The King of Urban Mercenaries
Chapter 116 - 116 116 Bare-Pole Commander

116: Chapter 116 Bare-Pole Commander 116: Chapter 116 Bare-Pole Commander “Fine, just tell me what I, as the deputy director, am mainly responsible for,” Ling Fei requested, growing impatient.

He had been kept in Cao Zian’s office, listening to a long string of nonsense, all about pulling strings and cozying up, and now he wanted Cao Zian to cut to the chase.

Cao Zian gave a sheepish smile, then said seriously, “Since Brother Ling has put it that way, I won’t beat around the bush.

I’m planning to allocate all the floors below the fifteenth for you to manage, and you’ll be entirely responsible for the security matters of these fifteen floors as well as the parking lot.”

“What’s the main content of the work?”

Back when Ling Fei was abroad, he had also done some security work.

However, most of it leaned towards personal bodyguard services.

Moreover, after making a name for himself, he basically stopped accepting similar security tasks.

“It’s all meticulous work, such as checking connections between floors and standing guard on shifts.

But, you don’t need to do these yourself; you just need to assign the work to the security guards below and have them do it.

However, our department is currently short-staffed, I can’t assign you much manpower, so you’ll have to figure out how to recruit people.”

Cao Zian’s first two sentences satisfied Ling Fei; this type of work arrangement was exactly what Ling Fei had hoped for.

Ling Fei even thought that Mu Shanshan was quite considerate of him, knowing to arrange a respectable and easy position for him.

Just as Ling Fei was wondering whether he should properly reward Mu Shanshan when he got home tonight.

Cao Zian’s following words immediately came out, and after hearing them, Ling Fei was not happy at all.

Ling Fei hadn’t intended to completely be a hands-off leader since he wasn’t a regular employee anymore, but rather a senior executive of the Mu Group.

He should show some respect for his own wife’s dignity, considering it was Mu Shanshan who appointed him as the Deputy Director of the Security Department.

Fifteen floors were just that, and Ling Fei obviously wouldn’t haggle with Cao Zian over such matters.

However, the lack of available staff was something Ling Fei could not accept.

So it turned out, after all the trouble, he was nothing more than a leader without troops.

If that was the case, even if it was just one and a half floors, the workload was not small at all, not to mention the lobby and parking lot.

Ling Fei, even as an iron man, couldn’t handle it.

“Am I to understand that if I don’t recruit anyone, all this work is going to be done by me alone?”

Ling Fei looked straight at Cao Zian, his face very displeased, extremely displeased.

Cao Zian laughed bitterly, “Brother Ling, I know you must be dissatisfied in your heart.

Since we’re both from the military, I wouldn’t set you up to fail.

It’s just that our department really is short on people, and I don’t have anyone to spare for you.

You know, after Ge Hui caused trouble with his followers, all his people were fired.

And those who called in sick influenced by Ge Hui were all fired, too.

In the entire Security Department, including you and me, we’re barely a handful.”

Previously, driven by Han Zhenhai’s attempt to force Mu Shanshan to give up Lin Fei, he instigated a large number of employees to call in sick together, which led to Mu Shanshan, in a moment of anger, firing all those who had called in sick.

The Security Department was hit hard during that incident, and a large number of security guards were let go.

“How could Ge Hui, just a deputy director, have such great influence?

How are you even running this department?!”

Ling Fei was almost cursing right in Cao Zian’s face, a deputy director yelling at the head director – within the Mu Group, Ling Fei was perhaps unique in this regard.

Respecting a superior had never been part of Ling Fei’s dictionary.

On his first day reporting to the General Affairs Department, he hadn’t given Ling Weiwei any respect either.

However, this didn’t mean Ling Fei had no regard for Cao Zian at all.

On the contrary, because he sensed a long-missed military aura from Cao Zian, Ling Fei did hold some respect for him.

But respect aside, the thought of possibly having to single-handedly take on all the security work for fifteen floors, along with the lobby and parking lot, made him dismiss any thoughts of respect.

Let it go to hell!

Although Ling Fei had no clear idea of how many security guards the Security Department had before, there were certainly thirty or forty of them.

After all, the Mu Group occupied most of the floors of the Moongaze Building, and the security workload was huge.

With fewer people, it was impossible to distribute the work.

Cao Zian, as the head of the Security Department, had managed to let Ge Hui, a mere deputy director, rally the majority of security guards to Han Zhenhai’s side.

It had to be said that this was a dereliction of duty on Cao Zian’s part.

Cao Zian was, after all, one of the old-timers in the Mu Group, and being a senior, Mu Shanshan naturally couldn’t reprimand Cao Zian too much for such an incident.

However, Ling Fei didn’t care about that.

Your dereliction of duty has left me hanging, and if you don’t solve the problem, I should at least be able to vent by cursing a bit.

“It was my fault for harboring a troublemaker, leading to this incident, and I have an inescapable responsibility.

This is also why I requested Mu Group’s CEO to assign a new deputy director to the Security Department as soon as possible.

