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Chapter 6: A Nest of Fat Rabbits
“That way, the outside world will get to know more about you. There will be gains, but also losses.”
Chen Hao didn’t say much more, but both Ruonan and Jiewen understood clearly what he meant.
Becoming the spokespersons for the convenience store meant going public with their association with Chen Hao. This would attract more attention and support—but also might provoke resentment from some people.
They had already anticipated this risk when they chose to follow Chen Hao.
Every decision comes with pros and cons. The key is deciding which matters more.
As it stood now, the advantages clearly outweighed the risks—especially since Chen Hao had officially assigned them to handle the convenience store’s promotional campaign.
Seeing that it was getting late, and the two girls’ arms were sore from giving massages,
Chen Hao lightly waved them off and said:
“That’s all for today. Go home and rest. Tomorrow, come find me at Jiashangban Human Resources Company.”
“And on your way out, don’t forget to pick up some wine from A-Liang at the bar.”
This time, Jiewen didn’t protest. She apologized to Ruonan, then quietly left Chen Hao’s office.
Ruonan felt a little disappointed—nothing beyond a professional interaction happened tonight.
Although Chen Hao had promised never to cross any lines without her consent, she hadn’t even gotten the chance to speak her heart.
Still, Ruonan thought to herself: there will always be opportunities. Let’s take it step by step.
They walked out of the office together and found the bartender A-Liang, who began telling them about Chen Hao.
As a loyal employee of the new boss, it was his job to understand his superior’s preferences—especially when it came to store operations. One piece of news: members of Hongxing would enjoy a 50% discount.
Ruonan and Jiewen were stunned speechless at this generosity. It was rare to see someone so openhanded—Chen Hao really did seem like a generous boss.
Ruonan wrapped an arm around Jiewen and said with concern:
“The boss is being way too wasteful. Tomorrow, let’s talk to him together and try to talk him out of it!”
Jiewen agreed completely.
Then A-Liang respectfully handed them two bottles of Lafite red wine, specially packed by Hao-ge, and affectionately addressed both women as “sister-in-law.”
Jiewen blushed a little but didn’t object. She quietly accepted the wine.
Ruonan, on the other hand, smiled and praised A-Liang’s sharp eye:
“You’re a clever one, aren’t you?”
She chuckled as A-Liang bowed deeply, saying:
“Safe trip, sisters-in-law.”
The younger gang members nearby echoed the sentiment.
Surrounded by that title—“sister-in-law”—the two women felt like they were floating on air. Their steps became light and airy, as if they were graceful fairies flying free.
As he watched them leave with the Lafite in hand, A-Liang revealed a satisfied smile.
In order to make all this happen—and to help spread the word about Chen Hao’s convenience store—he had deliberately spread the news about the two new “ladies.”
After all, in the eyes of the gang brothers, it was natural to call the boss’s women “sister-in-law.”
And having the boss’s women help watch over how money was spent? It was the perfect solution. Nobody wanted to see their boss’s cash being wasted carelessly.
As they left the bar, Jiewen whispered:
“Is this really okay? What if the boss gets mad?”
Ruonan rolled her eyes. “Back when they were calling you ‘sister-in-law,’ why didn’t you stop them then?”
Of course Jiewen had wanted to stop it—Ruonan knew exactly what was on her mind. It was something they both understood without needing to say aloud.
Ruonan gave Jiewen a light slap on her firm butt, causing Jiewen to yelp:
“Hey! What are you doing? Don’t joke around like that here!”
Ruonan chuckled to herself, savoring the moment, thinking that her best friend’s figure was really impressive—almost as good as her own.
She went on teasing, saying:
“Alright, I know you’ve got a thing for the boss too. No need to keep pretending.”
“No matter how we compete with each other, at least we’re keeping it in the family. Better that than letting some outsider take him.”
“Let’s focus on what matters—how are we going to make the boss notice us tomorrow?”
Jiewen’s face, which had still been wearing a smile, suddenly clouded over with worry.
In the quiet of the night, Chen Hao returned home, only to be greeted by a system notification sound in his head:
[Ding! Today’s earnings: HK$1.3745 million (after a 10x critical hit bonus). Funds have been automatically deposited to your bank account.]
