Chapter 626 - 626: Are You Threatening Me?

"You know damn well whether you're slandering her or not." Zhao Yuan gave Ma Hui a profound look.

The glance made Ma Hui's skin crawl and brought out a fine sheen of sweat. He felt as if that single look had stripped him bare, leaving him with no secrets, no privacy whatsoever.

Ma Hui couldn't help but swallow. 'What's this kid's deal?' he muttered to himself. 'That look is terrifying.'

His fearful, trembling demeanor only deepened Zhao Yuan's contempt. "Tell your men to get out of the way," he snorted. "What do you think you're doing, blocking our path?"

Ma Hui quickly shook off his distracting thoughts and said, "We don't mean anything by it. We just wanted to ask if you hired Liu Xiaoya to handle the design for your house."

Having been berated by Zhao Yuan, Ma Hui was clearly displeased. He didn't lash out, but he did drop the polite form of address.

"That's right," Zhao Yuan nodded, asking mockingly, "What? You trying to poach my business? Steal the contract?"

Since Zhao Yuan had called him out, Ma Hui dropped the pretense and admitted it. "That's right. Our Fuqiang Decoration Company has deep pockets and a wealth of talent. We've won numerous major awards in the home design industry. We're nothing like Liu Xiaoya's ragtag operation. If you give us the contract, I can guarantee that our quote will be lower than hers, but the final results will be far superior!"

"You guarantee it?" Zhao Yuan raised an eyebrow.

"Yes, I guarantee it!" Seeing Zhao Yuan's reaction, Ma Hui thought he had a chance and immediately extended an invitation. "Why don't you come to Fuqiang Decoration Company first? You can hear our designers' proposals and concepts. I guarantee you'll be satisfied."

Liu Xiaoya grew tense, afraid that Zhao Yuan would be swayed by Ma Hui's offer and that she would lose her chance to prove herself.

Under everyone's watchful gaze, Zhao Yuan suddenly broke into a smile.

Ma Hui was overjoyed. "Does this mean you agree?" he asked hurriedly.

But Zhao Yuan shook his head. "I don't believe in your guarantee."

"Huh?" Ma Hui was dumbfounded.

'You don't believe my guarantee? Then what the hell are you smiling about, and so ambiguously at that?'

Just then, a few security guards from the Cao Tang Peninsula District, seeing that something was wrong, hurried over. "Sir, is there anything we can help you with?" one asked with concern.

Since Zhao Yuan had bought a house in the Cao Tang Peninsula District, he was now someone they were tasked to serve and protect. The residents of this district were all either rich or powerful, so both the security and the service were top-notch.

Zhao Yuan pointed at Ma Hui and his two men. "They've blocked my car and won't let me leave."

The Cao Tang Peninsula District guards immediately surrounded Ma Hui and his men. "You three, please come with us and explain the situation."

"What right do you have to take us away?" Ma Hui roared at the guards, then turned to Zhao Yuan. "Don't blame me for not warning you. If you really let this bitch do the job, your house will probably never be finished!"

"Are you threatening me?" Zhao Yuan asked.

Ma Hui snorted coldly. "I'm not threatening you. I'm just giving you a friendly reminder."

Zhao Yuan smiled, a cold, sinister expression. "I'm curious. Why is it that if I hire her, my house will never be finished?"

Ma Hui said, "Because she has a bad reputation. Everyone in Rongcheng City's construction circles knows it, and no one wants to work with her. So if you hire her, I guarantee you'll have nothing but trouble. One minute you won't be able to source the right materials, the next you won't be able to find skilled labor. Or maybe there'll be conflicts during the construction, causing all sorts of incidents."

Liu Xiaoya trembled with rage. "You're just making things up! You're spouting baseless slander!" she snapped.

Ma Hui just sneered at her, his expression clearly saying, 'That's right, I am slandering you. What are you going to do about it? I told you I'd run you out of Rongcheng City, and I always keep my word!'

"So you *are* threatening me." The smile on Zhao Yuan's face widened, but his gaze was as cold as if he were looking at a dead man walking. "I had no idea Boss Ma was so influential in Rongcheng City's construction circles."

"Heh, you flatter me," Ma Hui said, preening. "It's just that my friends do me favors."

Zhao Yuan asked again, "And if I don't agree to your terms, this house really can't be properly renovated?"

Ma Hui spread his hands. "If you don't believe me, feel free to try. It's not my problem if you're the one who suffers and runs into trouble."

Zhao Yuan nodded, his smile vanishing. A powerful aura erupted from him, so potent that it forced Ma Hui back several steps, a look of shock and disbelief on his face.

"I'm the kind of person who isn't afraid of trouble. What I hate most, however, is being threatened. Ma Hui, was it? Fuqiang Decoration Company? I'll remember that. Let's see which one of us finds trouble first!"

With that, Zhao Yuan ignored Ma Hui and ordered the Bone Woman, "Drive."

The security guards had already dragged Ma Hui's two lackeys aside. With no one blocking the way, the Bone Woman immediately drove off.

After rolling up the window, Zhao Yuan asked, "Miss Liu, where is your studio?"

Liu Xiaoya gave him the address, then hesitated for a moment before gritting her teeth and saying, "Mr. Zhao, I can't take this job."

"Why not?" Zhao Yuan asked. "Didn't you want this job to prove yourself? Don't you have the confidence to do it well?"

Liu Xiaoya said quickly, "Of course not! I'm very confident in my design skills. It's just... that Ma Hui has connections to the criminal underworld. If he really decides to sabotage this project behind the scenes, I'm afraid the renovation schedule will be severely impacted, and it will cause all sorts of trouble and unexpected problems."

Zhao Yuan laughed. "Like I said, I'm not afraid of trouble. You just focus on doing a good job with the design. Don't worry about anything else. Even if we really can't find materials or good workers in Rongcheng City, we'll just source them from out of town. It just means spending a little more money. Besides," he added, "who knows? Maybe in a few days, Ma Hui will have a change of heart."

Liu Xiaoya didn't believe for a second that Ma Hui would have a change of heart; that was about as likely as the sun rising in the west. But with Zhao Yuan having said all this, she couldn't very well keep refusing. Besides, deep down, she really did want to use this job to prove herself.

After dropping Liu Xiaoya off at her studio, Zhao Yuan took out his phone and made a call to Ying Ji.

So Ma Hui had underworld connections? Was resourceful? Powerful?

Compared to a Cultivation Family, that was a fucking joke.