Age of Legends

Chapter 299 Persuasion
It rained in the afternoon. In the rain and mist, Zhang Chen crouched down and entered the half-closed roller shutter door of Shengfeng store on Shuwa Street.

This is the headquarters of Shengfeng, the place where his dream began. Sometimes, Zhao Tao sleeps better here than when he's on night duty at an internet cafe. But right now, all of Zhao Tao's close associates are present in the store.

Zhao Tao sat imposingly in the innermost seat. He was wearing a simple suit, but he was a natural clothes hanger, tall and well-proportioned, which made the suit look very tailored.

In just six months, Shengfeng has grown to have eighty employees, four delivery points in the core urban area, and has secured three delivery routes covering industrial parks, the city's CBD, and core business districts. It has established itself as a small, growing local courier company with stable order fulfillment and monthly revenue.

Zhao Tao's expansion went smoothly, largely due to his reputation. Strangely enough, Zhao Tao's dedication to business didn't cause him to disappear from the business world; instead, as more and more brothers followed him, Zhao Tao actually gained considerable prestige. Before, leading his gang to fight meant winning a fight and becoming the boss. Now, Zhao Tao maintains a courier company with eighty employees, providing them with food and clothing. He has many supporters and has even become a role model.

His reputation has not diminished but rather increased.

However, troubles also arose. As the company expanded, Zhao Tao planned to rent a plot of land on the west bank of the Shahe River developed by the government to build two hub warehouses and transfer stations. However, after the contract was signed, the other party broke the contract at the last minute. It was only through the vague news that Liu Qi had used his connections to intercept the contract, saying that he had his eye on the land and wanted to use it as a "temporary material warehouse" for Yipin Real Estate's future development of the west bank of the Shahe River.

The warehousing had already been put into operation, but Liu Qi's move directly broke a link in Shengfeng's logistics chain. Zhao Tao had to temporarily rent expensive space to fill the gap, resulting in a significant loss.

Furthermore, Zhao Tao and his colleagues discovered a sudden increase in joint enforcement actions by the Industry and Commerce Bureau and the Postal Service, with multiple raids on their business outlets. This ruthless approach disrupted the long-standing tacit understanding between the Postal Service and Shengfeng, and the discovery of certain mail led to the closure and rectification of several outlets.

Zhao Tao learned through his connections that prior to this joint enforcement action, Zhou Kai, Liu Qi's deputy general manager, had frequent contact with the head of the Industry and Commerce Enforcement Bureau and had drunk with him several times.

Today, the powder keg was at its most volatile. When Zhang Chen entered, he saw Chen Xing, one of Zhao Tao's underlings, with one hand bandaged and the other holding a bottle of beer, which he was chugging down, foaming at the mouth. He spat, "Brother Tao, Liu Qi is bullying us! I bet he's the one pulling the strings behind the investigation of our station! Today, on my way to deliver goods, their truck clearly saw our Shengfeng truck, but they still drove right past it. My hand injury is nothing, but their attitude was clearly picking a fight with us! They were deliberately trying to start a brawl! Seven or eight of my brothers at the station didn't lift a finger, and they called us cowards! It's not that we're afraid to fight, but if you, Brother Tao, take back your words 'Shengfeng's brothers can't fight,' I'll definitely crack that Zhao Laosan's skull open!"

The group was indignant. These were the current station managers and drivers, all close friends of Zhao Tao.

Wearing a vest, the broad-shouldered and thick-waisted Bu Ruijie looked at the noisy scene, stretched out a hand, and the crowd's temper temporarily subsided as they listened to the words of this most prestigious person after Zhao Tao.

Bu Ruijie then said, "Zhao Tao, we've had dinner with Liu Qi before, and we've toasted you. He knows about Shengfeng. What does it mean that he used his connections to seize those two warehouses? Besides, even if Yipin Group needs to find temporary material warehouses on the west bank of the Shahe River, can't they find other warehouses? Why would they need our two? Yipin Group is such a big company. Why would they even look at a small company like Shengfeng?"

After a pause, Bu Ruijie finally uttered the question that everyone now agreed on: "Does Liu Qi think he's all that now and wants to make an example of you?"

"Monkey" Qian Junyi tugged at his lame leg, which he had broken when he jumped from a high building during his fight with Boss Xiong: "Although I can't run fast now, if you give me two wrenches, I can block the door and still do what I used to do. Either I don't run behind you, or I block the door, and no one can get past me."

Hong Yao, with his long hair hanging down, lit a cigarette. As the smoke gathered, he took a deep drag, gritted his teeth, and said, "We brothers have worked together for so many years, and we've never been bullied like this before. We're at the door and we don't even dare to move. Brother Tao, just say the word, and we'll do it! We'll take action today!"

"Do it!"

"Damn it, if it's a bad deal, I'll just quit this legitimate business!"

