101: Chapter 101 An Unwelcome Guest Arrives

In an instant, thick smoke billowed from the warehouse area. With such a massive commotion, the patrol personnel naturally noticed it immediately. However, there were only about a dozen people and a few dogs in the entire warehouse area, and the firefighting facilities had long been sabotaged by Cao Xiao. These people could only flee far away, watching helplessly as the fire consumed the warehouses. By the time the fire department arrived, it was already over twenty minutes later. The supplies in the warehouses had long been incinerated. Even several aquatic product and vegetable/fruit warehouses were affected by the high temperatures of the nearby fire; the exterior color-coated steel layers and the internal polymer foam insulation of the cold storage in several nearby warehouses were warped by the heat, losing their refrigeration effect. Under the influence of the external high temperature, the contents inside would spoil before long. The fire department only went through the motions of putting out the fire, as the place had long lost any value for rescue.

Seeing this, Cao Xiao headed back, waiting to see the news tomorrow.

The next morning, Cao Xiao was in the courtyard practicing boxing in his training gear. The temperature wasn't high, yet he was still sweating profusely. It was certainly exhausting, but after several hours of practice, his body felt much more transparent and relaxed. The health-strengthening effects of martial arts are far superior and more comprehensive than general physical exercise; people who practice martial arts long-term possess very well-coordinated bodies.

He didn't need to worry much about the company's affairs. His purpose for coming here this time was to assert ownership. Under Hongdu's management, the company's operations had never faced major issues. He wouldn't even notice small problems since he didn't understand management, and even if he did, he couldn't handle them at will because any small change could affect the whole structure. Relying on his half-baked knowledge might trigger negative chain reactions, so it was better to leave it to the professionals.

At noon, Cao Xiao turned on the TV and tuned into the midday news on Cape Town TV. Sure enough, the fire from the middle of the night was reported. The cause of the fire hadn't been found, and the police suspected arson, but they didn't even have a suspect, nor could they figure out how the fire started without the surrounding personnel noticing. The fire had turned the warehouse into ruins, destroying countless supplies, with direct economic losses reaching one billion rand and indirect losses of five hundred million rand. This didn't even include approximately 2.3 billion rand in liquidated damages. Junhua Company was urgently negotiating with relevant enterprises regarding the penalty issue. Junhua Trading's total assets were less than ten billion rand; if they really had to pay, they could only mortgage shares for bank loans or sell off part of their industries. This was a result Cao Xiao was happy to see, but he currently didn't have enough funds. If Junhua Trading sold some industries he was interested in, he wouldn't be able to acquire them. Unable to raise enough funds at the moment, he was feeling quite anxious.

After thinking for a long time without finding a way to raise at least one billion huaxia currency in a short period, he felt restless and prepared to rent a yacht to go sea fishing to relax. Unexpectedly, before he could leave, he received a call from Zhou Zhengkun, telling him to hurry to the company. Zhou Zhengkun didn't specify what it was about, seemingly wary of something, and hung up immediately after speaking. Cao Xiao sensed urgency in his tone. Moreover, since he was the boss, given Zhou Zhengkun's attitude from yesterday, it was impossible for him to hang up without waiting for an answer. This was very abnormal; something must have happened at the company that he couldn't resolve.

Without hesitation, he took his bodyguards and rushed to the company with He Yueyou.

Upon arriving at the company, he saw several cars blocking the main gate. Three commercial vans and a ferrari sports car blocked the entrance tightly. It seemed they were being bullied right at their doorstep! Furthermore, the visitors were no ordinary figures. A company with a market value of over ten billion huaxia currency was not a small firm in Cape Town, and even in all of South Africa, it ranked decently. Now, its gate was blocked, and the company manager was powerless, showing that the visitors' influence was extraordinary.

If they swallowed their pride because the opponent was powerful, Tiandu Company's reputation in Africa would drop severely, and the employees would become disillusioned. But this wasn't just a slap in the face for him and Tiandu Company; it was also a slap for Hongdu! If he didn't handle it well today, the Hongdu headquarters would hold him responsible.

“Brother Duan, go and ram all these cars out of the way. Don't worry about these two cars either; just ram them,” Cao Xiao said to Duan Hong as he pulled He Yueyou out of the car.

