Chapter 81: Calculated Measures

Fourth Uncle paused, surprised.

“What?! You’d better stay out of this, Xiao Chen!

It’s a messy business—let the adults handle it!”

Auntie chimed in.

“Xiao Chen, don’t get involved!

If your uncle can’t sort it out, wait for your dad to come back and you two can discuss it.

You’re a student—there’s a lot you don’t understand about village affairs.

And those half-grown punks aren’t to be trifled with…”

Xu Chen thought for a moment before speaking.

“Uncle, last week’s fertilizer fiasco was complicated too, and I handled it.

Trust me this once…”

Uncle Xu Zhilin took a drag on his cigarette, frowned, and considered Xu Chen’s request.

“All right, Xiao Chen. What do you have in mind?”

Xu Chen said, “I need twenty thousand yuan.”

Xu Zhilin nodded. “No problem. I’ll get it from the company account.”

Xu Chen waved him off. “No need to ask any more. Li Rui and I have a plan.”

Uncle and Auntie turned to look at Li Rui standing by the door.

Eldest Uncle and Aunt hadn’t met Li Rui before; they eyed the young man, cigarette dangling from his mouth, and thought him fierce-looking.

Li Rui felt awkward, pinched out his cigarette, and forced a shy smile.

Uncle blinked, then said,

“Fine. I trust you, then!”

With that, Xu Zhilin rose and headed to the office next door.

Moments later, he returned with thirty thousand yuan in cash and handed it to Xu Chen.

“I was planning to visit the village committee in Beishan anyway. I withdrew thirty thousand for that purpose…

Here you go. It’s already earmarked in the company accounts. Your dad just needs to sign off when he’s back.”

Xu Chen accepted the cash with a grin.

“Thanks, Uncle. If things don’t work out, I’ll return every yuan.”

With that, Xu Chen grabbed the money and headed out, Li Rui following closely behind.

They climbed into a black Accord, turned around, and drove out of the factory grounds.

……

Everyone inside the house followed them outside.

Auntie called out, “Xiao Chen, what exactly are you off to do?”

Uncle pondered and said,

“Li Rui… he’s the guy you introduced, right?”

Maternal Uncle Zhang Yongqing spoke up,

“Yes. Li Rui and Xiao Chen were classmates.

He told me he was expelled and driving taxis for a while, so Xiao Chen recommended him to drive for my brother-in-law…”

In that time, Zhang Yongqing and Li Rui shared the dorm at the factory; they’d chatted plenty.

So Zhang Yongqing knew some of Li Rui’s background.

Uncle exhaled a plume of smoke,

“Maybe Xiao Chen has a reason for bringing him into our family.”

Auntie sounded irritated,

“Why won’t you two say what’s really going on?!”

Eldest Uncle Xu Zhishan tapped his shoe on the tobacco pipe and said,

“Fourth brother, I’m heading back now.

But let me advise you: don’t stick with seedlings and saplings—no future, just trouble.

You lost the mechanical factory’s order, and now Third brother has taken it. So you come work at his factory.

Isn’t it all about earning money?

You’re too stubborn and risk suffering big losses…”

Xu Zhilin just nodded silently, taking another drag.

Aunt Xu Zhiyan added,

“Fourth brother, get well soon. I’ll visit you again tomorrow!”

……

……

The black Accord left the factory and headed toward Beishan.

“Chen ge, I’ve checked. Those guys are from North Mountain Joint Village—just unemployed local thugs.

A friend of mine used to run with them, so I know them all…”

Xu Chen remained silent, simply murmuring, “Mm.”

The Accord made a brief stop midway.

Li Rui stepped out and made several calls by the roadside.

Afterward, they drove to the nearby town, bought two boxes of cigarettes and some rice and oil, and loaded everything into the car.

They filled the trunk, then piled more in the back seat.

With just over ten thousand yuan left, Xu Chen handed it all to Li Rui.

Li Rui didn’t protest and tucked it away.

Entering Beishan Town, they spotted a worn stone archway where a dozen or so young men leaned together, smoking.

Li Rui parked, lit a cigarette, and walked over alone.

He handed out two packs of cigarettes to the group, joking and laughing.

Then two crew-cut youths carried away the two boxes of cigarettes from the car.

Spotting Xu Chen in the passenger seat, they nodded and called, “Chen ge.”

Without another word, they carried the boxes back to their friends and distributed two packs apiece.

Xu Chen watched from the front seat’s mirror as Li Rui handed one of the plump crew-cut guys the cash.

Soon more men arrived and unloaded all the rice and oil.

……

Li Rui returned to the car and flicked his cigarette out the window.

“Chen ge, it’s all arranged as you asked!”

Xu Chen nodded.

The car started. Li Rui swung the wheel around and headed home.

The trouble in North Mountain Joint Village was stirred up by those two families competing with his father for land.

Since they’d sent local thugs to provoke them, Xu Chen saw no choice but to meet force with force.

Back then, in a rural county town, you couldn’t rely solely on politeness to do business…

If they’d listened to Uncle and appealed to the village committee or bribed officials, it’d be like “throwing meat to dogs.”

Paying out money wouldn’t solve the root problem.

Faced with obvious malice, Xu Chen didn’t mind using special but still legal methods.

In fact, only that would settle things without future fallout.

Otherwise, people would think the Xu family was easy prey and keep causing trouble until they drove them out of North Mountain.

Then their bid on the new project would fail, and their land-and-seedling business would be even harder to run.

This evening, some of those thugs would get a little visit.

And the two families behind them would realize they’d picked the wrong target.

The farmers demanding higher prices would get oil and rice delivered as gentle persuasion.

Gifts require skill.

What you give matters, and who delivers it matters too.

Quickly solve the problem politely and legally.

And Li Rui was just the right man to arrange it.

Though he was just a behind-the-wheel driver now, he’d once been the ruthless “Brother Rui” with a crew of his own.

That was one reason Xu Chen hired him to drive for his father.

In these years, business in rural towns always ran into unpredictable troubles that routine tactics couldn’t fix.

……

……

“Just drive me home,” Xu Chen said from the passenger seat.

“Sure thing, Chen ge!”

Twenty minutes later, they pulled up before the Xu family’s two-story house.

Xu Chen got out and told Li Rui,

“Wait here.”

He climbed inside and went to his father Xu Zhiquan’s study.

From a shelf in the bookcase, he took out two packs of Soft Zhonghua cigarettes.

He came back out and handed them to Li Rui.

Li Rui, cigarette still dangling, looked flustered, smiled, and hesitated to take them.