Gu Pengzhan turned and went into the rest room attached to his office. The Xiao family's people did not follow him in; they simply stood where they were, sneering coldly.

Inside the rest room, Gu Pengzhan dialed his daughter's number, but after a moment's thought he hung up. At this hour she was probably still in class, so he called Wei Zhao directly instead.

"Uncle Chu!" Wei Zhao was at Guan Xuemin's house at that moment, together with Kang ** and Fatty Lai. Before leaving, he had a few matters to settle properly.

"Xiaoyi, I want to ask you about something — it concerns Yaoyao and a person named Gou Huli..." Gu Pengzhan said.

"Oh? Gou Huli?" Wei Zhao was slightly taken aback, then remembered the woman, and recounted the whole affair to Gu Pengzhan. Then he asked, "But that business was a while ago now. Why does Uncle Chu suddenly ask about it?"

"Gou Huli is the wife of Xiao Ji, the eldest young master of the Xiao family. And now they have come knocking at my door..." Gu Pengzhan sighed.

From what Wei Zhao had said, Yaoyao and Xiaoshu had indeed been at fault at the outset, but it had been a trifling dispute at most — nothing more than splashing water on Gou Huli's clothes. After Yaoyao and Xiaoshu apologized and offered to pay for the damage, Gou Huli had been the one behaving unreasonably...

But now the Xiao family was using the incident to claim that Yaoyao had insulted Gou Huli. It looked very much as though the Xiao family had not come with good intentions.

"Oh?" Wei Zhao was startled. "They are from the Xiao family of Yanjing? They have come to your door?"

Wei Zhao had not expected his enemies to arrive so quickly. Some time had passed since the quarrel between Gu Mengyao and Gou Huli, yet the Xiao family had made no move at all. They had waited neither early nor late, but chosen the very moment when Uncle Qing was injured and his own powers were gone — there had to be some scheme behind it.

Yet there was nothing Wei Zhao could do. His acquaintance with the two younger members of the Xiao family amounted to no more than a single meeting, and in terms of strength he held no advantage whatsoever.

"Ha, it is nothing. I can handle it. I only wanted to verify the facts with you. Do not worry." Gu Pengzhan sighed, secretly counting himself lucky that Wei Zhizun had arrived; otherwise the Xiao family would surely have had him at their mercy today.

After hanging up on Wei Zhao, Gu Pengzhan turned and left the rest room. He looked at the Xiao brothers, then at the old man beside them, and his gaze could not help but sharpen.

He had not noticed the man before, but now, on closer inspection, there was a heavy aura of murderous intent hidden about him. Gu Pengzhan might be an ordinary man, but in the presence of such an expert he still felt a faint chill.

Could this be Pi Bo, the legendary guardian expert of the Xiao family? If it truly was him, then the Xiao family's visit this time must surely have some design behind it.

"Mr. Xiao, I have made my calls. But this matter hardly seems to be my daughter's fault alone, does it?" Gu Pengzhan said, neither haughty nor humble. "If we are to speak of fault, then your wife's attitude was a trifle impatient as well, I think."

"What the hell did you say?" Xiao Ji flew into a rage at Gu Pengzhan's words. "How the Xiao family conducts itself is none of your business to teach!"

Before the old master of the Xiao family passed away, Xiao Ji had been a good-for-nothing spoiled young master, brawling all day and running with a pack of equally spoiled idlers, stirring up trouble wherever he went. But in those days the Xiao family had been at the height of its power, so it hardly mattered.

In recent years Xiao Ji had restrained himself somewhat, but the hot temper and the spoiled-brat nature in his bones had not changed. Hearing Gu Pengzhan prattle on and shift the blame this way and that, he flew straight into a fury.

Gu Pengzhan had not expected Xiao Ji to be so utterly lacking in class, cursing the moment a single word displeased him. What sort of meeting was this between people of standing?

"Mr. Xiao, what is the meaning of this?" Gu Pengzhan choked down his anger. "Have you come here deliberately to make trouble?"

"So what if I have? I do not mind telling you — I am here to settle a score for my wife!" Xiao Ji gave a cold snort and kicked the office sofa with one foot. "Daring to bully the Xiao family? I would say you are tired of living! The Xiao family may be down on its luck, but we are still one of the great houses. And you, Gu Pengzhan — just what the hell do you think you are?"

Wei Zhizun, meanwhile, sat to one side looking for all the world like a spectator at a play. Gu Pengzhan had not asked him to act, and he was quite content to enjoy the show; the more wildly the other side kicked up a fuss, the more dire the situation became, the more brilliantly his own intervention would display his abilities.

"Xiao Ji, so you have come looking for a fight? What is it you want? Say it plainly." Gu Pengzhan did not believe that Xiao Ji and Xiao Ben had come all this way merely to curse and kick and smash things. There had to be some other purpose.

"Enough, elder brother, calm yourself and let me talk to Mr. Gu!" Xiao Ben was well pleased with his brother's earlier performance — give Gu Pengzhan a show of force first, and the terms would be easier to negotiate afterward. So he made a show of urging Xiao Ji to be calm, then went on: "I am sure Mr. Gu is a sensible man, and will certainly make compensation to our Xiao family. Is that not so, Mr. Gu?"

"Hmph!" Xiao Ji gave a cold snort at last, dropped onto the sofa to one side, and sat there stewing in silence.

"Just say what you have to say." How could Gu Pengzhan fail to guess the purpose behind the Xiao brothers' visit? It was nothing more than using some trifling pretext to squeeze benefits out of him.

"Straight to the point — I like that!" Xiao Ben looked at Gu Pengzhan and nodded. "Our Xiao family is a house of name and standing. Even if we have fallen on somewhat lean times, the Xiaos are not to be insulted at will! If you, Mr. Gu, do not pay some price for it, then before long anyone and everyone will think they may insult the Xiaos as they please."

"And what price do you want?" Gu Pengzhan asked, forcing down the anger in his heart. So much time had passed, and only now did the Xiaos come knocking — and the timing was all too neat. Li Fu and Wei Zhao had both been injured, and only then did they appear! Gu Pengzhan could not help suspecting that they had come only after getting word of it.

"We won't ask for much. The Xiao family has come to Songshan City to do business as well. I say, let it be like this: Mr. Gu, you give us the Pengzhan Commercial Building and the Pengzhan Business Hotel, and toss in a paltry two hundred million as seed capital, and we shall let the matter rest." Xiao Ben opened his mouth and demanded the moon outright; after all, in such dealings one asks sky-high and settles on the ground. Besides, he had no intention of settling on anything — seeing how Gu Pengzhan dared not voice his anger, his greed only swelled.

"You are demanding the moon!" Gu Pengzhan was startled by Xiao Ben's terms. Had the Xiao family asked for a few million, or for certain conveniences in doing business in Songshan City, Gu Pengzhan might well have agreed. But their present terms were utterly, absurdly excessive.

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