Chen Yi was lying on the hospital bed, watching a movie on his phone. Those who knew him would understand that it was just his finger that was injured, but those who didn't might think he had undergone amputation. Jiang Fan sat beside him, munching on an apple given by some girl. Jiang Fan had been sitting there for less than twenty minutes, and already three girls had come to see Chen Yi, one of whom had even been covered for by Jiang Fan when she came.
"I'm really worried that you won't die on this hospital bed, but from exhaustion after too much chatting. Have you figured out how to deal with so many of them?" Chen Yi turned his head and chuckled.
"Definitely not. I often call out the wrong name after answering the phone. If I can't figure it out, I give her freedom. Don't tell me you've skipped work again today. Be careful, Su might go all out against you. Qian Wan called me in the morning and said her aunt went to the company. How did it go?" Jiang Fan bit into the apple and mumbled.
"Not good. I feel that the chance of using Qian Ling to deal with Li Dongsheng is slim. But it did help me with another matter. I've figured out what's going on with Wu Siguan. She's very close to Sun Ya. Today, Gao Lvxing tried to win me over again, but I still didn't agree."
"That's right. Can you help me with the discharge procedure later? If I don't get out, my fish pond is really going to be in trouble. Did you drive? Want to go for a drink?"
"I came here to drink with you. By the way, I want to see my brother. Let's go together."
Chen Yi didn't really need to be hospitalized. He just wanted Qian Wan to know that he was hospitalized to protect her, which sounded a bit scary. Chen Yi changed his clothes and went downstairs with Jiang Fan to go through the discharge procedure. The doctor at the hospital happily allowed Chen Yi to be discharged. He was just occupying a bed and wasting resources.
The two of them walked out of the main entrance of the hospital chatting and laughing when Su Qing's call came in. She sat in the car and watched Jiang Fan and Chen Yi, these two troublemakers, walking together shoulder to shoulder and laughing. Jiang Fan frowned as he looked at his phone and answered after picking up.
"Is the contract done?"
Su Qing gritted her teeth, trying to suppress her anger.
"Who's the boss here, you or me? Jiang Fan, you don't pay me! Where are you now?"
"Smoking downstairs. You know I'll just argue with Li Dongsheng if I stay in the General Department."
"I'll come downstairs to find you. You haven't changed your medicine yet. Let me do it for you."
Jiang Fan made a few excuses and hung up the phone. Chen Yi, who was beside him, heard the conversation clearly and looked at Jiang Fan with admiration, then raised his thumb, which was bandaged like a mummy!
"Impressive!"
Jiang Fan grinned and whispered,
"Pretty cool, right? That's why I dare to leave whenever I want. Our Su, huh! If she doesn't let me out, won't I slap her? A real man! A pure man."
Chen Yi nodded vigorously and whispered in agreement.
"A real man, a true man."
While Jiang Fan was boasting, he didn't know that Su Qing had already gotten out of the car and was following them. To prevent her high heels from making noise, she specifically walked barefoot. As she listened to Jiang Fan's boasts, she rolled her eyes.
Jiang Fan hadn't noticed that there was an extra person not far behind him. He put his arm around Chen Yi's shoulder and said,
"What? Aren't you going to say goodbye to your nurse sisters?"
"Yeah, yeah, I should."
Chen Yi turned around and just as he raised his hand to wave, he saw Su Qing holding a baseball bat. His brain stopped working for a moment. Why was this lady here? He forced a smile and greeted her.
"Su!"
Jiang Fan was slightly taken aback after hearing this, then he grimaced and said,
"Don't kid me. She's still in the office now."
"Yes! Without your orders, Jiang Fan, how could this little lady dare to sneak out of the company? I have to report to you wherever I go, Jiang Fan! Here's your chance, either you come back to the company with me or go deal with Tu Xiao's matter."
Su Qing looked at Jiang Fan with disdain, while Jiang Fan, without turning his head, lifted his gaze to the sky and sighed softly.
"Alas! Whether it rains or a mother marries, it's the same whether you go early or late. Yi, go home and rest first. I'll go meet Guan Junbiao."
Jiang Fan didn't dare to turn around. He was afraid that this woman would break his head with the heel of her high heels. It was no surprise that she had heard his boasts clearly. He couldn't resist anymore; he was in the wrong.
Jiang Fan abandoned Chen Yi and ran. Chen Yi awkwardly scratched his head at Su Qing, then turned and ran, shouting as he went.
"Fan, I don't have any money. Take me home first."
At 4 pm, Jiang Fan had run most of the way around the city and finally met Guan the Bulldog. Running most of the way around the city had nothing to do with Guan Junbiao; it was entirely because Chen Yi had messed up. He made phone calls one after another and scheduled appointments that overlapped. Jiang Fan became the driver, taking Chen Yi on a tour around the city.
Finally, Jiang Fan grabbed him and roared into the phone at the girl who was acting coquettishly.
"Stop being so sickening! Your dear Yi's son is already three years old. Chen Yi, get out of the car immediately and get lost!"
