"Tell me, what happened?" Qiao Xia casually tapped the ground with her baseball bat, her threat obvious.
Jiang Tianci squatted on the ground with his head in his hands, suppressing his inner resentment amidst the thousands of people surrounding him. "I couldn't pay back the money after I was released from the police station, so the people at the casino made me work as a thug."
"Who sent you to cause trouble?" Qiao Xia didn't even look up.
Jiang Tianci chuckled twice, his face full of resentment. "I'm paid to do this job. If I betray my customer on my very first deal, how am I supposed to survive in the future?"
Qiao Xia didn't speak. The contractor standing behind her rolled his eyes and stepped forward. "Miss Qiao, hand him over to me. I'll find a way to get him to talk. If he dies or is crippled, I'll turn myself in to the police and go to jail. I just ask that Miss Qiao take good care of my family."
Upon hearing this, many people looked at the person they surrounded with bright eyes, eager to try their luck. They had found the path to wealth.
Qiao Xia's lips twitched.
Fearing she might actually have him crippled, Jiang Tianci panicked and covered his head, shouting, "I don't know, I really don't know! I'm just a nobody in the casino, I do whatever they tell me to do!"
"I... I came without thinking when I heard they were coming to cause trouble for you. I really don't know who paid for it." Jiang Tianci wished he could bite his tongue off as the words left his mouth without thinking.
Qiao Xia didn't have any business, but instead lectured the contractor: "How many years has it been since the anti-gang campaign started? Do you think this is a TV drama? Hiring thugs to injure people, what kind of person do you think I am?"
"Yes, yes, yes." The foreman lowered his head in shame. "It's my fault for thinking that Miss Qiao's salary is high, the work is easy, and there are no kickbacks. I got impulsive thinking about not being able to find such a good employer in the future."
Qiao Xia's face scrunched up; the conversation was getting stranger and stranger.
The contractor's words came from the bottom of his heart. The money he had earned in the past ten days was enough for him to make a down payment on a house in the small county town. He had never felt that life was so promising.
Moreover, there are many people on the construction site in the same situation as Aunt Qiao's family, who are heavily in debt, and the better ones have already paid it off during this period.
Those who owed more money tried to sabotage the work in order to work a few more days, but fortunately, Miss Qiao had hired many people and they were stopped in time.
But with the project halted, the contractor was worried about what these people might do next.
Qiao Xia rubbed the goosebumps off her body and corrected her seriously, "It's the 21st century, how can you say such feudal remnants? What landlord? I'm not a rich landlord."
Qiao Xia pointed to herself and then to the contractor, "We have an equal employer-employee relationship. After the housing is built, we'll build other things. If you don't mind, you can stay here indefinitely."
The contractor asked incredulously, "Miss Qiao... are you telling the truth?"
Qiao Xia nodded, "Of course, but before construction starts, your wages will definitely not be as high as when you're working. How about a guaranteed minimum of 5,000 per month including accommodation?"
Qiao Xia referenced the average salary level in City A, but she didn't know if they would be satisfied.
"Yes, yes, of course, Miss Qiao, you are such a kind person." The contractor and the workers behind him were all moved to tears.
At this moment, Aunt Qiao also stepped forward, wiped her hands on her apron, and said with a smile, "Young Master Qiao, I also have something I'd like to discuss with you."
"Please speak."
Aunt Qiao said apologetically, "Logically speaking, since they're no longer here, this stall should also be moved away. But these days, quite a few young people have passed by, and business is pretty good. I was wondering if Miss Qiao could leave the stall for us? We'll provide our own materials and pay three thousand yuan in rent each month. What do you think?"
As she spoke, Aunt Qiao's voice trailed off.
Her stall was close to the construction site, and she had heard Qiao Xia and Qiao Zhaoxing discuss business strategies a lot these days. She knew that this place would become a commercial center in the future, and the rent should be the same as that of office buildings in the city center. Three thousand yuan was really too little.
Qiao Xia smiled and said, "My dad bought this land. You can discuss anything with him."
"Sigh!" Aunt Qiao agreed and turned around to chat enthusiastically with Qiao Zhaoxing, while Qiao Xia silently did some calculations.
With a guaranteed minimum wage of 5,000 yuan per month for 3,000 workers, plus accommodation and deducting the monthly expenses for 30 stalls, the monthly expenditure is 15 million yuan.
If we can establish a long-term partnership, we can pay social security for the workers, which would cost approximately 600,000 yuan per day.
Given how extravagant her parents are, she has to think about setting aside money in advance.
[Ding-dong—Congratulations, host, for unlocking the 100 billion achievement! Please spend all your RMB within two hours at People's Square in the city center. Reward: Daily spending limit increased to 5 billion.]
Qiao Xia: ?
The system said helplessly: [Originally, increasing the amount was meant to increase the difficulty for the host in the later stages, but because you guys are so extravagant, I've used up all the attempts I could make to request an increase from the main system. The only way to increase the amount in the short term is by completing tasks.]
"Thank you so much."
The system proudly declared: "Don't mention it. Feeling pressured?"
Qiao Xia shook her head. "There are no bags."
She happened to be going to the city center to order furniture anyway, so she checked the time and called out to Qiao Zhaoxing, "Dad, it's time to go!"
However, Qiao Zhaoxing was so engrossed in the excitement of earning his first pot of gold that he completely ignored her.
Qiao Xia had to leave alone, but she didn't forget to take the group of motorcyclists with her when she left.
Jiang Tianci cautiously sat in the passenger seat. "What do you want to do?"
Qiao Xia gave a strange smile. "Have you ever heard of spies?"
*
Half an hour later, Qiao Xia arrived at the most bustling commercial plaza in City A.
In this prime location, the L-brand furniture store on the third floor has taken up an entire floor.
Perhaps because it was a weekday, there were only a few customers in the store. When Qiao Xia came in, the sales clerk quickly put on a standard smile and asked, "Miss, what would you like to order?"
Qiao Xia pointed to a sofa cover set, "How much is this?"
The saleswoman's smile became more genuine. "You have excellent taste. This is a custom-made Italian piece, and it's only [price missing] now."
Qiao Xia nodded and then asked about the mattress, wine cabinet, solid wood table, and dressing table one by one.
Perhaps sensing that Qiao Xia wasn't genuinely interested in buying anything, the saleswoman's mood gradually soured, but she quickly rallied and patiently introduced each item.
"Qiao Xia, is it really you?"
A sudden noise from behind interrupted the salesperson's presentation.
Tang Ling clung to Shen Shuoyan's arm like a little bird, her face full of disbelief.
Shen Shuoyan froze the moment he saw Qiao Xia, instinctively pulling his hand away, completely unaware of Tang Ling's unpleasant expression.
Qiao Xia was also a little surprised. Tang Ling was her cousin. She looked delicate and weak, but in reality she was very competitive and always wanted to compete with her.
Qiao Xia really didn't expect that she would end up with Shen Shuoyan.
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