Returning wealthy individuals develop their hometowns and become rich in the 1980s

"Damn it! Did I tell you to keep an eye on me like this?"

Wang Wenxi slammed the lunchbox he was carrying onto the card table, which was covered in sunflower seed shells, startling Liu Huaqiang, Bingzi, and the others who were playing cards. The soup from the lunchbox spilled out, making a mess all over the table.

Wang Wenxi grabbed the playing cards on the table and threw them outside. "You bunch of bastards! I told you to stay here and play cards. If you let those people escape and ruin my brother-in-law's big plan, you'll know what 'misery' means!"

"Brother Xi, nothing's wrong, those bastards just eat and sleep inside all day, I haven't seen them come out once," Liu Huaqiang said with a sheepish smile, pushing the cards aside and opening the lunchbox. The aroma of braised pork wafted out, and he deliberately changed the subject, "Brother Xi, you're really a good guy, you know the brothers are hungry."

Wang Wenxi wasn't swayed by his words. Instead, he pointed at them and continued, "Let me tell you, if you want to continue working with my brother-in-law, you'd better put yourselves in the work. If I see you playing cards without keeping an eye on people again, get out of here!"

Liu Huaqiang's smile froze and gradually disappeared. He didn't say anything more, but looked at Bingzi, Shui Niu, and the newcomer Wu Gui. Seeing that the atmosphere was a bit awkward, Bingzi had no choice but to step in to ease the tension. "Brother Xi, don't worry, we promise we won't do it again next time, right, Qiangzi?"

"Um!"

Seeing that Liu Huaqiang and the others were nodding, Wang Wenxi stopped keeping a straight face. After opening the boxed lunch, he said, "Eat while it's hot. After you finish eating, I have something to tell you."

Despite being scolded by Wang Wenxi, Bingzi, Shuiniu, and Wugui didn't seem to mind. They were the three who had been with Wang Wenxi the longest and got along the best with him. Wang Wenxi was the first to bring them into Huaxing, so naturally they wouldn't feel resentful because of Wang Wenxi's harsh words.

But Liu Huaqiang was different. He had been a hoodlum in Nanshan County for many years. He came to curry favor with Wang Wenxi because he saw that Huaxing was recruiting people for demolition projects. He was already dissatisfied with Wang Wenxi because he relied on his brother-in-law to boss them around. Now that he had been scolded like this, he was already feeling resentful.

After the four of them finished eating the boxed lunch that Wang Wenxi had brought, they tossed it into the corner, wiped their mouths, and waited for Wang Wenxi to say what he was going to say next. After Wang Wenxi took out a cigarette and lit it around, he slapped the five thousand yuan that his brother-in-law Huang Bingkun had given him in his pocket onto the table.

The four looked at Wang Wenxi, puzzled. Wang Wenxi explained, "This is five thousand yuan in funding from my brother-in-law. After we finish eating, Water Buffalo and Black Ghost, you two stay here and keep watch. Qiangzi and Bingzi, let's go to Pepper's place. We're going to invest in their business!"

Liu Huaqiang narrowed his eyes, glanced at the five thousand yuan on the table, and asked Wang Wenxi, "Brother Xi, isn't it a bit too much to put all five thousand in? We already know these people are scamming us, why are we still investing?"

"You can't catch a wolf without risking your cub," Wang Wenxi took a deep drag on his cigarette. "Besides, I'm not really stupid. If I put all five thousand in at once, Pepper's gang would get suspicious."

"We'll throw in a thousand or two at a time, to lure them in," Wang Wenxi said, looking at Water Buffalo and Black Ghost. "When we leave, you two better keep your eyes peeled and don't let them all get away. If things go wrong, you'll have to go to the construction site and tell my brother-in-law, understand?"

"OK!"

"Don't worry, Brother happy!"

After giving his instructions, Wang Wenxi led Liu Huaqiang and Bingzi out of the house. Huang Bingkun's "Zhaoyebai" sedan was parked outside. Wang Wenxi said that he would drive the sedan to better confuse Pepper's group so as to intimidate them.

The car drove towards Dongmenqiao Old Street. The old street was narrow, so Wang Wenxi stopped the car at the intersection and told Bingzi to keep an eye on it so that no one would scratch it. He then led Liu Huaqiang toward the "senior activity room" of Pepper.

"Hey! Isn't this Brother happy? You're here!"

As soon as Wang Wenxi and Liu Huaqiang entered the room, they were almost smoked out of the room. There were more than a dozen people inside, all of them heavy smokers. Surrounded by smoke, Wang Wenxi could only hear voices and couldn't see which bastard was calling him.

Pepper, with a cigarette dangling from his lips, came over and put his arm around Wang Wenxi's shoulder. The pungent smell of sweat emanating from the guy immediately assaulted Wang Wenxi's nostrils. Wang Wenxi snorted, but Pepper, unsuspecting, assumed it was because of the strong smell of smoke in the room that Wang Wenxi couldn't resist. He chuckled and led him into the inner room.

"Brother Xi, didn't you say last time that you wanted to invest in Brother Kun's business? Well, Brother Kun is here now, playing cards in the inner room. Let's go in and meet him," Pepper said, putting her arm around Wang Wenxi as they entered the inner room. There was only one mahjong table in the room, and four people were playing cards shirtless.

As the saying goes, ugly people love to look in the mirror. This tattooed scoundrel loved to take off his clothes to show off his tattoos. With his back to the door, the man with a dragon tattooed across his shoulder turned around and looked at Wang Wenxi as soon as he heard Hu Jiao's laughter after the door opened.

"Brother Xi, this is my Brother Kun," Pepper introduced Wang Wenxi to Liu Kun. "Brother Kun, this Brother Xi is a very important person in Jiping. His brother-in-law is the manager of Huaxing Real Estate, in charge of the material flow at the Huaxing residential construction site. He's very wealthy!"

The subtext of Pepper's words was to tell Liu Kun that Wang Wenxi was rich and could be tricked... no, he could be tricked into investing!

Liu Kun's fleshy face immediately broke into a smile. He stopped playing cards and even got up to offer Wang Wenxi a seat. "Brother Xi, sit down and let's talk. Pepper, quickly bring the tea set. Brother Xi is here, we must bring out the best tea to serve him."

Liu Kun then waved to the other three people, pretending to be generous, and said, "We're not playing today. Take whatever money I lost from the drawer."

"Thanks, Brother Kun!" The other three card players happily took the money and left the room, leaving only Wang Wenxi, Liu Huaqiang, and Liu Kun behind.

Pepper came in carrying a tea tray and closed the door, shutting out some of the noise outside. Wang Wenxi, with his legs crossed, looked at Liu Kun and said, "I heard from Pepper that you have wide connections in Shenzhen, Brother Kun, and you can even get smuggled electronics from Hong Kong?"

Liu Kun took out some Peony cigarettes, intending to offer them to Wang Wenxi, but unexpectedly, Wang Wenxi took out a pack of Huazi cigarettes from his inner pocket, casually tossed one to Liu Kun, and said, "Take mine!"

He placed the cigarettes on the table, then reached for his matches, and put the car keys from his pocket on the cigarette case. Liu Kun saw it clearly; this kid was surprisingly capable, already driving a car.

Liu Kun immediately struck a match and went over to light Wang Wenxi's cigarette. Wang Wenxi imitated the boss Chen Zaixing's action and gently patted Liu Kun's hand that was protecting the flame.

"Brother Xi, how much money do you want to join? I can't accept less than that!"