Chapter 1710: Consequences

Zhang Defa’s mind was completely blank at this moment, a sudden ominous premonition rose in his heart.

Why did Xu Hongxing suddenly appear here? Why is everything so coincidental?

"Mr. Xu, what brings you here?" Zhang Defa hurriedly said.

Xu Hongxing didn’t expect to see the head of logistics as soon as he walked in.

"What are you doing here? Oh right, have you seen the president of the Xu Group? He said he was here, but I haven’t seen him yet."

Xu Hongxing’s words made Zhang Defa’s face turn ashen. He had just thought Xu Ke was bragging, but he didn’t expect this young man in front of him to really be the president of the Xu Group.

Zhang Defa is not a fool. To have reached his current position, he has some intellect.

A while ago, he had already seen information about Xu Ke online, but since it had nothing to do with him, he didn’t pay much attention.

But now he remembered the photos online, and the young man in front of him looked exactly the same.

Zhang Zefang suddenly realized he was finished, fearing that after this incident, he would be expelled from the Red Star Group.

Meanwhile, Li Shufen at the side still didn’t understand what was happening at the scene.

"Uncle, the president is here. Quickly tell the president this brat was bad-mouthing him behind his back and let the president teach this brat a lesson."

Li Shufen’s words completely infuriated Zhang Defa; it was because of his niece that he ended up like this.

"You idiot, do you not know the trouble you’ve caused? Standing in front of you is the president of the Xu Group. Look at your own mistakes. Isn’t it time to apologize to the president?" With that, he slapped Li Shufen directly across the face.

Li Shufen was completely bewildered at this point, having no idea what had happened.

Just a moment ago, her uncle was totally accommodating her, and now he suddenly turned against her?

Moreover, from Zhang Defa’s words, she gathered that this young man in front of her seemed to hold an extraordinary position.

Although she didn’t know what the Xu Group was, she recognized the title of president.

Zhang Shufen realized she caused serious trouble, provoking someone she shouldn’t have.

Li Shufen’s face turned pale; she no longer knew what to say.

"Mr. Xu, I failed to recognize Mount Tai and humbly ask for your forgiveness."

Xu Ke didn’t expect these two to surrender so quickly with Xu Hongxing’s sudden arrival.

Xu Hongxing was also bewildered at this moment, completely unaware of online events.

Why would his logistics manager have a conflict with Xu Ke?

"Mr. Xu, what on earth is going on?"

Xu Hongxing was eager to understand everything now.

He didn’t want to give Xu Ke a bad first impression.

"Mr. Xu, I think the situation is utterly clear. Your logistics manager, exploiting his position, teamed up with his relative to oppress lower-tier employees. If I remember correctly, new recruits in your company are generally trained by team leaders, and their salaries are generally tied to those they train. But this person next to me, called Little Apple, hasn’t had any new recruits for two months. According to my understanding, this is all the doing of that so-called logistics manager, Zhang Defa, and this team leader Li Shufen. They were envious of Little Apple’s hard work, so they plotted behind his back. Little Apple is such a hardworking young man, yet they tormented him to this extent."

Xu Ke’s words instantly brought a silence over the scene.

Xu Hongxing never expected something like this to happen in his company.

Seeing Xu Ke’s angry demeanor, Xu Hongxing knew how infuriated Xu Ke was this time.

How vile would a situation have to be to infuriate the president of a publicly-listed group this much?

"Zhang Defa, tell me honestly, is this true or not?"

Xu Hongxing coldly gazed at Zhang Defa.

At this point, Zhang Defa no longer exhibited his previous arrogance; he was now timid like a grandson.

"Mr. Xu, I was at fault for this matter. Please forgive me, I won’t dare to do it again."

Zhang Defa’s response explained everything; he had confessed to everything.

Xu Hongxing almost fainted from his words, never expecting such a leech among his subordinates.

He had taken countless precautions and led by example, hoping to set a good example for his employees. Yet, as the years went by, corruption remained in the company.

He emphasized countless times not to bring in personal relatives. If found, there would be severe punishment.

But he never expected Zhang Defa, as a high-ranked official, to knowingly break the rules.

This time, Zhang Defa crossed Xu Hongxing’s bottom line; he would not allow anyone to challenge his authority.

"Zhang Defa, Zhang Defa. If I remember correctly, you’ve been with the company for quite a while. Have I not treated you well in usual times? Why did you do this? I clearly remember giving you a large bonus at the year-end last year. Is this how you repay me, how you bring glory to my company?"

Zhang Defa didn’t know what to say, as everything Xu Hongxing said was true.

Last year’s year-end bonus, Xu Hongxing deliberately gave him a large red envelope, bigger than half a year’s salary for Zhang Defa.

"Mr. Xu, I truly know my mistake."

Zhang Defa said nothing further with a dejected expression, he knew he was at the end of his rope.

Meanwhile, Little Apple looked at Xu Ke incredulously.

Clearly, Xu Ke was around the same age as him, but he was already the president of a publicly-listed company.

Little Apple felt it was all surreal, like he was dreaming.

What luck he had today, encountering two presidents.

It’s known that Little Apple had been with Red Star Group for two years and had never even seen the company’s president.

"Little Apple, if you have anything to say, speak directly to Mr. Xu. With me here, they won’t dare to bully you."

Xu Ke had laid it all out, but Little Apple still felt a bit fearful.

"Really, can I?"

Xu Hongxing slowly turned over, carefully observing the young girl in front of him.

He discovered a rare simplicity in Little Apple, something also present in himself many years ago.

"Little Apple, don’t be afraid. I am the president of the company, Xu Hongxing. If you’ve been wronged, tell me, and I will stand up for you."

Upon hearing the president’s words, Little Apple described his recent experiences to Xu Hongxing in detail.

In fact, it was similar to what Xu Ke had said, but Little Apple included more specific incidents.

After hearing Little Apple’s account, Xu Hongxing had a general understanding of the situation.