In the end, Qiao Mai successfully persuaded President Sun to invest two million yuan.
The moment she secured the funding, she immediately set to work.
Within just half a day, she rented an abandoned cable factory in the southern suburbs. The roof leaked light, fragments of brick littered the floor, and weeds grew up to knee height.
To anyone else, these were glaring red flags, but Qiao Mai didn’t see it that way. After all, this cable factory only cost two hundred yuan a day—far more cost-effective than those rental locations charging thousands.
With a bit of cleanup, it would be more than enough.
To save money, she even took the initiative to find the village chief, asking him to mobilize the villagers to clear out the trash together for fifty yuan a day. She also generously told them that she didn’t want any of the cardboard boxes or copper wires cleared out; the villagers could keep whatever they found.
Watching this unfold, He Sinian was inwardly astonished. You can actually play it like this?!
By the afternoon of the first day, the grounds had already been cleared out. The director and assistant director were also in place with a few second-hand cameras.
He Sinian changed into a set of washed-out, faded training fatigues and stood before the lens.
Everything was ready.
Preparation to roll.
“Boom!”
Suddenly, the sheet-metal gates were violently rammed open. The rumbling roar of engines echoed across the entire grounds.
Three black Range Rovers arrogantly parked dead in the center of the factory floor.
The churned-up dust blanketed He Sinian from head to toe.
Qiao Mai and the others stared blankly at this sudden turn of events. Someone even muttered under their breath, “Who the heck is that? Such an over-the-top display.”
When Chu Jiaojiao stepped out of the vehicle, Qiao Mai understood.
Troublemakers had arrived.
“I was wondering which poverty-stricken crew would dare take you in—turns out it’s just a makeshift shanty-town production without even a roof.”
Chu Jiaojiao clacked out of the middle vehicle on towering stilettos.
Hardly had she taken two steps when her heel jammed straight into the loose dirt.
Her entire body lurched forward, and she face-planted hard into the ground, bag and all, executing a textbook mud-slide dive.
Qiao Mai bit down hard on her lip, holding back laughter.
The others hastily ducked behind the equipment, their shoulders shaking uncontrollably.
“Young Miss!”
The bodyguards turned pale with fright, scrambling all over each other to lift her up.
“Ah, you’re pulling my arm too hard!”
“A bunch of useless trash, all of you get out of my way!”
Struggling back to her feet, Chu Jiaojiao was flushed red with fury.
“Qiao Mai, how dare you pick such a trashy dump and make this young lady humiliate herself like this? I’m going to smash this place to pieces right now!”
She jerked a hand backward, signaling her bodyguards to move in.
“Stop right there!”
Qiao Mai lunged forward, spreading her arms wide to block their path.
“Ms. Chu, you’re the one who tracked us down here, and you’re the one who couldn’t stand straight—what does that have to do with me?!”
“I haven’t even settled accounts with you for trespassing on a privately rented site, and now you want to smash up my set? Do you believe I’ll call the police right now?!”
Completely ignoring her, Chu Jiaojiao spoke with an arrogant tone.
“Here, my Chu family is the law! Since I’ve declared a ban on you, you don’t get to survive in this industry!”
“Whoever dares hire him, I’ll wreck their set! You’re no exception!”
Her fingertip pointed remotely at those two second-hand cameras.
“Smash the whole lot of them!”
Four bodyguards instantly drew retractable batons from their waistbands and strode forward.
Qiao Mai didn’t back down. This was a ragged crew she had scraped together with unimaginable difficulty; she couldn’t let it collapse now.
Yet looking at the bodyguards closing in step by step, she was utterly out of options. Out of the corner of her eye, she covertly glanced at He Sinian.
Don’t just stand there playing dead. When it’s time to act, a man’s gotta step up!
In the shadowy corner, He Sinian idly twirled his phone between his fingers, the screen glowing faintly. He didn’t move.
At the crucial moment, men really are useless.
Just as she prepared to dig her heels in for a head-on clash, more commotion erupted outside.
A crowd of brawny men dressed in uniform security attire—black fabric with white trim—poured into the factory.
“What do you think you’re doing! No causing trouble here!”
Moving in unison, they instantly counter-surrounded Chu Jiaojiao’s men in the center.
Every single one of these security personnel stood over 1.85 meters tall, their bulging muscles straining against their uniforms. Even without carrying weapons, the fierce aura they radiated just standing there completely crushed the momentum of the Range Rover motorcade.
“Holy crap, is this corporate tycoons colliding?”
“Wait, our dump… this place even has security guards this hardcore?”
Everyone shrank their necks, eagerly eating melon seeds of gossip.
Qiao Mai was stunned too.
A middle-of-nowhere location, hardworking and honest villagers… could actually support a pack of hardened muscle-bound brawlers as security guards?
Chu Jiaojiao’s bodyguards usually spent their days tailing rich second-generation heirs, only ever good for bullying ordinary folk; where had they ever witnessed this kind of battlefield lineup? Unconsciously, they retracted their batons and retreated toward the center.
“Do you know who I am?! My father is Chu Jianguo, you can’t afford to cross us!” Chu Jiaojiao screamed at the security guards.
