17: Chapter 17 Hao Ling'er Joins the Party

Never mind the bargain price of 2,800 per ton that Hao Daqiang offered; Cao Xiao wouldn't sell it even for 3,800 per ton, as it would only lead to endless trouble later.

"Alright, it's almost noon now. Let's head into the city for lunch first and leave things here for others to handle." Hao Daqiang started to say something else, but seeing Cao Xiao lost in thought, he didn't disturb him. He only spoke again after a moment.

"Oh, sorry, I spaced out. I'm not familiar with Jinghu, so please lead the way, President Hao," Cao Xiao said, snapping back to reality.

"Cao Xiao, I'll ride in your car," Hao Linger, who had been silent until now, suddenly said to him.

"Uh, sure. Let me just finish the handoff with Director Huang's people." It wasn't that Cao Xiao hadn't noticed Hao Linger, but his mind had been preoccupied with the Behemoth's Devour.

Cao Xiao locked all the warehouse doors, handing the key for Warehouse No. 1 to Hao Daqiang's men and the key for Warehouse No. 2 to the person in charge who had come with Mother He. Since the others were busy, only Cao Xiao, Hao Daqiang, and Hao Linger drove toward Jinghu City. Originally, Cao Xiao had thought about calling Liu Zhigao to invite him to lunch, but he reconsidered; with Hao Daqiang there, he might accidentally let something slip.

"Cao Xiao, who is He Yueyou? Is she your girlfriend?" Hao Linger asked as soon as the car started.

"Not yet, but I'm pursuing her. Why do you ask? By the way, are you married?" Cao Xiao countered.

"I don't even have a boyfriend! How could I be married? I'm still young, no rush," Hao Linger said with a dissatisfied pout.

"True, you were much better at school than I was, even skipping grades. You're only twenty-four this year, right?" Cao Xiao said.

"Hmph, that's because I'm smart! I just had my twenty-third birthday the month before last," Hao Linger said with some pride.

"Right, didn't you major in law? Why are you working for your uncle?" Cao Xiao was curious why Hao Linger was working as Hao Daqiang's secretary.

At the mention of this, Hao Linger began to grit her teeth and spoke incessantly. "Hmph, just thinking about it makes me angry. I'm a gold-medal lawyer! During my four years of university, I took elective courses in other majors—I'm a quadruple Master's graduate in Finance, Business Administration, Business Economics, and Law. If I hadn't wanted to leave school, I'd definitely have a PhD by now, probably a double doctorate. As for why I'm working for my uncle, it's all because of those bastards. After graduation, I worked at a law firm in the provincial capital and won several high-profile cases. In the last one, I got a piece of scum sent to prison for over ten years. When that scum's family saw they had no chance of winning, they tried to bribe me to go easy. How could I let someone like that off? I'm not moved by money, and I'm not afraid of their threats. So, I gathered even more evidence to get that guy a few more years, with no chance of bail. His family later found people to retaliate against me. Oh, I forgot to tell you, I've actually trained—I beat those people up and sent them to the police station for detention, then sued them through legal channels to send them to prison too. Seeing that violence didn't work, that family didn't give up; they kept making trouble for me and even retaliated against my family. My younger brother almost got into an accident once. Eventually, my uncle had to bring me back, and it took a lot of effort to get that family to stop. They're just a nest of bastards. If you talk law with them, they talk violence; if you use violence, they play dirty schemes. What a bunch of trash! Hmph!"

"Uh, I didn't realize you were so amazing—four majors in four years, all with Master's degrees. It's enough to make anyone jealous. But you're also quite ruthless, leaving them no room to breathe." Cao Xiao realized that his former top-student classmate had become superhuman over the years. She was skilled in combat and hated evil with a passion. What could stop a top student who was also a martial artist?

"That scum is a blight on society while alive; they're better off in prison for reform through labor. If my uncle hadn't stopped me, I would have sent that scum's parents to prison to repent along with him. I started gathering evidence of their crimes the moment they began retaliating. I wanted to set an example. I thought that after that case, I'd have less trouble in the future, but instead, I fell into a pit. It's a case of a hero's downfall," Hao Linger said somewhat despondently.

