“You’re not qualified!”
Those five short words exploded like a thunderclap.
Qi Licheng shot to his feet and slammed his hand on the table. The wineglass in his hand was hurled viciously to the floor, shattering as liquor splashed everywhere.
“You damn woman! You’re really asking for it, aren’t you? How dare you say my father isn’t qualified? You must be tired of living!”
At his roar, the thugs outside the private room came crowding in. Every one of them looked hostile, their faces brimming with menace.
Yang Xin neither panicked nor lost his temper. He slowly rose, straightened his suit, and looked toward the group of rough-looking men at the doorway.
“Young Master Qi, you’re making quite a spectacle. Are you planning to use force against us?”
“Let me warn you now: no one can mess with the Wanlong Association whenever they feel like it!”
“There are people in Pearl City a hundred times more arrogant than you. Every one of them has been driven out. Jinchuan may be far away, but if you push us too far, you won’t like how things turn out!”
The two sides were on the verge of clashing, and the atmosphere grew increasingly oppressive.
Qi Tianhu suddenly threw back his head and laughed. His laughter was dark and sinister.
“Good! Very good, Ms. Xu!”
“I, Qi Tianhu, have been making my way through Jinchuan City for twenty years, and this is the first time anyone has told me I’m not qualified.”
“Since the two of you are determined to oppose me, there’s nothing more to discuss. Someone, see them out!”
“Goodbye!”
Yang Xin and Xu Shishi did not linger. They got up and left.
The dinner ended on an unpleasant note.
.........
Once they stepped out of the club, the cool night breeze brushed against them.
Yang Xin finally could not hold back and said to Xu Shishi, “Ms. Xu, weren’t you being a little too reckless just now?”
“Qi Tianhu is a local tyrant, after all. We’re on his turf. What if we push him too far and he resorts to desperate measures? Wouldn’t that put us in trouble?”
Xu Shishi narrowed her beautiful, almond-shaped eyes slightly and shook her head.
“General Manager Yang, you’re giving him too much credit.”
“Qi Tianhu is nothing more than a crude hooligan. He has a narrow outlook and knows only how to force businesses into submission with violence. He won’t be able to keep jumping around for much longer.”
“Our Wanlong Association’s investment in BS Province is a key investment-attraction project under the province’s watch. It’s officially registered with the authorities. No matter how overbearing Qi Tianhu is, he wouldn’t dare truly lay a hand on us.”
“That may be true, but Qi Tianhu won’t simply let this go. We still need to stay on our guard.”
“Of course we need to be prepared, but I think it would be better to take the initiative. Qi Tianhu is already an obstacle to our plans for expanding into the southwest. If we can eliminate him in one sweep, all the better. It would also help clean up the business environment here, which would greatly benefit our retail operations.”
Yang Xin nodded thoughtfully.
“Ms. Xu, I think I finally understand why The Young Lady went to such lengths to recruit you.”
Xu Shishi smiled faintly.
“It was nothing more than the boss’s trust.”
Yang Xin suddenly felt that Xu Shishi was even more suited than he was to become a core member of the Wanlong Association. She was sharp and decisive, and she never hesitated to draw her sword when the time came.
Just now, she had openly told Qi Tianhu to his face that he was not qualified. Even Yang Xin had been sweating for her. At the very least, he would never have dared to be so blunt on someone else’s turf.
It wasn’t that he was a coward. He simply had a wife and daughter waiting for him at home.
Xu Shishi, however, was exceptionally bold. She had shown no intention of saving the other side’s face, and she had even been certain that they would not dare make a move.
She truly was a woman who could hold her own against any man.
Yang Xin was now completely convinced that she was qualified to become the president of the business group.
It was just that Yu Xin had suddenly gained a powerful competitor.
“Now that we’ve completely fallen out with them, we can’t afford to let our guard down. Let’s all make the necessary preparations in case the Qi family tries to make a move in the dark.”
They both believed that, after the failed negotiations, the Qi family’s domineering style would inevitably lead them to resort to underhanded tactics.
But neither of them was afraid.
When the Wanlong Association had fought its way out of Wuxian County, it had never relied on compromise or retreat. It had always depended on absolute strength.
……
The two got into the car and left the club, heading for the hotel where they were staying.
It was 2009, and Jinchuan City was not particularly lively at night. There were not many cars on the road, so the journey was smooth.
After chatting with Xu Shishi for a while, Yang Xin leaned back in his seat and closed his eyes, thinking about how he should report the matter to The Young Lady.
Xu Shishi, meanwhile, was scrolling through text messages on her phone, apparently dealing with some work-related matters.
They were almost at the hotel when—
Suddenly!
A blinding high beam shone straight through the windshield, followed by the screech of brakes.
The driver slammed on the brakes. The car shook violently, and the phone in Xu Shishi’s hand flew out. Her body lurched forward from the inertia, but the seat belt caught her and pulled her back.
