Chapter Eight: The New Leader Is Trouble

Feng Tao grabbed Yao Yao’s hand, his eyes sincere as he spoke, “Long Nan Yao, this is the last time I’ll make my feelings clear: what matters to me is you. You are my everything. As for what surname our child might take, or whether you marry me or I marry into your family, none of that is important. As long as you’re by my side, that’s enough. All I wish for in this life is to be with you.”

Long Nan Yao’s face bloomed with happiness at his words, and she replied shyly in a soft voice, “Tao, I’m so glad to have you.”

Feng Tao pulled Long Nan Yao into his arms and suddenly whipped out his phone. “My precious can’t be bullied by anyone! Wait here, I’m going to drag that brat out and make him apologize to you!”

Long Nan Yao nodded, letting Feng Tao do as he pleased—for after all, he was acting on her behalf, wasn’t he?

Still, she hesitated a bit. “Um... Tao, Secretary Duan is coming today too. If he finds out what you’re doing, wouldn’t that be bad?”

Secretary Duan’s full name was Duan Bowen, sent by her father, partly to observe Feng Tao.

Feng Tao’s expression was resolute. “Yao Yao, I’m doing this to protect you. Secretary Duan won’t say a thing. That’s settled! What kind of man can’t protect his own woman?”

Since Feng Tao was so determined, Long Nan Yao could only listen with a face full of bliss.

Meanwhile, in the meeting room, Yang Meng and his group had finished eating and were chatting away.

“Yang, I heard your motorcycle got stolen again?” someone asked with a chuckle.

Yang Meng nodded, “Don’t even mention it. When I have money, I’ll buy a big four-stroke with a huge engine and just park it there—let’s see who dares to steal it then!”

Someone else laughed, “Every time your bike gets stolen, you say that. But if you buy a big bike, it’ll still get stolen. Honestly, you look like someone destined to have their bike stolen!”

Yang Meng shook his head, “It’s different! If an expensive bike gets stolen, I can confidently go to the police station and make them hunt it down. The amount involved is huge—who’d dare ignore it? The insurance company would be the first to raise a fuss!”

Another chimed in, “Why not ride an electric scooter like us? If you don’t want to hand your money over to Old Zhou, just buy your own.”

Yang Meng shook his head, “There are even more electric scooter thieves. I’d rather stick with motorcycles.”

A man smoking nearby asked, “Yang, why do you like motorcycles so much?”

Yang Meng countered, “Have you heard of the horse caravans?”

Everyone nodded, “Of course! In the old days, remote places relied on pack horses to transport goods. Those folks were called horse caravans—actually, they’re kind of our predecessors, all in logistics, right? Haha.”

Yang Meng smiled, “That’s basically right, but ‘old days’ isn’t quite accurate. My hometown still had state-run horse caravans in 1994.”

“Are you kidding? Horse caravans in ’94? What, were you living on another planet?” someone exclaimed, eyes wide.

Yang Meng laughed, “Just because you haven’t heard of it doesn’t mean it didn’t exist. Some places in our country had state-run horse caravans until 1999! In my hometown, the roads weren’t developed, so motorcycles were the best way to get around. Now, farm tricycles have taken over from motorcycles as the kings of the road. Do you know why I love motorcycles? It’s hereditary!”

“Hereditary?” someone asked, puzzled.

Yang Meng grinned, “How did my mom come to like my dad? Because back then, he owned a second-hand Suzuki AX100. The first time they met, my dad took my mom to the county to see a movie, and that’s how their relationship was set. Now you see what motorcycles mean to us? My first job in the city was as a helper at a motorcycle repair shop.”

Just then, Old Liu came over, “Stop chatting, guys. Xiao Chen just called—he can’t make it.”

“Huh? Isn’t he worried about getting docked pay?” Yang Meng asked, confused.

Old Liu replied, “There was an accident on the road. He wanted to finish a delivery first, but rushed through a red light and got hit. He’s at the hospital now. Once the meeting’s over, whoever’s close should visit him at the City Hospital.”

Yang Meng spoke up, “I never step into government offices alive nor into hospitals when dead. I’ll give two hundred yuan to whoever brings it for me.”

Old Liu laughed, “So young, but so superstitious?”

Yang Meng smiled wryly, “I’ve got childhood trauma with hospitals! My parents were desperate for a daughter but couldn’t afford the fines for extra births, so they had this idea: they took me to the county hospital pretending I was mentally disabled, had me checked for days. I nearly lost my mind.”

Everyone burst out laughing at Yang Meng’s story.