"Why don't you come help me? You've studied business administration and you know the law. I'm about to start a company, but I don't know anything about management or even how to register it. Come help me, and I'll give you a ten percent share of the profits. I'll find a way to convince your uncle. I also know some people in the provincial capital, so you won't have to worry about those people bothering you again," Cao Xiao said, struck by the idea. He had been considering starting a company for the past two days, but he lacked experience and didn't know how to operate one. Although there was information online, knowing it and doing it were two different things. His company's future development would be staggering, so the groundwork had to be solid. Hao Linger was his classmate, they had a good relationship, she had a good character, and most importantly, she was exceptionally capable. She was the ideal manager.

"You're starting a company? Ouch, my head! When? No problem, just pay me a salary—it doesn't have to be much. I don't want to stay at the steel mill anyway; I have nothing to do all day, and I'm even tired of playing games. No need to talk to my uncle; I'll handle him. As long as I don't practice law, he won't care. That incident was over a year ago. If that family wants to cause trouble again, I'll just hand the evidence to the police." Hao Linger suddenly jumped up from her seat, hitting her head on the car roof. She cried out in pain, then sat back down and grabbed Cao Xiao's arm excitedly.

"I'll register it in the provincial capital within half a month. It would be great if you could help. Trust me, my company will have a great future!" Cao Xiao was also very happy. With Hao Linger managing things, he wouldn't have to sit in an office with a headache every day.

"Half a month? Then we need to start preparing the documents now. First is the company name, main business, nature of the company, and address. We also need to design a logo and VI before we can register. Do you have a plan for these?" Hao Linger asked.

"Uh, I have a name: Dizang Technology Co., Ltd. Mineral resources are like treasures from the earth (Dizang), after all. Besides, Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva (Dizang) has a great vow: 'Until the hells are empty, I shall not become a Buddha.' My goal is to not stop until the Earth is empty. As for the business, for now, it's just mineral processing. We can add or change things later; we just need to settle on one for now. It will be a private limited company. I haven't leased an office yet, but we can do that when we go to the provincial capital. As for the logo and Visual Identity system, we'll need a professional advertising agency. I don't have any ideas yet, so we'll wait until we're in the city."

"The rest isn't urgent, but agency designs take time and need revisions based on our requirements. It's best to find one in the next few days. Tell me your requirements, and I'll contact them. I'll go to the provincial capital tomorrow to lease an office space. Once the design is done, we can start renovations. Otherwise, who knows when you'll have the time?" Hao Linger said.

"In that case, I'll leave it to you. Rent a larger place. Give me your account number, and I'll transfer one million to you as a budget first," Cao Xiao said, overjoyed.

"So generous! A million right away? An advertising agency's design fee is at most a hundred thousand or so. How big an office do you want? Rent in a commercial center is calculated by the square meter per day, and it's not cheap. There's no need to go huge at the start—two hundred square meters is enough, costing maybe over two hundred thousand. With simple renovations, it won't cost much. Five hundred thousand is more than enough. Aren't you afraid I'll run off with your million?" Hao Linger rattled off the estimated costs and looked at Cao Xiao with amusement.

"Ha! I'm really not. Your value can't be measured by this little bit of money. Let's rent a larger place so we don't run out of space when we expand. Around a thousand square meters should do. I'm just worried it won't be enough. Make the renovations look grand. If you need more money, just call me; I'll ensure we have sufficient funds. But get the office renovated first, then start hiring to build the basic human resources structure. One person per department for now, but we can hire more professional sales staff." Cao Xiao suddenly felt like a boss and started giving instructions to Hao Linger.

"Leave it to me, I'll handle everything perfectly. By the way, don't tell my uncle about this yet. I'll tell him once everything is settled in a while." Hao Linger gave him a look that said 'trust me, I've got this'.

The two discussed the company formation, and Cao Xiao learned a lot from Hao Linger. At the very least, he gained a basic understanding of company functions and management, which was enough for him, as he wouldn't be managing the day-to-day operations personally anyway.

