Chapter Eighty: Fighting the Landlord

"Zhang Hua? Fired? In trouble with the law? You must be joking!"

Yang Jiekai was stunned. For a moment he wondered if he had heard wrong. Zhang Hua was a bit of a peacock, certainly, but his ability was undeniable, and he was also exceptionally cautious in everything he did. If someone said he had been fired, that alone was hard to believe, let alone that it had anything to do with prison.

Lin Sha let out a soft sigh. "I wish it weren’t true, but the facts are right there. He embezzled several hundred thousand from company funds. It was discovered this morning. Firing him is inevitable. If he can’t make up the money in a short time, the company will sue him."

"Is there no other way?" Yang Jiekai asked.

If this had been in the past, he would have been delighted, even hoping Zhang Hua would be locked up for ten or eight years. But after spending some time together, Yang Jiekai found that Zhang Hua was not nearly as hateful as he’d first thought, and in fact was rather pitiable. He had a younger sister at home who needed dialysis every week just to stay alive. If Zhang Hua really went in, the consequences would be disastrous.

Just then, he happened to see Zhang Hua coming out of the entrance, head bowed, carrying a storage box in his arms.

"Manager Zhang."

Yang Jiekai called out and hurried up to him, wanting to say something, yet finding himself at a loss for words. Looking at Zhang Hua’s face, ashen as death, Yang Jiekai felt only sympathy.

Zhang Hua looked at him and gave a bitter smile. Then, saying nothing at all, he left with unsteady steps.

Watching his lonely back recede, Yang Jiekai felt a pang of sorrow, but there was nothing he could do to help.

Besides, Yang Jiekai himself was now one of the fired, and could be counted among the fallen from the same road.

Yet he did not care in the slightest. What he had said before was the truth: even if the company had not dismissed him, he would have resigned in a few days anyway. In any case, he had already been thinking about starting a business.

The resignation procedures were completed quickly. The company gave him a token month’s compensation, twenty-five hundred yuan.

After that, he began working on opening a private detective agency, only to discover that he had no idea where to begin. Trade, taxation, registration—an endless parade of professional terms nearly made his head split.

He even had a professional in the field right beside him, his wife, but for some reason, just when they had been talking smoothly, the moment she heard he wanted to open a private detective agency, her face turned to ice.

With no other choice, Yang Jiekai had to go to Dragon Palace Bar to ask Long Xiaoman for help, inquiring whether she knew anyone in the trade and tax bureau.

After hearing him out, Long Xiaoman laughed until tears sprang to her eyes. "Are you some monkey sent here to make a fool of yourself?"

"What’s so funny?" Yang Jiekai scratched his head, truly unable to understand why she was laughing.

"What do you think you’re doing? If you actually go to the trade and industry office and say you want to register a private detective agency, people will laugh their teeth out!" Long Xiaoman said, still smiling, looking at him as though he were an idiot.

"Stop beating around the bush and tell me already," Yang Jiekai said, utterly baffled.

Only then did Long Xiaoman smile and explain, "An organization like a private detective agency isn’t exactly underworld, but it can’t really be considered fully legal either. It’s basically a gray-area business, neither black nor white. All you need is a few people and a place to rent, and you can start operating. As for what services you offer, that depends on your skills. Investigating affairs, collecting debts for people, all of that is possible."

"Then can we do something like you do, running security at a venue?" Yang Jiekai asked, building on the idea.

"Of course," Long Xiaoman replied. "But that depends on your abilities."

Yang Jiekai nodded. "But I’m not doing any stealing. That’s not only illegal, it’s also disgraceful."

Long Xiaoman laughed. "I quit doing that a long time ago. And I’ve got you to thank for that. Last time you dealt with Li the Cripple and the others, I ended up with two more venues under my control. No need for me to go out stealing on the streets anymore."

After leaving Dragon Palace Bar, Yang Jiekai had a rough idea of how to proceed. In fact, his mind was not foolish at all; if anything, his intelligence was a little above that of ordinary people. Before long, he had sorted out the path for his venture.

He called Qin Feng and the others. Over there, they agreed without the slightest hesitation, and said they would resign at once and follow Yang Jiekai from then on.

The people were in place, but the next step was finding a location, and that meant startup capital. This troubled Yang Jiekai greatly. He only had a few tens of thousands on him, and besides renting office space, there were also Qin Feng and the others’ wages. Brothers were brothers, but he could not treat them badly.

By the time he got home, it was already afternoon. Aunt Wang had prepared a whole table full of delicious dishes, but Yang Jiekai’s mind was elsewhere. He ate listlessly, and when Han Wei tried to banter with him, he said nothing, his thoughts fixed entirely on the matter of startup funds.

"Young master, do you have something on your mind?"

Aunt Wang noticed that something was off about Yang Jiekai. "Even if there’s something troubling you, you still have to eat properly. Your health comes first."

Yang Jiekai let out a long sigh and said casually, "I’m thinking of starting a company and figuring out the startup money."

"What? Young master wants to start a company?"

