Chapter 1234 - 1234: Vintage Wine with Over Thirty Years of History

After hanging up the phone.

Zhang Kaitian let out a cold laugh.

A henchman beside him handed him a cigarette, lit it,

and, looking extremely eager to please, said, "Boss, why don't you use those little punks once or twice and then dump them, so they don't end up causing us trouble?"

After giving him a look, Zhang Kaitian sneered and said, "What do you know? Sure, these guys always want to skim a little off the top every time, but they're damn useful when you put them to work. If I can keep using them to do things for me,"

"then my hands stay clean. All the dirty shit gets dumped on them. What do I lose?"

When the henchman heard that, his eyes shifted, like something had occurred to him, then he started talking to Zhang Kaitian again: "But Boss, if this goes on too long, and you keep letting these guys threaten you like this, you're not gonna have a good time either, are you? Have you forgotten?"

"These guys are a pack of greedy bastards. All they want is to keep squeezing more money out of you. If we've got that kind of money, wouldn't it be better to just换 out a few punks for new ones?"

After all, guys on the street are all having a rough time right now, so as long as you pay,

there's always a crowd lining up for Zhang Kaitian to pick from. But of course, Zhang Kaitian had his own plans and ideas.

He shook his head and took another swallow of liquor, already looking a bit drunk and bleary.

He pointed at the bottle sitting off to the side, the one that was over thirty years old.

He had the henchman bring it over to him.

"Get me that bottle. I'm gonna have those guys in later and let them drink a good glass."

The henchman didn't understand why he was doing this, but he was obedient as hell; he jumped up and dutifully brought the bottle over.

When he saw the bottle, Zhang Kaitian chuckled low: "You know why I'm so suspicious of Xiao Chen, who's been with me all these years, and why I still had him beaten into the hospital?"

The henchman thought for a second, then immediately said, "Wasn't it just what he had coming? If he hadn't tried to play you, Boss, you wouldn't have gone that hard on him."

The henchman's words only earned a shake of the head from Zhang Kaitian.

With a mocking look in his eyes, Zhang Kaitian said, "I knew you'd think that way. Almost everyone thinks I treat my subordinates well enough, so they'll keep selling their lives for me."

"But later they start pushing their luck more and more, and betrayal isn't exactly impossible either. You all think I only take care of those who've got a crooked heart, people like Xiao Chen."

Talking like that, Zhang Kaitian drifted into memories of his old business days.

Maybe because he was drunk, he was especially talkative tonight; the henchman beside him just kept grinning and listening to every word.

After all, when your boss starts talking about his old stories, if you're the lackey and don't listen properly, that's disrespect.

But after he listened, he couldn't help feeling a bit moved; seemed like every successful man really did have a story buried in his heart.

Only, why was the boss telling him so much?

Just as he was puzzled, a noise suddenly came from outside the door—it was a few bartenders trying to talk someone down.

"You can't come in right now, the people inside are still drinking. And if you're here looking for someone, do you have an appointment?"

This was a high-end entertainment club, so if you wanted in, you needed a reservation and someone to vouch for you.

Otherwise, how were they supposed to guarantee the safety of the guests inside?

The people who came were exactly the punks Zhang Kaitian had summoned; one of them immediately slapped the bartender across the face.

"Didn't you see us?"

"We're under Boss Zhang Kaitian. Coming to see him is like coming home. Who the hell do you think you are, trying to block us?"

"If you don't get out of the way, believe it or not, I'll boot you clear across the room."

After hearing that, the bartender clutched his face, shocked at how vicious these guys were when they started hitting.

At this point, he didn't dare keep trying to stonewall these people; he slipped off to the side.

The punk jabbed a finger at the bartender and threatened him a bit more, then he swaggered in. "Boss, we're here. What's fun in this place? Any girls?"

Once the punks scattered into the room, they acted like they were right at home, dropping onto the couches.

Seeing that Zhang Kaitian was already a bit drunk, they didn't stand on ceremony; they just called the girl who'd been sitting by Zhang Kaitian over to their side,

and made her drink with them.

Right then, Zhang Kaitian suddenly opened his eyes. He'd just been dozing for a bit.

He hadn't expected these punks to stroll in and flop down like that the moment they arrived. He hadn't even told them to sit. His own henchman at his side was more polite than they were.

At that moment.

The henchman looked these punks over, clearly displeased, and wanted to snitch on them to Zhang Kaitian.

Zhang Kaitian gave him a look and told him not to talk.

The henchman, feeling very wronged, stayed by the side and kept watch.

Then Zhang Kaitian opened the bottle of liquor that had been aging for over thirty years.

They caught the aroma of the red wine.

Zhang Kaitian said to them, "Do you know how expensive this wine is?"

Hearing that, one of the punks took a drag on his cigarette, blew out a ring of smoke,

and finally answered, "Boss, anything you bring out has to be worth tens of thousands, maybe even hundreds of thousands. We only get to enjoy this because of you, so Boss, we'd like to have a taste."

Zhang Kaitian gave a dry little laugh and glanced at him, but still decanted the wine, pulled the cork, and set the bottle down beside him.

He said to them, that's the wine.

"You know how you're supposed to drink this?"

The punks around him laughed heartily, acting like they were brothers with Zhang Kaitian, nothing like a boss-subordinate relationship,

"Boss, how else do you drink wine? You just drink it. Isn't that what wine's for?"

All of them stared greedily at the bottle in Zhang Kaitian's hand.

Zhang Kaitian didn't waste words. He poured the wine into several glasses, then handed them over, and just as they were about to drink,

he reminded them, "You know you've done a lot of things for me lately. So I wanted to give you some special thanks."

The punks nodded happily. The thought that their boss was not only giving them wine but would be handing them money later had them all overjoyed.

Quietly, one of them stood up, like he was setting an example, and gave Zhang Kaitian a bow,

then delivered a loud, heroic speech about gratitude.

Zhang Kaitian chuckled and nodded, then told him to sit down: "Drink up. Once you've finished, I've got something to say to you."

All the punks knocked back the red wine in one gulp.