Chapter 128 - 54: Mercenary Erqi, Loan Shark Leader Liu Hui (3)
Take my current assistants. Besides their monthly salaries, they can even make tens of thousands more on the side.
The moment she finished speaking, the crowd broke into discussion.
Jiang Li grabbed a pair of slightly moldy chopsticks from the side and tapped them against a bowl.
The room fell silent in an instant.
She cleared her throat twice. "You can think about it. If you don’t want to run with me, you can walk out right now. But if you do, you’ll never get another chance."
’I can give them a chance to turn over a new leaf. It’s up to them whether they want to take it.’
The crowd exchanged glances, then shouted in unison, "Big Sis, we’ll run with you!"
Jiang Li arched an eyebrow in satisfaction. "Alright. Since you’re calling me Big Sis, then as your Big Sis, I have to give you all a little welcome gift."
She snapped her fingers at Erqi, motioning for him to release everyone.
Once Erqi had released them all, Jiang Li asked, "You guys have a group chat, right?"
The man nodded, pulling his phone from his pocket with a fawning smile. "Big Sis, I’ll invite you to the group."
He was already a stout man, and with his face swollen like a steamed bun, he looked rather comical.
Jiang Li turned away and coughed twice to keep from laughing. Once she had composed herself, she turned back, scanned the group’s QR code, and joined the chat.
The man immediately made Jiang Li an administrator, as if being even a second late would be a dereliction of duty.
Jiang Li wasn’t one to mess around when she promised perks. She immediately transferred 3,000 to every person in the group.
Her messaging app had a 200,000 transfer limit, and with 65 people in total, 3,000 each was the most she could send at once.
After sending the money, she spoke up. "This is your welcome gift. If you do well in the future, there will be extra bonuses."
Everyone lined up and gave Jiang Li a deep, ninety-degree bow. "Thank you, Big Sis!"
Although they were used to making decent money, it was always through scams and cons—not like this, where it was just handed to them outright.
At 3,000 per person, that added up to over a hundred thousand.
Besides, after the five bosses at the top took their cut, there wasn’t much left for the grunts like them.
For a second, Jiang Li felt like some kind of triad boss and wasn’t sure how to react.
Still, now that she’d decided to take these sixty-odd people under her wing, she couldn’t just let them sit around doing nothing.
She stroked her chin in thought for a moment. "If I remember correctly, this region is rich in diamonds, right?"
The man, Liu Hui, replied, "That’s right. But there aren’t many mining companies around here, and the mining areas are mostly very dangerous. Not a lot of people are willing to go."
Jiang Li was somewhat surprised by Liu Hui’s answer. Her gaze swept across the crowd. "And what about the rest of you? If I sent you to the mines, would you be willing to go?"
Liu Hui shot his hand up. "Whatever Big Sis commands! We’d climb a mountain of swords or plunge into a sea of fire for you!"
Everyone, no matter their age or gender, loves to be flattered. Jiang Li was only asking to test their loyalty; it wasn’t as if she’d actually send them to mine.
After all, mining required official diamond mining rights, which weren’t easy to get and cost a fortune.
So of course, the smart thing to do was say what she wanted to hear!
Jiang Li gave Liu Hui a thoughtful glance and asked again, "What about you all?"
The crowd exchanged glances. "We’re willing!"
Jiang Li sneered. "Alright, then. Since you’re all so willing, I hope you won’t be dragging your feet and making excuses when I get the mining rights."
Finished, she looked over at Erqi, who had been standing by like part of the scenery. "Erqi, you can be our witness."
Erqi nodded in agreement.
As if remembering something, Jiang Li suddenly asked, "By the way, is handling this sort of business one of the services you offer?"
Erqi rubbed his thumb and forefinger together. "We can... but it’ll cost you."
Jiang Li was a little surprised. "How much?"
’I thought mercenaries were just for offing people. They keep shattering my expectations.’
Erqi held up five fingers. "That’ll be fifty million."
The crowd couldn’t help but suck in a sharp breath. Fifty million! He really had the nerve to ask for that much. ’He’s even more ruthless than we are,’ they thought.
But to their shock, Jiang Li just said breezily, "No problem."
Forget Liu Hui and his crew—even Erqi was stunned. ’This woman truly doesn’t treat money like it’s money.’
But hey, a job was a job, and he was more than happy to take her money.
He immediately broke into a wide grin. "Alright then. Add in the outstanding balance from before, and your total comes to fifty-three million."
Jiang Li nodded and tapped a few times on her phone.
"Alipay payment received: fifty-three million yuan."