He Yueyou didn't speak to stop Cao Xiao when she saw what he was about to do. She was also somewhat angry. Although Hongdu Group wasn't famous internationally, that was the result of being low-key, not a lack of strength. Even back home, they weren't ones to be bullied. Moreover, while South Africa's economy was top-tier in Africa, it was far behind Huaxia's. Hongdu had never feared anyone at home, and there was no reason to let themselves be bullied abroad. With Hongdu's strength, even the South African President wouldn't dare to blatantly mess with a Hongdu subsidiary. As a foreign enterprise, Hongdu had always been respectful to local powers, trying not to offend them and having no major conflicts. A situation like today's was a first, and it was a challenge to their bottom line, so she wouldn't blame Cao Xiao; she would support him.

Cao Xiao and He Yueyou stood far away. Since this had happened, the company employees had stopped working and were whispering and pointing in the lobby, even several executives were no exception. Ren Zehang, the Security Director, was organizing guards to maintain order in the lobby but hadn't taken any action to clear the gate. Cao Xiao was disappointed by the employees' behavior and even more so by the management's inaction. He knew their concerns—any Huaxia person working and living abroad had such reservations. He could understand this mentality; it wasn't fear of trouble, but self-preservation. However, it was wrong for them to watch the excitement instead of helping to solve the problem; they weren't just failing to help, they were adding to the chaos.

Li Quanshuo and Cheng Xiaodao, who were in the cadillac escalade, got out and stood by Cao Xiao. Duan Hong parked the BMW to the side, let Niu Zhen out of the cadillac escalade, and then drove the cadillac escalade back twenty meters. He revved the engine to the max on the spot, then charged like a sharp arrow toward a spot three meters behind the right side of a commercial van, performing a tail-flick drift. The rear of the cadillac escalade slammed into the rear of the van. After a loud bang, the van was flipped onto its left side by the massive force, its rear smashed to pieces, and its right windows and rear windshield shattered. Meanwhile, the cadillac escalade only had a dent on the right side of its rear. After the drift, Duan Hong drove forward dozens of meters, turned around, and charged at the next van. That van was also flipped sideways in the same manner, followed by the third. Then Cao Xiao and the others saw an interesting sight: three commercial vans flipped on their sides in a straight line. Niu Zhen and the others showed no surprise, as if they already knew Duan Hong's driving skills, but to Cao Xiao, this was a divine skill. He had never heard of anyone using a car to this extent. Professional racers were at most good at controlling a car, but Duan Hong used the car's power with microscopic precision, not just for his own car, but for the opponent's as well.

Finally, the ferrari convertible blocking the gate didn't escape the fate of being flipped, though it didn't flip sideways but went directly belly-up. Cao Xiao walked to the back of the stopped cadillac escalade and was even more surprised to find that, aside from the initial impact point being dented deeper, there was no other damage. The windows weren't broken, the lights weren't smashed, and there wasn't a single scratch. It would be as good as new with just some bodywork.

“Brother Duan, teach me when you have time,” Cao Xiao said to Duan Hong as he got out of the car.

“Okay.” Duan Hong was a man of few words, dismissing Cao Xiao with just two syllables.

Cao Xiao took a long black bag out of the BMW's trunk and tossed it to Duan Hong, saying, “Distribute these. We don't know the opponent's background, and there are quite a few of them. Listen for my command later; no need to show mercy.”

The long bag contained four alloy rods. The four men each took one without a word and dispersed to four positions centered around Cao Xiao and He Yueyou, assuming a defensive stance. Cao Xiao also took a deep breath and held a walking stick in his hand. The visitors were clearly hostile and had brought three vans full of people, so they had to prepare for the worst. Duan Hong and the other three were no pushovers; with them there, even a dozen thugs couldn't get near him and He Yueyou. Holding the walking stick in one hand and He Yueyou's hand in the other, he slowly walked toward the gate.

Several company executives were startled by Cao Xiao's actions just now, and the employees' discussions grew more intense. As Cao Xiao and his group entered, the scene suddenly went quiet. The Security Director came forward, about to say something, but was cut off by Cao Xiao's wave. He scanned the employees present with a serious gaze and said in a deep voice, “This month, the salaries of all employees present are halved. Those at the Director level will have half a year's annual bonus withheld. If anyone has an objection, you can resign immediately; I will approve it all. Return to your workstations within one minute. Director Ren, take me to Manager Zhou!”

