Chapter 3

Chapter 3

I wasn’t so far gone as to kill them all. After all, their lives weren’t worth six hundred silver dollars, and they were certainly less precious than my bullets. So, I simply took my time admiring the view, savoring their terror.

Then, just a moment before they completely lost control of their bowels, I showed a bit of mercy, acting as if I had suddenly remembered something. “I recall that when my father was alive, he seemed to give the Jiang Family an annual subsidy of three thousand silver dollars. Starting today, that’s over.”

Someone looked like they wanted to protest, but after glancing at my gun-which was still practically steaming from the shot I’d just fired-they didn’t dare utter a word.

I wasn’t finished. “We are relatives, after all, and I’m not a heartless person. I won’t withdraw the personnel I’ve sent to support the old estate over the years. However, a commission must be paid. It’s not much-six hundred silver dollars a year.”

This amount really wasn’t expensive; calling it a “family discount” would be an understatement. Compared to what they had taken from my father over the years, it was negligible.

I walked up to Third Great-Uncle, snatched the felt hat off his head, threw it to the ground, and ground it under my toe. “As for whether I’ll use those six hundred dollars to buy any of your lives, well, that depends on your luck and my mood.”

I had to let them know that if a day came when I was unhappy, the sword hanging over their heads would drop at any moment.

I felt refreshed as I stepped out of the ancestral hall. Now those idiots should finally understand that those wooden spirit tablets are just decorations; I am the true ancestor of the Jiang Family.

Ah Xia was still unsatisfied. “Miss, are we really letting them off that easily?” she asked indignantly. “We should have pulled all our people out. Six hundred dollars is too good for them.”

I stood on my tiptoes and patted her little head, teaching her a lesson. “Never corner a desperate dog. Xu Xiaoli was nothing but a parasite; his death is no loss, and he served perfectly as an example to the rest.”

Moreover, in the eyes of outsiders, those old fossils still had some status. Keeping them around would be far more useful than going through the effort of wiping them out.

Besides, I didn’t have the energy right now to play games with these old fogies. The legacy my father left me wasn’t something that could be held onto by a surname alone.

No matter how loud the slogans were or how solemn the oaths, women active in the military, business, and politics were still a minority.

Dealing with those predatory rivals and troublemakers would be much harder than scaring these stubborn old relics.

My father had just passed away, so those who claimed to be “loyal and honest” wouldn’t strike with blades openly. Instead, they tried to look down on me from a position of superiority, hoping to see me falter.

Over a dozen factories under the Jiang Corporation suddenly went on strike at the same time. Even more absurdly, they organized a joint petition, saying something about… removing me?

The Jiang Corporation is a private enterprise, so a removal was a joke. Their real goal was simply to embarrass me and let me know that I didn’t have the people’s support.

Since they wanted to stage a palace coup, how could I not play along?

“Then let’s close them down for now. Business hasn’t been great lately anyway. Since the factories are closing, there’s no need to keep those managers. I want to show these ‘uncles’ some respect. Pass down the order: on the seventh of this month, I will host a grand banquet to personally see them off. We will celebrate the successful completion of their service and their retirement from the Jiang Corporation.”

The butler was already so stressed he had blisters on his mouth, and this was like poking a hornet’s nest. “Close down? Miss, we’ll lose a lot of money.”

I countered, “So what? Can’t I afford the loss? To me, it’s just a drop in the bucket, but it’s a different story for them. Once their livelihoods are at stake, there will be plenty of times they’ll come begging to me.”

The butler wasn’t worried about those troublemakers, of course. “But what about the workers? If so many people are laid off at once, there will be chaos.”

The butler was nearly as old as my father. Fearing he might have a stroke from the stress, I quickly said, “Who said the workers are being laid off? They have families to support; they rely on this job for their rice. The Jiang Corporation isn’t going bankrupt. Even if the factories are closed, I’ll still support them.”

I waved Ah Xia over and gave her a task. “Didn’t you say there was a handsome young man at a newspaper office last time? The six hundred silver dollars from those old Jiang Family fools has arrived. Take some of that money to the newspaper and specify that the young man write a report about me. You can throw as much money at it as you want, but it must be written well. It needs to be on a large, eye-catching spread.”

Ah Xia gave a cheerful response and went off happily. She knew I was always generous; once the job was done, she could keep the change.

Money makes the world go ’round, and handsome devils are no exception. By the third, the front-page headline of the newspaper clearly read: [Female Merchant Jiang Wu Closes Factories but Keeps Payroll; Benevolence and Righteousness Come First].

The newspaper praised me to the heavens, saying I was as wealthy as Shi Chong, possessed immense magnanimity, cared for the people, and was completely selfless… They piled on every good word imaginable, making even me feel a bit embarrassed.

The Jiang Corporation’s stock price soared repeatedly. I was now the living brand of the company. No matter how much some people disagreed in their hearts, no one dared to say the people weren’t united.

Some schools even invited me to give guest lectures to motivate the students.

I certainly wouldn’t refuse. At a time like this, most people who could afford university didn’t come from poor backgrounds.

I slipped in my own agenda, focusing on the concept of “humanistic care” in an enterprise and talking about how I wanted to give those respected and appreciated “uncles” a dignified exit.

After the lecture, I warmly invited the students to attend the farewell party on the seventh. The response was overwhelming.

The audience was gathered; the show was about to begin.