Volume Four: Waking of Insects - Chapter 146: Farm Director Lai Changping

Upon hearing that the newly arrived farm manager was a womanizer, Le'er frowned.

"How is he a womanizer?"

"Look at him, he keeps eyeing the women, and staring right at their chests and hips. If he's not a womanizer, what is he?" Luo Yinxiang said with a resentful look on her face. "Damn it, look, he's eyeing Sister Ying again..."

Le'er saw it too. Li Ying was talking to him in Cantonese, but this scrawny fellow wasn't paying proper attention, instead staring intently at Li Ying's chest with a look of extreme greed. Seeing him act like this, Le'er felt a surge of irritation.

"Never mind him for now. Just learn management properly from him. Once you've mastered his management skills, I'll deal with him however I please."

Hearing Le'er's words, Luo Yinxiang brightened up. Right now, this fellow was a hot commodity and couldn't be touched. No one else could replace his ability and experience, so he was completely untouchable for the time being. Still, they had to figure something out; if this guy caused any trouble on the farm, it wouldn't be pretty.

Le'er thought for a moment.

"You go back first, whip up a few more dishes, and give them a good reception tonight."

"Damn it, treating a guy like that to a good reception? I'd like to feed them dog shit instead."

Despite saying that, Luo Yinxiang went back anyway. Le'er walked toward Li Ying, who had also noticed the scrawny fellow constantly eyeing her chest and was frowning. However, she kept her cool, maintaining a calm smile on her face.

Seeing Le'er walk over, she quickly made the introductions.

"Le'er, this is Mr. Lai Changping, the farm manager introduced by Boss Hong." Li Ying introduced Lai Changping first, and then introduced Le'er. "Mr. Lai, this is our company's Chairman and Deputy General Manager, Mr. Sha Le'er."

Seeing how young and handsome the chairman was, Lai Changping was momentarily stunned before breaking into a wide smile.

"Chairman Sha, I've heard all about you from Chairman Hong." Lai Changping, being quite experienced, adopted a very sensible demeanor. "Chairman Sha is truly talented and ambitious, running such a huge company at such a young age. I am deeply impressed."

Le'er smiled and extended his hand.

"Welcome, Mr. Lai, to our workplace." Le'er shook his hand gently. "Boss Hong told me that Mr. Lai has rich management experience and strong capabilities. Our place is just a small town, so I'm afraid Mr. Lai will have to endure some hardship."

"Not at all... Well, I don't know much else, but when it comes to managing a snake farm—and I don't mean to boast—I'm passable." He spoke Mandarin with a heavy Cantonese accent, but fortunately Le'er had been to Guangdong and could understand him. "This really is a backwater place, though. If Chairman Hong hadn't asked me to come, I wouldn't have bothered."

Le'er cursed internally, calling him a son of a bitch, but kept a smile on his face.

"Our place has lush green mountains, clear waters, and fresh air, though. You'll definitely enjoy a good quality of life here." Le'er didn't want to drag the conversation out. "Come over to my place for dinner tonight, and General Manager Li and I will welcome you properly."

"Alright, Chairman Sha is a straightforward man. I like that."

"Then Mr. Lai can direct everyone to get to work. We'll be at the administration office; if you need anything, just come find us."

Li Ying said calmly, then walked toward the administration office with Le'er. The scrawny Lai Changping stared at Li Ying's retreating back, swallowing his saliva. He only turned away to direct the work after Li Ying and Le'er had completely reached the office.

The work proceeded in an orderly fashion. The disinfected juvenile snakes were released into the new snake houses. These were medium-sized snakes personally selected by Boss Hong, all of them prime specimens. Once inside the snake houses, perhaps due to the prolonged bumpy journey, they were groggy and mostly motionless, but their vitality looked quite good.

There were thirty-six thousand snake snakes in total. Dozens of people worked frantically until dusk before they finally finished.

As Le'er and Li Ying walked into the administration office, Le'er's expression turned a bit gloomy.

"Damn it, looking at his lecherous expression makes me really want to beat him up."

"Heh heh..." Li Ying chuckled. "You handled yourself pretty well, didn't you? Did Luo Yinxiang say he was a womanizer?"

"Of course she did. Anyone with eyes could see it."

"This guy has plenty of flaws, but his experience does look solid," Li Ying said. "What we lack right now is talent. Let's stabilize him first and deal with him later."

"I told Luo Yinxiang to learn from him diligently," Le'er nodded and said. "Only by learning, by cultivating our own homegrown talent, can we stand firm. But we also need to keep him in check so he doesn't run wild or cause any trouble."

Li Ying looked at Le'er with considerable pleasure.

In this matter, Le'er had performed exceptionally well. First, he demonstrated his self-control; clearly dissatisfied with Lai Changping, he had maintained a smiling face throughout. Second, he showed his foresight and his method of managing subordinates. As someone at the absolute top, one didn't necessarily need to have all the skills oneself—as long as one knew how to manage capable people.

Cultivating personnel one could trust, cultivating personnel loyal to oneself, and cultivating capable personnel of one's own was the key to a enterprise's success.

This Lai Changping had ability, but many flaws, making him difficult to control. To make him useful, some tactics had to be employed. If push came to shove, once their own talent was nurtured, they could get rid of him directly.

After chatting for a while, the two went out to inspect the work scene and checked the snakes in the snake houses, finding everything very satisfactory. Li Ying was exhausted, so Le'er urged her to go back and rest while he stayed behind to keep an eye on things.

After Li Ying left, Le'er walked over to the scrawny fellow's side.

"Chairman Sha, the General Manager is so pretty!"