"People fight for their pride, even Buddhas fight for a stick of incense! They won't let us have an easy time, do they think the tiger has returned to the mountain? Lost its teeth? We'll let Liu Qi know that Zhao Tao is still Zhao Tao!"

The room was filled with smoke and a great deal of anger and commotion.

Zhao Tao was holding his phone, actually deep in thought.

Bu Ruijie said, "Zhao Tao, what are you waiting for? Call Liu Qi directly and say you want to meet and talk. Brothers, grab your weapons!"

"Monkey" chimed in, "Brother Tao, don't be a coward!"

These words enraged Zhao Tao. His iron-like arm slammed Qian Junyi upright. "Bullshit! When have I ever backed down?" Zhao Tao never swore, and he was always polite and respectful. He always reasoned before resorting to violence. If your reasoning could prevail over his, even if you were his adversary, he would listen to your logic. This was why many people respected him. He never resorted to violence to solve problems; violence was only a last resort when reasoning failed.

But today, Zhao Tao was truly enraged by Liu Qi's arrogance. His eyes were sinister, and he had already taken his phone out of his pocket. He intended to arrange a meeting with Liu Qi, which was essentially a direct confrontation.

When Zhang Chen came in, the group was still arguing noisily for a while. Zhao Tao's eyes glazed over when he saw him.

Everyone saw Zhang Chen, who seemed completely out of place among the group of menacing people around him.

Now that everyone had seen Zhang Chen, Bu Ruijie said, "Zhang Chen, what are you doing here? Aren't you supposed to be in class right now? Go back to your evening self-study session. This has nothing to do with you."

Zhang Chen plopped down on a stack of beer crates. "I own 20% of Shengfeng. Do you think that has anything to do with me?"

The group of people were stunned for a moment before they remembered how extraordinary this high school student was.

Zhao Tao gripped his phone, remaining silent.

Hong Yao said, "Chenzi, this is not your business. This is no longer Shengfeng's business. This is a matter of the martial arts world."

"What Jianghu? Liu Qi tricked you all out, then wiped you all out in one fell swoop. He then boosted his reputation, and you're all just a bunch of lowly soldiers he used to gain experience!" Zhang Chen said coldly.

“Chenzi… how dare you speak like that?” Bu Ruijie glared at him.

To everyone's surprise, just as everyone was getting excited and ready to press on, Zhang Chen came over to contradict them.

"Let him speak!" Zhao Tao suddenly spoke up, and the group of people who were glaring at Zhang Chen, their faces turning red, swallowed back some of their words.

Bu Ruijie looked at Zhang Chen with a somewhat aggrieved expression. His tall, muscular frame, usually so strong from throwing discus, seemed to be lamenting as he said, "Chenzi, at a time like this, you can't go against us!"

Zhang Chen ignored him, walked to the table, took the bottle of beer Hong Yao had brought to cool him down from, gently put it down, and looked around at everyone: "Fighting is fine, but have you thought about why Liu Qi is doing this? He's at the peak of both the legitimate and criminal worlds now. Do you think he's provoking you because he really wants to fight you? He's just looking for an excuse to have you all arrested! At that time, Brother Tao, Zhao Tao will really be finished!"

“I learned what happened from Wang Shuowei. Chen Xing and his group were stopped. He had previously seized Tao Ge's storage space and even had people investigate your site. You think if you rushed over to find Liu Qi now, what would happen? Would you chop him down? Why did he do that? If you rush over like this, the police will be the ones who show up! The news won't say 'Liu Qi is arrogant,' but I guarantee he's already bribed the media. You'll be labeled as 'Shengfeng Express gang fight'! They'll charge you with organized crime. This is what it means to be both in the legal and illegal worlds!”

Zhang Chen looked at Bu Ruijie and said, "Brother Jie, you can knock down two people with one punch, but even if you knock down Liu Qi, can you protect Shengfeng under these circumstances? How did you manage to do this? This is the foundation of your family and career, it's Brother Tao's life, it's the livelihood of you brothers. Is it worth cutting off the root for a few days of pleasure?"

Zhang Chen said, "Liu Qi is riding high right now. What he wants is Brother Tao's reputation. If he defeats Brother Tao, then his reputation in Rongcheng will truly be at its peak!"

The monkey sneered, "What can we do then? Just let him ride roughshod over us? If that happens, Brother Tao will be finished! And we'll be finished too!"

"We're just trying to make a living now, not trying to drift along. Isn't Tao's decision to start a business precisely to help everyone escape this path of drifting?"

"Then what do you suggest? Endure it?"

"Yes. It's all about endurance!" Zhang Chen thought this was truly a challenge. In front of a group of people who were already bloodthirsty and still had the habits of the martial arts world, asking them to endure was incredibly stressful, just by bearing their murderous aura.

But now, he still has to offer advice.

(End of this chapter)