Gangster heir? Please call me a legitimate entrepreneur.

The cold morning wind blew in through the cracks in the revolving doors of the Sihai Building.

The heating wasn't on in the lobby.

A thin layer of frost had formed on the floor tiles, making it very slippery when you stepped on them with your leather shoes.

Su Ye stood in the center of the lobby.

The collar of his coat was turned up, covering half of his face.

The silver thermos in his hand emitted wisps of white steam, and the sweet aroma of red dates filled the dry, cold air.

He slightly raised his eyelids, looking at the dark mass of heads in front of him.

Two hundred burly security guards stood in four square formations.

They were all dressed in matching black fitted suits and red ties.

Strangely, these people were wearing snow-white cotton work gloves on their burly hands.

That scene.

They didn't look like they were doing on-the-ground promotions; they looked more like a gangster honor guard preparing to carry a coffin.

"Brother Su."

Lei Hu stood at the very front, his bald head turning blue from the cold.

He nervously rubbed his hands together in front of his stomach.

The cotton gloves rubbed together, making a dry, rustling sound.

"Wearing this thing... makes it hard to even bend your fingers."

Lei Hu swallowed hard, his scarred face scrunched up.

"Just now, Sanpang picked his nose and almost got a white thread stuck in his nostril and couldn't get it out."

A few suppressed laughs came from the back of the group.

Su Ye unscrewed the cup lid.

I blew on the plump goji berries on the water's surface.

"Too much trouble?"

He took a sip of warm water, his Adam's apple bobbing up and down, a cold glint flashing behind his gold-rimmed glasses.

"Take off your gloves. Go find Zhang Tiezhu to get your brushes. Today, you're responsible for cleaning all the men's restrooms from the first to the tenth floor of the building."

A chill ran down Lei Hu's spine.

He quickly put his hands behind his back and straightened his back.

"No problem! Brother Su! I think these gloves are incredibly warm!"

He yelled in his hoarse voice, "Wearing it, I feel like a refined person!"

Su Ye was too lazy to pay him any attention.

I tapped the bottom of the thermos with my fingertip, and it made a crisp tapping sound.

"Have you all received the 'Sihai Payment' QR code cardboard?"

His gaze swept over the group of rough men.

"In our O2O closed loop, food delivery and ride-hailing are just the legs. Payment is the heart that we hold in our hands."

"Today we're going to the old Xiguan commercial street."

Su Ye's voice wasn't loud, but it carried an undeniable ruthlessness.

"Go door-to-door, promote it to every store. Fill up all the cash registers of those shop owners."

……

9:30 a.m.

Laoxiguan Commercial Street.

This street is the most traditional and also the most chaotic agricultural trade distribution center in Longhai City.

The air is perpetually filled with the stench of pig offal and the fermenting smell of rotten vegetable leaves.

There's also the fumes from the cheap soybean oil used for frying dough sticks.

Er Lengzi was holding a laminated black and white QR code cardboard.

The cardboard was square, and two sweat marks were left on it by the white gloves.

He stood in front of a butcher shop with a sign that read "Old Zhao's Fresh Meat".

The butcher, Lao Zhao, was shirtless, with a greasy black leather apron tied around his waist.

He held a boning knife in his hand.

"Bang!"

He slammed the meat hard onto the fan-shaped ribs of the cutting board, sending bits of meat flying everywhere.

"Sir/Grandpa."

Er Lengzi swallowed hard, took a half-step back, and dodged the flying bits of meat.

"We're from the Sihai Group. We're promoting something new."

He handed the QR code forward.

"Put this next to your cutting board. From now on, when customers buy meat, they can just scan the code with their phone, and the money will automatically go into your pocket."

Old Zhao stopped slicing.

His eyelids rolled upwards, revealing a large expanse of white in his eyes.

He looked Er Lengzi up and down, observing his black suit and white gloves.

He exhaled a thick breath from his nostrils.

"What's this? Scan it?"

Old Zhao grabbed the cardboard with his thick, greasy hands.

He stared at it for a long time, his brows furrowing into a tight knot.

"This black and white frame looks like a funeral portrait! Putting it on my cutting board is bad luck!"

"No, it's not a funeral portrait."

Er Lengzi was so anxious that he kept scratching his buzz cut, and the white gloves rubbed a layer of dust off his scalp.

"This is called mobile payment. As Brother Su said, this is called a cashless society."

"You don't need to give me change, it saves you trouble."

"fart!"

Old Zhao threw the cardboard into the muddy pit under the cutting board.

"Smack!"

Sewage splashed onto Er Lengzi's leather shoe.

"Easy? I've sold pork my whole life, I only accept cash!"

Old Zhao brandished his boning knife, the blade reflecting a cold, white light.

"Cash feels substantial in your hand! It gives you peace of mind!"

"Who knows if that string of numbers in the phone might be stolen by a hacker someday?"

He spat out a mouthful of bloody saliva.

