Chapter 266: "Take money, do work. It’s no hardship.
Chapter 266: Chapter 266: "Take money, do work. It’s no hardship.
When she heard the news that Boss Jin’s wife and children were all dead, Shen Lu was stunned for a few seconds.
But she quickly recovered and remarked, "Well, that’s pretty tragic."
Ma Laosan clicked his tongue. "Do you know who blew up the villa?"
"Who was it?" Shen Lu was also quite curious.
She had indeed said it was time for the Jin family to fall, but she never intended for Boss Jin’s wife and children to be killed in an explosion.
"It was Boss Jin’s old arch-nemesis. His surname is Gu, and his name is Gu Tongwei."
Ma Laosan had, after all, been around Gold Street for many years and knew all the old stories like the back of his hand. "About ten years ago, Boss Jin’s business wasn’t this big, and he wasn’t the head of the Commerce Association. The head back then was this Gu Tongwei. Boss Jin used some tricks to force Gu Tongwei to step down, then bought up several of his shops for a low price, leaving Gu Tongwei’s family ruined and scattered. So, you see, for a gentleman, ten years is not too late for revenge. Gu Tongwei specifically chose the exact same time, ten years later, to blow up Boss Jin’s villa."
Ma Laosan was vague about some of the details, feeling that a young girl like Shen Lu shouldn’t hear things that were too bloody and violent.
Various thoughts swirled in Shen Lu’s mind. She quietly asked the system, ’If I hadn’t used the Word Spirit Technique, would last night’s events still have happened?’
[If the Host had not used the Word Spirit Technique, the event would still have occurred, but it wouldn’t have gone so smoothly. It would very likely have failed.]
[Host, please do not doubt the power of the Word Spirit Technique!]
Shen Lu didn’t doubt the power of the Word Spirit Technique. In fact, she really wanted to have this ability for herself!
It was even more formidable than the 100% damage reflection. It was an offensive tool; you could bring about someone’s miserable end just by moving your mouth.
So, besides wanting to quickly max out her shop’s defense, Shen Lu now had a new hope: to draw the Word Spirit Technique privilege, even if it was the lowest tier.
’Even having to recite some overbearing CEO lines would be acceptable!’
"Also, it wasn’t just Boss Jin’s villa that got hit. You’ve probably heard of Fragrant Sky, right? The fast-food chain with several locations? Three of their stores were blown up too!"
’No wonder there are more customers today,’ Shen Lu thought. ’It’s because Fragrant Sky got blown up.’
Shen Lu said, "Gu Tongwei did that too?"
"Yep. Back in the day, Fragrant Sky’s bosses, General Manager Chen and Mr. Sun, were thick as thieves with Boss Jin. They had a hand in his miserable downfall. Gu Tongwei held back for ten years; if he was going to get revenge, he was definitely going to spread the pain around."
Ma Laosan chattered on for half an hour before taking a call and leaving, looking like he still had more to say.
In truth, he had wanted to say more.
For example, the reason he hadn’t been coming to Shen Lu’s place recently was that he had no choice. Boss Jin had sent someone to have a word with him, telling him to cause trouble for Shen Lu.
Ma Laosan was just a small fry. When the head of the Commerce Association gave an order, how could he dare to disobey? However, Shen Lu’s shop wasn’t rented, but owned. Besides, the unfinished building housing Little Deer Cuisine wasn’t technically part of Gold Street, so Ma Laosan’s reach didn’t extend that far.
At most, he could only manage the street in front of the shop.
But Wang Daguo kept that stretch of street clean every day, leaving Ma Laosan with no opening. After thinking it over, he decided to just stop eating at Little Deer Cuisine and go to Fragrant Sky instead.
Fragrant Sky was owned by a member of the Commerce Association, so by eating there, he was, in a way, showing his goodwill to Boss Jin.
