Transmigrating to the Song Dynasty: Water Margin Business Management

After Gao Yanei seized control of the restaurant, he resorted to any means necessary, only thinking about how to squeeze more money out of it.

He hired a group of unprofessional chefs who disregarded the quality of the dishes and only wanted them to find ways to cut costs. As a result, the restaurant began serving all sorts of substandard food. Fresh ingredients were replaced with nearly rotten inferior products, and the cooking oil was reused repeatedly, becoming cloudy and black.

Not only that, Gao Yanei also recklessly inflated prices. Dishes that were originally inexpensive were priced several times higher by him. Customers complained bitterly, but Gao Yanei, relying on his power, completely ignored their grievances.

That day, Zhang Heng and Zhang Shun were fishing and crabbing by the river as usual. They made their living off the river's aquatic products; their lives were simple but fulfilling. However, Gao Yanei's men came looking for them.

"You two, from today onwards, you must deliver fish, shrimp, and crabs to the restaurant on time every day, or you'll be in trouble!" Li Si, Gao Yanei's henchman, along with a few hooligans, stood arrogantly by the river, swaggering and showing off to the Zhang Heng and Zhang Shun brothers.

Upon hearing this, Zhang Heng was enraged: "Why should we? We can sell our own catch to whomever we want!"

Li Si sneered, "Hmph, you have no choice in this. This restaurant belongs to Gao Yanei now. If you dare to disobey, you'll regret it!" As he spoke, he shoved Zhang Heng.

Zhang Shun, a more composed person, pulled his brother back and said, "Brother, don't be impulsive. We can't afford to mess with them."

Zhang Heng glared angrily at those people, but he knew that the two brothers were indeed no match for Gao Yanei, so he could only agree for the time being.

Back home, Zhang Heng grew angrier the more he thought about it: "This Gao Yanei is going too far. Are we just going to let him manipulate us like this?"

Zhang Shun advised, "Brother, let's be patient and see how things go."

The next day, the two brothers reluctantly delivered their carefully caught fresh fish, shrimp, and plump crabs to the restaurant. Upon seeing them, Gao Yanei complained that the quantity was insufficient: "Is that all? Do you think I'm easy to fool? Bring me double the amount tomorrow, or you'll be in for a world of trouble!"

Zhang Heng couldn't help but reply, "This is already the best we can catch; the aquatic products in the river are not inexhaustible."

Gao Yanei glared at him: "Stop talking nonsense! I said it's how much, and that's how much!"

As the days went by, the brothers Zhang Heng and Zhang Shun were increasingly pressured by Gao Yanei. Despite using their seafood, the restaurant's business did not flourish as Gao Yanei had hoped. On the contrary, due to the poor quality of the dishes and the high prices, fewer and fewer customers came.

But Gao Yanei was not convinced. He felt that the seafood sent by the Zhang brothers, Zhang Heng and Zhang Shun, was not good enough or in large enough quantities. That day, Li Si came to the riverbank again with several henchmen.

Li Si pointed at Zhang Heng's nose and cursed, "You two ungrateful bastards! Gao Yanei has been kind enough to you, but you are ungrateful and still send so little!"

Zhang Heng could no longer suppress his anger: "We have done our best, don't push us too far!"

Li Si laughed loudly: "Force you? If you don't agree to send more today, don't even think about leaving!" As he spoke, he reached out to snatch the fishing net from Zhang Heng's hand.

Zhang Heng shoved Li Si aside, causing Li Si to stumble and fall to the ground. This enraged Li Si and his men, who swarmed around him, ready to attack.

Seeing the situation was turning bad, Zhang Shun shouted, "Brother, don't fight them head-on!"

However, Zhang Heng was already blinded by rage and wouldn't listen to anything else. He clenched his fist and punched one of the thugs charging ahead, causing the man's nose to bleed profusely.

Seeing this, Li Si cursed, "You've all gone too far! Attack!"

Seeing his brother had already made his move, Zhang Shun no longer hesitated and joined the fight. The two brothers had grown up by the river since childhood, were strong and robust, and possessed a fierce determination. Zhang Heng's fists were powerful and fierce, each punch filled with anger; Zhang Shun, on the other hand, nimbly dodged the enemy's attacks and seized opportunities to counterattack.

