Chapter 18: Initial Success

On the modest breakfast stall, Jinlong Qi and Hou Luo were eating greedily, their mouths dripping with oil. They had devoured eight or nine baskets of soup dumplings alone, not to mention countless fried dough sticks and stuffed pancakes.

Meanwhile, Bei Wu only needed a bowl of plain rice porridge, smiling gently as he watched the two of them eat.

Maintaining composure at all times—this was arguably the finest quality Bei Wu had learned from his father.

“Burp...” After stuffing the last dumpling into his mouth, Hou Luo let out a satisfied belch.

Jinlong Qi cursed with disgust, “You whirlwind chopsticks and bulldozer mouth, just shoving everything in. You really are a glutton!”

Hou Luo mumbled indifferently, “Why don’t you say the boss’s cooking is excellent? It’s no worse than the chefs at the State Guesthouse.”

After spending the whole morning together, Hou Luo seemed to have accepted his role as the one taking the brunt from the bear.

“You sure know how to brag. And damn, comparing it to the State Guesthouse? You’re never gonna afford four dishes there in your whole life!”

Jinlong Qi truly felt annoyed deep down by Hou Luo and showed no kindness in his expression.

During breakfast, Bei Wu had already explained the division of profits in simple terms to the two of them: over a million yuan was owed, and the boss promised to give half of whatever they could collect as a bonus.

Bei Wu proposed using 300,000 yuan to cover Hou Luo’s deficit, splitting the remaining 200,000 evenly between himself and Jinlong Qi.

At first glance, this distribution seemed unfair to Bei Wu and Jinlong Qi, but a closer look revealed that Jinlong Qi was the biggest beneficiary—he would get cash in hand and could comfortably report back to the boss.

In his father’s words, always keep the team’s interests aligned, and only then will people truly follow you!

Everything was ready now; all that remained was the money—and they had less than a few hours left.

Before noon, 300,000 yuan had to be placed in front of Big Brother Jinlong Qi.

While picking his teeth, Jinlong Qi looked at Bei Wu. “Brother Wu, how do you plan to collect this debt?”

Bei Wu smiled faintly and asked in return, “How do you usually pressure debtors?”

“First, we harass them, then make a fuss. If they have a workplace, we cause trouble there; if not, we go to their home. The key is to make the debtor feel ashamed—then the debt usually gets paid.”

“The problem is this time’s target is different. Whether we can even get into Aoxue Group is uncertain. Even if we do, it’s useless. The boss there is tied to the city officials—just one call from him and we’re done for.”

Jinlong Qi replied with a bitter expression.

As a seasoned deadbeat, Bei Wu was well aware of the tricks used to collect debts. The real reason he tossed the problem to Jinlong Qi was to use his words to make Hou Luo realize just how big a favor he owed.

Casting a sidelong glance at the focused Hou Luo, Bei Wu cleared his throat and said, “Have you ever considered using more extreme methods? Like breaking an arm or leg?”

Jinlong Qi shook his head immediately. “What era do you think this is? Nobody dares to act recklessly without at least a million yuan in their pocket. Those old tricks are history—they’re no longer practiced.”

Hou Luo chimed in, “That’s true. Even in the capital, debt collection has gotten much more civilized.”

Bei Wu smiled gently. Since you have no other ideas, just listen to me!

At 8:30 in the morning, in the Binjiang district, Bei Wu led Jinlong Qi and Hou Luo to knock on the door of one of the apartments.

They were familiar with the routine because when they first took on this job, Jinlong Qi had investigated the debtor. The identity was too solid, so they had no choice but to give up reluctantly.

The door opened to reveal a man wearing black-rimmed glasses, looking scholarly but frowning as he scanned the three men.

“You must be Wang Minghui, General Manager Wang, right? We’ve met before—I’m Bei Wu.”

Bei Wu offered a harmless smile.

That very day when he went to Luo Xue’s office to borrow money, this man had also been there, laughing loudly.

Wang Minghui blinked in confusion. “What do you want from me?”

“Just want to borrow a few minutes of your time!”

Without waiting for permission, Bei Wu pushed past him into the room, with Jinlong Qi slinging an arm around Hou Luo’s shoulders, following closely.

“What do you think you’re doing? Get out of my house immediately or I’ll call the police!”

Wang Minghui angrily grabbed Bei Wu’s arm and shouted.

“Call them!”

Bei Wu turned back, his gaze cold and sharp, like a mamba snake flicking its tongue.

Wang Minghui froze for a few seconds, a fierce image flashing through his mind—the ruthless scene of Bei Wu kneeling on broken glass in Luo Xue’s office.

As a rising star in the Aoxue Group, he knew better than anyone that the Bei family was now cornered with nowhere to turn.

“I’ve made myself clear. I’m only borrowing a few minutes from your home. Can’t even grant me that much face, General Manager Wang?”

Bei Wu touched his nose and glanced toward the bedroom.

“Your wife hasn’t gotten up yet, right? How old is your child?”

“Don’t mess around. What exactly do you want?”

Wang Minghui’s heart tightened. He hurried to the bedroom door, placing his body as a shield, scolding him with a fierce yet inwardly weak tone.