Medical and Martial God

Chapter 605: The Insolvable Problem

Ye Xiu walked down the mountain.

Liu Dakang ran over and said anxiously, "Divine Doctor Ye, those people seem to be coming for us." The other laborers also scrambled to Ye Xiu’s side. They were all honest, law-abiding folks, inherently fearful of these ruffians who lived by the blade.

Ye Xiu remained silent, watching as ten motorcycles pulled to a stop. Twenty men dismounted and walked directly up to him.

The leader, a bald and burly man with two dragons tattooed across his bare torso, pulled out a cigarette and lit it. After taking a drag, he cocked his head at Ye Xiu. "Who’s the foreman of this section?" he asked. He was the very picture of a brash and domineering thug.

"I am," Ye Xiu replied. "What’s the matter?"

The bald man sized Ye Xiu up. "You’re not from around here, are you?"

"That’s right," Ye Xiu nodded.

"No wonder you don’t understand the rules." The bald man took a deep drag on his cigarette and blew the smoke directly into Ye Xiu’s face. He fiercely stomped the cigarette butt into the ground and said, "Let me tell you something. Any outsider who wants to take on a construction project in Nanjing first has to greet Boss Qi. Only once Boss Qi gives his approval can an outsider get a foothold here. Understand?"

Ye Xiu shook his head. "I don’t understand."

And he truly didn’t. Although he was well-traveled and experienced, he was completely ignorant of the shady dealings within the construction industry; he had never encountered anything like it before.

The bald man assumed Ye Xiu was feigning ignorance to provoke him. This kid’s got a lot of nerve. No wonder he dared to take on a project in Nanjing without paying his respects to Boss Qi first. With a wave of his hand, he commanded, "Brothers, make him understand."

"You got it!" Nineteen henchmen surrounded them, preparing to attack.

"Wait!" Ye Xiu called out. "Let’s get things clear before you start swinging. I really don’t understand what you’re talking about."

"We can talk after the beating," the bald man said with a smirk.

"That works too," Ye Xiu nodded. "Fight!"

At his command, the members of the Ye and Long families who were working all ran over gleefully, except for those whose Martial Prowess had been crippled.

Several hundred people swarmed them.

Before the bald man and his twenty thugs could even react, they were pinned to the ground and being thoroughly thrashed.

The bald man was completely dumbfounded. Wait, Mr. Foreman, when I said we could talk after the fight, I meant *I* would be beating *you*, not the other way around! And what’s with your laborers? They’re way too wild! How did several hundred of them just charge over like that?

"That’s enough," Ye Xiu said calmly.

The members of the Ye and Long families who were pummeling the thugs stopped immediately. They didn’t return to work, however. Instead, they gathered to one side, looking as if they were ready to back Ye Xiu up, though in reality, they were just seizing the opportunity to rest and slack off.

"Now that the fight’s over, you can talk," Ye Xiu said, sitting down on a stool Liu Dakang had brought over. He crossed his legs and added, "Answer honestly and in detail, or you might not be leaving here today."

"I’ll talk, I’ll talk..." the bald, bruised man said, hurriedly beginning his explanation.

It turned out that the construction project in Nanjing had appeared very suddenly. Overnight, the Official Family had deployed their personnel, and by the next morning, they had evenly distributed all the construction projects within a thirty-mile radius of the Mist Chant Martial Meeting platform to all the construction companies in Nanjing, as well as some from out of town.

Anyone who had ever contracted a project before knew the usual process was lengthy. It involved a long period for contractors to bid while suppliers of materials like soil, stone, cement, lime, and concrete, as well as logistics providers, all got their operations in order.

The Nanjing project had appeared so abruptly that all the construction companies, contractors, and material suppliers were still reeling when the work began. At first, everyone assumed it was a major, urgent government project, which would explain the suddenness. Because of this, no one dared to try any funny business.

But after some well-informed people made inquiries, they discovered the Nanjing project wasn’t for the government at all. It was for a company called the ’Nanjing Tourism Group,’ which wanted to develop a new tourist area.

This infuriated the local powers in Nanjing.

Those who contract construction work often have underworld backing; many are big-time bosses themselves. Even those delivering cement and concrete have connections. Ordinary people simply can’t get involved because the web of relationships is just too difficult to navigate. Outsiders are typically locked out of local projects.

However, the Mist Chant Martial Meeting project was different—it brought in a large number of outsiders. All the construction companies were handed a "piece of the cake" without going through the usual bidding process or offering bribes. The subcontractors, foremen, and material suppliers all got to start working immediately without needing to bribe anyone or pull strings.

This meant the bosses in Nanjing saw a significant drop in their income. Everyone could find work and earn money without going through them, which greatly diminished their prestige and influence.

The biggest problem was that many of these bosses had invested in real estate. As soon as the Mist Chant Martial Meeting project started, workers from the bosses’ housing developments all ran off. They had no choice; the Mist Chant Martial Meeting project paid much better. As a result, the bosses’ developments were left without workers, guaranteeing costly delays with serious consequences.

And so, the bosses were furious. They sent their underlings to each construction site to "discuss the rules," which was, to put it bluntly, a veiled demand for money.

So the construction industry has this many dirty secrets, Ye Xiu realized.

The bald man was stunned. I’m dealing with a complete greenhorn!

"Are you saying that all construction companies, contractors, and foremen are skimming from the workers’ wages?" Ye Xiu asked.

"Yes," the bald man nodded. "For example, an ordinary laborer’s daily wage is 1,000. The construction company skims some, the contractor skims some, and the foreman skims some. In the end, the laborer receives less than 500."

Another thug chimed in, "The workers don’t even know. The contractor contacts the foreman, and the foreman hires the workers. No one tells them how much they were supposed to be paid. In fact, they’re already quite happy with the money they receive after all the deductions."

Ye Xiu’s expression turned ugly. His original plan was to spend the entire 78.89 billion during the Mist Chant Martial Meeting, allowing the workers to earn a small fortune. He never expected that scumbag contractors would be skimming it all off.

"You can all get lost," Ye Xiu said coldly.

The twenty thugs, led by the bald man, scrambled to their feet and ran for their lives, abandoning their motorcycles.

Ye Xiu turned to Ye Tianming. "How do we solve this?"

"Solve it?" Ye Tianming was taken aback. "The construction industry’s unwritten rules have always been like this. Why solve it?"

Ye Xiu’s expression chilled. "I asked you *how* to solve it."

"It can’t be solved," Ye Tianming said, shaking his head. "Don’t even think about using force; it won’t work. Pressuring the local bigwigs, construction companies, contractors, and foremen will only backfire. If they decide to work against you, not a single bag of cement will ever make it to the site."

Ye Xiu frowned. This problem seemed rather tricky.

After some thought, he called Qing Luan and explained the situation, but she also said it couldn’t be resolved.

Ye Xiu felt a wave of frustration, disgusted by the feeling that he had just been feeding pigs with his money.

No! This has to be resolved! I don’t care about other projects, but I have to take charge of this one in Nanjing. But how?