Chapter 29: Doing Favors

“That way, the public will become more familiar with you. There will be gains, but also losses.”

Chen Hao didn’t elaborate further, but both Ruonan and Jiewen understood clearly what he meant.

Becoming the spokespersons for the convenience store meant making their relationship with Chen Hao public. It would bring them more attention and support, but also possibly some hostility.

They had already anticipated this when they chose to follow Chen Hao in the first place.

Every choice comes with pros and cons—the key is weighing which matters more.

At present, the benefits clearly outweighed the risks, especially since Chen Hao had officially assigned them the task of promoting the convenience store.

Noticing that it was getting late, and that the two women were nearly sore from massaging all day, Chen Hao lightly waved his hand to signal the end of the meeting.

“That’s all for today. Go get some rest, and tomorrow, come find me at the Jiashang Human Resources Company.”

“When you leave, remember to go to the bar counter and get some wine from Ah Liang.”

This time, Jiewen didn’t object. She apologized to Ruonan and then left Chen Hao’s office.

Ruonan felt a bit disappointed—nothing beyond a “friendship-level” interaction had happened tonight. Though Chen Hao had promised never to force anything against her will, she hadn’t even had the chance to express her own feelings.

Still, she thought to herself—there would always be another chance. She’d just have to wait and see.

The two of them walked out of the office together and found the bartender Ah Liang, who started telling them a few things about Chen Hao.

As a loyal employee of the new boss, it was his duty to know his superior’s preferences—especially anything related to the convenience store, including the fact that Hongxing members were now entitled to a 50% discount.

Hearing this, Ruonan and Jiewen were stunned. Such generosity was almost unheard of—Chen Hao really did seem like a man with deep pockets.

Ruonan hugged Jiewen worriedly and said, “The boss is being too extravagant. Let’s talk to him about it tomorrow!”

Jiewen agreed wholeheartedly.

Then, Ah Liang respectfully handed them two bottles of Lafite red wine that “Brother Hao” had packed for them. He warmly addressed them both as saozi (sisters-in-law).

Jiewen blushed slightly at the title but didn’t object and accepted the wine. Ruonan, on the other hand, just laughed and praised Ah Liang for his tact.

“You’re a sharp one, kid,” she chuckled.

Ah Liang bowed with a grin, saying, “Take care, sisters-in-law.”

The other little brothers chimed in, calling out “Sister-in-law” as well.

Surrounded by that title, the two women felt like they were walking on air—their steps light and graceful, like fairies floating in the sky.

Watching them leave with the bottles of Lafite in hand, Ah Liang smiled with satisfaction.

To make this happen—and to spread news of Chen Hao’s convenience store—he had deliberately leaked word of the two newcomers. After all, if they were the boss’s women, it was only natural to address them as sisters-in-law among the brothers.

Letting the boss’s women help manage things? A win-win situation. None of them wanted to see the boss’s money being thrown away for no reason.

As they exited the bar, Jiewen whispered:

“Is this really okay? What if the boss gets mad?”

Ruonan rolled her eyes. “They were calling us sister-in-law, and you didn’t stop them either!”

Of course Jiewen had wanted to stop it—how could Ruonan not know what she was thinking? They understood each other without words.

Ruonan gave Jiewen’s firm butt a playful pat, which made Jiewen yelp in surprise.

“Ah! What are you doing? Don’t joke around like that here!”

Ruonan chuckled, savoring the moment, and thought to herself that her sister really did feel pretty good—almost as good as herself.

Still smiling, she said, “Alright, I know you’re into the boss too. Stop pretending.”

“No matter how much we fight, we’re still sisters. Better the ‘fertile water’ stays in the family than flows into outsiders’ fields.”

“Let’s just figure out what we’re going to do tomorrow—how to get the boss to really notice us!”

Jiewen’s cheerful smile instantly faded into a worried frown after hearing that.

---

Late at night, Chen Hao returned home, and a system notification rang in his ears.

