What?! It suddenly became 1.5 million?
Miao Wan was almost in tears, muttering, "This...this..."
Zhong Ji and the other two bodyguards looked moved. ( ) As Shangguan Bei's bodyguards, their salaries were definitely higher than ordinary bodyguards, but their monthly salary plus subsidies was only a little over 10,000. This 100,000 each was almost their annual salary!
Lu Chen, seeing Miao Wan's hesitation, said with a ruthless air, "Fine, I don't want to say any more. Wasting time is the most shameful thing to do. I'll count from three to one. If you don't reply by one, I'll hand it over to Old Pang."
"Three, two..."
"I agree! I'll give it! 1.5 million, I'll give it all!" Miao Wan shouted, his voice trembling with tears.
Miao Wan certainly couldn't afford to pay this money himself. His face ashen, he went to his brother-in-law and sister, and said irritably, "Sister, quickly write me a check for 1.5 million yuan, hurry up."
He knew, of course, that the finances of his brother-in-law and sister were basically controlled by Du Yuemei, not Du Chao.
Lu Chen said calmly, "Ahem, one bill for 1.2 million, and one for 300,000, thank you."
"Okay, okay, coming right up!" Miao Wan turned and said with a forced smile, then turned to Miao Yuemei and yelled, "Hurry up, damn it, can't you hurry up?"
Miao Yuemei screamed, "Miao Wan, you're on their side! Did you conspire with them to swindle your sister out of her money? 1.5 million! This is shameless extortion! I'd only broken a few things, I'd rather pay 30,000 to 50,000, but they want 1.5 million! This is robbery! Are you robbing your own sister with them...?"
As she screamed, she started slapping her thigh, wailing and yelling like a real shrew.
Actually, 1.5 million wasn't a lot for Miao Yuemei.
Miao Wan felt incredibly embarrassed and yelled, "Stop giving me that crap! If it weren't for all this trouble, would we have gotten ourselves into this mess? Miao Yuemei, let me tell you, you've practically killed me! Hurry up and pay up, let's settle this now! Otherwise, we'll all lose our lives here! That Master Pang is... he's a big shot!"
"I don't care about his big shot status, I... ugh!"
Miao Yuemei was yelling when suddenly Du Chao slapped her across the mouth. Du Chao said in a panic, "Grandma, stop it! My brother-in-law is right, he's a big shot, you can't afford to mess with him! If you keep yelling, we'll all lose our lives here... ahh!" He suddenly screamed, hastily pulling his hand away, blood dripping from it.
Miao Yuemei bit his hand hard.
Then, this shrew actually pointed at Pang Bei and yelled, "Do you know who my sworn brother is? My sworn brother is the police station chief! You old beast, how dare you..."
Then came the sound of slapping, mixed with Miao Yuemei's heart-wrenching screams.
Miao Wan and his brother-in-law were working together, four large hands slapping Miao Yuemei at once. The slaps were relentless, and in just a few blows, blood was streaming from the shrew's nose and mouth, tears and snot streaming down her face. A few more blows, and her face was completely stained red with blood.
Liu Li turned her head away, not daring to look, muttering, "Wow, that was a really bad beating."
Lu Chen chuckled, "Let's see if she dares to be so arrogant again."
"They've killed me! My husband and my brother beat me to death! Help! I...I'm about to be beaten to death..." Miao Yuemei screamed hoarsely, but ultimately, she was too beaten to move and pretended to be dead.
Du Chao and Miao Wan stopped, exchanged a glance, and breathed a sigh of relief.
Then, Miao Wan, with a fawning smile, said to Pang Bei, "Master Pang, my sister is just a naive woman, please be magnanimous and don't hold it against her."
Pang Bei snorted coldly, remaining silent, but his gesture of letting Miao Yuemei go relieved Miao Wan.
Meanwhile, Du Chao took a checkbook from Miao Yuemei's purse, wrote a check for 1.2 million and another for 300,000. Then, Miao Wan respectfully handed it to Lu Chen.
Lu Chen glanced at it, then smiled and said, "Okay, um, Brother Wan..."
"No, no!" Miao Wan bowed and scraped, "Mr. Lu, you can just call me Miao Wan, or Little Miao, it's fine either way."
Little Miao? Lu Chen almost choked.
He coughed, "I'm going to withdraw the money later, I hope everything goes smoothly."
"Smoothly, definitely smooth!" Miao Wan nodded repeatedly, then looked at Du Chao.
Du Chao quickly said, "Smoothly, smoothly, guaranteed smooth!"
He said it like a primary school student welcoming a visiting leader: Welcome, welcome, a warm welcome!
Lu Chen chuckled, then turned to look at Miao Yuemei, who was sprawled on the ground like a dead pig, and Du Chao, whom he couldn't stand. His tone turned cold: "You have two things to promise me."
First, Miao Yuemei must stop harassing Liu Li. If she's so capable, let's compete fairly. Second, Du Chao must also stop harassing Liu Li. If he thinks his wife is no fun, he can go to a hotel and spend a couple hundred yuan to hire a girl!
"You! What did you say, you little bastard..."
Rarely, even though Miao Yuemei's head was completely covered in blood, she could still hear these words. She propped herself up on her elbows, pointed at Lu Chen, and was about to start cursing. But then, another slap landed on her face.
