In the car outside the warehouse.
Wu Jun took out the phone he used for communications, unlocked the screen, and opened the Kuaidou livestreaming app.
He searched for "Brother Lei from International Village," saw that Brother Lei had started streaming, and clicked to enter the broadcast room.
Brother Lei wasn’t doing a cooking stream at the moment. He was just chatting with his fans, and the topic was still about Hongyun Rice.
One fan commented, "Brother Lei, that Hongyun Rice you exposed yesterday? They sell it at the supermarket in my neighborhood. I’ve been eating it for over a month, and it tastes pretty good. I haven’t noticed any problems."
"My friend, I’m telling you to be careful!" Brother Lei said. "I have a fan who works in product testing. After watching my stream, he bought some of that Hongyun Rice to test it. He sent me a message saying it contains poppy ingredients. Not only is it bad for your health if you eat too much, but it’s also addictive. I had just opened a brand-new bag at home, and I threw the whole thing in the trash."
"I feel like the company behind this Hongyun Rice is playing the long game. They’re trying to cultivate enough loyal customers like you, my friend, and then they’ll slowly raise the price. It’s death by a thousand cuts. Once you can’t live without this rice and feel miserable if you go a day without it, they could sell it for 500 yuan for 50 grams, and you’d still be begging them to sell it to you." Brother Lei spoke eloquently into the camera.
"Holy shit... that’s ruthless!"
"After hearing Brother Lei’s warning, I had to drink a mouthful of ’82 Sprite to calm my nerves!"
"I knew there was something wrong with that rice! It tastes even better than Wuchang Rice that costs ten or twenty yuan, but it only sells for five yuan a jin. They must have ulterior motives!"
"Good things aren’t cheap, and cheap things aren’t good!"
Wu Jun watched the chat messages scroll by and laughed out of sheer anger.
’I’ve been eating Hongyun Rice for this long and haven’t felt addicted at all. Poppy ingredients, my ass!’
’And then there are the ones attacking the price. So now it’s my fault for selling it too cheaply.’
He then thought about all those restaurants that kicked him while he was down today, calling and clamoring for refunds.
Wu Jun felt that after this whole mess was over, it would be a disservice to them *not* to raise the price!
He saw the damn admin start asking for gifts. "Send some small gifts, keep ’em coming! A Cloud-Piercing Arrow gets you Brother Lei’s private WeChat."
Near the end of the livestream, Wu Jun topped up his Kuaidou account for the first time, sent a Cloud-Piercing Arrow, and added Brother Lei’s WeChat. Only then did he learn his real name was Wang Lei.
Wang Lei accepted Wu Jun’s friend request and sent a message: "Thanks for the support, buddy."
Wu Jun replied: "Brother Lei, I’m a huge fan. I own a brand-name outdoor sports store. What size clothes and shoes do you wear? I’ll mail you a full outfit. If you like it, you can promote it for me. Of course, I won’t ask you to do it for free."
When Wang Lei heard that Wu Jun was a potential business partner, he didn’t hesitate to send over his full address, along with his clothing and shoe sizes.
He often promoted things like kitchenware and ingredients on his stream, or recommended restaurants to visit. It wasn’t for free; he got paid for the promotions.
After getting Wang Lei’s address, Wu Jun opened the map on his car’s central control screen, entered the location, and drove off with the six Farmers.
Half an hour later, Wu Jun arrived at the Binhe New City District where Wang Lei lived and drove straight to the base of Building 33.
He parked the car, got out, and led the six disguised Farmers straight to the elevators.
The elevator had a capacity of thirteen people, but with Wu Jun and the six hulking men, it was completely packed.
Sandwiched between the six hulking men, Wu Jun felt like a child standing in a crowd of Yao Mings.
He pressed the button for the 20th floor, and the elevator began to ascend.
They got off on the 20th floor. Wu Jun found apartment 2001 and knocked on the door.
"Who is it?" A man’s voice came from inside. It sounded just like Brother Lei from the livestream, so it had to be him.
"Water meter reading," Wu Jun said.