[Ding! Today’s income: 1.3745 million HKD (after 10x critical bonus). Total automatically deposited in your bank account.]

[Assets: increased from 2.929 million HKD to 16.674 million HKD.]

Hearing this, Chen Hao froze.

He expected decent earnings today, but nothing this shocking.

Upon reflection, it made sense: each time he restocked the convenience store, it cost around 100,000 HKD. But since the members of Hung Hing were selling at 50% off, it was equivalent to a 50,000 HKD turnover.

After four major restocks, the massive returns added up.

Normally, if a convenience store did 5,000 HKD a day, it’d already be impressive.

But today’s spike came from the half-price sale, plus the unexpected help from Liang Kun and Ba Bi, who tried to sabotage him—yet ironically helped him profit even more.

Chen Hao couldn’t help but wonder: what would it look like the day Liang Kun and Ba Bi realize that instead of ruining him, they were making him richer?

He could already picture the rage on their faces.

---

Western District.

Early morning.

Bucky was still sound asleep when he was startled awake by urgent knocking and sobbing.

Still groggy, he opened the door—and was stunned to see his former lover, Cuilian, tears streaming down her face.

“Brother Ji, you… you have to help my brother!” she cried.

“He’s been beaten badly and is in critical condition at the hospital.”

“If anything happens to him… I don’t want to live either…”

She choked on her sobs, barely able to form complete sentences, haunted by the image of her younger brother Fei Biu, now crippled and broken.

Bucky sighed deeply. He knew Fei Biu all too well.

The guy had long been abusing his relationship with Cuilian and Bucky—running wild under Bucky’s name, damaging Hung Hing’s reputation.

Some folks had held back from beating him out of respect for Bucky, but they all knew this punk had nearly gotten himself killed more than once.

Fei Biu wasn’t a total fool—he knew his name didn’t carry much weight outside of the Western District, so he never dared act out elsewhere.

This time, it seemed someone had finally done the community a favor.

Still… Fei Biu was Cuilian’s younger brother.

Cuilian had once been the moonlight in Bucky’s heart—the woman who had made him a man.

But fate had played its hand: her father had looked down on Bucky’s poverty and married her off to a rich old man.

After the old man died, they got back together for a while, but it didn’t last.

By then, Cuilian had aged, and the attraction was gone. Rekindling their relationship was more out of nostalgia than passion—but to Bucky’s frustration, she had become a shadow he couldn’t shake.

Bucky waved her off impatiently. “Alright, go home for now. Let me figure out what’s going on.”

Cuilian, unwilling to back down, 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 do this for me? Just this once?”

Bucky exploded: “If Fei Biu wasn’t your brother, I would’ve beaten him to a pulp already!”

“He goes around flaunting my name, causing chaos everywhere, nearly making me a laughingstock!”

Seeing Bucky’s fury, Cuilian didn’t dare say another word. She turned and left silently.

In her heart, she knew: Bucky no longer had interest in a woman like her, whose beauty had faded with time.

She had once married a crusty old rich man. After his death, his children tried to kick her out with nothing.

Fortunately, by then Bucky had become a top figure in Hung Hing. With his influence, she secured part of the inheritance.

From then on, Cuilian realized: as a woman with no power, her only way to survive in Hong Kong’s underworld was to cling tightly to Bucky.

Even now, with Bucky growing colder toward her, she still refused to let go of that connection.

---

After sending Cuilian off, Bucky returned to his base, visibly irritated.

Just as he stepped in, he saw Brother Qiang busily working.

He waved him over.

“Qiang, come here for a second.”

Brother Qiang smiled and approached.

“Qiang, help me find out what happened to Fei Biu last night.”

Bucky got straight to the point.

Brother Qiang hesitated, looking uneasy.

Seeing him just stand there, Bucky grew puzzled. “Why aren’t you moving?”

After a pause, Brother Qiang replied, “Brother Ji… I already know about it.”

Bucky’s eyes lit up. “Then tell me—who was the hero that cleaned up the trash?”