Around 9:00 AM, the verdict on Xu Penghui’s punishment was announced.
Xu Penghui had drunk a pound of liquor the previous night, and less than seven hours had passed by the time he was caught driving under the influence.
His blood test results met the criteria for driving while intoxicated.
The penalties were a six-month license suspension, a 2,000 yuan fine, and fourteen days in detention.
Neither Xu Penghui nor Xu Shucai had any cash on them, so Wu Jun paid the 2,000 yuan fine for him. Afterward, he and the Xu father-daughter duo went to see Xu Penghui.
"You bastard, Wu! It was you, wasn’t it? You must’ve been the one who tipped off the cops to come after me!" Xu Penghui became extremely agitated upon seeing Wu Jun. "I’ve driven that road hundreds of times and never seen a DUI checkpoint. You say one word about it last night, and I get busted today. It has to be you, you son of a bitch, pulling a fast one!"
"Xu Penghui, what are you talking about!" Xu Fei said indignantly. "Brother Wu wasn’t even awake when I went to the supermarket. How would he know you were leaving so early? Don’t you dare accuse an innocent man! Brother Wu was even the one who paid your fine for you."
"It’s ’Brother Wu’ this and ’Brother Wu’ that. My business is none of his concern. Xu Fei, has this bastard put a spell on you?" Xu Penghui pressed on relentlessly. "Feifei, don’t let him fool you. He’s a two-faced, backstabbing snake."
"Xu Penghui, what nonsense are you spouting, you brat! How could young Wu be the kind of person you’re describing? You ungrateful wretch." Xu Shucai, who had been listening from the side, could no longer stand it and spoke up in Wu Jun’s defense.
Xu Penghui stared blankly at the father and daughter of the Xu Family defending Wu Jun, a storm of complicated emotions brewing inside him.
He and Xu Fei were from the same village and were even neighbors. They had grown up together. He was incredibly fond of the beautiful, sweet girl and had dreamed of marrying her ever since he was old enough to understand such things.
Over the years, he’d lost count of how many times Xu Fei had rejected him. But since she hadn’t dated anyone or gotten a boyfriend, he felt he still had a chance.
He had even wishfully convinced himself that her staying single meant she had feelings for him, too. He reasoned they were just so familiar with each other that it would take time for her to transition to a romantic relationship.
That was until yesterday, when he saw the way Xu Fei looked at Wu Jun. Her eyes were as bright as stars, practically sparkling. He had always dreamed of her looking at him like that, but in the more than twenty years they had known each other, she never had.
Now, seeing the father and daughter defend Wu Jun and scold him once again, Xu Penghui’s heart turned completely to ice.
Wu Jun was baffled by Xu Penghui’s hostility. Initially, he hadn’t planned on asking for the money back, since he was the one who had been drinking with Xu Penghui the previous night. But after seeing his reaction, Wu Jun changed his mind.
"I’ve fronted the 2,000 for you. Remember to pay me back when you get out." With that, Wu Jun turned and walked out of the visiting room.
He waited outside for about five or six minutes before the Xu father and daughter emerged, both apologizing profusely to him one after the other.
Wu Jun was left speechless. He tried to console them. "Uncle Xu, Xu Fei, what are you two apologizing for? This has nothing to do with you. Uncle Xu, why don’t you come to my place for now?"
"No, no, it’s still early. I’ll just take the shuttle bus back." After such a scene, Xu Shucai felt utterly humiliated. After all, he was the one who had arranged for Xu Penghui to drive him to the supermarket to see his daughter. No matter how Wu Jun tried to persuade him, he was adamant about leaving.
With no other option, Wu Jun and Xu Fei escorted Xu Shucai to the bus station. They watched him board the bus, and then watched it drive away.
Outside the bus station, Xu Fei looked at Wu Jun with a downcast expression. "Brother Wu, I’m so sorry. My dad’s visit caused you so much trouble."
"Don’t worry about it. Let’s get back to work." Wu Jun offered a comforting smile and hailed a cab.
The taxi pulled over. Wu Jun got into the back seat and called out to Xu Fei, who was still standing there in a daze. "What’s wrong? Are you going on strike?"
"No, no, of course not," Xu Fei replied, quickly getting into the back seat.
After Wu Jun gave the address, the taxi set off toward the small supermarket.
