18: Second crossing

A busy day began with the rising sun, and Lu Fan arrived at the office early.

As soon as it was eight o'clock, the start of the workday, Liu Zhicheng was the first to walk into the office.

"Good morning, Young Boss!"

Seeing Lu Fan sitting steadily in the boss's chair made him a little startled.

He believed in Lu Fan, but he hadn't expected him to return so promptly.

Lu Fan poured a cup of tea for Liu Zhicheng and asked straight to the point, "Uncle Liu, how did you resolve the salary issue?"

"Hah... it was just a few hundred thousand in wages. A few of us old brothers pooled it together!"

Liu Zhicheng took the tea and laughed it off, but seeing the young master's piercing gaze demanding the truth, he continued.

"Old Zhang and I covered part of it first, and another group of people said it was no problem to delay their pay.

So, the salary matter has been settled."

Liu Zhicheng brushed the matter aside lightly.

At this moment, Lu Fan felt a warmth in his heart; since they had done right by him, he wouldn't drag his feet either.

He placed a bank card directly on the desk.

"There's 2.8 million in the card. Pay the wages that need to be paid, and you keep the rest for emergencies."

"Also, what's the deal with the entire live-streaming department jumping ship?"

"It's very strange. Right after the salaries were paid the day before yesterday, Han Qing from the live-streaming department suddenly came to me saying he wanted to resign.

Right after that, I received resignation letters from their entire department. This was clearly a premeditated collective action."

Liu Zhicheng recounted the events in detail.

"Uncle Liu, everyone has their own ambitions. Approve all the resignations—"

Lu Fan spoke after a moment of thought, "Find someone to keep an eye on Han Qing and see which company he ends up at."

Liu Zhicheng's eyes lit up. "Right! Han Qing leaving at this time definitely smells fishy.

The person behind him is likely the mastermind who framed our company?"

"It might not be that simple, but it's at least a clue!"

Lu Fan took a deep breath, sensing this wouldn't be easy. "Just keep a close eye on Han Qing; don't alert the enemy."

Liu Zhicheng nodded and made a mental note. "Understood. We've already reported it to the police, and the economic investigation has begun.

Young Boss, about the compensation issue, how do you see..."

Lu Fan immediately picked up the thread. "There's over ten million in the account. Start paying the compensations slowly according to the order of the purchases.

Try to make the compensation process as high-profile as possible.

Remember, every single payment must have a detailed record..."

Reaching the key points, Lu Fan and Liu Zhicheng lowered their voices to exchange opinions.

They needed to monitor the official investigation's progress while also searching for evidence privately—a two-pronged approach.

After handling the company's affairs, Lu Fan began thinking about his next crossing.

The japanese must be fleeced, so the specialties of Zhecheng must be brought along.

Cooperation with the Foreigners needed to start as soon as possible, so penicillin was also essential.

Besides these two, what should he dump on the market next?

The first thought that popped into Lu Fan's head was arms.

Admittedly, at this point in time, dealing in arms seemed like an impossible task.

After all, China's control over firearms and ammunition was among the strictest on the Blue Planet.

But in reality, there was still room for maneuver.

Because whether it was the Desert, or the homes of Big Mao and Little Mao, they were all fighting tooth and nail.

Not to mention there was also the Great Eagle, that massive weapon supermarket.

With his storage space, getting some arms would just be a bit of a hassle.

After some deliberation, Lu Fan pushed the thought down for now.

On one hand, his space was too small to carry many weapons.

On the other hand, he understood the principle that 'an ordinary man's innocence is no protection against the greed of others.'

Without sufficient self-protection capabilities, once he opened the door to arms dealing,

he might escape trouble today but not tomorrow. He would eventually be targeted by various forces, and his end would inevitably be death.

Actively putting oneself in danger was not what a successful merchant should do.

Lu Fan took out his company's inventory list and began filtering through it one by one.

Aluminum products? The space isn't big enough, and they won't sell for much. Pass—

Vehicles and spare parts? There aren't many cars in Shanghai in total, and they're all vintage; what parts would they need? Pass—

Furniture and bedding? People there use rosewood and Phoebe zhennan; it would be more like anti-dumping. Pass—

Daily necessities? This could work.

Lu Fan scrolled down the catalog and immediately set his sights on windproof lighters.

In other places, this might be of no interest since matches could suffice.

But in Shanghai, there was never a shortage of wealthy people and big shots.

For them, things that could showcase their status and position would inevitably be sought after.

During his previous crossing, whether it was the Yamamoto father and son or Tang Jifeng,

they were all quite interested in his lighter, so it was certain to fetch a high price.

Furthermore, lighters were small and easy to carry.

They could serve as a mass-marketed commodity.

Continuing through the catalog, Lu Fan soon found another item that could potentially make a fortune.

That was the mechanical watches produced by the Prince Shen family in Guangzhou.

This thing was a status symbol in 1937; those who could wear one were either rich or noble.

Small volume, high added value—it was worth a shot.

After lunch, Lu Fan left the company; he had a mountain of things to do.

The first thing he did was go to the antique street in Hangzhou to undergo three hours of crash training in antique identification.

The trip to Shanghai had already proven that reselling antiques through the crossing was a highly profitable business, and he certainly couldn't let it go.

Otherwise, how long would it take to pay off that debt of several hundred million?

Next, he buried himself in the library to look up information.

He needed not only to accurately analyze the most urgent and scarce materials for all parties in 1937 Shanghai,

but also to gather information on important historical figures.

Meeting Tang Jifeng during the first crossing was a stroke of incredible luck, but he wouldn't be that lucky every time.

Therefore, he needed to plan ahead more thoroughly.

The busiest part was still receiving and sending packages to prepare the supplies for the second crossing.

Time passed quickly, and with the system's notification sound, the crossing skill had finished its cooldown.

Along with the release of the system mission, he opened the system interface.

【red-top merchant system

Name: Lu Fan

Rank: Silver Merchant

Wealth: Debt of 290 million

Equipment: nano bulletproof vest, multifunctional pen

Abilities: Disguise, Mastery of Code Breaking, Mastery of Surgery

Points: 2300

Space: 1.1 cubic meters

Anchor Location: Building 7/8, Feixia Manor, Xiafei Road

Main Missions: 1. Tenfold Profit: Obtain a profit of no less than ten times the cost when selling goods.

2. Rising Fame: Gain a certain level of renown in the business circle.

3. Interdependence: An excellent merchant should understand that when the nation is strong, the merchant is strong.】

Lu Fan took a deep breath; the system missions were fairly standard.

However, the vague mission requirements also made it quite difficult for him to complete them perfectly.

Whatever! Just do it and it's done.

After confirming his carried supplies once more, Lu Fan resolutely began his second crossing journey.