Chapter 73: Meeting

The last time Gao Yi ambushed them, they were surrounded by his bodyguards, but they still easily gave Gao Yi and his men a sound thrashing.

This time, their opponent was Wu Long, and his bodyguards were sure to be much more formidable than Gao Yi's, but Li Xue was still confident.

Mu Lin glanced at Li Xue, saw her expression, and knew what she was thinking. He said softly, "Don't worry, I'm here."

Li Xue was annoyed just looking at him. 'You? What can you possibly do? Your skills might be enough to handle Lu Yi, but taking on these bodyguards? Dream on.'

"Don't try to be a hero. Let the bodyguards handle this!" Li Xue glared sharply at Mu Lin.

Mu Lin didn't argue with her. His actions would speak for themselves in the end.

A flirtatious waitress led the way. Seeing Wu Long, her walk became particularly seductive, hoping to catch his eye. It would be her ticket to the top, becoming his mistress—who even knew which number she'd be.

Although Wu Long had a fearsome reputation in the Jianghu, he was incredibly generous with his women. In less than half a year, one could amass a fortune most women could never save in a lifetime.

"We've arrived at Private Room 2020. Chairman Wu and our other guests, please come in!"

She cast a seductive glance toward Wu Long, but his eyes showed no flicker of response; he wasn't interested in her in the slightest.

She was taken aback. 'What's wrong?'

Wu Long's attention was completely captured by Li Xue and Madam Qiao. One was beautiful, and the other, even more so.

Who'd even spare you a glance?

Wu Long gestured enthusiastically. "Come, come, sit wherever you like!"

In reality, however, he casually took the host's seat at the head of the table, subtly asserting his dominance.

Guo Lei, as Wu Long's trusted subordinate, and a gaudily dressed woman sat on either side of him.

The others took their seats. Qiao Canhua pursed his lips and sat directly opposite Wu Long.

'With this swollen face of mine, I have to make the most of it. If I can disgust Wu Long so much he loses his appetite, I'll call that a win.'

Li Xue sat between Mu Lin and Madam Qiao. Next to Mu Lin was the bruised and battered Wu Ming.

When Wu Ming saw Mu Lin, the corner of his mouth twitched. He was remembering what had happened at the bar.

He had been happily beating up Chen Xi when Mu Lin charged in, knocked him to the ground, and rescued Chen Xi.

From that moment on, his status among his peers had plummeted, and he had no idea when he'd get a chance to raise it again.

Mu Lin saw Wu Ming and smiled at him, but to Wu Ming, it was the smile of a demon. He desperately wanted to leave.

But now that he was seated, leaving immediately was out of the question. Wu Long was extremely particular about etiquette at the dinner table, and any breach would earn a harsh scolding.

After taking his seat, Qiao Canhua was the first to speak. "Thank you, Chairman Wu, for giving us this opportunity to see you again. You're the boss of the most powerful construction company in Anhua City. Without your help, I'm afraid my ventures here would be difficult to develop."

Qiao Canhua decided to start with courtesy before resorting to force. If Wu Long could be reasonable and agree to stop causing trouble, then the matter would end here. If, however, Wu Long was intent on making trouble, then the ensuing problems would not be so simple.

Qiao Canhua was not without his own deep-seated resources. Once mobilized, they were not something a local tyrant like Wu Long, confined to his own small territory, could possibly handle.

Wu Long thoroughly enjoyed these words, nodding slowly. "Son, listen up. Do you know why Boss Qiao's business has gotten so big? It's because he knows how to talk. From now on, spend less time with women and more time learning from him!"

Wu Ming glanced at Guo Lei, and his whole body seemed to ache in remembrance.

"I asked you a question!" Wu Long rapped the table sharply. Wu Ming slowly replied, "I understand! I'll spend less time with women and more time learning!"

"Now that's a good boy!" Wu Long rapped the table again, his eyes sweeping across the room in a smug glance.

By scolding his son, he was actually making a show of force to intimidate everyone else at the table.

The message was clear: no matter how powerful they were outside, once at his table, they were merely fish on his chopping block, to be sliced up as he pleased.

If you're a dragon, you'd better coil up for me. If you're a tiger, you'd better lie down.

If I don't let you stand up, don't you even think about it.

