24: Chapter 24 Subduing Lei Hu

"Then come with us."

Chen Hao led the two men toward the door.

Lei Hu set his cue stick on the billiard table and followed them out.

Several thugs nearby, who were leaning over the table to aim, straightened up.

"Brother Hu, where are you going?"

A kid with dyed red hair shouted.

Lei Hu didn't even turn his head, reaching out to wrap his military coat around himself:

"Going out for a bit."

"Are you coming back tonight? Liuzi said he wanted to come over for drinks tonight..."

"Not coming back."

Lei Hu pushed open the greasy glass door, and the cold wind hit his face, clearing his muddled brain a little.

Chen Hao was already standing by the roadside, with Zhao Gang and Wang Jun guarding his left and right like two door gods.

But what truly surprised Lei Hu was the audi a6 parked behind Chen Hao.

In this era, an audi a6 itself was a symbol of status, far more intimidating than any Mercedes or BMW.

Lei Hu's gaze subconsciously swept toward the license plate.

Jing A83...

Having knocked around the streets for so long, Lei Hu didn't have many skills, but he definitely had the eye for license plates.

When hanging out on the street corner eating skewers and bragging with those thugs, they always talked about which young master from Beijing drove a Ferrari, or whose compound license plate no one dared to stop.

License plates starting with Jing A8 were legendary existences in the mouths of these low-level thugs, belonging to the top-tier circle they could never touch.

Lei Hu felt even more uneasy.

He had originally thought Zhao Gang's boss was just a rich second-generation kid with some money, or perhaps a nouveau riche businessman.

But this license plate directly elevated Chen Hao's status to a height that made him look up in awe.

"Get in."

Chen Hao opened the back door and sat in himself.

Lei Hu stood where he was, looking at his own mud-stained liberation shoes, then at the car paint that was polished enough to reflect a person's shadow.

He rubbed his hands somewhat awkwardly, not daring to move.

"What are you stunned for? Do I need to invite you?"

Zhao Gang walked over and gave him a shove on the back.

Lei Hu stumbled, gritted his teeth, and carefully climbed into the front passenger seat.

He only dared to let his buttocks touch half of the seat, fearing that his military coat would smudge the leather upholstery.

The car door closed, shutting out the noise from outside.

"Drive, back to the compound."

Chen Hao instructed.

Wang Jun skillfully shifted gears, released the handbrake, and the audi a6 drove toward the city center.

Lei Hu sat in the passenger seat, his body as tense as a rock.

Twenty minutes later, the car turned into Qianshou Road.

Wang Jun turned the steering wheel, heading straight for the gate of the compound with the sign "Ministry of Electronic Information".

Lei Hu's heart jumped into his throat.

The sentries at the gate of such a compound were armed with real guns and live ammunition.

However, the interception he expected did not happen.

The sentry saw the pass behind the windshield, glanced at the license plate, and immediately stood at attention, giving a standard military salute.

The barrier arm rose high.

The audi a6 drove into the compound without obstruction.

Lei Hu sat in the car, looking at the rows of neat poplar trees and Soviet-style buildings outside the window, his mind buzzing.

He really was a compound kid.

And not just some fringe kid, but the kind who could walk sideways even in a ministry compound.

Brother Gang had really latched onto a heaven-reaching thigh this time.

The car stopped at the annex building.

"We're here."

Chen Hao opened the door and got out.

Lei Hu followed him out, feeling dizzy. His feet touched the clean cement ground, and it felt a bit unreal.

...

The group went up to the fourth floor.

Fourth-floor office.

Rosewood desk, antique shelf, thread-bound books.

This place was too high-end, so proper that it made Lei Hu feel like a beggar who had broken into a palace, with nowhere to put his hands and feet.

"Sit."

Chen Hao pointed to the chair opposite the tea table, while he himself sat in the main seat.

Zhao Gang took off his suit jacket and skillfully boiled water, rinsed the tea, and brewed it.

His movements were smooth and flowing; it was clear he had practiced quite a bit in the last few days.

Lei Hu sat on the edge of the chair, looking up at Chen Hao, and finally asked the question he had been holding back the whole way.

"Boss, you want me to watch the place—is it here?"

Lei Hu pointed to the compound outside the window.

"Stop joking with me. This is a ministry compound; no one would dare come here to cause trouble."

Chen Hao picked up the teacup, gently blew away the foam, and took a sip.

"Of course you don't need to watch this place."

He put down the teacup and looked at Lei Hu's face, which was full of confusion.

