Carrying a Jurassic on me
Chapter 1404 - 682: Not Understanding That Harmony Breeds Wealth

Chapter 1404: Chapter 682: Not Understanding That Harmony Breeds Wealth

For most people, especially those conducting legitimate business, it’s certain that they believe harmony brings wealth. In fact, not only for business but many people adhere to a concept called the "Doctrine of the Mean," believing that by taking a step back, the sky’s the limit.

That approach isn’t wrong, but sometimes being overly accommodating can embolden a small group of people—those who penny pinch and avoid calamity by losing money, resulting in that group of miserly and extortionate people growing ever more rampant and aggressive.

And unfortunately, this group of people believe their reputation, their public face, is their reliance. To maintain their face and make their "public image" greater, most will escalate their efforts.

But the true value of face, no one can really say for sure. At least for someone like Zeng Zhaokun, he believes that his face is incredibly valuable.

A sum of ten to twenty thousand yuan is a substantial amount for most rural folks and city workers these days. But for Zeng Zhaokun, it really isn’t much.

Yet he feels his face is worth a fortune, and anyone who meets him must give him some respect. If you damage his car, sorry about that, just toss him a dime, and as long as the thought is there, it’s fine. As if to say his face isn’t worth that bit of money? If you scratch his car and then come at him with a claim for ten to twenty thousand, he should just give it to you? Then does he still have any face left? Would he still be able to mix in the jianghu?

If he encountered someone he felt he couldn’t afford to offend, he certainly wouldn’t act this way. In the end, it’s because he sees Yan Fei as a country bumpkin who’s recently become nouveau riche—a mere couple years’ worth of new money. Zeng Zhaokun thus feels that as a seasoned jianghu heavyweight, offering Yan Fei some money was already a generous gesture of face, more than commendable.

Even when Yan Fei had approached him in person, asking for money with an impassive face, Zeng Zhaokun still displayed utter disregard, acting like he had neither seen nor heard Yan Fei, continuing to lift his glass, ready to speak with others.

Yan Fei slapped him again, "Boss Zeng, I’m here for the car repair money."

Zeng Zhaokun then turned his head, "Car repair money, what car repair money?"

"The repair bill was given to you. When my car was broken, Director Nan from the city bureau was there at the scene. Should I call him to come over and testify?" Yan Fei said with no expression.

"Ha ha, you think you can get Director Nan to come?" Zeng Zhaokun laughed loudly, his laughter tinged with anger. "Fine then, if you want the car repair money, you ought to have a repair bill, right?"

"The bill was given to you!" Yan Fei said.

"It was given to me? When was it given to me? Did you hand it to me personally?" Zeng Zhaokun feigned surprise. "Without even a bill, you ask me for money out of thin air and expect however much you say—I should give it to you? Do you think I’m stupid, or are you?"

Several people dining nearby even chuckled for amusement.

"The bill was given to you!" Yan Fei reiterated.

"Evidence? We need evidence for everything," Zeng Zhaokun replied with a look that implied Yan Fei was an imbecile. "I haven’t seen anything so far. You say you’ve given it to me, so that means it’s given? I’m telling you now, I haven’t seen any of your stuff."

Playing dumb like this, Boss Zeng rarely did anymore over trivial matters, but today this young Boss Yan showed him no respect, so he didn’t mind saying such a thing offhandedly.

"Evidence?" Yan Fei sneered. "You’re almost fifty, living in the grey areas, and you talk to me about evidence? Over these years, you must have sunk to a dog’s level, right?"

"How do you speak to people?" Zeng Zhaokun was genuinely taken aback by the unfiltered words from the young boss, but he still maintained his jianghu elder’s composure. "Look at how young you are, you don’t filter your words, do you? Alright, I have guests today, so I won’t lower myself to your level. You can go now; don’t interfere with our drinking."

As he spoke, he turned his head to a companion, laughing, "These young people nowadays, heh..."

The next second, Yan Fei reached out, took hold of his chin, and twisted his face toward him: "I’m telling you to pay back the money. Just say it, will you pay or not?"

The drinkers around, who had been anticipating Boss Zeng’s ’performance,’ didn’t expect such a sudden shift and were momentarily stunned.

Being held by the chin is definitely uncomfortable, and Zeng Zhaokun immediately tried to fight back, to no avail, of course. His resistance only prompted Yan Fei to tighten his grip so that Zeng Zhaokun couldn’t even speak.

The few bystanders finally came to their senses, watching Zeng Zhaokun’s futile, helpless struggle, and they all stood up.

Including the one who had been sitting next to Zeng Zhaokun and a few others, they all stood to the side and shouted, "What are you trying to do? Let’s talk this out; there’s no need for violence!"

Only two people at the end of the table chose to take action right away. One of them pushed his chair back and stood up, stretching out his hand toward Yan Fei’s shoulder, yelling, "What are you doing, let go..."

The one shouting to let go immediately received a slap and found himself sitting back down in his chair, then tumbling along with it to the floor.

The other, seeing this, grabbed a wine bottle and raised it as he charged forward, only to be sent flying back even faster.