The scene was pin-drop silent. As long as one wasn't a total fool, they wouldn't object at this moment, as that would only make the consequences worse. However, unexpectedly, there really were fools present, and more than one.

“Why are you deducting our wages? We haven't done anything that violates company regulations. This is illegal.”

“Right, you have no right to deduct our wages, otherwise, wait to be sued!”

“We aren't afraid of you. If you deduct our wages today, we will definitely complain to the labor union.”

Cao Xiao was truly surprised. He suddenly remembered this was South Africa, where employee rights protection was normal. Even if Hongdu was a Huaxia enterprise, it had to follow local customs, and a labor union had been set up within the company. However, Hongdu wasn't a heartless company, so this union had always lacked a presence. But he had his reasons for doing this: first, to establish authority; second, to break the employees' bad habit of watching spectacles; and third, he had a legitimate reason. He looked at these local employees and spoke in Dutch: “Absenteeism without cause, causing a huge impact on the company's image. You are fired. If you want to sue, be prepared to compensate the company for the economic and reputational losses caused by your absenteeism. I don't have time to play around with you. The legal department will communicate with you later. Director Ren, let's go!”

The employees scattered at once, leaving only those who had argued with Cao Xiao standing there. Cao Xiao even heard several shouts of 'idiot' in various Huaxia accents. This definitely wasn't directed at him; the behavior of Huaxia people could only be fully understood by fellow Huaxia people. When encountering such situations, the first thoughts are always philosophies of self-preservation like 'the situation is stronger than the person,' 'a wise man doesn't fight when the odds are against him,' and 'the bird that sticks its head out gets shot.' So those South African employees were unfortunate to have run into a monster from Huaxia who carried the laws of every country with him.

Ren Zehang led Cao Xiao's group to a conference room on the sixth floor. This room wasn't large, only about fifty square meters. At the moment, the seats in the conference room were full. Cao Xiao specifically counted; besides Zhou Zhengkun and Xiao Du, there were twenty-one people, all black, and a bunch of young thugs. The reason he called them thugs rather than just hoodlums or mobsters was because they really looked like thugs from a movie—weird clothes, tattoos, bizarre hair, piercings in ears, noses, and even lips, with arrogant expressions and eyes full of disdain. They sat in various postures and carried knives and clubs; they could be taken straight to a movie set without needing makeup or props, their acting was natural.

If these were the people looking for trouble, even the largest local gang wouldn't make Zhou Zhengkun act as if facing a great enemy. Thus, the real troublemakers weren't these thugs. Cao Xiao's gaze swept across and landed on a young man in front of Zhou Zhengkun. This young man wasn't dressed like a thug but wore casual clothes—and not just any clothes, but custom-made Versace. It wasn't that Cao Xiao could tell it was custom-made at a glance, but that the young man's physique was too large, weighing at least one hundred and fifty kilograms, so he could only wear custom clothes. His thick legs were propped up on the conference table as he looked mockingly at the terrified Zhou Zhengkun and Xiao Du. Zhou Zhengkun was okay; though he looked terrified, his appearance was intact. Xiao Du's state was not so good; his clothes were torn, with footprints on them, slap marks on his face, and blood at the corner of his mouth. His slicked-back hair was a mess, and his glasses were broken, lenses shattered and frames twisted, hanging crookedly on his nose.

“Brother Duan, clear the room. There's too much trash here.” Without needing to be told, Cao Xiao knew what had happened. His eyes flashed with a cold light as he turned to speak to Duan Hong.

Seeing Cao Xiao arrive, the fat man remained seated, merely squinting at them. When he saw He Yueyou, his body involuntarily jolted, but he still didn't move, staring intently at her. Hearing Cao Xiao's words, he just turned to look at a middle-aged man in a suit beside him. The middle-aged man understood and immediately stood up. Following him, the nineteen thugs who had been sitting sloppily also stood up simultaneously, gripping their knives and clubs, and began to close in on the group at the door with a swaggering air.