#12 - Chapter 12 Consultation

The group entered the hotel, exclaiming in surprise.

"Not bad, Class Monitor! You've really struck it rich! Ordinary people can't afford to stay in a place like this!" An older middle-aged man said with admiration.

"Struck it rich is an exaggeration. This is my boss; all expenses are paid by him." Zhang Ge walked to Dongfang Chen and introduced him.

"Hello, everyone, I'm Dongfang Chen. Welcome to Binjiang as my guests." Dongfang Chen gave a simple greeting.

"Hongfei, this is my boss. How about it? You've finally met him today, right?" Zhang Ge pulled someone over to introduce him.

"Boss, this is Ji Hongfei. He's the one who found the several large warehouses we rented." Zhang Ge introduced him to Dongfang Chen.

"Oh, hello, hello!" Dongfang Chen quickly stepped forward to shake his hand.

Before long, everyone was chatting animatedly.

"Little Chen is so talented!"

"Little Chen, do you have a girlfriend?"

"Little Chen, what do you do?"

… …

A group of middle-aged men surrounded Dongfang Chen, bombarding him with questions, which directly made Dongfang Chen depressed. So, he excused himself and quickly slipped away, leaving Zhang Ge and his brothers and their families behind. They began to arrange rooms and tidy up their belongings.

In the evening.

Hotel restaurant, private room.

Including Dongfang Chen, there were a total of 25 people, filling two large tables.

Unlike the scene during the day, everyone present sat up straight. No one spoke, and everyone looked serious.

"The situation has been explained. What does everyone think? Speak your minds!" Zhang Ge repeated the details of the job and then ordered.

"Class Monitor, you know me. I only have one arm and no special skills. 100,000 yuan a month is too much for me!" The one-armed man spoke first.

"Xinghua, that's not for you to worry about. I discussed it with the boss. The boss's idea is that everyone's salary will be the same for the first two months. The time is short, and the task is heavy, so there's no time for differential treatment. After two months, if there's still work, we'll sit down and discuss it again. If there's no more work, then everyone can go back to their own homes and find their own mothers!" Zhang Ge explained.

The one-armed man, Ruan Xinghua, stopped talking and lowered his head.

"Class Monitor, if there's work to be done, why didn't you tell us brothers before we came? Now we've brought our families, and it's not appropriate to stay here for two months without any preparation," the older man said, standing up.

"I know what you're like! Every time I've asked you to come and help me before, you've always found various reasons to refuse!"

Zhang Ge didn't give him any face, dealing with anyone who tried to cause trouble.

However, it was also clear that Zhang Ge had considerable prestige among these brothers. Anyone else would have already had the group fall apart.

Dongfang Chen also wisely kept his mouth shut. The timing wasn't right. Everyone had their own thoughts at this point, and no one would pay attention to a young man like him even if he spoke.

"Class Monitor, to be honest, if the brothers came alone, then there's naturally nothing to say. But look now, everyone has brought their families. It's not appropriate for the whole family to stay here for two months! Even if you don't mind, we brothers can't feel at ease eating at your expense! Besides, it sounds nice to call it a salary, but don't we brothers know our own worth? 100,000 yuan a month! Isn't this just giving us money? We definitely can't agree to that!" Another young man said.

See that? This is a group of such simple and unadorned people, yet radiating brilliance! A group of trustworthy, kind, and respectable people! A group who once risked their lives on the battlefield, fighting bloody battles for the peace of their country and families! A group of such straightforward people!

The simple and unadorned words made Dongfang Chen's eyes a little moist.

Just as Zhang Ge was about to speak, the door of the private room was "bang" pushed open…

"Mr. Dongfang! Something's happened, something big's happened!"

A man in a suit, disregarding his image, rushed in, shouting loudly.

Everyone's eyes turned to him, directly stunning the newcomer.

The person who suddenly barged in was none other than Niu Xingwang, the director of Dingxin Real Estate.

Dongfang Chen and Zhang Ge quickly left their seats and went to greet him.

"What's going on?" Dongfang Chen asked.

Niu Xingwang looked around, not speaking.

"Brother Niu, it's okay. They're all our own people; just say it directly," Dongfang Chen explained.

Seeing that Dongfang Chen had spoken, Niu Xingwang no longer hesitated and said:

"Binjiang City is going to be under martial law! Just issued the notice, starting at dawn!"

