Chapter 3

Peter tossed his cigarette on the ground and crushed it under his leather shoe. "Mr. Walker, listen to me. Times have changed. It's time you accepted reality."

Veronica brought a bench out of the cafeteria, stepped on it, and grabbed the banner hanging in the center of the wall.

I had personally delivered that banner to the couple back then, bearing the words "Preferred Food Service Provider".

Veronica ripped the red banner straight down the middle, hopped off the bench, and crumpled it into a ball. She walked out the kitchen door and hurled it into a bin full of greasy leftovers.

"I never wanted that damn nonsense anyway."

Richard and Ethan followed suit too.

Richard hurried back to his shop and brought out a wooden sign that read "Authorized Supplier for Redford Development".

He hurled it onto the concrete, picked up a shovel by the door, and brought it down twice, breaking the sign in half. He even stomped on the pieces until they splintered.

Meanwhile, Ethan tore down the metal sign "Cigarettes and Beer at Special Prices for Construction Workers" and tossed it into the trash can outside.

"From now on, we'll be dealing with wealthy customers looking at properties worth millions."

Ethan spat on the ground. "We don't want to be associated with construction workers like you."

Veronica planted her hands on her hips, standing next to the food-waste bin as she waved dismissively at my construction workers and me.

"Go on then. Take your men with you and get out of here! Don't bother coming by here anymore. Just looking at you makes me sick!"

Aaron and dozens of workers stood there with bloodshot eyes. They were gripping their hard hats so tightly that the plastic buckled beneath their fingers.

A few younger workers even lunged forward at Richard and Ethan, itching for a fight. But I held out an arm to keep everyone behind me.

I turned to look at Peter and Veronica, along with Richard and Ethan standing next to them.

Peter leaned against the doorframe and lit another cigarette, while Veronica grinned smugly at me.

All I said was, "If you don't want construction workers coming to your cafeteria, none of them will come back again."

Veronica burst into laughter. "Are you trying to scare us? This place will never go out of business!"

Peter shook his head too, looking unbothered.

I didn't spare them another glance and waved at the workers behind me. "Come on. We're going back to the site."

Aaron gritted his teeth and led dozens of workers after me.

Behind me, we heard Veronica and Ethan laughing shrilly at us. "Don't come crawling back. Just go back to your little slums and eat your scraps!"

The moment we arrived at the construction site entrance, the workers went off to their respective teams.

I got into a black SUV parked outside the project office and rolled up the window, shutting out the noise. I then pulled an encrypted tablet out of my briefcase, tapped the screen and unlocked it with my fingerprint and passcode.

The system interface popped up, showing the words "Redford Development Command Center".

On-site, everyone called me Mr. Walker, and within the company, I was also in charge of the new 80-billion-dollar city development project. I also served as its executive director.

This project was given the green light three years ago. Initially, the company intended to build the workers' residential complex 1.86 miles away in Hemville, but I saw how hard life was for the dozens of families in the old neighborhood facing displacement by the redevelopment. So I marked out a new location on the plans and insisted on moving the residential complex here.

I was the one who arranged to have the water lines hooked up. I personally approved the transformer. I was also the one who made sure hundreds of workers visited their stores every day.

I opened the logistics and support page and pulled up the meal-service agreements and approved vendor lists for all six projects.

I tapped the screen a few times, immediately terminating all supply contracts with Peter's cafeteria, Richard's safety supplies store, and Ethan's convenience store.

At the same time, I authorized the opening of the upscale No. 2 residential complex. It was supposed to be for the technical staff at headquarters, who weren't due to move in until the second half of the year. The place had central air conditioning, private bathrooms, and a huge cafeteria run by the company itself.

I began typing out my orders.

Starting at 6:00 am tomorrow, all six construction crews would dine at No. 2 residential complex. The workers' daily meal allowance would increase from 18 to 30 dollars, with the funds credited directly to their electronic wristbands.

The south gate facing that street would be closed permanently. No one would be allowed through.

Once I had confirmed everything, I tapped "Send".

A line of green text popped up on the screen. "Orders executed. Notifications sent to all project group chats."

It was one in the morning. The merchants' group chat kept buzzing with new messages.

But the moment Richard sent a screenshot in the chat, the buzzing group chat fell silent.