Chapter Ninety-One: Full Takeover

Just as Zhao Zekun was about to call Jiang Xuan, people under Song Tianming finally brought her back.

“What a rotten place. It’s practically a pigsty!”

Zhao Zekun looked up. The woman speaking was fashionably dressed, her makeup flamboyant and provocative. She wore the kind of black, close-fitting tapered pants that were in vogue at the time, wrapping her ample hips tightly; her dyed blond hair fell in great waves, and her face bore a pair of classic seductress’s eyes. She was past her bloom, but still not bad-looking, except for the arrogance and ferocity written all over her features.

Among the three people who had brought Jiang Xuan back, this woman was clearly the leader. After stepping inside, she glanced around with open contempt and waved impatiently.

“Which one of you is in charge?”

“I am. Zhao Zekun,” Zhao Zekun said, standing.

The woman shot him a sidelong look, sizing him up from head to toe with an air of haughty disdain, then let out a heavy snort.

“I’ve brought the person back. Call over your accountant and have him hand over the books with me.”

With that, she gestured to the two men holding Jiang Xuan.

They tossed Jiang Xuan onto the sofa. He crashed down hard, then laboriously lifted his head and gave Zhao Zekun a grim, crooked smile.

“You all right?” Zhao Zekun frowned.

Jiang Xuan leaned at an awkward angle against the sofa, most of his body hanging off the edge. His face was so swollen it looked like a pig’s head; one eye was puffed shut to a slit. The tank top and shorts he had worn when he left had changed color, the dark brown evidence of dried blood. On the exposed skin, injuries were everywhere.

It was almost enough to fit the old saying: beaten until even his own mother wouldn’t recognize him.

“Not crippled...” Jiang Xuan rasped, forcing out a grin uglier than a cry.

The woman waved her hand impatiently. “Consider this a small lesson. Be obedient, and nothing worse will happen later. Now for business: my name is Xu Yanping. You can call me Sister Xu. I’ll be working out of your place for this period. Starting today, all the accounts for Zhaojian Company will go through me. Hand over the books, the business license, and all the other documents.”

“The documents are in the drawer. The person who handles the accounts is out and won’t be back until this afternoon,” Zhao Zekun said.

“Call him and tell him to get his ass back here. Cut the crap with me, unless you don’t want to live!”

Xu Yanping sat down shamelessly in Zhao Zekun’s chair, crossed one leg over the other, and said in a superior tone, “From now on, this company no longer belongs to the Zhao family. Tell your workers to open their eyes. Unless I say otherwise, nobody is allowed into this office, including you.”

“Anything else?” Zhao Zekun asked.

“Keep your phone on twenty-four hours a day. Be ready whenever you’re called. If you think about running, go ahead and try. Each time you run, I’ll break one of your legs!” Xu Yanping waved dismissively. “Get lost!”

“I’ll take you to the hospital first,” Zhao Zekun said, helping Jiang Xuan up with some difficulty. The two of them left.

“What a fool, daring to go against Boss Song!” Xu Yanping sneered at their stumbling backs.

...

“Where’s Junzi?” Jiang Xuan asked as soon as they got outside.

Zhao Zekun glanced at him. “What are you planning?”

Jiang Xuan’s face was covered in blood and swelling. He gave a ghastly smile. “Nothing. Just asking.”

“I sent him to keep watch at the dump. From now on, the dump’s money can’t go through the company accounts.”

Without showing any reaction, Zhao Zekun hailed a taxi and helped Jiang Xuan into the back seat.

On the way, neither of them said much. By the time they reached the hospital and finished the examinations, the diagnosis was multiple soft tissue contusions all over Jiang Xuan’s body, a gash on his head more than an inch long that needed stitches, a mild concussion, and several serious fractures in his right leg. The external injuries were severe, but fortunately there were no internal injuries.

Only after the stitches were done did Zhao Zekun ask, “Who is this Xu Yanping?”

“Song Tianming’s kept woman. The accountant who keeps his books.”

Leaning by the window in the hospital corridor, Jiang Xuan calmly lit a cigarette and said faintly, “Going after her won’t do any good.”

Zhao Zekun raised his eyelids and looked at him. He had seen this unnervingly calm expression on Jiang Xuan’s face twice in his previous life.

The first time was after he learned that something had happened to the girl in the company. The second was on New Year’s Day in the third year of Jiang Xuan’s prison term, when Zhao Zekun went to visit him. That had also been the last time they met in his previous life; less than half a month later, Jiang Xuan died in prison under mysterious circumstances.

This was the calm of one who had accepted death.

Zhao Zekun had sent Junzi to the dump in advance precisely to prevent him and Jiang Xuan from going mad together.

Jiang Xuan stared at the white wall. “No matter how careful I was, in the end that old bastard still caught the scent. Guess who tipped him off?”

Watching the doctors and nurses hurrying back and forth, Zhao Zekun’s mind lit up. “Ren Jifu?”

“That’s right.” Jiang Xuan casually stubbed out the cigarette butt on the windowsill and looked down, coolly, at the flow of people below. “This mess started with me, so I’ll handle it. You find a hotel and stay there for ten or fifteen days. Don’t show your face...”

“How are you planning to handle it?” Zhao Zekun demanded, glaring at him.

Jiang Xuan smiled without answering.

