42: Chapter 42 Chen Jian, Don't Push Your Luck!

On the other side, in the rock fissure halfway up the mountain.

Hell was just opening its doors.

The temperature had already dropped below five degrees, and the howling wind, carrying icy marine rain, poured wildly inward along the inverted "V"-shaped opening of the rock fissure.

The space here was too large; a fissure more than ten meters long simply couldn't block the wind.

Except for the innermost depths and the outermost sides, the middle area had completely become a wind tunnel.

Dozens of people huddled together like a flock of quails waiting to be slaughtered.

It was too cold.

This kind of cold wasn't the dry cold of Jiangcheng's winter, but a sinister, highly humid chill that drilled through the pores and straight into the internal organs.

In sharp contrast to this was the outermost corner of the rock fissure.

Chen Jian was sitting there.

He used stones to build a makeshift windbreak, and the bonfire behind the wall was burning fiercely.

The dry Mangrove Forest firewood emitted a slight crackling sound, and the orange-red firelight warmed the air within a three-meter radius.

The heat wave from over there was blown over by the wind a little bit from time to time.

Even if it was just a little bit, to this group of people on the verge of freezing to death, it was a fatal temptation.

Old Li couldn't take it anymore first.

He slowly moved his buttocks, inching bit by bit toward the direction of the bonfire.

Seeing this, Zhao Na also crawled forward following him.

With someone taking the lead, the remaining dozen or so people instinctively began to move toward the heat source.

Even Su Qingxue, paralyzed deep inside, was supported by Wang Qiang as she walked outward with difficulty.

Three meters, two meters.

Just as Old Li's hand was about to reach that warm radiation zone.

"Snap."

A wrist-thick wooden stick slammed heavily into the ground less than a centimeter in front of Old Li's fingers.

Chen Jian sat on a stone, holding the wooden stick in his hand, looking down condescendingly at this group of people on the ground.

"You've crossed the line."

The three words, mixed into the sound of the wind and rain, were heard clearly.

Old Li froze. He raised his head, his face covered in snot and rainwater, and his voice trembled out of shape: "Chen... Chen Jian... Chief Engineer Chen... show some mercy... we're really going to freeze to death..."

"Consider that I owe you a life. When we get back to Jiangcheng, whatever you want, as long as I have it, I'll give it to you."

Chen Jian poked the charcoal fire with the wooden stick, and sparks flew.

"I made myself very clear during the day." He looked at Old Li, "One million, three kowtows."

Old Li was dumbfounded.

One million? As an old slick from the Finance Department, he wouldn't save a few millions even if he worked for a lifetime.

Even if he had it, where would he get it now?

"Chen Jian, don't go too far!" Wang Qiang hid behind the crowd and shouted with his cracked gong of a voice, "Do you really want to watch us freeze to death? This is premeditated murder!"

Chen Jian laughed.

He stood up, walked to the edge of the windbreak, and stared at Wang Qiang.

"During the day, when I told you to pick up firewood, what did you say?" Chen Jian pointed at the pitch-black storm outside, "You said a helicopter would come, you said my brain was flooded with water, and you said you wanted to drink hot coffee on the plane."

He spread his hands.

"Go on, go drink your hot coffee, and don't come freeloading off the firewood picked up by this brain-damaged person."

Wang Qiang was retorted to speechlessness, his face turning the color of pig liver.

Seeing that Chen Jian was impervious to reason, the crowd immediately shifted their target to Wang Lan, who was sitting on the other side of the bonfire.

Wang Lan had long since warmed up by leaning against the bonfire.

"Sister Lan! Control your husband!" Zhao Na scrambled over, crawling and stumbling, "Please put in a word for us, I'm begging you, Sister Lan!"

Wang Lan raised her head, glanced at the indignant yet pitiful colleagues, and sighed.

She played the role of "the helplessness of a virtuous wife and loving mother" to the absolute extreme.

"Everyone, please don't make things difficult for me." Wang Lan's tone was soft, carrying a hint of grievance, "You saw it during the day too; he even brought out the divorce agreement. He's always stubborn at home, and now that he's in a fit of anger, he simply won't listen to a word I say."

