know she calls my cousin ‘godmother’?”
Zhang Wei kicked him hard, furious. Then, remembering they probably hadn’t known about He Hong’s close relationship with Zhang Feili, he cursed under his breath.
“Get out! All of you, useless trash. Just looking at you pisses me off.”
Gu Wei slunk away.
Zhang Wei lit a cigarette and took a long drag, his head pounding.
He didn’t know why Xiao Liang had stepped in for Lin Xuetong and He Hong’s daughter that day.
But last night, over dinner at his uncle Zhang Qiang’s house, his cousin Zhang Feili had talked about everything that had happened over the past month since returning from Xijiang. Her eyes had been shining.
At the time, Zhang Wei had thought she was exaggerating—just dazzled by something new.
Now, he wasn’t so sure.
Gu Peijun’s absolute trust in Xiao Liang—that was real.
Yuan Wenhai’s close relationship with him—that was real.
And Xiao Liang himself… young, but with formidable methods.
Otherwise, Gu Peijun and Gu Xiong wouldn’t have stood by silently just now.
People in town were already saying Xiao Liang and Gu Peijun were trusted men of Party Secretary Wang Xingmin—that the entire Xiao Yujun case had been Wang using them to suppress Fan Chunjiang.
That, too, now seemed true.
The way Xiao Liang had looked at him just now—there was clear hostility.
Would his arcade even be allowed to keep operating in Yunshe?
Zhang Wei knew the truth all too well.
For all his apparent success these past two years, if Yuan Wenhai really wanted to, he could crush him with a single finger.
…
…
Xiao Liang, of course, wasn’t about to reveal his full plans yet.
When he met with the Cultural Center director, he simply proposed leasing all the remaining office and meeting room space on the fourth floor—over four hundred square meters in total.
Aside from a few factories, there were hardly any enterprises in town. The fourth and fifth floors of the Cultural Center had sat vacant for two years without tenants.
Since Liang Chaobin had already called ahead, making it clear this was Wang Xingmin’s directive to support Xiao Liang’s business in Yunshe, the Cultural Center had no intention of making things difficult.
Four hundred square meters of office space, plus basic furniture included—an annual rent of twenty thousand yuan.
In 1994, that was a respectable sum of extra income.
Xiao Liang was quite satisfied with the space. His only request was that the staircase on the west side of the building, facing the Yanxi River, be cleared out.
It was rarely used. The staff had no concept of fire exits, and the space had long been filled with clutter.
Xiao Liang wanted it cleaned out so that a simple door could be installed to separate the office area from the main staircase. The company could then use the west staircase exclusively.
They could even mount a company sign on the west wall, turning it into the formal entrance. Later, they could clear the riverside area into a small parking lot.
After reaching a preliminary agreement, Xiao Liang and Gu Peijun took the bus to Nanting Village.
Just after getting off, Xiao Liang’s pager buzzed from inside his bag. Seeing it was a city landline number, he guessed his brother had already made initial contact with colleagues at the municipal pharmaceutical factory.
Mobile phones existed now, but the cost of buying one and connecting service was steep. Xiao Liang could afford it—but after growing accustomed to the sleek designs of a future era, he found the bulky devices unbearably clumsy.
Even carrying one in his bag felt like a burden.
So in Xijiang, he had only gotten a pager—just enough to stay reachable.
Back in the office, he returned the call.
As expected, it was his brother, Xiao Xiao, calling from the pharmaceutical factory’s process department.
He had already spoken with several colleagues from production and process engineering about joining the juice factory. If Gu Peijun was free, they could meet that evening in the city to discuss terms in detail and move things forward quickly.
For these meetings, Xiao Liang didn’t need to show up—after all, they didn’t involve the upcoming health supplement production plans.
Only when it came to Chen Zhu would Xiao Liang need to step in personally.
