At nine in the evening, Chen Fan was lounging beside Su Yingxue, watching television with her.
Wang Dongdong returned at this moment, his face carrying a hint of alcohol.
"Dongdong's back, how was it?" Li Xiuying opened the door and asked Wang Dongdong.
Little Nannan also chimed in, "Uncle Dongdong, where's Auntie Wenwen?"
After spinning Little Nannan around a few times, Wang Dongdong said, "Brother, Wenwen's uncle wants to meet you."
"Meet me?"
Chen Fan was a little surprised. "What for?"
Wang Dongdong looked a bit sheepish and said, "I said I'm working for you!"
Chen Fan understood. Wang Dongdong must have bragged too outrageously, to the point that Miao Wenwen's family didn't believe his boasting and wanted to expose him.
However, Miao Wenwen, having been to Villa Number One, should have no doubt about this.
"Alright!" Chen Fan smiled. "Find a good place, book a table, and set a time to invite Wenwen's family for dinner."
Wang Dongdong was overjoyed. "Thank you, Big Brother, thank you, Big Brother!"
Wang Tingting, standing nearby, felt a pang of jealousy. "Wang Dongdong, you're calling Chen Fan so intimately. Have you forgotten you have an older sister?"
Wang Dongdong glanced at his elder sister and nodded seriously. "Anyway, this sister isn't much use, better to not have one!"
"Wang Dongdong, are you asking for a beating?"
Wang Tingting let out an angry roar and went to grab Wang Dongdong's ear.
Wang Dongdong quickly dodged, and they began to wrestle.
...
The next morning.
Shengshi Building.
"Who did you say? Su Yuhua?"
Upon hearing his secretary's report, Jiang Tiansheng's face showed surprise. "He came to Shengshi and is waiting in the lobby lounge?"
"Yes!" the secretary replied.
Jiang Tiansheng's expression turned peculiar.
Su Yuhua had chosen Shengshi Group as his target to establish his authority. After losing the business war, he came to his door, was he admitting defeat and begging for mercy?
He let out a laugh, intrigued. "Invite him up. I want to see what he's up to!"
Soon, after a knock on the door, Su Yuhua entered the office alone.
"Mr. Su, this is truly unexpected!"
Jiang Tiansheng, too lazy to have tea served, sat behind his luxurious desk and looked at Su Yuhua. "Mr. Su, are you perhaps here to ask me to show mercy?"
"You could say that!"
Without even an invitation to sit, Su Yuhua was unfazed. He stood before the desk and said, "Mr. Jiang, I, Su, can afford to lose this much money."
"But as the saying goes, to kill one thousand, you injure yourself eight hundred. Why don't we call a truce?"
Jiang Tiansheng sneered. "When Mr. Su attacked Shengshi, why didn't you think this way?"
"It wasn't even close to injuring myself eight hundred, at most one or two hundred. As for Mr. Su, you should consider how to explain to the members of your merchant association!"
Su Yuhua shook his head. "This round, Mr. Long is the one pulling the strings, isn't he? Mr. Jiang doesn't have the influence to make Long Teng cooperate with your actions unconditionally. The arrival and flow of goods into the market are all through Long Teng's channels!"
"So what?"
Jiang Tiansheng narrowed his eyes. "In my opinion, Mr. Su has only one choice: dissolve the merchant association and focus on managing your own Su Group and Yuhua Group!"
Su Yuhua smiled. "Actually, I didn't come here to discuss this. I want to ask if Mr. Jiang is interested in joining the Liangjiang Merchant Association. If Mr. Jiang is willing to come, the position of Chairman of the Liangjiang Merchant Association is vacant, and I, Su, am willing to step down!"
"Mr. Su, are you joking?"
This statement made Jiang Tiansheng pause for a moment, then he couldn't help but burst into laughter.
Wasn't this just admitting defeat?
He was even willing to hand over the chairman's position. Su Yuhua was nothing special!
A great sense of accomplishment welled up in his heart.
