Chapter 91: Spurned

Chapter 91: Chapter 91: Spurned

Gao Weimin thought Zhang Yun was going to torture them—stomping on them, pouring hot tea over them, beating and scolding them... He didn’t expect that, with a sudden twist, he would put them on public display!

These were the factory workers. Even if some of them were from Gao Village, they were paid by the factory and would definitely side with Zhang Youcai.

It was bad enough being denounced and berated by them now, but today’s incident would definitely spread and reach the village. He wondered if he would have any face left and if he could maintain any prestige in the future.

Gao Weimin hadn’t gathered more villagers earlier exactly because he feared losing his prestige if he failed. He hadn’t expected to be unable to escape this fate anyway! Now, being trampled underfoot with tea poured all over his head and face, he was in the most humiliating situation possible...

"You guys are breaking the l—"

Zhang Yun abruptly pulled his foot back and said to the crowd, "Don’t beat him up, guys. It’s not good to hit people. Spraying their faces is a pretty good idea, though!"

Gao Weimin and the other two felt the weight lift off them. Before they could breathe a sigh of relief, they instantly tensed up again.

Gao Weimin wondered if this was supposed to be persuasion. Zhang Yun was clearly hinting that everyone could hit them! And what did he mean by spraying their faces? Was he telling the men to pull out their "water guns" and spray them?

"People like him aren’t worth hitting! HA-TUI!"

No one actually had the nerve to pull out their "water guns" and spray them in public, nor did they dare to really beat them up. However, they still needed to vent their displeasure, so someone took the lead and spat at them.

"PEI!"

Immediately, everyone followed suit, spitting at them one by one. Some were more refined and only let out a few drops of saliva. Others were much wilder, coughing hard to clear their throats before violently hocking thick loogies. At this moment, Gao Tie, who was originally at the very bottom and suffering the most, decisively shrank behind Gao Jun, while Gao Jun hid behind Gao Weimin’s head.

A massive amount of spit rained down directly on Gao Weimin, who was at the very top!

Gao Weimin wanted to open his mouth to reprimand them, but he didn’t dare. If he spoke and a glob of phlegm landed in his mouth, wouldn’t it be disgustingly lethal? He could only shut his eyes and mouth tightly, trying not to think or say anything.

Seeing this scene, Zhang Youcai couldn’t help but tug at Zhang Yun. "Isn’t this going a bit too far?"

"This is the workers expressing their contempt for evil forces. We should be glad they have such awareness!" Zhang Yun said with a serious face.

"But..." Zhang Youcai really wanted to say that while being spat on didn’t cause much physical harm, it was incredibly insulting!

Zhang Yun sneered. "Are you pitying them? If they actually forced you to close down the factory, who would pity you? People would only call you a capitalist who earned too much dirty money."

Zhang Youcai fell silent. Now that the factory had developed well, based on its current value, it seemed he had taken advantage of Gao Village. But back in the day when the land was worthless, it was Gao Village that had taken advantage of him; they had only signed a long-term contract because they were afraid he would quit after a couple of years.

Zhang Yun was controlling the situation. By letting the workers humiliate Gao Weimin together—even if it was only a small portion of them—he forced Gao Weimin to witness the will of the people while striking a blow to his prestige. Only then would this matter be dropped.

However, he wouldn’t truly allow everyone to gang up on them. When he took action himself, he could control his strength. A mob throwing wild punches would have no sense of proportion and could actually beat someone to death.

Seeing that they had done enough spitting, Zhang Yun clapped his hands. "Alright! Everyone, go back to work."

Zhang Youcai also hurriedly waved his hand. The workers left while whispering among themselves. Although their hands itched to throw a few punches, being able to publicly spit all over someone’s face like this was still extremely satisfying.

"Village Chief Gao, I managed to stop them from beating you guys, but I couldn’t stop everyone from spitting on you."

Hearing Zhang Yun’s words, Gao Weimin only had one thought. He felt that Zhang Yun was acting innocent after taking full advantage of the situation!

Zhang Yun smiled again. "How about... I wash your face for you?"

Gao Weimin instinctively wanted to refuse and ignore him, but his face felt absolutely unbearable. Right now, he didn’t even dare to move; if he did, the muck would slide all over his hair, ears, and neck. The two beneath him didn’t dare to move either. As long as they stayed still, the mess remained on Gao Weimin, but if they moved, it might drop onto their own faces.

