"Young friend, wait a moment."
Li Chonglou had just left the grand hall with Xu Lie when a cynical voice called out from behind them.
Without turning around, he knew it was Cao Chunhua.
Li Chonglou stopped, turned, and saw the elegant lady he was with walking briskly out the door, her arm linked with his.
That shifty-eyed, somewhat infuriating old face was full of smiles.
"Elder Cao, something the matter?" Li Chonglou asked.
His senior sister had instructed him to entertain Cao Chunhua before she left.
However, this fellow had pretended to test him upon entering the shop, a case of 'strangers who meet on the road become friends'.
When it came time to arrange things for him, he had gone off to mingle with this beauty.
Truly, age may wither the body, but not the spirit; he was still a youth at heart, until death.
Li Chonglou discreetly sized up the woman, feeling a measure of admiration for Cao Chunhua's taste.
He hadn't paid much attention during the auction.
Now, closer up, he saw that the woman was quite plump, her forehead full, her eyes shining with spirit. While not stunningly beautiful, her temperament was undoubtedly poised and self-assured.
Though she wore no particularly valuable ornaments, she exuded a nobility unimaginable to ordinary people.
Even Lü Yunxu fell short in this regard.
After all, time was the best gift for growth; this woman was at least twenty years older than Lü Yunxu.
A mature woman, yet her charm had not diminished in the slightest.
If he remembered correctly, she had bid on two items at the auction.
The woman smiled slightly in response as Li Chonglou observed her.
"A small matter. Let's talk elsewhere. I'm hungry, my treat." Cao Chunhua displayed a rare generosity, perhaps wanting to impress the lady.
Li Chonglou understood the unspoken: "My treat for both of you."
The four of them took a taxi and headed straight for Feng Lin Xue.
"Young friend, with your immense capabilities, why don't you even own a car?" On the way, Cao Chunhua, squeezed in the back with three men, wore a look of dismay. "The Zhen Dong father and daughter have treated you too poorly."
"Why don't you quit working for them and come to Yong'an with me?"
"I'll get you a Mercedes!"
Yong'an City, the capital of Huizhou Province, was at least five to ten times larger than Qin Zhou, known as the thoroughfare of eight provinces. Its economic level and development potential were far beyond Qin Zhou's.
Cao Chunhua's words were not idle talk.
Ever since witnessing Li Chonglou's prowess at the pawnshop, he had harbored a desire to poach him.
Later, during a prison visit, he mentioned this to Lin Zhendong.
The reply he received was: "Feel free to try."
After witnessing the spectacle at the auction house again, how could he not be tempted?
This poaching was utterly without restraint.
"Aren't you afraid your senior sister will come after you for poaching her?" Li Chonglou asked with a faint smile.
"Oh, him, he sees something good and wants to possess it, never considering the consequences." Before Cao Chunhua could reply, the woman in the passenger seat joked meaningfully, "But he's genuinely taken with you; in just one afternoon, he's mentioned you to me at least seven or eight times."
"If you're willing to come to Yong'an, we won't mistreat you."
Cao Chunhua chuckled sheepishly upon hearing this, appearing exceedingly pleased.
Li Chonglou chuckled inwardly.
This old fellow was quite interesting, and the woman he found was also rather generous and good-humored, not a common person.
He replied, half-truthfully and half-jokingly, "Both of you, I will go to Yong'an one day, but not now."
"Elder Cao, I've noted your promise."
"Why are you noting mine? I'm noting hers," Cao Chunhua winked and pouted at the woman.
The woman playfully glared back at him and took a business card from her bag, handing it to Li Chonglou. "Take this. Call me anytime when you come to Yong'an."
The card bore only a name and a phone number.
"Xiao Yun!"
Titles and the like were left blank.
Simple, yet not ordinary.
"Sister Xiao, I'll take the card." A glint flashed in Li Chonglou's eyes as he pocketed the card.
A surname of Xiao, from Yong'an, coupled with such a unique style – a business card that one would not dare to present without strong backing and power.
It made him think of something.
The Xiao family of Yong'an.
One of the eight great families in the country, unmatched in strength and historical longevity within the entire Huizhou Province.
This woman was likely from the Xiao family.
No wonder she exuded an air of nobility that was hard for ordinary people to approach.
Yet, in all aspects, she appeared very ordinary. Without this business card, even Li Chonglou could not have discerned her identity.
Such people were truly formidable.
"Kid, you call me Elder Cao, and her Sister Xiao, clearly trying to slap my face, aren't you?" Cao Chunhua had strong reservations about Li Chonglou's address.
But it was ineffective.
Xu Lie, squeezed beside them, listened to their conversation, wanting to laugh but daring not to, his face turning red with suppressed mirth.
They finally arrived at Feng Lin Xue.
Throughout the meal, they discussed nothing else. Xiao Yun primarily sought Li Chonglou's advice on antiques, while Cao Chunhua engaged Xu Lie in drinking.
By the end of the meal, Xiao Yun's gaze towards Li Chonglou was filled with complete admiration.
"Chonglou, I've had a rich life and met all sorts of people, but you are the first one I feel is so pure and simple, yet so unfathomable," Xiao Yun praised sincerely, taking a sip. "No wonder Old Cao values you so highly."
"Sister Xiao, you are the same," Li Chonglou returned the compliment subtly, making Xiao Yun beam with joy.
As the meal neared its end,
Li Chonglou excused himself to use the restroom.
While attending to nature's call, he faintly heard a slightly inebriated voice from the adjacent stall: "That compass, I've already arranged for someone to handle it."
"The matter at the hospital last time was a minor slip-up, it won't affect our Hengmen, don't worry."
"As for the Jiang family and that live-in son-in-law, they're just a bunch of trash. Once I get my hands on the item, I'll deal with them slowly."
"Okay, that's all..."
*Bang!*
Before he could finish, the stall door was kicked open by Li Chonglou.
A middle-aged man with a fashionable hairstyle, deep nasolabial folds, appearing to be in his forties, and an extremely greasy demeanor, sat on the toilet, staring dumbfounded at Li Chonglou, who had burst in.
The next second.
Li Chonglou snatched the phone directly from him. Before the man could react, a hand clamped onto his neck.
He was pinned against the toilet.
Holding the phone, Li Chonglou asked coldly, "Hengmen, is it? I am one of the Jiang family you intend to deal with. Your man is in my hands; come out and meet me."
*Click.*
The call was hung up as soon as he finished speaking.
Trying to call again, the number was already turned off.
"The assassination attempt on Zheng Xiumei at the hospital a couple of days ago, was that you?" Li Chonglou pocketed the phone, shoving his face close to the greasy middle-aged man, and asked with a chilling voice.
The middle-aged man's eyes bulged, and his body trembled uncontrollably.
He tried to struggle, but it felt like being gripped by a vice; he couldn't move an inch.
His face turned purple and almost breathless from being choked.
He could only weakly kick his legs.
Li Chonglou deliberately tightened his grip, showing no intention of loosening it to allow him to answer.
The cold glint in his eyes was filled with soul-freezing killing intent.
He had been desperately searching for the culprit who wanted to harm his mother, even suspecting Lu Weishen had sent someone.
He never expected that by treating Cao Chunhua to a meal, the truth would be revealed in the restroom.
Hengmen!
They dared to provoke him.
They were tired of living.