Dri-dri-dri...
Just as Bai Xuemei was about to ask Lu Fan why he was smiling, his phone suddenly rang.
"Lu Fan! Come here!" Fan Xue'er's somewhat indignant voice came through.
"Alright! I'll be right there!" Lu Fan said, then stood up.
"Tch! Xiao Fan, did you sleep with that girl? Why are you rushing over whenever she calls?" Bai Xuemei said with a hint of jealousy. She still had a lot to say to this kid.
"!!!" Lu Fan's forehead instantly broke out in a cold sweat.
As soon as he arrived at the entrance of the fruit supermarket, Fan Xue'er, looking displeased, came out to meet him.
"Xiao Fan! Look..." As soon as she saw Lu Fan, Fan Xue'er handed him her phone, saying indignantly.
"What's wrong?" Lu Fan asked, somewhat surprised. He took the phone and looked at it, his expression also becoming serious. The phone displayed surveillance footage from the fruit supermarket. Li Deli's wife had come during the busy morning hours and stealthily taken two bags of fruit.
"Last time you told me not to say anything, and I pretended not to know when I got back. As a result, they really think we don't know anything. Alas! You should hire someone soon!" Fan Xue'er said with a distressed expression.
The two of them turned and entered the supermarket. There were no customers inside, and Li Deli was tidying the shelves. Seeing Lu Fan enter, a flicker of panic flashed in his eyes, but he quickly pretended to be nonchalant.
Lu Fan could tell from Li Deli's eyes that he knew everything. He couldn't help but shake his head slightly. "Brother Li! Stop what you're doing. I have something to tell you."
He had initially thought Li Deli was a good person, honest, kind, and hardworking. But it seemed he had thought too much. One must not turn a blind eye to small gains, otherwise, even the most honest person would become greedy. This was human selfishness!
"Boss!" Li Deli became flustered again. This was exactly what guilt felt like. When Fan Xue'er had called Lu Fan indignantly earlier, he had already felt a sense of unease.
"Here's five thousand yuan. Although only twenty days have passed this month, I'll give you a month's salary. From now on, you're fired. You can go." Lu Fan took out five thousand yuan and handed it to Li Deli.
"Boss! I... I'm doing a good job! Why are you firing me? I haven't made any mistakes!" Li Deli panicked and put down his work.
"Are you sure you haven't made any mistakes?" Lu Fan directly forwarded the video from Fan Xue'er's phone to Li Deli. "Then take a look for yourself!"
"Boss! I... that was my wife! I really didn't know anything. How about this, I'll pay for whatever my wife took. Please, don't fire me!" Upon seeing the video, Li Deli's head drooped, and he pleaded.
"You can go! It's already showing you respect by not pursuing this further," Lu Fan said impatiently. He disliked people who thought they were clever, believing they would be forgiven by shifting the blame to others. Even seemingly honest people could be dishonest.
Li Deli sighed, took the five thousand yuan, and walked out.
Lu Fan and Fan Xue'er tidied up the fruits in the supermarket and discussed what kind of person to hire next. Suddenly, Li Deli's wife, Zhou Cuicui, barged in aggressively.
"Lu Fan! What right do you have to fire Li Deli? It's just a little bit of fruit! What's the big deal? Don't you understand the concept of 'what you take, you eat'?" Zhou Cuicui shouted as soon as she entered.
What the heck??? Stealing fruit and being so righteous about it?
Lu Fan could hardly believe it. Was it poverty that limited imagination? He wasn't poor anymore!
"Zhou Cuicui! I didn't call the police, and I didn't deduct your money. I even paid Li Deli more than ten days' salary. I didn't expect you to be grateful, but do you really think Lu Fan is easy to bully? Do you really think you don't know how much that stolen fruit is worth!"
A flash of anger appeared in Lu Fan's eyes. The fruit Zhou Cuicui had taken twice was worth more than half a month's salary for Li Deli. It seemed his kindness was not repaid with good deeds! And 'what you take, you eat'? Don't I still have to pay you a salary?
"I... I don't care! Anyway, you can't fire Li Deli. We agreed that both of us would work here. You're not letting me work, and you're firing Li Deli. How are we supposed to live? If you fire him, I'm not leaving, and you won't be able to do business!" Zhou Cuicui said, then sat down directly at the entrance of the supermarket, acting like a spoiled brat!
At this moment, Li Deli also appeared at the entrance. However, he did not stop Zhou Cuicui; instead, he stood in the middle of the doorway.
"Hmph! You really are pushing your luck! Fine!" Lu Fan said, angered, and picked up his phone.
"If you dare to call the police, we'll sue you. Don't think we don't know that your fruit was originally ordinary fruit. Who knows what methods you used to make the fruit so delicious. Hmph!" Seeing Lu Fan take out his phone, Zhou Cuicui became a little panicked, but then she shouted confidently.
"Heh heh!" Lu Fan was immediately amused. He hadn't expected them to have found his weakness. No wonder they were so righteous.
He made a phone call, and shortly after, a black car stopped at the entrance of the supermarket. Feng San, one of the Four Great Vajras of the Black Tiger Gang, got out of the car with two other people.
"Boss! Boss! We were wrong, we were wrong! We'll pay for your fruit, we'll pay!" Seeing Feng San, Li Deli panicked. He grabbed Zhou Cuicui and kept apologizing to Lu Fan.
"Then pay up!" Lu Fan said coldly.
Gulp... Li Deli swallowed and quickly took out the five thousand yuan he had just received.
Lu Fan reached out and took the money, then casually threw it to Feng San. "Feng San! This is my protection fee!"
"Little Divine Doctor! I... I, I... how dare I accept your protection fee!" Feng San was startled. He didn't dare to accept this money.
"Since this area is managed by your Black Tiger Gang, it's only right that I pay protection fees. I'm a law-abiding person!" Lu Fan said with a slight smile. "However, since you've accepted my protection fee, my fruit shop will have to rely on the Black Tiger Gang for protection! If anyone comes to cause trouble, I'll hold you accountable!"
"Little Divine Doctor, rest assured! I guarantee no one will dare to cause trouble at your fruit supermarket... or your restaurant!" Feng San was not a fool and immediately understood Lu Fan's intention. He yelled at Li Deli and his wife, "Get lost!"
Li Deli and Zhou Cuicui immediately scrambled away.
"Little Divine Doctor! I won't disturb you further. I won't disturb you further!" Feng San glanced at Lu Fan. Seeing Lu Fan smiling without saying anything, he immediately led his men away.
"Boss! This Little Divine Doctor is even actively paying us protection fees!" A subordinate beside Feng San said happily.
"Nonsense! You're overthinking it. Do you think this five thousand yuan is easy to take? Damn it, we'll have to be his dogs for the rest of our lives!" Feng San glared at the subordinate and cursed.
"Boss! Then... why did you accept it?"
"Do you think I dare not accept it? Do you really think he's a law-abiding person?" Feng San said with a bitter expression. The gang leader himself couldn't afford to offend him, so how could I dare to offend him?