The scrawny fellow watched until Li Ying disappeared from view before turning back, his eyes full of lust. Le'er smiled bitterly; today he finally understood what a true womanizer looked like.

All the large trucks had been unloaded, with only the last layer left on the final truck as the sun was setting. The scrawny fellow had kept a close eye on everyone throughout; his sense of responsibility for the work seemed quite decent, making him somewhat redeemable.

Once everything was unloaded and all the juvenile snakes were safely in the snake houses, night fell. However, the snake farm was equipped with lights, and night-shift personnel were on duty.

"Mr. Sha, let's go take a quick shower and then come with me for dinner."

"Got it," Lai Changping called out to the six companions who had come with him. "Let's go, time for a shower."

Luo Yinxiang had already arranged their dormitories for them. Le'er waited for them in the office while the rest of the workers took showers and prepared to head back or stay for dinner.

"Is dinner ready yet?"

Le'er shouted even before stepping through his front door.

"Almost," Luo Yinxiang's voice rang out from afar.

"Whoa—Deputy Manager Luo is cooking personally?" Seeing Luo Yinxiang, the scrawny fellow's eyes went wide. Then he caught sight of Li Ying, who had already showered and looked stunningly radiant, making his eyes freeze entirely. It took him a long time to catch his breath. "The General Manager... lives here too?"

"Yes, please sit down."

Li Ying smiled warmly, inviting them to take a seat and personally pouring tea for them. Le'er exchanged a few words with them before going off to take a shower. With a solar water heater installed, there was no need to boil water, making things much more convenient.

The dishes were served on the table. There were twelve dishes in total: steamed cured pork, cured duck, double-boiled chicken, steamed fresh fish... Le'er had already finished his shower and emerged. Luo Yinxiang did not join them at the table yet, having gone to wash up as well.

Just as Le'er took his seat next to Li Ying, two small snakes darted onto the table with a whoosh, coiling up right in front of him.

"Whoa... What kind of snakes are these?"

None of these men had ever seen Jin'er and Lele before, and they widened their eyes in surprise. The scrawny fellow took a look; he had heard legends about them before, but had never witnessed them in person.

"Are these the little snakes that fought the giant King Cobra to the death?"

Le'er smiled and nodded.

They were all expert-level snake handlers and naturally weren't afraid of snakes, but upon hearing they were King Crown Gold Snakes, the scrawny fellow felt a twinge of fear. He had long heard that these snakes possessed overwhelmingly fatal venom. Their lack of fear applied only to ordinary venomous snakes; encountering creatures ranked among the top dead_liest in the world still frightened them—worse than Australia's tiger snakes or taipans. And these two little golden snakes were even more venomous than those.

"These snakes... they won't bite people, will they?"

"Under normal circumstances, they won't," Le'er smiled. "Jin'er, Lele, come up."

The two small snakes darted onto Le'er's and Li Ying's shoulders with a whoosh. The six technicians hadn't heard of these snakes' terrifying reputation, but seeing the scrawny fellow's terrified expression, they knew these serpents must be extremely venomous.

Le'er poured drinks for everyone.

"This is the local liquor from my hometown. Everyone, give it a try."

"Hey... Is there any beer?" the scrawny fellow asked. "My alcohol tolerance isn't great, grain liquor will knock me out."

"This is mild grain wine, it won't make you drunk. Just take a sip."

Everyone tasted a sip and smacked their lips.

"Whoa, good wine, very smooth."

"Come on, let's toast," Le'er raised his cup. "Thank you all for working hard to come here. I don't have much to treat you with now. In a few days when the next batch of juvenile snakes arrives and the work is done, I'll treat everyone to a meal in town."

Even while drinking, the scrawny fellow's eyes never left Li Ying. At this moment, he raised his cup to toast Li Ying. Li Ying smiled.

"This toast is from Chairman Sha to you all. Drink this first, and then I'll return the toast."

Luo Yinxiang emerged after her shower, her long hair draped over her shoulders, still damp, glowing like morning blossoms. The scrawny fellow's eyes locked onto her again, swallowing hard.

Everyone noticed the scrawny fellow's unseemly behavior.

"Dig in, everyone."

Le'er raised his chopsticks, and Luo Yinxiang sat down looking displeased. Everyone enjoyed the meal immensely—the only one whose experience tasted sour was probably Lai Changping.

After dinner, they drank tea for a while longer. Le'er escorted them back to the farm before returning.

Luo Yinxiang had already cleared the table and washed the dishes. The two women were sitting in the living room drinking tea, having also poured a cup for Le'er, which was currently steaming.

"Le'er, that Manager Lai is so annoying. I want to change offices tomorrow," Luo Yinxiang said with annoyance. "If I have to share an office with him every day, won't I be driven crazy?"

Li Ying looked at Luo Yinxiang and burst into laughter.

"Indeed," Li Ying laughed, though she also felt this wouldn't do. "Le'er, we need to figure something out. There are so many pretty girls on the farm; if something happens, it won't be good."

Le'er frowned.

"Hmm..." Le'er took a sip of tea. "I've got a plan."

"What kind of plan?"

"I won't tell you yet," Le'er said mysteriously. "I'll handle it after this period passes. But we need to keep a close eye on him these next few days to make sure he doesn't stir up trouble."

"I'm going to tuck a knife in my pocket when I go to work tomorrow. If he dares to make a move, I'll kill him!"

Luo Yinxiang said fiercely. She actually went to look for a knife, picked up a paring knife, and gave it a wave. Li Ying laughed bitterly, while Le'er laughed heartily.