"A thousand yuan for sanitation fees?
Didn't the Zhou brothers used to collect stall fees in the wet market?
Now why are they going around the streets, extorting high sanitation fees from shops?
Could it be that the two brothers have joined some official department overnight?
Gao Qiqiang, who had just changed his clothes, stood frozen, his mind filled with question marks.
Gao Qilan beside him was also full of surprise, sharing the same questions as her elder brother.
However, Gao Qisheng, who reacted the fastest, let out a cold laugh and whispered, "Sanitation fees my ass. The Zhou brothers are extorting protection fees from every shop in disguise."
The words 'protection fees' immediately made his elder brother and younger sister frown in confusion.
A thousand yuan a month for sanitation fees didn't seem like much.
But over a year, it amounted to twelve thousand yuan.
In Beichang Street, most shop rents were sixty thousand yuan a year.
Now, with the Zhou brothers extorting sanitation fees in disguise, it was an additional expense for many low-income merchants.
Moreover, the thousand yuan sanitation fee was just the beginning.
Given the Zhou brothers' habit of arbitrarily increasing stall fees in the wet market, they would undoubtedly keep raising the sanitation fees later.
At this moment, Gao Qiqiang and Gao Qisheng's faces turned grim.
Before Brother Xiaobei from Beichang Street was incarcerated, the wet market stall fees were uniformly managed and never increased.
Nor were there ever unemployed individuals demanding sanitation fees from shops.
Their younger sister had just mentioned opening a Gao Lan Cosmetics direct sales store in Beichang Street.
Given the Zhou brothers' temperament, if the Gao family operated two shops simultaneously, they would surely demand even more.
The thousand yuan sanitation fee would likely increase.
In just half a minute, the two elder Gao brothers had considered all the worst-case scenarios for their younger sister's new store.
Meanwhile, the punk outside, oblivious to the brothers' grim expressions, continued to shout, "Old Gao, are you paying me the sanitation fee today or tomorrow?
If you don't pay, the business of this phone store will suffer greatly from now on!"
Gao Qisheng's eyes grew colder, and he took out a utility knife from the drawer.
Just as he was about to make a move, his elder brother stopped him.
Gao Qiqiang grabbed his wrist, shook his head gently, and whispered, "Xiaosheng, trust me, I can handle this. But the condition is, the phone store will be changed into a cosmetics store from now on."
Gao Qisheng, with his sharp intellect, understood his elder brother's solution the moment he heard 'cosmetics store.'
He hesitated for three seconds, then put the utility knife back and nodded in silence.
As the eldest brother, Gao Qiqiang understood his younger brother well.
The reason he hadn't operated the phone store together with his brother was that he was afraid that if Xiaosheng saw the Zhou brothers bullying him, he would impulsively do something that could cost him his head.
In Gao Qisheng's eyes, they could bully him, but they absolutely could not bully his elder brother or his younger sister.
"Ah Huang, let's go outside and talk!"
Gao Qiqiang, who had just turned around, quickly changed his expression, putting on a simple, honest smile.
He and the punk walked out of the phone store, one after the other.
When they reached a secluded corner, he took out the pack of cigarettes worth over twenty yuan and personally lit one for the punk.
"Old Gao, don't blame me. Collecting sanitation fees and setting the price were decided by Brother Long and Brother Hu. I'm just following orders.
If you don't pay, then Brother Long and Brother Hu will come to talk to you personally."
The punk took a deep drag of his cigarette and stated his position clearly: if the sanitation fee wasn't paid, Zhou Long and Zhou Hu would come for him.
"Ah Huang, I won't make things difficult for you."
Gao Qiqiang slipped the cigarette into Ah Huang's hand and continued, "Go back and tell Brother Long and Brother Hu that Qiangsheng Mobile Store will be closing down permanently from tonight and will not reopen."
The smoking punk paused and frowned, "You've only been running the phone store for less than a year. Are you closing down now to refuse to pay the sanitation fee? To go against Brother Long?"
