Chapter 1 The Intrigue

Inside the Tianhong Port conference room, Xu Hu hung up the phone. Bao Cheng immediately asked, "What's wrong? Who was that?"

Xu Hu put down his phone, placed both hands on the conference table, paused for a moment, and replied, "It was Dong Zheng. He said Gu Lao's death was suspicious, and Wei Xiangzuo will be back tonight for a face-to-face confrontation with me."

Everyone was shocked. Bao Cheng stood up abruptly and cursed, "What's there to confront! It's obvious, Dong Zheng is siding with Lao Wei. He's coming tonight to mess you up."

Li Hongze looked at the two of them, his brow furrowed. He unconsciously linked this to Xue Ping'an's departure earlier and felt a growing sense of unease.

"No need to think about anything else, there's definitely going to be a fight," Bao Cheng said bluntly. "Going after Yu Jinrong now, I don't think it's necessary anymore, because they'll definitely be prepared. If we're going to do something, we might as well wait for Lao Wei at the Zha Nan docks and let him come in. If we take him out, Yu Jinrong will quiet down too."

After receiving Dong Zheng's call, Xu Hu actually felt less uneasy. Because Wei Xiangzuo hadn't shown his face before, he didn't know what Yu Jinrong was up to, so he had no idea what was going on and couldn't accurately guess what would happen.

But now that Dong Zheng was involved, Xu Hu could see their purpose clearly. He stood at the conference table, paused, and said, "Bao Cheng is right, Wei Xiangzuo is coming back to rebel, but I don't think he has enough cards. Dong Zheng alone won't change anything."

"What do you want to do?" Li Hongze asked.

"Li, come outside for a moment. I want to talk to you about something," Xu Hu said, and walked out.

Lu Feng watched the two leave, smoking his cigarette and muttering, "What kind of meeting is this? Every time it gets to a critical moment, they go outside to talk privately. What are we sitting here for? To guess riddles?!"

Li Xing glanced at Lu Feng and cursed irritably, "Can you just shut up?!"

...

Outside the door.

Xu Hu looked at Li Hongze and said directly, "Lao Li, Yu Jinrong's intentions are very clear. He wants to support Wei Xiangzuo and use him to plant his flag in Zha Nan. So tonight, he's betting everything on Lao Wei."

"Yes," Li Hongze agreed with Xu Hu's assessment.

"You, me, and Longkou, the three powers remain unchanged. Wei Xiangzuo can only get Dong Zheng to help him at most. I don't think he has enough cards," Xu Hu said again. "If we take down Lao Wei in Zha Nan, Yu Jinrong will be finished too. Because whoever loses tonight will have to answer to the authorities, right?"

Li Hongze pondered for a moment, then looked up at Xu Hu and asked, "What if, besides Dong Zheng, someone else from the dockworkers' association jumps out to support Wei Xiangzuo?"

"Won't happen," Xu Hu shook his head.

"What makes you so confident?" Li Hongze asked bluntly.

Xu Hu originally didn't want to reveal everything, but he knew that if he couldn't give Li Hongze a reason he couldn't refuse, the latter might pull out.

Li Hongze wasn't Xu Hu's father, nor was he his mentor. Their cooperation was purely for profit, so if Li Hongze felt things were about to fall apart, he would definitely withdraw.

Xu Hu stared at Li Hongze and said in a low voice, "Because the General Association will definitely support me. Let me tell you, even though Dong Zheng is here, he might not dare to move. Do you believe that?"

"Why?" Li Hongze asked, surprised.

"My fight with Wei Xiangzuo is an internal conflict. The General Association might not bother to interfere. But Yu Jinrong's blatant support for Lao Wei changes the nature of things," Xu Hu said concisely. "Once Lao Wei is in power, the Yu family, with their political background, will take the opportunity to enter Zha Nan. This will definitely infringe on the overall interests of the dockworkers' association. The higher-ups will never allow that."

Li Hongze immediately understood what he meant: "But I'm also cooperating with you, and I'm an outsider too!"

"That's different. You're cooperating with me to make money in Zha Nan, but the Yu family wants to plant their flag. Those are two different things," Xu Hu whispered his final card. "Why are the members of the Elders Council supporting me? Because the higher-ups have already talked to me. The Big Boss has tacitly approved me to take over Zha Nan, so no one else from other districts will dare to move. Dong Zheng might not even dare to move."

Li Hongze hesitated after hearing Xu Hu's words.

Xu Hu wouldn't let Li Hongze drag things out, so he immediately took out his phone: "Or I can call the vice president of the dockworkers' association in front of you?"

Li Hongze waved his hand and said, "No need, I'll help you."

"Immediately get your people into the port," Xu Hu replied immediately.

"No, I'm going back to get people," Li Hongze was a cautious man. Although he wanted to support Xu Hu, he didn't want to stay in the port any longer.

Hearing this, Xu Hu grabbed Li Hongze's wrist, stared into his eyes, and said, "Lao Li, Xue Ping'an is already gone. You can't leave now, otherwise...!"

Li Hongze understood Xu Hu's meaning instantly. He thought for a moment and nodded, "Alright, I won't leave. I'll let Li Xing and Lu Feng go back, and have Du Shengming bring people over."

Xu Hu was quite touched when he heard this. "Lao Li, as long as I, Xu Hu, secure my position in Zha Nan, I'll definitely fulfill my promise to you as soon as possible!"

Li Hongze nodded. "Let's go back."

Two minutes later, the two walked into the conference room. Xu Hu said to Bao Cheng, "Get people from Longkou over here."

Bao Cheng was different from Li Hongze. The latter was the ultimate authority of Changqing Company, while he was just a temporary leader. He needed Xu Hu's support too much, so he could only obey and replied, "Okay, I'll call people."

Li Hongze looked at Lu Feng, Li Xing, "You two go back and get people into the port."

Lu Feng blinked. "Okay, I'll go now."

"What about me?" Li Xing asked.

"Call your team over," Li Hongze said softly. "You only show up if there's a problem."

Li Xing nodded. "Understood."

After everyone communicated for a few sentences, Li Xing and Lu Feng left one after the other, and Li Hongze, in front of everyone, called Du Shengming, one of Changqing Company's top lieutenants. "Get some men, come to the port."

"Got it, Boss," the other party replied.

Li Hongze hung up the phone, put his hands in his pockets, looked at everyone, and said for Xu Hu, "Everyone contribute tonight, help Boss Xu out, and have some fun with the other side."

Inside the room, those who supported Xu Hu were relieved to see Li Hongze's reaction and smiled.

...

Fifteen minutes later.

Inside the Yu family's villa, Su Tianyu held his phone and asked, "Are you sure Changqing is sending people to the port? Okay, I understand."

After hanging up the phone, Su Tianyu immediately said to Yu Mingyuan, "Yuan-ge, call Wang Daolin and ask him to take a stroll on the road and keep a close eye on Li Xing."

"Okay," Yu Mingyuan nodded.