Chapter 41: Dragon Blood Beverage Processing Plant
After intimidating the school bullies with his fists to help him gather votes, Chris returned to the classroom.
However, he wasn't planning on staying in the classroom obediently. He went back to his seat, grabbed his belongings, and then left again.
But before he left, he said to his classmates who were already preparing for class: "Hey, guys! I've already taught those scumbags a lesson, so you can study in peace now. I'm heading out to work on my student council campaign, so I hope you don't let my efforts go to waste!"
"Thank you, Chris! I'll make the most of the safe environment you've created for us, and we sincerely hope you become Student Council President."
"You're welcome. Study hard—I've got work to do."
After winning over his voters, Chris walked into the gym as usual.
However, he wasn't there to work out this time, even though he already had a group of thugs working for free to get him votes.
But those guys were ultimately subdued by force and couldn't be fully trusted.
Therefore, Chris decided to recruit his gym crew again and have them approach from different angles to provide an additional layer of insurance for his election as Student Council President.
Walking to the gym entrance, Chris scanned the room and spotted Hank, who was doing bench presses, and Marcus, who was spotting him.
Waving at the two, Marcus immediately lowered his head and reminded Hank: "Hey, Boss Chris is looking for us—stop training for now!"
Hank heard this, put down the barbell, and stood up to look toward the door, indeed finding Chris waiting for them.
The two wiped off their sweat with towels, then left the gym.
"Hey, Boss! Aren't you training today? Oh! Boss, have you been taking some new supplements? How did you suddenly get so tall?"
Marcus ran up and then realized that Chris was already much taller than him, and he was immediately shocked.
He was on the school basketball team, and although he was only seventeen, he had already reached six feet tall.
Now Chris was more than half a head taller than him, which made Marcus suspect whether Chris had taken some kind of growth hormone—otherwise, how could he have shot up so quickly?
Hank, on the other hand, looked unsurprised, partly because his expression was naturally stoic, but also because he had long suspected Chris wasn't ordinary.
Regarding his subordinate's curiosity this time, Chris was too lazy to make up an excuse. Anyway, they'd soon find the answer themselves.
"Do either of you have a car? I need to take you somewhere."
Although he was asking both of them, Chris's eyes were fixed on Marcus, and even Hank turned to look at Marcus.
This guy always bragged that his father was a somewhat prominent lawyer, and he'd even hinted that the reason Chris didn't get in trouble after decking that guy was because his dad had pulled some strings.
So both of them knew this guy's family was pretty well-off, and coupled with the fact that he always carried car keys, they knew without asking that he must have a ride.
"Of course, Boss! Follow me."
Hearing that Chris needed a car, Marcus no longer focused on Chris's height, pulled out his keys, and led the two to the school parking lot.
Then he walked directly to a muscle car, opened the door, and said proudly: "A Ford Mustang GT. I pestered my dad for ages before he agreed to buy it for me. The used car dealer owed my dad a favor, and we got it for three grand. Looks good, right?"
Chris unceremoniously sat in the passenger seat, and Hank shrugged at Marcus: "I'm not old enough to get my license yet!"
After saying that, he got into the back seat, while Marcus closed the door for Chris and then took the driver's seat.
It was then that Chris spoke: "Eighty percent condition, and no smell of blood. Seems that used car dealer really respected your dad—they didn't rip you off."
"Whoa! Boss, how can you tell there's no blood smell? I've been driving this thing for months and I don't even know if anyone died in this car."
Marcus exclaimed, then took a deep sniff but still couldn't smell anything.
"You'll find out soon. Now, head to the old beverage processing plant—the one that used to make prune juice. You know where it is?"
Chris stated the address of his newly acquired factory, then uncertainly confirmed with Marcus.
He had overlooked the possibility that the kid might not know the way.
Fortunately, Marcus didn't disappoint Chris. After a moment of thought, he exclaimed: "Oh! Is that the prune juice factory where thirteen people died from allergic reactions? I know that place."
"Then let's go!"
Giving the order, Chris buckled his seatbelt and adjusted his position.
Marcus started the vehicle and drove straight out of campus.
Along the way, Marcus also shared an interesting story related to that factory: the case that led to the factory's closure was handled by his own father.
Originally, the factory owner was supposed to be fined two hundred million dollars and sentenced to twenty years in prison.
However, with the help of Marcus's father, in the end, only the beverage processing plant, valued at eighty million dollars, was seized, and a fine of one hundred thirty million dollars was imposed.
As for the twenty-year prison sentence, it was waived after the factory owner donated ten million dollars and performed two weeks of community service at the police station.
According to Marcus, even those two weeks of labor were merely to protect the guy from being killed by the victims' families in a moment of rage.
Hank, the black guy in the back seat, remained expressionless—he'd long grown accustomed to such stories.
Chris, however, felt a bit surprised, because he'd been too naive!
He had previously thought that his Uncle-in-law West was so dedicated only after receiving ten percent of the shares, completing the preliminary preparations in less than a day.
But he hadn't expected that the man would directly use government assets to settle debts. You could only say it was indeed America—they played the game with style!
But regardless of how West benefited from it, he did indeed help Chris get things done.
This meant Chris really couldn't complain about him.
However, while he thought this, Chris did make a mental note of the incident.
After all, in his previous life, there were laws against unexplained wealth and misappropriation of public funds.
Chris couldn't interfere with West's embezzlement of government assets since he wasn't president yet.
But if West took company benefits without generating corresponding profits for the company, then Chris would definitely have a serious conversation with him.
As Chris was thinking about how to motivate his Uncle-in-law to work harder, Marcus had already parked the car by the roadside, curiously looking at the factory sign.
"Huh? Has this place reopened? Debraude? What kind of company is this?"
"A new company that produces performance beverages. Trust me, you're gonna love it!"
Chris said mysteriously, leading the way into the factory.
Marcus and Hank exchanged glances, both confused, then quickly followed him.
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