Chapter 804 — The Overbearing Heir

"Our terms are simple. We don't want money — all we ask is that you build us a fully equipped orphanage somewhere else, to our specifications, and we'll hand this one over to you." Yu Xiaoke stated her conditions outright; this was something she had agreed upon with the old director long in advance.

Developers had come to the orphanage now and then over the years to discuss demolition, but every time the rebuilding plan Yu Xiaoke laid out was so complex that there was no profit left in it for them, and the talks had always stalled there.

By now Zhao Qibing had noticed Yu Xiaoke too, and his thieving eyes crawled back and forth over her body. What a beauty! This girl looked superb — and she was from the orphanage as well? Zhao Qibing's heart began to itch. Ever since his legs had been broken he had not touched a woman for a long time, and now, seeing a top-tier beauty like Yu Xiaoke, he was practically drooling.

"That can be arranged — but I think you're quite something. Come work as my secretary, and whatever terms you name then, I'll agree to them all." Zhao Qibing leered at Yu Xiaoke as he spoke. It was only a casual promise; once he actually had her, who would care about terms or conditions?

"Sorry, I can't leave the orphanage. You'd better find someone else." Yu Xiaoke shot Zhao Qibing a look of disgust and turned him down flat.

"Don't be ungrateful and refuse a toast only to drink a forfeit!" Zhong Fabai had not expected the people in this rundown orphanage to be so stiff-necked. They really didn't know what was good for them. "We're talking to you nicely now. Since you don't want to talk sensibly, then just wait and see."

"Oh? So you want to threaten an old woman?" The old director gave a cold laugh and turned to Li Cihua. "Li Cihua, you're a name to be reckoned with on the Songshan City underworld, but I'm not afraid of you either. Over the years, more than one boss has cast a greedy eye on my orphanage. Do you know why they gave up?"

Li Cihua was taken aback. He glanced at the old director, puzzled. Could there be something hidden here? Could there be some power standing behind this orphanage?

"Zou Tiandi had a man under him named Yan Bo, a skilled hand of the Yellow Rank," the old director said mildly. "Zou Tiandi also entertained ideas about the orphanage, but after weighing things up, he gave them up..."

"You... you know about Yellow Rank matters?" Li Cihua stared at the old director in disbelief. To be sure, Yellow Rank strength was no secret to a man like Li Cihua — he had once had two Yellow Rank experts under him, though that madman Wei Zhao had killed them.

"This old woman is untalented, but she too is Yellow Rank." The old director's aura surged in an instant, abruptly pressing down on Li Cihua, Zhong Fabai, and Zhao Qibing until they all felt they could barely breathe. They were not cultivators and could not precisely gauge an opponent's rank and strength, but the old director's aura was indeed like that of those cultivators!

This time Li Cihua no longer doubted the old director's words. He had never imagined that a Yellow Rank expert could be hidden away in this little orphanage! No wonder the place had stood here all these years without being torn down — so there had been something to fear after all!

"Yellow Rank?" Zhao Qibing gave a cold laugh. "My father is already an early-stage Earth Rank expert, and my grandfather stands at the peak of late-stage Earth Rank. What the hell is one Yellow Rank expert worth?"

What Zhao Qibing said was true enough. His father, Zhao Guangyin, was already at early-stage Earth Rank, while the family's Old Master Zhao stood at the peak of late-stage Earth Rank, and was at present seeking the opportunity to break through Earth Rank and step onto the Heavenly Way.

But to break through from Earth Rank to Heavenly Rank was a chasm; many people searched their whole lives and never found their way across.

Still, even if not Heavenly Rank, Earth Rank was frightening enough! Zhao Qibing was impatient to seize this orphanage, and he could not let himself be cowed by some Yellow Rank. He had no choice but to trot out his father's and grandfather's strength to intimidate the other side.

Otherwise, as a bastard son, recklessly bandying his family background about in public was taboo. If the Zhao family got wind of it, they would certainly have something to say to Zhao Qibing.

And if Uncle Zhu had not been injured, and if Zhang Long and Li Yao were not dead, Zhao Qibing would not have announced his lineage like this either. But now all his skilled men were gone, and he had not brought the Medicine King along on this trip. He could hardly slink away in disgrace, could he?

The old director had thought her strength would overawe these visitors, but she had never expected that the young man with the broken legs beside Li Cihua would claim his father was an early-stage Earth Rank expert and his grandfather a peak late-stage Earth Rank expert. The old director was stunned on the spot.

Earlier, the old director had paid Zhao Qibing no mind; she had only watched Li Cihua. But now it seemed that if this young man was not boasting, then he was telling the truth.

"Might I ask your father's esteemed name?" the old director asked after a moment's thought.

"My surname is Zhao. My name is Zhao Qibing!" Zhao Qibing did not carelessly give his father's name. He was not so foolish; he knew he was a bastard son, and that on some matters it was enough to hint and go no further. He knew that if the old director was also a woman of the jianghu, she could not fail to understand what his surname meant, and would surely guess the rest.

"Zhao..." The old director's expression changed at once, and she stared at Zhao Qibing in disbelief. "You are from the Hidden Zhao family..."

"Hmph! There are some things you'd be better off not knowing so much about!" Zhao Qibing sneered. "I'll give you two choices. My Qibing Real Estate has a plot of land in the suburbs twice the size of this one. If you agree, we'll trade it to you of equal value. Otherwise, we'll compensate you with a sum of money based on current land prices, and once you have the money, you can make your own way in the world!"

"You..." The old director was so furious at Zhao Qibing's overbearing words that she could not speak, yet she dared not act rashly. She was, after all, a woman of the jianghu, and she knew well the power the Hidden Zhao family represented — a colossal force that even the four great families and five lesser families of the mundane world dared not provoke!

Of course, what the old director did not know was that although Zhao Qibing's words were frightening enough, his status was merely that of an illegitimate son of Zhao Guangyin, the head of the Zhao family — one who had never even won much recognition from the old master of the Zhao household.

"I've said my piece. The rest is up to you to consider!" Zhao Qibing sneered. "Remember what I told you — don't refuse a toast only to be forced to drink a forfeit! Otherwise, you'll have only yourselves to blame for the consequences!"

"What kind of overbearing tyrant are you? Have you no sense of reason?" Yu Xiaoke had no idea what this Zhao family business was about, nor why the old director had suddenly given in, but she could not simply stand by and watch him be bullied.