The Adopted Cannon Fodder Made a Comeback

The moment Gu’er finished speaking, the fifty people burst into an uproar.

Most of them didn’t want to leave. Finding a job wasn’t easy, and who would want to quit unless it was absolutely necessary? But there were also a few troublemakers like Zhang Erchuan who thought Gu’er was just trying to scare them and wouldn’t actually do anything. So they started shouting, their words aggressive.

Gu’er watched them but paid them no mind. ’With troublemakers, you have to pull out their thorns before they’ll fall in line.’

"She’s definitely trying to trick us! She just doesn’t want us, that’s why she’s doing this. If we let her fool us now, our lives here will be impossible later on. Everyone, come with me, and we’ll go demand an explanation! I refuse to believe she’d dare get rid of us. Would she dare defy the government?"

Zhang Erchuan loudly incited the crowd. In reality, it wasn’t that he didn’t want to work there; he was just indignant. ’Why should a bunch of kids get to be the bosses and walk all over me?’ he fumed. ’Isn’t it just because they have powerful parents? What skills do they have on their own?’ That was why he looked down on Gu’er and her team from the bottom of his heart.

Besides, he was used to making a scene. ’Even the government can’t do anything to me,’ he thought, ’so these people will definitely have to listen to the government. If I lead a protest, they’ll probably compromise. Then they won’t dare to control me anymore. Maybe I’ll even be able to get paid without working. I might even become a leader here! Wouldn’t that be perfect?’

’I have to get these kids under my thumb,’ he schemed. ’From now on, whenever something doesn’t go my way, I’ll just lead a protest. I refuse to believe anyone will dare to touch me.’

With his shout, a few people actually joined in the jeering.

Gu’er gestured for Li Zhi and Sun Jiaming not to say anything. Then, with a "go ahead" motion, she invited the protestors to leave.

Zhang Erchuan led seven or eight people to the doorway. Seeing that Gu’er and her team made no move to call them back, they realized she was serious and not just bluffing. Two of the protestors hesitated, then turned around and rejoined the larger group.

As soon as those two returned, another two followed suit. Their movement triggered a chain reaction, and in no time, only one person remained standing behind Zhang Erchuan.

"Go on, hurry up. Whether you go to the district office or city hall, I won’t stop you. But let me make one thing clear: it’s not just the two of you. I won’t be hiring any of your relatives, either."

Gu’er waved them off, urging them to leave. She knew that among the remaining forty-eight people, there were surely still some who were defiant, definitely a few more troublemakers. ’But that’s fine,’ she thought. ’As long as they don’t cause problems now. If they act up later, I can deal with them then.’

"You think I don’t dare? I’ll go by myself! I’m heading to the district office right now to ask the district chief and the secretary to judge this! If that doesn’t work, I’ll go to the city! We’ll see how you can act so lawlessly!"

Zhang Erchuan was deeply embarrassed. He never expected Gu’er and her team to be so completely unbothered. Worse, only one person had ended up following him. It was a huge loss of face.

"Brother Zhang, are we really going?"

the man trailing behind Zhang Erchuan asked.

"Of course we’re going! If she dares fire me, city hall won’t let her off the hook. She really thinks she’s hot stuff, doesn’t she? A mere woman trying to be the boss... she should take a good look at herself."

Zhang Erchuan’s indignant voice drifted back, followed by the sound of their retreating footsteps.

Many people began to murmur amongst themselves, surprised that Zhang Erchuan had actually gone.

Gu’er paid it no mind and gestured for everyone to quiet down.

"Everyone, please listen to me. I see that everyone here is from my parents’ generation; no one is younger than I am. I didn’t want things to be this way. I respect you all, but I will not tolerate troublemakers. I’m very happy that you chose not to go with him. Since you’ve decided to stay, I will assume you genuinely want to work here. We’ll be spending a lot of time together, and I hope nothing this unpleasant happens again. However, I need to be blunt. This is a private marketplace, not a state-owned enterprise, so the rules and expectations are different. You all come from different backgrounds, and many of you have never done this kind of work before. That’s why I need you to come in every day, starting tomorrow. I need to get to know you all to figure out what roles you’re suited for and assign jobs accordingly. Since you lack experience, you will need training. Otherwise, everything will be chaos on opening day. Don’t you agree?"

Gu’er asked the crowd.

"That’s true," a middle-aged woman nodded. "I used to work at the textile factory and I’ve never sold goods before. It makes sense to get some training before the grand opening."

"Yeah, I agree," another person chimed in. "I was at a repair shop and only know how to fix cars. I have no idea what I could do here. We really should get some training. She’s got a point."

Once they spoke up, everyone else began to nod in agreement.

"I’m from the old department store," a young woman in her twenties said. "I don’t need training, right? I already know all about sales."

"What’s your name?"

Gu’er asked her.

"My name is Chen Xia. I worked at the department store for a year, so I know everything there is to know. There’s nothing left for me to learn. If you need, I could even help teach the others."

Chen Xia held her head high, an arrogant look on her face.

"That won’t be necessary. This is a private business, it’s not the same as the department store. Even with your past experience, you’ll have to start over and learn our methods."

Gu’er glanced at her. ’Even if she did work at the department store, why is she here now?’ she wondered. ’There must be something wrong with her. Otherwise, why would she leave a good job there only to be reassigned here?’

Chen Xia was left speechless by Gu’er’s retort and fell silent, fuming internally. She had assumed her background at the department store would earn her special treatment, maybe even a supervisor position. She never imagined Gu’er would dismiss her so easily. For someone with such a sense of superiority, it was a bitter pill to swallow.

But Gu’er couldn’t care less about Chen Xia’s feelings. ’There are plenty of problematic people in this group I’ve been given,’ she thought. ’I’ll just have to deal with them and integrate them over time.’

"Since everyone understands, I expect all of you to be here on time starting tomorrow, from 8:30 to 11:30 in the morning, and from 1:30 to 4:00 in the afternoon. Once jobs have been assigned based on your individual situations, we will begin training. I hope no one asks for time off, as this training is crucial for your future roles here. I expect everyone to take this seriously."

This time, the reaction when Gu’er finished speaking was much more subdued. After all, nobody wanted to lose this job. If training was what it took to be useful in their future roles, then they would do it.

"This is the place, Mayor! You have to stand up for us! We’re all honest folk who trusted the government and followed its arrangements to come here! We never expected this place to be run by a heartless landlord, a damn capitalist who does nothing but oppress the common people! They’re sucking our blood! Not only do they refuse to pay us, they even dock our hard-earned wages! How are we supposed to go on? How are our families supposed to survive?"

Just as Gu’er was about to inform the crowd about the new rules and salary structure, she heard the chaotic shuffling of footsteps outside, mixed with shouts and wails.

’That’s Zhang Erchuan’s voice,’ Gu’er realized. ’Did he really bring the mayor? How did they get here so fast? To hear him talk, you’d think I was some man-eating capitalist. That guy really knows how to spin a yarn.’

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