"You win, you win, we'll sell," Master Huang suppressed the humiliation in his heart and bowed to Zhang Liunian.
"There are twenty-six of you in total. Excluding your leader, each person is responsible for selling twelve bottles. I'll give each of you two yuan after you sell them," Zhang Liunian said as Master Huang agreed. He kicked the twenty-five thugs on the ground and then had them start selling the lobster sauce in the southern city.
He had already thought of the location: the largest market in the southern city.
The twenty-five thugs, though angry, dared not speak and could only obey.
"After you finish selling, come back here. I'll return your leader to you then. If you don't come back, I'll personally bring Master Huang to your homes to find you," Zhang Liunian said, still holding their leader, ensuring they would comply.
However, the twenty-five thugs were quite surprised to hear that they would get paid after selling, as they had assumed they would be working for free.
Master Huang thought the same. He looked at Zhang Liunian curiously, as if trying to discern his thoughts.
Zhang Liunian ignored their gazes, distributed the lobster sauce, and informed them of the price per bottle. Then, carrying Master Huang, he headed to the first shop he had rented in his previous life.
This shop wasn't ideal. It was in the middle of the street, squeezed between others on both sides. Its only advantages were that it was accessible from both the front and back, allowing for dual use, and it was quite spacious with two floors, the upper one suitable for accommodation.
"What are you bringing me here for?"
Master Huang was baffled, not understanding why Zhang Liunian had brought him here.
"I want to rent this shop to sell food and recruit some people to help me sell lobster sauce," Zhang Liunian planned to use the shop for two purposes: selling lobster sauce at one end and braised meat at the other, a win-win situation.
Moreover, having a physical location would make deliveries much easier, eliminating the need to transport goods from the countryside every day.
"Recruit people to sell lobster sauce?" Weren't they the ones he had coerced? Did he still need to recruit others? Master Huang was even more confused about Zhang Liunian's intentions.
Zhang Liunian knew the fish was biting. "I can't do it all by myself. But with a shop, I can hire people to help me sell things every day. It doesn't matter if I don't have you," he said.
This last sentence was the key, leaving Master Huang speechless.
Recalling the daily activities of their Huang Gang, which involved intimidating people and extorting small sums of money, at most a few cents, with smaller amounts being mere fractions. A whole day's earnings for so many brothers barely amounted to two yuan.
Now, this Zhang Liunian was casually offering each of his brothers two yuan a day, a prospect that surprised and delighted them.
But his words implied that he wouldn't continue to use them to sell lobster sauce, which sent his mood plummeting from the clouds to the ground, leaving him extremely displeased.
Why should they sell if he wanted them to, and then not be allowed to sell if he didn't?
What did he take their Huang Gang for?
Enraged, Master Huang blurted out, "Who do you think you are? Do you think you can make us do whatever you want?"
"I know you're not happy, so I don't plan to force you tomorrow," Zhang Liunian replied honestly.
"..."
Master Huang was again choked for words. After a long pause, he asked, "If we help you sell, will you give each of us two yuan a day?"
He hadn't intended to ask this, but thinking of their current difficult lives, he decided to take the plunge.
Zhang Liunian smiled, "Of course. However, because I didn't bring much stock today, each of you only got twelve bottles. Starting tomorrow, I require each person to sell at least twenty bottles."
Twenty bottles – that requirement seemed quite manageable. Master Huang believed his brothers' persuasive skills could definitely achieve it.
"Why don't you… not look anymore? Let us do this job," Master Huang said, turning his face away, clearly showing his embarrassment.
Zhang Liunian was inwardly pleased. These people now truly seemed to be becoming his helpers. "As long as they can sell all the goods, they can continue to work for me tomorrow."
"They definitely can," Master Huang was quite confident in his brothers' verbal abilities.
Zhang Liunian didn't argue, as the reason he had chosen them was precisely because he knew they were eloquent and also timid and afraid of trouble.
As for why they collected protection fees, it was because they couldn't find jobs for the past two years and couldn't make a living.
There weren't many people like them. Zhang Liunian had noticed them by chance.
Shaking off his thoughts, Zhang Liunian found the landlord, who was selling buttons, and explained his purpose.
The landlord was a middle-aged woman. She was very surprised when Zhang Liunian told her he wanted to rent her shop, "You want to rent a shop? But I haven't advertised it for rent!"
Indeed, the landlord had no intention of renting out the property. Hearing someone show up out of the blue wanting to rent her house, she was understandably taken aback.
Zhang Liunian knew she would react this way but still wanted to try. If it didn't work out, he would look elsewhere, "I'm willing to offer you two thousand yuan in rent per year. You can consider it. If not, I'll ask elsewhere."
When the woman heard about the two thousand yuan a year, her breath hitched. Their location wasn't particularly good. The only advantage was its larger size and two floors. Receiving two thousand yuan a year was a considerable sum.
Moreover, with this two thousand yuan, their family wouldn't have to live so frugally and could even buy a new house. It was a profitable deal no matter how they looked at it.
Zhang Liunian saw her hesitation and stopped talking.
The woman thought for a moment and was about to speak when her husband returned home. She immediately stood up and told him about it. When the man heard about this good fortune, he immediately agreed.
And so, Zhang Liunian successfully secured the shop for a yearly rent of two thousand yuan.
He also signed a five-year contract with no rent increase.
"We'll move tomorrow, and you can start your business the day after," the man said, pocketing the money and personally escorting Zhang Liunian out.
Zhang Liunian nodded with a smile, taking Master Huang back to the place where he had caused trouble earlier.
When they arrived, the twenty-five thugs had also returned, all with hidden smiles on their faces.
It was clear at a glance that they had completed their task and were waiting for Zhang Liunian to pay them.
Zhang Liunian didn't deceive them. He collected the over five hundred yuan they had made from selling lobster and gave each of them two yuan. Even Master Huang, who had done nothing, received his payment.
"Let's go," Zhang Liunian said. Having sold the lobster sauce and with the money in hand, he intended to leave.
Just then, Master Huang called out, "Are you coming here again tomorrow?"
Zhang Liunian replied without looking back, "As long as you're willing to do it, I'll come here to cause trouble again tomorrow."
"Pfft!"
"Hahaha…"
"Welcome…"
Hearing the laughter behind him, Zhang Liunian curved his lips and went to order glass bottles. However, as it was getting late, Luo Wei had finished work and returned home, so he had to go to Luo Wei's house to find him.
"Comrade Liunian is here, that's great.
Let me tell you, the lobster sauce you gave me last time was incredibly delicious. Many people who tasted it wanted to buy it. Do you have any more? I'd like to buy some to give to relatives and friends."