Qi Dengxian hadn’t expected that no one in the Qiao family listened to his words yesterday, but instead, it was Li Yunwan who took them to heart and went to investigate seriously.

He nodded slightly and said, “Since you investigated, you might as well give the results to Qiao Qiumeng and let them withdraw their funds.”

On the Qiao family’s side, under Zhang Shaojie’s deception, they had dumped at least thirty million into this; Qiao Qiumeng alone had invested twenty million.

Qiao Qiumeng’s position was already unstable. If the Zhang Group really took the money and ran, she would likely face another round of severe condemnation.

“The things I found are just trace clues; bringing them out won’t convince anyone.” Li Yunwan shook her head.

She hadn’t conducted any investigation at all. It was purely because she saw Qi Dengxian being escorted out by Huang Wenlang and the others that she believed what he said.

After all, even Qi Dengxian said this was something Huang Wenlang had said personally.

Mayor Huang controlled the entirety of vast Zhonghai; he certainly wouldn’t speak recklessly…

Qi Dengxian felt helpless. He could only find another chance to persuade Qiao Guotao later. After all, once this exploded, the losses would not be small.

Li Yunwan led Qi Dengxian into the restaurant she had booked in advance. It was a private kitchen that only served ten tables a day.

It was said that reservations for this restaurant were already booked out a month in advance.

“Is our destiny really ill-fated?”

Qi Dengxian swept the corner of his eye and noticed a figure—it was Long Yanan.

Long Yanan was Yu Xiaolong’s assistant. If she were here, then Yu Xiaolong was most likely here too.

Yu Xiaolong had been injured quite badly while capturing the King of Terror, so she stayed in Zhonghai to recuperate. Running into her from time to time gave Qi Dengxian a headache.

Qi Dengxian disliked Yu Xiaolong, naturally because of that woman’s arrogance and superiority. If she had been willing to sit down, invite him for a cup of tea, speak properly, and then break off the engagement during their first meeting, he wouldn’t have had any objections. They might even have become friends.

But Yu Xiaolong acted as if his family owed her rice the moment she arrived. That arrogant attitude really made Qi Dengxian want to drag her into the prison and hang her up for three days just to give her a taste of it.

After sitting down, Qi Dengxian’s ears twitched slightly, and he heard Yu Xiaolong speaking to another woman.

“Aoxue, why did you suddenly run to Zhonghai? Weren’t you staying comfortably in the capital?” Yu Xiaolong asked.

“Naturally, one doesn’t get up early without profit involved. I saw a business opportunity!” Xu Aoxue smiled slightly and said indifferently.

Just hearing this voice and name, Qi Dengxian knew this woman was likely as arrogant as Yu Xiaolong, the type who was exceptionally full of herself.

He was just about to ignore their conversation when he heard the words “Xiang Group,” which caused his eyebrows to twitch slightly.

“The Xiang Group… you’re targeting it? I’ve heard of this group; it’s not easy to deal with. Its owner is named Xiang Dongqing, and she seems to be a ruthless character…” Yu Xiaolong’s voice carried a hint of thoughtfulness.

“Currently, the Xiang Group is being suppressed by the Tiger Gate Group. Xiang Dongqing’s character would rather break than bend; she won’t compromise. It’s the perfect time to annex it.” Xu Aoxue laughed with great confidence.

“The Tiger Gate Group? Their assets don’t seem to be greater than the Xiang Group’s. How can they suppress the Xiang Group?” Yu Xiaolong asked in confusion.

Xu Aoxue replied, “The Tiger Gate Group only grew this big because they have the Dragon Gate organization as their backer. Tell me, can they suppress the Xiang Group?”

Yu Xiaolong said calmly, “Then it’s not surprising. You want to pull chestnuts from the fire; that is indeed a good method.”

Listening to this, Qi Dengxian couldn’t help but sigh silently in his heart. The Xiang Group was exactly Old Xiang’s property.

This Old Xiang was a child of a wealthy family. Instead of doing proper business, he ran off to traffic arms, and his guts were as big as the sky.

Old Xiang probably got carried away, too. After his business grew, he actually embezzled a batch of arms worth hundreds of millions from a certain great warlord… As a warlord, naturally, he wouldn’t swallow the insult. Not long after, he sent people to wipe out Old Xiang’s entire family, leaving only Old Xiang and his younger sister, Xiang Dongqing.

