Chapter 108: If Your Elder Cheats Me, I Cheat You

After making a round of the dormitory and confirming that the engineers had all been settled in, Zhang Tianfeng headed home.

Before he even reached the door, a figure suddenly sprang out of the darkness beside him.

“Trying to scare someone to death at this hour, are you?” Seeing who it was, Zhang Tianfeng finally relaxed. It was that little bastard Chen Jialin.

Last time, after Zhang Tianfeng had saved him at the toy factory, he had told him he could come work there, or go work in human resources with his sister if he preferred.

Who would have thought the brat would lift his chin and say proudly, “My sister’s debt to you has already been repaid. From now on, we owe each other nothing.”

With that, he ran off and vanished without a trace.

Later, Chen Jiaqi told him that after hearing Chen Yuanhua had come looking for trouble, the kid seemed to have gone to Harbor City. What exactly he went there to do, no one knew.

“If you haven’t done anything wrong, why would you be afraid?”

“Looking for a beating, you punk?” Zhang Tianfeng shoved him lightly and said, “Come inside and talk. It’s sweltering out here.”

“No way. I don’t want to see my sister. She’ll definitely try to make me find a proper job again.”

“That’s something you’ll have to face sooner or later. How old is your sister this year? Do you mean to drag her down for life?”

“I don’t mean that. I came here today to talk business with you.”

“You want to talk business with me?”

After a moment’s thought, Zhang Tianfeng nodded. “Fine. Let’s talk at the barbecue stand while we eat something.”

This time, Chen Jialin truly wanted to do something with himself, but what he wanted to do was not a good thing in the eyes of decent people.

He wanted to open an arcade.

When Zhang Tianfeng heard that, he spewed water all over the place. “Where did you hear that I’ve got game consoles?”

“Several of the people helping you unload are my guys. They told me.”

“Your guys? You disappear for a few days and suddenly you’re the boss now? How big is your territory?”

“Every corner of Pearl City is under my control now.”

“Damn, boss, have a cigarette!”

When Zhang Tianfeng handed him one, Chen Jialin froze for a moment, then took it.

He had only taken one puff after lighting it when Zhang Tianfeng said, “Once you finish that cigarette, Lu Dingqian should be here too.”

“You’re too kind. You know my honorary-citizen title is about to slip away, and you’re still coming to hand me merit on a plate.”

Chen Jialin choked so hard he coughed for nearly half a minute, his face and neck going crimson.

“Hey, that’s not fair. My sister is still your employee, and you value her that much!”

“It’s precisely because I value your sister that I don’t want her work to be delayed by all your damned mess.”

“You should know how the last boss who ruled Pearl City disappeared, right?”

“He went in and got himself fed peanuts, but I’m not doing anything illegal. Just hear me out first.”

“Fine. Let me see what kind of nonsense you’re going to come up with.”

Chen Jialin’s idea was simple: open a few arcades and gather all his underlings there, keeping them from running around causing trouble. In other words, use them to guard the place.

With those men around, no little gangsters would dare to cause a scene.

If the arcade stayed orderly, with no one snatching coins or hogging the machines, more people would come to play. Once the customers came, the money would naturally follow.

“The idea is simple, but there are a few questions I need to ask you.”

“Setting aside whether your underlings are stable, the first thing is: how are you going to smooth things over on the connections needed to open an arcade?”

For an industry with a certain gray area to it, it was impossible to get started without some backing.

“I’ve already taken care of that. My family will help me handle this matter.”

“You’re family? You’ve reached an agreement with them?”

“Not exactly. It was an exchange of interests.”

On this trip back to the Chen family ancestral home, Chen Jialin had discussed many things with the clan members. Some were about his parents; the rest concerned him and his sister.

He knew that his second uncle, Chen Yuanhua, had gone to Harbor City and joined forces with the Xu family to fight Zhang Tianfeng, only to suffer a disastrous defeat.

So he wrapped himself in another man’s tiger skin and raised his own banner, declaring to the Chen family that he had thrown in with Zhang Tianfeng, and that Zhang Tianfeng had the backing of the Huo family.

That frightened the old hands in the Chen family, because this was something Chen Jialin had personally experienced; they could not deny it, and they did not dare deny it.

Using that opportunity, Chen Jialin reached an agreement with the family: the exile punishment for him and his sister was lifted, and they could return at any time.

At the same time, as compensation to the siblings, the Chen family would unconditionally settle three matters for Chen Jialin.

The first thing Chen Jialin wanted was for them to handle the connections needed to open the arcade.

“I’ve been plotting against other people ever since I came out, and I really did misjudge you, kid.”

Zhang Tianfeng gave him a sincere thumbs-up. He had indeed misjudged him.

In Zhang Tianfeng’s memory, the old Chen Jialin had been nothing more than an arrogant youth who looked down on everyone and had courage but no brains.

But now it seemed the boy was far more cunning than that, always meeting people with a false face, while harboring no fewer than a hundred schemes of his own, each one carefully counted.

“That’s because you’ve always looked down on me. If you had observed me carefully, none of this would have escaped you.”

“Mm, I believe that.”

Zhang Tianfeng nodded. “Second question: am I only providing the machines, or do I also need to provide the premises?”

“If possible, the more the better.”

“Of course it’s possible. The more I put in, the more I can take out.”