"What's the situation? Why is it under martial law?" Zhang Ge asked in surprise.

Brother Niu glanced at him, not answering. He turned his head and stared at Dongfang Chen, thinking that Dongfang Chen must know what was going on.

"Brother Niu, if there's martial law, will it affect our project?" Dongfang Chen asked.

"That's what I was going to say. Our project may have to be stopped," Niu Xingwang said.

"Does it have to be stopped? Isn't closed construction feasible?" Dongfang Chen asked, frowning.

"Mr. Dongfang, it's not a matter of whether it's closed or not. I just received a notice that the construction team and mechanical equipment in the company will all be requisitioned starting tomorrow! In that case, we will have no one available!" Niu Xingwang explained.

"Is there no way to coordinate?" Dongfang Chen continued to ask.

"There's no way. It's a direct order!" Niu Xingwang shook his head.

"Then what's the current progress of the project?" Dongfang Chen was thinking that if the project couldn't be completed, as long as the main structure was finished, it wouldn't matter if the environment was a little worse; they could slowly improve it later.

"The main structure is basically completed; only the walls and floors have not been finished," Niu Xingwang said.

"As expected!" Dongfang Chen breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing Niu Xingwang's answer.

"Then that's all we can do. Now, there are still a few hours before dawn. Brother Niu, you still need to help me arrange a few large trucks; I need them urgently," Dongfang Chen said.

He had a premonition that once the virus developed to the point where it needed to be controlled, it must already be quite serious. To prevent any unforeseen events, the supplies they had purchased over the past month had to be transferred to the underground base as soon as possible.

"No problem, I'll arrange it right away. However, Mr. Dongfang, I have a request!" Niu Xingwang said hesitantly.

"Oh? Brother Niu, speak!" Dongfang Chen looked at him and said.

"Mr. Dongfang, if something really happens, I hope… I hope you can take me in," Niu Xingwang pleaded.

This was a bit of an understatement. Niu Xingwang was also a leading figure in Binjiang, and he wouldn't be reduced to the point of needing someone to take him in. What he was actually doing was arranging a backup plan for himself.

"Brother Niu, you're being too serious. If I'm not mistaken, your construction team is being requisitioned, so there must be other things to do, and you wouldn't be reduced to the point of needing someone to take you in," Dongfang Chen was surprised to hear Boss Niu say this.

"Mr. Dongfang has keen insight! To be honest, my intuition tells me that following Mr. Dongfang would be safer," Niu Xingwang said embarrassedly.

"Okay, Brother Niu, since you've said so, then naturally there's no problem. Now, hurry up and arrange the trucks; I have some things that need to be transported to the base as soon as possible," Dongfang Chen said.

"Okay, I'll go now." Seeing that Dongfang Chen agreed, Niu Xingwang was very happy and rushed out the door.

At this time, the others in the private room gathered around, looking at the two of them with curiosity and tension.

"Now it's good! No need to argue anymore; now you can't leave even if you want to," Zhang Ge said, spreading his hands helplessly.

"What's going on, Class Monitor? Why is Binjiang suddenly under martial law?" The one-armed young man, Ruan Xinghua, asked eagerly.

"I don't know either; ask the boss. The boss definitely knows," Zhang Ge looked at Dongfang Chen and replied.

Zhang Ge had always addressed Dongfang Chen as Little Chen before, but after his brothers arrived, in order to establish Dongfang Chen's prestige, he no longer directly called him Little Chen. There was also another reason: he wanted to stand on the same line as his brothers and didn't want to create class divisions.

"Everyone, come over and sit down. Now that things have been exposed, I think it's time to tell everyone the truth," Dongfang Chen said, beckoning everyone to come and sit down as he walked.

"Time is pressing, so I'll make it short. What I'm about to say may sound too shocking, but I hope that even if you can't accept it for a moment, you can cooperate to complete the work that follows. Tonight will be a sleepless night," Dongfang Chen made a statement before speaking.

"Little Chen, don't worry! We brothers have all been tested and will definitely not let you down. Just say it!" Zhang Ge assured him.

Everyone nodded in agreement.

Dongfang Chen nodded, looked at everyone, and began:

"It all starts with a virus…"