She paused, her gaze sweeping over the crowd, and finally landing precisely on Su Qingxue.

"Besides, everyone ostracized him so much during the day, it's normal for him to be angry inside. This matter... I really can't call the shots."

The ball was passed cleanly and neatly.

It smashed straight into Su Qingxue's face.

Su Qingxue leaned against the stone wall, her whole body already numb from the cold.

Her pitiful pride was being stripped away piece by piece in front of the absolute might of nature.

She understood the subtext of Wang Lan's words.

This couple was playing a double act.

Chen Jian played the bad cop, blocking everyone's path, while Wang Lan played the good cop, tossing the final pricing power to her, the CEO.

They wanted money.

Even more, they wanted Su Qingxue to bow her head.

A gust of howling wind whipped in with icy rain, causing Su Qingxue to shudder violently.

She couldn't keep freezing like this; another half hour of freezing, and she would definitely suffer from hypothermia and shock.

Su Qingxue pushed away Wang Qiang's hand and straightened her body, supporting herself against the stone wall.

Even though she was shivering from the cold, she still tried her best to maintain the dignity of the helmsman of Shengtang Group.

"Wang Lan."

Wang Lan immediately stood up and lowered her head respectfully: "President Su."

"After returning to Jiangcheng, I will personally fund thirty million for you two." Su Qingxue stared into Wang Lan's eyes, word by word, "Adding the twenty million I promised you during the day, that makes a total of fifty million. It will be directly transferred into your account."

Inside the rock fissure, there was instant dead silence.

Even the sound of the wind and rain was suppressed by these three words.

Thirty million.

Fifty million in total.

Old Li's eyes instantly turned red, so red they were about to bleed.

Having worked in finance for twenty years, he knew all too well what fifty million represented.

This was a figure he couldn't earn even if he didn't eat or drink for ten lifetimes.

Zhao Na was so jealous that her fingernails dug deeply into her palms, unable to even feel the pain.

Zhang Tao, Li Bin, and everyone else present had their brains completely dazed by this fifty million.

Following closely was overwhelming remorse.

Their intestines were practically turning green with regret!

During the day when Chen Jian called them to pick up firewood, although it was hot outside, it was only a matter of a few steps. If they had stood up back then and followed to move a couple of pieces of wood.

Now a share of this fifty million would belong to them!

Just because they were lazy, and because they believed the nonsense of that idiot Wang Qiang, this monstrous wealth had just helplessly fallen into the pocket of Chen Jian, this "kept man".

Why!

Why could he earn fifty million just by picking up a few broken pieces of wood!

Jealousy gnawed at everyone's heart, but they didn't dare say anything.

Because right now, even their lives were pinched in other people's hands.

"President Su is generous."

Chen Jian tossed the wooden stick in his hand to the side, making a crisp sound.

He glanced at Wang Lan, and the two exchanged a look extremely quickly.

Tacit and precise.

"Since President Su is footing the bill, everyone can roast by the fire as you please. Forget about the kowtows." Chen Jian took a step back, giving up the spot.

The crowd burst into a cheer, scrambling and crawling as they lunged toward the bonfire.

Old Li rushed over first, sticking his hand straight toward the flame, almost scorching his eyebrows.

Zhao Na and Liu Feifei squeezed together, greedily inhaling the heat.

Su Qingxue also walked over and sat down in the best spot specifically cleared out by Wang Lan.

The moment the warmth enveloped her whole body, she let out a long breath of white mist.

Fifty million was only half a month's profit for her; buying a life was well worth it.

Seeing this, Wang Qiang also hurried forward, rubbing his hands as he wanted to squeeze into the innermost layer of the bonfire.

"Get out."

Chen Jian stepped on the edge of the windbreak with one foot, blocking Wang Qiang's path.

Wang Qiang was stunned: "What are you doing? President Su has already paid, and you said everyone can roast by the fire as you please!"

"I said everyone." Chen Jian looked down at him condescendingly, "Doesn't include you."

"Chen Jian! Don't push your luck!" Wang Qiang panicked, turning his head to look at Su Qingxue, "President Su, look at him! He took your money, yet he won't let me warm myself by the fire! He's simply not putting you in his eyes either!"