Business Information Identity

Chapter 5 Fruit Shop

The driver watched the TV on the wall, easily opened a bottle of mineral water, and said: 'Not today, I have an appointment. Have you solved the exam question left by the Jade Emperor yet?'

The TV on the wall was a monitor of the internal structure of three houses, each consisting of three bedrooms, with six cameras on each, almost no blind spots. There were people in all three houses, two men and one woman, watching TV, exercising, and surfing the internet respectively.

One of the twins shook his head: 'Left, give me a break, we really want to be in the same group as the Jade Emperor.'

'The only thing I know is the basics, and I can't see who among the three has a problem.' The driver said: 'The Jade Emperor is a big shot, a talent that Ling Shaodao spent a lot of effort to recruit. Everyone in your groups wants to hang out with him, show some skills. If the Jade Emperor says there's a monkey among the three, there's definitely one.'

After the driver finished speaking, he went into a small booth on the side, came out with a single-shoulder bag, straightened the brim of his hat, and said: 'Goodbye, everyone. Wish you all a good night's sleep.'

Ling Shaodao, sitting at the desk, was also watching the monitor, stretched his leg to block: 'Left, this exam question left by the Jade Emperor has kept me busy for three days, it's killing me. Give me a hint? As the boss, I won't favor any employee. Which group breaks it, that group will be with the Jade Emperor.'

The driver smiled, said nothing, put on his single-shoulder bag, and Ling Shaodao hurried to catch up, following him closely and whispering: 'Is the Jade Emperor fooling us?'

The driver glanced at the other three people and whispered in Ling Shaodao's ear: 'The people are fine, the things are problematic.'

'Things?'

'Like the fact that there's no way there could be two alarm clocks in my house.' The driver patted Ling Shaodao on the shoulder and nodded before leaving.

Ling Shaodao turned back and sat in the chair, observing each monitor carefully, raised his hand: 'Give me a cup of black coffee, I'll stay with you guys tonight. Don't be a disgrace. After all, it's not easy to bring in such a big shot, and there are only 24 hours left. If none of you can crack it in the last 24 hours, I'll jump off the yacht.'

The twin asked: 'Boss, is the Jade Emperor fooling us? Maybe he made a mistake?'

Lin Shao said, “There’s a discovery on the left side.”

“……” The twins remained silent. If they had previously suspected that the Jade Emperor was deliberately making things difficult for them, now with a discovery on the left side, there was only one possibility — their own incompetence.

……

The driver exited the yacht. A black-clothed man, called Lao Si, had already driven a small van to the side of the yacht. The small van had two seats and a half-ton load capacity. Its rear was slightly bigger than an ordinary car, and it carried a license plate from City A. The driver took the keys and said, “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome,” the black-clothed man nodded politely.

“Goodbye.”

“Goodbye.”

The driver took the van to the dock gate. This vehicle had no comparison to luxury cars and was promptly stopped. The driver handed over his credentials. The guard took the dock pass and checked it. It was the truck that had arrived in the morning to deliver purely organic fruits for the wealthy yacht. The guard looked at the pass and asked, “Nie Zuo?”

“Yes,” the driver, Nie Zuo, showed his teeth in a smile, matching the description on his documents. Residents of high-end communities didn’t need passes, but construction workers did.

“Take care,” the guard said, returning Nie Zuo’s pass and raising the barrier.

“Goodbye,” Nie Zuo smiled and responded politely before driving away. As he got on the road, he put on his headset and made a call, “Hi!”

A tired female voice came through the phone, “Man, I’m working overtime today.”

Nie Zuo asked, “Isn’t it overtime time now?”

“I mean it might be very late today.”

“It’s okay, I’ll wait for you.”

“Hmm, you're back?”

“Almost on the big bridge.”

The woman said, “Are you tired too?”

“Making money. Have you had dinner?”

“No appetite, I can't talk long. There's a big operation in the company today. I'll contact you after I'm done.” Without waiting for Nie Zuo to reply, she hung up the phone.

Nie Zuo hung up the phone and continued driving, blending into the traffic on Dongcheng Bridge. Dongcheng Bridge was the most important transportation link connecting City A and Dongcheng. Every day, countless people commuted between these two commercially prosperous cities, one large and one medium-sized. There was a joke that if you blocked Dongcheng Bridge for just ten minutes, the two cities would lose at least a billion in revenue.

Half an hour later, Nie Zuo's car left Dongcheng Bridge and headed southwest along the coastal road, towards Xinyang Town in the suburbs of City A. The part of Xinyang Town close to the city center was a typical urban-rural junction, while another part was more desolate. It was only 8:30 in the evening, and most shops nearby had already closed.

There was a row of shops by the street, which served as a local market for nearby residents. Most of them were closed now, except for a corner shop that was still open. The shop was called 'Xiao Yun’s Organic Fruit Wholesale Store.' Inside the thirty-something square meter shop, various fruits were displayed around the sides. There was a desk in the middle of the shop, where a thirty-something bloated man was using a calculator to work on some papers.

Nie Zuo parked his car in front of the shop, walked in, and casually picked up a misshapen apple. He rinsed it in a sink by the door, took a bite, and asked, “Doing accounts?”

“Doing accounts.” The middle-aged man replied with a serious expression.

“Just you?” Nie Zuo sat next to the middle-aged man, glanced at the ledger for a moment, and said, “Bro, doing accounts means adding today's to yesterday's.”

“What about it?”

“If you use last month’s accounts and add today’s, you definitely won’t get the correct result.”

The middle-aged man flipped through the dates, spat blood, threw the ledger aside, and asked, “Have you eaten?”

“Nope.” Nie Zuo put his feet on the table, lay back in the chair, closed his eyes, and ate the apple. He asked, “How much in the shop's account?”

“Nine thousand.”

“How much money yesterday?”

“One seventeen thousand.”

“You can just write that you lost eight thousand today.”

The middle-aged man is the shopkeeper of this store, Xiao Yun. Xiao Yun simply wrote eight thousand and ended the account. He stood up, opened the microwave oven, took out a can of beer from the refrigerator and threw it to Nie Zuo, opened another can for himself, and asked, 'Is there anyone in Dongcheng Escort who is a talented person?'

Nie Zuo answered, 'Not bad, young Lin has a keen eye for people. The three groups he selected are all very promising.'

Xiao Yun took out a box lunch from the microwave and placed it in front of Nie Zuo, 'From potential to talent, that is a bottleneck.'

“So young Lin has lured the God of Jade from the sky.”

“The God of Jade? Xiao Yun laughed, 'Very good! A famous figure, he set up a trap in Europe, beat old John to his teeth, and ruined his reputation. This young man indeed has some ability, but……”

“What then?”

“To kill someone does not mean to completely get rid of them. He has already won, and he has no deep enmity with old John. Why do you need to kick him off the cliff and make him fall to his death? Xiao Yun sipped his drink, 'Leave a way for tomorrow, so that we can meet again. We are all in the**, and there is no need to be too cruel to each other.'

Nie Zuo asked, 'Don't you like him?’

“No.”

“I don't think so. The God of Jade is somewhat famous in the industry, but he has never had the chance to showcase his talents. It's easy to have a world-class opponent. I don't think he is being ruthless, but his desire to win is extremely strong. He not only wants to win, but to win completely.” Nie Zuo said, "I had a meal with the God of Jade. He is very cautious, and keeps probing my background."

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