"Speaking of which, this person's background is quite significant. His surname is Wu," Lu Weishen added more tea to Li Chonglou's cup, pausing deliberately as he spoke.
Wu?
Li Chonglou's eyelids twitched violently at the mention of the surname.
A strange, indescribable feeling welled up within him.
Someone he didn't know had appeared and was asking to look after him. Could it be him?
He felt a faint sense of anticipation but was unwilling to believe it was true.
Until Lu Weishen slowly revealed a name: "His name is Wu Zhengjiang, the second-in-command of the Wu family in the capital, the strongest of the eight great families."
"I honestly never imagined you could make friends with someone like that."
"The waves behind the Yangtze River push the waves before; I am old now..."
As he spoke these words, a profound sense of helplessness surfaced in Lu Weishen's eyes. It wasn't an act; it was genuine.
He was stunned when Wu Zhengjiang came to Qinzhou looking for him.
As a master in the antique appraisal circle, he naturally visited the capital often and had heard much about the Wu family.
Although they were also one of the eight great families, the Wu family was completely different from the others.
Other families either had centuries of foundation, accumulated slowly over time.
Or they were engaged in business for generations, accumulating vast fortunes.
But the Wu family had suddenly risen to prominence twenty years ago, and then soared like a phoenix, replacing the Wang family, one of the original eight great families.
They had swept through Wangjing and shaken the nation, becoming the head of the eight great families.
Then they quickly became low-key.
However, anyone with some experience had heard of the Wu family's terrifying power; no one dared to provoke them.
For more than a decade, due to their extreme discretion, they seemed to have been overlooked and forgotten by many.
But Lu Weishen was no ordinary person; he knew very well how terrifying the Wu family was.
He had initially thought Wu Zhengjiang had come to inquire about matters in the antique appraisal circle, but unexpectedly, the first thing he said was to ask him to stop opposing Li Chonglou from then on and to retreat three paces whenever Li Chonglou was present.
If anyone else had made such a request, Lu Weishen would have thrown them out on the spot.
But the conditions offered by the Wu family were something he could not refuse, and indeed, dared not refuse.
Even now, he couldn't figure out what relationship Li Chonglou had with the Wu family.
But it didn't matter; what was important was that he followed their instructions.
"Wu Zhengjiang, do you have a photo of him?" Li Chonglou's confusion deepened.
"Yes." Lu Weishen opened his phone and found a photo of a middle-aged man with a solemn expression, a square face, and an imposing demeanor, taken with him. He handed it to Li Chonglou.
After looking at the photo, Li Chonglou's brow furrowed even tighter.
He hadn't seen this person before. Although he had interacted with the Wu family in the capital in his previous life, it was only superficially.
Moreover, he hadn't even been to Wangjing in this life.
Why would the second-in-command of the Wu family specifically travel to a small place like Qinzhou to ask Lu Weishen to look after him?
This was too strange.
Even with his vivid imagination, he couldn't connect any clear threads.
But he didn't need to show his doubts to Lu Weishen.
He had never considered Lu Weishen a rival. His attitude was unimportant; as he had said, he was old.
So, he relaxed his brow, drained his tea, and said, "Since you are sincere about reconciliation, I have no objections."
"From now on, with regard to the businesses of my master's lineage, you will retreat three paces."
"Keep Lin Ao in check. If necessary, I will manage him for you."
With that, he stood up and left directly.
He had nothing to say to Lu Weishen and didn't want to linger.
He would rather look at antiques with Zhou Yacheng than deal with this old fox.
Watching Li Chonglou's retreating back, Lu Weishen's eyelids twitched, his expression turning ugly, but he dared not retaliate.
Li Chonglou himself was not a threat in his eyes, but the Wu family was something he didn't even dare to provoke.
Otherwise, it would be self-destruction.
As Li Chonglou went downstairs, he brushed past Lin Ao. His peripheral vision caught Lin Ao's stubborn, unwilling, and hateful gaze, and he pretended not to see it and walked away.
Lu Weishen was not a formidable opponent; he was old and had many concerns.
But Lin Ao was different. He had fallen into Li Chonglou's hands several times yet dared to provoke him. He was young and impetuous, disregarding consequences.
He would have to find an opportunity to completely subdue Lin Ao later, otherwise, when he wasn't in Qinzhou, Lin Ao might cause trouble.
Didn't Lu Weishen say he was going to join the association and give the presidency to him?
Then let's see if his words were true!
He didn't believe Lu Weishen's words, but that didn't stop him from wanting to take control of the antique appraisal association.
Such a monopolistic organization, if not kept in his own hands, was bound to cause unforeseen circumstances.
Today was a good opportunity.
"Zhou Yacheng!" As Li Chonglou got downstairs, he saw the playboy getting cozy with a beautiful young woman.
"Hey, Junior Uncle, I'm here, I'm here." Zhou Yacheng heard the call and raised his hand high, beckoning, "Let me introduce you, this is Yang Qian, the beautiful president of Yunhai Group."
"This is my Junior Uncle, the renowned Master Li Chonglou in our Qinzhou antique appraisal circle."
Hearing Li Chonglou's name, the beauty looked him up and down and smiled, "You're that Master Li, the former son-in-law of the Jiang family?"
"My goodness, I've heard people mention you often. I didn't expect to see you here today."
Yang Qian's demeanor was like an outsider seeing a giant panda for the first time.
It wasn't adoration or respect, but mockery and amusement.
This feeling made Li Chonglou very uncomfortable. This woman was a bit pretentious. Her temperament was far inferior to Lü Yunxu's, and her beauty was infinitely inferior to his wife's.
Zhou Yacheng really wasn't picky.
Li Chonglou was not a man of good temper. He ignored her completely and said, "Zhou Yacheng, weren't you going to pick out a gift for your girlfriend? Let's go."
This blatant disregard immediately made Yang Qian's expression freeze. Her pretty face flushed with anger as she muttered, "How rude. As expected, just a useless son-in-law with no manners."
She spoke without restraint, and though she knew she had said the wrong thing, she didn't take Li Chonglou seriously at all.
The Jiang family was also just a small family before, and now they were bankrupt. He was just a son-in-law, what "Junior Uncle."
Zhou Yacheng was probably just teasing him.
She had arrived late, so she hadn't seen the scene between Li Chonglou and Lin Ao.
Otherwise, she wouldn't have thought that way.
Slap!
As soon as she finished speaking, Zhou Yacheng, who had been smiling playfully, backhanded her and slapped Yang Qian hard across the face.
The impact sent powder and rouge flying, leaving a bright red slap print.
This commotion immediately drew the attention of many people.
They all cast their gazes over.
"Bitch, what did you say? He's my Junior Uncle. You call him useless, which means you're cursing me too, understand?" Zhou Yacheng said coldly.
He was a spoiled young master, and in the past, he had caused a lot of trouble for women with Tang Xiuzhu and others.
Now that Tang Xiuzhu was dead, his temper had calmed down a lot, but Yang Qian actually dared to insult Li Chonglou to his face.
Wasn't this courting death?
The idea of not hitting women simply didn't exist for him.
He was by no means a gentleman, nor was he an old monster with a deep cultivation of mind and spirit like Li Chonglou.
He was just a rich second generation.
He would mess with anyone he didn't like; it was ingrained in him and had become a habit.
In a word, his insult left Yang Qian stunned, covering her face in bewilderment.
Li Chonglou felt no pity. This woman was truly too pretentious.
However, he had more important things to do now and no time to bother with such people.
He stepped forward and kicked Zhou Yacheng, "Had enough fun? Let's go!"