Chapter 168: Kicking Someone When They Are Down, Wolves Dividing the Meat

"Reorganizing" from the former Hudao Gang into the current Qingyuan City Management Company has actually reduced the money-making ability by at least one grade.

In this era, the fastest and most profitable way to make money is always breaking the rules.

Opening a casino and being the dealer to take a cut can certainly make money, but it is not as profitable as letting the dealer cheat, setting up traps to pit people together, and then lending high-interest loans.

Opening a brothel, the most profitable way is certainly forced buying and selling, forcing good women into prostitution, and then forcing the other party to earn money for you until they die, without even needing to pay wages.

Besides that, the profits of the dark smoke house go without saying; as long as it is opened, it is absolutely a steady money-maker, and there is no worry about goods not selling.

But the Qingyuan City Management Company does none of these things.

Opening a casino has no shady operations, and all high-interest loans are strictly prohibited; opening a brothel not only does not deduct money but also improves the welfare and treatment of the "employees," with regular free physical examinations and free medical care.

Even protection fees are no longer collected, changed to "city management fees," and because "city management fees" are collected less, but many things are done, often paying out of pocket to repair this and that for merchants, plus labor costs, etc., the income and expenditure of this part are actually losing money every month.

So, all in all, the money-making ability of the Qingyuan City Management Company does not match its size.

The former Hudao Gang, setting aside all expenses, had an annual net profit of about one million yuan—this part of the money could be directly put into Yu Hu's personal pocket.

The current Qingyuan City Management Company's profitability is far inferior to the former Hudao Gang, but fortunately, the expenses are not that high.

The main point is that the Qingyuan City Management Company does not need to spend a large amount of money every month to bribe officials and handle relationships, so calculated, the monthly net profit is about fifty thousand yuan.

This money can also be directly put into Li Fei's own pocket.

On the other side, Shangguan Xiao also handed over the Qingyuan Fist Village to Li Fei. This fist village, setting aside all expenses, can bring Li Fei a net profit of nearly one hundred thousand yuan every month!

It seems that the Qingyuan Fist Village is more profitable, but the Qingyuan City Management Company has a larger size, raises more people, and involves more businesses; its development prospects are far beyond the fist village.

At this time, Li Fei asked Liu Saner how much capital he could mobilize. Liu Saner calculated roughly and answered:

"The liquid capital that can be mobilized in the fist village is about 470,000, and the liquid capital that can be mobilized in the company is about 260,000, because a salary was paid a few days ago, a payment for exotic beast rations was made, and a batch of elixirs was purchased from the black market, so the capital available to the company is less."

"Good, prepare this money; first convert it all into cash. When I need it, I must be able to get it at any time."

Li Fei ordered.

In the current situation, money cannot play a decisive role, but it is certainly useful.

Over seven hundred thousand yuan in this era is enough to move some Dao Foundation powerhouses.

"Very well, Ghost Master, rest assured, I will prepare it immediately."

Liu Saner said.

After hanging up the phone, Li Fei got up and walked to the locker, took out the elixirs, and began tonight's cultivation.

The same night, Renmian Villa.

The "Beast King" Yu Longqing was fishing by the lake; this is his daily hobby.

A cruel and murderous person whose biggest hobby is actually an activity like fishing to cultivate one's character is truly very contradictory.

"Boss, it has been confirmed. Zhang Zongyang's corpse is being dissected in the General Stop-Goe Academy. People from the Zhang family have protested, but it was rejected, and now the Zhang family is in chaos; the first, second, and third branches are all busy trying to win people over everywhere, wanting to seize power."

A subordinate came to report.

Yu Longqing heard this, the corners of his mouth turned up, revealing a smile:

"That old thing Zhang Zongyang was wise for a lifetime, but unfortunately, he capsized in the gutter at the end, leaving behind such a huge family business, in vain benefiting outsiders."

The implication is that he does not think at all that the remaining people in the Zhang family can hold onto the family business.