"I'm going to do business outside. Internet cafe, do you know what that is?"

"Internet cafe?" Lei Hu was stunned for a moment.

Of course he knew what that was.

They were everywhere on the streets now, full of kids playing games, smoky and chaotic.

He would occasionally go play a couple of games of red alert, or go on OICQ to flirt with young girls.

"I know. It's a place with dozens of computers where people go to surf the internet and play games." Lei Hu answered honestly.

"Right, that's it."

Chen Hao put down the teacup and continued.

"But I'm not opening one of those small workshops with only a dozen machines. I want to build a large-scale internet cafe, expected to have hundreds of machines."

"Places like that are crowded and complex, with all sorts of people. People stealing things, fighting, not wanting to pay, or even people from other internet cafes getting jealous and coming to cause trouble—there will be no shortage of that in the future."

He stared at Lei Hu and said.

"I need someone who understands the rules, can hold down the fort, but won't cause me big trouble to manage this shop."

"Zhao Gang and Da Jun are retired soldiers; their demeanor is too upright, not suitable for dealing with street thugs."

"You are different. You've been in the game, you've been locked up, you know what those people are thinking, and you know how to handle them."

Lei Hu understood.

This wasn't asking him to watch some gray establishment like a nightclub or a gambling den; it was just a regular internet cafe.

This was a proper job.

He had originally thought that being sought out meant he would be doing dirty work.

After all, he, Lei Hu, was just a piece of rotten mud now; apart from a bit of ruthlessness, he was useless.

He turned to look at Zhao Gang, who didn't speak but just pushed the teacup toward him.

Lei Hu sniffed, his eyes a bit hot.

He picked up the teacup, tilted his head back, and downed it all. The scalding tea flowed down his throat into his stomach, making him shiver all over.

"Thank you for your appreciation, Boss."

Lei Hu put down the cup, wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, and became spirited.

"As for the stuff at the internet cafe, I know the ropes. Most of the thugs in there are cowards who bully the weak and fear the strong."

"As long as you trust me, I guarantee that no one will dare to stir up trouble in your place in the future. As long as I'm there, whoever wants to cause trouble, I'll throw them out."

Chen Hao smiled, took out his wallet, counted out two thousand yuan, and threw it directly in front of Lei Hu.

"Here, take this two thousand yuan."

Lei Hu looked at the money, a bit confused:

"Boss, I haven't done any work yet..."

"This is a settling-in allowance."

Chen Hao interrupted him.

"Go buy some decent clothes first; don't dress like a refugee all day. In the future, you are my store manager, and when you go out, you represent the company's face."

"Also, go get a haircut, and shave off that stubble on your face."

Lei Hu looked at Chen Hao and nodded.

He reached out, grabbed the money, and stuffed it into his inner pocket.

"Alright, the money is accepted, now I'm giving you your first task."

Chen Hao took out a map and began to arrange the work.

"Gangzi, you take Lei Hu to handle this. For the next few days, you guys just roam around the University Road area."

Chen Hao drew a circle on the map with his finger.

That was the area where Jinghang University, Huaqing, and Beijing University were concentrated, and also the place with the highest population density and the most young people in Beijing in the coming years.

"I want to find a place to open an internet cafe. There are three requirements."

"First, the area must be large, at least five hundred square meters or more; the bigger, the better."

"Second, the location must be good. It must be a street-level shop, or on the second floor with an independent entrance, where I can hang a big sign."

Chen Hao paused and said seriously.

"I don't want to rent a place; I want to be able to buy it. As long as the location is suitable and the property rights are clear, it doesn't matter if it's expensive."

The three people present were all a bit shocked.

Buy it?

A five-hundred-square-meter street-level shop in a prime location like University Road—how much would that cost?

Although housing prices hadn't taken off yet, such a storefront would still cost hundreds of thousands or even millions, right?

This boss's spending was too grand.

"Do you understand?" Chen Hao asked.

"Understood!" Lei Hu answered loudly, his voice resounding.

"Go. Gangzi, take him to get a new outfit, then get to work."

"Yes!"

Zhao Gang and Lei Hu turned and walked out.

...

Walking downstairs, Zhao Gang patted Lei Hu on the shoulder:

"Nickname, cherish this opportunity. It wasn't easy for me to beg for it for you."

Lei Hu grinned, revealing a mouthful of white teeth.

"Brother Gang, in this life, I owe you my life."

"Cut the crap." Zhao Gang punched him. "Work hard, don't let the boss down."

"Don't worry."