"The neighbors know exactly what Sihai used to do."

"Trying to swindle my hard-earned money? Get lost! Don't get in my way!"

Er Lengzi's mouth was agape.

Looking at the QR code lying in the mud, I was so anxious that my eyes turned red.

He was about to explode in anger; his hand was already on his lower back.

Suddenly, Su Ye's kind face popped into her mind, and she forcefully swallowed her anger.

He bent down, picked up the cardboard, and wiped it haphazardly on his white gloves.

They slunk away from the butcher shop.

It's not just a simpleton.

The entire street-level promotion effort was a complete failure.

Sanpang was holding a cardboard sign when the seafood vendor pointed a fish scaler at him and berated him.

The blond-haired guy went to a dried fruit store to sell his wares, and the owner immediately unleashed his dog to bite him.

More than two hours have passed.

Two hundred thugs in suits didn't even manage to put up a single QR code.

noon.

Under the old, crooked tree at the entrance of the alley.

Lei Hu squatted on the curb.

His bald head was covered in fine beads of sweat, which emitted faint white vapor when the cold wind blew.

He irritably ripped off his white gloves and slammed them to the ground.

"Hold!"

Lei Hu, with his hoarse voice, slammed his fist into the red brick wall behind him.

The plaster was peeling off the wall in a rustling sound.

"These troublemakers! They're completely unreasonable!"

His eyes were bloodshot as he glared at the group of underlings surrounding him.

"I told them I didn't need change, but they said they were afraid their phones would steal the money!"

"When we told them it was safe, they said we looked like robbers!"

Lei Hu was panting heavily, and the buttons on his tightly cleaved shirt almost popped off.

"If it weren't for Brother Su's strict rule against physical violence, I would have wrecked that pork stall!"

Er Lengzi shrank his neck.

He held the muddy QR code in his hand, his voice trembling.

"Tiger, what... what should we do?"

He sniffed the clear snot that had come out of his nose.

"Brother Su set a target of posting 500 posters a day. If we don't finish that, we'll have to memorize the Economic Law again tonight."

Upon hearing the words "Economic Law"...

The men around them all shivered, their eyes filled with a despair even deeper than when they were facing a police car.

"squeak--"

A black Maybach, its wheels crushing the rotten vegetable leaves on the roadside, slowly came to a stop at the entrance of the alley.

The tires made a sticky sound as they rolled over puddles.

The car window was rolled down halfway.

Su Ye sat in the back row.

He wore gold-rimmed glasses and held a silver thermos in his hand.

His gaze swept coldly over the group of burly men squatting in the corner, their bodies covered in mushrooms, through the lens of his glasses.

Lei Hu sprang up as if he had been electrocuted.

He picked up the white gloves from the ground, put them on haphazardly, and strode over.

He was leaning against the car window sill.

"Brother Su."

He swallowed hard, his scarred face slumped into a mushy mess.

"This job... I really can't keep doing it."

Lei Hu pointed to the messy commercial street.

"These bosses are really stubborn. They absolutely refuse to take this job."

Su Ye didn't say anything.

He unscrewed the lid of the thermos, and the steam enveloped his glasses.

He lowered his head, took a sip of water, and his Adam's apple bobbed.

"They're afraid the money won't end up in their own pockets."

Su Ye's voice was flat, revealing a cold indifference that seemed to see through people's hearts.

"Having cash in hand gives them a sense of security. That's their survival logic for half their lives."

"Then, what should we do?"

Lei Hu grabbed the bald man, the mud from his gloves rubbing against his scalp, leaving a black mark.

"Force them to post it? Then Lin Dai from the Ministry of Justice will be slapping me in the face with an indictment again."

Su Ye tightened the lid of the cup.

It makes a crisp "click" sound like metal meshing.

He pushed up his glasses, his gaze passing over Lei Hu and landing on the vendors who were peering in their direction.

A slight smile slowly spread across her lips.

"Forcing someone is the behavior of a thug."

Su Ye rolled up the car window, and his voice came through the glass in a muffled tone.

"We are in the service industry."

The car restarted.

The engine emitted a deep roar.

"Tiger Boy".

Su Ye left out a final sentence, which hit Lei Hu's eardrums with the cold wind.

"Tomorrow morning at eight o'clock."

"Get the guys new suits. Wash their white gloves thoroughly."

Lei Hu ran two steps after the car's taillights.

A deep voice echoed in the wind.

"Brother Su! Why are you wearing a new suit? Are we going to read them the law?"

The Maybach's taillights flashed twice as it turned the corner.

Su Ye's text message popped up on Lei Hu's Nokia screen at the same time.

There was only a cold, impersonal line of text.

[Don't read the law. When you go tomorrow, you're not allowed to speak.]

Lei Hu stared at the screen, a layer of white sweat breaking out on his forehead.

Not going to talk? What are you going to do then? Become a mute bodyguard?

Another text message came in.

[Standing in front of their shop. Smiling.]