Aunt Wang was so excited she nearly dropped her chopsticks. Joyfully, she said, "That’s wonderful news! How much startup money do you need? I haven’t spent much over the years and saved up quite a bit. There should be more than three hundred thousand in the card. If young master doesn’t mind it being too little, you can take it all."

For Yang Jiekai to suddenly want to start a company, Aunt Wang supported him with both hands. After all they had been through, she had long since recognized this future son-in-law. Hearing that he wanted to start a company now filled her with delight.

Yang Jiekai could only give a wry smile. Of course he could not take Aunt Wang’s money, so he made up some excuse to brush her off.

"Aunt Wang, ignore him. Heaven knows what sort of company he’s opening," Han Ning interjected. She had long known what kind of company Yang Jiekai wanted to open, and after so many years in the business world, of course she understood exactly what sort of business it was.

Han Wei, however, did not know. Recently Yang Jiekai had helped her solve a major problem, and she was deeply grateful. She hurriedly said, "My brother-in-law has ambition, and I absolutely support him. Whatever money you need, just say it. We have to back this."

Yang Jiekai smiled bitterly. He could not take Aunt Wang’s money, and certainly could not take Han Wei’s either.

After dinner, Yang Jiekai returned to his room early, lay on the bed, and thought hard once more, worrying himself over money again.

In truth, if he was willing to open his mouth, the money problem would be easy to solve. Wang Xiang and that crowd of spoiled heirs would certainly lend it to him without a word if he asked.

But although Yang Jiekai had thick skin, it was not thick enough to make him borrow money from his own disciples.

Soon, there was a knock at the door.

When he opened it, he was astonished to find Han Ning standing there!

This was the first time in all this while that Han Ning had ever knocked on his door.

"Darling, what’s up?"

Han Ning’s face remained impassive as she took out a bank card. "There’s one million in here. Consider it a loan from me."

Having said that, she did not care whether Yang Jiekai wanted to accept it or not. She shoved the card into his hand and turned to leave.

"This..."

Yang Jiekai looked at the card in his hand with a wry smile, yet he also felt a little flattered. This icy wife of his was actually taking the initiative to help him?

At any rate, the money problem was solved.

The next day, he gathered Qin Feng and the others and began getting things underway. What surprised Yang Jiekai was that besides Qin Feng, Lao Gunzi, and Gongsun, even the pretty front desk receptionist Chen Shishi had come.

"Xiaoshi, why are you here too?" Yang Jiekai asked in astonishment.

Qin Feng grinned and pulled Chen Shishi into his arms. "This is called husband and wife in harmony."

Yang Jiekai was dumbfounded, finding it hard to believe. "You two..."

Qin Feng cleared his throat. "Shishi is my girlfriend now!"

"You little rascal!"

Yang Jiekai did not know whether to laugh or cry. Qin Feng had been born with a pair of peach-blossom eyes that were especially deadly to women, but he never expected that in just a few days away, this boy would have already won over Chen Shishi, the company’s second beauty after Lin Sha.

Then the few of them threw themselves into the work in full swing.

Originally Yang Jiekai had wanted to rent a high-end office tower, but after hearing the rent, he quickly retreated. In the end, he only rented a floor in a rundown residential block in a city village, put up a sign that read "Jiekai Detective Agency" at night, and that was that—they were officially open for business.

Although there were only five of them, Yang Jiekai still made careful assignments. Chen Shishi became the receptionist, responsible for answering calls and greeting visitors at the front desk.

Lao Gunzi continued as security chief, Qin Feng became administrative chief, Gongsun Tiedan took charge of logistics, and Yang Jiekai himself styled himself chairman.

Once the assignments were settled, Yang Jiekai suddenly had no idea what to do, so he bought a deck of cards and began to wait for customers while playing cards, smoking, and chatting.

One week later...

"Three with one, rocket bomb, haha, I win!" Qin Feng said with a cigarette between his lips, laughing loudly.

"I’m not playing anymore, I’m not playing anymore. You’ve stepped in dog shit today. Keep this up and I’ll lose even my underwear."

The miserly Gongsun Tiedan had lost quite a bit of money. He threw down his cards and quit.

Yang Jiekai let out a long sigh. "When the hell is this going to end? We’ve been open for a week, and not a single client has come?"

For an entire week after opening, they had not done a single deal. The chairman himself had spent the week leading his staff in a game of cards, and probably only someone as dazed as Yang Jiekai could have done such a thing.

When he returned home in low spirits, Yang Jiekai still decided to seek guidance from his icy wife.

To make a good impression, he came back a little early on purpose and personally cooked her favorite dishes: stir-fried chicken with green peppers and spicy fish head.

"Darling, I want to ask you something."

Yang Jiekai grinned as he夹ed a piece of spicy fish head into Han Ning’s bowl.

"Say it," Han Ning replied. Though still stern-faced, she did not seem resistant.

"My company’s been open for more than a week now, so why haven’t we had a single client?" Yang Jiekai asked.

At the mention of business, Han Ning immediately resumed the bearing of a queen of commerce. "Tell me everything you did this week, and I’ll help you see where the problem is."

Yang Jiekai thought for a moment and said, "The main work was playing cards, and I lost quite a bit of money too."

"..."

Han Ning’s face instantly darkened.