Just as Deng Zheyan was having someone contact the three men—Huang, Lu, and Deng—a sudden clamor of noisy commotion erupted outside, sounding as if a large crowd had arrived.
Deng Zheyan instinctively looked through the glass doors and indeed saw a dense, dark mass of university students gathered outside.
At the front of the crowd, a chubby young man was holding a loudspeaker, shouting:
"Come on, come on! Free internet access! Ten free hours per person, fair deal for all!"
"But I gotta remind you all, Brother Ma Da is treating you to internet today. If anyone dares to secretly top up their account, that means you're disrespecting me, Ma Da, and disrespecting our Wanlong Society!"
Upon hearing the words "Wanlong Society," the students immediately understood and assured him.
"Don't worry, Brother Ma! We absolutely won't top up. We're here for the free ride, all the way!"
"Yeah! Whoever tops up is a grandson!"
"Wanlong Society is mighty! Brother Ma is mighty!"
"Brother Ma, we promise not to top up!"
"..."
Ma Da nodded with satisfaction, picked up the loudspeaker again, and added, "Oh, right, almost forgot to tell you brothers. If you guys want instant noodles or milk tea while surfing the net, just have the attendant go buy them from the Huangquan E-sports across the street. Their noodles are tasty and cheap, especially the newly launched 'Bo Ya Breaks the Strings' milk tea—it's incredibly good. Mention my name for a 20% discount."
"Don't feel bad about asking! The attendants are paid a salary; what's wrong with them running a little errand?!"
The crowd of students responded enthusiastically again.
"No problem, Brother Ma!"
"........."
Seeing this scene outside his internet cafe, Deng Zheyan's face turned green with rage. He rushed to the entrance to block them.
"Ma Da, what exactly do you mean by this? What are you doing bringing so many people here?!"
Ma Da unhurriedly handed the loudspeaker to a subordinate beside him and said with a grin, "To use the internet, of course. Boss Deng, why are you so angry? You're open for business; customers are at your door. Aren't you going to welcome them?"
"I welcome normal paying customers, not you lot who are here for a free ride and to cause trouble!" Deng Zheyan retorted, pointing at them.
"Calling us freeloaders?"
Ma Da feigned surprise and pointed at the promotional notice posted outside the door. "Boss Deng, it's written clearly right here on your cafe's notice: 'Bring one person to form a team for internet access, and each person gets an extra ten hours of free time, permanently valid.' I brought you so many people. How can that be called freeloading? We're strictly following your promotional rules! Right, everyone?"
"Right!" the students shouted in unison.
"You... you're twisting words!"
Deng Zheyan was so angry he saw stars. "That notice was maliciously altered last night! I have surveillance footage to prove it!"
"Is that so?"
Ma Da crossed his arms, looking amused. "Then show us the surveillance footage right now. If you produce it, we won't say another word and will top up properly to use the internet. But if you can't produce it..."
"That proves you're lying! Going back on your word!"
Seeing that the internet cafe owner might try to weasel out of the deal, potentially costing them their free internet time, the students immediately became unhappy. The crowd grew agitated.
"Boss, you're not actually trying to back out, are you?!"
"Exactly! Your door clearly says 'free ten hours, permanently valid.' It's posted in black and white, and all of us saw it! Now that we're here, you're saying it doesn't count? Are you messing with us?"
"Yeah, boss! You think you can just change it whenever you want? Think we're fools? Brother Ma explained it clearly just now; the notice is right there! Where's the surveillance footage? Show it to us!"
"If you can't produce it, you've got something to hide!"
"You set up this promotion yourself, and now that you see so many people, you're having second thoughts about the cost and want to back out! Shady business!"
"Shady business! Liar! Going back on your word!"
"We're going to file a collective complaint against your internet cafe! We'll also expose this shady shop on the university forum and the local online boards!"
"Yeah! Expose him!"
"..."
Seeing the students' emotions running higher, with some even pulling out their phones ready to call in complaints, Deng Zheyan panicked instantly.
He couldn't produce the evidence right now. If he didn't handle this well, his internet cafe might really be ordered to suspend operations for a few days.
Left with no other choice, he could only grit his teeth and let the crowd in to use the internet, thinking he'd stabilize the situation first and figure something out later.
As soon as Deng Zheyan relented, the students surged into the internet cafe, perfectly timing their arrival to seamlessly replace the customers who were just preparing to log off.
The worst off were the attendants, ordered around by the students like spinning tops.
