Promoted

Hongjie's request was reasonable enough, and the two officers roughly got a handle on the situation at the fitness club.

Liu Shuming readily admitted to what he had done, but he repeatedly stressed that it had not been a premeditated act of revenge.

He had been off rotation on the night shift yesterday, so he had gone drinking with several friends. At the restaurant, he had happened to see the girl walking past outside the window.

Although Liu Shuming had been warned by Sister Hong, he had believed that as long as he did not cause trouble inside the club, it would be fine.

The moment he saw the girl, his anger flared up out of nowhere. After discussing it, they had followed her, sent one person to snatch her bag, then planned to lure her over and give her a good beating to vent their anger.

The male officer seized the chance to ask, "What exactly do you mean by 'give her a good beating'?"

Liu Shuming's mouth stumbled for a moment, but he still forced himself to answer calmly. "Just beat her up. I never intended to rob her of her money."

"That's not what you said yesterday!" The girl could not hold back any longer and cut in loudly. "You said you were going to rape me first, then kill me!"

As she spoke, she turned to look at Feng Jun. "Isn't that right?"

Liu Shuming shot Feng Jun a pleading look, only to see the junior with two degrees nod expressionlessly.

He could not help crying out, "What kind of joke is this? The place where I stopped you counted as an alley, and people passed through it every now and then. How could I possibly dare do something like that? I was only trying to scare you."

But the girl refused to let it go. Her eyes blazed with fury. "Who knows whether you had a car ready and planned to knock me out and abduct me? And I certainly didn't think you planned to return my bag."

Liu Shuming was left speechless for quite a while, then he raised his voice and shouted, "This was an attempt! If I had succeeded, I'd admit to everything I did, but since it was only an attempt, you can't just dump a shit bucket on someone's head... This country operates by law."

The female officer already disliked him, and she could not help mocking him. "Now you remember the law? When you snatched her bag yesterday, did you think of the law then? What, is the law something your family keeps in the backyard?"

The girl, however, spoke proudly. "Let me tell you plainly—I pulled the Sky Eye footage to find you. Do you know how much clout a victim needs to have to access Sky Eye footage over such a minor case?"

Liu Shuming shuddered at that. He was no stranger to the ways of society, so naturally he understood what that implied.

Just as Feng Jun had said, it was a tiny case, and only an attempted crime at that. The officers would not place much importance on it. So many things happened in this city every day that they simply could not handle them all.

For the girl to obtain the surveillance footage so quickly and personally come here to identify him, someone must have put in a word for her.

He let out a wail and kept clasping his hands in supplication. "Miss, you said it yourself, it's only a minor case. I really just wanted to vent my anger."

The girl gave a cold laugh. "If no one had saved me, had you ever considered what would have happened to me?"

Liu Shuming turned his head and looked at Feng Jun again, speaking pitifully. "Little Feng, Brother Feng, Grandpa Feng... please, say something fair for me. I may have offended you before, but I'll definitely change from now on!"

Feng Jun glanced at him from the corner of his eye without saying anything—Feng was no indiscriminate do-gooder. He would protect the club's image within limits, but he would never plead for an enemy of his own.

"All right, that's roughly the situation," the male officer said. He looked at Sister Hong. "General Manager Zhang, based on what we know so far, this has nothing to do with your club. We'll be taking him away."

Sister Hong nodded crisply. "I hereby announce that he has been fired from our company. Deal with him however you see fit. There's no need to spare us any face."

As she spoke, she turned to Liu Shuming and said expressionlessly, "I warned you beforehand. It's not that the company lacks human warmth—it's that you insisted on courting death yourself."

Ignoring Liu Shuming's wails, the two officers briskly took him away and put handcuffs on him.

The girl walked a little more slowly. As she was leaving, she looked at Feng Jun. "Do you want me to let him off?"

Ahead of them, Liu Shuming's ears immediately perked up.

Feng Jun answered without hesitation, "It's fine. You can ask for a harsher punishment. You have my full support."

The girl looked at him in surprise. "I thought you were very sympathetic... Harsher punishment?"

"I've never liked the sight of him," Feng Jun replied with perfect justification. "You came here on your own, and I'd already done my best to protect the company's image. Protect him? Heh... I'm actually not all that big-hearted."

The girl shook her head and left. The crowd gathered in the club also dispersed, while Sister Hong beckoned to Feng Jun. "Come with me... Little Guo, you too."

Manager Guo and Feng Jun went to the general manager's office on the second floor.

It was Feng Jun's first time entering. The room was not small, more than forty square meters, decorated grandly and elegantly, yet it contained few things: a large executive desk, a row of bookcases and liquor cabinets, a circle of genuine leather sofas against the walls, and two low rectangular coffee tables.

Together with several potted plants and two pieces of calligraphy and painting, that was everything.

Sister Hong walked over to a single sofa, sat down without ceremony, and crossed her legs.

