Chapter 54: The Worthless Captain

Factory security guards work in two shifts, changing at eight in the morning and eight at night.

Jiang Fan stormed over to the factory gate, pointing at the two guards sitting in the booth and shouting angrily, “You two useless bastards, how could you catch so many people carrying lunch today? They're carrying factory meals—what business is it of yours? You fire so many people, and now you feel satisfied, don’t you?”

Seeing Jiang Fan’s fury, one of the guards, taller than the other, hesitated for a long time before speaking sheepishly, “Deputy Manager Jiang, I’m just a worker too, I know how hard it is to make a living outside. It’s really not our intention to make things difficult for them…”

It turned out that after Jiang Fan had beaten up the captain, Chen Anlong had given him the cold shoulder as well. Feeling slighted, the captain wanted to win back favor by showing loyalty and competence. With the factory’s strict rules, fights were rare, and security couldn’t intervene in production matters. Eager to make a mark, the captain realized two days ago that catching people carrying lunch would be the most effective move; after all, every factory had such incidents, and the severity was entirely up to the security captain.

However, Jiang Fan had been guarding the gate during lunch hours recently, making it hard to act.

Yesterday afternoon, the captain noticed Jiang Fan heading to the cafeteria before shift’s end. He figured Jiang Fan would take ten or twenty minutes to eat, so he seized the opportunity, personally monitoring the crowd at the gate. Unexpectedly, Jiang Fan barely ate a bite before remembering to help those carrying lunch, which led to Wang Wenyu arriving at Dafeng and witnessing that scene.

Today, the captain heard rumors that Jiang Fan was injured and hospitalized, unable to return to the factory. Seizing the chance, he arranged for ten trusted guards to stake out the gate at noon. To avoid drawing attention, he instructed them not to wear uniforms, and he himself supervised outside.

Lunch carriers had to be caught in the act. He knew catching one would alert the others, so he deliberately closed half the gate, misleading those hoping to carry lunch out, making them think the more crowded the exit, the safer it was. As a result, thirteen were caught at once, and two managed to toss their lunchboxes and escape amidst the chaos.

A-Zhen only had one sister, who no longer needed her to bring food. Why was she carrying lunch again today? With this question in mind, Jiang Fan went to the HR department.

Seeing Jiang Fan, bruised and grim, enter the office, the HR manager’s heart skipped a beat. She quickly put on a smile and said, “Deputy Manager Jiang, how can I help you?”

Jiang Fan wanted to vent his anger, but seeing she was just a young woman of twenty-four or twenty-five, he felt it undignified to curse at her. Coldly, he asked, “Have all the dismissed employees left the factory?”

Patiently, the HR manager explained, “Not yet. They’re still handing over their posts. They’ll return to their dorms after their shift ends, check for missing items, and only after signing the release form can they take their belongings.”

“Was the boss informed about firing so many people?”

“Captain Gou reported to the boss at noon.”

“Bastard.”

“Deputy Manager Jiang, I haven’t offended you—why are you cursing at me?”

---

Jiang Fan replied impatiently, “I wasn’t cursing you; I meant that bastard Captain Dogshit.”

As they spoke, the captain burst in with a sheet of paper bearing Dafeng Shoe Factory’s letterhead, excitedly calling out, “Manager Liu, Old Chen…” He stopped mid-sentence, noticing Jiang Fan in the office.

Manager Liu, standing behind Jiang Fan, saw the captain hesitate and frantically signaled him to leave. The captain tried to turn away, but Jiang Fan pointed at him and barked, “Dogshit bastard, if you dare run, I’ll quit this job just to cripple you—believe it or not!”

With fractured ribs and a bandaged waist, Jiang Fan couldn’t move vigorously, but he wanted to press the issue while tempers were hot, so he threatened the captain, afraid he’d escape.

They’d had several run-ins already, and Jiang Fan couldn’t even remember the captain’s name. In his subconscious, he simply didn’t think it worthwhile to remember such a character; hearing the HR manager call him Captain Gou, Jiang Fan decided to just call him Captain Dogshit.

