Chapter 289: Chips

The car carried Li Fei into a courtyard and stopped in the front yard.

After Li Fei got out of the car, someone led him inside.

The courtyard was deep and secluded, shaded by willow trees; it was vast in area and luxuriously furnished.

In the Datong Prefecture city, where every inch of land is worth gold, this courtyard was worth at least over a million!

After walking for a few minutes, a lake appeared before Li Fei's eyes.

There was a pavilion in the center of the lake, and Feng Sanniang, wearing a yellow dress today, was gracefully brewing tea inside; a middle-aged man sat beside her.

Crossing the covered bridge, Li Fei walked into the lake pavilion.

Feng Sanniang had just finished brewing the tea and stood up along with the middle-aged man.

"Young Master Qing."

Feng Sanniang greeted Li Fei with a smile, then pointed to the man beside her and introduced him:

"This is Mr. He Peng, a representative of Boss Luo from the provincial capital."

"Boss Luo from the provincial capital"—hearing these words, Li Fei immediately knew who the seller Feng Sanniang had found was.

Luo Yifu from the provincial capital of Feng Province dealt in exotic beast feed and the sale of implants; his scale was no worse than that of the "Beast King" Yu Longqing, and he likely had the backing of the Feng Province Inspector.

That was a true regional governor, a high-ranking official of the imperial court!

Therefore, Boss Luo's business ran very smoothly, and he was not afraid of being troubled by the "Beast King."

"He Peng has met the Green-Faced Ghost King."

The man cupped his hands in a salute to Li Fei.

Although Li Fei had now climbed onto the Feng Province Wind and Cloud Ranking, given the strength and influence of the Qingyuan City Management Company, he was still a cut below being on equal footing with the "Seven Kings" of Datong Prefecture.

So, He Peng's use of "Ghost King" was actually a compliment.

Li Fei returned the salute: "Mr. He."

"Come, you two, please sit and have some tea."

Feng Sanniang greeted them with a smile.

"Thanks to the Ghost King's blessing, I am able to drink tea brewed by Sanniang herself."

He Peng said with a smile.

The few of them exchanged pleasantries; it was mainly Feng Sanniang and He Peng talking, while Li Fei maintained the cold, aloof persona of the Green-Faced Ghost and did not speak much.

"I heard from Sanniang that the Ghost King wants to buy a batch of exotic beast feed?"

He Peng took the initiative to bring up the main topic.

Li Fei nodded: "Yes."

"In the past, Boss Luo did not want to clash with the 'Beast King,' so he never sold goods to Datong Prefecture. But since Sanniang has spoken, our Boss Luo is also willing to make a friend of the Ghost King, so we can sell this batch of goods."

He Peng said.

It seemed that Feng Sanniang had a lot of influence with Boss Luo.

"Then many thanks."

Li Fei said.

Next, the two quickly reached an agreement on this cooperation:

Goods worth a total of 300, 00, which Luo Yifu could transport to the border of Datong Prefecture within a week.

In terms of price, this batch of goods was more expensive than what the "Beast King" sold, but Li Fei could understand.

It was not that Luo Yifu's side intended to overcharge him, but with the transportation capabilities of this era, transporting hundreds of tons of goods all the way here incurred a significant cost on the road.

Besides the higher cost, Luo Yifu's side only guaranteed delivery to the border of Datong Prefecture; they would not be responsible for anything further inside.

Although they were not afraid of the "Beast King," they had not yet considered going to war with Yu Longqing, nor were they willing to be used by others.

However, out of respect for Feng Sanniang, He Peng indicated that no deposit was needed and payment could be made in person after the goods arrived.

Li Fei expressed his gratitude for this.

The deal was thus concluded.

After He Peng sat for a while longer, he took the initiative to bid farewell.

Only Li Fei and Feng Sanniang remained in the lake pavilion.

"Has Young Master Qing ever thought about why Yu Longqing is able to monopolize the exotic beast feed business in Datong Prefecture?"

Feng Sanniang suddenly asked.

"Does Sanniang have some insight to share?"

Li Fei looked at her.

He only knew that Yu Longqing's ability to monopolize the business in Datong Prefecture certainly did not rely on force alone, because it was impossible for him to threaten all factions simultaneously or scare away all outside merchants.

To reach the level of a monopoly, strength was one part, but there must also be something unique about it.

"Young Master Qing also raises exotic beasts yourself, so you should know that this is not a simple discipline."

Feng Sanniang said.

Li Fei nodded.

Indeed, exotic beast husbandry was a very complex discipline.

For the same type of exotic beast, some people might raise ten and all ten could provide high-quality implants; while others might raise ten, and seven of the implants provided would be defective or substandard.

The gap between them was like heaven and earth!

If the Tiger Blade Gang hadn't spent many years slowly exploring and trial-and-error to successfully establish an exotic beast farm with a perfect breeding process, Li Fei would not know how much time and energy it would take to start from scratch, and he might not even succeed in the end.

