activa-t Chapter 215 Small-time Thug
Chapter 215 Small-time Thug
Hearing this, Xiao Liu dared not disobey and had no choice but to obediently turn around and walk towards the checkout counter.
He returned shortly after settling the bill.
Wen Haifeng escorted Wang Mazi and the others to the restaurant entrance, where they exchanged pleasantries and said goodbye.
Finally, when only Wen Haifeng and Zhou Jiefang remained, Zhou Jiefang said with tears of gratitude:
"Brother, thank you so much for today. Without your help, this matter would probably not have been resolved so easily."
Wen Haifeng patted Zhou Jiefang on the shoulder and replied with a smile:
"We're all family, don't be so polite! I'm happy as long as I can help."
After saying that, the two smiled at each other and left the restaurant together.
After seeing Wang Mazi off, Zhou Jiefang's face was full of doubt and worry. He turned to Wen Haifeng beside him and asked eagerly:
"Brother, why did these people suddenly come here to cause trouble? We didn't offend anyone!"
Wen Haifeng took a deep breath, frowned slightly, and said slowly:
"Brother, don't worry. Actually, it's because our business is so booming that it's attracted customers from other hotels. That's why we angered the owner of another hotel. They're jealous that we're taking away their business, so they specially sent people to cause trouble."
Fortunately, I know the person who came today, and I even helped him a lot before.
He definitely has to repay this favor to me. Don't worry, he'll help mediate and coordinate things, and I don't think there will be any major problems with this matter.
When we have some free time, we'll find a special time to treat them to a nice meal to express our gratitude.
After all, if you want to expand and strengthen your business in Shanghai, you absolutely can't afford to offend someone like this.
Speaking of this, Wen Haifeng couldn't help but think of Wang Mazi's bumpy life story.
It turns out that Wang Mazi and Wen Haifeng not only grew up in the same village, but Wang Mazi was also two years younger than Wen Haifeng.
Back when Wang Mazi was three years old, his father passed away, leaving him to rely on his mother for survival. Their lives were extremely difficult.
Due to family poverty, young Wang Mazi began to follow his mother around collecting scraps to earn money in order to survive.
Even during the most difficult years, the mother and son were forced to beg on the streets.
When Wang Mazi was twelve years old, fate once again revealed its ferocious fangs to this poor child—his mother was seriously ill and on the verge of death, but the family had no money at all to treat her or buy her medicine.
At that time, fourteen-year-old Wen Haifeng was just an ignorant and idle young hoodlum.
However, even so, there is still a sense of loyalty among the petty thugs.
That day, Wen Haifeng received 100 yuan as a gift and was happily heading home.
As he walked home happily, he happened to see Wang Mazi, looking worried and hurrying through the village, knocking on doors to borrow money.
At that time, the villagers lived a very hard life. Everyone was struggling to make a living, and almost no one had any spare money to lend.
Even if a few families were slightly better off financially, they were unwilling to lend money to Wang Mazi.
After all, everyone knew that given Wang Mazi's financial situation, this loan was most likely to be borrowed and never repaid.
However, when Wang Mazi walked unsteadily to Wen Haifeng's door, Wen Haifeng did not coldly turn him away like the others.
Instead, without saying a word, he silently tucked the 100 yuan he had just received into his pocket, then quickly found a dilapidated cart and, together with Wang Mazi, struggled to push Wang Mazi's seriously ill mother toward the Dongcheng District People's Hospital.
Throughout the journey, the two were extremely anxious, fearing that they might miss the best time for treatment.
Fortunately, thanks to timely medical attention and the doctors' best efforts, Wang Mazi's mother's life was ultimately saved.
From that moment on, Wang Mazi felt deep respect and gratitude towards Wen Haifeng.
Wang Mazi and Wen Haifeng were both native Shanghainese. In those difficult times, lacking education and connections, finding a stable job in Shanghai was virtually impossible.
Left with no other choice, Wang Mazi and Wen Haifeng could only idly spend their days like many other young people, becoming idle hooligans.
Just when Wen Haifeng felt lost about his future, he met a kind-hearted person by chance.
Seeing that Wen Haifeng was in dire straits but still had dreams, the kind person offered to teach him the skills of a bricklayer.
Wen Haifeng knew that this was a rare opportunity to change his destiny, so he cherished it and studied hard. With his innate quick wit and unremitting efforts, he soon mastered the skill.
As time went on, Wen Haifeng was no longer content to be just an ordinary bricklayer.
He began to try to take on some small construction projects and gradually accumulated experience and funds.
Finally, his hard work paid off, and he successfully founded his own construction company.
From then on, Wen Haifeng not only made himself live a prosperous life, but also made his whole family's life better and better, and sent his younger sister to finish college.
But Wang Mazi was different; he continued to mingle in society and had become a big boss in the underworld.
However, with increasingly strict public security management in society today, groups like Wang Mazi, who are known as organized crime groups, no longer dare to act as recklessly and arrogantly as they used to.
Nevertheless, they remain a persistent presence, often appearing silently in front of shops. They neither make a fuss nor cause trouble; they simply sit there quietly, occasionally creating minor disturbances or incidents that are enough to overwhelm shop owners and make it difficult for them to maintain normal business operations.
After successfully handling the thorny issue encountered by "Zhaoshi Kitchen's First Branch in Shanghai," Wen Haifeng and Zhou Jiefang rushed back to "Minghua Construction and Decoration Company" to continue their in-depth discussions on renovation-related matters.
As night fell, Zhou Jiefang, who had been busy all day, called Zhao Yuan and gave him a detailed report on the various situations that had occurred at "Zhao's Kitchen Shanghai Branch No. 1" that day.
After listening to Zhou Jiefang's account, Zhao Yuan earnestly advised him:
"These local forces entrenched in Shanghai should not be easily provoked! If you want to stay here for a long time and conduct business, it is inevitable to get along well with the local forces. Therefore, although you don't need to be too close to these people on a daily basis, you must be careful with your words and deeds and never offend them."