After such a huge incident occurred in the massive Xiang Group, all the distant aunts and uncles came running to fight for the inheritance.

Xiang Dongqing appeared at the board meeting alone, holding her parents’ funerary urns. She expelled these relatives and seized power.

Old Xiang was imprisoned because of the incident and had not received Xiang Dongqing’s forgiveness to this day.

When Qi Dengxian was released from prison this time, Old Xiang, who was critically ill from various blows, pleaded with his dying breath for Qi Dengxian’s help, asking him to look after Xiang Dongqing if he had the chance.

“What are you thinking about?” Seeing Qi Dengxian zoned out, Li Yunwan gently touched his wrist with her chopsticks.

“Nothing.” Qi Dengxian snapped back to reality and realized Li Yunwan was sitting very close to him; their thighs were almost touching.

However, Qi Dengxian didn’t mind too much. His thoughts drifted, recalling Old Xiang and constructing an image of what Xiang Dongqing should look like in his mind.

Old Xiang was an honest man in prison and had a good relationship with Qi Dengxian, often helping him handle some prison administration duties. So, Qi Dengxian had agreed to help him with this favor.

“Looks like I’ll have to get in touch with Xiang Dongqing…” Qi Dengxian murmured.

“Xiang Dongqing! You know Xiang Dongqing?!” Li Yunwan looked at Qi Dengxian and asked in surprise.

Qi Dengxian nodded. “Why? Is it strange to know her?”

Li Yunwan’s expression turned odd, then she said slowly, “She is a ruthless person. I can’t call her a friend, but I barely count as an acquaintance…”

“Ruthless?” Qi Dengxian smiled and asked.

“Xiang Dongqing’s family suffered an accident; her parents died violently. Then, all the relatives took the opportunity to seize power. As a result, Xiang Dongqing appeared at the board meeting holding her parents’ urns and said a sentence that sounded cold-blooded to the bone to everyone who heard it… To this day, these words are still widely circulated in the Zhonghai business world,” Li Yunwan said.

Listening, Qi Dengxian gestured for her to continue.

Li Yunwan said, “The relatives accused her of being unfilial for thinking about fighting for power and profit before her parents’ bodies were even cold. Then, Xiang Dongqing replied with one sentence…”

“My parents were cremated. Their bones won’t get cold!“

Hearing this, Qi Dengxian couldn’t help but raise his eyebrows sharply.

The cold-bloodedness revealed in this short sentence gave even him a feeling of immense shock!

“You want to contact Xiang Dongqing? You aren’t planning to be a scumbag, are you? However, she isn’t easy to get along with. With her personality, she doesn’t even have friends,” Li Yunwan said.

“Scumbag? There is nothing between Qiumeng and me right now, only the title.” Qi Dengxian frowned, then sighed helplessly.

Seeing his troubled look, Li Yunwan asked, “Are you planning to hang yourself on one tree?”

Qi Dengxian said, “I already said yesterday, everything depends on fate. When fate ends, I will naturally leave.”

“Then it looks like you are a scumbag!” Li Yunwan laughed, baring her neat, small white teeth.

Qi Dengxian looked calm.

Li Yunwan’s thigh suddenly pressed against Qi Dengxian’s leg. A warm sensation was transmitted over. She smiled like a flower, a hint of rosy blush appearing on her face.

“Then can you be a scumbag to me first?” Li Yunwan asked, her tone quite ambiguous.

Qi Dengxian was stunned, but then his attention was attracted by Yu Xiaolong’s voice. He heard her say: “If there are any tricky parts, you can ask me for help.”

Qi Dengxian sneered. It seems Yu Xiaolong is preparing to intervene in dealing with the Xiang Group.

That’s perfect. In this clash, I’ll severely crush her spirit!

NOTES

One doesn’t get up early without profit involved: An idiom meaning people are motivated by self-interest/profit.

Pull chestnuts from the fire: An idiom (originally from La Fontaine’s fables) meaning to take risks for someone else’s benefit, or simply to take great risks for profit.

Hang yourself on one tree: An idiom meaning to be fixated on one option/person without considering alternatives.

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