Shen Lu had just gotten all the juicy gossip. She understood that the crisis with Boss Jin was over for now, but she didn’t know if he would come back for revenge after cleaning up his mess.
’I have to cut the weeds and pull out the roots.’
After the lunch rush, Shen Lu found a spare moment to talk with Xue Can.
"One hundred thousand Star Coins to buy Boss Jin’s life. Is that enough?" Shen Lu got straight to the point.
Xue Can nodded. "It’s enough."
Shen Lu transferred the money. "Thank you for your trouble."
"I get paid to do a job. It’s no trouble."
In fact, even if Shen Lu hadn’t come to him, he had already planned to finish off Boss Jin himself.
As for accepting Shen Lu’s money, he had no choice. His relationship with her was in a sort of awkward, in-between stage.
If he didn’t accept it, Shen Lu would become suspicious, or suspect he had ulterior motives.
After all, Shen Lu now knew that the ingredients she bought from the mysterious merchant had magical effects, and his previous attempts to attack her, multiple times, were essentially no different from what Boss Jin had done.
’With Shen Lu’s intelligence, she must have figured it out.’
Actually, Xue Can had no idea what Shen Lu was thinking now, or why she was still willing to associate with him.
If it were him, he would probably keep his distance from someone who had previously tried to kill him, just for his own safety.
’Could it be... that Shen Lu has those kinds of feelings for him too?’
Xue Can’s mind was a mess. One moment he was frowning, the next his lips were curling into a smile, making Mo Bei’s hair stand on end.
After lunch, at Shen Lu’s urging, Fu Cheng and Wu Jun went to the hospital together for physical therapy.
Knowing Boss Jin was too preoccupied to cause trouble, Shen Lu boldly went out, though she still had Xue Can accompanying her.
She was going to see Granny Jin. Since the three members of the Liu Family had been taken from their rental, the place was no longer safe. She needed to cancel their lease and find them a new place to live.
"Something like that happened?" Granny Jin was extremely surprised after hearing Shen Lu’s explanation. "I didn’t know anything about it. I was in my room all afternoon yesterday. I heard some noise, but I just thought it was the wind."
These sheet metal houses were like that; they rattled whenever the wind blew.
"Don’t worry about refunding the rest of the rent. They caused quite a bit of trouble before, so consider it compensation." Shen Lu felt no guilt being generous with someone else’s money, and Granny Jin didn’t stand on ceremony either, simply saying, "Alright."
"Granny, give me the spare key. I’ll go clear out their things. You shouldn’t go, the wind is strong and the stairs are difficult to climb."
The stairs here were external, with no cover at all. Granny Jin was old, and Shen Lu was afraid she might have an accident on the stairs.
But when the door opened, Shen Lu was met with a surprise.
"It’s you three."
What a coincidence. Shen Lu hadn’t expected to run into the three young punks who had tried to rob her on the street last time.
"Failed at robbing, so now you’re stealing?"
The moment the three punks saw Shen Lu, they instinctively covered their crotches.
God knows, after being electrocuted unconscious by Shen Lu and waking up, they almost thought they’d lost their manhood. The memory of that gut-wrenching pain was still fresh.
"Y-y-you, don’t slander us! We’re not thieves!"
"We’re Brother Yao’s buddies!"
"Brother Yao let us stay here!"
Shen Lu narrowed her eyes. "Brother Yao? You know Liu Yaozu?"
"Of course! We’re the tightest of bros!"
’So you can’t beat us up again.’
"Then why did you dare to rob me?" Shen Lu asked.
"W-we didn’t know it was you! We just picked someone at random!"
Shen Lu laughed. "Four or five rickshaws passed before me, two of them carrying elderly people. You didn’t go after those easier targets, but you specifically chose me?"
Her words left Brother Tao and the other two speechless.
Xue Can flicked a finger, and three Fire Needles materialized out of thin air, hovering in front of the trio’s eyeballs. "Whoever speaks first gets to keep their eyes."