Chapter 2352 — There Was No Other Way

Gu Pengzhan's heart gave a violent lurch. He had never expected that a few joking words between Wei Zhao and Han Xiaopo would be taken seriously by Zhao Qibing—and acted upon so swiftly. Gu Pengzhan did not know how large the Guangsi Catering Group truly was; he was not a local East Sea merchant and had never looked into Zhao Guangsi's affairs. But the value of this Arctic Ocean Seafood Restaurant alone was not to be underestimated. If he smoothly took over these holdings, the Gu Group's entry into East Sea City would proceed all the more easily.

Gu Pengzhan drew a deep breath and stepped forward, a little agitated, to leaf through the documents Zhao Guangsi had handed him. To his astonishment, even the land deed for the Arctic Ocean Seafood Restaurant belonged to Zhao Guangsi—which made the value of this place all the harder to reckon.

What a grand gesture! Looking at Wei Zhao, who seemed utterly indifferent, and at Han Xiaopo, who had not taken the matter seriously at all, Gu Pengzhan sighed inwardly. His own horizons, he realized, had grown rather narrow; Wei Zhao probably did not even deign to look at money like this.

And to think he had meant the Gu Group as Gu Mengyao's dowry! But Wei Zhao, it seemed, did not much care for it?

At that thought, Gu Pengzhan sighed. Under Zhao Guangsi's expression of fearful deference, he accepted the Guangsi Catering Group.

"Phew..." Seeing Gu Pengzhan accept the gift he had offered, Zhao Guangsi let out a breath of relief. Gifts were hard to give these days—especially a gift this heavy! Yet he had no choice but to give it. A man whom even Young Master Bing feared, a man who could cripple Old Bi in a single move—what was Zhao Guangsi? What virtue or ability did he have to dare stand against such a man?

"Chairman Chu, there's a meeting of the East Sea Chamber of Commerce this afternoon. Shall we attend together?" Zhao Guangsi asked cautiously. "Young Master Bing has made me vice chairman, to assist Chairman Chu with all my strength!"

"Chairman? Me?" Gu Pengzhan was taken aback, caught between laughter and tears.

A few hours ago, the East Sea Chamber of Commerce had been doing all it could to crush him. A few hours later, he had become its chairman.

The affairs of this world are sometimes utterly wondrous.

The young mistress was surprised too, but more than that she was pleased and proud. When Wei Zhao took action, things were simply different.

It was almost as if Wei Zhao were her man... But was he?

Gu Mengyao fell into a kind of bewilderment.

In the past, she could have said without the slightest hesitation: Wei Zhao is my man, he is my follower—what of it?

But now she could not say it, and was too embarrassed to say it. Wei Zhao was no longer the follower he once was. He had said, we are good friends...

Good friends—how good, exactly? Friends for a lifetime?

Never leaving the villa?

The young mistress was caught between hope and loss, and a little regretful.

Gu Pengzhan was, after all, a man of consequence in the Songshan business world, and he quickly adapted to the situation. He said to Zhao Guangsi, "Very well. Then I will trouble Vice Chairman Zhao to make the introductions!"

"No trouble at all, no trouble at all!" Zhao Guangsi's face split into a grin, like an old chrysanthemum in bloom.

"By the way, this lobby manager of yours needs replacing!" Han Xiaopo was a man who held grudges. The sight of that pasty-faced lobby manager put a knot of frustration in his chest. He, a young master of the hidden Han family, had been unrecognized by the fellow—and all this trouble had come of it?

This was hardly Han Xiaopo's first visit to the Arctic Ocean Seafood Restaurant. Had he not been treated as an honored guest every time before? How was it that today he had run into such a weathercock of a fool?

"Er..." The lobby manager was truly beyond tears. He was a distant relative of Zhao Guangsi's, and had gone to no end of begging and pleading to land the post of lobby manager—only to be stripped of it a few days after taking office!

"Er, nothing! Young Master Han told you to get lost—so get lost!" Zhao Guangsi barked furiously.

"..." The lobby manager, his face a mask of misery, withdrew from the private room, thinking to himself: what has this to do with me? I was only following your instructions...

That afternoon, Gu Pengzhan, Qing Bo, and Zhao Guangsi went off together to deal with East Sea business matters, while Wei Zhao drove the young mistress, Xiaoshu, and Granny Sun home.

Han Xiaopo, for his part, returned alone to the hidden Han family to make inquiries on Wei Zhao's behalf about the Xuandan Sect's trial.

The hidden Zhao family.

Zhao Qibing, Zhao Guangyin, and Lei Daming stood before a courtyard, their faces ashen, waiting anxiously for the outcome.

This courtyard was ordinarily guarded by Old Bi himself. But today, Old Bi lay on a bed in one of its rooms while the old master of the Zhao family and Zhao Yaowang diagnosed and treated his injuries.

"How is he?" the old master of the Zhao family asked, his face full of grief.

"For the most part, he's finished," Zhao Yaowang said with a sigh, somewhat helplessly. "His life can be saved, but his strength can never be restored. With the Small Return Pill and the Meridian-Opening Pill, his strength can at best be held at the Yellow Rank—at the very highest, the Mystic Rank."

"Ai!" The old master of the Zhao family sighed, and at the same time was deeply puzzled: who on earth was so formidable as to have wounded Old Bi? In his anxiety over Old Bi's injuries, he had not yet had time to ask how it had happened—nor had Zhao Qibing and Lei Daming had time to tell him. "Is there no other way?"

"Unless he takes a third-grade pill, the Great Return Pill!" Zhao Yaowang said. "But that remedy can scarcely be called a remedy, for a third-grade Great Return Pill is simply beyond anything we could dream of... as precious as the Qi-Gathering Pill..."

"Qitan!" The old master of the Zhao family suddenly thought of the Xuandan Sect trial that Zhao Qitan was soon to enter, and his eyes lit up at once. "If Qitan can pass the Xuandan Sect's trial smoothly, then a third-grade pill will be no problem!"

"That may be so, but passing the Xuandan Sect's trial is harder than ascending to heaven..." Zhao Yaowang knew something of the inside story, and smiled bitterly. "How many have sought to pass the trial, and virtually none have returned! When we sent Qitan to take part in the trial back then, the truth is we meant to use it to be rid of him, did we not?"

The old master of the Zhao family nodded silently. Indeed—how could the Xuandan Sect's trial be passed so easily? If it were that simple, third-grade pills would not be worth so much.

"Be that as it may, this is our last hope..." The old master of the Zhao family sighed. "First, stabilize Old Bi's injuries. I will go and ask just who is so formidable as to have wounded Old Bi."

"Yes!" Zhao Yaowang nodded in assent.

And the old master of the Zhao family, his face dark, left the courtyard. Looking at Zhao Guangyin, Zhao Qibing, and Lei Daming at the gate, he asked in a low, heavy voice, "What exactly happened?"

"Grandfather, it was Wei Zhao!" Zhao Qibing did not think the fault lay with him. He had done nothing wrong—he had simply encountered Wei Zhao. So he recounted the whole affair to the old master of the Zhao family in detail, though fright had left his face looking dreadful.

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