“You don’t have to say it. I already know.” Zhao Zekun fixed him with a mocking look. “Playing the hero, are you? Going off alone to risk your life? Xiao Xuan, has your brain been beaten into a muddle? Never mind whether you can kill him. Even if you do, then what? Are you planning to be a fugitive for the rest of your life, vanish without a trace into the Golden Triangle, or take a bullet and make your mother bury her black-haired son before her own hair turns white?”

Jiang Xuan looked at Zhao Zekun with his swollen walnut-shaped eyes and said, “And what can you do? Call the police? As long as you can’t kill him, he’ll kill you. Or do you mean to hand the company over to him willingly?”

Zhao Zekun was silent for a moment. “People matter more than the company.”

“We’ve risked our lives, gone through all that trouble, and finally made it this far. Why should we give it to him? If I swallow this, I’m afraid I’ll never have a peaceful day in my life.”

Jiang Xuan shook his head slightly.

“I said people matter more than the company. I never said I was going to give him the company.”

Zhao Zekun patted Jiang Xuan on the shoulder and said earnestly, “Leave this to me. Rest assured, the anger we shouldn’t swallow, we won’t swallow even a mouthful. Besides, this is a good chance for you to pull your feet out of this deep mud for good.”

After finally calming Jiang Xuan down, Zhao Zekun had only just left the hospital when Xu Yanping called again.

“Go to hell, you Zhao bastard. Get your ass back here within half an hour!”

No sooner had the call ended than another came from a public phone. It was Old Chen, who said urgently, “Boss Zhao, come back and take a look. Engineer Liang got beaten by that woman and her people!”

“I know. Tell the workers to keep calm. Nobody is to lay a hand on them! I’m on my way!” Zhao Zekun said.

He rushed back to the site. The moment he got out of the car, Old Chen led a large crowd of workers and surrounded him, all of them indignant.

Liang Shi was among them too. A clear handprint had swollen up on his face, one lens of his glasses was broken, and the frame was taped and hanging from his ear.

“Boss Zhao, where the hell did that little bitch come from? She’s gone too far. You weren’t around this half day, and you have no idea—she’s treating our people like they aren’t even human!” Old Chen burst out furiously.

“Boss Zhao, look at me. I’m over fifty years old, and she pointed at my nose, fucked my mother, cursed my ancestors—what am I supposed to do about my face now?!”

“Engineer Liang is an educated man, always polite to everyone, and she slapped him twice right away!”

“Boss Zhao, you have to stand up for us. If she stays here, we simply can’t keep working!”

Zhao Zekun raised a hand to quiet them, then carefully examined Liang Shi’s face.

“Engineer Liang, are you all right? Go get a new pair of glasses and have a doctor look you over. I’ll pay for it.”

Liang Shi shook his head with a bitter smile. “The glasses are nothing. I can manage. It’s just my ears are ringing a bit. Boss Zhao, this isn’t us trying to undermine you. You really do need to handle this.”

“That’s right. We’re supposed to be working here, but it’s like we’re being put through the wringer! Boss Zhao, it’s only because we respect you. I, Old Chen, respect you as a man! If this were some other company, I’d have long since packed my bags and left!” Old Chen said.

Zhao Zekun forced down his anger, drew a deep breath, and said in a low voice, “To tell you the truth, the company has run into some trouble. These days are hard. Just like last time during the disaster relief work, if you trust me, stay here and back me one more time! I promise you this: at most fifty days, at least a month, I will absolutely get justice for you and let everyone vent this anger properly!”

As he spoke, he took out a wad of cash and said, “People come together by fate, and when they leave, I won’t hold them back. I’ll say the same thing I said before: you all have families and children. If anyone truly doesn’t want to stay, I’ll settle the wages right now, and I won’t blame anyone.”

The workers looked at one another, but no one truly wanted to leave.

They might be making a scene, but Zhaojian Company really was a good place to work. The wages were above average among their peers, never delayed or withheld; the boss was easygoing, and the atmosphere was relaxed. In every respect, there was little to complain about.

If they really wanted to go, they could just leave. Why come here to make a fuss with Zhao Zekun? In the end, the favor from the earlier disaster relief work was still there. It was just like a child who had been bullied outside and first thinks of finding an adult to stand up for him.

Old Chen sighed. “Boss Zhao, that’s not what we mean. It’s just that the company’s run into something like this, and you won’t let us fight back. We can only come to you and pour out our grievances.”

“I understand.” Zhao Zekun patted Old Chen on the shoulder, then said to the crowd, “Don’t worry. Everything Zhao Zekun says counts. I will never let you down! If I can’t win back this justice, then in the future you can spit in my face, and I won’t say a word in reply!”

“Boss Zhao, that’s too serious,” Liang Shi said, rubbing at the ear that was still buzzing a little. “Since Boss Zhao has said as much, let’s get back to work. We’re all our own people. Let’s stand together and stop making things difficult for Boss Zhao.” He finished by glancing at Old Chen.

“All right, all right, back to work. We can’t afford to offend them, but we can avoid them. From now on, everybody should try to stay out of the office and not run into that jinx.”

After finally calming the workers, Zhao Zekun strode toward the temporary office.

As soon as he entered, Xu Yanping slammed a stack of ledgers hard at him.

Zhao Zekun tilted his head slightly, and the ledgers flew past his face.

Xu Yanping’s almond eyes flew wide. She banged the desk hard and pointed at Zhao Zekun as she cursed, “You Zhao bastard, what trick are you playing? Why is your company account empty? Why have the accounts been frozen?”