He realized that if he didn’t wash his face, he wouldn’t be able to get up at all.

"Yes..."

He had just opened his mouth, but Gao Weimin quickly clamped it shut again. He nodded instead, then kept his eyes and mouth tightly closed.

Zhang Yun was already holding the teapot, and he raised it over Gao Weimin’s face.

"Don’t go saying I sprayed your face again. You asked me to do this!"

As the hot tea poured down, it was incredibly uncomfortable for Gao Weimin, but it did wash away the saliva and phlegm on his face. It felt like sweet rain, bringing a wonderful sense of relief to his heart.

However, while he found relief, Gao Jun and Gao Tie beneath him suffered! With this wash, the mixed liquid flowed downward, and being pinned under him, they barely had any room to dodge.

"T-That’s enough..." Gao Weimin choked out, wiping his face as he struggled to climb to his feet.

Gao Jun hurriedly rolled over and got up, spitting and wiping his face. Gao Tie, having been crushed for so long, was feeling utterly miserable.

"You... You guys..." Gao Weimin wanted to drop a few harsh words, but he simply couldn’t get anything out. This bastard Zhang Yun refused to yield to force or persuasion. If he made any threats, he might just get humiliated again right away.

He immediately stumbled away. Seeing this, Gao Jun quickly pulled Gao Tie up, and they left together. They were young, and they figured Zhang Yun wouldn’t show them any mercy!

Back in the office, Zhang Youcai had someone brew fresh tea and directly prepared a red envelope with five thousand yuan for Zhang Yun right in front of him.

"I originally only came to you for a sudden emergency, but you helped me resolve three waves of issues back-to-back. The root of the trouble is probably gone too..." Zhang Youcai insisted on stuffing the red envelope into Zhang Yun’s hands. "This is just a token of my appreciation. I will repay you properly in our future collaborations!"

Zhang Yun took it and smiled. "Just a token of appreciation?"

Zhang Youcai forced a dry laugh. "The trouble you helped me solve was huge. This single red envelope is definitely nowhere near enough. It’s truly just a token of my appreciation."

"Alright, I’ll accept it," Zhang Yun nodded.

Zhang Youcai had thought he was complaining that it was too little, so he finally breathed a sigh of relief. "Right! This is how it should be."

"But I feel like the red envelopes you gave to the others were too small," Zhang Yun suddenly shifted the topic.

Xu Jin and the others hurriedly waved their hands to decline. "No, no, Master! We just came to help you out. We really don’t need red envelopes!"

Zhang Yun said seriously, "You are my apprentices. Whether you help me harvest rice or catch fish, I won’t give you red envelopes. But coming here is different. This isn’t my personal business. Boss Zhang should be giving you red envelopes!"

"Yes, yes, I definitely should!" Zhang Youcai quickly agreed.

"Don’t think that just because you already gave them something, it’s enough. What you gave was really a bit too small. They are literal champion and runner-up Sanda fighters. Without a big red envelope, you couldn’t even invite them to back you up, let alone help you take care of eighteen thugs!"

Seeing Zhang Yun speak so seriously, Zhang Youcai finally understood something. Zhang Yun could give him face, but his apprentices couldn’t just be brushed off! They were at the athlete Level capable of commanding appearance fees.

Zhang Youcai immediately took out more cash and prepared a two-thousand-yuan red envelope for each of them.

Zhang Yun signaled for them to accept the money, then smiled and teased, "Do you feel like I’m extorting you?"

"No, no," Zhang Youcai hastily waved his hand. This only added up to seventeen thousand yuan, which wouldn’t have been nearly enough to satisfy Gao Weimin’s appetite.

"From those biker thugs to the dozens of people from Gao Village, to helping you with the appraisal, and then dealing with Gao Weimin... I helped you without holding anything back, and I had no intention of negotiating a price." Zhang Yun pointed out, "But favors are favors. They don’t owe you any favors, so you must respect their professional abilities!"

Zhang Youcai nodded in deep agreement. Xu Jin and the other three, meanwhile, were so moved that tears welled up in their eyes. They hadn’t expected that this man, who had been their master for less than a day, would protect their dignity and interests so fiercely in front of outsiders!