Chapter 126: Crossing the River by Feeling the Stones (Seeking Recommendation Votes)

"Hard lands produce stubborn folk"—there is certainly some truth to this old saying. Of course, the "stubbornness" mentioned here refers to a fierce and unyielding temperament. The Gui Army has always been among the most formidable fighting forces, a fact inseparable from the rugged character of the local people in Angui. This is true even beyond the able-bodied men; why, even the working women—ladies in their fifties and sixties working the fields—could pick up a hoe and stand their ground if a dispute arose.

The tradition of organized crime is deeply rooted in Angui, and any initial attempt to clear it out will likely take years. Past "anti-crime crackdowns" were often just a gust of wind; every time, they only managed to net the small fry pushed to the forefront. They never reached the real tigers before the campaign lost steam and faded away. When the wind blew, the big fish hid in the depths of the ocean; when the wind passed, they surfaced once more to stir up trouble.

In the alley, the atmosphere was heavy.

"Fine, we'll do it your way," Stone said, stubbing out his cigarette and stomping his feet, having made up his mind. In truth, Stone had been acting on a sudden surge of hot-headedness, nearly ruining things out of impulse. Once he calmed down, he was capable of distinguishing between what was trivial and what was vital. The most important task right now was to secure ironclad evidence to prevent that old bastard Xie Biao from pulling a "cicada shedding its skin" trick later on. Seeing Stone listen to reason, Lu Kun finally breathed a sigh of relief.

"Don't worry, we will make him pay. Justice may be delayed, but it is never absent," Lu Kun said in a low voice, clapping Stone heavily on the shoulder. Lu Kun had originally only intended to use Stone's connections to look into a few matters, never expecting to stumble into such a mess.

Lu Kun had no intersection with Xie Biao in his previous life. Back then, Lu Kun was still spinning his wheels in Ping'an Village before heading to Guangdong to start from scratch. By the time Lu Kun's career was on the rise, someone like Xie Biao—a local tyrant in Angui—would have been nothing more than a ripple in the vast ocean of Chinese commerce; naturally, Lu Kun would not have lowered himself to engage with such a character. His professional network in his past life consisted mostly of people in real estate and construction materials. It couldn't be helped; people in manufacturing, the internet, and real estate simply didn't see eye to eye.

Lu Kun’s involvement in this "meddlesome business" was purely a matter of chance. If he hadn't seen the license plate of that Santana and the bald man inside, he wouldn't have even remembered this. He vaguely recalled that the bald man driving the Santana was Xie Biao’s chief enforcer, Li Feihu. If he remembered correctly, in six months’ time, this man would be taken down by the police as a poster child for organized crime. It had even made the noon news on Angui Television and the front pages of all the major newspapers.

What a pity. He was merely a pawn pushed forward by Xie Biao. If he was gone, he was gone; Xie Biao would simply replace him with another underling. To Xie Biao, this wouldn't even be a flesh wound. Leaving the investigation of Xie Biao’s dirty business to Stone, Lu Kun had plenty of other things to attend to.

"Good morning, General Manager!"

As soon as Lu Kun’s car arrived at the newly opened flagship store in Baiming City, the store manager, Xie Pengchen, hurried out with the staff to greet him.

"Tell the others to get back to work. Why are you all standing around here?" Lu Kun said, gesturing toward Xie Pengchen. The branch had been open for several days, and only today did Lu Kun find the time to visit. Xie Pengchen was teased by everyone in the company as "Big-Mouthed Xie." She was a decent-looking young woman, but that wide mouth of hers ruined the whole picture.

"Yes, yes, the General Manager is right. Everyone, disperse, disperse!" With a wave of her hand, the staff scattered, leaving Lu Kun momentarily stunned.

"Hey," Lu Kun said, half-jokingly, "Big-Mouthed Xie, you’ve got quite a bit of authority here, don't you?"

This "Big-Mouthed Xie" was a bit of a "spinster." She had been married once, but the relationship with her husband wasn't good. It was said they were currently living apart, just waiting for the divorce papers; their lives were entirely separate now.

"How could that be? Even if I had authority, could it ever exceed yours, the big boss?" Xie Pengchen giggled, covering her wide mouth.

"I suppose you have a way with words, girl," Lu Kun said as he walked.

In truth, inspections were mostly for show. Any leader who actually expected to uncover real problems through one or two visits was a complete fool. The point of an inspection was the attitude it projected: conveying to the low-level staff that higher-ups valued their work, that their efforts were seen, and that the company cared about them. Even if a leader spotted minor, inconsequential issues, they wouldn't point them out on the spot unless they lacked emotional intelligence, as doing so would only make the subordinate lose face.

"Not bad, Big-Mouthed Xie! You really live up to your reputation as a high achiever in the company. I’ve visited many stores today, and your hygiene standards are the best. Also, how did you come up with the idea of selling fruits and vegetables based on quality tiers?" Lu Kun’s eyes lit up as he walked into the fresh produce section.

"Oh, it was just a spur-of-the-moment idea, I was just trying it out," Xie Pengchen said, scratching the back of her head, feeling a bit embarrassed. She had been worried that Lu Kun would reprimand her for acting without authorization, so she finally felt relieved.

"This method is worth promoting," Lu Kun smiled.

"Actually, we only started trying this at the Baiming flagship store the day before yesterday. We'll need time to verify the results," Xie Pengchen said earnestly.

"Hmm." Lu Kun nodded and added, "We need to look at this holistically, considering both actual sales performance and customer experience. Remember to summarize the progress and report it to headquarters; we need to study this."

The implementation of any strategy shouldn't be decided by a whim or a guess. Although Lu Kun knew that many large and medium-sized supermarkets in the future would adopt such strategies in their fresh produce sections, it wasn't necessarily effective during this current, specific period. Especially for the numerous county-level stores and campus supermarkets under the Huakun Group, whether this strategy was applicable remained to be seen. However, implementing any new strategy was like "crossing the river by feeling the stones." Whether it worked or not, one wouldn't know until they tried.

"Yes, I will. As soon as we have the results of our investigation, I will submit the report and data immediately." Xie Pengchen nodded firmly. She knew this was no small matter. If she could deliver results, her position might just move up a notch.