Chapter 78: The Arrogant Jingkun

White-Headed Old Man immediately called Kele, and fortunately Kele picked up, which let White-Headed Old Man breathe a sigh of relief.

"Kele, Chen Mo just called me and said he spared your life. What happened?"

Kele was still hiding in an alley on Nüren Jie at this time.

He was unwilling to just leave like that, wanting to confirm whether Chen Mo had genuinely spotted him earlier or if it was just a coincidence.

"Uncle Bai, when I was surveilling Chen Mo just now, he might have discovered me."

Then Kele roughly recounted to White-Headed Old Man how Chen Mo had spotted him with a single glance.

"Come back first. We need to discuss dealing with Chen Mo at length."

White-Headed Old Man was somewhat frightened.

Without absolute certainty of success, he dared not let Kele make another move against Chen Mo.

If Kele failed, Chen Mo would absolutely make a move against him.

He already knew from Sha Meng's mouth that Chen Mo had a group of elites under him, and he certainly didn't want Chen Mo targeting him.

After hanging up the phone, Kele stood in place for a few more minutes, but ultimately still left.

Right after Kele left, Li Jie appeared not far from where Kele had been hiding and went straight back to the bar.

Before calling White-Headed Old Man, Chen Mo had already arranged for Li Jie to keep an eye on Kele.

He was worried Kele might try something like mutual destruction. Even though Chen Mo was confident Kele couldn't hurt him, today was, after all, the day his bar reopened—if someone else got hurt, it would equally be a problem.

Li Jie kept watch on Kele from not far away the entire time.

Li Jie, a former special forces soldier, excelled at tailing and lying low; Kele's meager skills were completely out of his league.

Li Jie watched him for ages, and Kele never noticed a thing.

Upon learning from Li Jie that Kele had already left, Chen Mo let the matter go.

Over the next few days, all was calm and everything proceeded as usual.

Until the day of the general meeting arrived again.

Chen Mo knew something major would happen at today's meeting, so he arrived early at the main hall.

This month, Ma Wang Jian, Chui Shui Ji, Uncle Xing of Kwun Tong, and Brother Chao of Wong Tai Sin had all wholesaled counterfeit goods from Chen Mo.

Chen Mo knew they had already sided with Jingkun.

Fat Man Lai's North Point already had Da Fei selling counterfeit goods, and Chen Mo had communicated with Jingkun in advance, so no goods were released to him.

But Chen Mo also knew that Jingkun surely had other means to win him over.

Fat Man Lai was someone who opened his eyes at the sight of money, and most likely had already thrown in his lot with Jingkun's side.

Only, among these people, whether they had genuinely defected to Jingkun or had received Jiang Tiansheng's instructions to feign defection, Chen Mo had no way to distinguish.

However, Chen Mo didn't want to look too deeply into it either—it wouldn't affect his plans either way.

Inside the main hall, Chen Mo sat behind Thirteen Sister as usual.

Quite a few faction leaders proactively exchanged pleasantries with Chen Mo, especially the ones who had picked up goods from him.

In their view, Chen Mo's relationship with Jingkun must be extraordinary—otherwise, why would Chen Mo hand over the distribution of goods to Jingkun to allocate?

If Jingkun was going to compete for Dragon Head, Chen Mo would inevitably reap the benefits along with him.

In stark contrast to Chen Mo's side, Chen Hao Nan, sitting behind Da B, was there with his head hanging low, and Da Tian Er and Bao Pi beside him were equally listless.

Jingkun, dressed in a green suit and followed by five or six underlings, strode into the main hall with an arrogant gait.

He first gave a thumbs-up toward Chen Hao Nan on the side, then thrust his hips forward, his face full of mockery.

Chen Hao Nan was furious but could only glare at Jingkun with a face full of resentment.

He knew what Jingkun meant, but couldn't say a thing.

The fact that he had slept with Shan Ji's girl Ke En—though it was Jingkun's setup—the blame was firmly pinned on his head.

He simply didn't dare spread it around.