She has sent you to assist me, and I trust she had her reasons.

I hope, Brother Ling, that you’ll be able to recruit staff quickly and help me through this difficult time.”

Being the head of a department and an old-timer in the Mu Group, Cao Zian felt somewhat embarrassed to be questioned by Ling Fei like this.

However, Cao Zian also understood that the mistake indeed lay with him.

Having come from the military and valuing the courage to take responsibility, Cao Zian surely had that.

Seeing Cao Zian lower his stance, Lin Fei, despite feeling agitated, could no longer berate him.

After all, Lin Fei now also counted as half a member of the Mu Family.

Cao Zian had been with the Mu Group for over a decade; if he had no merits, he still had toiled hard.

In fact, if talking solely about security work, there was not much to fault Cao Zian for, otherwise Mu Hong would not have felt secure enough to entrust the entire Security Department to him.

The reason for the current staffing shortage in the Security Department was largely because Cao Zian was too straightforward and lacked the cunning of Ge Hui.

It was precisely because of this personality trait that Ge Hui was able to covertly form factions and gradually take control of most of the Security Department.

“If I’m not mistaken, there were only a dozen or so security guards following Ge Hui into the president’s office that day.

You’re not trying to tell me there were only that many security guards in the Security Department before, right?”

Cao Zian spoke lightly, but Lin Fei was no fool.

The Mu Group’s recruitment fair wasn’t until next month, and it was clearly impossible for Lin Fei to hold out on his own until then.

Although Cao Zian had allowed him to go out and recruit, Lin Fei currently had no suitable candidates at his disposal.

After all, it was his wife’s company, so Lin Fei couldn’t just go out and randomly pull in a group of people to get by.

“I understand what you mean,” Cao Zian took out a pack of cigarettes, lighting one for himself and Lin Fei, and heaved a long sigh, “Previously, our Security Department did indeed have quite a few guards, and there certainly was a group that wasn’t swayed by Ge Hui.

However, due to Ge Hui’s threats, they also took sick leave and were consequently dismissed.”

“Since they were threatened, then it must not have been their intention.

Now that Han Zhenhai has fled, why don’t we give them another chance?”

Lin Fei glanced at Cao Zian, pointed upwards, and after a moment of thought, he understood.

With such a shortage of staff in the Security Department, it was impossible that Cao Zian hadn’t considered calling back that group of people.

To be precise, it wasn’t that he didn’t want to; he couldn’t.

The massive layoffs were directives personally issued by Mu Shanshan during a company meeting.

Everyone who took sick leave at that time was to be cut and never rehired; this edict came straight from Mu Shanshan’s mouth.

What kind of person Mu Shanshan was, Lin Fei was all too clear; the title of ‘Iceberg President’ was not unfounded.

Upon realizing this, Lin Fei somewhat understood the difficulties faced by Cao Zian.

The work in the Security Department didn’t require much technical know-how; with a little training, any normal person could take up the post.

But even with simple jobs, you still need people to do them.

And the biggest problem facing the Security Department now was the lack of personnel.

Without people to work, nothing could be done, and if work couldn’t proceed, Cao Zian, the head of the Security Department, would undoubtedly be held responsible.

Even if he was a veteran of the Mu Group and Mu Shanshan spared him face, the directors on the board would certainly not do the same.

Had Lin Fei not realized that Cao Zian, coming from a military background, was straightforward by nature, he would have suspected that Cao Zian’s request for Mu Shanshan to appoint an assistant director swiftly was him seeking to find a scapegoat in advance.

“Brother Lin, you’re young and new to the office.

If you can handle the work I assign to you well during this critical period, it will be the best proof of your capabilities and the best way to repay President Mu for promoting you.

I have faith in you; I believe you won’t disappoint me.”

For fear Lin Fei would take away the few security guards he had, Cao Zian prepared to see him off before even finishing his cigarette.

Cao Zian was not Ge Hui; his little scheming might as well have been written on his face, and Lin Fei could easily see right through it.

Therefore, Lin Fei had no intention of continuing to tangle with Cao Zian in his office any longer.

There were only so many security guards under Cao Zian, and even if Lin Fei took all of them, it would barely be enough to maintain the security of the parking lot.

Besides, from Cao Zian’s demeanor, Lin Fei knew that the likelihood of taking any staff from him was virtually nil.

At that moment, Lin Fei did not overly trouble Cao Zian, taking a pack of cigarettes from his office drawer and ensuring Cao Zian promised that once new security guards were recruited, they would be allocated to him first, then Lin Fei left Cao Zian’s office.

Compared to when he entered Cao Zian’s office, Lin Fei’s mood upon leaving was significantly heavy, with an additional sense of irritation.

It was already annoying enough that he couldn’t successfully finagle a few female secretaries from Ling Weiwei.

After learning about the current state of the Security Department from Cao Zian, Lin Fei suddenly realized that he had been calculated by Mu Shanshan.

The assistant director of the Security Department might sound like a cushy job, but in reality, without a single security guard to command, it was the epitome of being a leader with no troops.