Xinglan Hotel, sixth floor, luxury private room.
The table was laden with abalone, sea cucumber, shark fin, and fish maw, all served with Maotai liquor, a single bottle costing Wang Cheng a month's salary.
Wang Cheng wasn't qualified to sit down, so he could only wait next door with the other bosses' drivers.
Just then, the pretty waitress brought in a plate of meat.
"Beautiful lady, please tell us the names of the dishes," Huang Ran said with a smile.
"Boss Huang, this is steamed pangolin." The waiter said in a sweet voice, carefully placing the meat on the table.
The air fell silent. Wang Cheng's heart sank, and he quickly pricked up his ears to listen.
It should be noted that pangolins are nationally protected animals, yet they are being served on the dinner table so openly.
Ma Ronghua chuckled, "Old Huang, you've spent money again this time. This dish must be expensive."
He is the owner of Ronghua Supermarket, the second largest supermarket in the provincial capital, with annual turnover second only to Huihuang.
Huang Ran scoffed, "It's not expensive, less than three thousand yuan. Of course, we have to serve expensive dishes to entertain such distinguished guests as you."
As soon as he said this, soft laughter immediately broke out in the room.
Wang Cheng gasped in shock; one dish had cost him more than half a year's salary.
The extravagance of the wealthy's lifestyle exceeded his imagination.
In an instant, envy, jealousy, and hatred surged into my heart.
He thought of Huang Ran's wife, Hu Qing, and felt a surge of heat in his heart.
He thought and thought, and couldn't think of any other way to transcend social classes except to be Hu Qing's mistress.
At the banquet, Niu Qinghui, the owner of Qinghui Supermarket, neither smiled nor touched his chopsticks to eat the pangolin.
This man is forty years old this year. He has thick eyebrows, big eyes, regular features, and a high and broad forehead. People call him the Ox Longevity Star.
Last year, Qinghui ranked tenth in annual revenue, so he was the furthest from Huang Ran.
"Brother Longevity Star, pangolin isn't to your liking?" Huang Ran said with a smile to Niu Qinghui.
“No,” Niu Qinghui said, “It’s a nationally protected animal, I can’t eat it.”
Huang Ran chuckled lightly and said calmly, "We don't care about these things, because we're only responsible for paying."
Niu Qinghui shook his head, "Brother Huang, without demand there would be no killing. Paying money isn't illegal, but..."
"Old Niu," Ma Ronghua said urgently when he saw Huang Ran's pale face, "Old Niu, toast Brother Huang."
Niu Qinghui nodded, picked up his wine glass, and stood up.
After downing a glass of wine, Huang Ran's complexion improved slightly.
What followed was a feast, with everyone eating and drinking to their hearts' content. After several rounds of drinks and numerous dishes, everyone's bellies were full.
After the pangolin was eaten, Niu Qinghui didn't eat a single bite.
Huang Ran rang the bell, and Wang Cheng hurriedly ran over, opened his briefcase, took out documents, and distributed them to everyone present.
This is Wang Peng's tax filing list from last month, which records the individual income tax paid by Du Lei and three others.
My salary is 1,000 yuan, the tax amount is 200 yuan, and I pay 6 yuan in personal income tax.
After they finished reading the list, Huang Ran said in a deep voice, "Brothers, let's talk about this."
Ma Ronghua slammed his hand on the table, a sinister glint flashing in his eyes.
"Old Huang, I get angry just thinking about this. Wang Peng really went too far."
"In my store, the highest salary for a shop assistant is three hundred, and the highest salary for a manager is four hundred."
"Wang Peng actually dared to pay the workers 1,000 yuan. What does that mean? Is he openly calling me a shrew?"
After finishing his speech in one breath, Ma Ronghua angrily lit a cigar.
The others, united in their indignation, voiced their accusations against Wang Peng.
"What is Wang Peng trying to do? Is he trying to force us to raise our wages? This is bleeding us dry and cutting off our flesh."
"Brothers, if this door is opened, will we still have any good days ahead?"
“That’s right. Yesterday someone came to my shop looking for a job. I told him the salary was two hundred, and that bastard turned around and left.”
"I also encountered a similar situation. Two people actually dared to ask for four hundred yuan in wages. I'll go to hell with them."
"..."
The business owners grew increasingly angry, and their language became more and more vulgar, turning the scene into a denunciation meeting against Wang Peng.
Wang Cheng was secretly pleased; the bosses wished they could eat Wang Peng's flesh and drink his blood.
Wang Peng, you were wise all your life, but you made a foolish mistake.
The supermarket owners in the entire provincial capital have teamed up against you. Let's see how you die this time.
The scene was chaotic, and Niu Qinghui remained silent.
He felt as if Wang Peng had dug up their family's ancestral graves and slept with their wives.
Ma Ronghua said, "Old Huang, you're in charge. Tell us how to deal with Wang Peng. We have to kill him today."
Everyone fell silent, their gazes fixed on Huang Ran.
In the corner, Niu Qinghui smiled slightly, thinking of The Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber.
The current scene resembles a lion-slaying ceremony, or the siege of Bright Peak by the nine major sects.
Wang Peng may be the Golden Lion King, but this group of people, including himself, are not from any reputable sects.
Overjoyed at receiving everyone's support, Huang Ran looked up at the crowd.
"Thank you all for thinking so highly of me. Actually, my strategy is very simple: let's join forces to put pressure on wine merchants and wineries."
“From now on, if any wine merchant sells to Wang Peng, we will collectively remove their wine from the shelves.”
"If we unite, Wang Peng will have no alcohol to sell. If he doesn't die, who will?"
Blocking Wang Peng's supply of goods was the same strategy he used to suppress Wang Peng last time, but it ultimately failed.
The first reason is that Qinghe Winery ignored him and continued to supply Wang Peng.
But this time is different.
The wages at Qinghe Winery are also very low. Wang Peng maliciously raised wages, so the winery owner must hate him too.
Even Qinghe Winery couldn't handle the combined might of the ten largest supermarkets in the provincial capital.
The second reason is that Wang Peng had connections in the industry and commerce department, and they dealt with several wine merchants.
In the end, all the wine merchants compromised with Wang Peng.
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