Chapter Nine: Never Cowardly Again

“Long Group? The one that started with logistics?” Old Liu asked curiously.

Zhou Han’s face brimmed with pride. “Who else could it be? They’re not just in logistics anymore—catering, real estate, tourism, you name it. In our city, they’re a top ten enterprise! We’re just one of their most inconspicuous businesses.”

Yang Meng sighed. “If we’re so insignificant, why are they stirring up trouble here?”

Perhaps because a higher-up was visiting today and he needed the delivery guys to represent him well, Zhou Han spoke more politely than usual, lowering his voice. “Let me tell you, we might be getting a new boss.”

Old Liu retorted, “You’re quitting?”

“Huh?” Zhou Han was momentarily stunned.

Old Liu grinned. “Aren’t you our boss?”

Zhou Han looked a little smug, but shook his head. “Me, a boss? All twelve delivery stations, including ours, belong to Long Group. There’s someone above me in charge of all of us.”

Yang Meng curled his lip. “Tsk, such a huge company dabbling in our little business… Can they really make money? Our twelve stations probably don’t make as much in a year as they do selling a few apartments.”

“You know nothing!” Zhou Han shot back, annoyed. “Do you think such a large enterprise cares about our petty earnings? They want market share and user numbers—when their reports look good and the stock price rises, the money just rolls in! Their operations are massive. A tiny increase after the decimal point on the stock market is enough for all of us to live in luxury for life!”

“You’re exaggerating!” Yang Meng shrugged. “If it’s market share they want, why are they messing with us?”

Zhou Han seemed in a good mood today and dropped his voice even further. “I’ll let you in on something. I heard the third Miss Long is back in the country, and she brought a boyfriend. The boss wants his future son-in-law to oversee our delivery stations as a test of his abilities.”

Yang Meng yelped, “Damn, doesn’t that mean we’re in for a rough ride?”

His concern wasn’t without reason. A new boss always wants to make a splash, and the soon-to-be son-in-law would surely enforce strict management to impress his future father-in-law.

Zhou Han, however, looked triumphant. “Relax, I know what you’re worried about. Why are all twelve delivery stations here for a meeting? It’s because our station has the strictest regulations and the best performance. They’re here to learn from us and promote our management model! You always say I’m strict, but now you see my good intentions. Make sure you behave well later! The Long family is true nobility—real aristocrats! Don’t embarrass me!”

No one took Zhou Han’s words seriously. Hell, if we’d known this, we’d have gone to work at another station. All you ever think about is fining us and squeezing us dry.

Yang Meng muttered from the side, “Nobility? It’s not as if no one knows any nobles. I can pull up Penguin Messenger and there’s a group full of yellow diamond ‘nobles’—let’s see who knows more?”

Zhou Han snapped, “Yang Meng! Enough with the smart remarks!”

Yang Meng spread his hands. “Manager Zhou, it’s not that we don’t respect you, but look—the higher-ups don’t even treat us like people. What time did they say the meeting would start? Look at the time now! Chen Dian is still in the hospital and we’re worried about our coworker’s health. It was a car accident! What if we never see him again? We’d regret it for life.”

Everyone: “…”

Old Liu patted him on the shoulder. “Xiao Chen just broke his leg. How did it become a final farewell?”

“Ah?” Yang Meng chuckled awkwardly. “Misunderstanding, that’s all. You made it sound so serious I thought Chen was done for.”

“Hey, how come you’re shifting the blame to me now?” Old Liu laughed, half exasperated.

Zhou Han interjected, “Don’t say I didn’t warn you—the new boss isn’t to be trifled with. Young, fair-skinned, looks gentle, but clearly a tough character. Just now, a single phone call and a whole group surrounded the property management office, insisting they hand someone over.”

“Hand over who?” Old Liu asked, intrigued.

Zhou Han explained, “Rumor is there’s a thug in the property office—an elevator technician. But elevators are all run by central computers now, and they weren’t even broken. I checked it out; there was a brief power outage, but that was a computer problem, not the technician. The property office is in chaos. I knew you were anxious, so I hurried back—otherwise, I’d still be watching the commotion!”

Yang Meng frowned. This plot sounded familiar. Could it be that clueless girl from the elevator? No way, right? And she brought a group to settle things with him? Damn, he’d better be prepared.