Wasting an entire morning of business on an irrelevant person felt like a total loss to Wu Jun. Xu Penghui’s attitude, in particular, made him feel like no good deed goes unpunished.
Still, for Xu Fei’s sake, he couldn’t just stand by and do nothing. If he hadn’t stepped in, the Xu Family father and daughter would have had to handle it themselves. After all, they were from the same village, they were neighbors, and Xu Shucai had been a passenger in the car. There was no way to completely detach themselves from the situation.
"Brother Wu, we have more rice? I thought you said we needed to prioritize that big order for the Industrial and Commercial Bank?" Xu Fei asked in confusion upon returning to the supermarket and seeing the rice Wu Jun had brought out the previous night.
"I managed to secure another batch from the supplier," Wu Jun said. "Even though sales at our supermarket have dropped, we can still pull in around ten thousand a day. Every little bit counts. We need to tackle this on both fronts."
"Oh." Hearing Wu Jun’s explanation, Xu Fei didn’t press the matter. They had already missed the morning rush, so even though the new rice was in stock, not many customers were coming in to buy it.
Wu Jun, still thinking about his plan from yesterday, said to Xu Fei, "You’ll have to hold down the fort here again today. I’m going out to do some market research."
"Okay, Brother Wu. You go ahead. I’ve got things covered here." Xu Fei was already used to managing the supermarket by herself. After replying, she went over to the shelves to check what needed to be restocked.
As for how to approach the market, Wu Jun had come up with a few ideas after locking himself in his room for several hours the day before.
After saying goodbye to Xu Fei and heading out, Wu Jun first stopped by a digital print shop outside the complex to have a box of business cards made.
Next, he went to a rental company and got a pickup truck. After finishing the paperwork and paying the deposit, he cautiously pulled out onto the road.
He had gotten his driver’s license back in college, but he hadn’t touched a steering wheel since. He’d pretty much forgotten everything he learned in driving school and returned it all to the instructor, leaving him with nothing but the license itself.
Now, forced to drive for business, he was essentially being thrown in at the deep end.
The rice business wasn’t like other ventures. You couldn’t just rely on empty words; no one would believe your rice was as good as you claimed without proof. But lugging a giant sack of rice around to show people wasn’t practical either.
Besides, time was tight. He had neither the money nor the time to buy a vehicle, so renting was the most time-saving, energy-efficient, and stress-free option.
Wu Jun had attended college in Shimen City and had stayed there for many years after graduating. By bus, he knew his way around everywhere and could get to any destination.
The moment he got behind the wheel, however, it felt like he didn’t recognize a single place.
The rental agency wasn’t far from the Xiao’anshe Industrial Park, where his warehouse was located. Still, after getting in the truck, Wu Jun turned on his phone’s GPS.
After a stop-and-go journey, he finally reached the warehouse. Wu Jun felt he was getting pretty smooth at driving forward; it was just reversing that was still a struggle.
He parked the pickup by the entrance, got out to open the warehouse doors, then got back in and drove the truck straight inside. He got out a second time to bolt the large doors from within.
After all that hassle, once he confirmed everything was secure, he took out the phone linked to the "Resource Tycoon" system.
He tapped "Withdraw Goods," entered "10" for the quantity, aimed his phone at the truck bed, and hit "Confirm."
WHOOSH! Ten sacks of rice materialized in the truck bed.
With the rice loaded, he opened the warehouse doors, drove the truck out, locked up, and drove off.
The rest was simple. Wu Jun decided to replicate the same method he’d used to build the supermarket’s customer base. Whenever he saw a decent-sized restaurant, he would go inside and offer them a free sack of rice.
His target clientele was different this time, so giving out small sample bags like before would just look cheap.
This time, he was going straight for the gut. He’d give them one large, 55-pound sack. Once his truck was empty, he’d go back for a reload and then head out again.
In half a day, between the time spent driving and the effort it took to walk in and make his pitch, he was reminded that one person’s energy is finite. He only managed to give out a dozen or so sacks of rice in total.
He kept at it until 9:00 PM. Exhausted and starving, Wu Jun felt he couldn’t go on any longer. He called it a day and drove back to the Tianyuan apartment complex.
He parked the pickup in front of his building and, wearing a look of utter exhaustion, walked into the small supermarket.