Chapter 643 - 401: No Harm in a Few Pleasantries

Chapter 643: Chapter 401: No Harm in a Few Pleasantries

The main reason he said this was because the terrifying masked assailant still hadn’t been found and eliminated by their powerful backer.

Since the assailant could show up again at any moment and launch another attack, it was pointless to waste manpower on those girls.

Besides, dealing with the girls who had escaped during the chaos was far from a priority on his long list of problems.

"Understood. I’ll go speak with Old Qian about it in a moment," Liu Qizhi replied.

Just as the two high-ranking members of the Red Blood Gang were in discussion, a sudden knock came at the study door.

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK...

Before Fang Jingtang could even grant permission to enter, the person who had knocked simply pushed the door open and walked in.

In the Red Blood Gang, the only ones who would dare to enter so brazenly after knocking were the personnel sent by their powerful backer. No one else would.

"Fang Jingtang, there’s something I need to discuss with you." The visitor was a young man about five-foot-nine, in his late twenties.

Although the young man was only at the Tier One Peak, his strength far inferior to Fang Jingtang’s and Liu Qizhi’s, he carried himself with an incredible arrogance, his expression one of utter disdain for the two of them.

His status as an envoy from their backer gave him the license to disregard Fang Jingtang and Liu Qizhi completely.

And because of that status, neither Fang Jingtang nor Liu Qizhi dared to show any sign of displeasure.

When the arrogant young man stated he wished to speak with Fang Jingtang alone, Liu Qizhi tactfully took his leave, closing the door behind him as he exited the study.

"Lu, please, have a seat," Fang Jingtang said with a warm smile after Liu Qizhi had left, gesturing for the impolite young man to sit.

After Lu Tao sat down, he watched Fang Jingtang attentively pour him tea. Without a word of thanks, he simply picked up the cup and drank.

In the Wu Family, Lu Tao was merely a low-ranking servant. But in his mind, ’it’s true I’m a servant, but I’m a servant of the Wu Family.’

’My status is far nobler than these low-life gang members. Naturally, I don’t need to give them any face.’

"So, Lu, what matter did you come to discuss with me?" Fang Jingtang asked with a light laugh, refilling the man’s empty teacup.

"It’s like this," Lu Tao said. "Wu sent me to tell you that after dark, you are not to leave. You’re to stay here. What’s more, during the night, it would be best if you went out on patrol from time to time."

"..." The smile on Fang Jingtang’s face froze solid.

Ever since personally experiencing the attack from that savage masked assailant, Fang Jingtang hadn’t dared to spend another night at the Red Blood Gang’s headquarters.

Every evening, just as the sun was about to set, he would leave the Red Blood Gang’s headquarters and sleep in one of his other residences.

He had no choice but to move from place to place. After all, before escaping, that terrifying masked assailant had left a threat.

He had sworn that as long as the Red Blood Gang existed, he would be back. For his own safety, changing residences was only natural.

If it weren’t for the need to maintain morale, Fang Jingtang would have wanted to move his place of business as well.

Now, hearing Lu Tao tell him to stay at the headquarters after dark—and even patrol the area from time to time—was truly disastrous news for Fang Jingtang.

Seeing the smile freeze on Fang Jingtang’s face, Lu Tao’s lips curled into a sneer. ’This low-life is such a coward,’ he thought. ’What a waste of the title of gang leader.’

Fury flared in Fang Jingtang’s heart when he saw Lu Tao’s disdainful smirk. But the moment he remembered the man was a servant of the Wu Family, he suppressed his anger, not daring to let a hint of it show. He asked in a subservient tone,

"Lu, what does Guard Wu mean by this?"

Lu Tao, who already held Fang Jingtang in contempt, couldn’t be bothered to explain.

He picked up the teacup, drained it in one gulp, and stood up.

"Figure out what it means yourself. If you can’t, then don’t bother. Just do as Wu says. I have other business to attend to. I’m leaving."

