Gangster heir? Please call me a legitimate entrepreneur.

A salty, cold wind rushed in from the alley entrance.

"Buzzing—"

A high-powered aerator pump stirs up strings of bubbles in the water tank.

Boss Wang was wearing a dirty pair of black rubber waders.

Holding a long-handled net over a meter long, he was bending over to scoop grass carp from a large red plastic basin.

"Smack!"

A grass carp swung its tail and jumped onto the bluestone slab.

Mud splashed all over Boss Wang's shoe.

Just as he was about to bend down to pick it up, everything suddenly went dark.

All the light was blocked.

Boss Wang looked up.

Forty or fifty burly men in black suits stood in two rows, blocking the entrance to the seafood restaurant so tightly that not even a dog could squeeze through.

All wore matching red ties and snow-white work gloves.

The one leading the group was bald.

He had a centipede-shaped scar on his face and was grinning at him with a mouthful of yellow teeth.

When the wind blew, the bulging muscle contours beneath the suit were dazzling.

"Boss Wang, may your business prosper!"

Lei Hu clasped his hands together in front of his lower abdomen and rubbed his white gloves together a couple of times.

It made a dry, rustling sound.

"We're from the Sihai Group. We've come to deliver something that will bring you good fortune."

Boss Wang swallowed hard, his Adam's apple bobbing as it slid down his neck.

He glanced at the scar on Lei Hu's face, then looked at the group of men wearing white gloves.

My heart skipped a beat, but I held onto the net tightly, my courage holding me back.

"What lucky items?"

Boss Wang slammed the net onto the ground with a loud thud.

"I only accept cash here! No matter what kind of gang you used to be, you can't force a sale here!"

Lei Hu was not angry.

He took out the laminated black-and-white QR code cardboard from his pocket and handed it forward.

"I'm not selling anything, it's a gift for you."

"This is called Sihai Payment. From now on, when customers scan this code, the money will go straight into your card. No need to get the change wet, it's clean."

"Take it! Take it!"

With a wave of his hand, Boss Wang nearly poked Lei Hu's nose with the net pole.

"Who knows if scanning this QR code will drain the money from my account!"

He spat a mouthful of fishy-smelling saliva on the ground.

"I've been selling fish for twenty years, and all I believe in is money! You'd better get out of here and not block my way!"

The air was still for two seconds.

The simpleton behind him took half a step forward, his leather shoe stomping on the dead fish with a soft "smack".

He was about to glare when Lei Hu grabbed his shoulder.

"Step back."

Lei Hu lowered his voice.

He turned his head, looked at Boss Wang, and the smile on his lips widened even further.

"It's normal for Boss Wang to have concerns."

Lei Hu patted the water droplets off his gloves.

"Sihai is in the service industry, so we have to show sincerity."

He suddenly turned around and waved to the dozens of brothers behind him.

"Teams one and two! Get to work!"

Dozens of burly men in suits scattered in a flurry.

They set up two human walls right in front of the seafood restaurant, stretching all the way up the steps to the curb.

His hands were pressed against the seams of his trousers, and his back was ramrod straight.

An elderly woman carrying a shopping basket had just turned the corner.

I was just about to weigh two jin of prawns.

I just stepped onto the stairs.

Welcome!

Lei Hu roared in his hoarse, bellows-like voice.

"brush--"

Fifty burly men bowed in unison at a ninety-degree angle.

White gloves were held up in unison, pointing towards the shop entrance.

"Please use Sihai Pay to buy fish!"

The roar was deafening.

The prawns in the tank jumped around wildly in fright, splashing water all over the floor.

The old lady slipped.

The vegetable basket clattered to the ground, and a few potatoes rolled far away.

Her face was pale, and she waved her hands repeatedly before turning around and running in the opposite direction, almost breaking off her heels.

"Hey! Auntie! Shrimp prices have gone down!"

Boss Wang was shouting while clinging to the edge of the water tank, his voice cracking from exhaustion.

No one turned around.

Customers along the street, seeing this spectacle from afar, all avoided it as if it were a plague.