So Li Fei had actually picked up a huge bargain!

In the process of exotic beast husbandry, exotic beast feed was a very important link; how to feed the beasts better at the lowest cost was what sellers of exotic beast feed needed to research.

"Yu Longqing is able to monopolize the business in Datong Prefecture not only because his prices are cheaper, but also because the quality of the exotic beast feed he sells is very high."

Feng Sanniang said, "There are secret recipes for making exotic beast feed. Yu Longqing has mastered several exclusive secret recipes, which is why his goods sell so well. He hasn't just monopolized the business in Datong Prefecture; he is the best-selling one in the entire Feng Province."

Li Fei nodded; if the goods sold were both cheap and good, there was no reason for people not to buy from him.

"Take a look at this."

Feng Sanniang handed a piece of paper to Li Fei.

Li Fei took it and lowered his head to read.

A moment later, he raised his head and looked at Feng Sanniang:

"This is?"

"A bargaining chip."

Feng Sanniang smiled charmingly, "A chip to raise the stakes."

The paper she gave Li Fei contained a top-secret piece of information:

The Chen family of Xingcheng had been secretly providing Yu Longqing with the raw materials for making exotic beast feed!

The Chen family's ancestral home was in Chen Family Village near Xingcheng; the family started there and only took root in Xingcheng after they grew big and strong.

The villagers of Chen Family Village had made a living by gathering herbs in the mountains for generations, and the Chen family started with the herb business. After becoming the number one noble family in Xingcheng, Chen Family Village still had a large number of herb gatherers, and the herb business had never stopped.

But not many people knew, including the herb gatherers of the Chen family themselves, that a portion of the herbs they gathered was actually provided to the "Beast King" Yu Longqing.

"No wonder the Chen family was able to get the Zhang Shan Gang to help back then."

Li Fei recalled the events before he came to Datong Prefecture city.

At that time, the Chen family occupied that exotic beast farm and refused to hand it over, then brought in the Zhang Shan Gang, the strongest combat force under the "Beast King," to help.

If the two sides only had a normal buyer-seller relationship, Yu Longqing probably wouldn't have valued the Chen family so much.

Now he finally knew the reason.

It turned out the Chen family was also one of Yu Longqing's most important raw material suppliers.

"Yu Longqing has two biggest advantages: one is the high quality of his exotic beast feed, and the other is the low price. If you can cut off the supply of some of his raw materials, he will have to spend a higher price to purchase them from elsewhere. In this way, his price advantage will be greatly reduced, and other merchants will have the opportunity to squeeze his market share through a price war."

Feng Sanniang said slowly.

Li Fei looked at her: "Is this the bargaining chip you mentioned to raise the stakes?"

Feng Sanniang smiled: "You came to me to join forces, isn't it because you want to take over the exotic beast feed business after taking down Yu Longqing? It's just that this plate is too big, and your Qingyuan City Management Company cannot swallow it alone. If you add the Zhang family and me, it will be just right."

Li Fei had indeed thought so.

If the Zhang family could get the exotic beast feed business, plus having an ally like Feng Sanniang, they would at least have the ability to protect themselves and not be treated as a piece of meat by others again.

As for Feng Sanniang, it would also be difficult for her to swallow the entire business alone; without the Qingyuan City Management Company and the Zhang family as allies, she might not be able to hold onto such a large profit.

Feng Sanniang clearly saw this very clearly and was indeed tempted, having the idea of joining forces; otherwise, she wouldn't have taken the initiative to send such a bargaining chip.

Chen Family Village was near Xingcheng, which could be considered Li Fei's home turf. As long as he controlled this important raw material production base, no matter how the situation changed in the future, he wouldn't have to worry about being kicked out of the game.

"Fine, I accept this bargaining chip."

Li Fei waved the paper in his hand, then stood up, preparing to leave.

"Then I wish Young Master Qing to make a fortune."

Feng Sanniang stood up, looked at Li Fei with great allure, bowed slightly, and performed a salute.

Ripples stirred slightly in Li Fei's heart, but they calmed down quickly; he nodded and turned to leave.

Watching his departing back, Feng Sanniang's eyes were deep.

On March 15th, the Martial Arts University went on break.

This semester ended, and the new semester would start on April 1st.

Li Fei decided to return to Xingcheng.

Not only to go back and see Li Lei and Zhang Yuqing, but also to see Hao Yi and learn new things from him.

Finally, he would just happen to go back and resolve the matter of Chen Family Village.

Shangguan Xiao still needed to remain in Datong Prefecture City.

With her, a Dao Foundation realm powerhouse, holding down the fort, and also being an official of the imperial court, at the very least, the major powers would not dare to target the Zhang family's businesses too blatantly.

Li Fei left all the people he had previously transferred from the Qingyuan City Management Company to the prefecture city with Shangguan Xiao, allowing her to have people at her disposal.

Finally, he, Li Tianyu, and Chen Lixin left together on the early morning train.

Just like when they arrived, they first took the train to reach Mingqi City and rested for one night.

