Chapter 13: Supporting a Useless Brother? Not Happening!
Store Manager Zhang, driven by curiosity, watched General Manager Zhao heading to the competition area very closely. When he talked about it, his eyes were filled with envy.
“His clothes didn’t have a single wrinkle, and the watch on his wrist—I don’t even recognize the brand. You should’ve seen the head of the Culture Center—he’s in his forties or fifties—bowing and scraping around him. Not even that respectful to his own father.”
Manager Zhang rarely spoke this much; clearly, he had been a bit shaken.
“The world is so realistic. If only I had status and background. I could just lie around all day and still have people waiting on me. Wouldn’t have to worry about work at all.”
The young General Manager Zhao was clearly Zhao Xiao. He obviously no longer intended to hide his identity. Lin Zhifeng was now certain that the senior Hengrui executive related to Wang Tingmei was him.
Manager Zhang hadn’t finished venting, and the more he spoke, the more he felt sorry for himself.
“Ah, you girls have it easier. Marry into a better class, and your life changes. Worst case, find a husband with a stable job, stay home, cook, take care of the kids—what a life.”
Hearing this, Lin Zhifeng put down the chicken she was eating. Even though it wasn’t hers, she didn’t feel the slightest guilt.
“Good thing you’re not a woman. With that kind of mindset, you’d be one of those gold-diggers everyone looks down on, making the rest of us look bad.”
She was born in a primordial era where men and women were equal. Power determined status. Background had some influence, but as someone born in poverty, she had never envied others.
Everything she had, she had fought tooth and nail for. She found it hard to relate to Manager Zhang’s bitter, self-pitying attitude.
Put in his place like that, Manager Zhang’s face turned slightly red, and he couldn’t come up with a single rebuttal.
Lin Zhifeng couldn’t care less about Manager Zhang’s feelings. She picked up the chicken leg again and took a few more bites, then asked casually, “Manager, I’m supposed to take a few days off soon, right? Can I start the break tomorrow instead? I’ll make up the shifts later.”
Lately, Manager Zhang had been a bit intimidated by her and quickly nodded in agreement. “Sure, but do you have something going on tomorrow?”
“Yeah, something like that,” Lin Zhifeng brushed it off vaguely and changed the subject without elaborating.
After breakfast, Xie Laidi insisted on going to the mall to hand out flyers. Once Lin Zhifeng saw her off, she threw herself into work with full focus.
She was fascinated by all the machines in the shop, poking at each one like a curious kid. If Manager Zhang weren’t around, she’d probably have taken one apart and put it back together just for fun.
While she was happily fiddling with the register, the glass door of the store suddenly burst open with a bang. Three blond-haired youths walked up to the counter and started slapping the table as they ordered.
Lin Zhifeng recognized one of them immediately—a guy in a red T-shirt. He was one of the punks she had beaten up before, the same one who later went and roughed up Xie Yaozu. After taking their payment and serving the food, she kept her ears open as they rambled on.
At first, the blond punks were just chatting about women, but gradually the topic shifted to fighting.
After a while, the red T-shirt guy suddenly leaned in with a sneaky look and whispered:
“Not long ago, we cornered some dumbass near Jinhwang with the boss. The guy agreed to pay tribute to the boss. The boss is busy lately, so he told me to handle it. You guys in for a little debt collection?”
“Hell yeah, let’s go!”
“How much?”
The red-shirted punk grinned and held up three fingers.
Seeing the others widen their eyes, he quickly clarified, “But the boss wants twenty grand. The rest we split among ourselves. I’ll bring you guys along—there’s definitely money in it.”
The three of them beamed with excitement and immediately began discussing how to track down Xie Yaozu and collect the money from him.
“They said the money’s due by the end of August. If he dares to run before then, we’ll break his legs. And if he doesn’t pay by month’s end, we don’t even have to do much—just call the boss, and someone’ll take care of him!”
After finishing their meal, the three punks planned to head to the hospital to keep watch. They left in a hurry, leaving Lin Zhifeng to clean up the mess on the table, a sly smile once again spreading across her face.
