Chapter 578: The Unwilling Qin Huairu

Before mealtime, Bai Xu's hall had no customers; besides Yu Li, only Shazhu remained, and Secretary Zhao got straight to the point, stating his purpose.

He said he needed US dollars.

This request.

This left Shazhu stunned like a monk, his whole body freezing on the spot.

How could an ordinary commoner like him possibly have US dollars?

After staring at Secretary Zhao for several seconds, Shazhu suddenly realized why Secretary Zhao had come to him to exchange US dollars.

Lou Xiaoe!

Shazhu doesn't have it, and Lou Xiaoe doesn't either.

No matter how far Secretary Zhao can go in life, just for the fact that over ten years ago he didn't look down on Shazhu, a mere cook, Shazhu ought to do his best for Secretary Zhao.

This is the first time he has asked Shazhu for help, and he is confident Shazhu can assist him.

In this situation, if Shazhu still keeps making excuses and shirking, the bond between him and Secretary Zhao would likely be broken.

Moreover, knowing Secretary Zhao will become a minister, Shazhu also harbors the idea of clinging to his coattails.

Let's just call it two plus one makes five.

They have both schemed against each other.

Shazhu gave Secretary Zhao a guarantee.

His words were not overly boastful.

He left himself a little leeway.

"Brother, you know I don't have what you're talking about. You came to me thinking I can help you get it, but tonight I'll find someone to help you get some—how much or how little isn't up to me; it depends on them."

By saying that, he both kept leeway for himself and asked how much Secretary Zhao needed to exchange.

The shrewd Secretary Zhao, seizing the moment, played along, gave Shazhu a small compliment, then slowly said how much US dollars he needed.

One finger.

Held up in front of Shazhu.

Shazhu understood his meaning: ten thousand US dollars. He nodded and told him to come to Bai Xu at this time tomorrow to see him.

Secretary Zhao agreed, then chatted a few polite words with Shazhu before taking his leave.

Shazhu saw Secretary Zhao out to the front of Bai Xu; they chatted a bit, and under Shazhu's waving hand, Secretary Zhao's figure gradually faded into the crowd.

Shazhu then turned and went back into Bai Xu.

He told Yu Li that he planned to go see Lou Xiaoe that evening.

Yu Li agreed.

Yu Li also knew about the US dollar matter; she knew Shazhu could only turn to Lou Xiaoe, and that Shazhu could not refuse Secretary Zhao's request for help.

……

Inside a somewhat dilapidated courtyard.

A bald-headed burly man was respectfully reporting to the young man before him.

If Shazhu were present, he would surely recognize the bald-headed man giving the report—the same fellow who occasionally shows up at Bai Xu these days and, a while ago, squatted across the street from Bai Xu, cupping his ear to listen to Shazhu and Secretary Zhao's conversation.

Everything turned out just as Shazhu had anticipated!

The booming business of Bai Xu attracted some greedy, ill‑intentioned people.

People die for wealth, birds die for food.

Your Bai Xu is pulling in profits by the bushel each day.

You ought to share some of the broth with the folks around you.

Some principled people, such as Lou Xiaoe, have started thinking about opening a restaurant in the Capital City, wanting the shopfront and interior decor to match Bai Xu's.

That's the mindset of copying a cat to draw a tiger—imitating without understanding.

Feeling their way across the river by feeling Bai Xu's stones—i. e., feeling their way by following Bai Xu's example.

Then they plan to lure Shazhu over to be their executive chef.

All set!

Those without scruples, who will do anything for profit, have resort to underhanded tactics.

Lazily unwilling to move or think, they just want to take the easy way, and the idea arises of seizing Bai Xu and turning it into their own enterprise.

The young man sitting on the sofa is the representative of such people.

They claim to have connections, but it's just nonsense; otherwise they wouldn't be ignorant of Bai Xu's ownership and think of seizing it.

They say they have no connections, yet they still have some ties, knowing that Bai Xu, under Shazhu's leadership, handed over a pure profit of ten thousand this month.

With average monthly wages under fifty dollars, a monthly pure profit of ten thousand—what does that mean!

The young man eyes a motorcycle; an ordinary person would need years of saving without eating or drinking to afford one, but if Bai Xu fell into his hands, he could buy one in just two or three months.

That is the young man's starting point for targeting Bai Xu.

As for the bald man standing before the young man, he is the young man's lackey; the young man promises to give him a satisfactory reward if the venture succeeds.

