Chapter 151 – The Braggart (Part One)

Stepping into the lobby of the Tianyu Company building, the first thing that caught my eye was a massive painting of ten thousand galloping horses. This imposing and grand artwork made me somewhat appreciate the artistic taste of Tianyu's former leadership. Horses were traditionally means of transportation in ancient times, and since this company's core business was freight shipping, according to Feng Shui principles, this painting was auspicious for generating wealth. It was a great pity that, due to my rebirth, this company was forced to vanish from this world.

In fact, by this time, I recalled that the acquisition of the freight company originally stemmed from some ideas I had mentioned to Zhang Jing. I had wanted to build a nationwide logistics network, enabling the Sunshine Group to pioneer the country's very first logistics enterprise, rising to prominence during a time when the logistics industry was still underdeveloped in 1997, and ultimately dominating the national logistics sector. I was deeply aware of the immense importance logistics would hold in the future, yet that casual remark made back then had actually been taken to heart by Zhang Jing, who went ahead and initiated the acquisitions. Speaking of which, although I was the behind-the-scenes boss of the Sunshine Group, Zhang Jing was, after all, the executive director, meaning all company operations were managed by her. Following today's incident, I suddenly felt that the Sunshine Group might have expanded somewhat too rapidly, swelling to this scale in just a mere two months. Precisely because of this, the internal leadership of the company had become chaotic, leaving openings for opportunistic individuals to exploit.

"Let me go! Let you go!" Amid a flurry of disgruntled shouts, I turned around and looked at the several Sunshine Group employees responsible for acquiring Tianyu Company who were being dragged down the stairs by the bald man's subordinates. Among them was a man wearing a black suit and a heavily fleshed face, who was shouting indignantly, "Do you know who I am? You have the audacity to break into this company like this—I have every reason to press charges against you for being thugs! Let me go right now!"

"Shut your trap and stand straight without any nonsense!" The bald man abruptly delivered a kick to the screaming fat man's backside, causing him to instantly yelp in pain and hop on one foot. I gestured to the bald man, upon which he let out a low snort and waved his subordinates forward, instantly releasing everyone.

"Which one of you here is called Zhang Tao?" I swept my cold gaze across the line of Tianyu acquisition supervisors facing me and said, "Don't worry. Just tell me who Zhang Tao is, and the rest of you can leave this place."

Dozens of burly men resembling bodyguards stood on either side of me; given this intimidating posture, even a fool would have understood the situation. Immediately, several people hurriedly pointed trembling fingers at the chubby man who was still rubbing his backside.

"You are Zhang Tao?" I lowered my gaze, briefly sizing him up, and chuckled lightly, "You really are different from what I imagined. I never expected your appearance to be quite so... uncomplimentary."

"Who the hell are you? How dare you make unauthorized arrests? Don't you know this place already belongs to the Sunshine Group? Do you even know who founded the Sunshine Group? Let me tell you, don't think I'm afraid of you just because you act like some triad boss! Hmph, are you aware that the Sunshine Group owns a security company? I'll name-drop it and scare you out of your wits—that company is called Sky Eagle, Sky Eagle Security Company belongs to the Sunshine Group!" The fat man, Zhang Tao, tried to put on a stern face to scare me off, running his mouth incessantly as he boasted, "Let me tell you, don't think you're hot stuff just because you dealt with those punks outside! You dare to make a move on Sunshine Group property—do you believe I can have the police station haul all of you in right now?"

"Oh?" I stared at Zhang Tao, somewhat amused and at a loss for whether to laugh or cry. "So, by your account, even the police station was founded by your precious Sunshine Group?" The bald man was suppressing his laughter so hard, terrified that any sound would earn him a scolding from me, that his face was practically contorted. This fat man seemed completely oblivious to the fact that the actual police officers he spoke of were currently on duty right outside the main gates, that Sky Eagle security guards were gathered both in front of and behind him, and as for the Sunshine Group—its very owner was standing right before his eyes.

"Naturally! You don't even know Miss Zhang, our general manager? Well, brother, surely you must know that the thugs at the entrance belong to the Ax Gang? You actually had the nerve to pick a fight with the Sunshine Group just for the sake of those drivers? You've offended both the underworld and the authorities—tell me, which world do you even operate in?" Zhang Tao asked, assuming I was terrified and thus displaying a hint of smugness.