When they reached the city, they followed Hao Daqiang's car and parked at a hotel. With only the three of them, they didn't waste money, ordering a few nice dishes and drinks. Since it was noon, they didn't drink alcohol, and the meal lasted an hour. Cao Xiao intended to pay, but Hao Daqiang insisted on treating them, saying he wanted to be a good host, so Cao Xiao didn't press the matter.

After arranging to keep in touch with Hao Linger by phone, Cao Xiao drove back to Fangzhu.

Just as he exited the highway, the road ahead was completely blocked. Thinking there was an accident, Cao Xiao parked on the shoulder and went to see what was happening. To his surprise, he ran into acquaintances—two of them: Fang Xuehai and that Director Huang.

The two had actually hooked up. On second thought, it wasn't strange; the company He Yueyou worked for also dealt in minerals. Both were scum, and birds of a feather flock together.

At that moment, Fang Xuehai and Director Huang were arguing with someone. Their flushed faces suggested they had been drinking heavily. There was a two-car rear-end collision. Cao Xiao recognized the car behind—it was Fang Xuehai's Buick. The car that had been hit was an Audi A8 flagship sedan. Fortunately, the accident wasn't serious and no one was hurt, but both sides were arguing over liability and hadn't moved their cars, blocking the road.

It didn't take a genius to know it was Fang Xuehai's fault; drunk or not, he was the one who hit the other car. Yet, he and Director Huang were relentlessly accusing the Audi driver of not knowing how to drive. The Audi driver was a middle-aged woman, and she was alone in the car with a young girl of a few years. They were no match for the thuggish behavior of Fang Xuehai and Director Huang. Seeing her mother being bullied, the little girl was crying and looking at the surrounding onlookers with pleading eyes for help.

Initially, two young men had stepped up to reason with Fang Xuehai, but to no avail. Fang Xuehai remained relentless, and even the threat of calling the police didn't scare them. The crowd was also condemning them, but Fang Xuehai had been a hooligan in his youth, and Director Huang had also revealed his true colors, acting like a belligerent drunk.

Cao Xiao knew exactly what they were up to. A stingy man like Fang Xuehai wouldn't want to use his insurance even if it covered it—not that an insurance company would pay for a drunk driving accident anyway. That Audi A8 was worth over two million, and repairs would be expensive, far more than a few thousand yuan. Seeing the other party was a woman, they were making false accusations, hoping they might even get their own repair costs covered.

Cao Xiao couldn't stand it anymore. He took out his phone and called the police—not just the 122 traffic police, but also the 110 emergency center.

"Hello, is this the 110 emergency center? I'm reporting a case of extortion involving a large sum of money. There are many onlookers, and I hope you can handle it quickly. The location is at XXX."

"Hello, is this the traffic police? There's been a serious traffic accident here. No injuries, and vehicle damage is light, but the perpetrator is driving under the influence and caused a rear-end collision. He's refusing to move the vehicle as required by traffic law and is intentionally harassing the other party to evade responsibility, causing a severe traffic jam at the highway exit. The location is at XXX."

After finishing the calls, Cao Xiao pushed through the crowd into the center of the scene.

"Isn't this Mine Director Fang? What happened here? Do you need help?" Cao Xiao said warmly as he stepped in front of Fang Xuehai.

"Oh, it's Little Cao. You've come at the right time. This woman is unreasonable and can't drive; she's ruined my car. Come and judge for yourself, tell this woman to pay up quickly," Fang Xuehai said imperiously to Cao Xiao, his breath reeking of alcohol.

"Old Fang, you know this guy?" Director Huang asked when he saw Cao Xiao speaking to Fang Xuehai.

"He's one of my employees. Why, Old Huang, you look upset—did this kid offend you? Just wait, I'll teach him a lesson in a bit," Fang Xuehai whispered into Director Huang's ear.

However, Fang Xuehai was too drunk to control his volume, and Cao Xiao heard every word. He burst out laughing. This man was truly something else—one moment asking for help, the next offering to beat him up for someone else; he turned faster than a dog. Cao Xiao had stepped out specifically to deal with them, so he didn't care what they said. In a moment, they would be in a miserable state. Did these idiots not realize that someone who could afford a car worth millions wouldn't be an ordinary person?