At the main entrance of Haihua Middle School, Guan Junbiao came to pick up their young mistress. Jiang Fan didn't make an appointment at any other place and took the opportunity to take Jia Wei back as well. Guan Junbiao handed Jiang Fan a cigarette, but Jiang Fan shook his head.
"I can't finish a pack of cigarettes in three days, and I've smoked enough today. Did Sun Ya seduce you in the afternoon? Did you feel tempted?"
Guan Junbiao lit the cigarette by himself and sneered.
"My heart didn't move, but my dick did. This woman is not a simple person. I'm afraid she'll accuse me of rape afterward. Now, Gao Luxing seems to want to cooperate with our boss too. Jiang, you're in danger."
Jiang Fan sneered and leaned cautiously against the car door.
"Danger? I'm not in any danger at all. Without Gao Luxing, our Su would never have been willing to cooperate with you. Guan, you should also show some sincerity, right?"
"Don't ask me. I'm just a flunky. If you have something to say, talk to our boss."
Guan the Bulldog looked at Jiang Fan with caution, afraid of being tricked into something. Jiang Fan smiled and didn't care. He patted the car door, pointed at Guan the Bulldog's car, and laughed.
"Did you drive this old Nissan to pick up your young mistress? Tu Xiao is being a little stingy. You're loyal to him, but he only gives you this old car? No wonder Tu Kun was always bullied at school. It's because your status isn't good enough. Don't you have any small animals at home? A Land Rover or a Jaguar would be fine too."
Guan the Bulldog lowered his head and sneered.
"We can't compare to your Rongyao or Changxiang, which are big corporations. Hundreds of people depend on our boss to make a living. The money given to underlings in the past few years is already a considerable expense. Our boss can't afford to buy a car."
"Buying a Benz would be fine too. Or why don't you come to Rongyao? I won't mention anything else, but I can give you a big Buick."
"Do you believe that if you give me a Buick, I'll give it to my boss to use to pick up the young mistress? Jiang, don't ridicule me."
"Don't you have 100,000 yuan? That's enough for a down payment, isn't it?"
"I gave it to my underlings. I can't let their wives and children starve, can I? Jiang, how about you suffer a little, and I'll go get the remaining 300,000 yuan from Lin Xuan?"
"Get lost! I'll beat you up."
Jiang Fan laughed and scolded Guan the Bulldog, but the latter didn't have the mood to joke with Jiang Fan. He lifted his head and sighed. Jiang Fan smiled and said.
"Hey, hey, hey? Seeing you like this gives me a headache. Don't come here and complain about being poor. Doesn't your boss have some entertainment businesses? Why are you making it sound so miserable?"
"Four out of seven businesses have been shut down. Jiang, can you stop pretending to be ignorant? With your relationship with the Wen family, you must know that after the crackdown order, my boss became the target. I don't know who reported it, but the bathhouses were shut down, and the prostitutes were arrested. Without the prostitutes, there's no way to earn money. Jiang, I don't want to talk to you anymore. No wonder you're always getting beaten up; you deserve it!"
"Guan, let's talk more."
"Get lost! I don't want to talk to you. You're taking advantage of my simplicity."
After Guan Junbiao finished speaking, he opened the door and got into the car. He closed all the windows on such a hot day, indicating that he didn't want to say another word to Jiang Fan. Actually, by this point, Jiang Fan had already understood the situation quite well.
Tu Xiao from District Eight wasn't in a hurry to transform his business; he was just out of money. Guan the Bulldog's claim that they weren't earning money without the prostitutes was pure bullshit. Four businesses had been shut down; it wasn't just about not earning money anymore. Tu Xiao relied on these businesses to support his underlings. Now, there was only outgoing money, no incoming money. How much financial resources could he have? How much would it cost to support his underlings? How much rent did the businesses require? And he still had to give some money to his underlings in prison.
Assuming each business was worth two million yuan, that would only amount to a little over ten million yuan. Now, with the businesses shut down, no one dared to take over, largely because no one wanted to be associated with Tu Xiao.
He didn't have any money left.
Once he went bankrupt, his status in District Eight would immediately be challenged.
Jiang Fan smiled!
He had come up with an idea.
At 6 pm, Li Jiawei and Tu Kun, the two children, walked out of the school gate shoulder to shoulder. Only these two children came out, and no other students were seen leaving school. Jiang Fan frowned. Li Jiawei and Tu Kun also saw Jiang Fan. Tu Kun instantly abandoned Li Jiawei, waved his hand at Jiang Fan, and shouted.
"Uncle Jiang!"
Jiang Fan nodded and asked with a frown.
"Why are only you two coming out? Where are the other students?"
Tu Kun pursed his lips and didn't speak. Li Jiawei walked forward and said in a low voice.
"Uncle Jiang, I leave school earlier than the other students every day. My mom finishes work at nine, so I have to go home and cook for her."
"Oh! Don't go home and busy yourself. Come with me, and I'll take you to eat. Tu Kun, do you want to come?"
"Yes!"
Before he heard the response, Tu Kun had already opened the back door and sat inside. He leaned on the window with his hands, squinted his eyes, and smiled. Then Jiang Fan saw Guan the Bulldog standing in the distance with a painful expression. When he saw Jiang Fan, he immediately got into the car and didn't come out.