"Water meter my ass!" a gruff voice yelled from inside. The door was yanked open with a CLICK, revealing a bald, middle-aged man with a goatee, wearing baggy shorts. "You damn salesman, get lost..."
Wang Lei didn’t get to finish his sentence. Wu Jun slapped him squarely across the face, turning the rest of his words into a yelp of pain.
Seeing the main culprit who had cost him millions and shamelessly slandered Hongyun Rice, Wu Jun found it hard to stay calm.
"Hey, hey, who are you people? What are you doing! Help..."
Amidst Wang Lei’s panicked screams, he was dragged back into the apartment by the six Farmers behind Wu Jun.
Wu Jun turned back, closed the door, and threatened Wang Lei, "Shout again and I’ll cut out your tongue."
Wang Lei saw the six bodyguards, all over two meters tall, dressed in black suits and sunglasses, looking cold and ruthless. Hearing Wu Jun’s threat, he fell silent, terrified. He clapped a hand over his mouth in panic, afraid to make a sound.
In all his years, he had never encountered a situation like this.
’These bodyguards... each one is more built than the last. This is terrifying!’
"Boss, what’s going on? How did I offend you?" Wang Lei asked, his legs feeling like jelly and his voice on the verge of tears.
Wu Jun suddenly sniffed the air. He smelled a very familiar aroma.
Following the scent, Wu Jun walked into the kitchen. On the counter, he saw a rice cooker set to ’keep warm’. The aroma was coming from it.
Wu Jun went over and lifted the lid. Inside was a pot of perfectly steamed rice—Hongyun Rice!
’This son of a bitch tells everyone not to buy it, not to eat it, but he’s happily eating it himself. And he cooked so much just for himself.’
Wu Jun bent down, found a spoon and a bowl in the cabinet, scooped up a bowl of rice, and walked back out to the living room.
Wang Lei was completely confused by Wu Jun’s actions. He said obsequiously, "Boss, if you’re hungry, please have some. This rice is incredible. I’ve never had rice this delicious in my entire life."
"This rice is so delicious, yet instead of just enjoying it, you slander it?" Wu Jun said with a grin. "Doesn’t your conscience bother you for doing something like this?"
"Ah? B-Boss, you are..." Hearing Wu Jun’s words, cold sweat beaded on Wang Lei’s forehead.
He’d already guessed it by now—the rice supplier had come looking for him, and he’d brought backup.
"Boss, I was wrong! It was He Qingfeng who told me to do it! I was just paid to do a job. Every injustice has its perpetrator, and every debt has its debtor. You should be looking for He Qingfeng! I’ll never say a bad word about your rice again, I swear!" As soon as Wang Lei figured out who Wu Jun was, he immediately sold out his sponsor.
Wu Jun asked, "Who is He Qingfeng?"
Wang Lei said, "He’s... he’s the general agent for Meng Zalang in our Shimen."
Just as he’d expected. This whole affair was indeed related to Meng Zalang.
His suspicions were confirmed, but Wu Jun still had some doubts.
’In two days at most, all my inspection certificates will be ready. The rumors will fall apart on their own then.’
’So why would He Qingfeng go to all this trouble, jumping out now just to cause me some minor inconvenience and make me hold a grudge against him?’
Wu Jun asked Wang Lei, "What else do you know?"
Hearing Wu Jun’s question, Wang Lei’s eyes darted around, as if he were trying to hide something.
Wu Jun gestured with his chin toward a few of the Farmers and said, "Drag him to the kitchen and chop him up. Try not to clog the toilet."
"Boss, Boss, Boss, I’ll talk! I’ll tell you everything!" Hearing Wu Jun’s words, Wang Lei began trembling like a leaf.
Wang Lei spilled everything he knew. "In three days! In three days, there’s a rice expo over at Ancient City Zhengding. There’s a huge order for several hundred tons of rice up for grabs. He Qingfeng thought it was a sure thing, but then you came out of nowhere. He’s afraid you’ll ruin his chances, so he stirred up all this trouble to tie you down and stop you from participating."