"Boss, then should we now...?"

The subordinate looked at Yu Longqing, meaning to ask whether to take the opportunity to kick someone when they are down and start dividing this huge piece of fat meat that is the Zhang family!

"No rush."

Yu Longqing shook his head, the fishing rod in his hand very steady, the fishing line without a trace of trembling, "Eat the piece of meat delivered to the mouth first."

"What do you mean?"

"The goods for Xingcheng haven't been sent yet, right?"

"Not yet; according to the plan, it is to be sent tomorrow morning."

"Then don't send it."

"If they ask over there, should we drag it out first? Or tear off the mask directly?"

"Heh."

Yu Longqing sneered, recalling that figure standing in front of him back then, wearing a ghost mask:

"If they ask, you tell them: if you want the goods, let the Green-Faced Ghost come personally!"

Back then, the Green-Faced Ghost came to Renmian Villa alone and finally retreated unscathed, which Yu Longqing considered a shame.

If it happens again, he will absolutely not let this Green-Faced Ghost go!

"Yes, subordinate understands."

The subordinate turned and left.

Swish—

Just as he turned, Yu Longqing caught a big fish from the lake.

This big fish was over two meters long, also not an ordinary fish.

It struggled desperately, but was firmly bound by an invisible force, never able to break free from the hook hanging on its mouth.

The next morning, Li Fei walked into Mo Yizhou's classroom as usual, preparing for the poison class.

But this time there was no one in the classroom.

Usually, Mo Yizhou was always early, doing research in the classroom in advance.

Li Fei noticed a piece of paper left on the experimental table; he walked over and picked up this paper:

"Something delayed me for a few days. Practice by yourself these few days; I have left you some questions."

The message was from Mo Yizhou, and on the back of the paper were the questions he left for Li Fei, requiring Li Fei to configure some drugs to verify several "poison formulas."

Ever since Li Fei contributed the idea of "poison formulas," all the research the two did in class revolved around formulas, using formulas to study pharmacology while also calculating new formulas.

"Mo Yizhou suddenly has something to do at this time; could it be related to Zhang Zongyang's death?"

Such a thought suddenly arose in Li Fei's mind.

He decided to ask when he saw Mo Yizhou in a few days.

Putting down the paper in his hand, he began to get busy in the laboratory...

Two hours later, Li Fei walked into another classroom to attend Professor Ding Bo's "Practical Analysis of Innate Qi."

Although he has now cultivated force, it seems there is no need to practice the application techniques of Innate Qi hard.

But in reality, this class is still of no small help to him; the stronger his control over Innate Qi, his control over force will also rise with the tide.

After this period of cultivation, Li Fei can already combine Geng Metal True Qi and Blood Sha Qi in an instant, so he doesn't need to store True Blood Force in his body in advance; as long as Geng Metal True Qi and Blood Sha Qi are not exhausted, he can strike with True Blood Force at any time.

In a sense, "Green-Faced Ghost" can also be considered to have truly stepped into the mid-stage of Qi Transformation, becoming a Force-Refining Martial Master.

One is Vajra Force, one is True Blood Force; the difference is huge, so Li Fei doesn't need to worry about exposing his identity because of force.

After attending Professor Ding Bo's class, Li Fei's morning classes ended.

He first went to the cafeteria to eat, then returned to his dormitory to rest.

Not long after sitting down, the phone in the dormitory rang.

Li Fei walked over and picked up the receiver:

"Hello?"

"Xiao Fei, Liu Saner just called me and said that the 'Beast King' side has detained a batch of exotic beast rations."

Shangguan Xiao's voice came from the other end of the phone.

Phones in this era have no caller ID and are also hard to wiretap, making it impossible to lock onto a location via phone, so Li Fei can actively call Liu Saner without worrying about exposing his identity. And he did not leave his dormitory phone to Liu Saner, always letting Liu Saner contact himself through Shangguan Xiao.