With that, Lu Tao turned and left Fang Jingtang’s study. His departure was swift and clean.

In the silent study, Fang Jingtang’s expression shifted repeatedly. He had to down several cups of tea before the rage burning in his heart finally subsided.

Once his emotions settled, he thought it over carefully and an idea began to form.

’Wu Xiong is making me do this... Could it be he wants to use me as bait to lure out that masked assailant who vanished without a trace?’

The more he considered it, the more plausible it seemed.

Just then, the image of that terrifying masked assailant cutting a bloody swath through his men flashed through his mind again, and a look of fear slowly crept onto his face.

After a long while, a heavy sigh broke the silence of the study.

"Sigh..."

’Fine, fine, I’ll do it. Since Wu Xiong is ordering this, he must have a plan to guarantee my safety.’

’After all, I’m still useful to him. If I get killed by the masked assailant while acting as bait, he’ll have a hard time explaining it to the big boss...’

After comforting himself with this thought, Fang Jingtang rose and returned to his desk. He sat down, flipped open some ledgers, and began to mindlessly deal with the work in front of him.

...

Inside a bustling, high-end restaurant, waiters weaved through the crowd, carrying trays laden with dishes to the guests’ tables.

"What? You want two hundred thousand?" In a corner of the restaurant’s grand hall, Liu Yun, who was attending to a VIP guest, couldn’t help but let out a cry of astonishment upon hearing he wanted to purchase two hundred thousand pearls.

It hadn’t been long since his last purchase, yet here he was again so soon, and this time the order had doubled in size.

"Yes, two hundred thousand," Lin Li replied, seeing Liu Yun’s shocked expression. "What’s the matter? You can’t get them?"

"Er..." Liu Yun, who had been authorized to handle transactions with Lin Li by the Shopkeeper while he was away on a long trip, composed herself. Smoothing the shock from her face, she spoke to Lin Li apologetically.

"Mr. Lin, it’s not that we can’t get the pearls for you. The main issue is that it’s been such a short time since your last purchase. For an order this large, we’ll need some time to gather them all. We won’t be able to have them ready for you today."

Lin Li considered this. He had just recently delivered a shipment of one hundred thousand pearls, which would be enough for Zhang Yuxi’s friend in the Capital City to sell for some time. So, he wasn’t in a great rush to gather the remaining two hundred thousand.

The only problem was that he had told Zhang Yuxi he could get the rest in a day or two. That didn’t seem possible now. ’I’ll have to call her later and ask her to wait a few more days.’

"How long will you need to gather two hundred thousand?" Lin Li asked.

"Um... at the latest, before sunset the day after tomorrow." Liu Yun calculated mentally before giving him a rough timeframe.

’Before sunset the day after tomorrow... that’s pretty fast. I told Zhang Yuxi it would take me a day or two. If I pick them up the day after tomorrow in the afternoon, I’ll still be within the timeframe I gave her,’ Lin Li thought to himself, then nodded at Liu Yun.

"Alright, I’m not in a rush for it today. I’ll come back to pick up the goods the afternoon of the day after tomorrow. Do you need a deposit?"

Hearing this, Liu Yun immediately smiled and shook her head. "That won’t be necessary. Before he left, the Shopkeeper instructed me that whenever Mr. Lin does business with us, no deposit is required."

After finalizing the deal for the two hundred thousand pearls with Liu Yun, Lin Li declined her offer to treat him to a meal and left the restaurant.

As soon as this very special guest had departed, Liu Yun immediately set about gathering the pearls.

Although her several restaurants sold plenty of oysters daily, producing a large number of pearls...

...their daily output was still a far cry from the two hundred thousand Lin Li required. It would take time to gather that many.

Relying on her own restaurants’ output was clearly not enough to meet the demand. Therefore, Liu Yun needed to send her people to collect pearls from her competitors.

...