"I am serious!" Su Yuhua said. "My return is solely for wealth. I am truly unwilling to engage in a mutually destructive conflict!"
"Not interested!"
Jiang Tiansheng said coolly. "If Mr. Su resigns as Chairman of the Merchant Association and comes to my Shengshi Group, well, my group is still in need of a few cleaners!"
Su Yuhua glanced at Jiang Tiansheng. "Mr. Jiang, you are quite humorous. In that case, I bid you farewell!"
He turned and left the office.
Jiang Tiansheng couldn't help but laugh heartily.
Exiting the Shengshi headquarters, Su Yuhua got into a Bentley.
Yuan Liangping and Wen Zezhong were both in the car.
Looking at the Shengshi headquarters building, a sinister smile flickered in Su Yuhua's eyes.
"Begin the operation!"
"Have the major media outlets dig up Jiang Tiansheng's dark history and expose and reveal Jiang Tiansheng, this Hangzhou magnate!"
"Contact wealthy families like the Dai and Yang families, reclaim the usage rights of Shengshi's major shopping malls and stores, and cut off Shengshi's sales channels!"
"Finally... find locals to cause trouble, report problems with Shengshi products, and if there are no problems, create them!"
...
Xiling, a valley at the foot of Baowu Mountain.
This was a particularly unique village. The architecture of the village exuded a classical and elegant charm.
Most of these buildings were made of wood, with a small proportion of bricks and tiles.
Furthermore, the layout of the village, if viewed from above by a drone, would easily reveal that the buildings were arranged in an eight trigram formation, exuding a mysterious and profound aura.
Within this village, there were few people. Those occasionally seen were scattered individuals or small groups, appearing desolate and quiet.
In the center of the eight trigram formation formed by various buildings stood an old ancestral hall.
Above the main gate of the ancestral hall were four ancient seal characters, written with flowing brushstrokes and imposing power: Baowu Gongsun.
Gongsun was a surname, a very ancient one.
Baowu referred to Baowu Mountain. Within Xiling, this mountain was not grand but extended for hundreds of miles, rumored to be the spiritual脉 of Xiling.
At this moment, the gate of the Gongsun clan's ancestral hall was tightly shut. Outside the gate, a middle-aged man stood with his back bowed, as if he had been standing there for a long time.
If Xiang Jingzhu were present, she would recognize him as none other than Xu Yunhou, the patriarch of the Xu family.
He stood alone under this desolate building, his expression calm.
But his gaze was extremely firm, without the slightest hesitation or indecision.
He stood there for an hour.
Xu Yunhou showed a trace of disappointment.
It seemed he would have to wait in vain again today.
He had been coming to this place for nearly half a month, waiting here for an hour each day.
The patriarch of a century-old distinguished family, there were only a handful of people in the world who could make him wait so humbly.
But he knew that all his waiting would be worth it.
As long as the person inside the Gongsun Ancestral Hall was willing to see him, it meant that the Xu family's great revenge could be avenged.
He had no other choice.
When that motorcade returned to the Xu family's ancient town, white banners were erected, and almost every household mourned.
He could not forget that scene.
His only son had died. For the sake of the family, he could endure and not care.
But nearly a hundred core elite disciples of the Xu clan had died, and he had to provide an explanation.
Not for the position of patriarch, but for the continued existence of the Xu family, this century-old distinguished family, so that it would not fall apart.
Times had changed. The cohesion of the clan towards its members had been weakening, even for a century-old distinguished family like the Xu family.
If such deep-seated hatred could not be avenged, the closest relatives of the deceased disciples would no longer trust the clan, and the Xu family would face the danger of collapse.
Family precepts and clan rules were merely constraints; they were inferior to the easily scattered hearts of people.
He looked up at the sky, let out a mournful sigh, and turned to leave.
Outsiders were not allowed to stay overnight here, even though the Xu family and the Gongsun clan of Baowu Mountain had a close relationship.
Creak.
The sound of the door opening, however, came at this moment.