Yang Meng glanced at his phone, “Hey, Old Liu, where’s Old Zhou? It’s getting late and we still haven’t started the meeting.”

Old Liu pulled out cigarettes and handed them around, “Don’t even mention it. Our new boss is trouble. I heard he’s out there hassling the property management now.”

Yang Meng scratched his head, “We’re just renting a meeting room—what’s it got to do with property management?”

Old Liu shrugged, “Not sure. Heard something about someone from property management acting like a hooligan.”

“Wu Jie, did you hear that? Old Liu says there’s a hooligan in property management—you’d better watch out!” someone called to a woman sitting at the back.

Her name was Wu Juan. Yang Meng was an ‘delivery guy,’ and she was the ‘delivery lady.’ Thirty-five years old, raising a child alone wasn’t easy.

Her husband died in an accident on a construction site ten years ago. The site said the compensation was handed to the contractor, the contractor said the site never paid—back and forth, and eventually both sides disappeared. A so-called manager showed up and gave her ten thousand yuan for funeral expenses, claiming it was out of humanitarian concern...

In the end, they took advantage of her ignorance. Today, compensation would be at least two or three hundred thousand. Yet Yang Meng saw in Wu Jie what true strength meant—there was no way not to admire her. Not exaggerating, she worked over sixteen hours a day! She earned the most at their delivery station—she really fought for it!

As the station’s only woman, Wu Jie was often the target of jokes.

Wu Jie smiled, “A hooligan? If any hooligan dares mess with me, I’ll take him down with a pair of scissors!”

Someone shrieked, “Wu Jie, would you really? Frankly, you’re at the age of wolves and tigers—don’t you ever want a man?”

Another chimed in, “All we lack here is women—there are plenty of men. Wu Jie, why not pick one of us? Old Liu’s not bad!”

Old Liu quickly waved his hands, “Don’t drag me into your jokes. If my wife hears, she’ll skin me alive. Stop making wild guesses about Wu Jie. Sure, there are lots of men here, but no matter how she chooses, it wouldn’t be any of you. Besides, with young and handsome Yang at the front, do you really think you have a chance?”

Someone teased, “That’s not the same—maybe Wu Jie likes us seasoned veterans! Yang may be young, but if they got together, wouldn’t Wu Jie feel she’d ‘raised a son in her old age’?”

They were all rough sorts, and their banter was always full of crude jokes and nonsense, but everyone enjoyed it.

Yang Meng frowned, “Guys, tease me if you want, but Wu Jie’s a woman—show some respect!”

“Oh, Yang’s getting protective.”

“Ha! Look at him getting angry—bet he’s secretly delighted!”

If Yang Meng had only been a bit annoyed before, now he was truly angry. Wu Jie was a single woman, already struggling enough—did she need this kind of teasing? Couldn’t they control themselves?

He was just about to retort when Wu Jie spoke up, “Yang, don’t get upset. I’ve heard far worse. This is nothing. Only those without ability rely on crude words to satisfy themselves—frankly, it’s just losers amusing themselves.”

“Hey, Wu Jie, that’s harsh!”

“Yeah, we’re just joking—why take it so seriously?”

Joking? Such jokes weren’t funny—they were signs of poor upbringing. As the saying goes, not everyone who eats speaks like a human; not everyone has a mother to teach them!

As the atmosphere grew awkward, the meeting room door was suddenly pushed open. “Is this a madhouse? I heard you lot yelling from outside—what are you doing?”

The newcomer was none other than Zhou Han, nicknamed ‘Old Zhou.’

Yang Meng called out, “Manager Zhou, do you know what time it is? Are we having this meeting or not? If not, we’ll leave. Chen Dian just got hit by a car and is in the hospital—we’re colleagues, and we’re anxious to visit him!”

The others chuckled. Someone had just said, ‘Never enter government offices alive nor hospitals dead,’ and now they were using Chen’s accident as an excuse to escape.

Zhou Han glared at Yang Meng, “Yang Meng, I saw it all from outside—you’re the biggest troublemaker. This mess is your doing!”

Yang Meng shrugged helplessly, “Manager Zhou, you’re acting like my old schoolteacher, always spying through the window. The meeting hasn’t started yet—we’re just chatting. Should we sit upright and raise our hands before speaking?”

Zhou Han pointed sternly at Yang Meng, “Do you realize top executives are coming for inspection today? Did you know? There are nineteen delivery stations in our city—twelve belong to the Long Group! Today, the Long Group is inspecting its subsidiaries. Shape up! If you make things hard for me, don’t expect me to make things easy for you!”