One moment they had to go across the street to buy the discounted "Bo Ya Breaks the Strings" milk tea, the next moment they had to buy instant noodles, and so on.
They ran back and forth countless times, nearly exhausted to the point of stupor.
Three out of the five daytime staff members quit on the spot, worn out.
For a monthly salary of just eight hundred, why kill yourself working like that?
Deng Zheyan finally understood why, when he entered the cafe earlier, he saw the attendants looking listless and drained.
Turns out they had all been run ragged.
Ma Da and his group weren't deliberately trying to torment these innocent attendants either.
Seeing three of them quit, Ma Da immediately stepped forward and offered that if they were willing, they could go work at their Huangquan Internet Cafe right away, with priority for future branch openings.
If they weren't willing, he would compensate them five hundred yuan on the spot for emotional distress.
Hearing such a good deal, the three attendants were immediately grateful and ran straight over to the internet cafe across the street to report for duty.
They figured that an internet cafe backed by an organization like the Wanlong Society at least wouldn't treat them like grandsons to be ordered around constantly.
With three people gone all at once, the shop became even busier.
Deng Zheyan finally couldn't take it anymore and approached Ma Da, who was leisurely smoking a cigarette at the entrance.
"Ma Da, don't go too far!"
"Me, go too far?"
Ma Da viciously crushed his cigarette butt underfoot and shot Deng Zheyan a sidelong glance. "Then what about you sending people to plant a virus in our Huangquan Internet Cafe, causing dozens of our machines to blue screen and crash? Didn't you think that was going too far? Huh?"
Deng Zheyan's heart skipped a beat. He evaded, "Nonsense! When did I ever do such a thing? You're slandering me!"
Ma Da gave a cold laugh. "Looks like you won't admit it until you're faced with the coffin. Fine then, when you get those people here, I'll question them face-to-face!"
Deng Zheyan: "You..."
After what Ma Da said, he really didn't dare to call over those three troublemakers, Huang, Lu, and Deng, anymore.
Frustrated and with nowhere to vent his anger, he turned directly to the promotional notice board by the door and unleashed a torrent of abuse on it.
Then, he went back to the internet cafe's workroom and called his investor, hoping to ask them to help mediate.
He truly regretted it now, regretted provoking the other side first.
The investor on the other end of the line, however, showed him no courtesy at all.
"Business competition is inherently brutal. Since you chose Ms. Liu Yutong as your opponent, then show your capabilities. Remember, the means aren't important; the result is!"
With that, the other party hung up directly.
Of course, the investor spoke to Deng Zheyan this way entirely because his weight in the investor's eyes was too low.
If it were a top-tier, highly regarded entrepreneur, the investor's attitude would undoubtedly be more amiable than anyone's.
However, the investor's words weren't wrong. Business warfare is inherently brutal. The difficulties Deng Zheyan was facing were completely insignificant compared to the business wars they had witnessed.
If he couldn't withstand such minor hardships, then he should be prepared to be trampled underfoot.
Deng Zheyan was so furious he nearly smashed his phone to pieces.
Just then, he turned his head and saw a black Maybach parking across the street in front of the Huangquan Internet Cafe.
The door opened, and a familiar figure stepped out — Liu Yutong.
Deng Zheyan's first reaction upon seeing Liu Yutong was fear. The reputation of the Wanlong Society's young mistress was no joke around the university district.
Yet, as he thought of his current predicament, the fear in his heart was gradually replaced by a surge of intense hatred.
This woman seemed born to be his nemesis. First, she snatched his secret recipe for small fish pot stickers back in Wushui County, and now she had deliberately opened an internet cafe right opposite his, aiming to pull the rug out from under him completely.
"If this woman doesn't die, I'll never be able to turn my life around. I'll forever be crushed under her heel, targeted until the day I die!"
"In that case... then you should just die!"
With this thought, he picked up his phone again and dialed a mysterious number he had once obtained by chance.
This number was for people who handled dirty work, the kind that couldn't see the light of day.
The call rang several times before someone answered, and the person on the other end was extremely cautious.
"Who are you looking for?"
"I'm looking for Boss Zhu. I'd like to buy some bones to make soup!"
Only after hearing the code phrase did the person on the other end continue.
"Is the target tough?"
"Well... just a little bit tough, I suppose."
"Two million!"
"Can't afford it. Goodbye!"
Deng Zheyan hung up immediately after saying that.
What a joke!
Two million just to get rid of one person? I don't have that kind of money!
