Chapter 64 Chapter 64 The Ordeal of the Engineering Team
Shanhe County and Hejing County were fifty kilometers apart, and with Xia Liu's speed, it took less than an hour to arrive.
He arrived at a construction area according to the address given by Gu Fangxia, which was a hotel of over thirty floors.
The hotel was brightly lit, obviously in operation, and Gu Fangxia had mentioned that the hotel owner owed one and a half million in workers' wages.
Xia Liu couldn't understand; if there was no money, don't hire people. Now that the hotel was open, but still owed money to the construction team, there definitely was something more to it.
After walking around the hotel, Xia Liu finally spotted the place Gu Fangxia had mentioned. It was the back door of the hotel, where a row of double-story tin houses stood, and a few middle-aged men in worn clothes were leaning against the tin houses, gazing fixedly at the hotel.
"Old brother, is Manager Gu here?" After parking the car, Xia Liu approached and asked one of the middle-aged men.
"Who are you?"
"Uh, haha, I am…"
"Brother Ming, he's driving a BMW, definitely a friend of Zhao Baoliang, grab him! We must get the money today!"
"Yes! Brothers, go, control Zhao Baoliang's friend!"
…
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On the second floor of the tin houses, a young guy saw Xia Liu getting out of the BMW, pondered for a moment, and then suddenly started shouting.
This voice immediately drew the attention of all the workers, who then surged forward and surrounded Xia Liu.
They would never forget the name Zhao Baoliang in this lifetime; it was bad enough not getting their wages, but to have thugs throwing bricks at them daily was worse. A few days ago, a coworker was hit in the head and was currently in the hospital receiving treatment.
"Fellows, don't get excited. I don't know any Zhao Baoliang. I came from Hejing County to discuss a project with Manager Gu!" Although Xia Liu was very angry, he remained very rational and quickly clarified his intentions.
"Ah! So you're a boss from Hejing County, really sorry about that." Seeing Xia Liu's sincere face, Brother Ming quickly apologized, as the last thing wanted in the business was to offend a genuinely interested boss.
Xia Liu didn't mind, although he hadn't experienced what these workers had gone through, their words and actions made it clear that Zhao Baoliang was definitely not a good guy.
"Sorry, boss, my brothers have been bullied and scared these past few months," said Brother Ming with a helpless look.
"It's alright, old brother, tell me what happened." Xia Liu understood that the only way to make these workers happy now was to understand the situation and to resolve it.
"Well, to tell you the truth, it was like this: two years ago our construction team got the opportunity to build this hotel. Two years later, the hotel was completed, but this boss, Zhao Baoliang, refused to pay the final settlement. We could only stay put here, hoping to get back our hard-earned money."
"Brother Ming, Zhao Baoliang just wants to bully people. Doesn't he just think Sister Gu is pretty and wants to intimidate her into listening to him?"
Brother Ming hadn't finished speaking when an impulsive young man interrupted him.
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"Sister Gu, pretty? Could it be that a contractor is also a beauty?" Hearing this, Xia Liu was full of bewilderment, but having not met Gu Fangxia yet, he couldn't be sure.
"Mouse, you can't say that. Zhao Baoliang is scum by nature. He purposely withholds payment and can come up with any excuse," said Brother Ming, who disagreed. He knew Gu Fangxia well and knew she was a strong woman.
"Fellows, where is Manager Gu now?" Xia Liu's main concern was still Gu Fangxia, and he might be able to help with the issue with Zhao Baoliang.
"Sister Gu had just taken a call and left, and I think it might have been from Zhao Baoliang."
"This is terrible, if Sister Gu meets Zhao Baoliang alone, it will definitely be very dangerous!"
...
At this moment, the workers on the scene were all anxious, even though they hadn't received their money yet, they truly didn't want Gu Fangxia to pay the price to retrieve what was rightfully theirs.
"Brothers, does anyone know where Zhao Baoliang is?" Xia Liu was secretly anxious, he was very eager to meet Gu Fangxia, a woman who managed so many subordinates well couldn't be simple.
"I know, I know, Zhao Baoliang hasn't been coming to the hotel for many days, he's definitely inside the Sanhe Bar!" Seeing Xia Liu's anxious expression, Brother Ming quickly stood up.
Sanhe Bar, Xia Liu had no idea where it was, but according to what the young worker said, Gu Fangxia had left more than an hour ago, and the situation was definitely urgent now.
Xia Liu immediately pulled Brother Ming into the car, and with a beautiful drift, the car dusted off.
Guided by Brother Ming, it took less than ten minutes for the BMW to stop in front of Sanhe Bar.
Looking at the exterior, Sanhe Bar was a high-end bar, but even before they entered, the jumbled music could be heard, suggesting that, high-end or not, bars were all the same.
Brother Ming was quite familiar with this bar, he led Xia Liu inside, and introduced the origin of Sanhe Bar.
It turned out that Sanhe Bar was the headquarters of a gang from Shanhe County called Knife God Association. It was said that the gang members were always armed with knives, and the president was an expert knifeman. Rumors said no one had ever seen the president draw his knife because anyone who did was already dead.
Xia Liu wasn't burdened by this information at all, disregarding both blades and bullets, only hoping to find Gu Fangxia quickly.
"Zhao Baoliang and the president of the Knife God Association are very close, he always sends these underlings to attack us." Remembering various past incidents, Brother Ming spoke with a catch in his throat, many brothers had ended up in the hospital because of this, it was truly hard to express in words.
Ever since stepping through the main entrance of the bar, Xia Liu could feel Brother Ming trembling severely, "Brother Ming, you won't have any trouble with me here today."
A simple promise instantly calmed Brother Ming down, amidst confusion he felt a strong sense of security.
Nodding his head, Brother Ming began to scan the area, hoping to spot Gu Fangxia and Zhao Baoliang.
Like many bars, there was a huge dance floor in the center where young men and women were frantically swinging their bodies and heads; on the stage, a few with explosive hairstyles were leading the dance and DJing.
"Let's check upstairs." At Xia Liu's command, Brother Ming planned to head up the stairs, but two burly men in black stopped them.
"Hmm?" After being stopped, Xia Liu gave a sharp glance at the opposition.
"Brother Liu, they are Zhao Baoliang's bodyguards, reportedly from the special forces, very tough, we should..."
"So Zhao Baoliang must be upstairs then." Brother Ming hadn't finished speaking when Xia Liu cut him off.
"Zhao Baoliang's bodyguards never leave his side, that scum is definitely upstairs!"
"Good, Brother, wait here for a moment, I'll handle it!"
With a resolve to handle it, Xia Liu shook his neck, then swiftly stepped forward. Before the bodyguard could reach out, he grabbed the man's arm, followed by a powerful swing, sending the bodyguard, who weighed at least 180 kilograms, flying towards the dance floor...