When staying at the hotel, Li Fei took the initiative to choose to share a room with Chen Lixin.

"Lixin."

In the evening, after the three of them had eaten together, Li Fei and Chen Lixin returned to their room, and Li Fei suddenly took the initiative to call out.

"What is it?"

Chen Lixin turned his head to look at him.

"Do you know about the matter concerning my martial aunt, Shangguan Xiao?"

Li Fei asked.

Returning to Xingcheng this time, he was going to make a move against the Chen family, so he wanted to talk to this close friend he had grown up with first.

In the memories of his predecessor, Chen Lixin was a very important person to him.

Influenced by his predecessor's memories, Li Fei inevitably felt a sense of softness toward Chen Lixin.

Chen Lixin was startled and adjusted his glasses:

"Are you planning to make a move against the Chen family?"

"Hmm?"

Li Fei was taken aback; he had not expected that Chen Lixin would actually be able to guess it.

The problem was, the other party had no reason to be able to guess it.

In the past, the trio's combination had always been led by Li Tianyu; she was the big sister, responsible for setting action goals, Li Fei would silently execute them, and Chen Lixin would act as the mastermind.

In Li Tianyu's words, 'Chen Gou' looked honest, but was actually full of devious ideas, sinister and cunning.

"Your martial aunt is a member of the Zhang family, the Green-Faced Ghost is her ally, the 'Beast King' Yu Longqing has placed a bounty on the Green-Faced Ghost, and the Green-Faced Ghost has also placed a bounty on Yu Longqing. It looks like your martial aunt and the Green-Faced Ghost intend to use the 'Beast King' as a breakthrough point to break the deadlock."

Chen Lixin analyzed calmly.

Li Fei became interested and looked at him: "Then why would you think they intend to make a move against the Chen family? There is no necessary connection between these things."

Chen Lixin spread his hands: "Originally there wasn't, but you suddenly wanted to share a room with me, and you have been observing me many times throughout the day today, which is completely different from the you of the past. Although the current you is already very different from before, I feel you must have something you want to say to me.

Look, given our relationship, you could completely say whatever you want to my face, but you specifically chose to avoid Tianyu and talk to me alone. As an ordinary business student, what could I possibly need to talk to you about alone? So I think it can only be related to the Chen family.

It just so happens that I know the Chen family has business dealings with the 'Beast King' Yu Longqing; that is the connection."

After listening, Li Fei still felt it was somewhat incredible and looked at Chen Lixin with a gaze of astonishment:

"Just based on these things, you deduced that my martial aunt and the others are going to make a move against the Chen family?"

Chen Lixin laughed, revealing that cunning expression he only showed in front of his two close friends:

"Actually, it was all a guess; I was just bluffing you, I didn't expect it to really be bluffed out of you. To be honest, I was also taken aback."

Li Fei: "."

He discovered that he had underestimated this close friend in the past.

After a long while, he managed to squeeze out a sentence with some depression:

"Chen Gou, you really are a dog!"

"Hahahaha."

Chen Lixin was startled, then burst into laughter.

Li Fei also followed suit and laughed.

The slight sense of estrangement between the two caused by Li Fei's drastic changes disappeared, and it seemed as if they had returned to their childhood.

After laughing, Chen Lixin looked at Li Fei with a somewhat solemn gaze:

"So, are your martial aunt and the others really going to make a move against the Chen family?"

Li Fei nodded and admitted it.

As for the matter of Chen Family Village, he naturally would not tell the other party directly.

"Sigh, actually I don't have much of a feeling about it, really."

Chen Lixin said, "Chen Lixin must definitely care a lot about this, but I am just a child of a side branch of the Chen family, never valued since I was young. If it weren't for getting into the Martial University, those elders in the family might not even remember my name.

To be honest, as long as my mother and those servants of the Chen family who took care of me since I was young are doing well, as for what happens to the Chen family, I don't care that much, and I can't control it anyway."

Chen Lixin's father died in an accident in his early years, and he was raised by his mother since he was young.

Because he had no father, he was not valued in the Chen family.

It was only because he was intelligent since childhood and his grades were very good that he eventually got into the Martial University; otherwise, he, a 'Chen family young master', would actually not be much different from an ordinary person.

"Hmm."

Li Fei nodded.

He looked at this close friend who appeared very honest, and a thought suddenly occurred in his mind:

"Lixin, do you intend to enter the officialdom in the future?"

Chen Lixin was a business student at the Martial University; if he graduated smoothly, he would have the opportunity to become a first-rank minor official directly, starting from a small clerk.

"I actually don't have much interest in being an official. If possible, I want to do some business myself."

An eager expression appeared on Chen Lixin's face.

He had been interested in business since he was young, which was why he chose the business major when selecting his specialty in middle school.

"Then, are you interested in managing the Chen family's businesses?"

Li Fei asked.

"Ah?"

Now it was Chen Lixin's turn to look astonished.

Seeking monthly tickets.

(End of chapter)