"No, no, how would I dare go against Brother Long? We are planning to do other business."
"Other business?"
"Yes, even though the phone store is closing, we will still keep the store open, just in a different industry!"
The punk glared at him fiercely, "Are you going to die if you say it all at once? I thought you didn't want to pay the sanitation fee!
What, are you planning to open your fish stall here and become bigger and stronger?"
Gao Qiqiang chuckled, his eyes gleaming subtly, "We're not doing fish stalls or phones anymore. We're going into the cosmetics industry."
"Cosmetics?"
The punk was stunned. Looking at the burly Old Gao, he let out a mocking laugh, "With your appearance, you're going into the cosmetics industry? Are you joking with me?"
Gao Qiqiang slowly let go of his smile and said earnestly, "Isn't Xiao Lan the personnel manager at Gao Lan Cosmetics Factory? Their big boss, Mr. Gao Fei, specifically gave Xiao Lan a special spot to open a direct sales store in Beichang Street.
Mr. Gao is not only fronting forty percent of our rent but also offering a fifty percent discount on the wholesale price of goods.
Gao Lan Cosmetics are now best-sellers in the market, so we're closing the phone store and opening a Gao Lan Cosmetics direct sales store."
As he finished speaking, the punk's mocking laughter immediately ceased.
He looked at Gao Qiqiang suspiciously, "Old Gao, even though you and Mr. Gao share the same surname, what's your status that you can get on terms with Mr. Gao?
You're not lying to me, are you? Trying to use Mr. Gao's name to refuse to pay the sanitation fee."
Among the Zhou brothers' gang, only Zhou Long and Zhou Hu knew that Gao Qilan worked for Gao Fei; the younger members had no information at all.
Therefore, upon hearing that Gao Fei was letting Gao Qilan open a direct sales store in Beichang Street, Ah Huang didn't believe it at all.
"Ah Huang, we're all from the same neighborhood. How could I lie to you?"
As he spoke, Gao Qiqiang took out a pre-prepared business card and handed it over.
The card bore twelve golden characters:
Gao Lan Cosmetics Personnel Manager - Gao Qilan.
Contact numbers were also listed below.
Looking at the description on the business card, Ah Huang was momentarily stunned.
At this moment, he dared not doubt Gao Qiqiang's words anymore.
After all, no one in Kyoto dared to impersonate Gao Fei's employee.
He just hadn't expected that the Gao siblings had indeed managed to establish a connection with Gao Fei.
"Ah Huang, do you know why the cosmetics are named Gao Lan?"
"Wh-why?"
Ah Huang swallowed, asking in a dazed tone.
Gao Qiqiang pointed to the character 'Lan' on the business card and smiled, "My Xiao Lan is quite good-looking, don't you think? Why do you think this 'Lan' character is on it?"
Upon hearing this, Ah Huang's mind conjured a dramatic scene of a sparrow turning into a phoenix by meeting a domineering CEO.
Snapping back to reality, he carefully handed the business card back, then took out the cigarette he had been forced to accept, removed a five hundred yuan bill from it, and returned both.
"Brother... Qiang, it was my ignorance and offense. I didn't know Sister Lan had this kind of relationship with Mr. Gao.
Today's meal when Sister Lan comes home is on me. Consider it a welcome banquet for Sister Lan.
In the future, I ask Brother Qiang to take good care of this little brother!"
Seeing the punk bowing and offering to treat them just because of a name, Gao Qiqiang's previously hunched back straightened involuntarily.
In this fleeting moment, he truly felt what respect power, money, and influence brought.
This feeling of superiority made him incredibly satisfied and delighted.
At this moment, the inner transformation of Gao Qiqiang, the fishmonger, had slowly begun.
....
Beichang Workers' Dormitories.
Zhou Long, Zhou Hu, and several trusted subordinates fell silent upon hearing the news brought by Ah Huang.
Looking at the business card from the table that Gao Qiqiang had returned, a look of unwillingness filled the eyes of Little Long and Little Hu."