Chapter 130: Annual Assessment

Cheng Feng had followed the group led by Green-Hair into the conference room. Beyond his desire to witness the spectacle, he was one of the masterminds behind this extortion plot and was naturally deeply invested in the outcome.

When Hua Tianyu initially conceded, Cheng Feng had nearly jumped out to denounce him as unfit for the role of security manager. He had never expected the subsequent turn of events: Hua Tianyu had used the surveillance cameras to solidify evidence of the robbery, then paradoxically ordered the monitor room to cut the feed, only to turn these thugs into the subjects of an annual performance review for his staff.

Hua Tianyu’s dizzying sequence of maneuvers was so rapid that, despite his own cunning, Cheng Feng could barely keep pace.

Desperate to avoid any legal trouble for Green-Hair and his associates, Cheng Feng shouted, "Just have them hand over the money and let them go!"

His suggestion was echoed by three or four timid security guards who feared the potential repercussions of involving the police.

"Call the police! Call them now!"

"Right, let's call the authorities and have the Shangjiang City police handle these criminals!"

This was the consensus among the majority of the guards.

However, Hua Tianyu remained dissatisfied, shaking his head. Reporting the crime was necessary, but was there nothing else to do? If they simply waited for the police, the perpetrators would have vanished without a trace long ago.

"If you're men, follow me! Take the money back and beat these robbers!" Cui Quan, understanding Hua Tianyu’s intent, shouted at the top of his lungs.

At Cui Quan’s rallying cry, the more daring and quick-witted guards finally snapped into action.

"He's right! This is self-defense! We are allowed to use self-defense against robbery!"

"Cui is right; let’s give them a beating first!"

Hua Tianyu had declared this an annual performance review, with failure resulting in immediate dismissal. Consequently, the security staff began to act, each according to their own instincts.

With the exception of Cheng Feng and the few timid guards who remained motionless, the rest of the team either pulled out their phones to call the police or raised their rubber batons and charged at the thugs.

Hua Tianyu nodded slightly, observing everything clearly. He noted exactly what each man did—who charged, who called for help, and who cowered in fear.

Green-Hair and his crew were stunned. They hadn't even had a chance to touch the 500,000 in cash they had just "seized," let alone look at it properly, before a dozen men came charging at them with batons, looking as if they were ready to risk their lives.

However, these were men of the streets; they were no strangers to violence. Their own steel pipes and wooden clubs were not to be trifled with. Moreover, there were nearly twenty of them against only a dozen guards. After a moment of hesitation, Green-Hair and his gang roared and charged back, fueled by the prospect of the 500,000. For such a sum, they were willing to risk anything; even for a mere five hundred, they would have put up a fight.

Their momentum was formidable. As soon as the clash began, they pressed their advantage, initially pushing back Cui Quan and the other guards.

Hua Tianyu watched the situation unfold. The willingness to fight was the first step, and combat effectiveness was the second. Once these were addressed, the Swan Group’s security department would be in capable hands. This incident had perfectly exposed the department's weaknesses, which, in his eyes, was a blessing in disguise. It was time to establish new rules—a necessary destruction before reconstruction.

Hua Tianyu picked up a rubber baton, walked slowly toward the fray, and struck a thug in the back with a forceful blow.

"Thud!" The sound of rubber hitting flesh.

"Aargh!" A scream as the thug collapsed.

"Thud!" "Aargh!"

"Thud!" "Aargh!"

Within seconds, five or six thugs were left writhing on the floor.

Green-Hair finally noticed Hua Tianyu’s movements and roared, "Take down that pretty-boy assistant first!"

But before the words could leave his lips, he let out a howl of his own and collapsed to the ground, twitching in pain.

With Hua Tianyu’s intervention, the tide of the battle shifted instantly. The guards, who had been on the verge of being overwhelmed, were now chasing the remaining thugs with renewed vigor.

Seeing their manager take action, the guards who had been busy on their phones finally realized what was expected of them in this "annual review." Nearly half the department joined the fray.

A few minutes later, the two dozen thugs—save for the middle-aged woman on the stretcher and the weeping youth—were all beaten, bruised, and wailing on the floor. The woman no longer dared to make a sound, and the boy had long since stopped crying, both staring in terror at the security team, unable to comprehend how the once-triumphant Green-Hair and his gang had been reduced to such a pathetic state.

Cui Quan personally returned the 500,000 to Wei Xueying.

Hua Tianyu scanned the thugs on the floor with a smile before announcing, "The review is over! Those who followed Cui Quan into the fray have passed. Everyone else has failed!"

After a pause, he added, "Those who neither charged nor called the police: forfeit this month’s bonus and report to Human Resources to process your resignation. Those who only called the police but did not join the fight: collect your final salary and bonus, then report to Human Resources to resign. Those who joined only at the very end: collect three months’ severance pay and report to Human Resources to resign."

He turned to Liang Hui and asked, "Is there any issue with how I handled this?"

Liang Hui was deeply stunned, looking at Hua Tianyu with a completely different perspective. This man played by no conventional rules. He had feigned weakness to lower the thugs' guard, then used the money to incite them into committing a clear act of robbery under the watchful eye of the camera. Once the evidence was secured, he cut the recording, neutralized the threat, and used the chaos to purge and restructure the department—all in one seamless, flawless sequence.

When this man worked, his efficiency was truly terrifying.