Chapter 322

While Ye Chen was busy cooking, Wu Donghai and his son, Wu Xin, left the Song residence and drove toward Tianxiang Mansion.

Tonight, Wu Donghai was hosting a banquet at Tianxiang Mansion, inviting several prominent local figures from Jin Ling. On one hand, he wanted to find clues regarding the sudden change that had befallen his youngest son, Wu Qi; on the other, he wanted to establish a foothold for the Wu family in Jin Ling.

Although the Wu family was the number one family in the Jiangnan region, that did not mean they had sufficient control over the entire area.

The Wu family's base of operations was in Su Hang, so they held extraordinary influence there. However, Jin Ling was the Song family's base, so the Wu family's influence in Jin Ling was far inferior to the Song family's.

Originally, the major families of Jiangnan each had their own spheres of influence, and everyone maintained a tacit understanding and mutual respect, with no one expanding their power into another's territory.

Wu Donghai had not originally intended to cultivate deep roots in Jin Ling, but the key was that his eldest son, Wu Xin, wanted to marry Song Wanting of the Song family. To achieve this goal, Wu Xin would need to stay in Jin Ling for a long time in the future, so he prepared to greet these Jin Ling families first, which would also provide sufficient convenience for Wu Xin in the future.

Wu Xin had been feeling irritable for the past two days. First, because the last time Wu Donghai mentioned the marriage alliance to Old Master Song, the old man had flatly refused, which made Wu Xin feel he had lost face.

Beyond that, Wu Xin was even more troubled by Song Wanting's attitude.

He and his father had been staying at the Song residence for several days, yet Song Wanting left early and returned late every single day!

Previously, he had heard from Song Rongyu that Song Wanting used to eat breakfast at home before leaving, and then return home early in the evening to have dinner with the old master.

But now, Song Wanting didn't even eat breakfast; she would drive away as soon as she left her room in the morning.

In the evening, she would eat out by herself and return very late, and upon returning, she would go straight to her room, basically giving Wu Xin no opportunity to meet her.

This left Wu Xin feeling incredibly depressed.

He really hadn't expected that Song Wanting would actually look down on him and be unwilling to marry him. By what right?

In the car, Wu Donghai also noticed that his son's state was not quite right, so he spoke up: "You, you need to have a little more patience. A girl like Song Wanting—you might not find a second one in all of Jiangnan. If you want to win her over, you must spend some energy and thought."

Wu Xin couldn't accept this and said: "Dad, surely there isn't a second young man in all of Jiangnan better than me, right? I've taken a liking to her; by what right is she being so unappreciative?"

Wu Donghai said indifferently: "You don't understand. Girls from major families are always more sought after than boys from major families."

As he spoke, he added: "A woman like Song Wanting—even those first-rate and top-tier families in Jingcheng would hope to marry her into their homes. Because she is not only beautiful and capable, but her family's strength is not weak; she is excellent both inside and out. Marrying her back home not only brings face, but she can also play a very important role within the family, and might even bring a generous dowry."

"However, if you want to marry a girl from a first-rate or top-tier family in Jingcheng, that is as difficult as ascending to heaven. It is very hard for them to look favorably upon you. This is because when they look at you, they aren't just looking at you as an individual, but at the strength of the entire Wu family."

"To put it simply, in high society, if a woman's comprehensive strength reaches 70 points, she can marry a man with 80 points of comprehensive strength; but a man with 70 points of comprehensive strength finds it very difficult to marry a woman with 70 points of comprehensive strength."

Wu Xin was somewhat indignant and blurted out: "So you mean, by pursuing Song Wanting, I'm actually punching above my weight?"

Wu Donghai said indifferently: "Although you might not like to hear the truth, in essence, it is about the same. Song Wanting can definitely find a man better than you, but you will find it very hard to find a woman better than Song Wanting."

Wu Xin was stunned. At first, he was a bit unconvinced, but after thinking about it carefully, he felt his father was right.

