Chapter 435 - 435 Xihang Shen Family
Ye Qing had learned from Tie Yongwen's mouth that Li San, Third Master Li, was the Northern Fist King twenty years ago. Southern Fist King Shen Tianjun was a renowned figure who had been on par with Li San back then.
Being called a Fist King was enough to indicate the strength of a person.
Before leaving the special forces, Ye Qing actually had no concept of strength. Not until he met that old man at Third Master Li's grave and felt his unfathomable strength did Ye Qing realize that in this world, there were many whose power you simply could not fathom. When Neijia Kung Fu was practiced to a certain level, its power could be called terrifying.
After arriving in Shenchuan City, Ye Qing encountered one first-rank master after another, like Huangfu Ziyu and Chen Si, which made him even more aware of his own inadequacies. Later, he met Sect Leader of Southern Xingyi Fist, Tie Yongwen, and once again, Ye Qing felt what was meant by unfathomable. Ye Qing had never sparred with Huangfu Ziyu but he knew very well that Tie Yongwen's strength was definitely not inferior to Huangfu Ziyu and Chen Si.
In Eastern Province alone there were such three acme figures, plus the terrifying Ghost-faced Judge at the teahouse, all first-rank experts. With so many provinces in the South, how formidable must one be to be unanimously recognized as the Southern Fist King?
Southern Fist King Shen Tianjun was the unanimously recognized Southern Fist King by everyone in the South.
Now Ye Qing finally understood why that young man was so proud of the Xihang Shen Family's name. Xihang Shen Family had produced a Southern Fist King. In the twenty years after Shen Tianjun, no one across several southern provinces dared to claim the title of Southern Fist King, which showed the profound influence of Shen Tianjun. Under the illustrious name of Shen Tianjun, the Xihang Shen Family's reputation echoed throughout several southern provinces, which was quite normal!
The young man was very proud of the Xihang Shen Family's name, so when Ye Qing said he didn't know of the Xihang Shen Family, the young man was quite angry and almost clashed with Ye Qing.
Chen Jun and the others certainly didn't know about matters like the Southern Fist King and Northern Fist King, and after listening to Lin Huayu's story, they were somewhat unconcerned. However, Ye Qing's heart was secretly shocked. No wonder Zhao Chengshuang kept stopping him from clashing with that young man earlier. It seemed that there was a reason for it. Although Southern Fist King Shen Tianjun had been missing for twenty years and had not appeared, the strength of the Shen family had not diminished in the slightest. This family could produce a Shen Tianjun, and there might well be other experts in residence. Even if not as gifted as Shen Tianjun, they wouldn't be far behind. In any case, no matter what, they were not forces that the current Ye Qing could contend with.
Lin Huayu had breakfast with Ye Qing here and her words clearly showed she still wanted Ye Qing to be her bodyguard again. However, she knew that was impossible now. The Ye Qing of the past was just a small employee in Mu Qingrong Company, with plenty of time to accompany her. But now, Ye Qing had ten venues of his own, plus the big business of the Southern Suburbs Dogfight Arena, and simply had no time to spare for her. In the end, all she could do was reluctantly instruct Ye Qing to visit the Lin family and see her when he had the time.
After sending Lin Huayu off, Ye Qing took Lin Mengjie to Tian Sheng. In the morning, the managers from those venues brought their account books over.
These managers were all very polite and respectful to Ye Qing, but in their hearts, they didn't take Ye Qing seriously at all. During this period, they had swallowed up all the income from the venues, and the account books were barely breaking even. They had even made fake accounts, firstly to deceive Ye Qing, who was ignorant of nightclub accounting, and secondly because they believed Ye Qing couldn't do without them.
Having no experience in the nightclub industry before, Ye Qing needed to rely on these people if he wanted the ten venues to operate normally. If he fired them, the business of these ten venues would definitely run into problems. At that point, it would be more than just a matter of not making money; the venues might even be dragged down.
These people were taking advantage of this aspect of Ye Qing, so they acted unscrupulously, not taking Ye Qing seriously at all. Seeing Ye Qing bring a beautiful woman in, they even whispered among themselves, speculating whether the beauty was Ye Qing's mistress.
Ye Qing pretended not to hear and handed the account books to Lin Mengjie to have a preliminary look. After Lin Mengjie had finished reviewing them, Ye Qing softly knocked on the table and said, "Ladies and gentlemen, I've called everyone here today, interrupting your rest, and I would like to apologize for that. The main reason I've gathered you here today is to announce two things."
Everyone immediately looked at Ye Qing, sensing that his tone of speaking today was somewhat different from before.
"First," Ye Qing said with a light smile pointing to Lin Mengjie at his side, "I want to introduce someone to you all. This is Manager Lin, whom I've specially invited from another place as a management talent. Manager Lin has extensive experience and strength in the operation and management of nightclubs, and she herself has managed seven or eight venues quite efficiently. So I believe, with Manager Lin leading our ten stores, our business will definitely be much better than before!"
