Chapter 844: Asking for Too Much

Many things are like this; if no one looks for trouble and no one holds anyone accountable, things just slide by, and everyone continues to develop along their normal trajectory.

The cement plant was no different. If Wang An hadn't spoken up, the plant would have continued to charge high prices where they could and normal prices where they should.

After all, cement isn't exactly a fast-moving consumer good; no family is going to buy a pile of cement for no reason and just leave it there to look at.

This resulted in many people only buying cement once every few years, so no one really paid much attention to whether the price was high or low.

Furthermore, there is a phrase called "following the market," so it wasn't truly a problem for prices to fluctuate.

The main thing was that as a reincarnated person, Wang An never imagined this stuff could be sold at several different price points; for anyone else, it would have been completely out of the question.

Therefore, once the accountant told the truth, the people crouching in the office finally quieted down.

Because once this kind of thing was exposed, it truly wouldn't be a small matter.

Of course, if Wang An were just an ordinary citizen, the matter would be easy to resolve: a beating, some intimidation, or perhaps a mix of threats and bribes—giving a few small favors—and the matter would simply pass.

But the key question was, was Wang An an ordinary person?

Would an ordinary person dare to be this arrogant, or even come directly into the office to beat people up?

To speak his mind so bluntly—let alone actually doing it—an ordinary person would be scared to death just thinking about it!

This was a fact.

After Wang An finished shouting, he heard the accountant say

"I didn't know either! I was just following orders from above. Brave sir, please give me a break!"

Before the accountant could finish, Wang An waved his hand and gave him two more slaps across the face, forcibly slapping the words right back into the accountant's mouth.

It had to be said that at this moment, Wang An's aura of violence was incredibly heavy. He looked like someone who had been driven blind by rage, as if he might kill the accountant at any moment.

Immediately after, Wang An stopped questioning. He grabbed the accountant by the hair with one hand and pointed to the people by the door with the other, saying

"Which one of you is going to find your plant manager, Bai Zhihong, for me? Tell him that today's matter is definitely not over. If DJ County can't handle him, then I'll go to Bingcheng and ask. I don't believe Bingcheng can't handle him either."

Of course, although Wang An said this, he truly meant it.

Thus, Wang An's attitude was very clear: if Plant Manager Bai Zhihong could not satisfy him, Wang An would make a huge scene.

Hearing Wang An's shout, the few people instinctively looked at each other. Then, a relatively good-looking woman became the focus of the group.

Clearly, their collective consensus was to let this woman go find the manager.

The woman glanced at the others and then turned and left.

At this time, the accountant, whose hair was still being gripped by Wang An, couldn't help but say

"Brave sir, the manager will be here soon. Just let me go. Look, there's no use in holding onto me, right?"

Hearing this, Wang An looked down at the accountant and couldn't help but sneer

"Are you just naturally pathetic? Just answer what I ask. This damn cement plant isn't your home; it's not worth taking a beating for nothing."

As he spoke, Wang An patted the accountant's face, which had already turned purple and blue.

Actually, Wang An found the so-called loyalty of these people truly baffling.

Of course, it might not have been loyalty, but rather a habit of being arrogant and overbearing in their daily lives. Suddenly being treated this way, they found it hard to accept, so instinctively, a sliver of human spirit was triggered.

Unfortunately, they hadn't expected their opponent to be so forceful, directly suppressing them with raw power.

To be honest, for these people, treating customers better would have been the greatest loyalty they could show the cement plant.

After Wang An finished speaking, he noticed the accountant was silent and numb. After a moment's thought, he let go.

Only then did the accountant sit up from his semi-reclined position.

But immediately after, the accountant began hissing in pain, rubbing his cheeks and his head.

Clearly, Wang An's beating had truly done a number on him; every single part of him damn well hurt!

After a while, the woman from before returned, leading Plant Manager Bai Zhihong.

It was evident that the woman had explained the situation to Bai Zhihong, as his face was now dark and gloomy.

After scanning the room, Bai Zhihong finally shifted his gaze toward Wang An.

However, Bai Zhihong's expression remained unchanged—a deadpan face, as if trying to intimidate Wang An.

Unfortunately, Wang An was well-acquainted with this kind of scenario. Noticing Bai Zhihong's expression, Wang An didn't speak; he simply stared back at Bai Zhihong with a half-smile, as if he were looking at a dead man.

Finally, perhaps feeling that this staring contest was meaningless, Bai Zhihong spoke

"Speak. What do you want out of this?"

It had to be admitted that anyone who could become a plant manager possessed a certain level of ability; at the very least, they could read the situation and proactively seek a solution.

Wang An didn't waste time, nor did he make an outrageous demand. He said very bluntly

"I don't want the extra money you overcharged me last time; consider it a gesture of respect for your cigarette money. Now, I've come to haul lime. Two truckloads, 8 tons—that's enough for my family. So, Manager, do we need to recalculate the price for this lime?"

As soon as Wang An finished speaking, Bai Zhihong's face turned green.

The main thing was that Wang An's words sounded very generous on the surface—after all, he wasn't even asking for the overcharged money back. How considerate!

Yet, he had very clearly laid out his conditions.

Furthermore, if taken literally, he was using a tone of negotiation.

But the most impressive part was that Wang An didn't explicitly demand something; instead, he acted as if the decision were up to the manager.

After a moment, Bai Zhihong looked at Wang An with a hostile expression and said

"You really can ask for the moon, can't you? 4 tons of lime is 720 yuan, so 8 tons is 1,440 yuan. Subtracting your 240, you're trying to extort 1,200 yuan from the cement plant. Do you think that's appropriate?"

In this era, 1,200 yuan was by no means a small sum, even for a cement plant.

Wang An replied with the air of a rogue

"You can't put it that way. I'm not extorting the plant. Which part of my sentence sounded like I was asking for 8 tons of lime for free? Besides, didn't you people set the price? It's whatever you say it is."

After hearing this, Bai Zhihong was no longer calm. If looks could kill, Wang An would have been a corpse by now.

(End of Chapter)