Li Yaohua's words truly surprised Qi Yun; he didn't expect Harris to have such great influence.

If they could get that gang to step in and mediate, the group causing them trouble wouldn't dare make a peep.

"Hehe, okay, I'll call Harris in a bit," Qi Yun chuckled, continuing, "but there's another thing I'd like to ask for your help with."

"There are two white guys who went to find the captain I previously went out to sea with and asked him about my last trip. I'd like to ask you to use your South African connections to help me check out who those two white guys are."

"It'd be best if you could figure out their purpose."

"White guys?" Li Yaohua said suspiciously, "When did this happen?"

"Last night."

The phone fell into a brief silence, as if Li Yaohua was contemplating. After a few seconds, he responded, "No problem, I'll contact my people in South Africa right now to check it out for you."

"I'll let you know when there's news."

"Alright, thanks," Qi Yun said with a smile.

"No need to be so polite with me, if there's nothing else, that's all for now."

"Okay, give my regards to Brother Fu. Once I've wrapped up things on my end, I'll head to Beijing to thank him."

"..."

After hanging up, Qi Yun immediately searched for Harris's number and dialed it.

"Mr. Harris, how have you been lately?"

Laughter rang out from the phone, "Oh, Mr. Qi, my friend, thanks to you, those gold coins made me a huge profit, I don't want to work for the next two months."

"Haha, well, congratulations to you," Qi Yun said, a smile playing at the corner of his mouth, "Actually, I'm calling today to ask for a little favor."

"Mr. Qi, my best friend, you're too polite. Just say the word, and I'll be happy to help," Harris replied cheerfully.

These brokers really know how to talk; whether they can get the job done or not, they always show the right attitude first.

Qi Yun didn't beat around the bush either, directly saying, "Here's the situation: my business with the swans hit a snag, a local competitor bribed the station officials to hold my goods."

"My people went to negotiate, but they're afraid of that competitor's H-gang background and won't release my goods."

"I heard from Li Yaohua that Mr. Harris has some clout with the swans, so I wanted to ask if you could help me resolve this issue."

After hearing this, Harris laughed heartily, "Oh dear Qi, don't worry. I'll help you deal with those blind fools, daring to cause trouble for my esteemed friend on the swans' territory."

"Tell me, at which station are your goods being held? By sunset today, I'll make sure the Siberian wind makes their bones crackle."

Harris's voice carried a hint of disdain, clearly not taking the H-gang Qi Yun mentioned seriously.

Qi Yun hadn't dealt much with him before but judging by his tone, he hoped Harris wouldn't end up taking down the whole station.

He only wanted the goods to pass smoothly and avoid further unnecessary trouble, not to make a big scene.

"Thank you for your help, Mr. Harris. My goods are currently being held at Irkutsk Station."

"I suggest just giving them a little warning; after all, I'm a compassionate person willing to give them a chance to mend their ways."

Upon hearing this, Harris burst into laughter again, "Oh Qi, you truly are a benevolent Eastern gentleman!"

"But on this wild land of the swans, benevolence needs a spiked club to be effective, or else they won't remember the lesson."

"Alright then, by midnight, you'll get an apology call from the stationmaster himself, along with a gift box of Siberian cedar smoked sausages."

"As for those little H-gang punks, tonight, they'll learn to respect 'kind people' in a minus thirty-degree container."

His voice carried a hint of humor, yet there was a touch of ferocity, completely different from his demeanor at the South Africa estate last time.

As expected, those in the underworld may appear friendly but are ruthless when it comes to business.

Seeing that Harris clearly had his own plans, Qi Yun didn't press further, hoping Harris wouldn't take things too far...

"Haha, in that case, I'll leave it to you," Qi Yun replied helplessly, then continued, "Send me your account later; I'll transfer you some operating funds."

"Oh! Qi! My best friend! Do you even hear yourself!" Harris exclaimed dramatically, "You're insulting our friendship with money!"

"If Felix knew I was charging you for such a trivial matter, he'd probably spank me with a belt!"

"Please don't say that kind of thing again, or you'll lose a sexy black friend."

Hearing this, Qi Yun smacked his lips, feeling a bit uncomfortable with his ears; it seemed their relationship was a bit tangled.

Though Harris's words were touching, they felt even more sincere than blood brothers.

But such words were worth no more than a listen; Qi Yun wasn't naive enough to think his relationship with the other party was really that solid.