Before long, Li Si and his henchmen were beaten black and blue, lying on the ground howling in pain.

Li Si looked at the Zhang brothers, Zhang Heng and Zhang Shun, in terror: "You wait, Gao Yanei won't let you get away with this!" After saying that, he led his men and fled in a sorry state.

Zhang Heng watched their retreating figures and spat, "Let him come if he dares!"

Zhang Shun said worriedly, "Brother, we've really gotten ourselves into trouble. Gao Yanei will definitely not let this go."

Zhang Heng gritted his teeth: "What's there to be afraid of? We'll just fight him to the death!"

Upon hearing Li Si's report, Gao Yanei was furious. "These two ignorant fools dare to hit my men!" He immediately gathered a group of his men and rushed towards the riverbank to capture Zhang Heng and Zhang Shun.

The group rushed to the riverbank, but Zhang Heng and Zhang Shun were nowhere to be seen. Several fishermen were busy fishing. Without a word, Gao Yanei waved his hand and shouted, "Tie them all up!"

The men rushed forward like wolves, roughly pinning the fishermen to the ground and binding them tightly with ropes. The fishermen were terrified by this sudden turn of events. One of the older fishermen cried out, "Sir, why is this happening? We're just ordinary fishermen, we haven't done anything to anyone!"

Gao Yanei stepped forward and said viciously, "You're all in cahoots with Zhang Heng and Zhang Shun. If we arrest you first, we won't be afraid that the two brothers won't show up!"

Another young fisherman struggled angrily, shouting, "Is there no law anymore?"

Gao Yanei threw his head back and laughed loudly, "The law? In this place, I am the law! Zhang Heng and Zhang Shun dare to defy me, and none of you who know them will get away with it!"

The older fisherman's face turned red with anger. "Young Master Gao, aren't you afraid of retribution for bullying others like this?"

Gao Yanei kicked a fisherman, shouting, "Retribution? I'd like to see who dares to punish me! Zhang Heng and Zhang Shun have offended me, and you'll all suffer the consequences!"

The fishermen protested, "We only fished with Zhang Heng and Zhang Shun, we weren't accomplices! You can't wrong us like this!"

Gao Yanei ignored him completely, shouting, "Enough talk! Take them all away! Lock them up and wait for Zhang Heng and Zhang Shun to walk right into our trap!"

The men dragged the fishermen away, their cries and pleas for mercy echoing along the riverbank.

At this moment, a thin fisherman in the crowd, his eyes filled with fear and anger, said, "Young Master Gao, if you continue to act so lawlessly, someone will definitely come to deal with you!"

Upon hearing this, Gao Yanei turned around and walked up to the little fisherman. "You brat, still dare to talk back! Just wait until we catch Zhang Heng and Zhang Shun, you'll be in for a world of hurt!"

The bound fishermen were filled with despair and anger. They never imagined that simply fishing by the river would lead to such a disaster.

Gao Yanei led his men, escorting the fishermen back. Along the way, Gao Yanei smugly said to those around him, "Hmph, let's see how long that brother surnamed Zhang can hide. As long as these people are in my hands, they will obediently show up sooner or later."

Back at his residence, Gao Yanei locked the fishermen in a dark and damp room.

"You all stay put! If Zhang Heng and Zhang Shun don't come, you won't be leaving here alive!" Gao Yanei threatened.

The fishermen sighed and lamented inside the house. The older fisherman said, "What can we do? We can't let ourselves be wronged like this."

The young fisherman gritted his teeth, "Gao Yanei is so arrogant, we must find a way to get out and expose his evil deeds!"

However, they were now firmly trapped, and escape was no easy task. Meanwhile, Gao Yanei waited outside for Zhang Heng and Zhang Shun to walk into his trap, firmly believing that his power was enough to subdue these two small fishermen.

Sun Wu rushed to the small thatched hut on the mountain and, panting, told Zhang Heng and Zhang Shun that the fishermen had been captured by Gao Yanei.

Upon hearing this, Zhang Heng slammed his fist on the table in anger, shouting, "This Gao Yanei is utterly lawless!" The table banged loudly as if it couldn't withstand his fury.

