Chapter 162 The Allure of Money

One day later, a little after ten o'clock in the evening, Longkou District, the Gu family villa.

Gu Baisun took a comfortable bath in his room. With meticulous attention to detail, he used a hair dryer to style his thinning hair, then applied four or five different types of essences and lotions, coating his body in fragrance.

With everything done, Gu Baisun habitually sat at his desk, took out a box of un assembled Lego toys from the cabinet, turned on the desk lamp, and began to assemble them earnestly.

The bookshelves in the bedroom were almost entirely filled with various handcrafted models, including anime characters, science fiction cars, and even slightly risqué female cartoon figures.

For the past year or so, Gu Baisun had been busy with work and had almost no personal time, but whenever he could spare a moment, even if it was only two hours, he would go home to see his mother, talk to her, take a walk, and have a meal, never letting the old woman feel that her son was nonexistent.

Today, Gu Baisun happened to be back in the city to discuss a project, so he was staying at home tonight, taking advantage of the rare free time to tinker with things he liked.

Gu Baisun was very fond of anime, and assembling models helped him calm his mind and focus his attention. This hobby, for someone who was considered a socialite, undoubtedly seemed a little strange, even a little pathetic.

"Di Ling Ling!"

Gu Baisun had only been assembling for less than half an hour when the phone on the desk rang. He looked at the illuminated screen and sighed helplessly before reaching out to pick it up. "Hello?"

"Baisun, are you busy?" Zhang Ming's voice sounded.

"Not busy, Chairman. I just got home," Gu Baisun replied immediately with a smile.

"If you're not busy, come out for some tea," Zhang Ming invited. "I'm in the company office."

"Alright, I'll be right there."

The two ended the call. Gu Baisun sat in his chair, his brow furrowed in thought, before getting up to grab his coat from the closet and hurrying out.

...

Forty minutes later, inside the office building of the Code Workers' General Association.

Gu Baisun pushed open the door to Zhang Ming's office, nodding and bowing as he said, "Chairman."

"Haha, it's been a long time since I've seen you. Come, sit down, come!" Zhang Ming sat alone on the inside of the desk, wearing a white shirt and slicking back his thinning hair, exuding the air of a big shot.

"Yes," Gu Baisun said as he walked over and sat opposite the desk, bending at the waist.

Zhang Ming reached out to pour Gu Baisun a cup of tea and asked with a smile, "How have you been lately? Pretty busy, huh?"

"Not bad, just rolling around in the mines," Gu Baisun replied cautiously. "Gotta make money!"

"Of all the industries, mining is the hardest and most tiring," Zhang Ming said with a pout. "Even the management has to do inspections and organize things all the time, and the living environment is terrible. It's too exhausting."

"Yes," Gu Baisun echoed.

"You're a good kid, hardworking, willing to work, and most importantly, sensible," Zhang Ming praised.

"Not at all, it's all thanks to Uncle Zhang's care," Gu Baisun replied modestly.

"Ah!"

Zhang Ming sighed, shaking his head slowly, and said, "I want to take care of you, but the problem is... you know my situation. Sitting here, I have to take care of everyone above and below, I'm just a puppet."

"Don't say that, the brothers still support you. Especially in Longkou District, you point the way and I'll go," Gu Baisun said to appease him, uttering words that even he didn't believe.

Zhang Ming seemed very pleased: "In the association, you and I are the closest. But yesterday, Boss Jing called me, specifically asking about the mining business, and the elders over there... they also have opinions on this matter."

Gu Baisun examined the other man without changing his expression. "What did they say?"

"There are no outsiders here, so let's talk frankly," Zhang Ming said in a lowered voice. "After all, you got this job from Lao Li, and he and we... don't get along very well, so it's inevitable that there'll be gossip now that you've taken it."

"Hehe," Gu Baisun chuckled softly. "I told you before, Lao Li gave me this job because Longkou District supported him during the previous mine accident. He's basically rewarding me with a little favor. You tell me... can we, who work for the association, not make money? Besides, I've paid the association its share of the profits generated by the mining business."

"Yes, that's what I said too! I said that many people have taken the mining job, if we don't make this money, someone else will," Zhang Ming spread his hands. "But those old men wouldn't listen, they insisted that you were being impartial."

Gu Baisun was silent.

"It's hard to get things done these days, you have to worship every temple," Zhang Ming muttered helplessly.

Gu Baisun considered it. "I understand what they mean. They just want a piece of the pie, right? We've been working in the mining business in Longkou for more than a year, and the net profit is more than four million, but that's before the split. I can only control about a hundred of it."

"You mean...?"

"I'll use a hundred to shut them up, what do you think?" Gu Baisun asked.

"Will this hurt you a lot?" Zhang Ming asked with a smile.

"Aiyo, what can I do if it hurts? Money isn't made by one person alone," Gu Baisun replied with a smile.

"Then let's do that. Give them some money to shut them up, and Uncle will take care of it," Zhang Ming pondered. "Don't give it to them openly. Tomorrow, I'll have my secretary go to your place, and you can give it to him."

"Alright!"

"Haha, nephew, you're definitely someone who's going to do great things. You have the courage to cut off your wrist at critical moments," Zhang Ming praised again.

...

Five minutes later, Gu Baisun left the office, and Zhang Ming picked up the phone and said to his secretary, "Tomorrow, you go to Longkou and bring back one million in cash, deposit it into the account I gave you."

"Okay, Chairman!"

"That's all."

After speaking, the two ended the call, and Zhang Ming sat in his chair, lighting a cigarette in a languid manner.

A puppet also has its own way of doing things. Zhang Ming knew that he couldn't beat Jing Yan, who was controlling things remotely, for the time being, so he was trying every means to make money. His demands were simple: if there were major changes in the association in the future, he would compete for the position of chairman; but if not, he would fill his pockets and find an opportunity to leave.

As for the life and death of the association, and the future of the workers, these were completely beyond Zhang Ming's consideration, and he didn't even want to manage Gu Baisun. For example, the previous incident where Longkou District openly supported Li Mingsheng's team, and Gu Baisun's secret contact with the other party, if it were someone else, he might have been furious and dealt with it internally, but Zhang Ming knew the score and was too lazy to investigate. As long as Gu Baisun could give him money, then everything was not a problem.

Downstairs.

Gu Baisun sat in the car, looking at the association building with a gloomy gaze, a feeling of being targeted by a parasite suddenly rising in his heart.

Zhang Ming was like a vampire who was never full, and sooner or later, this person would suck the Longkou Association dry, and suck him dry.