Ten minutes passed.

Twenty minutes passed.

Not even a fly flew into the seafood restaurant.

As long as someone dares to get within five meters.

The gang of thugs bowed in unison, their loud voices making everyone's eardrums tingle.

Boss Wang couldn't hold on any longer.

The net pole in his hand was shaking so hard it looked like it was electrified.

My knees buckled, and my back pressed tightly against the cold aquarium glass.

The hum of the water pump was amplified infinitely in my ears.

"Brothers...big brothers."

His voice was trembling with sobs, and his legs were shaking uncontrollably.

"I give up. I really give up."

He threw down the net and haphazardly wiped the water stains off his apron with trembling hands.

Stumbling and staggering around the water tank, he walked up to Lei Hu.

"Then... what about that code?"

Mr. Wang sniffled, "I'll put it on. I'll put it on right now."

Lei Hu slowly took out a cardboard from his pocket.

"Boss Wang has come to his senses? He won't force me, will he?"

"Not at all! Not at all!"

Boss Wang snatched the cardboard away.

Tears streamed down her cheeks, landing on her leather apron.

He ran to the cashier, rummaged through drawers and cabinets and found a roll of wide tape.

My hands were shaking so badly I couldn't tear the tape.

Just bite it off with your upper teeth.

"Sizzle."

He stuck the QR code firmly in the most conspicuous position on the scale.

Feeling unsure after applying one layer, I wrapped it three or four more times, both horizontally and vertically.

"This cardboard cutout is too small; it doesn't show the grandeur of our entire nation."

As he wiped away his tears, Boss Wang picked up the landline phone on the table.

"Hey? Is this the photo and text copywriting store? Send me an urgent QR code for Sihai Pay!"

He shouted into the microphone, his voice cracking.

"I need it as big as an A3 sheet of paper! Laminated! Send it to me immediately! Money is no object!"

He hung up the phone and turned his head away.

She looked at Lei Hu with a fawning expression, forcing out a smile that looked more like a grimace.

"Brother Tiger, do you think this spot is okay? Is it eye-catching enough?"

Lei Hu walked over.

He reached out and patted Boss Wang's stiff shoulder.

"Boss Wang."

Lei Hu raised his thumb, which was covered by a white glove, making the scar on his face appear softer.

"Supporting a cashless society, that's a very high level of awareness."

He turned and waved to his brothers outside the door.

"Call to the next store! Let's spread our sincerity throughout the whole street!"

The burly men turned around in unison.

Their leather shoes clattered on the bluestone slabs as they marched in a grand procession toward the next grilled cold noodle stall.

Old Zhao peeked out from the butcher shop next door, half of his shirtless body exposed.

He was holding a rag in his hand.

I watched as Boss Wang collapsed under the cash register, wiping away tears.

He silently turned around, pulled out a color-printed QR code for Sihai Payment from the drawer, and nailed it firmly to the wooden beam of his pork stall with a thumbtack.

Less than two hours.

The old Xiguan commercial street has changed dramatically.

From seafood vendors to fried dough stick vendors, even the shabby bicycle repair stalls on the street corner.

The entire area was covered with the black and white QR code for Sihai Payment.

Some business owners, fearing the text was too small, wrote three large characters next to the cardboard with a calligraphy brush:

"Scan here!"

Under the streetlights across the street.

The black Maybach was turned off and parked quietly in the shade of the trees.

The car window was rolled down halfway, and cold air rushed in through the gap.

Su Ye leaned back in the leather seat.

Legs crossed, coat hem draped over legs.

He held the silver thermos in his hand and slowly blew on the red dates on the water's surface.

In the passenger seat.

Chen Suan held a hot laptop, his fingers flying across the keyboard.

He didn't even bother to push his black-rimmed glasses up to the tip of his nose.

"President Su."

Chen Suan swallowed hard, his voice filled with barely suppressed excitement.

"The data feedback has come back."

He turned the screen around and pointed to the red line that was rising almost vertically.

"The old Xiguan commercial street has 342 shops."

