Chapter 753: Jiaojiao 33

The four would-be arsonists never expected to be caught red-handed, and they all froze for a moment. It wasn’t until the big guy and the man with the sharp eyes had each pinned someone down that their lanky leader snapped out of his daze.

He stuffed the lighter into his pocket and bolted. The moment he moved, the other man acting as a lookout took off as well. They even had the sense to run in different directions.

But it was useless. How could the workers, roused by Li Shun’s shout, let such a money-making opportunity slip by? The male workers chased after the lookout, as they were closer to him.

On the women’s side, Ah Mei brandished a large pair of scissors, looking as fierce as the South Sea Crocodile God. Behind her, the older women were practically all armed with large scissors of their own. Their eyes gleamed as they watched the man fleeing before them.

The lanky man was indeed agile, but the army of scissor-wielding women cornered him against the surrounding wall. He glanced at the height of the wall, took a running start, and heaved himself up onto the top.

Just as a smile touched his lips and he tensed his core to flip over the wall, a sharp pain shot through his body. Ah Mei’s scissors had stabbed right into his thigh, and the strength in his core instantly gave out.

And then… and then he was yanked down from the wall by the older women.

Chen Jiao, who had been woken up by Tan You, couldn’t help but cover her face when she saw the scene. “How brutal.”

Even though these men had ill intentions, they were now beaten to within an inch of their lives by the workers. The older women, in particular, hadn’t held back at all with their kicks to the groin.

Li Shun had been standing there watching the whole time. Only after all four thugs were caught did he clap his hands. “Alright, don’t beat them to death. Tie them up for now. Let’s not delay this morning’s shipment.”

As soon as he spoke, the workers all stopped. One employee grumbled, “Shouldn’t we call the police?”

Li Shun said, “No rush to call the police. Let’s ask what Brother Qi thinks first.”

‘In reality, he was asking for Chen Jiao’s opinion. They’ve been provoked right on their own doorstep; would Chen Jiao really let this slide?’

Chen Jiao was also very curious. “Teacher, what do you plan to do?”

“I have my ways, of course,” Tan You said, the corners of her lips turning up slightly. “You should be getting a call soon. Go and tell Zong Qi about this.”

Chen Jiao sighed deeply and sat up, hugging the blanket. “I’m so sleepy. It’s only four o’clock…”

Despite her complaints, she still got out of bed, splashed some water on her face, and went to the living room to find Zong Qi. As it happened, her phone started ringing the moment she stepped out of the bedroom. In the living room, Zong Qi was also sitting up on the sofa bed.

Zong Qi’s hair was a little messy, but his eyes were sharp. “What is it? What happened?”

Chen Jiao shoved the phone into Zong Qi’s hand and covered her mouth as she yawned. “It’s Li Shun and the others. They’re looking for you. You handle it. I’m just too tired.”

Startled, Zong Qi quickly answered the phone. “Is there trouble at the factory?”

Li Shun’s voice was full of excitement. “Brother Qi, after we finished packing the goods tonight, the workers didn’t go home. They’re all at the factory, waiting to get paid after the shipment goes out. Just now, we caught four guys who were trying to burn down our warehouse.”

Zong Qi straightened up, his expression growing serious. “Are you all okay?”

“We’re fine, totally fine,” Li Shun said with a laugh. “It’s just these four guys… what should we do with them?”

“Don’t do anything yet,” Zong Qi said, pausing to think. “We don’t have time to go over during the day…”

He looked at Chen Jiao, who mouthed the word “tonight.” Zong Qi smoothly changed his tune. “Go ahead with the shipment as planned, and pay out the wages as normal. As for those men, keep a close watch on them. We’ll try our best to find time to come over tonight.”

“If we really can’t make it, we’ll come over tomorrow.”

Li Shun nodded. “Got it, Brother Qi. By the way, to catch the thugs, I promised a reward of 500 for each one caught…”

Zong Qi replied without hesitation, “Do as you said. You were protecting the factory’s property. It’s a reward you all deserve.”

The workers had already started cheering. There were four thugs in total. The big guy and the sharp-eyed man had each caught one. The capture of the other two was less of an individual effort and more an act of collective will.

After a few more words, Zong Qi handed the phone back to Chen Jiao. She could barely keep her eyes open. “I’m going back to sleep. I’m seriously so tired.”

After wrapping up the shoot yesterday afternoon, she had brought Zong Qi back to the small apartment she rented. The place really wasn’t big. It had a one-bedroom, one-living room, one-kitchen, and one-bathroom layout, so Zong Qi had to sleep in the living room.

Luckily, the sofa in the living room folded out into a small bed, otherwise Chen Jiao herself would have felt awful. Zong Qi, on the other hand, was adapting extremely well.

Zong Qi hummed in agreement. “Okay. What time are you getting up? I’ll buy you breakfast?”

Chen Jiao replied, “Don’t worry about breakfast. I need to sleep in first. If nothing unexpected comes up this afternoon, we have a tough battle ahead. I need to rest up and save my strength.”

Zong Qi frowned. “Your company…”

Chen Jiao waved her hand dismissively. “We’ll talk about it later. Right now, nothing is going to stop me from sleeping.”

‘I caused such a huge stir on Zhanng Ping’s set, and news travels so fast in this industry, yet the company has been completely silent, not asking a single thing. Just thinking about it, their attitude is clearly suspect.’

‘Chen Jiao didn’t bother trying to figure out what her company’s executives were thinking, but one thing was for sure: if they want to mess with me, they’ll have to get past my teacher first! In any case, every penny I earn goes to my teacher now. Tan You will definitely protect my interests and not let anyone have a chance to scheme against me.’

She flopped heavily onto her big bed, and within moments, soft snores could be heard. Zong Qi shook his head, helped her by closing the bedroom door, and then went back to lie down in the living room.

‘Then again, is Chen Jiao a little too trusting of me? I’m a healthy, red-blooded man, yet she’s this unguarded around me?’

‘And back in Tanhou Village, has the factory started to attract the wrong kind of attention?’ Mulling over these things, Zong Qi also gradually fell into a deep sleep.

「Tanhou Village Garment Factory.」

Thanks to catching the thugs and the promise of a bonus, everyone who had been drowsy and bleary-eyed before was now wide awake, each of them wishing they had caught one of the culprits themselves.

Li Shun was amused to see everyone so pumped up. “Since no one can sleep, let’s recount the goods and get ready to load the truck. I’ll have the cafeteria make a big breakfast, and we’ll have a nice lunch to calm our nerves.”

“Yeah! The manager is so generous!”

“We want lobster!”

Li Shun laughed and scolded them, “Do I look like I’m made of lobster to you? We’re a small factory. Getting some extra char siu is already a treat. We can get a few roast geese… and buy some saltwater fish…”

The worker who had shouted was just joking around. When they heard there would be roast goose and char siu, they didn’t complain. High-end white-collar workers might be glamorous, frequenting those fancy restaurants…

…but life was still tough for working-class people. They might only buy meat once a month, and even then, only dare to buy a few ounces at a time. It was only after coming to work at the factory, where the food was good, that they stopped craving meat so intensely.

Spurred on by the promise of their wages and a delicious meal, everyone was now full of motivation. By the time dawn broke, all the goods were loaded onto the truck, ready to be sent to the docks.