[Total assets increased from HK$2.929 million to HK$16.674 million.]
Chen Hao was momentarily stunned by the system’s alert.
He had expected a good day of income, but not this much.
After thinking it through, the earnings made sense: every time the convenience store restocked, it cost about HK$100,000. Because all members of the Hongxing gang were getting 50% off, it meant actual revenue was about HK$50,000 per batch.
With four major restocks in one day, the high return was no surprise.
Under normal circumstances, a convenience store pulling in HK$5,000 in daily sales would already be considered great.
But today’s boom was thanks to the half-price sale—plus the fact that Liang Kun and Bapi had come to cause trouble, only to end up boosting Chen Hao’s business even more.
Chen Hao couldn’t help but wonder what Liang Kun and Bapi’s expressions would be like once they realized their sabotage only made him richer.
He could already picture their frustration in his mind.
Western District.
Early morning.
Baji was still fast asleep when a sudden urgent knock and the sound of crying woke him.
Half-asleep, he opened the door and was surprised to see his old flame, Cuilian, standing there with tears streaming down her face.
“Brother Ji, you… you have to help my brother!”
She cried bitterly.
“He was badly beaten and is in critical condition at the hospital.”
“If anything happens to him, I won’t want to live either…”
She choked on her sobs, unable to form complete sentences as she thought about her brother Fei Biao’s mangled limbs.
Baji sighed helplessly.
He knew Fei Biao too well—the guy had relied on Baji’s name and his sister Cuilian’s relationship to run wild around the Western District, doing whatever he pleased and tarnishing the reputation of the Hongxing group.
Though some people had held back from beating him out of respect for Baji, they also knew this guy had nearly gotten himself killed more than once.
Fei Biao was somewhat cunning, too—he knew his reputation didn’t carry weight outside of the Western District, so he only acted lawless within his own turf.
This time, someone had finally rid the people of a menace—but no one knew who.
Still, Fei Biao was Cuilian’s own brother, after all.
Back in the day, Cuilian had been the white moonlight in Baji’s heart—the woman who made him truly feel like a man.
Unfortunately, fate had other plans. Her father disapproved of Baji because he had no money and forced her to marry a wealthy old man.
After the old man died, the two rekindled their relationship—but it didn’t last long.
Cuilian, now aged and no longer alluring, had lost much of her appeal to Baji. Their reunion was mostly to patch up past regrets. But who knew Cuilian would cling to him like a shadow, becoming a source of constant frustration.
Waving his hand in irritation, Baji said:
“Alright, you go home first. Let me figure out what’s going on.”
Cuilian, unwilling to give up, protested: “Brother Ji, he’s my real brother!”
“I know you’ve never liked him, but for the sake of what we once had, can’t you help him out—just this once?”
Baji’s temper flared at her words, and he roared:
“If Fei Biao wasn’t your brother, I would’ve beaten him to a pulp a long time ago!”
“He goes around bullying people under my name, making me a laughingstock!”
Seeing him so furious, Cuilian dared not say another word. She silently turned and left.
She knew in her heart—Baji was no longer interested in an aging, faded woman like her.
Once, she’d married a stubborn old man. When he passed, his children even tried to kick her out with nothing.
Luckily, by then Baji had already become the Hongxing boss. Relying on his power, Cuilian managed to secure part of the inheritance.
From that point on, she realized: as a powerless woman, clinging to Baji was the only way to survive in the underworld of Hong Kong Island.
Even now, though Baji’s attitude toward her had grown increasingly cold, she was unwilling to let go of their relationship so easily.
After sending Cuilian away, Baji returned to his base feeling irritated and restless. As soon as he stepped through the door, he saw Brother Qiang busily working.
He waved him over:
“Ah Qiang, come here a sec.”
Brother Qiang responded with a smile and walked over.
“Ah Qiang, help me look into what happened to Fei Biao last night.”
Baji immediately asked.
Brother Qiang didn’t move right away and looked hesitant.
Seeing the hesitation, Baji grew confused and pressed:
“Why aren’t you moving?”
After a moment of hesitation, Brother Qiang replied, “Brother Ji, I already know what happened.”
Baji’s eyes lit up and he urgently asked, “Quick, tell me—who got rid of that menace for the people?”
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