Zheng Yi was taken aback. "Uncle, you already knew?"
Originally, he had planned to cover for Li Xiaohui regarding her involvement with the underworld. While investigating a case in the area, he had stumbled upon the fact that his cousin was closely tied to a local gang.
Upon digging deeper into this Wanlong Society, he found that while it appeared to be a legitimate company on the surface, the rumors he uncovered painted a very different picture—a social organization disguised as a business. Almost none of the intel he gathered was "positive," and there were even whispers of people being killed.
The most shocking and absurd part? This massive syndicate was founded by an eighteen-year-old girl. It all felt surreal.
Because of this, he hadn’t dared bring it up to Father Li, afraid his uncle would fly into a rage.
Turns out, Father Li had known all along.
"Is it really that hard for me to find out? Especially when it’s my own daughter."
Zheng Yi realized his uncle had a point. Father Li might be busy, but that didn’t mean he wouldn’t keep tabs on his daughter’s activities.
"Uncle, if there’s nothing else, I’ll take my leave."
Zheng Yi was eager to get out. Even though this was his own uncle, the man’s commanding presence alone was enough to make him feel the pressure.
Father Li waved him off. "Go ahead."
Once Zheng Yi was gone, Father Li couldn’t suppress his smile any longer. He picked up the stack of certificates and examined them with satisfaction. "This girl’s actually making progress. Won so many awards—good, very good."
With his sharp eye, he could tell the certificates were genuine. His daughter had clearly put in the effort.
Even someone of his stature, well-traveled and experienced, could still be fooled by his own daughter at times.
Li Xiaohui didn’t head straight back to school. Instead, she rushed excitedly to the company, eager to share the good news with Liu Yutong.
She had never been good at keeping things to herself.
Liu Yutong watched as Li Xiaohui animatedly pinched her thumb and forefinger together in a triumphant gesture, boasting, "Who knew my dad would be so easy to handle? Hahaha…"
She looked like she had just uncovered some secret trick.
Liu Yutong sighed inwardly. Instead of using this chance to bond with her father, the girl was mocking him behind his back.
Typical Li Xiaohui—her thought process was never quite normal.
"Oh, right, Sis Yutong!" Li Xiaohui added excitedly. "My cousin Zheng Yi came by too, and he got scolded by my dad instead! Hahaha…"
In the past, whenever she and her cousin were together, she was usually the one getting lectured. This time, the tables had turned.
Liu Yutong didn’t think much of it at first, but then it struck her—this might not be as simple as it seemed.
From the public records she had checked before, Zheng Yi was the head of the Second Inspection Department at the S Inspection Bureau, a critical division responsible for major criminal cases.
His sudden appearance in Bright Pearl City was unusual.
After some thought, she sent Qi Wei a text, asking to meet for a chat.
Qi Wei replied quickly, scheduling a meeting for the next afternoon.
When Yun Cheng returned, Liu Yutong told him directly, "Tell Pan Xing I’ll go to the match. I want to see what this so-called tournament is all about."
Yun Cheng nodded. "Got it."
Li Xiaohui overheard and immediately perked up. "Sis Yutong, is there gonna be some big event? Take me with you! I wanna go too!"
Liu Yutong didn’t refuse. "Fine, you can come with me."
Li Xiaohui nearly jumped for joy. "Yes! Finally, a chance for Sister Hui to shine! Hahaha…"
Liu Yutong: "…"
I wonder what your dad would think if he saw you like this.
…………
The next day, Yun Cheng and Yang Xin each brought new updates.
Yun Cheng reported, "Director Wang from Risk Control recently had contact with someone from Tianxing Entertainment."
Yang Xin, on the other hand, delivered another crucial piece of intel: "From what I’ve heard, other supermarket chains are involved too. They’re the ones behind the supplier trouble."
Tianxing Entertainment belonged to Zhao Tianxing of the East Sea Alliance. Zhao Tianxing’s son was the guy Yun Cheng had beaten up during the property dispute.
Who knew the guy held a grudge? He was already striking back.
As for the other competitors targeting Wanlong Supermarket, Liu Yutong was only slightly surprised—but not really.
Wanlong Supermarket had already taken the top spot in Bright Pearl City’s market share, focusing mainly on large-scale stores.
While this had some impact on businesses like Bailian, which specialized in community supermarkets, it was still manageable.
But for chains like Guosu, Lefu, and Darunfa—brands with similar business models—Wanlong’s rise was a massive blow.
These national retail giants never imagined they’d lose to a small local supermarket chain. It was absurd.
Wherever they went, they had always dominated local competitors effortlessly. But this time, they had met their match.
Especially after Wanlong Supermarket completely crushed Wanjia Supermarket, its momentum became unstoppable.
Combined with its integrated online-offline delivery model and continuously improving service, Wanlong’s reputation far surpassed that of other major supermarket brands.
Sure, some locals knew about Wanlong Society’s underworld ties, but those gangsters had never harassed them. In fact, they had helped solve many problems.
Take Old Man Zhang Jianguo, for example. Ever since his son was disciplined by those men in black, the kid had completely straightened up. Even though he came home every day reeking of feces, Old Man Zhang would inhale deeply and declare, "Smells like victory!"
In short, unless you were a gangster, a member of a syndicate, or someone with a vested interest in Wanlong Society, most ordinary people didn’t care.
As long as the service was good, who cared about the backstory?
Wanlong Supermarket’s business thrived as a result.
If Wanlong had only one or two stores, it wouldn’t be a big deal. But in the city proper alone, there were seven.
Bright Pearl City wasn’t that large to begin with. With seven stores and a delivery network, Wanlong covered over 90% of the area. The impact on other supermarkets was devastating—it was practically squeezing them out of existence.
Okay, maybe that was a slight exaggeration, but their declining sales were undeniable.
As the saying goes, "No one hates you like your competitors." Now that someone had signaled an attack on Wanlong Supermarket, the others saw their chance to strike and finish it off for good.
They egged on the suppliers to demand payment for overdue bills, warning them, "If you don’t collect now and Wanlong goes under, you’ll lose everything."
To convince those suppliers that the Wanlong Association had truly reached a dead end, they even proactively bought up some of Wanlong Supermarket's overdue debts at a premium. Combined with the rumors circulating outside and the blocked loans, this directly stirred panic among the suppliers, who began demanding repayment from Wanlong Supermarket.
After hearing the report, Liu Yutong already had a plan in mind.
The trouble with the suppliers was indeed orchestrated by competitors.
However, this also reminded her of the need to establish a dedicated supply system exclusively for Wanlong Supermarket.
In simple terms, it meant supporting certain product suppliers—preferably manufacturers at the source—to build a seamless supply chain from production to sales, eliminating middlemen.
This way, they would never again face the risk of being strangled by suppliers.
Of course, creating such a massive supply system would first require strong sales capabilities.
Otherwise, why would anyone choose to align with them?
Still, this was a long-term project that needed to be approached gradually.
Another surprise was Zhao Junjie's ability to block Wanlong Supermarket's bank funds—something she hadn’t anticipated.
Tianxing Entertainment was relatively small in scale, and its financial transactions with banks paled in comparison to Wanlong's. Under normal circumstances, anyone would know which side to favor.
Yet the outcome was completely unexpected.
Liu Yutong couldn’t be bothered to dwell on the reasons. If they wanted to fight her, she’d play along.
“Miss, what should we do?”
“Remember how we dealt with Niu Ben in Wushui County? Since Zhao Junjie wants to freeze our funds, let’s ‘borrow’ some money from his company for a little spending spree.”