Zhang Tianfeng went on, “If I only supply the machines, then every month I’d have to take sixty percent of the arcade’s profits, and that doesn’t even include depreciation and wear on the machines.”

“You’re too ruthless. Sixty percent?” Chen Jialin shot to his feet in shock.

“If I provide the machines, I can also handle the connections myself. If I’m only taking a small cut, why wouldn’t I do it on my own?” Zhang Tianfeng asked in return.

Chen Jialin fell silent, and the area around them quieted as well.

“Is everything all right?” Their Fourth Uncle brought up a dish and asked casually as he passed.

In that slight turn of his body, Zhang Tianfeng caught sight of the cleaver at his waist.

“It’s fine. Business talks fell apart, which is normal.”

“All right. Call me if you need anything.”

After glancing at Chen Jialin, the Fourth Uncle returned to the shop. Jiang Jiahao, who had been standing in the back kitchen, slipped away quietly and went to fetch people.

After a long while, Chen Jialin sat down and said, “Because you’re a man destined to do great things.”

“How so?”

“Your gaze won’t stop at this one toy factory. In the future, you’ll do many big things. You’ll become a world-renowned figure, the richest man in the country.”

“Businesses like arcades carry a certain grayness to them. They’ll stain your record with something unsavory.”

“Hand this matter to me. From now on, anything unsavory you ever need done, you can leave to me.”

“You’ve got one thing wrong. I never do unsavory things. I won’t leave anyone with leverage to threaten me. The rest, though, is all correct.”

Zhang Tianfeng said, “There are two ways we can work together. First: I only provide the machines, for fifty percent of the profits.”

“Second: I provide both the machines and the premises, for eighty percent of the profits. No room for negotiation. It either works or it doesn’t.”

Though Chen Jialin had put the matter in very flattering terms, Zhang Tianfeng had not forgotten how Chen Yuanhua and Xu Kuangdao had once schemed against him together.

One moment they had been mortal enemies, each wishing the other dead; the next they had become family.

Family speaks easily, do they? Fine.

Your second uncle cheated me, so I’ll cheat you! And just as well—I can use you for an experiment.

At the very least, opening the arcade would attract more young people, and then he could conduct a proper questionnaire survey.

“Can I choose the second model for the first month? I really don’t have any money on hand right now.”

“Sure. For the first month, you’ll give me eighty percent of the profits. But in the second month, you’ll pay me seventy percent, and I’ll be responsible for maintaining the machinery. In the third month, I’ll hand everything over to you completely, and it’ll revert to fifty percent profits.”

“Agreed!”

“Good. Come to my office tomorrow to sign the contract. After we finish this cup of wine...”

He had not even finished speaking when Chen Jiaqi rushed over.

She had been sorting documents, and when she heard that her younger brother had clashed with Zhang Tianfeng, she came at once.

“Jialin, you rotten kid! You disappear for so many days, and the moment you come back you start arguing with the boss again. I’m going to beat you to death!”

“Sis, don’t hit me, don’t hit me. I’m here to talk business with him, really. If you don’t believe me, ask him.”

Chen Jiaqi had heard him, but she had been worrying about her brother all this time, so she still gave him a good beating before turning to ask.

After hearing the answer from Zhang Tianfeng, she burst into tears and nearly dropped to her knees before him.

“Boss, thank you for saving the two of us.”

“Do your work well. That’s the best repayment you can give me. Go on.”

“Thank you, boss. Thank you.”

The Chen siblings left. Chen Jialin was probably in for more beating, but that was no longer something Zhang Tianfeng needed to concern himself with.

Fourth Uncle came over in his apron, smoking a cigarette. “Next time you run into someone like that, don’t speak too harshly. They’re the sort of people who fear no one once they’ve got nothing left to lose.”

Zhang Tianfeng smiled and shook his head. He had been cautious enough that during his first month in Pearl City he had not dared to make any grand moves. If not for the Huo family stepping in and taking down the factory, he might have had to keep his head down for another two or three months before starting it up.

A man that cautious—how could he possibly do business with a stranger?

Throughout the whole negotiation, it might have looked as though Chen Jialin was maneuvering and calculating against him, but in truth the pace of the talks had been entirely in Zhang Tianfeng’s hands.

He would take exactly as much profit as he wanted.

Granted, as Chen Jialin had said, he was a man destined for great things. Those unsavory parts of the past would need to be buried, replaced by a proxy in white gloves. After all, the rise of most tycoons is not exactly spotless.

But that rule did not apply to Zhang Tianfeng. He could turn every single penny he ever needed within the bounds of the rules.

“It’s almost the weekend. You’re still calling home? Aren’t you afraid your parents will come chasing after you?”

“I’ll call tomorrow. Then Fourth Uncle, you’ll have to cover for me.”

“I’m not doing that. I’m still hoping your parents will find me a wife back home. I’m counting on them to keep a good eye on you.”

“Fourth Uncle, so you’ve finally decided to settle down?”

“Yeah. At my age, I ought to have a family already. If I keep waiting, by the time my son and daughter are in grade school, I’ll probably be completely gray-haired.”

“All right, I fully support you on this. I can even help you look around at the factory.”

“In that case, I suppose I’ll have to turn a blind eye.”

“Hahaha, now that’s great!”

Zhang Tianfeng laughed heartily, raised his glass to Fourth Uncle, clinked it against his, and drained it in one swallow.