I wasn’t hungry, so I didn’t move my chopsticks, and Chu Xiaoxiao didn’t understand the human condition and didn’t move if she didn’t want to eat.
Li Liang was a bit embarrassed and said, “Uncle Li, I can only order four dishes and one soup, this is the rule above, so you can make do with what you have.
In fact, Li Liang did it on purpose, just to show me that he was a good and clean official.
I laughed and said a few polite words, generally saying that Li Liang had clean sleeves and was a rare parental official in our city.
These two words made Li Liang happy, and Li Liang said: “Hey, I have been an official in Tong City for dozens of years, and I am not modest to say that I have given my whole youth for Tong City. But to say that it is not me, but your father and you who have really brought about a sea change in Tong City.”
I was about to drink pigeon soup when I choked on Li Liang’s words and coughed violently, and Chu Xiaoxiao was busy helping me to smooth my back.
Li Liang said, “I’m not trying to flatter each other with you. More than ten years ago, your father established the Junran Group in Tong City, turning this small county into the fastest growing city in Ning Province in one fell swoop. When I first came to Tong City back then, I could never have imagined that one day Tong City would get rid of the title of a poor county in the country.”
I said, “My dad is pretty good, he’s a business wizard, I’m not as good as him.”
I just remembered that my dad knew how to do business, but when I was a kid I thought they were just doing small business, I never thought it was a huge business empire that was being built up.
Later I always thought that Junran Group was half due to Han Kun because I always felt that I should be similar to my dad, but I didn’t have much business talent.
Li Liang took a sip of wine and his face flushed red as he looked excitedly into his glass and said, “Back then he took a few thousand to start a business, and I was still asked to do the business filing for the company. How could I have imagined that he would have raised this child so well? Your father is a recognized genius in the jianghu, there is nothing he can’t solve. Besides, you must not have been able to figure out why he started Junran.”
I thought to myself, “Isn’t it for the money?
“Not for the ideals?”
Liliang shook his head, “For the money.”
Holy sh*t, I mentally rolled my eyes.
Li Liang continued, “You shouldn’t know about your mother, so I won’t tell you so much. Anyway, at that time your mum was abandoned by the Ji family and had to rely on your dad, so your dad said he wanted to make more money so he could go back and slap the Ji family in the face later.”
I couldn’t help but laugh, as far as the current Junran was concerned, he would not only punch the Ji family in the face, but the whole of Jianghu could be punched in the face by Junran.
“Surran is a great company.” Li Liang said.
I agreed deeply and nodded.
Li Liang, however, sipped his wine and said, “His greatness is something you don’t recognise yet. But it’s coming, soon you’ll know how genius your father is.”
There seemed to be something in his words; it was hard not to mean something else.
There was a remark by Ryu Rong that has always stuck with me, that I was involved in a struggle that lasted for years.
Could this struggle, if it is not over, be that what Li Liang said had something to do with it?
I asked Li Liang, “What is it about? Does Junran have another agenda?”
Li Liang jerked, as if coming to his senses, and a hint of remorse flashed across his face, obviously regretting having let the matter slip.
“No, it’s nothing. Xiaochao, you can’t drink, have some more pigeon soup.”
He hurriedly served me a bowl of soup and began to tell me again how tonic it was.
Chu Xiaoxiao and I looked at each other, and even Chu Xiaoxiao could see that something was wrong with Li Liang.
However, I thought how could an old greaser like Li Liang easily slip his tongue? He is an official, his mind is very clear, that can say, that can not say, at all times have a string to carry.
It was more like Li Liang had deliberately leaked it to me.
I just couldn’t understand why he was leaking it to me.
Li Liang followed up by keeping his mouth shut, and even if I asked, I’m afraid he wouldn’t tell me.
I simply didn’t ask, pretending that I didn’t care about that statement at all. If he had leaked it on purpose, it would have sunk in and he would have mentioned it again.
Li Liang then went on to tell me about the problems with the police in Tong.
“Xiaochao, I think you’re just like your father, that is, you’ve made the police in my city of Tongzhou look like police for the first time. In the past, hey, I couldn’t do anything about it. Several jianghu families were entrenched in this part of Tong City, making the place look like a cottage, and the police were all thugs for these jianghu families. Fortunately, after you came, you first got rid of the Chen family’s forces, and now you are fighting with the Jiang family’s forces. If you can get rid of the Green Dragon Gang one day, then it will definitely be a merit.”
My mind was on that incident just now, and I had been watching Li Liang’s expression for any abnormalities, so I casually echoed a few words.
Chu Xiaoxiao said, “Uncle Li, don’t mention the Green Dragon Gang. The Green Dragon Gang is Jiang Ming’s, Jiang Ming is a terrible person, Chao was almost killed by him, this kind of triad can only be fought by the police, why don’t the police care?”
Chu Xiaoxiao didn’t understand the world of human affairs, this sentence directly hit the painful leg of the question.
Li Liang was a bit embarrassed and said, “Hey, the police in Tong City, I’m ashamed to say that. When you mention this, I, Li, have no shame. This is not, I hope Xiao Zhang can help. Back then, your father wanted to destroy the Green Dragon Gang, but then something happened and it dragged on for so many years. It was only when you appeared, Little Chao, that I saw hope again.”
“That’s too modest of you to say, Mayor Li, and we as citizens of Tong City will certainly cooperate.”
No matter how well he flattered me, I wouldn’t fall for his trick. Li Liang was a thief enough, trying to push the extermination of the Green Dragon Gang onto me in a few words.
It’s true that the Green Dragon Gang should be destroyed, but it’s not something I can do alone.
The Green Dragon Gang is more than just a triad group, he is openly headed by Jiang Ming, and behind the scenes there seems to be another real person in power.
But whoever the real head of the Green Dragon Gang is, the Green Dragon Gang all clearly has a kung-fu background.
Offending the Jianghu, I’m not that arrogant.
After all this time, I have come to a deep understanding of the horrors of the Jianghu and will not be arrogant enough to provoke it.
For so many years, the state has turned a blind eye to the jianghu, not because it is tolerant and conniving towards it, but as a compromise out of helplessness.
Li Liang has the self-awareness to know that he is no match for the Green Dragon Gang, but he is shameless enough to try to push such things onto me.
If someone else had said this, I wouldn’t have found it ridiculous, but for Li Liang to say it was really ridiculous to the extreme. He is the mayor of the city, but he doesn’t dare to touch the black and evil forces in his own district.
I never took Li Liang’s words, which made him very depressed, so he raised his glass again to invite wine and said a few words.
Then, with a twinkle in his eye, he said, “Xiaochao, you know that the Tong City Qi Bureau is going to be replaced, right?”
