Chapter 1328 - 1328: Zhao Zhehai, the Gold Shop Manager

As evening approached, Wang Ji and an old man named Du Xian knocked off early from an afternoon shift and appeared in front of a gold shop.

It was just the two of them because Xiao Feng had given them many targets, so there was naturally no reason for everyone to go into action together.

Otherwise, things coming in threes, they'd very easily be suspected of being a professional scam gang.

"Ai…" Du Xian stroked the goatee on his chin, a look of reminiscence in his eyes, and said wistfully, "Thinking back on those glorious days of old… better not mention them."

"You start with a grand opening, then say 'better not mention it'—who are you trying to piss off here?"

"Don't get me wrong, I'm about to get back to my old trade; can't help feeling a bit excited."

Wang Ji nodded. "Understandable. But still, hurry up and run through all three plans in your head one more time."

"Relax!" Du Xian smiled with confidence. "You know what our professional skills are like."

Joking as they went, the two walked toward the shop entrance.

Du Xian reached out to push the door, and the moment his hand touched the glass, there was a sudden "bang!"—the entire glass door burst apart, shattering into countless shards.

Inside the door, the clerks all screamed repeatedly, completely caught off guard by the scene.

"Ah!"

Du Xian let out a miserable scream and collapsed directly to the ground, blood gushing from his right hand that had pushed the door.

Soon, the clerks rushed out in a panic.

"Grandpa, are you all right?"

Wang Ji instantly flew into a rage, grabbing Du Xian's blood-soaked hand and shaking it in front of them. "Are you blind? How is this 'all right'? What kind of damn door did you install that can't even be touched?"

Three questions in a row left the clerks who'd rushed out speechless; they couldn't answer a single one.

A woman in a red suit and tie, who looked like the store manager, bowed and apologized. "We don't know what happened either. Let's quickly call an ambulance and get Grandpa to the hospital."

By this time, more and more people were gathering to watch.

Wang Ji's acting skills exploded as he began berating the gold shop, tearfully recounting what had just happened.

Plenty of young people pulled out their phones to record video, focusing mainly on Du Xian's hand and the broken glass inside and outside the shop door.

Not far away, Xiao Feng—carrying a bag of fried chicken strips and, after a Disguise, posing as just another onlooker—nodded in satisfaction.

This was truly: when a pro makes a move, you immediately see the difference.

He could naturally see how, when opening the door, Du Xian had used the prop in his hand to shatter the entire glass door into powdery fragments.

And how Wang Ji, blocking the surveillance camera, had in an instant slapped chicken blood and a handful of pre-prepared glass shards onto Du Xian's hand.

That smooth, practiced movement, that tacit coordination…

The more Xiao Feng watched, the more he felt his judgment had been right: these old comrades under him had originally been part of a professional staged-accident gang.

At this moment, the female manager in the suit and tie listened to Wang Ji's sobbing accusations, so anxious that sweat began beading on her forehead.

"Grandpa, what matters most right now is getting your friend to the hospital. Please stop talking."

This was exactly the line Wang Ji had been waiting for, and he leaned in even harder. "You've been saying from the start that you'll take my old buddy to the hospital—so go on, take him.

Also, we got hurt and suffered for nothing. Why can't we talk about it?

Is there something shady about all this?"

The female manager pleaded, "Grandpa, we're very sorry about this. We'll definitely give you a satisfactory answer later, but if you keep talking like this, it will damage our store's image."

"Listen to that, everyone, listen to that—does that sound like something a human being would say?" Wang Ji cried out, face full of indignation. "Even now, all you can think about is your store's image.

Your shop's image is so important that we just deserve to get hurt?

We're not even allowed to mention it, we just have to swallow the loss in silence, is that it?

Let me tell you!

We're not short on money. We get a pension every month. Whether you compensate us or not doesn't matter; what I want is justice!"

Hearing this, the onlookers all nodded and began criticizing the gold shop.

Xiao Feng speared a strip of chicken with a bamboo skewer and popped it into his mouth, feeling a bit impressed with these two old comrades.

With just a few lines, Wang Ji had seized the moral high ground and guided the onlookers into taking sides and debating, stirring up a wave of public opinion; that kind of skill wasn't something just anyone had.

And Du Xian was no ordinary player either, portraying the post-injury state to the hilt.

From the initial trembling, terrified legs to the current weakness as he lay in his companion's arms, every step in between was precise, not a hint of falseness to be seen.

Seeing that she could no longer control the scene, the female manager hurried back into the store to make a phone call and report the situation to her superiors.

About five minutes later, seven or eight young people squeezed through the crowd.

The youth at their head bowed deeply the moment he saw Wang Ji and Du Xian, his face full of remorse. "I'm the manager of this store. I'm so sorry you two elders were frightened.

Please rest assured, we will absolutely take full responsibility for this incident!"

After stating his position, the young man who called himself the manager reached his hand behind his back.

Immediately someone handed him five bundles of neatly strapped hundred-yuan bills.

The young man handed the money to Wang Ji. "Consider this a bit of money for medical expenses. There will be further compensation later. Please, you must accept it!"

For the moment, the onlookers who had been criticizing the gold shop all fell silent.

Xiao Feng nodded to himself; handled like this, it could be considered fairly appropriate.

If you're running a gold shop, you're naturally not short of money.

Spending a mere fifty thousand yuan to protect your public image—and even using this incident to build a responsible brand persona—either way, it's a sure-win, no-lose deal.

Wang Ji pushed the young man's hand aside, still bristling with anger. "I already said, the two of us are retired teachers with pensions.

We came here today only for justice, not to extort a single cent from you.

Just now when my old buddy was hurt, your staff told me to stop talking, said it would affect your store's image.

I just want to ask: when someone's injured you won't let them speak, you don't think about how to save them, and you put the store's image first—do you really think that's appropriate?"

The female manager hurried to explain, "Manager, I…"

But she'd barely begun when the young man cut her off sharply. "No need to explain. Just answer whether what this gentleman said is true."

"I, I…" The female manager opened her mouth several times, wanting to argue, but under the warning look in the young man's eyes, she finally nodded. "What Grandpa said is true."

"Very good!" The young man narrowed his eyes and said angrily, "From this moment on, you're fired!

Of course the store's image needs to be maintained, but if you always put image first, you'll only end up getting your priorities backwards and losing that very image.

Someone like you, even if your professional skills are outstanding, I still don't need you!"

"Good!"

In the crowd, someone started the shout, and immediately thunderous applause broke out, everyone clapping for the young man's speech.

Xiao Feng couldn't help but shake his head with a wry smile. Smart people like this were rare.

Still, given that his current role was just another onlooker, he might as well sit back and enjoy the show.

At this point, Wang Ji also sensed that this young man in front of him was a bit tricky to handle, and his mind spun quickly as he searched for a countermeasure.

The young man turned to face the onlookers and bowed deeply. "My name is Zhao Zhehai, and I'm the manager of this store. Please keep your attention on this incident.

I hereby promise that for anything that happens in this store, we will never shirk responsibility. We'll do everything we can to make these two elders satisfied.

Please keep an eye on us!"

With that, he bowed again—a perfect ninety degrees—with an attitude that left nothing to criticize.

As expected, another round of applause broke out, and the direction of public opinion in the crowd began to shift.