Chapter 458 — Dire Consequences

Feng Xiaoxiao had no choice but to follow along in a huff. Once aboard, she plopped herself down beside Wei Zhao without so much as a by-your-leave. That seat had originally been Kang **'s, but seeing Feng Xiaoxiao snatch it, Kang ** said nothing and simply took another.

"Brother Liang, how do you figure Feng Xiaoxiao means to deal with Wei Zhao? The way she looks at him, it's almost like she's fallen for him?" Gao Xiaofu had been keeping close track of Wei Zhao's movements these past few days, and naturally knew of the Feng Xiaoxiao situation as well.

"Who knows?" Zhong Yongliang was puzzled too. "Maybe she's playing for keeps? Let's leave her to it—if she's willing to take Wei Zhao on, all the better. It saves him from making trouble for us again! My top priority right now is to win Gu Mengyao over before the college entrance exams!"

"Fair enough. Let them sort it out among themselves!" Gao Xiaofu nodded. "Brother Liang, Operation Shark is ready—we can move on it any time!"

"Good, well done!" Zhong Yongliang clapped him on the shoulder. "I'm sure that after this, Gu Mengyao's impression of me will change completely!"

Inside the Geili Fuyun Bar, Li Cihua met separately with two men of considerable influence in Songshan City: Zou Tiandi and Zhong Fabai.

Li Cihua moved in the underworld too, and was known as the underground boss of Songshan City, yet every man under his command was the elite of the elite—there were no low-rent street thugs in his ranks.

Li Cihua dealt in big business. He had no need for petty hoodlums shaking down shops for protection money; he had always devoted himself to high-end underworld enterprise—smuggling, drug trafficking, and this latest venture of selling human organs in partnership with An Liwen!

These were all big-money operations, far more lucrative than collecting protection money. This had given rise to a situation in Songshan City where, besides a figure like Li Cihua, there were two other hard men: one was Zou Tiandi, and the other Zhong Fabai.

One ran the entertainment business, the other the hotel trade, and both commanded no small number of henchmen—especially Zou Tiandi's eldest son, Zou Ruoguang, who was the gang boss of the North District.

Li Cihua looked down on the sort of games they played, while Zou Tiandi and Zhong Fabai could not touch Li Cihua's high-end operations, so the three coexisted peacefully and did not meddle in each other's affairs.

But this time, Li Cihua had no choice but to seek the cooperation of these two men.

Li Cihua went to Zou Tiandi first, because in his eyes Zou Tiandi's strength far surpassed Zhong Fabai's. Zou Tiandi's son was the gang boss of the North District.

"Brother Tiandi, forgive me for dragging you over here so early in the morning!" Li Cihua now needed Zou Tiandi's help, so his manner had turned warm. Hearing from his men that Zou Tiandi had arrived, he hurried to his feet and went out to greet him. "Eh? And this young gentleman is...?"

"Ha ha, Brother Cihua, this is my younger son, Zou Ruoming. I brought him along to see a bit of the world!" Zou Tiandi was thoroughly disappointed in his eldest, Zou Ruoguang—the boy was spineless, no match for his younger son Zou Ruoming. So it seemed the successor would have to be this younger son. Zou Tiandi had therefore changed his strategy: no longer would he have Zou Ruoming simply bury himself in his studies; he meant to begin grooming him as his heir.

"Oh? So this is the Second Young Master Zou. Heh heh, a fine-looking young man indeed!" Li Cihua nodded with a smile.

"Thank you for your praise, Uncle Cihua!" Zou Ruoming was undoubtedly thrilled. His father had finally agreed to start grooming him—and on his very first outing, he had been brought to meet a figure of such weight!

Zou Ruoming had long heard of Li Cihua—the undisputed underground boss of Songshan City!

"Brother Cihua, may I ask why you've called me here? Is there some business you'd like to throw a brother's way?" Zou Tiandi and Li Cihua had always kept to their own wells and never crossed into each other's waters, so their relations were cordial enough.

"Brother Tiandi, let's not beat around the bush. I've called you here because there is indeed a piece of business I'd like to discuss with you." Li Cihua did not mince words—they were all men of the underworld; there was no need for roundabout talk.

"Oh? What business?" Zou Tiandi had been stewing in gloom these past few days. Wei Zhao had said he would no longer trouble them, but he still could not help worrying. Now that business had come knocking, it might lift his spirits a little.

"You know something of who I am, I imagine," Li Cihua said with a smile. "A junior of the man behind me wants to open a real estate company here, but he's short on manpower. I wonder if Brother Tiandi might be interested?"

"Manpower? You mean..." Zou Tiandi was taken aback for a moment. If he could forge ties with the big boss behind Li Cihua, would his family's business not soar to greatness? The question was, what had they seen in him? Zou Tiandi knew his own limits—he was good at the entertainment business, but he had never so much as touched real estate.

"Demolition clearances," Li Cihua said with a smile. "You know as well as I do that to clear a site smoothly at a low price, you have to use certain methods. I don't have the men for that sort of work, so I thought of bringing Brother Tiandi in on it!"

"Demolition clearances? That's no problem at all!" Zou Tiandi breathed a sigh of relief. What was so hard about clearing a site? Have Zou Ruoguang take a squad of men and give those holdout tenants a good scare—wouldn't that do the trick?

"So, Brother Tiandi, you're agreeing to this matter?" Li Cihua was still quite confident about it. After all, the work he wanted Zou Tiandi to do was not difficult; it should be something the man was rather good at.

"There shouldn't be any problem!" Zou Tiandi nodded. "Do you know which plot of land that young master wants to develop?"

"The shantytown!" Li Cihua said. "That area is huge—there's a lot to be made there."

"Oh, the shantytown. That's a good spot, no problem at all..." Zou Tiandi was just about to agree when Zou Ruoming pulled him back.

"Dad, we're not taking this job!" Zou Ruoming was afraid his father would agree on impulse, and hurried to stop him.

"Ruoming, what are you doing?" Zou Tiandi was taken aback, and immediately somewhat displeased. "What's the matter with you, boy? You're usually bold enough—how is it that now, when it comes to something illegal, you don't dare?"

"Dad! Listen to me—it's not that I don't dare do something illegal! It's Tang Zhi. Tang Zhi lives in the shantytown..." Zou Ruoming was anxious and rushed to explain. He had pursued Tang Zhi before, so naturally he had learned the details of her family background, and thus it was only normal that he knew she lived in the shantytown.

"What?!" Zou Tiandi was stunned as well. Tang Zhi—wasn't she Wei Zhao's girlfriend? She lived in the shantytown? Cold sweat instantly broke out on Zou Tiandi's forehead. Thank goodness his son had reminded him in time; otherwise, the consequences would have been unthinkable.