Liu Yutong was currently inspecting the operations of a supermarket.
Almost as soon as she stepped inside, Yang Xin hurriedly arrived.
Bright Pearl City’s urban area wasn’t large, and the distance from the company to the supermarket wasn’t far, so it naturally didn’t take much time.
As soon as Yang Xin saw Liu Yutong, he immediately greeted her, "Young Miss!"
Without wasting any words, Liu Yutong cut straight to the point, "Tell me the current situation."
Yang Xin quickly reported, "Young Miss, we had just finished the handover with Mingcheng Supermarket’s management when news broke that their stores were being vandalized. Two supermarkets have been hit so far. In one of them, most of the employees are unharmed, but the interior was completely trashed. It’ll take three days of renovations before reopening. The second supermarket was hit worse—we just got word that several former Mingcheng Supermarket employees were injured, though thankfully not seriously. They’ve already been sent to the hospital for treatment."
"Also, we reported it to the police immediately."
Liu Yutong instructed, "Even though the injured employees were previously Mingcheng Supermarket’s staff, now that the supermarkets belong to us, we must handle this properly. Make time to personally visit them in the hospital and ensure they’re well taken care of. They need to recover without worries."
"Understood!"
Yang Xin hesitated before adding, "Oh, Young Miss, some employees reported that many of the rioters seem to have participated in that rebate scheme Li Huai ran before. Now that their money’s gone and they can’t get it back, they’re furious and took it out on the supermarkets."
Liu Yutong frowned slightly. "It’s probably not that simple. This whole thing is too suspicious."
She had actually been preparing for something like this for a while.
Even though those who invested money had done so under Li Huai’s influence—a personal matter—Li Huai had still been the supermarket’s manager at the time. When things went wrong, people wouldn’t care who was responsible; they’d blame the supermarket.
So, she had anticipated this and leaked the information to Qi Wei in advance.
While gathering evidence, Qi Wei had already been monitoring Li Huai’s bank accounts to prevent him from fleeing with the money.
In reality, Li Huai hadn’t even had the chance to spend the embezzled funds before the police arrested him.
The authorities would surely return the money to the victims through proper procedures. As for the membership rebate program Mingcheng Supermarket ran before Li Huai’s involvement, the accounts had long been clearly separated. Logically, the supermarket shouldn’t be dragged into this mess again.
Under these circumstances, there was only one likely explanation—someone knew she had successfully acquired Mingcheng Supermarket and was deliberately spreading rumors, fanning the flames, and inciting these people to vandalize the stores.
For now, Liu Yutong couldn’t be sure who was behind it. After all, there were plenty of people who wanted to cause trouble for her.
Pan Xing, Yu Fei, even Lin Muyang, not to mention Wang Shi, who had a grudge against her over the Jin Xiangming incident.
Aside from these obvious adversaries, there were plenty of hidden enemies lurking in the shadows.
To say she had many external foes would be an understatement—she still had a long road ahead.
Liu Yutong quickly refocused and instructed Yang Xin, "The two vandalized supermarkets need to reopen as soon as possible. Then, we need to find a way to control the public narrative."
Yang Xin scratched his head, looking troubled. "Young Miss, how exactly do we control the narrative?"
Liu Yutong replied calmly, "Many of these people were ordinary folks deceived by Li Huai. At the end of the day, they don’t have any real grievance against us, so our approach should be gentle. We can’t escalate tensions."
Yang Xin nodded. "Understood. I’ll have someone notify—"
Yun Cheng cut in, "Young Miss, I’ve already called for reinforcements. At least three hundred men are on the way. That should be enough to suppress any unrest."
Yang Xin: "???"
Wait, was this what she meant by a "gentle approach"?
He couldn’t help but glance at the sky—the sun was nearly setting.
......
While Liu Yutong was still discussing the supermarket’s next steps with Yang Xin, a sudden commotion erupted outside.
Dozens of people surged toward the supermarket like a tidal wave, their faces filled with fury. Among them were ordinary citizens seething with anger, a few delinquents with dyed hair, and even a handful of shady figures lurking at the back, secretly snapping photos with their cameras.