The bald man only occasionally shows up at Bai Xu's door, trying to find out as much as he can about Bai Xu.

The young man isn't brainless either; he knows he must first learn Bai Xu's details before acting, lest he kick an iron plate.

……

These past few days, Shazhu has also noticed that bald-headed burly man who looks no good at first glance.

He suspects someone is still not giving up.

When he had just seen Secretary Zhao off, he deliberately, in front of the bald man, chatted a few friendly words with Secretary Zhao, asked about the superior's health, said he would report to the superior in a few days to reassure him about Bai Xu, and said he would certainly carry out the superior's instructions to expand and strengthen Bai Xu.

At first Secretary Zhao might not have known why Shazhu said that.

But later he understood the meaning behind Shazhu's words.

He sighed inwardly.

Knowing Shazhu was trying to throw his weight around, he went along with Shazhu's idea, said a few lines, adopting the tone of a representative leader coming for an inspection.

There were things Shazhu didn't know, but Secretary Zhao did.

It was because Shazhu had reported Bai Xu's previous month's revenue, profit, and other data to the Senior Leader the day before, which really made Shazhu lose his temper.

Some were optimistic.

For example, the Senior Leader.

Thought Shazhu was not bad.

Some were not optimistic about Shazhu, thinking he was stabbing them in the back, with a monthly profit of ten thousand, leaving the three- or four-hundred-person repair shop far behind.

The repair shop where Yang Qianjin worked was small, and the factory leader clung to outdated thinking, waiting for orders to come in, and last month couldn't even pay the workers' wages.

At the coordination meeting.

The supervising leader gave a furious head-to-toe scolding.

The repair shop's leader began to resent Shazhu.

Secretary Zhao knew about these circumstances, but Shazhu was unaware; seeing Shazhu want to borrow influence, he readily let Shazhu put on a big show of waving a tiger skin and raising a flag.

He guessed that someone was jealous of Bai Xu, the golden-egg-laying chicken.

He cooperated with Shazhu as much as possible.

……

Guangtou reported everything he had heard at Bai Xu in detail to the youngster, saying how many customers came at noon, how many people came to eat dinner in the evening, and how many were still waiting outside.

The youngster's heart.

Blazing heat.

He felt he must get Bai Xu.

But Guangtou's final words were like a bucket of ice-cold water, instantly extinguishing the youngster's raging fury.

What Senior Leader!

The youngster knew someone stood behind Bai Xu; otherwise it would have been taken over long ago.

But this grandiose modification made the youngster a bit suspicious; ordinary people call their direct superior just 'leader', yet Shazhu used the three words 'Senior Leader', and the person who seemed to be the leader's secretary also replied to Shazhu using those three words.

It was somewhat irregular.

Anyway, in the youngsters' minds, all this seemed somewhat against common sense.

When his father talked with the secretary of his direct superior, the secretary could only describe his father's direct superior as 'leader'.

Senior Leader!

The youngster thought of something.

He questioned Guangtou.

"What surname does that secretary have?"

"Zhao!" Guangtou added, to show off his achievements, "Shazhu and Secretary Zhao treat each other like brothers—Shazhu calls him 'younger brother', and he calls Shazhu 'older brother'."

"Secretary Zhao!"

The youngster muttered to himself.

He picked up the phone, dialed a few numbers, and quietly asked the other party.

He didn't know what the person on the other end of the phone said to the youngster.

In Guangtou's sight, the youngster's face grew paler and his body trembled slightly; after hanging up, he was like a crab boiled in boiling water.

He said nothing.

He looked as if his parents had just died.

After more than ten seconds.

The impatient Guangtou asked a question, but was met with the youngster's fists and feet, cursing foul-mouthed things like 'If you want to die, don't drag me down—you can't handle people like that,' and so on.

Even if Guangtou were stupider,

he would also know the youngster had kicked an iron plate this time.

He wouldn't say anything else.

He slunk out of the courtyard, dejected.

The youngster remaining indoors couldn't describe his depression; Bai Xu was a golden-egg-laying chicken, but not one the youngster could afford; the person behind it—let alone the youngster's father, even the youngster's father's direct superior—would have to look up to them.

He also felt a bit relieved that, having investigated beforehand, otherwise the whole family would have been doomed.

……

In the afternoon, after two o'clock.

Shazhu changed into fresh clothes, dragged his weary body out of Bai Xu, greeted Yu Li, and rode his niezi putt-putt to the Capital City Hotel.

