Not only Chen Pao, but also Eagle Eye, Meat Mountain, and others received the news, and their expressions turned solemn.
“It seems the General Bureau is serious this time. Is Shangjing about to change?”
Among them, only Kulinan remained relatively calm, even feeling a bit annoyed. If this happened, the good job Li Chonglou found for him might be gone, even if it was just a sparring match.
Worried about their commissions, they all found Li Chonglou.
Of course, Kulinan was primarily concerned about the job.
“Don’t worry, even if there are no missions, as long as you stay here, I will provide you with a salary every month. Ten thousand per person per month as a base, with additional pay for missions.”
Ten thousand!
The moment this number was uttered, everyone showed surprise, with Eagle Eye accepting it the fastest.
“Boss, you mean it, don’t you?”
Li Chonglou rolled his eyes at him. “Don’t worry, I keep my word.”
Meat Mountain suddenly spoke, “Boss Li, isn’t this a bit too much? Free agents like us usually don’t have any base pay, only mission rewards.”
Li Chonglou smiled, “That was your situation before. From now on, as long as you are with me, you won’t be mistreated.”
Eagle Eye clapped his hands.
“I get it! The boss wants to win people over! But boss, I must remind you, we chose to be free agents precisely because we don’t want to be constrained. If you think money can do that, you’re wrong!”
Li Chonglou didn’t mind, calmly saying, “We’ll talk about future matters later. Anyway, the benefits here are like this. The contract has a non-refusal clause, so if you’re dissatisfied with anything, you can leave.”
“This…”
The three of them exchanged glances, not quite understanding Li Chonglou’s intentions.
Just then, Li Chonglou’s phone suddenly rang.
He looked and saw it was Chen Pao.
Li Chonglou’s smile widened.
“Alright, for now, you can all stay here with peace of mind. Brother Nan, don’t worry about your matter. I’ll let you know if you can go then, and even if you can’t, I’ll arrange suitable opponents for you.”
After saying that, Li Chonglou left the office.
Eagle Eye asked curiously, “What do you think the boss is up to? With this announcement, and paying ten thousand a month, isn’t he just giving money away?”
Meat Mountain didn’t speak, but his expression was no different from Eagle Eye’s. Kulinan, whose mind wasn't on this, had a clearer perspective.
“Brother Li probably just wants us to stay. Wherever we go, we’re doing it for money. If the money here is enough, then we won’t need to look elsewhere.”
Eagle Eye snapped his fingers.
“I know, the boss is playing an open game of strategy!”
“But this move seems pretty good too, at least it’s straightforward, and the choice is still ours.”
Eagle Eye murmured thoughtfully. Meat Mountain nodded slowly, but showed no other emotion.
When Li Chonglou stepped outside, he answered Chen Pao’s call. As expected, after repeatedly confirming the risks of acting privately, Chen Pao still contacted him for a solution.
It wasn’t that Chen Pao lacked other connections, but seeking help from others would be embarrassing and might leak information about the materials. Moreover, Li Chonglou had a legitimate company and could handle the situation to some extent even without free agents.
This, in fact, was exactly Li Chonglou’s plan.
Including those two young men.
“You should come over first. I might truly be able to help you with this.”
“Coming right away!”
At six in the afternoon, the two met again in the office.
Chen Pao was not hesitant. As soon as they met, he directly asked, “You said you have a way, what way is it?”
It wasn’t that he was impatient. On his way here, he had personally searched online. Although the matter hadn’t spread widely, if one searched intentionally, they could find it. It was real!
With the internet being so developed, in a few more days, it might be common knowledge! He, Chen Pao, didn’t want to enter the public eye in this manner!
Li Chonglou smiled and said, “Don’t rush, sit down and let’s talk slowly.”
“How can I not be in a hurry! If it weren’t for this sudden announcement, I would have already gone and killed the person by now!”
Li Chonglou smiled and said nothing.
“What, didn’t you say you had a way? Hurry up and tell me.”
Li Chonglou calmly said, “Brother Chen, doesn’t our transaction seem to have ended for now?”
Chen Pao’s expression froze.
“What do you mean.”
Chen Pao finally reacted and was furious, “So you’re looking for an excuse to buy me off?”
Li Chonglou sighed, “Brother Chen, do you truly not understand, or are you pretending not to?”
“At a time like this, I am definitely capable of helping you. But if it’s just a casual favor, I wouldn’t say anything. However…”
“However what?” Chen Pao frowned.
“To deal with this kind of person, one cannot use conventional means. I’ll be using company personnel. If anything is discovered, will you help them take the blame?”
Chen Pao fell into thought.
Seeing this, Li Chonglou continued, “Brother Chen, we are all adults. To be honest, I really want to keep you to help me. You should have seen this. But I don’t like to force people, so I didn’t try to keep you when you said you wanted to leave.”
“Now that there’s an opportunity, if it were you, wouldn’t you do the same as me?”
This sudden honesty caught Chen Pao off guard. Was this something that could be said so directly? Was he not afraid of me being disgusted?
Li Chonglou’s unconventional approach disrupted his thought process. The more he thought about it, the more he realized it made sense. There was no such thing as a free lunch in this world. Thinking further, they were merely in a transaction, not at a point where they would risk their lives for each other.
Thinking of this, Chen Pao sighed and said, “I was overthinking it.”
“So you’re agreeing then?”
Chen Pao immediately rolled his eyes. “When did I say I agreed? Although I’m a free agent, I’ve never been tied to a single company. You want me to stay here, just based on this?”
Li Chonglou smiled, “Naturally, it’s more than that. But you won’t enjoy the benefits I offer elsewhere. For example, like Meat Mountain and the others, even without taking missions, they each receive ten thousand a month.”
“Then what are your missions?”
Li Chonglou said frankly, “Let me be honest with you. I hired you not with the intention of having you undertake assassination missions, but primarily to guard the company and protect our employees.”
“Of course, if any of you are short on cash, you can tell me directly, and I’ll make separate arrangements. You can also take on other people’s missions, as long as they don’t affect me here.”
Chen Pao, being intelligent, immediately grasped the key point.
“If it were just an ordinary clothing company, it wouldn’t need so many experts, would it?”