"Sit," she said, then spoke seriously. "Liu Shuming ran into someone tough this time... Little Guo, keep an eye on it, but do not interfere under any circumstances."

Guo Yueling rarely saw the general manager looking like this. After hesitating for a moment, she asked, "Does that girl have a powerful backer?"

"She's nothing much herself. I simply don't want to provoke her. It's her companion who's formidable," Sister Hong replied flatly. "Of the four girls who came two days ago, there was one in yellow... You must treat that girl with absolute respect."

Guo Yueling knew that the general manager had not been at the club that day. "You watched the surveillance footage?"

"Isn't that obvious?" Sister Hong snorted. "If I hadn't recognized her, I couldn't be bothered to meddle in so much business... Little Guo, it's not that I want to criticize you, but you haven't been very particular in how you handle things lately."

"I know I was wrong." Guo Yueling sprang to her feet in fright. Only now could she be certain that when Sister Hong had rejected her proposed solution the day before yesterday, she had not merely happened to pass by—she had done it deliberately.

Lowering her head, she made a very earnest self-criticism. "Feng Jun works very seriously. I only wanted to use him to intimidate others... I'll raise his salary this month. How much do you think would be appropriate?"

"You decide for yourself." Sister Hong waved a hand, then turned to Feng Jun and nodded slightly. "You know to protect the company's image at all times. Your performance has pleased me greatly."

Feng Jun smiled and said mildly, "Isn't that normal? When the big river has water, the little streams are full. I can't exactly smash my own rice bowl."

Sister Hong looked at him sideways, her gaze carrying a note of scrutiny. "Just now, you said... that I thought highly of you?"

She was a proud woman with a powerful presence. Clearly, she did not want this little waiter to take a chicken feather as an imperial arrow and use it to stir up certain rumors.

Quite a few people coveted her beauty, but she had never been involved in any scandal, nor had anyone found an opening. That was why certain rumors had to be strangled in the cradle.

Feng Jun froze for a moment before nodding in bewilderment. "Yes. You said I planted grass well."

"Pfft." Sister Hong was amused by that and found herself unable to remain serious no matter how hard she tried.

This kid really is something... I only said that as an excuse to warn Liu Shuming.

The next moment, she tried hard to straighten her face and nodded. "No playing with your phone during work hours... You didn't plant grass today, did you?"

"I did," Feng Jun answered awkwardly. "I just finished early, so you didn't catch me at it."

Sister Hong tried to make herself look sterner. "Is this how you respond to your leader's appreciation?"

Yet her swinging leg revealed how relaxed she felt.

Feng Jun replied seriously, "I bought a phone yesterday and was testing some functions on it. I'll be more careful next time."

"All right." Sister Hong did not wish to continue this rather nonsensical topic. "You did well this time. The company avoided a great deal of trouble. Sister Hong has always rewarded merit... What reward would you like?"

"There's no need for that." Feng Jun shook his head. "It was what I should have done. Anyone else would have done the same."

He was not merely being modest; he truly believed it.

However, Sister Hong was used to being forceful. Since she had said she would reward him, how could she possibly go back on her word?

Thus, her fair little hand gave a slight wave. "All right. From now on, you'll be the club's security team leader. I'll also give you a personal bonus of two thousand yuan... It's settled."

"Security team leader?" Manager Guo was instantly dumbfounded. "Our club doesn't have any security personnel."

Hongjie Club truly had no full-time security staff. None of the fitness coaches were soft persimmons, and the waiters were all young people, enough to handle all sorts of temporary accidents.

If they encountered especially forceful troublemakers, Sister Hong would naturally arrange for the appropriate people to deal with them. Those people were not employees of the club.

Sister Hong merely snorted. "Just because we didn't have any before doesn't mean we won't have any later. Little Feng can handle the coordination first. What, do you have an objection?"

Manager Guo shook her head like a rattle drum. "No, I have no objection."

Feng Jun was somewhat surprised: I got promoted and a raise just like that? All I'm missing before reaching the pinnacle of life is a fair, rich, beautiful woman?

All right, it was only a small joke. He had two degrees, after all. Being team leader at a small entertainment venue was merely better than nothing to him, far from enough to leave him fully satisfied.

He had even been thinking of leaving after finishing this month.

But now that the general manager was putting on such a courteous, talent-seeking posture, refusing again would be far too socially unaware.

After he left the general manager's office and watched the door close behind him, Guo Yueling finally asked in a low voice, "Sister Hong, does the other side have a huge background?"

Sister Hong replied leisurely, "Having a big background is one thing. The key is that we were in the wrong. If not for Little Feng this time, Hongjie would have had to close for several days no matter what. Even if they said nothing, I would have had to shut our doors for a few days myself, as an explanation to them."

She glanced sideways at the hall manager. "I don't know what prejudice you have against Little Feng, but my instructions must be carried out. It doesn't matter that he has no subordinates, but he is responsible for this area. Do you understand?"

By the end, her voice had actually grown somewhat stern.