On the outskirts of the city, in a villa.

Just as the morning sun was shining brightly a bit past seven, an enraged Chairman Pei, along with a dozen or so men, rammed the villa's gate with their car.

Immediately afterward, he kicked down the door with two hefty kicks and charged into the villa, coming face-to-face with Dinghao's Boss Zhang, who was holding a compound bow.

"Old Pei, what the hell do you mean by this?" Boss Zhang of Dinghao flared up: "Are you here to raid my house?"

Pei Zhengyi's father yelled, "What's wrong with raiding your house? Mr. Zhang, tell me, have I ever wronged you over all these years? Oh, you have a grudge against someone surnamed Shen and you used my son as a pawn, and now he's locked up. If we can't get him out, your entire family will pay for this."

Boss Zhang of Dinghao was livid: "Why are you involving me in this? That's something between your son and someone surnamed Shen; I don't even know what happened, why are you lashing out at me? If you're so capable, go find him!"

Pei Zhengyi's father roared, "I did look for him, and he clearly said that he wants Dinghao. As long as he gets Dinghao, my son will surely be fine. Now I'm asking you, will you hand it over or not?"

Boss Zhang of Dinghao scoffed.

Without waiting for him to speak, Pei Zhengyi's father bellowed, "And you, Mr. Zhang, don't play dumb with me. You were the one who built Dinghao from the ground up. My son is young and reckless, but I'm not blind. He gathered so many people at Dinghao, and I don't believe for a second that you were unaware."

"Whenever you, Mr. Zhang, had an issue, when have I not helped you? If you want me to confront that Shen fellow for you, just say it. If I so much as frown, I'm not a man of the Pei surname. But if you keep up with this, our brotherhood is over. I only have one son, and if you ruin him, I will kill your entire family."

Boss Zhang of Dinghao, lifting up the compound bow, said, "Old Pei, are you trying to scare me?"

Almost simultaneously as those words left his mouth, a young man standing behind Pei Zhengyi's father pulled out a sawed-off double-barreled shotgun from his bosom and aimed it straight at Boss Zhang.

"You know exactly what kind of man I am, Mr. Pei. Whether or not I'm bluffing, you're bloody well aware. Right now, I'm just asking you—my son's been locked up, he's called you 'Uncle Zhang' since he was little, til now. Will you fish him out for me or not?" Pei Zhengyi's father said coldly.

Boss Zhang of Dinghao replied, "Old Pei, we're like brothers, and I treat your son as my own. Of course, we'll get him out. But to just hand over Dinghao to someone with the surname Shen, I can't swallow that pride."

"How will you get him out?" Pei Zhengyi's father was anxious: "Those bastards are adamant that my son is the ringleader and the rest are just accessories. If they get slammed with this, it's at least a twenty-year sentence, he'll be nearly fifty by the time he gets out!"

"I can find someone to talk to those jerks, the money will come from me," Boss Zhang of Dinghao said.

"You might as well spit in the wind!" snapped the young man beside Pei Zhengyi's father: "Right now, we can't even see our people, who are you going to talk to? Once the surveillance footage reaches the police, our young master won't be able to clear his name no matter how he tries."

"So you'll kill me over this?" Boss Zhang of Dinghao also grew angry.

"You think I don't dare?" The young man aimed the gun squarely at him.

Just as this was happening, with the sound of screeching brakes and hurried footsteps, many people bustled into the room.

"Xiao Zhang, Xiao Pei, what are you doing?" another middle-aged man barked as he charged in, "You've all become quite skilled, haven't you? Fighting among yourselves like this, do you want people to laugh their heads off? Put it down, put everything you're holding down. Let's sit down and talk. There's nothing that can't be sorted out with discussion!"

An angry Pei Zhengyi's father shoved the young man beside him.

Turning to sit beside the couch, he exclaimed angrily, "Old Bro, since you're here, I'll make things clear. I've asked around everywhere I could, pulled every string I could tug at, and the Provincial Department' attitude is clear: They want to crack down hard on such a menace to society, no tolerance whatsoever!"

"If the police get the surveillance video from the Dinghao Hotel and confirm that it was indeed my son commanding them, then my son is going to face severe sentencing!"

The man he called Old Bro frowned, "Xiao Zhang, throw that piece of junk away, and then come here. Let's talk."

The owner of Dinghao, hesitated slightly, then put away the compound bow he was holding, before sitting down on the couch in the living room, and said earnestly, "That young Shen is not to be feared. He's just an impetuous youth who, apart from cooking well, can't cause much of a stir."

"The real trouble is that Shen Bian. That guy has a silver tongue. In my life, I have never encountered such a shameless person!"

"He first claimed that the Datong River had succumbed, and then he told me about how Shen Qiang abused him, treated him poorly, caused his illness, and frequently made him vomit blood. He went on about how much he hated Shen Qiang, and swore on his chest that he would certainly help me trap that Shen Qiang. And I believed it."

Looking at Pei Zhengyi and the Old Bro, the owner of Dinghao continued, "Then what? He tricked me in the contract and took away the hotel restaurant. Yesterday, Xiao Pei went to Datong River for a meal and had a conflict with Shen Qiang. That Shen Bian said our Dinghao's VIP status wasn't valid over there!"

"Just because of this, I took Xiao Pei to find that Shen Qiang. That Shen Qiang was so arrogant, it made my blood pressure spike, and I had to go to the hospital, so I really don't know what happened between Xiao Pei and Shen Qiang afterward."

"Cut the crap!" Pei Zhengyi's dad snapped, "Aren't you always boasting about how nothing at Dinghao escapes your notice? How did you put it? Even if a mouse were mating, it couldn't escape your eagle eyes. Are you saying you didn't know about the huge commotion my son caused?"

The owner of Dinghao, now helpless, said in a deep voice, "I knew, but I didn't expect it to turn out like this. Think about it, Xiao Pei brought so many people, and there were only six of them in total, three men and three women. The hotel's security is practically decorative, Shen Bian is sickly. No matter how you look at it, it should have been Xiao Pei and his men beating Shen Qiang up and then leaving triumphantly. Who could have thought so many would fail to beat two people!"

The man called Old Bro said sternly, "There's so much you didn't expect! Even now, you still keep saying Shen Qiang is incompetent. Think carefully for yourself, if Shen Qiang is so incompetent, could Shen Bian, who has outplayed you, be so loyal to him?"

Looking at the owner of Dinghao with an expression of disappointed frustration, the man known as Old Bro pointed his finger at the coffee table and questioned, "Xiao Zhang, have you wasted half of your life? Isn't it obvious they played a trick on you? Can't you see it at all?"

The owner of Dinghao frowned and complained, "Old Bro, if you were in my place, you wouldn't have seen it coming either. Shen Bian really did vomit blood! That's why I said, I've never seen such a shameless person in my life! And that Shen Qiang is even worse, not satisfied with taking my restaurant, now he's directly demanding my Dinghao!"

Slapping his own face, the owner of Dinghao said, "Tell me, if I hand over Dinghao to him, how could I have the face to stay in Provincial City?"

After a moment of silence, the man they called Old Bro frowned and said, "That Shen Bian is just a pawn of Shen Qiang. Think about it, you all consider yourselves imposing and powerful, able to take down dozens single-handedly. Do you have such fierce men under you? Do you have subordinates who can disregard their own face to the utmost, who are cunning as a fox for the sake of success?"

With a steely glint in his eyes, he continued, "Such people, each capable of standing their own ground, yet they willingly follow Shen Qiang. This alone shows that Shen Qiang is definitely not simple!"

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