Chapter 14: Settle Private Grievances Under the Guise of Public Duty
Just as the security guards stood up to leave, suddenly someone said, "Oh no, we can’t all go; there’s no one left to stand guard."
Li Xiaoyao asked, "How many people are needed for guard duty?"
The guard replied, "Usually three, but at the very least one."
Li Xiaoyao nodded, not asking who was supposed to be on duty that day, but directly pointed at Gouzi by the door: "Today, you stay and stand guard."
Gouzi felt a surge of anger when Li Xiaoyao pointed at him, knowing that Li Xiaoyao was definitely targeting him on purpose.
"It’s not my turn to be on duty today!" Gouzi glared at Li Xiaoyao and said.
Li Xiaoyao smiled and said teasingly, "Can’t you understand what I’m saying?"
Gouzi shouted angrily, "You’re just taking personal revenge!"
Li Xiaoyao laughed and said, "You can eat whatever you want, but you can’t just say anything."
Gouzi retorted, "I’m not talking nonsense. You are taking personal revenge, and everybody here can prove it."
Li Xiaoyao glanced at the other guards and asked, "Does everyone think I’m taking personal revenge?"
The security guards, in a show of solidarity, said loudly, "No!"
Gouzi almost spat blood when he heard the response.
Li Xiaoyao swept his hand again, "Then it’s happily decided; Gouzi, you stay on guard duty, everyone else, let’s go for the barbecue."
The group set off in high spirits, while Gouzi stared angrily at Li Xiaoyao’s retreating back, his hands clenched into fists. If looks could kill, Li Xiaoyao would have been sliced into pieces by now.
The three bodyguards sharing a taxi with Li Xiaoyao expressed their concerns, "Manager Li, treating Gouzi like that, he’s surely going to seek revenge on you."
Li Xiaoyao said unconcernedly, "With his guts, even if he borrows twice the courage, he wouldn’t dare."
The guard continued, "Manager Li, you’ve just joined the company and you’re not very familiar with many people. Gouzi is really close to Li Yong, and they both know quite a few people from the underworld. You’ve beaten up Li Yong today and then treated Gouzi like that just now, you definitely must be careful of their revenge when you go to and from work."
Li Xiaoyao knew his own abilities; forget Li Yong and Gouzi, even if they were multiplied by ten, Li Xiaoyao could handle them with ease. But these guards didn’t know he had this capability, so they were genuinely worried for him.
If it weren’t for Li Xiaoyao’s personality being to their taste, they would not have bothered to express their concern for him.
"I’ll definitely be careful, thank you," Li Xiaoyao said to the three with a sincere smile.
The three felt the difference in Li Xiaoyao once again. Although he was a manager, he didn’t look down on them due to the hierarchical relationship.
Half an hour later, more than forty security guards had all arrived.
The owner of the barbecue restaurant was stunned at the sight, thinking someone had come to wreck the place.
Li Xiaoyao patted a guard by his side, "Tell the owner, we’re booking the whole place today."
After the guard conveyed the message, the owner was somewhat reluctant but seeing the crowd, he knew that even if he didn’t book the whole place, there would be no room left for anyone else once these men sat down.
Having no choice, the owner let them book the entire venue.
The night in August was still very cool. Most of the security guards were strapping young men in their early twenties; some were middle-aged men who had already started their own families, but whether young or old, they shared one common trait: they had all served in the military.
Pan-Blue International set high standards when hiring security guards, and all of them had to have military experience.
When soldiers gather together, there’s never a shortage of topics to chat about. A bunch of grown men, either wearing boxer shorts or flip-flops, each one of them took off their shirts and sat at tables on the open ground, chatting loudly.
The beer arrived in big jugs, one bowl for each person, filled to the brim. Then everyone turned their gaze to Li Xiaoyao.
Li Xiaoyao stood up, looked around the circle, glanced at everyone’s face, and then said, "Today is the first time our security department has had a dinner together. From now on, I’ll organize a few every month. Everyone should keep in touch and share their feelings. If you have any issues, tell me in time and I’ll surely help out if I can. Of course, you’ll also have to cooperate with my work. Alright, that’s it, let’s drink!"
"Wait for me!" A girl in a long purple dress, with long legs and a slim waist, her long hair flowing, walked over in high heels while shouting from a distance.
The eyes of the security guards instantly fixated on the girl in the long dress, their Adam’s apples bobbing.
Upon seeing the girl, Li Xiaoyao’s eyes immediately lit up. It was Zhang Meng, who had actually gone home to change into a long dress.
It has to be said, Zhang Meng’s figure was truly explosive, especially her "white rabbits" in front, at least an F-cup, and a pair of long legs that were both slim and straight. Just those legs alone, when walking down the street, would attract a lot of stares.
Zhang Meng approached and, faced with so many security guards staring at her, she didn’t show any sign of shyness. The security guard sitting next to Li Xiaoyao was very perceptive and stood up, offering his stool: "Sister-in-law, please take a seat."
Sister-in-law?
Zhang Meng, who wasn’t shy in front of some forty-odd bare-chested security guards, turned as red as an apple upon hearing this "Sister-in-law."
Li Xiaoyao said with a smile, "This is Zhang Meng from the marketing department, not sister-in-law, don’t shout nonsense."
Upon hearing Li Xiaoyao’s clarification, Zhang Meng felt a slight sense of disappointment deep inside. She had rather hoped Li Xiaoyao wouldn’t correct them, letting the guards misunderstand.
Zhang Meng took a cup, poured herself some beer, and raised her glass: "Cheers!"
Li Xiaoyao glanced at her and said loudly, "Cheers!"
The security guards all stood up, lifting their bowls: "Cheers!"
...
Since arriving at the company today, Tang Tiantian had been ignoring Lili, remaining silent no matter what Lili said.
Lili looked a bit pale today and still had a smell of alcohol on her.
Seeing Tang Tiantian show up at work safe and sound, Lili guessed that Zhang Biao must have failed last night. She tried calling Zhang Biao, but his phone was turned off.
Lili became somewhat panicked and kept pressing Tang Tiantian with questions, pretending to be clueless, trying to pry from her what had happened the previous night.
Tang Tiantian didn’t know that last night’s incident was a setup by Lili and Zhang Biao, but what happened made it so that she couldn’t feel good whenever she saw Lili.
After work, Lili stopped Tang Tiantian and asked, "Tiantian, what’s wrong with you? Why haven’t you said a word to me all day?"
Tang Tiantian took a deep breath and said, "Do you know what happened last night? Why did you leave me with Zhang Biao? If it weren’t for some accident, I would have been bullied by Zhang Biao!"
Lili pretended to be ignorant and said with a face full of apology, "How could this happen? Tiantian, I really didn’t know; I thought he was a good guy."
Tang Tiantian said, "Please move, I want to get off work."
Lili grabbed her hand and said, "Tiantian, I’m sorry, really sorry. I truly didn’t know. Can I make it up to you by taking you out to dinner, is that okay?"
Tang Tiantian shook her head and said it wasn’t necessary, but Lili insisted on treating her to dinner. Since Tang Tiantian was a soft-hearted woman and couldn’t withstand her pleading, she reluctantly agreed.
The restaurant where Lili invited Tang Tiantian to dinner was the same place where Li Xiaoyao was having barbecue.
As Tang Tiantian and Lili sat down, Lili ordered a lot of dishes as a way to express her apology.
The restaurant was on the second floor. Tang Tiantian glanced down through the glass window and just happened to see Li Xiaoyao eating barbecue below.