Originally, if nothing unexpected happened, Xie Yaozu would be discharged from the hospital tomorrow. Lin Zhifeng decided to create an unexpected event—something to keep him there for a few more days.
Now that these three punks were set on tailing him, if Xie Yaozu even hinted at trying to run, he’d surely end up getting beaten.
“To make Xie Yaozu sneak out of the hospital, I’ll have to use the honey trap.”
Xie Yaozu couldn’t afford a mistress, but poverty didn’t stop him from being a sleazeball. He often mooched off his sketchy friends to visit KTVs and flirt with hostesses.
…
After getting off work, Lin Zhifeng rushed to the mall to tell Xie Laidi to head home early. Then she hurried to Jinhwang KTV and slapped down five crisp bills to loosen the manager’s tongue.
“Brother Xie? Yeah, I know him. He’s into a girl named Xianxian. I’ll go get her.” The manager, decked out in slacks and shiny shoes, bolted off and quickly returned with a young woman who looked annoyed and impatient.
Xianxian didn’t live up to her fairy-like name. Her beady eyes darted over Lin Zhifeng, and she curled her lip in disdain. “A woman?”
Lin Zhifeng felt both amused and indignant. Back in the day, she had fangirls across the God Realm as the number-one beauty, and now she was being judged by someone like Xianxian? Hmph! Her inner beauty clearly went unrecognized by these shallow mortals!
“You’re overthinking it,” Lin Zhifeng said, chuckling. “I just need a favor. Let’s talk in a private room.”
She pulled a thousand yuan from the system, handing five hundred to the manager to keep his mouth shut, and the other five hundred to Xianxian.
When Xianxian first heard Lin Zhifeng call her big sister, she looked like she was about to explode. But the moment she spotted those five red hundred-yuan bills, the curse that was about to leave her mouth transformed instantly.
“Little beauty, just say the word. Even if I can’t do it, I’ll make it happen!”
Xianxian was slick, with a whole arsenal of flattery ready to go. After she and Lin Zhifeng sat down in a private room, Lin Zhifeng explained the plan in detail.
“That’s it?”
“That’s it.”
“You messing with me, little beauty?”
“I already gave you the money. Even if I am messing with you, you’re not losing anything.”
Xianxian thought it over—true, she already had the money, and there’d be another 500 waiting afterward. It was practically free money. “Alright, I’ll head to the hospital right now.”
“If you accidentally slip up…” Lin Zhifeng smiled warmly, but her tone was ice-cold.
A sudden chill went down Xianxian’s spine. She quickly waved her hands in panic. “No way I’d say a word. If I had a loose mouth, I’d have been beaten to death a long time ago.”
“Good.” Lin Zhifeng walked her through the situation again, then decided to go along with her.
Xianxian grabbed her purse and phone, slathered on a bit of lipstick, and started heading out. As she walked, she glanced back and warned, “Don’t follow too closely. If they spot you, the whole thing’s blown!”
Professional. Lin Zhifeng gave her a thumbs-up, then strolled lazily to the other side of the street. The two of them made their way toward the inpatient wing of the county hospital—one in front, one behind.
When they reached the main entrance, Lin Zhifeng immediately spotted two of the blond punks standing guard. Circling around to the back entrance, she found the red T-shirt punk right where she expected.
Xianxian waited until the coast was clear, then glanced back at Lin Zhifeng and waved seriously. With her lips, she silently mouthed: “Keep your distance.”
Lin Zhifeng pointed toward the back entrance, signaling that she’d be waiting there, hidden, for news. She then saw Xianxian curl her lips into a confident smile before pulling out her phone and dialing Xie Yaozu.
In the gentle breeze, Lin Zhifeng—whose hearing was far from ordinary—caught the syrupy, coquettish tone in Xianxian’s voice.
“Hello? Brother Xie, I just happened to be near the hospital. Come down—I’ll help you feel better.”
“Your mom? Oh, just send her off already. I miss you.”
“Alright, I’ll wait at the back door. Be careful not to let anyone see you!”