Triad members wouldn't look into the truth behind it; they would only assume Chen Hao Nan had hooked up with a brother's woman.

Jingkun had no intention of paying attention to Chen Hao Nan. He walked behind Brother Ji, patted Brother Ji's shoulder, and said, "Ah Ji, you're here so early, your back must be aching from sitting!"

"That's true—we risk our lives while others live the good life. Who knows, maybe he's right now in a pile of women going uh... uh...!"

Saying that, he thrust his hips forward twice more.

Brother Ji nodded in agreement: "Honestly, it is a bit much. If I'd known, I would've collected a couple more debts before coming."

"Mr. Jiang!"

"Mr. Jiang!"

Brother Ji was still talking when Jiang Tiansheng also led his people in.

"Sorry, I'm late!"

Jiang Tiansheng walked to the Dragon Head's seat and apologized to the faction leaders with a smile.

"Not at all, we've only just arrived too." Brother Ji was Brother Ji—he gave face to everyone.

The other faction leaders also laughed it off; no one would actually blame the Dragon Head for being late.

Except Jingkun.

"Waited so long my back aches." Jingkun walked back to his own seat with a face full of displeasure, not even giving Jiang Tiansheng a pleasant look.

After a few pleasantries, Chen Yao, as the Triad Society's White Paper Fan, stepped forward to chair the meeting: "Alright, all twelve faction leaders are present, so let's begin the meeting."

"Last month, a group of our brothers went to Macau to handle business, but unfortunately there were casualties."

"Mr. Jiang, I must explain this on behalf of my brothers."

Da B spoke up: "When the Triad Society issues orders for us to handle business, they as underlings will certainly risk their lives. But..."

"But... if someone is trash, then nothing they say matters." Jingkun directly interrupted and cut off Da B's explanation.

Da B glanced at Jingkun and continued explaining to Jiang Tiansheng: "Mr. Jiang, I believe Ah Nan and the others were set up. Otherwise, Ah Nan and the others would definitely have completed the mission."

"There's no 'otherwise' about it — trash is trash. If you'd handed it to someone else from the start, Red Star wouldn't have lost face either. In the end, wasn't it Ah Mo who dealt with Fat Dog!

Don't make excuses for your own incompetence!"

"Jingkun, don't be so arrogant!" Da B, having been interrupted twice in a row by Jingkun, slammed the table in anger.

Jingkun leaned back in his chair, crossed one leg over the other, and pointed at Da B: "Let me tell you — out here on the streets, when you're wrong, you own up to it; when you get hit, you stand at attention! Is that how you teach your subordinates!"

Bao Pi, standing beside Chen Haonan, could no longer hold back seeing Da B get humiliated twice in a row. He walked straight up to Jingkun and said angrily: "We got sold out this time, and it was your subordinate Sha Qiang who did it!"

Jingkun lifted his head and glanced sideways at Bao Pi: "Since when is it your turn to speak here?"

Only then did Bao Pi realize — this was the Loyalty Righteousness Hall, where was there any place for a mere forty-nine boy to speak?

Fortunately, he had some quick wit. Stiffening his neck, he said: "Inside the Loyalty Righteousness Hall, there's no distinction of rank!"

"Right!" Jingkun stood up and walked over to Bao Pi, "But there is a distinction between superior and inferior!"

With that, he slapped Bao Pi across the face.

This slap carried Jingkun's full strength, making Bao Pi stagger.

Da Tian Er rushed over to steady Bao Pi.

"You..."

Bao Pi still wanted to hit back, but Da Tian Er and Sha Qiang held him down.

Jiang Tiansheng, sitting at the front, watched this scene and was also somewhat displeased: "Ah B."

Da B saw Jiang Tiansheng's expression and knew that Bao Pi had been somewhat out of line. He immediately shouted toward Da Tian Er: "Pull him out!"

Once Bao Pi had been dragged out of the main hall, Jingkun looked at Da B with disdain: "A big brother who doesn't act like a big brother, subordinates who don't know their place — what the hell are you doing!"