Yang Xin was jolted awake and quickly asked, “What happened?!”
Before the driver could answer, a silver-gray Porsche crossed the double yellow line from the opposite lane, overtook against traffic, and cut directly in front of their car, forcing it to stop.
Fortunately, the driver reacted quickly. Otherwise, they would have crashed into it, and someone would almost certainly have been injured.
The driver had just rolled down his window, preparing to curse the other driver and ask if he even knew how to drive, when the Porsche owner opened his own window and started shouting first.
“Are you blind, you piece of trash?! Didn’t you see me overtaking? How dare you get in my way! Move your damn car!”
The driver’s face instantly turned cold. He was furious enough to drag the man out and beat him, but with Yang Xin and Xu Shishi still in the car, he forcibly held himself back.
“Sir, you crossed the center line and overtook illegally. You also deliberately cut us off. Move your car immediately, or I’ll call the police!”
“Damn it, you’re just a lousy driver, and you think you can lecture me? Believe it or not, I’ll run you over! Move your ass!”
Just then, a motorcycle patrol officer happened to pass by and saw what was happening. He rode directly over to the Porsche and called out to its driver.
“Driver, please show me your license and vehicle registration. You crossed the solid line and overtook in the wrong lane. You’re in violation of traffic laws!”
The Porsche driver, who was wearing a mask and a hat, not only refused to show his documents but arrogantly pulled a thick wad of cash from his wallet and flung it at the traffic officer.
“That enough to cover the fine?!”
The officer was enraged by his contemptuous attitude and shouted sternly, “Pull the car over! Cooperate with law enforcement!”
Yet the man was so arrogant that he ignored the officer’s command entirely. He nudged the car forward, then rolled down the window and shouted toward the back seat:
“You outsiders, remember this! If I run into you again, I’ll run you over and kill you!”
With that, he raised his middle finger at the people in the car, burst out laughing, jerked the steering wheel, stepped on the accelerator, and sped away.
The officer was furious, but he also knew it would be dangerous to chase after him. He could only report the license plate to his superiors first before walking over to Yang Xin and the others’ car and saluting them.
“Are any of you hurt?”
Yang Xin shook his head.
“No. Thank you for your help, officer.”
The officer reminded them to be careful on the road before riding away.
Only then did their car slowly start moving again.
“That was him,” Xu Shishi suddenly said.
Yang Xin nodded.
“Qi Licheng.”
“He was giving us a warning.”
“I know.”
Although the other party was wearing a mask and a hat, they still recognized him at a glance as Qi Tianhu’s son, Qi Licheng.
“Looks like the Qi father-and-son duo will be coming after us very soon.”
“General Manager Yang, if it really comes to a confrontation, this young master is the best breakthrough point.”
“What makes you say that?”
“He’s arrogant, conceited, and completely disregards the law. People like him are usually covered in weaknesses and are the easiest to investigate.”
“That makes sense. I’ll have someone start investigating him, then.”
“Mm.”
Just then, Xu Shishi suddenly remembered some news she had happened to overhear two days earlier while conducting an inspection in the provincial capital.
“General Manager Yang, do you know about lithium ore?”
Yang Xin nodded. “I do. It’s the core raw material used to make lithium batteries, and it’s quite expensive. Why are you suddenly asking about it?”
In 2009, the new-energy sector had yet to take off. Lithium batteries had not yet become the hot commodity everyone was chasing, and lithium ore prices were still relatively low. Still, no matter how you looked at it, lithium was a mineral resource with enormous investment potential.
“It’s like this. Two days ago, while attending an exchange meeting, I overheard someone mention that a large lithium deposit had been discovered in the Qingyan Mountains, roughly sixty kilometers northwest of Jinchuan. Preliminary surveys indicated that its reserves were astonishingly large—it could rank among the largest in the country, or even across the entire East Continent,” Xu Shishi said.
Yang Xin was stunned for a moment. “What does that have to do with us? We don’t mine ore.”
Xu Shishi explained, “It obviously has nothing to do with us directly, but it has everything to do with Qi Tianhu, the head of Tiger Might Group.”
“Lithium is a strategic mineral, so it’s extremely valuable. The Qi father-and-son duo operate several coal mines and have even monopolized the coal market in several cities around Jinchuan. What’s more, this lithium deposit is so close to Jinchuan. Do you really think he’ll let such a tempting prize slip through his fingers?”
Yang Xin immediately understood what she meant. “So we’re going to compete with them for the mining rights.”
Xu Shishi nodded. “But I need to report this to the boss first. After all, I’m only trying to throw a wrench in the Qi father-and-son duo’s plans. We really don’t deal in this kind of business, but I think we could make a profit by selling the mining rights later.”
Yang Xin said, “I’ll ask the Young Lady. She happens to be inspecting the townships under Jingchuan right now.”
“Good!”
