Chapter 53

This association meeting was a great success; the Leader, Jiang Tian Sheng, looked back on the past, spoke at length about the present, looked ahead to the future, and drew up a three‑year plan for the association—Prosperity's future development is limitless.

That's what the Leader said.

All the Leaders flattered him, saying: Under the Leader's guidance, Prosperity will surely become the top gang in Gangdao, radiate throughout Southeast Asia, and advance into Europe and America.

They don't want Japan; that place has too many earthquakes, and the brothers can't adapt.

They also don't want Korea; the place is too small, the staple is garbage and instant noodles, the main dish is pickled vegetables—they're not used to it, so forget it!

Only Ji Ge voiced a dissenting opinion, saying: Those two places still have good things—Japan's excellence and Korea's unity—and he very much wants to give them a piece of his mind, strongly urging the Leader to make proper plans; when the time comes, he will take the lead.

Li Xin had never seen Ji Ge so "brave" before! He wants to take the lead!

Right after the idle chat ended, they enthusiastically celebrated the closing of the meeting.

As soon as the meeting ended, Li Xin hurriedly got up and left; he had agreed with Line: Qiuti to go to Jim Dong to eat Korean cuisine.

Although he didn't want to go eat grilled pork lettuce wraps, Line: Qiuti had finally made a request, so he agreed.

Han Bin learned of Dinosaur's remarks at the meeting and wanted to explain them to him.

Li Xin patted his shoulder and said, "Brother Bin, we're our own people—will you really quarrel with him over Sky Rainbow's immature slip of the tongue?"

"Of course not!" Han Bin blurted out these words.

Li Xin rolled his eyes and said irritably, "Isn't that just it? I, A Xin, may be unreasonable or not, but I've never been petty…

Put your mind at ease—we're brothers now; your brother is my brother, I won't hold it against you, so go ahead and haul cargo and make money.

After Li Xin left, Dinosaur puzzled Han Bin: "I'm older than A Xin, right? How did I become his younger brother?

Han Bin ignored him, narrowed his eyes and started hitting Dinosaur on the head while shouting, "You idiot, being A Xin's younger brother should be an honor—how many people beg for that and can't get it? Look at Sky Rainbow and Flower Tongue—does being their younger brother seem like a grievance to you?

Han Bin looked at Dinosaur with the eyes of one looking at a fool, and said bitterly, "You really have no brains at all! What kind of person is A Xin? He's the Second Route Marshal of Prosperity! On the surface, his status in Prosperity is just a notch below the Leader's.

If he stays silent, he stays silent; but if he speaks, even the Leader has to give him face!

Taizi, Boxing King Tai is his sworn brother; Sky Rainbow and Flower Tongue are his disciples; Big D treats him as a close brother, Handsome Kwan will give him face, Uncle Bo, Ji Ge, and he also get along well.

Think about it, think hard—if you ever get into trouble and he speaks up for you at the meeting, how many people are giving you a stage to perform?

You pigbrain!

Dinosaur scratched the back of his head, thought about these people, and then belatedly said, "Damn, Xin Brother isn't even a Leader anymore, yet his strength is greater than before?

Han Bin sighed and explained, "When A Xin wasn't a Leader, did anyone in Prosperity dare to provoke him?

Never mind Prosperity; when he wasn't a Leader, how many outside gangs would dare to provoke him for no reason?

You think his old nickname 'Ghost-Sees-Sorrow' came for nothing? He's incredibly difficult to deal with, so nobody wants to provoke him—it's not worth it.

Fighting others costs lives; fighting him costs money—what's more important, money or life?

To a triad member, life isn't worth money—of course money is important!

So nobody wants to provoke him—understood?

His status is self‑earned! No matter the means, but the very size and style of his 'Immortal Trust' characters echo throughout the Gangdao underworld.

…

Jim Dong, Han's Korean Cuisine.

In Gangdao there are many of these little shops—stalls selling boxed meals, fish balls, and noodle carts—you can find them all.

The most famous ought to be Li Jin's shop; his family sells seasonings and can become rich tycoons!

Today, several people went out with him—Founding, Radiant, Sky Rainbow, Flower Tongue, and the Hot one who came with Line: Qiuti; Li Xin directly sent those few to another table.

What are all these big shots crowding for?

If it were a beautiful woman, that'd be fine, but aside from Radiant Sun and Founding in suits and leather shoes, the rest of these guys are dressed too flamboyantly!

You can tell at a glance they're out to cause trouble!

He's told them several times already to learn to wear suits and ties, not to dress like triad members.

They talked back, saying, "We are triad members—isn't it normal to dress like this? Weren't you, Big Brother, dressing the same way before? And they say he's forgotten his roots!

This made Li Xin furious! They're close brothers—can't even beat them to death—so let's just pretend it never happened.

What a sin!

Now Li Xin has changed his outfit again; he generally feels uncomfortable in a suit, and unintentionally recalled his past life, when Liu Huaqiang wore a stand‑collared Zhongzhuang suit with two down‑mountain tigers embroidered on the cuffs.

A fierce tiger doesn't come down the mountain; when it does, it eats people.

He's really hungry now, wanting to find something to eat—just doesn't know who'll be so lucky!

When the server had placed all the dishes, Li Xin looked at the Korean grilled meat; only the beef appealed to him, the rest held no interest—he didn't put a bite of anything else in his mouth, just devoured the beef.

Line: Qiuti watched Li Xin just eating beef, rolled her eyes and said irritably, "Can't you give me a little consideration? It's hard enough to get out for a date, and you're just going all‑in on the beef—try something else.

After saying that, she put a few slices of pork belly on Li Xin's plate and passed him some lettuce leaves.

"Try it, it's really good."

Li Xin picked it up and put it in his mouth—hmm, the first few bites were actually good, the texture was explosive.

While they were all eating heartily, a few people came over to his side and just stood there watching him eat.

Li Xin turned his head, hurriedly got up to shake their hands, and spoke politely: "Mr. Xu, Uncle Jiang, Brother Jun, what are you doing here?

After speaking, he quickly ushered them to sit, and told Line: Qiuti, "Go sit at Sky Rainbow and the others' table—some friends have come.

Line: Qiuti smiled and nodded at them as a greeting, then went to sit at Sky Rainbow and the others' table.

Those people also nodded back to Line: Qiuti in return.

The woman of Immortal Trust is worthy of their returning the salute.

Old Xu, the leader of Xin Ji, looked at the heroic, sturdy appearance of Immortal Trust and took a liking to him; although A Strong and Luo Tian Hong had a few disagreements the past few days, Immortal Trust's later actions were spot‑on, giving full substance and face.

He greatly admired his style of work.

Chief Manager Uncle Jiang of Xin Ji spoke first: "A Xin, East Point is Xin Ji's turf—you, this big brother of the jianghu, have come; we, the Leader and Brother Jun, ought to hurry over and take a look, shouldn't we?

"Mr. Xu, Uncle Jiang, Brother Jun, no need for formalities—we just came for a meal; I didn't expect to disturb you all, sorry!

Li Xin said politely.

As long as there is no conflict of interest with him, he is polite to everyone; if a conflict arises, he turns hostile faster than anyone.

Hmm, the transition is still quite natural.

After Uncle Jiang finished speaking, he waved again at the two young people standing not far away.