In the villaâs living room, Gu Changmin shook his head and said, âLetâs go to your study room! It would be very troublesome if some things were to be disclosed without caution. I just wasted a favor for you, so I donât want to complicate matters anymore.â
âBut Brother Chen and Brother Gao are not outsiders. I think it will be fine for them to hear it, right?â Li Haoran said lightly, âI, Li Haoran, lost face today. It happened right in front of them. If this matter were to be disclosed in the future, I would have no place to show this face of mine.â
Gu Changminâs face turned cold. He glared angrily at Li Haoran for a while before he turned around and walked outside.
âHey, hey, hey. Brother Gu, Brother Gu! What are you doing?!â A middle-aged man caught up with Gu Changmin and grabbed his arm, âBrother Li just wanted to keep his face, so thatâs why⊠All right, Old Gao and I will go to the chess room while you two talk.â
With a slight change in expression, Li Haoran felt a bit incredulous after seeing Gu Changmingâs unusual behaviour. One must know that he and Gu Changmin had been friends for decades, yet it was his first time seeing him act so strange.
Could it be that⊠the problem was because of his attitude?
He⊠did he really help him?
Li Haoranâs mind suddenly turned faster. The anger inside his heart diminished a lot. He walked a few steps toward Gu Changmin, forced out a smile and said, âBrother Gu, in fact, I really didnât have other intentions. Weâve been friends for decades so you should know my temper. Someone just picked a quarrel on my house. What is more, I had to bow my head and admit my mistake. So you can see that I was choked with anger inside! But I hope you can forgive me if I offended you.â
âBrother Gu, just tell us what is going on! We are not outsiders, to begin with.â The middle-aged man Gao echoed, âI also canât fathom why you behaved like that⊠like you were scared of that kid. In any case, Iâm afraid I would also act just like Brother Li if such a thing happened to me.â
Gu Changmin took a deep breath as he looked at the three curious looking men. When he saw the shame and anger on Li Zhenâs face, he sighed softly before returning and sitting in the sofa.
âTell all of them to leave!â
Li Haoran immediately waved his hand, and all bodyguards left the hall.
âEveryone, you all should know Haiqing Provinceâs Miao Group, yes?â Gu Changmin slowly said, âYou should also know about its Boss, Miao Wentang, who is my old friend.â
âIâve heard about him!â
The three men nodded and looked a bit puzzled.
âBetween the women beside Tang Xiu, the one who slightly older, I believe you should also have seen her, yes?â Gu Changmin sighed.
The middle-aged man Gao said, âYes, I have seen her. She left a deep impression on me. Sheâs the Everlasting Feast Hallâs Manager. Sheâs smooth and slick in establishing networks and a very competent businesswoman.â
âThatâs right, that is exactly the Everlasting Feast Hall.â Gu Changmin nodded and said, âI donât know about you but, how much do you know about the Everlasting Feast Hall?â
âBrother Gu, the Everlasting Feast Hall is just an upscale restaurant!â Li Haoranâs brows furrowed as he said, âWhat kind of status do we have? Why should we know about this restaurant, to begin with?â
âIf the Everlasting Feast Hall were just an upscale restaurant, I naturally wouldnât have looked afraid in front of Tang Xiu. I wouldnât even sell my face to keep on good terms with him.â Gu Changmin shook his head and said, âAs a matter of fact, it was very fortunate that I was here today. Didnât you see how obvious I was when I flattered him before? If that Old Jin⊠that Jin Xingkui was also here, I can say with certainty that he wouldnât merely want to be on good terms. He would, instead, nakedly fawn upon him.â
âBrother Gu, do tell us about this Everlasting Feast Hall.â Li Haoranâs face slightly changed.
âA few days ago, ever since Brother Miao told me about the Everlasting Feast Hallâs inside story, as well as learning that Tang Xiu is its owner, I sent some people to investigate it.â Gu Changmin slowly said, âAlthough I didnât dare to do an in-depth investigation, the bits of information I got was enough to make me shocked.
âThe Everlasting Feast Hallâs HQ had been established decades ago in Jingmen Island. This restaurant has branches in four big cities: Jingmen Island, Hong Kong, Shanghai, and Beijing. Outside of running the restaurant franchise, they also have gold, silver, jewel, real estate, and luxury jewelry business under its flagâŠ
âWith my limited ability, I dared not investigate the Everlasting Feast Hall at a great scale, hence, I only got these kinds of information. I donât know the specific details of how many businesses the Everlasting Feast Hall has.â
âBrother Gu, just because the Everlasting Feast Hall possesses big enterprises, youâŠâ Li Haoran asked.
âLi Haoran, to tell you the truth, I really shouldnât have involved myself in your business.â Gu Changmin waved his hand to interrupt him and said lightly, âI regret it now.â
âBrother GuâŠâ Li Haoran opened his mouth.