"Pardon me, but I operate in neither the underworld nor the authorities. The things you mentioned mean nothing to me. I'll only ask you this: what is your relationship with the Fu family of the Capital?" I coldly scrutinized Zhang Tao as he played out his little self-directed drama, suddenly feeling that sometimes playing the cool badass is simply forced upon one by circumstances.

"How do you kno..." Hearing my words, Zhang Tao gasped in shock, but halfway through, his voice abruptly choked in his throat. He carefully inspected me from head to toe, then said coldly, "What good does it do you to help those penniless drivers? Hmph, young man, watch out that you don't capsize in a drainage ditch—don't be so arrogant."

"I only asked you whether or not you are a member of the Fu family." I ignored his remark and pressed on with the exact same question, because to me, this fellow in front of me possessed value solely in this regard.

Seeing that I was stubbornly fixated on the Fu family, Zhang Tao realized he wasn't stupid either. He immediately seemed to understand something and hurriedly shook his head, saying, "I don't know any Fu family! I'm warning you, the Sunshine Group is not someone you can afford to mess with!"

"You really don't know them?" You don't know them? If you don't know them, then ghosts must exist! I gave him a cold glance and sneered, "It looks like you're the kind of fellow who responds better to brute force than gentle persuasion; unless you're given a proper lesson, you won't speak the truth. Baldy!"

"Yes, Boss!" The bald man immediately stepped forward, clenching his massive fists and cracking his knuckles in a rapid series of loud pops. This terrified Zhang Tao so much that his face turned pale as chalk, and he stammered, "Wh-what do you want to do? This is assault against a citizen! You—you're committing a crime!"

"Commit your mother's crime!" Without another word, the bald man threw a heavy punch straight into Zhang Tao's trembling, fleshy face, knocking him flat onto the ground.

"If we're committing a crime, then you're hardly any better off." Listening to Zhang Tao's groans of pain, I issued a warning, "Don't think I'm unaware of the dirty little games you've been playing—embezzling the drivers' wages behind everyone's backs, hiring gangsters to terrorize people's homes, deceiving your superiors while concealing things from your subordinates. If I were to go and report this to Director Zhang, I daresay you wouldn't have to bother staying at the Sunshine Group anymore, would you?"

"Ouch... You—you're slandering me... Ouch." Clutching his swelling face, Zhang Tao wailed in agony while his eyes darted around frantically.

"Truly, you refuse to shed tears until you see the coffin! Do you have any idea that the Miss Zhang you speak of is currently outside the front gates negotiating a resolution with those drivers? Do you know that the Sunshine Group's reputation has been utterly dragged through the mud because of you? Oh, I almost forgot—you aren't actually anyone of consequence in the Sunshine Group anyway, are you? Tell me, what on earth is your relationship with the Fu family!" I brought my foot down heavily onto his chubby stomach, saying coldly, "If you won't talk, that's fine; I have ways of making you open your mouth." With that, I gave a subtle wave of my hand, and the two rows of burly men beside me immediately stepped forward. That imposing array instantly caused the legs of every single supervisor present to shake with terror.

"Everyone except Zhang Tao can get out." As soon as my words fell, those supervisors scrambled frantically toward the door. Zhang Tao cast a lingering, terrified glance at me, disbelief written all over his face as he muttered, "No... impossible! It's this late, how could President Zhang possibly be outside?! How could such a small matter... how could it have alerted her? It's over... I'm finished, finished, finished..."

"A small matter? You consider this a small matter?" I couldn't help feeling a surge of irritation, though I had to admit there was a twisted logic to his words. If this incident hadn't involved my father, Zhang Tao really could have embezzled those drivers' wages without anyone ever finding out. Hundreds of thousands meant nothing to the Sunshine Group—who would ever care about the life or death of lowly freight drivers scraping by at the bottom of society? It was simply this punk's bad luck that he happened to cross paths with my father. He was right about one thing: capping in a drainage ditch was a metaphor that fit him rather well. "Perhaps it's a small matter to you, but to me, it's a matter of grave importance." I gripped his arm tightly, the pressure steadily increasing as I said slowly, "I'll give you one last chance: are you or are you not a member of the Fu family?"