Hearing the threat, the captain timidly looked at Jiang Fan and stammered, “Deputy Manager Jiang, you’re here too?”

Jiang Fan, moving slowly to hide his injury, approached the captain and said, “Don’t call my name. A dog can’t stop eating shit. I just dealt with you a few days ago and you still haven’t learned your lesson. Tell me what happened at noon.”

“The factory’s rice consumption has been unusually high lately, which caught Boss Chen’s attention. He ordered me to conduct a surprise inspection.”

Seeing Jiang Fan stepping away, the captain explained while nervously retreating, hoping invoking Chen Anlong’s name would intimidate Jiang Fan.

Noticing the captain trying to slip away, Jiang Fan, unable to give chase, barked, “Stand right there. If you take another step back, I’ll break your legs.”

Seeing the anger blazing in Jiang Fan’s eyes, the captain remembered the beating he’d taken before and realized that another confrontation would cost him any chance of redemption. Ignoring the warning, he turned and bolted from the office.

Jiang Fan watched the captain flee, unable to run after him, and gritted his teeth, “From now on, I’ll stand at the cafeteria door every day and see how much money a bastard like you spends eating out. If you can’t afford it, you’ll starve, you dogshit bastard.”

He then returned to Manager Liu and asked, “Who should I talk to in order to rescind these dismissal penalties?”

“If Captain Gou was telling the truth and the boss intervened, you’ll have to talk to the boss. Deputy General Manager Tang might also be able to help.”

Manager Liu didn’t want to tell Jiang Fan these solutions, but seeing him confront the captain so fiercely, she felt uneasy and let it slip.

---

“Don’t call him Captain Gou in front of me—just call him Dogshit.” With that, Jiang Fan headed up to the third floor.

The Dafeng office building had a security room on the first floor, with executive recreation rooms in the other areas. The second floor housed HR, logistics, finance, and department managers’ offices. The third floor was reserved for Taiwanese senior management and Chen Anlong’s office. The fourth and fifth floors were for executive dorms, including Chen Anlong’s residence.

Jiang Fan arrived outside Chen Anlong’s office and saw A-Ping sitting at her workstation by the door. He asked, “Is the boss in?”

A-Ping glanced at the office door and nodded, whispering, “You’d best wait a bit. Deputy General Manager Tang just returned from a business meeting and went straight into the office to argue with the boss. The battle isn’t over yet.”

Jiang Fan asked offhandedly, “Why are those two fighting like dogs?”

A-Ping pointed at Jiang Fan and said, “You heartless thing. I overheard a bit—Deputy General Manager Tang seems to be helping you.”

Jiang Fan asked, puzzled, “How could he help me?”

“Because this round of dismissals includes A-Zhen. If he’s not helping you, who is he helping?”

Hearing this, Jiang Fan perked up and pressed, “Does Deputy General Manager Tang oppose firing so many employees, or is he just trying to save A-Zhen?”

He knew A-Zhen had been promoted by Tang to win him over, so it made sense Tang would try to protect her.

Among those dismissed, Jiang Fan was most concerned about A-Zhen, but he hoped the others could stay too.

A-Ping shook her head, “I couldn’t tell. All I heard was Deputy General Manager Tang saying that if you left, Boss Chen would regret it. Just as I heard that, the office door closed.”

With the office off-limits, Jiang Fan joked with A-Ping, “You’re the boss’s secretary, yet you always speak up for Deputy General Manager Tang. I suspect you’re Tang’s spy planted beside the boss.”

A-Ping slapped Jiang Fan’s shoulder and patted her chest, “Nonsense! I’m just telling it like it is. I may not dare to make a scene with the security team like you, but at least I know right from wrong. For this round of dismissals, I even suggested to the boss that he show some mercy—didn’t expect that sycophant to mess it all up!”

Jiang Fan asked, surprised, “How did you know I clashed with the security team?”