The main reason the other party was so quick to agree, 90% of the credit went to the "Fu Family" label he bore, which Li Yaohua had bestowed on him at the manor last time.

The remaining 10% was probably exactly what the other party had said earlier—the last batch of treasures brought a windfall.

The two exchanged a few more pleasantries and then ended the call.

Qi Yun let out a long sigh of relief and then sent a message to Mendeleyev, asking him to keep an eye on the station and the situation with their competitors today.

...

Meanwhile, the man with the slicked-back hair, who had been silent for some time, had just finished a dinner with a finance department leader, a relationship he had just leveraged his father's influence to establish.

Ever since Zhou Wenbin cut ties with him and kept setting traps, his company's cash flow had bottomed out.

But fortunately, he gained something from this trip; the other party promised to talk to a bank to help him secure a two-billion loan, which would allow his projects to keep running.

But this was only a temporary measure. When the money ran out, and if the government kept blocking his project funds, he would be not far from collapse.

After all this time, he still hadn't figured out why Zhou Wenbin suddenly did this. Even if he had been at fault somehow, hadn't the punishment gone far enough?

"Damn!" He felt a surge of anger, violently flinging his cigarette butt to the ground.

The driver, who had been waiting nearby, opened the Maybach's back door. Just as he was about to step in, his phone rang from his pocket.

He pulled out his phone and saw a name on the screen he hadn't been in contact with for a long time.

"Oh, isn't this Secretary Xia? What wind blew you here today to call me?" he sneered in a sarcastic tone.

The person on the other end, Secretary Xia, ignored his sarcasm and said directly, "The leader wants to see you at the usual place, come over now."

Upon hearing this, he tightened his grip on the phone. For the past month, he had repeatedly requested to meet with the other party but faced relentless rejections. Today they wanted to see him?

He took a deep breath and instructed his driver to go.

Although he was filled with resentment towards Zhou Wenbin, he had no choice but to go. As long as the other party was in his position, he'd remain tightly controlled, just like his father had controlled others in the past.

Unless he no longer wished for peace and wanted to engage in mutual destruction...

But with his father's dwindling influence, the likely outcome of such an act would be the fish dying and the net at most tearing a few strands...

Twenty minutes later, inside a private club's booth.

Secretary Xia prepared a pot of tea and then exited, closing the door behind him.

Inside, the slicked-back man wore a fawning smile, showing no sign of his hatred toward Zhou Wenbin. This was the basic quality of a competent businessman.

He had changed his form of address from the casual "Brother Zhou" to the more respectful "Sergeant Zhou."

"Sergeant Zhou, you don't look so good today. Is it a rough night's sleep? I happen to have some wild ginseng in the car; you can take it to boost your energy." He flattered while tactfully pouring tea for him.

Zhou Wenbin smiled and waved his hand, "I appreciate the thought, a good sleep will fix it. How's your company doing recently?"

"It's alright, alright," he replied with a smile, handing the teacup to Zhou Wenbin.

Neither of them mentioned past issues, as if nothing ever happened.

An outsider unaware of the situation might have thought they were very close.

Zhou Wenbin sipped his tea and began the main conversation: "Last month, I went to the mainland for an inspection. I heard from Xia about the funding issues with your project?"

Hearing this, an imperceptible flash of malice crossed his eyes, and he silently cursed the other's whole family eight hundred times, but his face remained smiling: "Yes, the city's finance department mentioned they were tight on funds, so the funds originally due to us haven't been disbursed."

"I was just thinking of asking for your help, and Secretary Xia mentioned you were out on business."

Zhou Wenbin nodded slightly, "Yes, I know about this. I'll have Xia make inquiries when we get back, and aim to have the funds allocated by tomorrow. After all, running a business isn't easy for you guys."

His heart was filled with joy upon hearing that. Even though he didn't know why the other had changed his attitude, it was definitely great news for him at the moment!

"Great, great, thank you, leader, for understanding the challenges we face as businesses." He said, bowing gratefully.

Zhou Wenbin waved it off with a smile, "No need to thank me. It's our job to provide good service and create a positive business environment for you."

"Yes, yes, you're right," he agreed.

"Alright, I have another meeting in the afternoon, so I won't stay longer. Feel free to call me if you need anything else." Zhou Wenbin said, placing down the teacup and getting up to leave the booth.

He was taken aback for a moment, then quickly rose to follow and see him off.

He thought silently, leaving without mentioning anything?

Misunderstanding resolved?

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