This time, Miao Yuemei screamed, her head lolled to the side, and she fainted.
That was really ruthless! Lu Chen thought to himself, maybe Du Chao had been bullied by too many women, and this was a perfect opportunity for revenge! This was really letting him off easy.
Miao Wan and Du Chao were more than willing to agree to both things. This Lu Chen was Pang Bei's brother! Everyone called him "Old Pang," and offending him was like offending Master Pang; they'd have to be careful of being attacked from behind from now on.
The group of clueless bastards who dared to offend Moon Fang scurried away with their tails between their legs.
Lu Chen thanked Pang Bei first, and Pang Bei waved his hand, laughing heartily, "Little Chen, this is nothing compared to what you've done for our young lady. Even helping you can't repay even a fraction of the kindness you've shown us at Flying Eagle Group!"
Lu Chen scratched his ear and chuckled, "Old Pang, you're making me feel bad."
Then, he gave Zhong Ji the check for 300,000 yuan, telling him to split it with the other two brothers to buy some drinks. "Ten thousand yuan per person! It's not like we're drinking Lafite; how much wine can we possibly drink?"
Zhong Ji and the other two bodyguards were very grateful but embarrassed to accept the money, glancing at Pang Bei.
Pang Bei waved his hand: "Take it. Your Master Lu told you to take it, so take it!"
Zhong Ji smiled, and together with the two bodyguards, respectfully said to Lu Chen, "Thank you, Master Lu!"
Well, now he's Master Lu? Lu Chen was a little dizzy.
Then, Pang Bei, ignoring the mess, introduced his entourage to Lu Chen and Liu Li. President Li, Chairman Deng, General Manager Guo—all prominent figures in Jiangbei City.
Pang Bei said, "Miss originally wanted to bring them directly to your shop to sample the pastries. She even personally called each of the owners, saying that Moon's Fang's pastries are delicious! However, ever since she heard your suggestion about the Dragon Elixir, she's been buried in the lab again. So, she specifically asked me to bring them to you and help you sign these orders."
Lu Chen and Liu Li were both very touched. They hadn't really thought much of such a small thing, but Shangguan Bei had kept her word and done it so diligently. Just by calling each of those big bosses to introduce them to Moon's Fang's pastries, her thoughtfulness was profound enough.
Liu Li felt a pang of sadness; Shangguan Bei's enthusiasm was, of course, because of Lu Chen.
Wow, this was too much of a consideration!
Looking at Pang Bei, although he was merely the head of security at Flying Eagle Group and the security director of that biotechnology company, the big bosses treated him with utmost respect, some even showing a hint of deference. This demonstrated the immense importance placed on this seemingly insignificant matter!
These restaurant and tourism industry tycoons eagerly expressed their satisfaction with Moon's Tooth pastries and said they would send their subordinates with contracts to sign tomorrow.
Normally, contracts were signed monthly, but they had great confidence in Moon's Tooth and believed a year-long contract was perfectly feasible! After a year, depending on the circumstances, an indefinite-term contract could even be signed.
Those with subordinates present were the hotel managers brought by Miao Yuemei and Du Chao. The tycoons had ordered them to sign long-term contracts tomorrow without fail.
The matter was handled flawlessly.
Liu Li was delighted and quickly had her staff pack several portions of exquisite pastries from the warehouse and deliver them to these VIP customers.
Even after they left, Pang Bei remained.
Pang Bei smiled at Liu Li, "Li, Xiao Chen and I are going outside to talk about something. Tell your men to get the shop ready." With that, he put his arm around Lu Chen's shoulder and walked outside.
Watching their retreating figures, Liu Li frowned slightly. She didn't know why, but she felt a little uneasy.
Outside, the streets were bustling with traffic.
Each shop had a small open space outside. At Lu Chen's suggestion, Liu Li had someone build a wooden platform in one of these spaces, surrounded by a wooden fence. Two parasols were set up on the platform, along with two small round tables and chairs. A small pot of yellow chrysanthemums sat on one of the tables. It looked like a pleasant scene on the city street.
Although the shop had been vandalized by Miao Wan's gang, the outside was relatively tidy.
The two sat in chairs, watching the street scene. Pang Bei handed Lu Chen a Yellow Crane Tower cigarette and lit it for him. The two men smoked in silence for a while. Lu Chen was waiting for Pang Bei to speak, while Pang Bei, clearly deep in thought, was preparing himself.
It wasn't until Liu Li had two cups of green tea brought in that Pang Bei finally spoke. He spoke with considerable emotion, first letting out a long sigh: "My old life was saved by Miss."
Lu Chen nodded, not particularly surprised. Pang Bei held Shangguan Bei in unusual respect, which clearly had a story behind it. If Shangguan Bei had saved Pang Bei's life, that made sense.
Lu Chen wasn't surprised either; how could a girl with disabilities save a seasoned veteran like him? It was easy to understand. He said, "Old Pang, did you encounter something before, like your life was hanging by a thread, and Xiao Bei saved you with the Dragon Elixir?"
"That's right! Xiao Chen, you have good judgment!" Pang Bei gave a thumbs up and continued, "Five years ago, I was ambushed by my enemies. More than twenty people around me were killed, and I was the only one who escaped with serious injuries. It was a rainy night, and I happened to run into Miss's car. She had her bodyguards pull me into the car. They practically dragged me away from more than ten pursuers!"