"Access rate: 100%"

Chen Suan was breathing rapidly, his Adam's apple bobbing up and down.

"From this morning until now, the transaction volume completed through Sihai Payment has exceeded three million."

"These ground sales people... their efficiency is simply inhuman."

He was a finance whiz who returned from Wall Street.

I've seen companies throw money at subsidies and give away eggs to attract new users.

I've never seen anyone bring hundreds of gangsters to stand at the store entrance, bowing and making the owner cry!

Is this what you call ground promotion?

This is called a physical dimensional reduction attack!

Su Ye didn't look at the screen.

He lowered his head and took a sip of warm water, the sweetness of the goji berries melting on his tongue.

"As expected."

He screwed the lid on the cup, making a soft metallic clanging sound.

"They used to collect protection money based on fear."

Su Ye pushed up his gold-rimmed glasses, the lenses reflecting the cold light from outside the car.

"Right now, I'm just putting this fear on a cloak of politeness."

"But President Su."

Chen Suan pushed up his glasses, his brows furrowing slightly.

"Although the cash flow has increased, the fund pool in our payment system is still an empty shell."

He pointed to a data module in the backend.

"Once the merchants receive the money, they immediately withdraw it to their bank cards. If the money can't be retained, we can't conduct financial derivatives business."

Su Ye chuckled softly.

Turning my head to look out the car window, I saw the noodle shop owner pouring water from a basin.

"Can't keep them?"

He tapped his fingertips twice on the solid wood windowsill, making a tapping sound.

"Then give them a reason not to withdraw the money."

Su Ye lowered his voice, revealing the calculation of a stock market manipulator.

"Notify the technical department. The 'Yu's Benefits' feature will be launched tomorrow."

"As long as the merchant's money remains in Sihai Payment's account overnight, the annualized return is 5%. Interest is calculated daily."

Chen Suan gasped.

The computer almost slipped off my lap.

"Five percent?! That's more than double the rate of a bank fixed deposit!"

He stared, his eyes bloodshot from lack of sleep, "The interest costs are too high! We're burning money!"

"Burning money?"

A hint of mockery flashed in Su Ye's eyes.

"This is called a toll."

"Once the cash pool is full, you, as the CFO, won't have to worry about where to make money from this money."

The voice just fell.

Several young men in red vests suddenly walked past the windshield of the Maybach.

They were carrying several large bags of eggs.

A white penguin logo is printed on its chest.

The young man leading the group rubbed his frozen hands and looked around.

"Why does this commercial street look so eerie? Every household has a black and white QR code posted on their door?"

He walked up to the noodle shop with a professional smile on his face.

"Boss, we're with Tencent Pay. If you use our QR code, your first order today will get you a free basket of eggs."

The noodle shop owner is wiping the table.

Upon hearing the word "payment," I was so startled that I dropped the rag on the floor.

He suddenly raised his head, looking at the man in the red vest as if he were a plague carrier.

"Get out! Get out! Get out!"

The noodle shop owner grabbed a broom and waved it at the man in the red vest.

"I just posted the code for Sihai! Are you guys looking for trouble again?!"

The boss's eyes were red-rimmed, and his voice was trembling.

"Are you penguins trying to get me killed?! What if those guys in black suits come back and bow to me again?!"

The man in the red vest was so frightened that he backed away, dropping several eggs that broke on the ground.

"Boss, we're here to give out freebies..."

"Go to hell!"

Old Zhao leaned half his body out from the butcher shop next door, holding a boning knife in his hand.

"Get out of here! This whole street belongs to Sihai! You bunch of guys in red vests, get out of Laoxiguan as soon as possible!"

inside the car.

Su Ye watched this scene, and the corners of his mouth slowly curled up.

He placed the thermos on the armrest box.

"Old Chen."

Su Ye's voice was calm.

"These competitors in red vests are pretty quick to act."

He turned his head away, his gaze behind his glasses icy and piercing.

"Tell Lei Hu that the on-the-ground promotion will be expanded to the entire city tomorrow."

"Let them see what a formidable encirclement from all corners of the world truly looks like."