Chen Xiao was both amused and exasperated. After thinking for a moment, he took out his wallet from his pocket, took out a few bills, and gave them to the fat man: "Since you want to be a good person, find a place to repent and start anew. I don't think you're a bad guy, so I'm letting you off the hook this time. But if you do... hmph!"
The two got back into the car, started it, and drove away, leaving the fat man waving frantically through the dust.
"You're quite soft-hearted." Uncle Tian hadn't said a word during the whole process, but now he finally spoke with a smile.
“Just pity.” Chen Xiao suddenly sighed. “It’s all fate! I actually think this guy is quite pitiful. As he said, he was just an accomplice, but because the other accomplices and the main culprits all died, he had to take the blame for everything. Besides, I met him that day, and he was just a bit foul-mouthed, but he didn’t really seem like a bad guy. It would be quite a waste for him to lose his life like this.”
After a pause, Chen Xiao's tone became somewhat strange: "He has his destiny, and I have mine! Although I can't change my own destiny, if I can help this poor guy out of the blue and help him change his originally tragic fate, actually... that feeling is quite nice."
Uncle Tian laughed: "I guess you could call this 'misery loves company'?"
"I suppose so," Chen Xiao said sullenly, closing his eyes to rest.
I helped this fat man; it was probably just a small act of kindness, but it changed his fate.
So, who will change my fate?
wry smile……
At 10 a.m., Chen Xiao was already sitting in the lobby of the "Ribucks" coffee shop again.
All three unscrupulous business owners on this abandoned street were present—"Abandoned Street" was the name Chen Xiao had given to this commercial pedestrian street. However, Zhu Rong later told him, "You can name it whatever you want; this street originally belonged to us."
Chen Xiao didn't quite understand at first, but later he realized that what Zhu Rong meant by "ours" was that the real estate company that developed this commercial street was actually a shell company set up by these retired old guys. Chen Xiao had also found it strange that some brain-dead real estate company would build a commercial pedestrian street in such a godforsaken place. Were they so rich they lost their minds?
Only now do I realize that those old guys were just throwing money around, creating this commercial street simply to carve out a piece of land in the suburbs of K City as their retirement retreat.
“Last night’s occasion wasn’t very formal. Today, let’s have the old folks formally welcome our new member to the team,” Old Tian said with a hearty smile.
Zhu Rong smoked casually, glancing at Chen Xiao's eyes from time to time, while Gong Gong remained demure and didn't dare to utter a single word beside Zhu Rong.
"I have a few questions I need to clarify first." Chen Xiao shook his head: "Otherwise, my doubts will not be dispelled, and it will be difficult for me to do this job."
"Go ahead and speak," Zhu Rong said, quickly flicking his cigarette ash. "There are no outsiders here."
"First, why me?" Chen Xiao squinted. "I don't think I'm anything special. We've all just met by chance, we don't have any real connection. Being your agent means I'm responsible for all the work you accept on your behalf, and I also have the power to decide which commissions to accept. You've entrusted me with such an important task... Why? Do you think I have 'good guy' written on my face?"
Chen Xiao shook his head as he spoke: "I don't believe in trust without a reason in this world. Even if I am also a superhuman, you can't just trust me all of a sudden, right?"
Uncle Tian answered Chen Xiao: "Chen Xiao, in fact, we started observing you from the very first day you arrived here."
The kind-hearted Uncle Tian now had a sly smile: "Old Man Ai has stored a lot of valuables in the iron cabinet upstairs. We all know that... It's all our shared property. And the moment you arrived here, the test began. If someone with a greedy heart suddenly saw so much wealth in such a large iron cabinet, they would have already tried to run away with the money."
Old Tian smiled slightly: "Moreover, I can see that there is only some surprise in your eyes, but not even a trace of greed. Such a person is really rare."
Chen Xiao touched his nose: "Just because I'm not greedy?"
"Isn't that enough?" Uncle Tian spread his hands. "In this world, finding someone who isn't greedy is rarer than a panda. We've looked for several candidates for this agent. But among them, many are greedy, have ulterior motives, and are only interested in personal gain... And twice, the candidates we tested, upon seeing the gold in the iron cabinet, tried to grab their bags and run away that very day..."
Chen Xiao couldn't help but ask, "So... what did you do with the people who tried to run away with the money?"
Zhu Rong exhaled a smoke ring and said in a completely emotionless voice, "In the far south suburbs, there's a river..."
"…………"
“The second reason is that you are a superhuman. Also, your background is enough to guarantee our secrecy,” Zhu Rong said, looking at Chen Xiao with a glint in her eyes. “You’re on the service organization’s watch list, and we’ve also seen your resume. Let me put it this way, handsome young man, your parents are dead, almost all your relatives and friends have cut off contact with you, you have no family or friends… you’re practically a modern-day ‘lone star.’ This ensures the secrecy of our little organization. Besides, I can tell you’re not a talkative person.”
"Also, you are a superhuman. Although as an agent, you are not usually required to take action, our work is quite special. Occasionally, we will have to deal with some colleagues. If your own abilities are too weak, it would be quite unreasonable."
"Finally, you're smart, young, and energetic. The rest of us are lazy to the core. We're willing to do the work, but when it comes to managing accounts, organizing customer information, dealing with all sorts of customers... we're just too lazy to do it. We used to leave all those things to old man Edward, but that old guy got tired of it lately, so he just packed his bags and ran off."
Zhu Rong finished speaking in one breath, and finally looked at Chen Xiao: "I've explained everything I needed to say. Now, can you decide to accept this job?"
Chen Xiao smiled, his smile relaxed: "There's one last question."
The three unscrupulous bosses stared at Chen Xiao together: "What?"
"Salary."
Chen Xiao looked at the three guys innocently, a hint of youthful cunning creeping into his once-pure smile: "Since it's a job, we can't just work for free, can we?"
"One percent of the revenue from each entrusted business."
Uncle Tian replied, "We're essentially doing business with no initial investment. However, since you're just acting as an agent and don't need to do the actual work, you can take one percent of the revenue from each transaction. The rest will be split equally among those involved. Of course... if you're interested in personally carrying out missions in the future, you can also receive corresponding compensation. We're very fair."
One percent...
Just think about the antique sword that Lu Chengzhe took out this time, worth ten million US dollars... even a fraction of that would be worth one hundred thousand US dollars.
Is it really that easy to make money?
"Okay, then I'm all set." Chen Xiao thought for a moment, then asked, "If I accept this job, do I need to sign a contract?"
All three of them laughed. Zhu Rong blinked and said, "Do you think a group of people like us can be bound by law? Let's skip the contracts."
Uncle Tian patted Chen Xiao on the shoulder: "Alright, now that you're our agent, I need to make some things clear to you. Normally, Thursday nights are our business hours for accepting commissions. Last night, since it was your first time here, we were worried about you, so we came to check on you. But from now on, we won't be showing up on Thursday nights unless absolutely necessary; you'll have to handle things yourself. We're all in our own shops on this street during the week, so you can come find us if you need anything. But there's one thing you need to remember."
"What?"
Uncle Tian's expression turned serious: "We'll only intervene within the scope of the mission. Otherwise, if it's your own personal matter and you need help... we won't just step in. That's our principle: handle your own affairs, keep public and private matters separate! If you have any personal difficulties and need our help, that's fine, but you must follow the rules, make a request, and pay the fee before we'll help. Otherwise..."
Chen Xiao thought for a moment and had no objection: "It's very fair."
He stood up: "So, I am now your client?"
The three nodded in unison: "That's right, you are the one."
"Now, I'm the owner of this coffee shop?" Chen Xiao asked again.