âNo more explanations.â Gu Changmin shook his head and said, âDidnât you want to know why my actions were so unusual? I might as well tell you straightly. Your Li Family would have been finished if I hadnât stood up for you tonight. Tomorrow would perhaps become the death anniversary for you, father and son. From another perspective, your Li Family perhaps would have already faced a bloodbath and perished if the three of us didnât happen to want to play mahjong here tonight.â
Li Haoran abruptly stood up. He glared at Gu Changmin and said, âBrother Gu, did you say that to scare us? In the present society, with the legal system, even for those rich and powerful people, they can only solve one or two individuals. But slaughtering and exterminating a big family, are you kidding me?â
Gu Changmin stared at him coldly, and scornfully said, âYouâre ignorant. If you donât believe me, Iâll show it to you.â
Having said it, he took out his mobile phone, dialed a cell number, and directly pressed the loudspeaker feature. After the other party answered the call, he said, âOld Jin, this is Gu Changmin.â
âBrother Gu, you havenât rested yet?â Jin Xingkuiâs cheerful voice was transmitted from the phone.
âOld Jin, not only have I not slept yet, I also made a loss just now.â Gu Changmin said.
âWhatâs the matter? Tell me about it.â Jin Xingkui was puzzled and said, âDo you want my help?â
âMy dear Old Jin, Iâm with Li Haoran now.â Gu Changmin forced out a smile and said, âAnyways, Iâll ask you a few questions, and you only need to reply. That would be a great help to me, so as to avoid losing all decorum with everyone else since I just used up the favor from Tang Xiu.â
âAll right! Then tell me⊠⊠Wait, wait! What did you just say?â Jin Xingkuiâs screamed out of the phone, âYouâve just used up the favor from Tang Xiu? The favor we obtained with great difficulties after merrily keeping him company in the Everlasting Feast Hall?â
âYeah!â Gu Changmin replied with a bitter tone and expression.
Jin Xingkui was silent for a moment before he slowly said, âBrother Gu, although I donât know anything about what happened between you and Tang Xiu, as well as anything else related to it, I can tell you one thing. Unless our family encounters a critical life-and-death situation, using up that favor is out of the question. All right. Now tell me! What happened?â
âWell, I just happened to visit the Li Familyâs residence tonight and came across Tang Xiu. He came to the Li Family to demand an explanation since Li Zhen had provoked him. Furthermore, the enmity seemed to be quite deep as well.â Gu Changmin said, âI believe you also know about Li Haoranâs disposition as a father who always doted on his son. He had probably also annoyed Tang Xiu, thus making him discontented. After that, I came forward to plea in his instead.â
Jin Xingkui was silent for a moment before he lightly said, âFor having avoided a bloodbath, his Li Family is really in luck. In my opinion, the Li Family would still be able to save their assets if they used their wealth to buy their lives even if you didnât come forward tonight. That Tang Xiu⊠âŠHehehe. You can provoke anyone in this world, but you must never provoke that demonic star!â
Li Haoran couldnât sit still. He had never thought that Jin Xingkui would say such words. He hastily said, âBrother Jin, this is Li Haoran. Can you tell me who Tang Xiu really is? Does he have someone powerful behind him?â
âA backer? Hehehe⊠he doesnât need any backers whatsoever.â Jin Xingkui sneered, âMerely his identity as the Everlasting Feast Hallâs Boss is enough to easily exterminate your Li Family. Let alone your family, even if my Jin Family and Brother Guâs family joined forces with you, Iâm afraid we still couldnât do anything to the Everlasting Feast Hall. I even dare say that thereâs a 99% chance our three families would all be erased.â
Panicked and shocked, Li Haoran cried, âBrother Jin, youâre not trying to scare me, are you?â
âScare you?â Jin Xingkui said, âHehe⊠do you think Iâm someone who bluffs just to scare people?â
"ThisâŠ" Li Haoranâs face faintly blanched.
âLi Haoran, I must tell you the truth. You really owe Brother Gu a huge favor.â Jin Xingkui said, âA favor so massive that itâs not excessive to say that you can only repay him by using all of your Li Familyâs power. All right! I have said everything I must say. You put your best into it.â
âNow you understand why I made you apologize to Tang Xiu? Why did an outsider personally hit your son just to get you out of a predicament?â Gu Changmin said lightly, âHeâd undoubtedly die tonight if I didnât beat him. Now, do you dare to intervene? Your Li Family will be completely exterminated if you do. As for how terrifying the Everlasting Feast Hall is, neither you and I know about it. But Miao Wentang, my old buddy, knows perfectly well about it. So does Jin Xingkui.â
Li Haoran suddenly got up. He then strode toward the shocked Li Zhen and fiercely slapped his face a few times. He then furiously roared, âGet your ass to my study room and kneel there! See for yourself how I will fix you up!â
Frightened and scared, Li Zhen covered his face as he half-ran toward the study room. He would have opposed his father if it were in the past. But after tonightâs bitter experience, as well as seeing several Shanghaiâs big shots afraid of Tang Xiu, it made him realize that he had provoked a terrifying existence.
Li Haoran returned to the sofa, but he didnât sit down. Instead, he deeply looked at Gu Changmin and said, âBrother Gu, Iâll always remember the grace and favor you showed me today. I have fully witnessed your magnanimity. As long as you need anything in the future, please do tell me freely. I absolutely wonât balk if I can do it.â
Gu Changminâs expression eased a lot this time. He sighed, âBrother Li, if not for the sake of our decades of friendship, I would have never said anything tonight. If it were others, I would just add insult to their injury for the sake of showing goodwill toward Tang Xiu. We are among old friends here. If I didnât speak out, coming to your place tonight would have me regretting it.â