This was the most luxurious hotel in the Capital City.

People coming and going.

Either rich or noble.

Lou Xiaoe lived here.

A few days earlier, Qin Huairu, wanting to bleed Lou Xiaoe dry, had painstakingly found out where she lived and come specially to the hotel to look for her, but was blocked by the conscientious doorman and could not enter.

He felt a bit displeased.

He felt that, as a neighbor of Lou Xiaoe, coming to see her, he was still stopped outside by the guard dog, which Lou Xiaoe deliberately did to keep him out.

When leaving.

He kept looking back with envy at the Capital City Hotel behind him, wondering when he too could move in and enjoy imperial treatment.

Because renovating the siheyuan failed to coax Lou Xiaoe and Shazhu into squeezing money from the neighbors, the blood-sucking alliance collapsed instantly, and Jia Zhangshi's housekeeper second madam became a laughingstock.

Even Qin Huairu, who was implicated, tried to keep a low profile as much as possible.

A fire at the city gate brings disaster to the fish in the moat.

Unwilling to give up, Qin Huairu appeared again not far from the Capital City Hotel, staring at the entrance with eyes full of envy, jealousy, and hatred, wondering how she could openly walk inside.

Her eyes.

Her eyes widened.

She saw Shazhu riding the Item: niezi.

Instantly she understood that Shazhu had come to find Lou Xiaoe.

Thinking whether she could sneak in by following behind Shazhu, she came out of her hiding place, unconsciously quickening her steps. Seeing Shazhu talking to the guard, and the guard also making way, Qin Huairu worried about being left behind, so she broke into a little run.

But she was still a bit late.

By the time Qin Huairu ran to the hotel entrance, Shazhu had already entered the hotel, and his figure had disappeared into the lobby. Qin Huairu instinctively moved her steps, wanting to follow him inside.

But the guard directly stopped her.

"Comrade, I'm with that person ahead—he's fast, I'm slow." The scheming woman tried to fool the guard with nonsense: "My name is Qin Huairu, this is my work ID."

A red-covered little book appeared in Qin Huairu's hand; it was her work certificate from Yagangchang. She opened it and showed it to the guard, then called out Shazhu's name.

"The person ahead is He Yuzhu; he used to be the cafeteria chief at Yagangchang, and now he's the person in charge at Bai Xu Restaurant. Yesterday we agreed to come together today to look for Lou Xiaoe. Lou Xiaoe and I are neighbors from the Red Star Courtyard; we haven't seen each other in over ten years. Back then, we got along well in the Siheyuan."

Qin Huairu thought that flashing her work ID and calling out Shazhu's name would make the guard let her through, but she underestimated the guard's professionalism.

Instead of making way, he coldly drove Qin Huairu away.

Qin Huairu was unwilling to give up, seeming to want to cause a scene like Jia Zhangshi, but another guard, with a click, chambered a round in his weapon.

The scheming woman gave up persisting, slinking off to the side, thinking about sitting here waiting for Shazhu to come out, wondering what to talk about with him and how he got into the hotel.

Qin Huairu never imagined that Lou Xiaoe had given Shazhu the green light, having previously notified the guard: if a person named He Yuzhu, the person in charge at Bai Xu Restaurant, came looking for her, they should let Shazhu in. That was the reason Shazhu could enter the Capital City Hotel unimpeded.

According to the signs, Shazhu arrived at the floor where Lou Xiaoe was, lightly knocking on room 8101, accompanied by a clear 'please come in'.

Shazhu slowly pushed open the door.

Seeing Lou Xiaoe smiling as she stood behind the door.

Shazhu lowered his head to look at his clothes, tidied them a bit, then followed Lou Xiaoe behind her into the room. He had originally intended to keep the door open while talking with Lou Xiaoe, but then he realized he needed to discuss exchanging US dollars with her.

What is the nature of US dollars now?

Shazhu knows.

He casually closed the door.

Under Lou Xiaoe's playful, surprised gaze, he sat on the sofa opposite her.

An open-and-above-board scene.

He broke through Lou Xiaoe's defenses.

This room had also been visited by the leaders of Yagangchang; each of their faces showed shock, perhaps because they hadn't expected a wealthy person to stay in such a luxurious hotel.

Lou Xiaoe thought Shazhu would be just as shocked by her residence as those leaders, but she didn't expect him to be unfazed.

She felt a bit curious.

Shazhu's composure made Lou Xiaoe think more highly of him.