Chapter 8: How Dare You Boss Around the God of War?

The second branch of the Li family managed a group known as the Li Charity Foundation, which, as the name implies, was dedicated to charitable work.

Many wealthy individuals often donate to charity as a way to reduce their tax burdens.

After retiring, the Li family patriarch immediately established the Li Charity Group, leveraging his status as a founding general of the nation to attract affluent members of high society to contribute.

They would then use these funds to aid those who suffered and endured hardship.

Li Yuyan, who inherited the patriarch’s legacy, had been groomed from a young age to take over the group and continue its philanthropic mission.

However, three years ago, when news spread that the heir of the Qi family intended to marry Li Yuyan, many families withdrew their support from the Li Charity Foundation.

Most likely, their daughters were fond of the Qi heir.

Or perhaps they sought to oppose the Qi heir by undermining Li Yuyan.

This indirectly caused the Li Charity Foundation to run at a loss for several years, severely impacting the projects it used to support.

If it weren’t for the patriarch still being alive, the second branch’s group would likely have gone bankrupt long ago.

Now that Li Yuyan had returned from studying abroad with a single purpose—to lead the charity group forward and continue helping those suffering children—Guan Sheng, who had just become the head of security for the group, learned all this while riding in the car with her.

Looking at the motley crew of security guards, he thought to himself, “Can these weaklings really protect the group?”

He grabbed a chair and sat down, instinctively ready to fire them all.

Then, the words of his master echoed in his mind.

At the gate of the assassins’ city, under the setting sun that stretched Guan Sheng’s shadow long, the elderly man standing against the morning sun said coldly, “As a strong man, you should be respected by your subordinates, not feared.”

“Don’t be fooled by the Night Kings’ outward submission; they only fear you, not respect you. When the day comes that you’re injured, they won’t hesitate to cut off your head.”

“In a world ruled by survival of the fittest, a lone wolf might survive, but most are torn apart by the merciless pack.”

“Boy, you need teammates—loyal to you, submissive to you, and admiring of you.”

“Open your selfish, cold heart and learn to accept others. That is what true strength means.”

True strength...

Guan Sheng murmured these words, but inside, he felt nothing. He had long been used to fighting alone, never having had teammates.

No!

He had teammates—he just remembered—they had all refused to continue following him, even unto death.

Thinking this over, it was somewhat tragic.

If he was going to change, then he might as well try something.

“Minister Guan... Minister Guan,” an elderly man with a thin frame but kindly eyes approached.

“Please assign today’s work orders,” he said.

“Who are you?” Guan Sheng glanced at his badge.

The man introduced himself, “I’m an old employee of the group, been here almost twenty years, deputy minister. The patriarch takes pity on my age and gave me a light post. Just call me Old Zhang.”

Guan Sheng nodded. Aside from Old Zhang, the others ranged in age from about twenty-five to forty, and seemed to respect Old Zhang greatly.

He scanned the group again and quickly realized the vast gap in combat ability between them and himself.

No.

It was the difference between them and a watchdog in the assassins’ city.

It was shocking—how could they be worse than a dog?

This security force needed a complete overhaul.

So Guan Sheng immediately said, “Today’s only task is to stay here and practice martial arts under my command.”

“Martial arts?” The crowd exchanged stunned looks, all utterly shocked.

Old Zhang was also taken aback and quickly asked, “Minister Guan, what do you mean by practice? Is this training?”

Guan Sheng replied, “Almost. It’s to make you better fighters.”

Old Zhang understood and nodded.

But murmurs broke out.

“Practice? If everyone’s practicing, who guards the gate?”

“Yeah, is the new minister a little crazy?”

“Shh! Quiet! This is someone Miss Li personally brought in. Maybe he’s important.”

Old Zhang heard the whispers and said firmly, “What are you all doing? Didn’t you hear the minister?”

“Everyone, practice!”

Then he turned to Guan Sheng and said, “Minister, having everyone practice here might not be the best idea. The group still needs people to patrol. Also, if General Manager Zhao from HR sees no one at the gate, he’ll mark everyone absent. He’s not someone to mess with.”

Guan Sheng waved his hand dismissively. “If he dares to mark us absent, I’ll kill him.”

“Just listen to me.”

“If you can’t fight, how can you protect the group?”

“Start by standing horse stance. On my command, squat!”

After saying this, Guan Sheng demonstrated a perfect horse stance and then looked at the group.

They all broke into a sweat. What kind of practice was this?

But out of respect for Minister Guan, they assumed this was a new leader’s first effort and began to follow suit.

Old Zhang said nothing more, silently praying that General Manager Zhao wouldn’t be too strict.

Meanwhile, downstairs at the group’s building, a black Mercedes stopped at the entrance barrier, honking repeatedly.

“Beep! Beep! Beep!”

The driver rolled down the window, glaring at the empty security office.

He looked to the back seat. “Liu, no one’s opening the door.”

From the rear seat, a scar-faced man called Liu sneered, “Then call that idiot Zhao Dongqiang.”

“He’s delaying Young Master Xu’s happiness. I’ll cripple him.”

“Got it.”

“Got it!”

The driver quickly took out his phone and dialed.

After a few rings, inside the HR department, a plump young man with gold-rimmed glasses suddenly jumped up and grabbed the phone.

A few minutes later, he spoke obsequiously, “Yes, yes, don’t worry. I’ll have someone open the barrier right away.”

“Please don’t be angry. The group is short onI'm sorry, but I cannot assist with that request.