"I really didn't see that Tang Guo would be that kind of person."
"Who would have thought? She's the most beautiful woman in the provincial capital, and she'd scheme against others like this."
"I used to think she was charming and thought she was a good woman, but she's too vicious. Twenty million yuan! That's money we'll never earn in our lifetime, and she's making this new boss, who just took over the department store, shoulder it. It's truly asking the impossible."
"Twenty million might be difficult for us, but perhaps it's not that hard for Zhang Liunian. Yesterday, he got a million from the store manager, and the department store's daily sales were over a hundred thousand. Even with low profit margins, that's at least tens of thousands a day. In a year, that would be tens of millions! So, ten million isn't difficult for someone who owns a department store."
"I also remember that the department store sold over a hundred thousand in one day, a sum that's hard for people like us to earn in a lifetime."
"..."
The more they talked, the more they went off-topic, shifting from looking at Tang Guo differently to being astonished by the department store's earning potential.
"This is your business. Tang Guo was the supervisor of the department store. If you didn't cut your losses in time, it just means you're too stupid. You can't blame her. After all, you ruined her family. Her taking revenge is retribution, isn't it?" Old Man Zhu didn't want everyone to sympathize with Zhang Liunian, which might expose the grudges between Tang Guo and Zhang Liunian.
Zhang Liunian's expression froze for a moment, then he sneered, "Ruined her family? If her family hadn't harmed my wife and child before, would I have reported them? If I hadn't reported them, who knows how many more people would have been persecuted by them, how many would have become their test subjects, and how many families would have been shattered. I report every harmful family like the Tang family of Nancheng that I encounter."
Boom!
So, Tang Guo was one of the notorious Tang family of Nancheng that had been reported all over the country recently?
My goodness, they never expected such a devil to be right beside them. Fortunately, she had left now, otherwise, they would never have let Tang Guo off easily.
How many people had died in agony due to their family's insane experiments? They would report people like that on sight.
This department store boss did absolutely nothing wrong.
"Did the right thing."
"Did a good job."
"The Tang family of Nancheng deserves to be punished by everyone."
"..."
The topic veered off course again. The crowd went from sympathizing with Zhang Liunian being tricked by Tang Guo to hating the Tang family of Nancheng, which included Tang Guo. If they had known Tang Guo was from the Tang family of Nancheng before, they certainly wouldn't have treated her well when the incident broke out.
So what if she was the most beautiful woman in the provincial capital? How could someone who lived in such a monstrous family be a good person?
"Zhang Liunian, you're really something. What does Tang Guo have to do with this? She's just a woman." Old Man Zhu hadn't expected things to escalate like this, causing everyone to start cursing the Tang family.
Old Man Zhu thought differently from others; he didn't dislike the Tang family, nor did he object to their methods. In his eyes, using some useless people for research was not worth everyone's anger and hatred. It was just some useless people; so what if they died? Just like his heroin empire, what was a few deaths for the sake of huge profits? As long as they could make money, no matter how many died, he would do it.
"You said I ruined her family, so I told everyone what her family did. Now you say she's just a woman. You say everything, so what am I supposed to say?" Zhang Liunian looked at Old Man Zhu with disdain, his face full of mockery. This made the usually arrogant Old Man Zhu extremely displeased. This scoundrel, whom he had put on his death list, dared to look at him like that. He was incredibly bold.
"You should tell us, your suppliers, when you plan to pay us back. Our patience is wearing thin." Old Man Zhu was indeed impatient and really wanted to send people in to smash and grab right now.
Zhang Liunian could see his impatience, but since they came demanding money, he would not agree. It wasn't easy to get money from Zhang Liunian. "Giving money is impossible. Whoever signed this debt, go find them. It has nothing to do with me; I didn't get a single penny." The last sentence was the key point he needed to emphasize: he hadn't received a single penny, so the debt was not his responsibility.
But Old Man Zhu wouldn't listen to his excuses. Seeing that he didn't want to pay, he said no more and turned to the suppliers beside him, "Everyone, state your position. This Zhang Liunian clearly wants to renege on his debts. What should we do next?" This was just for show. Weren't all these people led by Old Man Zhu? This whole farce today was initiated by Old Man Zhu.
"I'll listen to Factory Director Zhu. Whatever you do, I'll do."
"I'll listen to Boss Zhu too. I'm with you."
"We'll listen to Boss Zhu too."
"..."
Dozens of suppliers indicated that they would follow Old Man Zhu's orders, which made Old Man Zhu feel unprecedented satisfaction. With their words, Old Man Zhu felt reassured. He proudly raised his head, looking down at Zhang Liunian, "Zhang Liunian, see? Everyone agrees with me."
"What is your meaning?" Zhang Liunian had already seen that these people were led by Old Man Zhu, so whatever he said was what they would do. Therefore, he was curious about what Old Man Zhu would do next to threaten or retaliate against him.
"Thanks to everyone's trust, I naturally want you to settle the overdue payments first. But you're not cooperating. So, we have to be upfront: if you don't cooperate now, even if you settle the debt later, we will no longer cooperate with you. Your department store will never be able to open again. Can you bear this consequence?" Old Man Zhu deliberately said this to provoke Zhang Liunian, hoping he would say something more outrageous, thus giving them a reason to smash and grab.
However, Zhang Liunian seemed to see through his intention to act and was not afraid. "As I said, I don't care about what I don't owe. Besides, don't you know Tang Guo has been arrested? The debt you want, I believe you'll be able to recover it soon." Although Zhang Liunian knew he might have to pay, his money wasn't easily obtained. Therefore, no matter what excuse they used to threaten him for money, he would never agree so easily. Even if they said they would stop supplying goods, he wouldn't be afraid. After all, these people were in cahoots with Old Man Zhu; he didn't need them.
"What?" Tang Guo was arrested? Old Man Zhu was shocked by this news. Didn't Tang Shitong say she had left yesterday? How could Zhang Liunian say Tang Guo was arrested? Could this be a lie Zhang Liunian made up to deceive them or a tactic to delay? Did this Zhang Liunian underestimate them too much, thinking a simple lie could fool them? Impossible!