Chapter 16

Choosing to recruit Giant Laborers, Ye Qing directly selected seven of them with a few taps.

When the white mist dissipated and the seven Giant Laborers appeared, even Ye Qing, who was used to their monstrous appearances, was momentarily stunned.

He decided to bring out the other three to make a round number.

Ten of these creatures, each around 1.95 meters tall, weighing no less than 350 pounds, with muscles bulging as if they were about to burst, and fangs protruding from their mouths, stood in a neat row. What a visual impact!

To put it bluntly, Ye Qing was planning to take them to collect debts.

Even a top-tier deadbeat, who had been repeatedly painted with paint and had their windows smashed but still refused to pay, would have to obediently, immediately, and with interest, return all the money.

A reinforced squad of blue-faced, fanged monsters—would you be afraid or not?

Unfortunately, apart from Sang Qing's breach of contract, no one owed Ye Qing money.

It was actually that a few days ago, Ye Qing had borrowed money from several classmates, totaling around ten thousand yuan.

Now that he had the money, he naturally had to pay it back.

There was no rush, so he decided to upgrade the factory first before repaying the debts.

With ten Giant Laborers gathered, Ye Qing gained the qualification to upgrade the factory. Without hesitation, he tapped "Yes."

"The system is upgrading... 1%... 2%..."

It looked like it would take an hour. Since there were no curbstones to process at the moment, Ye Qing simply directed the Giant Laborers to cut steel plates, manufacture parts, and produce two more stone cutting machines.

The remaining steel could make two more machines. With ten Giant Laborers working together, the efficiency was far more than just 1+1=10.

This was the power of a group, strong and tireless beasts.

If each of them were given a large iron hammer to demolish buildings, they would be faster than an excavator.

Of course, the Giant Laborers were not 24/7 robots. After a day's work, they needed to return to the monster factory to rest and recover from fatigue.

Now that Ye Qing had ten Giant Laborers, a 24-hour shift system was entirely feasible.

Taking this opportunity, Ye Qing logged into WeChat and repaid the money he had borrowed from his classmates.

Ye Qing had good relationships at school. When he called his college classmates to borrow money a few days ago, several of them transferred money to him via WeChat.

However, the amounts were too small. Ye Qing had to ask around in his junior high school class group.

High school classes were divided strictly, and senior year was extremely tiring, so Ye Qing had forgotten many of his classmates' names and appearances. But he had always kept in touch with his junior high school classmates, who he had a good relationship with.

Two people in the junior high school class group lent him money: one lent 800 yuan, and the other lent 3,000 yuan, the most among all his classmates.

The one who lent 3,000 yuan was a female classmate named Zhang Zhitong.

Ye Qing and Zhang Zhitong were very distant; they hadn't spoken a word since the second year of junior high.

Zhang Zhitong had a face that could make any man forgive her, no matter what mistake she made.

But during junior and senior high school, she never gave any boy a chance.

This was because Zhang Zhitong liked reading detective novels, a genre that few boys even touched.

All the classmates, including the teachers, knew that Zhang Zhitong's ambition was to become a police officer. It was said that she even apprenticed herself to a well-known local master to learn martial arts.

Students who liked reading novels usually had poor academic performance, but Zhang Zhitong was an exception.

She was a top student and could already borrow and read English detective novels from the school library by the third year of junior high.

In senior year, Ye Qing heard from classmates that she had applied to the China Criminal Police College, which required an early admission process.

Colleges that used the early admission process were mostly military or police institutions with special requirements.

Those who dared to apply for early admission were all brave, as once you were admitted, it was difficult to choose another college, even if it was Harvard.

The China Criminal Police College, established before the founding of the People's Republic of China, was the holy land for all students studying criminal investigation and had extremely strict requirements for students' overall qualities.

In that year's class, she was the only student from Zhongyun to be admitted to the China Criminal Police College.

Criminal police officers dealt with the most dangerous criminals, so the college had particularly strict requirements for female students, even to the point of being nitpicky.

Zhang Zhitong's physical fitness was stronger than that of most boys, which allowed her to be admitted to the Criminal Police College.

As a pillar of the country, her future was undoubtedly bright, and it was worth cherishing the opportunity to connect with her.

However, to be honest, if Ye Qing hadn't been in a desperate situation a few days ago, he would never have wanted to deal with Zhang Zhitong.

The seed of resentment was planted in the second year of junior high.

Not long after the start of the second year, the bicycles of the day students parked in the class bike shed were often deflated for no reason.

The culprit was very cunning, and despite several attempts by the day students, they couldn't catch the culprit.

During this time, the day students were all on edge, and many even brought air pumps to school.

Zhang Zhitong, also a day student, claimed that after a thorough investigation, she found that Ye Qing was the one deflating the tires.

Everyone knew Zhang Zhitong's love for detective stories and her ability to read English masterpieces, which even the English teacher couldn't do. No one doubted her words.

Moreover, her appearance meant that even if her words were outrageous, a large number of pure, restless teenage boys would still regard them as gospel.

The next day, Ye Qing had a bruise on his lip, and he had a fierce fight with several day students.