Zhang Shun frowned and said, "Brother, these brothers have been implicated because of the two of us. We can't just ignore them."

Zhang Heng's eyes widened, filled with furious flames. "Of course! We absolutely cannot sit idly by and watch Gao Yanei act so recklessly."

Zhang Shun clenched his fist. "Brother, we need to come up with a comprehensive plan. We can't act rashly."

Zhang Heng gritted his teeth, "What other plan are you going to come up with! I just want to rush over and fight that Gao Yanei right now!"

Zhang Shun quickly advised, "Brother, acting impulsively will only make things worse. If we want to save our brothers, we need to plan carefully and make sure everything goes smoothly."

Zhang Heng took a deep breath, trying to calm himself down. "Brother, you're right. So what do you suggest we do?"

Zhang Shun pondered for a moment and said, "Brother, Gao Yanei's mansion must be heavily guarded. We can't just barge in. We need to find out where they're holding our brothers before we make our move at night."

Zhang Heng nodded. "Okay, I'll do as you say."

Zhang Shun continued, "We also need to prepare our weapons; we can't be without knives, spears, clubs, and all sorts of clubs."

Zhang Heng said fiercely, "Brother, don't worry, I'll go prepare right away."

Zhang Shun added, "Brother, we need to find a few more trustworthy helpers. More people means more strength."

Zhang Heng patted his chest and said, "Leave this to me. I know a few loyal brothers who will definitely help."

Zhang Shun's gaze was firm. "Brother, let's not delay and get moving."

Zhang Heng gritted his teeth, "Alright, brother, get your gear ready, let's break into the prison! We have to get our brothers out."

The two brothers immediately got to work, making tense preparations for the prison break and rescue.

Zhang Heng hurriedly found Li Jun, the River Dragon. As soon as he saw Li Jun, he poured out all the evil deeds of Gao Yanei, the fishermen being arrested, and their plan to break them out of prison.

Li Jun listened to Zhang Heng's account with a solemn expression and deep thought in his eyes. After Zhang Heng finished speaking, he paced back and forth in the room, then stopped and said, "Brother Zhang Heng, we must not act rashly in this matter. Gao Yanei is indeed bullying others and has committed many evils, and he deserves to be taught a lesson. However, his mansion is heavily guarded. If we act rashly, not only will we fail to rescue him, but we may also get ourselves into trouble."

Zhang Heng said anxiously, "Brother Li Jun, are we just going to stand by and watch our brothers suffer?"

Li Jun waved his hand and said, "Of course not. In my opinion, we should plan this carefully. First, we need to send someone to find out the layout of Gao Yanei's mansion, find out the location of the prison and the guard shift change time. Second, we should gather more trustworthy brothers, prepare weapons, but remember not to let the news leak out."

Zhang Heng nodded and said, "Brother Li Jun is right. So, how exactly should we proceed?"

Li Jun continued, "I have a plan. We can split into several groups. One group will create chaos outside the mansion to attract the guards' attention; another group will take the opportunity to sneak into the mansion and rush to the prison to rescue the people; and a third group will be responsible for providing backup. Once the people are rescued, we will quickly evacuate."

A glint of excitement flashed in Zhang Heng's eyes: "Great plan! Brother Li Jun, which brothers do you think we should gather?"

Li Jun pondered for a moment: "We can find the brothers Tong Wei, the Cave Dragon, and Tong Meng, the River-Turning Mirage, as well as Fei Bao, the Red-Bearded Dragon, Ni Yun, the Curly-Haired Tiger, and others. They are all righteous and highly skilled in martial arts, and they can definitely lend us a hand."

Zhang Heng replied, "Okay, I'll go contact them right away."

Li Jun instructed, "Remember, before taking action, you must ensure that everything is foolproof and there can be no mistakes whatsoever."

Zhang Heng clasped his hands in a fist and said, "Brother Li Jun, don't worry, I know what's important."

Afterwards, Zhang Heng hurriedly left to gather his brothers. Li Jun, meanwhile, continued to plan the details inside the house, waiting for everyone to arrive, preparing for a thrilling showdown with Gao Yanei.