Chapter 35: One Million Still Can't Buy Peace of Mind

  Ye Haodong is in his new house in the city at night.

  Ye Haodong, Li Weidong, Bao Ligang, Ding Dawei, Zhu Mingfu, the five of them had just finished listening to Zeng Baoluo's account of what happened a few days ago in a solitary place.

  Ye Haodong: "You all know that I promised to give him one million, and I was sincere in not wanting to cause trouble. But now it seems the effect is very bad. Er Xinzi has no shame, thinking I'm afraid of him. I plan to invite him out for a face-to-face talk this time, and gather everyone together to discuss who will go with me."

  The other four looked at each other: "Hao Dong, you arrange it. Whoever you tell to go will follow you. Whatever you plan to do, we'll do."

  Ye Haodong: "Gangzi, come with me. Weidong is now inseparable from you at the factory, so you should participate less in Dao affairs from now on. Dawei's fourth uncle can't leave his family unattended. This time, talking to Er Xinzi might lead to big trouble, and once we go in, we can't be lenient. You can't go either. Zhu Ge, inform San Ge on your side and send me a dozen or so brothers, mainly to protect my business. If something goes wrong, don't intervene, just report it to the police immediately."

  Zhu Mingfu nodded, somewhat worried: "Hmm, no problem, but how do you plan to ask Er Xinzi to talk? Are you and Gangzi going together?"

  Ye Haodong: "What's the point of having so many people, it's not like we're fighting a gang war. Don't worry, even if something really happens, I have a backup plan, Erxinzi can't turn the sky upside down."

  Zhu Mingfu became even more worried: "Do you want to shock the officials?"

  Ye Haodong shook his head, denying: "It's not at that point yet. As long as he only targets me personally, I won't make a fuss. After all, I'm also considered a man of the Tao. I haven't made preparations to oppose the entire city's thugs and rascals."

  "What other tricks do you have up your sleeve?"

  Ye Haodong looked at him and said, "Don't you have faith in me? You're great in every way, but you always make a big deal out of nothing. Let me open your eyes, take a look at this!" He then pulled out a long box from under the table and handed it to Bao Ligang, saying, "Take a look, do you like it? I'll show you what's inside later."

  At the foot of the mountain, in an uninhabited mountain valley.

  The box was opened, and inside was a crossbow. Baoli quickly assembled it with his skilled hands and muttered: "Russia's military secret Lukas strong crossbow, effective killing range of 300 meters, pneumatic assisted structure, can propel nickel-plated alloy steel arrows to fly over 500 meters, known as the world's strongest crossbow."

  In the box, there were also twenty alloy steel arrows. Bao Li had just pulled one out and loaded it into the crossbow with a string on it. He aimed at a pine tree 150 meters away with a trunk as wide as a bowl. As soon as he pulled the trigger, the arrow shot out like lightning and pierced through the trunk of the tree. Several people walked over to find that the arrow had already deeply embedded itself into the tree trunk.

  Ye Haodong made a concluding speech with a hint of pride: "On that day, Zizhong, you'll find a vantage point far away. Whoever thinks they can take advantage of me, you'll shoot them down. Er Xinzi thought that having more people would make him invincible, but he didn't know that the key to victory lies in precision, not numbers. The more people there are, the easier it is for things to go wrong, especially in our line of work."

  Inside the small conference room of Gangcheng City Public Security Bureau.

  Director Hong Yuzhou's eyebrows were furrowed into a big knot, his hands pressed against the conference table to support his stout body, and his thunderous roar was deafening, leaving all the participants in shock.

  "In a month, there have been successive shooting cases, with one death and nine injuries. Is this steel city still under the Communist Party's rule? You wear tiger skin, do you have any resemblance to tigers at all? I don't care if it's some underworld figures fighting each other, all I know is that ordinary people outside are stabbing us in the back, as long as they don't trust us, your work hasn't been done well!"

  Commissioner Ma Guoqing: "Now, I'd like to announce a new appointment: Lin Kai, former deputy director of the Municipal Public Security Bureau's Criminal Police Brigade, has been transferred to be the Deputy Commissioner of Yongping District Branch; Jiang Wei, former leader of Xin Guang District Branch's Criminal Police Team, has been transferred to be the Deputy Director of the Municipal Public Security Bureau's Criminal Police Brigade, and will take full responsibility for investigating these shooting cases."

