Chapter 50: The Junk King

The punk who was closing the door had no time to react and was sent crashing to the ground by the door itself.

This sudden turn of events left Scarface momentarily stunned.

Chen Jianghai, seeing Zhao Zhanggui standing proudly at the entrance like a small mountain, let out a silent sigh of relief.

This guy really knows how to hold his nerve, only making his move now.

Still, the effect was quite good.

"Brother, what are you doing?"

Seeing Zhao Zhanggui's imposing build, Scarface knew he was not someone to be trifled with, and asked with a deep frown.

Zhao Zhanggui said nothing, only looking at Chen Jianghai, waiting for his next instruction.

"Throw these two out first," Chen Jianghai said coldly.

Zhao Zhanggui nodded without a word and hoisted the still-standing man up by his collar with a single hand.

He did it as effortlessly as if he were picking up a small chick.

That man tried to resist, but was no match for Zhao Zhanggui at all, and was promptly tossed right outside the door.

Before Zhao Zhanggui even had to lift a finger, the man who had been knocked to the ground scrambled away on all fours.

Seeing this, Scarface began to panic inwardly, though he put up a bold front and blustered, "What do you think you're doing? I've got powerful people backing me!"

"People backing you?"

Chen Jianghai smiled faintly. "Tell me, what is it you actually want?"

True to form, Zhao Zhanggui stepped up right beside Chen Jianghai, exerting immense psychological pressure on Scarface.

Seeing that Chen Jianghai did not resort to violence immediately, Scarface let out a quiet sigh of relief.

"To be honest with you, brother, I just wanted to do some business with you. No other intentions at all," Scarface said, his eyes rolling.

"Business?"

Chen Jianghai chuckled. "You call forced buying and selling a business?"

"No, no! Absolutely no such intention!"

Scarface waved his hands frantically to explain. "I do have the goods, but..."

"But they're all junk, and presumably have no recycling value left, right?" Chen Jianghai finished the sentence for him.

Since it had come to this, Scarface dared not quibble any further. He offered a sheepish grin and said, "More or less, more or less."

"Where are the goods?" Chen Jianghai asked next.

Scarface blinked in surprise, looking at Chen Jianghai with bewilderment. "What goods?"

"The goods you wanted to sell me, of course," Chen Jianghai said unhurriedly.

Scarface quickly replied, "They're at my place. Well, since Boss doesn't want them, never mind then. I'll be leaving!"

With that, Scarface turned to make his exit, only to be blocked by Zhao Zhanggui.

Since Chen Jianghai gave no order, Zhao Zhanggui naturally wasn't going to let him leave so easily.

"Boss, what is the meaning of this?"

Facing the towering figure of Zhao Zhanggui, Scarface's expression turned rather ugly.

Walk the night path often enough, and you are bound to run into a ghost.

Clearly, today was that day.

"Take me to have a look," Chen Jianghai said calmly, completely at ease.

Scarface frowned. "I'm telling you, they're just scraps. There's nothing worth looking at."

"Now, you have two choices. First, take me straight to your place to have a look. Second, take a thorough beating, and then take me to your place."

Chen Jianghai raised two fingers and smiled pleasantly.

Hearing these conditions, Scarface felt like crying.

Having roamed the local streets for so long, he had truly never encountered someone as unreasonable as Chen Jianghai.

If Chen Jianghai knew what was going on in his head, he would probably burst out laughing.

A street punk actually having the nerve to accuse someone else of being unreasonable!

Scarface was clearly a smart man; he didn't hesitate to choose the first option.

Chen Jianghai locked the door and, with Zhao Zhanggui in tow, followed Scarface.

Before long, led by Scarface, the trio arrived in front of a tiled brick house.

The house was somewhat old, but still much better than the place where Zhao Zhanggui lived.

"Boss Chen, right here!" Scarface said, pointing at the house.

"Alright, go get the goods out so I can take a look," Chen Jianghai instructed with a wave of his hand.

Scarface nodded and hurried inside.

Frowning, Zhao Zhanggui leaned over to warn, "Brother Chen, aren't you worried he might run away?"

"No worries, he won't run," Chen Jianghai replied, his expression exceptionally certain.

Not long after, Scarface emerged from the house, clutching a few old radios in his arms.

"Boss Chen, they're all pretty much like this," Scarface said, holding up the items.

Chen Jianghai glanced at them, but did not reach out to take them.

These radios were covered in rust, the casing of one was completely broken, and the internal components were already corroded.

Clearly, this was a pile of garbage devoid of any recycling value.

Someone like Scarface couldn't possibly possess many discarded appliances on his own; the only explanation was that he had acquired them from somewhere.

Since Chen Jianghai had started assembling electronics, the more of these second-hand components he had, the better.

Who knows? Maybe this Scarface had a reliable channel to source such items.

Thinking of this, Chen Jianghai could not help but ask, "Where did you get these scraps from? How much for each?"

Not trying to hide anything, Scarface answered truthfully, "I bought them from a waste collector for just a few cents apiece."

"Does he have any that are in better condition?" Chen Jianghai immediately pursued.

Scarface nodded vigorously. "Yes, yes, he does! But those cost a few yuan each, so I didn't take them. Boss, are you taking these ones I have?"

"No, these are completely worthless," Chen Jianghai said, waving his hand dismissively.

Although Scarface had anticipated this answer, hearing Chen Jianghai actually say it still left him a bit disappointed.

He had originally hoped to make some cigarette money, but not only had he failed to turn a profit, he had even suffered a scare.

Chen Jianghai followed up by asking, "What is the name of this waste collector? Where can I find him?"

Hearing this question, Scarface instantly perked up.

"Boss, this waste collector is quite something. You could call him the King of Scraps in Linghai. Ordinary people can't even find him."

Zhao Zhanggui didn't quite catch the implication behind Scarface's words, but Chen Jianghai understood completely.

Scarface was clearly fishing for some benefits.

Without missing a beat, Chen Jianghai asked another question: "You know him?"

Scarface nodded. "Of course I do! I'm not boasting, but there's hardly anyone in Linghai that Scarface doesn't know."

Without any further nonsense, Chen Jianghai directly pulled out two large ten-yuan bills and handed them over.

"Boss Chen, what is this?"

Scarface was slightly taken aback; this wasn't how people usually played the game.

"Take this to buy some cigarettes, and by the way, tell me where I can find this King of Scraps!" Chen Jianghai said indifferently.

He could have chosen not to pay, but without it, there was no guarantee whether what Scarface said was true or false.

Clearly not expecting Chen Jianghai to be so generous, Scarface beamed with smiles, took the money eagerly, and rattled off a name and an address.

After noting it down, Chen Jianghai didn't rush off immediately. Instead, he asked, "What kind of person is this Brother Qiang you mentioned?"

Scarface paused, then shook his head. "Brother Qiang keeps a very low profile. I've only met him once, so I'm not really clear on what kind of person he is."

Chen Jianghai pressed further, "The place you mentioned just now must be out in the suburbs, right?"

"Yes, they store all that stuff out there," Scarface replied quickly.

Chen Jianghai nodded. It seemed this Brother Qiang had some brains after all, recognizing that a monopoly was where the money was, and actually setting up an organized network for collecting scrap.

"Let's go then!" Chen Jianghai said with a wave.