Chapter Twenty-Six: Malicious Intent

Ermao didn’t understand what a franchise fee meant either; he looked at Chen Huajiang, his face full of confusion. Chen Huajiang wasn’t sure how to explain it, but he knew he couldn’t break this rule.

“Seven hundred yuan is a bit much. What if he can’t pay it?” Ermao was concerned about that.

“If he truly wants to do this business, he’ll manage to pay. Besides, the seven hundred yuan franchise fee is something he’ll earn back in a month. To put it simply, it’s like tuition. We can’t just teach him for free, don’t you think?” Chen Huajiang deliberately used the phrase “we,” hinting to Ermao that they were in this together.

Ermao nodded, half understanding. Nowadays, there were many skills that people wouldn’t teach, no matter how much you paid. If someone charged you to teach you a skill, wasn’t that a good thing?

“You’re right. We shouldn’t teach him for nothing,” Ermao finally understood and nodded.

“Don’t worry, I won’t shortchange you. If your friend joins, I’ll give you a commission of two hundred,” Chen Huajiang said generously. After all, this was a one-off deal; giving a bit more wouldn’t matter. Besides, Ermao couldn’t possibly bring in franchisees every day.

“That much? I’ll talk to him and see what he thinks,” Ermao’s interest was instantly piqued; after all, who could say no to money?

“Our snack shop is here, so just bring him over. You probably won’t be able to explain it to him yourself,” Chen Huajiang said.

“Got it. I’ll go find him,” Ermao replied, then left the snack shop.

Chen Huajiang felt this might be a good beginning. How could he quickly expand the franchise? He’d have to keep distributing flyers.

Last time, they secretly printed a batch of flyers at the print shop because they had no money. This time, Chen Huajiang had a little cash, so he called Liang Long over.

Lately, Liang Long had taken to hanging around Chen Huajiang’s place, enjoying free food and drink.

“Liang Long, we’re about to make big money. But first, we need to print another batch of flyers. Go ask the print shop manager’s son how much it’ll cost to print some things for us.”

Liang Long lit up at the mention of big money. “How are we going to make big money? Is it from our snack shop?” he asked, puzzled.

“Just wait and see. You won’t be left out. For now, ask about the cost of printing those flyers,” Chen Huajiang replied.

Only by spreading the word would people come to join; relying on word of mouth was too slow. Advertising was rare at this time, and though there were some TV ads, they weren’t widespread and were expensive. It was better to print flyers and distribute them directly.

“That’s easy. That guy still owes me money—he owed me four hundred before and only paid two hundred, so there are still two hundred left,” Liang Long said confidently.

“I’ll leave it to you then,” Chen Huajiang replied.

Right now, Chen Huajiang was more concerned about Dagang’s father. According to Dagang, the boss of Wei Mei Xian was offering high wages. Old Lu would surely be tempted and might quit his job at Hongqi Factory to work for Wei Mei Xian.

Fortunately, Dagang hadn’t wavered and still wanted to follow Chen Huajiang.

At that moment, Gou Weidong and Wu De were discussing their own strategies. They didn’t want to just watch Chen Huajiang’s snack shop flourish.

“The last method didn’t work. We need a new one,” Gou Weidong pondered.

“What else can we do? There isn’t a good solution. We can’t exactly go over there with people and wreck his snack shop, can we?” Wu De said helplessly.

Hearing this, Gou Weidong suddenly had an idea. “Why not? We can wait until everyone leaves, then get a few people to smash his stuff. That’ll do it.”

Gou Weidong was the kind who dared to come up with any idea.

“But the security office has people on duty every day. As soon as we go in, we’ll be spotted—unless we bribe the security staff,” Wu De was tempted but worried about being seen.

“You handle that. The people are easy to find. Even if someone sees us, they won’t know it was us, since we won’t show our faces,” Gou Weidong lowered his voice, afraid others might overhear.

But he hadn’t considered that even if they smashed Chen Huajiang’s snack shop, Chen Huajiang could simply tidy up and reopen.

Unless they destroyed it so completely that it couldn’t be fixed.

“Damn it, that kid’s too arrogant. Let’s do it,” Wu De slapped his thigh and made up his mind.

He contacted Zhang Qiang again—he really didn’t have anyone else he could use. Despite falling out with Zhang Qiang last time, Wu De thought Zhang Qiang would do it for the money.

Zhang Qiang arrived at Wu De’s place, displeased, his brows furrowed. “You didn’t pay us last time, and now you’ve got the nerve to ask me for help again?” He wasn’t polite at all; he wasn’t afraid of Wu De, unlike others.

Besides, Chen Huajiang had him gathering information, so he could relay what Wu De was up to.

“Last time was just a misunderstanding. As long as you pull it off this time, I’ll make sure you’re well paid,” Wu De promised.

“Cut the nonsense. Just tell me what you want done and how much you’re paying,” Zhang Qiang pressed for details.

“This time, I’ll give you twenty. Tonight, after the snack shop staff leave, go smash the place. Can you do it?” Wu De asked.

There was no way Zhang Qiang wouldn’t be tempted by that sum; he immediately formed a plan.

“That’s easy enough. But you need to sort out the security staff, and I want half the money upfront, half after the job’s done. If that works, I’ll do it. Otherwise, forget it,” Zhang Qiang wasn’t about to fall for Wu De’s tricks again.

“If you smash it, I’ll pay you. But what if you don’t and just run off with my money?” Wu De was cautious.

“We did the job last time and you didn’t pay us. I’m more worried you’ll stiff us again. Besides, where could we run? Who would dare cross you?” Zhang Qiang deliberately played up Wu De’s reputation, which Wu De enjoyed.

True, nobody in Hongqi Factory dared mess with Wu De, but outside, who cared?

“He’s right. Give him the money; he can’t run,” Gou Weidong chimed in.

Wu De was reluctant, but he took out ten yuan and tossed it to Zhang Qiang.

Zhang Qiang grinned, pocketed the money, and said, “Just wait for my good news.”