"Charge!" The store manager representative yelled again, leading the 38 other managers to surge forward. They immediately reached Zhang Liunian, and the two groups clashed.
But what happened next became a memory they wouldn't forget. They only knew they had rushed in front of Zhang Liunian, but before they could make a move, a tremendous force struck them. Then, in pain and unable to cry out, they were all sent flying backward, crashing onto the ground, unable to move for a long time.
Everyone present was stunned. They stared wide-eyed as Zhang Liunian effortlessly sent the store managers flying, then calmly, without breaking a sweat, tidied his clothes. To an observer, one might think he had merely been nudged by the wind.
Seeing him like this, everyone swallowed hard, their hearts trembling. Was such a formidable person truly real?
If so, they considered themselves truly enlightened today, having the fortune to witness such a powerful individual.
"Bo... Boss?" the team leader recovered, his mouth agape, looking at Zhang Liunian. He thought that he had initially believed his boss merely had a violent streak, but now it seemed this wasn't violence; this was pure power.
One person had taken down 39 store managers. Was this something an ordinary person could do?
No, no, this was clearly the work of a master. Their new boss was undoubtedly a martial arts expert; he was absolutely certain of this.
"What are you waiting for? Search their bodies and let everyone see what these store managers are truly made of."
Zhang Liunian, having finished tidying his clothes, calmly found a chair and sat down, awaiting the spoils.
Upon hearing this, the team leader immediately led his men to search the store managers. These managers still wanted to resist, but Zhang Liunian's earlier actions had been too brutal, leaving them no chance to struggle. Thus, the team leader and his men quickly completed their searches.
The first one yielded three thousand eight hundred yuan, the second three thousand five hundred yuan, the third four thousand yuan...
All forty store managers, except for the female store manager who voluntarily submitted the day's earnings, were searched. In the end, Zhang Liunian obtained one hundred and twenty thousand yuan in cash.
Everyone was astonished, not expecting that these store managers had all been stealing money from the department store. It was no wonder Zhang Liunian had treated them so humiliatingly.
"My heavens, these people are all parasites!"
"They're so greedy. They took all the day's revenue. What else wouldn't they take?"
"Who would dare hire such people in the future?"
"..."
The 39 store managers, hearing the pointing fingers and whispers directed at them, felt their spirits crumble.
They knew their reputations were ruined here, and they would never be able to establish themselves properly in the provincial capital again.
Fortunately, Tang Guo had promised them ten years of salary each. With this money, they could live comfortably even without work.
But that was only if Zhang Liunian didn't pursue the matter further. Otherwise, no amount of money would be of any use.
"Boss, we were wrong. We were just momentarily lost in our minds and never intended to embezzle this money. And we only did this today; we never took any money from the department store before. Please let us go!" One of the store managers, a rather smooth-talking man, knowing that defiance would lead to imprisonment, immediately knelt before Zhang Liunian, clasping his hands in supplication.
Zhang Liunian looked at the kneeling man, his expression still blank. "Who can vouch for that? What proof do you have of your innocence?"
"We..." Before he could finish, the man was pulled back by the store manager representative, who interrupted him.
"If we say we didn't take it, then we didn't. The former supervisor can testify." The store manager representative knew that Tang Guo was hidden in a place only they knew, so using her as a shield was acceptable.
Because he believed Zhang Liunian would never find Tang Guo, thus rendering it unprovable.
Zhang Liunian smiled, his star-like eyes seeming to see through the store manager representative's thoughts. "Tang Guo is currently a fugitive. Are you playing with me by using her as a witness?
How about this: hand over your past account books to me, and I'll verify them. This way, you can clear your names of any past embezzlement.
If you don't cooperate, it's fine. I'll personally send you to the police station later. I believe you'll certainly end up serving ten years, perhaps eight.
At that time, it won't matter how much money you've embezzled."
The store managers clearly understood the threat in his words. But they were in a predicament: they wanted to fool Zhang Liunian, but he was too cunning; they wanted to unite and resist him, but they couldn't defeat him. They were truly in a dilemma.
"When one wishes to condemn, one can always find a pretext," the store manager representative knew that whatever they said now was useless. Despite his inner reluctance, what could they do at this moment?
The store manager representative began to resign himself to fate, but the others had not.
Although they were all devoted to Tang Guo, their loyalty varied. Some didn't want Zhang Liunian to frame them, so they continued to speak up, "Boss, we truly don't have the account books. How can you believe us?"
"Boss, we submitted all our account books to Supervisor Tang last month. We genuinely don't have them now."
"Boss, believe us, we didn't intend to steal money. The money we had on us was for handing over after work, but you didn't give us the chance!"
"Exactly, we were planning to hand over the money, we didn't intend to embezzle it."
"..."
When these store managers realized they couldn't defeat their new boss, Zhang Liunian, they immediately began to twist the truth, claiming they had no intention of keeping the money.
Of course, no one present believed them. If they had truly intended to hand over the money, there would have been no need for force.
"Since you don't have the account books, you'll have to go to jail." Zhang Liunian had initially intended to retrieve the account books from them, but Tang Guo had handled everything flawlessly, leaving him no options.
It seemed he would have to extort money from them again and then see if he could follow the trail to find Tang Guo herself.
As for sending them to jail, there was no rush. It wouldn't be too late to deal with that after finding Tang Guo.
"Boss, I have elderly parents and young children. Please spare me!"
"Boss, my family has twelve members, and I'm the sole provider. I can't afford to have anything happen to me!"
"My old father is bedridden at home. Boss, please let us off this once!"
"..."
Hearing these words, the onlookers began to feel sympathetic.
Zhang Liunian's lips curved into a silent smile, which quickly disappeared. He looked at the people kneeling before him and said, "How about this: if each of you gives me another three thousand yuan now and guarantees you won't return to the department store after tomorrow, I can consider that you didn't steal before and won't call the police.
If you disagree, I'll have no choice but to send you to the police station."
"Three thousand! That's too much!"
Someone among the store managers exclaimed, clearly unwilling to part with such a sum.
As store managers, their monthly salary was only around four hundred yuan. To fork out three thousand at once would mean losing a year's wages!