On Anhua City's turf, I get the first bite of all the meat. You all get to eat only after I've had my fill.

A challenger like the Li Group was something he absolutely could not tolerate.

Qiao Canhua continued, "As it stands, I've already given this project to the Li Group, and President Li has already delegated the work. It would be very difficult to transfer it at the last minute. So I was thinking, I could compensate you with a project elsewhere. It's also a major project, with profits no less than the South Side Lot 6. Would Chairman Wu consider it?"

He was essentially just repeating the proposal he'd made yesterday.

The real key was to get Wu Long to back off from targeting the Li Group, so everyone could make money in peace. That would be the best outcome for all.

Wu Long laughed out loud. "Actually, I have another proposal that also allows us to make money in peace."

"As long as the Li Group is absorbed by the Yuelong Group, the conflict of interest will cease to exist. We'll all be one big family, so where's the conflict in that?"

Wu Long said with a sly smile.

Li Xue's face was frosty. "You have a fine sense of humor, Chairman Wu. My grandfather built the Li Group from the ground up, brick by brick. Do you think you can just take it as you please?"

Wu Long sneered, "I don't care about any of that. As long as it's on Anhua's turf, it belongs to my Yuelong Group. I'll take it whenever I damn well please!"

The food hadn't even been served, yet the atmosphere at the table was already incredibly tense.

Qiao Canhua held out a hand, gesturing downward as if to calm the air. "That's an interesting take, Chairman Wu. My Shengding Group has businesses all over the country. By your logic, does that mean every branch office should be devoured by the local kingpin?"

Wu Long threw his head back, his imposing aura undiminished. "I don't know, I'm not interested, and I can't be bothered with them! But here, on Anhua's turf, you play by my rules."

Qiao Canhua laughed. "What a coincidence. Plenty of local kingpins have the same idea. I've run into many of them. But can you guess why I'm still able to gain a firm foothold in all those places?"

"At first, I always offer them generous terms, hoping for their support. But what happens? They're as greedy as a snake trying to swallow an elephant. Not only do they refuse, but they also find my proposals naive and insist I do things their way."

"But, after some... 'friendly negotiations,' the problem always gets resolved, doesn't it?"

Qiao Canhua's words were a thinly veiled threat. If Wu Long had any sophistication, he would have understood.

Wu Long fell silent. Qiao Canhua assumed he had recognized the gravity of the situation and decided to back down.

But then Wu Long turned his head to look toward the door. As it turned out, a server was walking in.

"Ah, is the food ready? Come on, bring it in, bring it in!" Wu Long called out enthusiastically.

Mu Lin put his chopsticks down from their rest and shot Li Xue a look.

Li Xue didn't understand what he meant at first, but then she recalled a past incident and instantly understood.

'It seemed Wu Long had no intention of negotiating honorably and was resorting to his usual dirty tricks.'

Mu Lin also shot a look at Qiao Canhua, who nodded in understanding. The Yuelong Group's reputation in Anhua's business community was abysmal; Qiao Canhua hadn't planned on touching the food from the start.

The servers all had stunning, curvaceous figures, which made Wu Long's preferences obvious.

They deftly served the dishes, arranging each one perfectly.

Then, they took a deep bow, offering a tantalizing glimpse of cleavage before backing out of the room.

Next came the servers with the wine.

They brought sealed, unopened bottles of red wine with their labels perfectly intact. At a glance, nothing seemed amiss.

That's what Li Xue had thought back then, too.

She had assumed that since she had ordered the food and watched the wine being opened, there couldn't possibly be a problem.

Who could have known how insidious their methods were.

A server stepped forward, opened the wine with a corkscrew, and poured it into a decanter.

Then, they withdrew.

Mu Lin stood up, reaching for the decanter. "Ah, fine wine!"

Wu Long suddenly shot to his feet. His hand darted out, grabbed the decanter, and lifted it steadily.

"It's too early for that. Let's wait until everyone's had a few bites of food!"

Mu Lin noticed that Wu Long's grip was incredibly steady; the surface of the wine in the decanter barely rippled.

Li Xue saw it too, and now she finally understood where the problem lay.

'The wine wasn't the problem, and neither was the food. The problem was the decanter!'

'Wu Long must have coated the inside of the decanter with the drug. That way, he could control the pouring angle to ensure he wouldn't be drugged himself.'