Old Liu commented, “Looks like they’re killing the chicken to scare the monkeys. The property office is the chicken, we’re the monkeys.”

Zhou Han scoffed, “You don’t get it. Do these great families care about money? What matters to them is face. Someone offended their third Miss and made them lose face—they won’t let it go. Yang Meng, why are you mumbling over there?”

Before Yang Meng could answer, the conference room door swung open and three people entered. The woman in front was about to speak when she spotted Yang Meng, her eyebrows tightening. “So you’re here?”

Seeing her face, Yang Meng sighed. As expected, it was that tactless woman.

Who else but Long Nanyao? The plump female ghost was still by her side, and at the sight of Yang Meng, she dissolved into a wisp of smoke and vanished.

Yang Meng frowned slightly. What was the connection between this ghost and the young woman? Why did she follow her everywhere? Was she protecting her or harmful to her?

He shook his head. Not his problem.

“Yao Yao, is this the thug you mentioned?” Feng Tao, standing beside Long Nanyao, understood her reaction instantly.

Long Nanyao snorted coldly. “That’s him! We searched the property office for ages—who’d have thought he was from our own company?”

Everyone’s gaze shifted to Yang Meng, who frowned deeply. “Hey, you can say whatever you want, but don’t go accusing people. What did I do to have you call me a thug?”

Long Nanyao was momentarily lost for words. Right, what had Yang Meng actually done to deserve that label?

Yang Meng’s expression was casual. “All I did was say a few words to you in the elevator. Did I touch you, or say anything improper? What kind of person are you, throwing around accusations? Who do you think you are—God? You say, ‘Let there be light,’ and there’s light? You say I’m a thug and it becomes truth? With an attitude like yours, you’d be better off living with polar bears. At least they won’t talk back!”

So it’s an argument? The “Little Tyrant of Zhuoshan” was never afraid of a fight.

“You!” Long Nanyao was furious. “You scared me with talk about ghosts!”

Yang Meng smiled. “That’s my business whether I say it. Believing is yours. I’ll say it again, you’ve been haunted—by a female ghost, around two or three hundred pounds!”

Feng Tao’s eyes widened at Yang Meng’s retort to his girlfriend. “How can you talk like that, you pauper?”

“Pauper?” Yang Meng grinned. “Maybe I’m poor, but you’re poor in spirit! There’s nothing wrong with being broke for a while, but being small-minded is a lifelong curse. You lack vision, ambition, and any zest for life. You’re the real pauper! And aren’t you working for your future father-in-law? Doesn’t that make you a kept man? Tsk, look at your delicate skin—you really have the look for it.”

Feng Tao nearly cracked a tooth in rage—Yang Meng had hit him where it hurt.

He’d met Long Nanyao while studying abroad. His own family was ordinary, and his entrepreneurial dreams evaporated when he discovered her family’s vast fortune. Her father’s only condition: any child must bear the Long surname—in other words, he’d be marrying in, a notch above being a kept man.

To have Yang Meng call him out as a kept man in front of everyone made Feng Tao want to throttle him.

Yang Meng’s colleagues stared at him, dumbfounded.

Damn, was this the same Yang Meng who always joked about “dying a thousand times without complaint” and practiced the arts of turtle, endurance, and cowardice?

Old Liu nudged him and whispered, “Xiao Yang, didn’t you hear Zhou the Skinflint? They brought people with them! A wise man avoids immediate trouble.”

But Yang Meng looked more confident than ever. “Thanks for the advice, Liu. Our ancestors always said, ‘A gentleman does not stand under a dangerous wall,’ but that’s just an excuse for cowardice. I finally get it—why should I live stifled, just because it’s my first time around as a human? Habits are dangerous; endure once and there’ll be a second, third, and fourth time.”

Old Liu stared in disbelief. “What’s gotten into you? Possessed?”

Yang Meng laughed and waved it off. “Not possessed—just finally figured things out. You can always make money, but lose your dignity and your life’s over.”

Old Liu was speechless. “But didn’t you hear they brought people? They might be planning to hurt you!”

Yang Meng looked smug. “What era is this? We live under the rule of law! I refuse to believe they’d dare touch me. If they try anything, I’ll show them what it means not to look down on the poor youth!”