The leading brawny man stepped forward.
“I’m Zhao Lei, the property security captain of the southern suburb industrial park.”
“We received a system alert from the park that someone was causing destruction here and attempting to assault a legally registered tenant of the park.”
“Now, either you pay up and walk away, or you come with us to the police station.”
When had Chu Jiaojiao ever suffered this kind of treatment? She pointed a finger straight at Zhao Lei.
“You glorified watchman, how dare you shake me down for money? Have you got a death wish?!”
Zhao Lei chuckled lightly, pointing at the smashed-up iron gate and casually quoting a price.
“This sheet-metal door is an industrial relic from the previous century, possessing extremely high historical research value. Thirty thousand minimum.”
“And that section of water pipe is an imported special alloy original; one hundred thousand per meter.”
“Plus site delay compensation and personnel mental anguish fees.”
“Totaling five hundred thousand. Are you swiping a card, or paying cash?”
Absolute silence blanketed the entire scene.
Such a practiced shakedown—no, negotiation technique!
Qiao Mai stared at Zhao Lei with eyes full of utter adoration. This was the true art of making something out of nothing. She had practically worn her tongue out hoodwinking President Sun just to scrape together two million in investment funds, yet this security captain pointed at a pile of scrap metal and dared to demand half a million!
Chu Jiaojiao was first shocked, then boiled over with blind rage.
“Are you running a robbery?! I can see you lot aren’t security guards at all, you’re a bunch of gangsters!”
“Get them, all of you! Beat them to a pulp and I’ll take the blame!”
Gritting his teeth, the bodyguard captain threw a punch straight toward Zhao Lei.
Raising his left arm to block, Zhao Lei used his right hand to seize the man’s wrist and violently snap it downward.
Crack!
A teeth-grating sound of bone dislocation echoed across the factory grounds.
The bodyguard boss shrieked as he collapsed, clutching his arm and rolling on the ground in agony.
The remaining bodyguards and security personnel clashed instantly.
In less than three minutes, every single bodyguard was sprawled on the ground groaning in pain.
Zhao Lei cast his gaze down upon Chu Jiaojiao.
“You—are you paying or not?”
Only then did panic finally set in for Chu Jiaojiao. These people didn’t care about her Chu family name in the slightest. If she didn’t pay up today, she wasn’t walking out of here.
“I’ll pay! I’ll pay!”
Turning around, Zhao Lei looked over at Qiao Mai and her group. “Who’s in charge of the crew?”
“Right here!” Qiao Mai raised her hand excitedly, trotting over with eyes sparkling as she stared at him. “What do you need me to do?”
Hiding in the shadows, leaning lazily against the wall, He Sinian wore a cold, indifferent expression.
“Come collect the money.”
“Coming right up!”
Qiao Mai swiftly pulled up her WeChat payment QR code and handed it to Chu Jiaojiao.
Zhao Lei reminded her, “Scan the code. One hundred thousand.”
Chu Jiaojiao gritted her teeth so hard they felt like they’d shatter. Yet daring not to vent her anger, she could only obediently scan the code and pay.
“WeChat payment received, 100,000 yuan.”
“Got it, thanks a bunch, Big Brother,” Qiao Mai beamed happily.
“Small matter,” Zhao Lei said, waving his hand while a blush crept up his fair, pretty face.
However, the moment his line of sight locked onto He Sinian in the corner, he snapped back to his senses, coughing to regain his composure as he urged Chu Jiaojiao to pay the remaining four hundred thousand.
Once the full five hundred thousand was collected, he finally allowed Chu Jiaojiao and her entourage to leave.
Fearing that Chu Jiaojiao might harbor deep-seated intentions for revenge, Qiao Mai proactively pulled up her own QR code and smiled sweetly at Zhao Lei.
“Captain Zhao, sorry to trouble you with today’s mess. We’re going to be staying here for a while longer, let’s add each other on WeChat. If this kind of thing happens again, I’ll contact you guys right away.”
“No need. If they come back, I’ll bring the boys over,” Zhao Lei replied honestly.
Mainly because he didn’t dare add her.
Pondering for a moment, Qiao Mai reached into her bag and fished out a pack of Hongtashan cigarettes.
“Thanks a lot for your help today. Since we’re old friends now, a pack of Hongtashans for each brother—just a small token of my appreciation, please hand them out to the guys.”
Luckily, the cigarettes she had bought earlier to thank the villagers weren’t all used up; she still had a carton left on her. It came in handy right on cue.
Lowering his gaze to look at the carton of Hongtashan being handed over, Zhao Lei raised his hand to take it.
A low, suppressed cough sounded from behind.
His expression tightened, and he instinctively stole a glance past Qiao Mai.
Right into the completely expressionless gaze of He Sinian.
His hand hung awkwardly suspended in mid-air.
Recognizing He Sinian’s voice, Qiao Mai spun around and glared at him.
“What are you clearing your throat for?! You were nowhere to be found when trouble happened just now, and now that everyone’s gone, you come back to life.”
“Hurry up and go carry a case of water over for Captain Zhao to drink!”