In this way, even if someone with a heart wants to investigate the true identity of the Green-Faced Ghost through Liu Saner, there is this insurance of Shangguan Xiao in the middle.

"Is it the rations for the next quarter?"

Li Fei asked.

Last night Liu Saner told him that the company had just paid a payment for purchasing exotic beast rations.

Transactions with the "Beast King" side are once a quarter.

"Correct, it is the rations for the next quarter, worth over 200,000; now it has been detained by the other party, and they don't intend to give it."

Shangguan Xiao's tone was cold.

Under normal circumstances, it should be paying a deposit first and paying the full amount after the goods arrive.

But because the Qingyuan City Management Company originally used threats to trade with the "Beast King," the "Beast King" was very tough on the trading method, requiring the Qingyuan City Management Company to pay the full amount first before they would ship.

In Datong Prefecture, the exotic beast ration business is monopolized by the "Beast King," so Li Fei's side could only agree to this trading method.

Previously, the two sides had traded once, and everything went smoothly.

But now, the "Beast King" suddenly swallowed the Qingyuan City Management Company's payment!

"Yu Longqing, this person is cruel and murderous, and he is narrow-minded and vengeful. Back then, we captured his capable general and borrowed the Zhang family's power to force him to bow his head. Now that the Zhang family has encountered an incident, it is not surprising that he suddenly did this."

Shangguan Xiao analyzed.

Li Fei certainly understood the reason inside.

Back then, the "Beast King" didn't want to offend the Zhang family, so he barely accepted the trade with the Qingyuan City Management Company. Although this trade was also profitable for him, for a person like him, this grudge would not be easily put down.

Now that the Zhang family has lost power, and the only one the "Beast King" feared, Zhang Zongyang, is dead, he decisively chose to retaliate!

"The payment of over 200,000 is actually fine; the main thing is that once there are no rations, the exotic beasts in that exotic beast farm won't last long. This loss is the biggest."

Li Fei said.

Once something goes wrong with the exotic beasts in the farm, his loss will be at least over a million!

"Martial aunt, is there any way to find a seller outside Datong Prefecture?"

Li Fei asked.

"There are two difficulties. First, even if a seller can be found, the other party may not be willing to sell to us. Second, even if the other party is willing to sell to us, we may not be able to successfully transport the goods back."

Shangguan Xiao said.

Yu Longqing has been able to monopolize the exotic beast ration trade in Datong Prefecture for so many years, naturally having some means.

If outsiders dare to rashly sell goods into Datong Prefecture, it is equivalent to going to war with him. Without sufficient benefits, others would certainly not take this risk.

And even if the goods were truly transported into Datong Prefecture, wanting to successfully transport them to Xingcheng would be very difficult; Yu Longqing would certainly go all out to cut off this line!

"I understand, I will think of another way."

Li Fei said to Shangguan Xiao.

At this time, the Zhang family is already very troublesome; he doesn't want Shangguan Xiao to be distracted because of his own affairs.

"Good, Xiao Fei, absolutely do not be impulsive; you must keep your cool at this time. If it really doesn't work... just bow your head to Yu Longqing. He cannot just let go of the market in Xingcheng; eventually, business will still have to be done."

Shangguan Xiao hesitated for a moment and said to Li Fei.

If it were another time, she certainly wouldn't say such things; she herself is also a very tough character.

But Zhang Zongyang's death was too big a blow to her; she couldn't provide other suggestions to Li Fei for a while.

"Very well, martial aunt, you don't need to worry about me."

Li Fei said.

Subsequently, the two hung up the phone.

Li Fei narrowed his eyes and muttered:

"Bow my head?"

For the next few days, the Tiefeng Sect remained sealed, and people from the General Supervision Academy also launched an investigation inside the Tiefeng Sect.

Besides that, all Tiefeng martial arts halls in the city were sealed!

Many people from the martial arts halls were taken away for investigation.

At this time, major forces could actually try to swallow a part of the "cake" occupied by the "Blade King," but the attention of major forces was being attracted by another piece of fat meat—the Zhang family!