  Jiang Wei wore his uniform neatly, with a solemn expression, standing upright and respectfully accepting the appointment.

  Zhu Sān ér and Ye Hǎo Dōng were in a small wine house, with only the two of them in the room.

  Zhu San'er: "Er Xinzi has obtained two guns in Xinjiang, you should be careful that he might harm you."

  Ye Haodong looked up and suddenly realized: "I said, where's that dog? It turns out he went to play with guns."

  Zhu San'er: "This kid has gone a bit crazy lately. He's got someone under him called Xie Tui'er, who's known as the 'Second Killer of Hei Province'. Just last Sunday, he killed Guo Baokun's fifth son at Lao Ye Miao Temple. Now all the Leizi in Gangcheng are investigating this matter. I heard that the reason for it was that Guo Baokun wouldn't let one of Er Xinzi's friends sell their goods in Shahe District."

  Ye Haodong was slightly surprised: "He's also involved in this business?"

  Zhu San'er nodded: "I see that he has changed a lot this time, not as fierce as before, but his methods are much more ruthless."

  Ye Haodong: "It's not that he wasn't fierce before, but now he's more cunning. He's no longer as impulsive as before. It seems like he's planning to grab the money first. Is it possible that when he hit Zeng Baoluo that day, it was just to win people over? Did he never plan to fight me to the death?"

  Zhu San'er's eyes lit up: "It's possible, if he had the intention of doing this business back then, he couldn't leave without these brothers under his hands to support him, so at that time he must have shown this attitude to win people's hearts."

  Ye Haodong shook his head, his facial expression firm: "It's not that simple, we can't be careless, still need to be cautious. Now he's messed up my life so much that I don't even dare go home. In the end, it's not a good thing. I plan to talk to him again, if this time he refuses again, I'll take care of him! Can't stand this nonsense!"

  Xing Green Paper Industry Office Building.

  Zhong Zhimin furiously shouted: "You can find whoever you want to do whatever, but I'm not doing it anymore. Previously, because of this broken machine, the products we produced didn't match the market, and the factory almost went bankrupt. Now you still want to continue using this machine, and produce those unsellable copperplate papers, and even plan to expand production? I absolutely cannot watch you lead the company into the fire pit again, and see these workers' newly established confidence be crushed once more."

  Ye Haodong remained expressionless as he listened to him finish speaking, leaning back in his chair with a casual tone: "Finished? If you're finished, then go do what you should be doing. I knew it was all nonsense, so I wouldn't have wasted this trip if I had known earlier. I only ask you one question, having followed me for so long, has my decision ever been wrong?"

  Zhong Zhimin's tone weakened and asked: "Do you have a stable sales channel?"

  Ye Haodong replied bluntly: "Not for now!"

  "So you still want to take the risk of continuing to use that equipment to produce that unsellable copperplate paper?"

  Ye Haodong: "This time I went to the south and opened my eyes, the construction of developed areas over there has already caught up with some more developed cities internationally. Do you know how big a place that is? Equivalent to several Hong Kongs? Several Tokyos? In the future, the domestic demand for copperplate paper will definitely grow exponentially, because it represents the future of the paper industry. What we need to do is take a step ahead, walk in front of others, and establish our new green paper industry's copperplate paper as the number one brand domestically."

  "What shall we do now?"

  Ye Haodong: "As for sales, I will think of a way to stock up on goods, but we will definitely not be in a situation where we can't afford to pay our expenses. Our main raw materials come from waste recycling, and there are nearly 200 waste recycling stations within the province that supply us with goods. We are also involved in pulping, so our supply of goods is sufficient and guaranteed. Our raw material costs are lower than others, and I believe our paper will definitely have a market. If not domestically for now, we can first go abroad or to other regions. By the time domestic demand picks up, we would have already established our brand image in the high-end paper field. At that time, you'll be so busy with orders that you won't even be able to return home, and you'll no longer worry about the factory not being able to operate."