Chapter 1 Some Hotel in Chuanfu, Hua District

Inside a high-end private room, a clean round table was laden with delicacies. Jiangzhou, wearing a smile, was entertaining some friends. The dinner was halfway through. An empty bottle of baijiu sat to the side, and several young and beautiful waitresses stood by, ready to pour drinks at any moment.

Jiangzhou wasn't usually one for extravagance, but the guests he was hosting today were important, so he had to put on a bit of a show.

"Dring dring!"

His phone suddenly rang. Jiangzhou glanced at it. It was Lao Wang. He gave everyone an apologetic gesture and answered the call.

At first, Jiangzhou was still smiling, but as the call went on, the smile on his face faded, eventually turning rather grim.

Seemingly reaching a critical point, Jiangzhou stood up, frowned slightly, and said to everyone, "Sorry, please continue eating. I need to step out for a moment."

The others nodded. Jiangzhou turned and left the private room, phone in hand, quickly walking to a nearby empty room and entering.

Closing the door, Jiangzhou sat on the sofa in the room, his face very gloomy. With a hint of impatience, he loosened his tight collar and said into the phone, "Lao Wang, what are you playing at?! You wanted Wu Boxin, didn't you? He's yours now, right? You said you couldn't get along with the Quantong Bureau and the An faction, so we set up the Huaxing Trading Company just for you, right? You wanted special privileges, you got them. You wanted money, you got it. Now you have this huge pie, and only the Huagong Association gets to eat it. All the other factions are out. And you can still give me internal strife?! Are you messing with me? Does the upper echelon's attitude make you think we're being too polite? Do we need to put a leash on you to make you behave?"

Jiangzhou's style was usually easygoing, with a soft exterior and a firm interior. For him to speak so bluntly showed his anger and dissatisfaction with the Huagong Association.

Lao Wang's voice was low and somber. He explained to Jiangzhou, "This matter has nothing to do with the Wang family. From beginning to end, we've been cooperating with Huo Dongsheng. It's Huo Dongsheng who made the first move against us, and he's doing it ruthlessly. He's trying to kill people right off the bat, showing no mercy. Young Master Jiang, the seriousness of this situation has far exceeded your imagination. The immediate priority is for you to help Wang Xiao quickly resolve the internal chaos."

Jiangzhou was amused by his anger. He silently loosened his collar, not directly responding.

The other end of the phone was silent for a moment, then said slowly, "Young Master Jiang, the lives of the entire Wang family, dozens of people, are now in your hands."

Jiangzhou's face was dark. After a brief pause, he said, "This is a big matter. Wait for my call."

He hung up the phone, sat on the sofa, and smoked irritably.

After thinking for a while, Jiangzhou finally made up his mind. He stubbed out his cigarette in the ashtray, picked up his phone, found Wu Han's number, and made a video call.

The phone rang for a long time before being answered. Wu Han was wearing a clean polo shirt, holding the phone in one hand and a golf club in the other, smiling as he asked, "What's up, brother? Missed me?"

Soon, Wu Han noticed Jiangzhou's gloomy expression. He immediately put away his smile, tossed the golf club to a nearby caddy, waved him away, and said with a bitter expression, "Don't tell me there's trouble overseas again?"

"It's like this..." Jiangzhou told Wu Han everything Lao Wang had said.

After listening, Wu Han's face also turned extremely ugly, and he cursed, "There's never a moment of peace! With outsiders, they fight outsiders; without outsiders, they start fighting each other. Fucking hell, we've been too lenient with them!"

"What do you think?" Jiangzhou asked softly, lighting another cigarette.

"I think we can't trust the Wang family's side of the story," Wu Han said after thinking for a moment. "We're far away from the mountains and the emperor. How could we possibly know everything that's happening over there? You're the leader, the helmsman. You can't just start a fire based on the Wang family's word! That's too rash!"

Jiangzhou agreed with his opinion. They were the masterminds behind the Huagong Association. As the helmsman, he couldn't make a decision based on just one phone call. That would be too naive.

Wu Han continued, "My suggestion is this: If there's a conflict over there, one test will reveal it."

"You'll test it?" Jiangzhou asked.

"Sure," Wu Han said casually, a true strategist. "I'll call Wang Xiao and Huo Dongsheng respectively and invite them to Jia City for a meeting. If someone doesn't come, then there's no way to salvage the situation. If they can talk, then the conflict hasn't reached the point of no return, and we still need to maintain balance."

Jiangzhou carefully considered Wu Han's words, thinking they made some sense. For internal factions, they might have a life-or-death relationship with their opponents, but for the leader, unless the internal situation was completely broken and he had to choose a side, he would definitely choose a balancing strategy. Because once the internal fire started, the loss would definitely be on his side.

Jiangzhou thought for a long time. "Okay, you show your face and call them. I'll contact The Dragon City Rises. If things really reach the point of no return, we need to deal with the problem quickly."

"Okay, I'll contact them."

The two ended the call, and Jiangzhou found another number in his contacts.

...

Yanbei, a certain golf course.

Wu Han had lost all interest in playing golf. He gently rubbed his cheeks and dialed Huo Dongsheng's number.

The phone was answered quickly. Wu Han asked directly, "Chairman Huo, still awake?"

"Still awake," Huo Dongsheng asked as if nothing had happened. "Young Master Wu, is there something you need?"

"Chairman Huo," Wu Han paused, frowning. "I heard that Wang An was arrested during an operation. Did a misunderstanding happen between you and the Wang family?"

The question was very direct, surprising Huo Dongsheng. He hadn't expected Wu Han to be so blunt, so he continued to play dumb. "What happened to the Wang family? I just received the news about Wang An's incident... I was just about to think of a way to rescue him. What misunderstanding? Wang Xiao didn't call me?"

Facing this old fox, Wu Han also showed enough maturity. Since the other party hadn't said anything clearly, he took the opportunity to respond, "Wang An is a core member of the Wang family. Wang Xiao's emotions must be fluctuating a lot now that he's in trouble. How about this? I'll be in Jia City tomorrow. You two come over, and we'll talk face-to-face, clear up the misunderstanding, and then work together to rescue Wang An."

"Okay, I'll arrange it now, Young Master Wu," Huo Dongsheng agreed without hesitation.

"Then that's settled. See you in Jia City." Wu Han hung up the phone, his face instantly turning gloomy again.

At the same time, Huo Dongsheng put down the phone and stood by the window in his study, feeling somewhat hesitant. He could sense that the upper echelons still wanted to maintain balance.

Wang An definitely didn't have concrete evidence of his own actions, at most just speculation. So, Huo Dongsheng was also considering whether or not to accept this invitation.

This was a good opportunity to stall for time!

...

The Dragon City Rises, Quantong Bureau.

Su Tianyu sat at his desk, processing a pile of documents.

"Dring dring!"

The phone on the desk suddenly rang. Su Tianyu picked it up and saw that it was Jiangzhou calling.