As soon as these words were uttered, the crowd immediately erupted into noise.
"Boss Ye, what do you mean by this?" a man said coldly, "Are you planning to put the ten venues together and let one person manage them? Boss Ye, not to disrespect your decision, but based on my years of experience in managing nightclubs, this move will only make the management layer of the ten venues more bloated and will not be conducive to the development of the venues."
"Yeah, each venue has its own characteristics, how can ten venues be managed together, wouldn't that create chaos? Boss Ye, I'm saying this out of concern for the development of the venues, I think what you're doing is not suitable!"
"I feel the same way. You just pick a random woman off the street, and now you want her to take charge of all ten venues. Boss Ye, our venues have developed so far with so much of our effort and sweat, I truly can't stand by and watch you mess it all up!"
Everyone was opposing because if Ye Qing arranged for Lin Mengjie to come in, it would be like placing another leader above them. These people weren't even willing to give face to Ye Qing, so why would they want another leader?
Ye Qing watched everyone with a faint smile, saying nothing in rebuttal. After a long wait, when everyone had finally calmed down, Ye Qing then said with a faint smile, "I said we have two main items to discuss today. The first is about Manager Lin taking over our venues' business. The second is to see what all of you think."
"No need to look, I firmly disagree!"
"I also disagree!"
The crowd was unanimously against it. Apart from Tian Sheng's manager, the rest were essentially on the same page, firmly opposing Lin Mengjie taking over.
"Good, now I know everyone's thoughts," Ye Qing nodded and said, "You disagree, and I can understand that. I am a very democratic person; if you don't agree, I certainly won't impose it upon you."
The crowd exchanged glances and laughed derisively, all of them looking down on Ye Qing's weakness. Such opposition from them and you immediately give in? With that kind of attitude, you think you can make money out here? Dream on!
Ye Qing observed the expressions of the crowd, paused for a moment, and continued, "However, for the development of the venues, Manager Lin must take over. Therefore, we're in a bit of a tricky situation now."
The complexion of the crowd changed, wondering what Ye Qing meant by suddenly changing his tune.
A man stood up, his voice grave, "Boss Ye, I don't know exactly what you're thinking, but I have more experience running nightclubs than you. Bringing someone new in at this time will only worsen our business, and we might even suffer losses big enough to put us under. I won't watch the venues I've worked so hard to build be destroyed in your hands. If you really want her to take over, then fine, I'm out. I won't sit by and watch the venues collapse!"
Ye Qing simply smiled faintly without a word, slowly turning his gaze to the others.
"I share the same sentiment, Boss Ye. If you insist on being obstinate, then I'm out too!"
"I'm out as well!"
The crowd clamored in unison, demanding to resign, thinking this would force Ye Qing's hand. These nightclubs were under their management, and if they left, there'd be no one to run the places. They were certain Ye Qing wouldn't dare let them leave, so they boldly heckled him to push for Lin Mengjie's dismissal.
"Looks like you all have quite a strong resistance," Ye Qing nodded and said, "If that's the case, I have no more to say. People have their own ambitions. If you want to leave, I can't keep you here. Manager Lin, have a look, how much money we need to pay these managers. Give them what they're due; we absolutely can't let anyone feel cheated by Ye Qing's salary. After all, we've been colleagues, and we can't just turn our backs on each other, right?"
Upon hearing Ye Qing's words, the crowd was dumbfounded. They mentioned resigning only to pressure Ye Qing. They hadn't expected Ye Qing to agree to their resignation so readily. Truth be told, they didn't really want to resign. Being a manager here, even without embezzling Ye Qing's money, could earn them a good salary every month. Once they resigned and had to look for a new job elsewhere, it might not be easy to find a job, let alone one that pays well. Comparing the two situations, who would want to resign?
"Boss Ye, you… you're joking, right…" A man with a look of panic said, "Boss Ye, I don't know what Manager Lin has told you, but you need to think carefully. We've been the ones managing these venues. Once we leave, don't expect to make money from them anymore—you may even start to incur losses. Boss Ye, it's always a taboo for a business to change hands mid-course."
"I haven't made much money while you were managing," Ye Qing shrugged and said, "I've looked into it; the venues definitely need a complete overhaul. Otherwise, though they are in my name, I don't get a penny each month; there's no difference between having them or not."
"Not making money recently is only… it's just because Shenchuan City has been quite unstable lately, with fewer people coming out to spend. And Boss Ye, you haven't station many guards at the venues, with occasional troublemakers causing not insignificant losses," the man urgently said, "Once this phase is over, our business is sure to recover and we'll make money. Boss Ye, don't be too eager to make money; business needs to be built up step by step!"