Yang Xin’s expression darkened as he hurried to the supermarket entrance.
Bystanders in the area couldn’t help but stop and watch the spectacle.
As the mob neared the supermarket, Yang Xin grew frantic and shouted, "What do you think you’re doing? If you have grievances, let’s talk it out! Don’t act recklessly, and don’t crowd like this—disperse now!"
On the surface, his words sounded like a plea for reason, but what he really meant was: Our Wanlong Society men are on their way. If you don’t run now, it’ll be too late.
But the crowd wasn’t having it.
"Why should we leave? Mingcheng Supermarket stole our hard-earned money! We’re just here to demand justice—is that wrong?!"
"Yeah! Is that wrong?!"
"Damn right! Pay us back!"
"Pay up!"
"......"
The mob was beyond agitated, shouting at the top of their lungs as if tearing the supermarket apart was the only way to vent their rage.
Yang Xin had no choice but to steel himself and raise his voice again in warning. "I’m warning you—vandalizing property is illegal! You could end up behind bars!"
"What’s illegal about demanding our money back?!"
"Yeah, and there are so many of us—the law can’t punish everyone!"
"That’s right! The law can’t punish everyone!"
"Who the hell are you? Move, or we’ll beat you up too!"
"......"
"I’m the person in charge of Wanlong Supermarket! Mingcheng Supermarket has already been sold to us! Whatever their manager did has nothing to do with us! Even if you want revenge, you’ve got the wrong target!"
He had hoped that explaining the situation would make them realize they were blaming the wrong party. Instead, his words backfired.
A few people in the crowd exchanged glances before one raspy voice shouted, "Li Huai was colluding with Wanlong Supermarket all along to scam us! If this guy’s the person in charge, then he’s definitely the mastermind! Let’s grab him and make them pay!"
"Charge! Get that bastard!"
"......"
Yang Xin: "???"
Who are you calling a bastard?! Suddenly, he really hoped the Wanlong Society reinforcements would hurry up. Daring to call me a bastard?
How bold!
As a few instigators in the crowd egged them on, the already enraged mob completely lost control, charging at Yang Xin like a pack of ravenous wolves.
Liu Yutong watched the approaching crowd, then tilted her head slightly and asked Yun Cheng softly, "Did you remember everything?"
Yun Cheng nodded. "Got it, Miss. Six people in total—four egging them on, and two filming."
When it came to capturing footage, the Wanlong Society's men were the real professionals. The subtle movements of certain individuals in the crowd didn’t escape Yun Cheng, whose instincts had been honed by years in the field.
"Be careful!"
"Mm."
Yun Cheng slowly removed his jacket. The main force hadn’t arrived yet, so he had to hold off this mob intent on wrecking the supermarket alone.
Just as he was about to take off his shirt, a sudden icy gust swept through. He silently lowered his hands. It was the dead of winter—no need to copy Chu Yang’s habit of stripping down to show off.
As one of the troublemakers lunged at Yang Xin, ready to pummel him, a figure darted out from behind and sent the attacker sprawling with a single kick.
It was Yun Cheng.
What followed was like a tiger charging into a flock of sheep. Yun Cheng tore through the crowd, leaving a trail of fallen rioters in his wake, their cries of pain filling the air.
Meanwhile...
Not far away, a car lurked suspiciously, its occupants keeping a close watch on the supermarket. The two inside grew excited as soon as Yun Cheng made his move.
"They’re fighting! They’re fighting!"
"Damn! That guy’s insane—taking on so many at once without breaking a sweat."
"Good. The stronger he is, the juicier the story."
"Make sure they get good shots. We’ll post them online and send them to the press. Headline: 'Wanlong Supermarket colludes with Bright Pearl City executives to swindle the public, then beats up innocent protesters demanding justice.'"
"Got it."
"I wonder if the Wanlong Society will send reinforcements. If they do, even better. Then we can tweak the headline: 'Colluding with underworld forces to assault innocent civilians—lawless tyranny!'"
