Chapter 66: Security Department Factions

At five in the morning, an off-road vehicle parked on the road by the cemetery. The young man in a stand-up collar and Da Kuan stepped out simultaneously.

Surprisingly, the engine was still running. There was no one left inside, though both of their phones remained in the car. Da Kuan tightly grasped both their phones, his eyes red as he looked outward.

The young man, after inspecting the ground for a moment, walked step by step toward the muddy graveyard. Da Kuan immediately followed.

A moment later, the two spotted a mound of piled dirt. Da Kuan instantly moved to dig it open with his bare hands.

"There’s no need for that."

The Young Master suddenly shook his head. He pulled out a pack of cigarettes and lit three at once, planting two of them into the head of the grave.

Da Kuan dropped to his knees, weeping bitterly.

"The feng shui here is decent, and it’s fitting they were buried together. They shouldn’t have any regrets left," the Young Master said indifferently. "Have someone make a tombstone and set it up here later. Otherwise, when you come back to visit them in a few years, you definitely won’t be able to find which grave is theirs."

"I’m going to kill him!" Da Kuan roared.

The Young Master nodded. "Of course we’ll kill him. He has successfully piqued my interest, so I will deal with him personally."

Hearing that the Young Master was going to take action himself, Da Kuan didn’t say another word. If the Young Master made a move, even an Immortal wouldn’t survive past midnight.

The two finished their cigarettes and left, trudging through the mud.

Around Noon, more people and vehicles arrived at the site. They carried a stone stele engraved with the words: The Tomb of Heizi and Yanzi. It didn’t even bear their real names.

Da Kuan had only left with the Young Master after watching the workers set up the monument and tidy up the grave. The Young Master didn’t return to Modu; instead, he checked into the presidential suite at the Rejuvenation Hotel.

Meanwhile, Lin Jian and Ye Ziqiu both arrived at the company. Since it was Monday, there were routine meetings to attend, and Ye Ziqiu was already in work mode by eight in the morning.

Lin Jian went back to the security department to change his clothes. Surprisingly, the head of security, Zhang Qiang, was also there. Upon seeing Lin Jian, Zhang Qiang stood up and walked right out without even greeting him.

Lin Jian simply smiled. When a power-hungry person was forced to share his authority, he would inevitably resent the one who took a piece of it. Lin Jian had already become a thorn in his side.

The security department held a routine departmental meeting every Monday. Before the shift change, they would set aside ten minutes to lay out the week’s primary tasks and directions. The current security department was practically split into two factions. One was naturally the old guard led by Zhang Qiang. These people were on good terms with Zhang Qiang, and although they were polite to Lin Jian on the surface, they actually didn’t give a damn about him.

The other faction was Lin Jian’s new guard. There weren’t many people in the new faction; it mainly consisted of Xu Xiaohui, Wang Chuang, and Tan Jian. Only the three of them actually got along reasonably well with Lin Jian. Including that Song Army from before, the rest were really just paying lip service to Lin Jian. Even though Lin Jian had treated half the staff to a meal previously, that was as far as it went. Trying to buy their loyalty with a single dinner was a bit of a stretch.

The reason Xu Xiaohui and the other two were considered part of Lin Jian’s faction was because Xu Xiaohui also had conflicts with Zhang Qiang. The three of them had military backgrounds. While they might not strictly hate evil like a mortal enemy, the hot blood in their hearts hadn’t completely cooled. Therefore, they despised Zhang Qiang’s sycophancy and his eyes for Influence.

Furthermore, Liu Fei had told Lin Jian that Xu Xiaohui and Zhang Qiang had once gotten into a physical altercation. Although neither had seriously injured the other, Zhang Qiang was always finding ways to make life difficult for Xu Xiaohui and his buddies. Because of this, Xu Xiaohui and the other two had actually planned to resign a while ago; they just hadn’t found their next jobs yet.

But now, the three no longer wanted to quit, because someone who could rival Zhang Qiang had finally appeared. Besides, the benefits at the Recovery Group were genuinely excellent. The pay was higher than that of civil servants, and they even contributed to pension insurance, so they truly didn’t want to leave.

The routine security department meeting wasn’t held in the department office, but rather over by the underground parking lot of the hotel. This was out of consideration for the personnel on duty there, hence the choice of location.