The "culprit" was caught, but the tire deflation continued. It was only when the school security department intervened that they caught a few students from other classes who were the real culprits.

Ye Qing's injustice was cleared, and the classmates who had fought with him even treated him to a barbecue to apologize.

But the injustice and the pointing fingers of his classmates during that time were hard to forget, even after many years.

If Zhang Zhitong weren't a girl, Ye Qing would have challenged her to a fight on the playground until one of them was bleeding.

Naturally, Zhang Zhitong was placed on Ye Qing's blacklist. Even when she publicly read an apology letter in class, Ye Qing only nodded in a perfunctory manner and never spoke to her again.

This time, Zhang Zhitong's willingness to lend him money genuinely surprised Ye Qing. With no other choice, he had to accept it.

"Thank you!" were the only words Ye Qing had said to her in years, and even then, it was via WeChat.

While the Giant Laborers were working, Ye Qing repaid all the borrowed money and called each person to thank them. When it came to Zhang Zhitong, after transferring the money, Ye Qing hesitated for a long time about whether to call her to express his gratitude.

"Let's do it. I called all the other classmates, and she lent the most, so I should call her."

Ye Qing took a deep breath, rehearsed his words in his mind, and then opened his contact list.

However, he realized he didn't have Zhang Zhitong's phone number.

Since Zhang Zhitong hadn't confirmed receiving the money, Ye Qing decided to wait for her to come online and then send a voice message to thank her.

He glanced at the factory upgrade, which was now at 68%. At that moment, his iPhone 4 rang, and someone was calling.

The number was unknown, and Ye Qing suddenly suspected it might be Zhang Zhitong.

Calculating the time, Zhang Zhitong should have graduated from the Criminal Police College. If she wanted his phone number, she could easily ask a classmate.

Taking a deep breath, Ye Qing answered the call, his voice stiff: "Hello, who is this?"

"It's me, Mr. Ye," came a slightly cunning voice from the other end. "I'm Director Liu Fengjin from the Urban Construction Bureau's Municipal Engineering Office. We've met before, on the day you demonstrated the stone curb in the top-floor meeting room."

Ye Qing was a bit taken aback. He knew Liu Fengjin; he had given out business cards to several directors in the meeting room. But why was he calling?

"Of course, I remember. How could I forget Director Liu?" Ye Qing replied insincerely. He had heard that Liu Fengjin had a good relationship with Sang Qing, and if it wasn't about business, Ye Qing wouldn't bother with him.

"Mr. Ye, are you free tonight? I've booked a table at Tianranju Restaurant and would like to invite you for a gathering. I wonder if you can do me the honor of joining us?"

Inviting him to dinner?

Ye Qing was even more puzzled. His business was just starting, and it didn't seem like he was at a level where a department head from the Urban Construction Bureau would need to flatter him.

"Well, Director Liu, I have plans with some classmates tonight. We haven't seen each other in years," Ye Qing made up an excuse, knowing that this dinner wasn't a simple meal.

"Please come, please come. You can bring your classmates along. I'll introduce you to a big boss," Liu Fengjin insisted, his politeness overwhelming.

"The sea bass at Tianranju isn't available every day. If you don't come, the sea bass will be wasted," Liu Fengjin added.

What a generous gesture. Zhongyun was by the sea, and seafood was a local favorite. A sea bass in a restaurant could easily cost over a thousand yuan, and if it was a rare variety, the price could be even higher.

Liu Fengjin said he would introduce a big boss to him, and Ye Qing had a pretty good idea who it might be.

"Alright, Director Liu, I'll be there soon," Ye Qing agreed. Avoiding it wasn't his style, and if he dodged this time, Liu Fengjin would definitely invite him again.

Of course, this dinner would likely end in discord.

So Ye Qing needed to prepare and have a backup plan.

The dinner was scheduled for 7 PM, and Ye Qing had two hours to prepare.

"Niuyi, Niuer, come over here," Ye Qing called to the two veteran Giant Laborers working at the machine, sending the other eight back to the monster factory to rest.

Niuyi and Niuer swaggered over, and Ye Qing handed Niuyi a handheld angle grinder, instructing them to saw off their fangs.

The two monsters looked at each other, their eyes filled with reluctance, but they had to follow their boss's orders.

Their fangs were spread out like those of the orcs in "The Lord of the Rings," making one wonder if they could bite through chainmail.

The angle grinder whirred, gradually cutting through the fangs.

Ten minutes later, the two fangless Giant Laborers looked at each other, seemingly on the verge of tears.

Without their fangs, they looked more human from a facial perspective. However, their skin color was wrong, their features were ugly, and their faces seemed to be covered in muscles.

They resembled very strong black people, except for the chest hair. If you were a basketball fan, you might think they had a place on the NBA court.

Ye Qing had them climb into his Wuling Hongguang minivan and drove them straight to the wholesale market on Workers' Road.

The minivan's windows were tinted dark, so no one could see inside, and Ye Qing didn't need to worry.

Even if something unexpected happened, he could immediately send them back to the monster factory.

At the wholesale market on Workers' Road, Ye Qing found a quiet spot to park. After carefully locking the car doors, he headed straight to a wholesale store that sold hairdressing and beauty products.