The "cake" occupied by the "Blade King" was mainly martial arts halls and fist matches. Even if this part of the market was swallowed, it would still have to compete with the "Blade King" in the future; after all, the Tiefeng Sect was still there.

But the Zhang family was different.

The Zhang family had been entrenched in Datong Prefecture for nearly a hundred years, and the Zhang family had businesses in every industry. Because the plate was big enough, it was very convenient for everyone to "divide and eat."

The most critical thing is that once Zhang Zongyang is dead, the Zhang family basically has no chance of making a comeback, and there is no need to worry about being retaliated against in the future.

So after waiting for a few days, major forces unanimously began to take action against the Zhang family!

Among the "Seven Kings," besides the "Blade King," the remaining six major forces were all dividing the benefits, using the most violent means to annex the various industries of the Zhang family in secret.

As for those industries on the surface, they were safe for the time being, but everyone knew that once the Zhang family completely collapsed, these industries would sooner or later be unable to be kept.

The Zhang family certainly resisted, trying to use the power on the official side to protect the market.

Unfortunately, the effect was not good.

For one, the "Seven Kings" also had their own influence on the official side.

For another, with Zhang Zongyang's death, many of the Zhang family's connections on the official side were actually no longer useful.

Thus, the matter of "wolves dividing the meat" happened just like that.

And regarding all this, Garrison Commander Governor Bian Jingru and some other high-level officials of Datong Prefecture adopted a default attitude.

The reason is simple: the Zhang family falls, and in the future, many positions will be vacated in the officialdom, and a batch of officials who originally chose to follow the Zhang family will have to switch to other families.

So, in fact, once the Zhang family falls, these big shots of Datong Prefecture can all share the benefits.

They don't need to stop this process of "wolves dividing the meat."

Thus, the high-level officials of Datong Prefecture, led by Governor Bian Jingru, were fully investigating the murderer who killed Zhang Zongyang while silently watching the Zhang family being constantly divided and eaten.

Perhaps before the murderer who killed Zhang Zongyang is found, the Zhang family will have completely collapsed.

Reality is just that ironic and cruel!

March 9th.

The seventh day after Zhang Zongyang died, his corpse was finally sent back to the Zhang family.

The Zhang family began to organize a funeral for Zhang Zongyang.

Just on this day, Shangguan Xiao finally rushed back to Datong Prefecture, catching up with her father's "first seven days."

At 10:17 AM, Shangguan Xiao entered the city alone from the East City Gate of Datong Prefecture.

Near the city gate, many people were waiting for her here.

At this time, it was drizzling, and Shangguan Xiao, still wearing a green dress, did not hold an umbrella, just standing in the rain, sweeping her cold gaze over the people in front of her...

Among these people, there were relatives she hadn't contacted for many years, and there were also many enemies with bad intentions.

The gazes falling on her included scrutiny, indifference, jealousy, warning, and schadenfreude—just not a trace of kindness.

As a Dao Foundation powerhouse, getting a little wet in the rain was nothing, but at this moment, Shangguan Xiao still felt a trace of chill.

Just as she took a deep breath, intending to continue forward, the crowd in front suddenly became restless.

"Excuse me, please make way."

A young man holding an umbrella in one hand and a blade in the other pushed through the crowd and walked toward Shangguan Xiao.

This person was wearing the light blue robe of Wu Da, looking full of righteousness.

The person walked to Shangguan Xiao and smiled:

"Martial aunt, let's go."

Shangguan Xiao looked at Li Fei, who was already a head taller than her, and also revealed a smile, nodding:

"Good."

Thus, Li Fei stood on the side to hold the umbrella for Shangguan Xiao, accompanying her as they walked toward the crowd in front.

At this moment, the wind and rain of Datong Prefecture remained, but it seemed not so cold anymore.

PS: Today is my grandmother's birthday, the family is going to celebrate, so just one chapter.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 169 =====