Zhang Qiang was still the manager in name, so he chaired the meeting.

"Everyone, there are only two points for today’s meeting.

"First, there have been quite a few leaves of absence recently. Some people are even asking for leave to slip away while on duty. It shows a complete lack of organization and discipline."

He seemed to be pointing fingers. Hadn’t Lin Jian left while on duty just the day before yesterday? Even though he was called away by the boss, it was still leaving his post.

"From now on, this kind of behavior will be strictly prohibited. Once you arrive at the company, if you ask for leave to step out again, your attendance record will be wiped. Not even a single minute will be approved.

"Second, you all might have caught wind of this already, but the security department is going to be split into two teams. One team will head over to the Recovery Property Office and establish their future security department.

"This is a very arduous and glorious task. Moreover, once the property office is fully established, any of our current security guards who go over will be considered founding members.

"Naturally, I’ve also heard rumors going around that I’ll be leaving, and that you no longer need to listen to my orders, things like that.

"You guys can stop dreaming. As long as I’m in the security department for even a single day, all of you better behave yourselves!"

Zhang Qiang was employing the tactics of a street thug. Lin Jian had even heard that this guy associated with various local hoodlums.

"One final point," Zhang Qiang continued. "Xu Xiaohui, Tan Jian, and Wang Chuang, the bonuses for you three have been canceled for this month."

"On what grounds are you canceling our bonuses?" Xu Xiaohui asked angrily.

"On what grounds?" Zhang Qiang sneered. "During your shift, a car in the underground parking lot was broken into, and a guest lost their belongings. Just based on that alone, your bonuses must be deducted."

Xu Xiaohui ground his teeth in rage, making a series of harsh CLICKS. At the same time, the three of them knew that Zhang Qiang was only targeting them half the time; the other half of this was aimed squarely at Lin Jian. He was trying to establish his dominance.

He was essentially taunting Lin Jian: *Hadn’t the three of them defected to your side? Now I’m going to discipline all three of them, and you, their supposed boss, can’t do a damn thing about it!*

However, just as Zhang Qiang was basking in his smugness, Lin Jian suddenly laughed and said, "Hold on a minute, hold on!"

Lin Jian looked at Liu Fei with a smile and asked, "Manager Liu, I am currently the deputy manager of the security department, right?"

"Yes, what about it?" Liu Fei nodded.

"Then what exactly are my duties as the deputy manager?"

"To assist the manager in handling the administrative affairs of the security department, and to maintain the company’s security, fire safety, theft prevention, and so on."

"Incorrect, what you said is wrong!" Lin Jian immediately rebutted him.

Liu Fei’s face darkened. He had recited that straight from the rulebook; how could it be wrong?

"I recall that on my first day in office, the authorization I received was to manage all affairs within the Recovery Headquarters, including the hotel, the company, and the shopping mall, right?

"And I also remember that Manager Zhang is no longer responsible for the specific affairs here at the Recovery Headquarters, having been transferred over to the property office instead, correct? Then you even showed me around and told me to learn as much as I could, right?"

Liu Fei nodded mechanically. "That is how the company arranged it!"

Only then did Lin Jian nod. He cast a glance at Zhang Qiang and declared, "Manager Zhang is no longer in charge of the specific affairs at headquarters, so everything he said today doesn’t count. Meeting adjourned!"

"Lin Jian, what is the meaning of this?" Zhang Qiang instantly flew into a rage and loudly interrogated him.

"Piss off, do you even have the right to speak here? I said, the meeting is adjourned!" Lin Jian looked at all the security guards and added, "Don’t make me say it a third time!"

"Who dares to leave?" Zhang Qiang roared.

For a moment, all the security guards looked at each other in dismay.

"Heh, Manager Lin already said the meeting is adjourned. Let’s go!" Xu Xiaohui and his two companions let out a cold sneer and turned to leave.

"If you dare to move, I’ll fire you today!"

Zhang Qiang was fully dead set on clashing with Lin Jian. He refused to believe that his words as the manager carried less weight than those of a deputy manager.

Lin Jian frowned. Zhang Qiang must be out of his mind. He clearly knew that Lin Jian was on good terms with Ye Ziqiu, so how did he still dare to openly oppose him?

What kind of backing did he have?