Song Wanting was indeed the woman with the highest comprehensive score he had ever encountered.

As for the daughters of those major families in Jingcheng, even if their families were wealthier than the Song family, it would be hard for them to have Song Wanting's looks and temperament.

Moreover, even if they could look favorably upon him, their families might not necessarily do so.

At this moment, Wu Donghai sighed and said: "The family told me that your younger brother's situation is not optimistic."

"What happened?" Wu Xin asked hurriedly: "Has the situation worsened again?"

"That hasn't happened," Wu Donghai said: "It's still the same as before; he must eat once every hour. But your brother's own emotions are somewhat collapsing. Before, when it flared up, if we didn't let him eat, he would want to commit suicide. Now, if we let him eat, after he finishes and regains consciousness, he wants to commit suicide himself, feeling that living like this is too painful."

After finishing, he sighed, not knowing exactly what kind of person his son Wu Qi had provoked to end up like this.

Wu Xin gritted his teeth and said: "If I catch the person who harmed my brother, I will make sure he dies without a burial place!"

Actually.

Although Wu Xin said this with his mouth, what he craved most in his heart right now was not to avenge his brother, nor to cure him, but to win over Song Wanting as quickly as possible.

As for the situation of his brother Wu Qi, he didn't actually care.

On the contrary, he felt that his brother's current state was actually the best result for himself.

Because this way, he would have one less absolute competitor in the future.

With Wu Qi in his current state, if he couldn't be cured, he would never be able to inherit any of the family's assets in his lifetime. The only outcome would be for the family to lock him away and keep him alive.

This way, he would have the opportunity to inherit the Wu family alone.

Wu Donghai sighed again at this time and said: "You don't need to worry about your brother's affairs. I will investigate this line; you just focus all your efforts on pursuing Song Wanting. You must win Song Wanting over, do you understand?"

Wu Xin nodded hurriedly: "I understand, Dad!"

Wu Donghai gave a hum and added: "Today, I am hosting a banquet at Tianxiang Mansion. Among the people I've invited are the heads of the Wang family, Qin family, Liu family, Zhao family, and Kong family. These are all families that have been deeply rooted in Jin Ling for many years, each with their own strengths, connections, and resources."

"And Hong Wu, the boss of Tianxiang Mansion, is also among those invited today. He is the boss of the Jin Ling underground world. Although he isn't exactly presentable, he has the most eyes and ears of anyone like him. Most things in Jin Ling cannot escape his eyes, so you should also build a good relationship with them today; it will be of great use for your pursuit of Song Wanting in the future."

Wu Xin only knew the Wang family and the Qin family, knew that their heads were Wang Zhenggang and Qin Gang, and understood their power, but he didn't know much about the other families, so he asked: "Dad, besides the Wang family and the Qin family, what is the background of the remaining Liu, Zhao, and Kong families?"

Wu Donghai smiled playfully: "The Zhao and Kong families are just ordinary families involved in real estate, nothing too impressive. The Liu family, however, is a bit interesting. Their family runs financial companies, and they deal entirely in illegal 'routine loans,' which falls under the category of usury. They have just risen in the last year or two, and they also keep a large group of thugs and debt collectors under their command."

Wu Xin said in surprise: "Doesn't that make them similar in nature to Hong Wu?"

"The nature is similar," Wu Donghai nodded and said: "But their strength is far inferior to Hong Wu's. Hong Wu has numerous subordinates in Jin Ling, dozens of times more than Liu Guang's debt collection team. So even though Liu Guang hates Hong Wu to the bone, he doesn't dare do anything to him."

"Liu Guang hates Hong Wu?" Wu Xin asked in surprise: "Is there a conflict between the two of them?"

Wu Donghai laughed: "The conflict is huge. Liu Guang has only one son, named Liu Ming. A while ago, he didn't know how he offended Hong Wu, and Hong Wu used a knife to carve two characters on his forehead."

"What characters?"

"Poor Diao!"