But there was no answer from inside the villa!

"Damn it, is anyone there? Gu Pengzhan, you old bastard, are you in or not?" Xiao Ji was growing anxious. If Gu Pengzhan was gone—or had been beaten to death—then from whom would the Xiao family squeeze the property and the money?

But this time, too, no one answered him.

Xiao Ji and Xiao Ben hurried impatiently into the villa, only to find Gu Pengzhan, Gu Mengyao, and the others all present—even Wei Zhao was there!

The group stood in the villa's living room, watching Xiao Ji and his companions with rather odd expressions on their faces.

"What are you staring at? Damn it, I'm talking to you—why don't you answer? Are you deaf, or scared stupid?" Xiao Ji found Gu Pengzhan's attitude a little strange, but he did not think much of it. He had come for money and property; if he did not throw his weight around a bit, how could he get them?

"Mr. Xiao, might I ask what brings you to my daughter's villa, shouting and carrying on like this?" Gu Pengzhan now had confidence. He knew Wei Zhao had recovered his strength, and so his former fear was gone.

"What brings me? Fuck your mother—Gu Pengzhan, don't play dumb with me. Have you thought over the terms I gave you last time? Two hundred million in seed capital, and the deeds to the Pengzhan Commercial Building and the Pengzhan Business Hotel!" Xiao Ji was a coarse man, and in Gu Pengzhan's presence he felt a sense of superiority, so he let filth fly from his mouth at every turn, which put him in excellent spirits—especially when he saw that look on Gu Pengzhan's face, furious but afraid to speak, which gave Xiao Ji enormous satisfaction.

"Mr. Xiao, you are a son of a great clan yourself—how can you speak so uncivilly?" Gu Pengzhan looked at Xiao Ji with mockery in his eyes. He felt as though he had vented a long-pent-up grievance; for the first time, he did not have to watch Xiao Ji's expression as he spoke.

"Fuck, how I talk is none of your business, you old bastard. If you don't want to die, then cut the crap! Have you lost your mind?" Xiao Ji had no patience for idle talk with Gu Pengzhan; he simply held out his hand, demanding his cut.

"Are you giving us two hundred million?" Wei Zhao glanced at Xiao Ji and asked mildly.

"Give it to your mother!" Xiao Ji could not help glaring at Wei Zhao. "Who the hell do you think you are?"

"I am Wei Zhao. Do you not know me?" Wei Zhao ignored Xiao Ji's abuse and answered, neither servile nor overbearing.

"Wei Zhao? Hahaha, now I remember—you're that good-for-nothing who lost all his strength! And you still dare come out and make a scene?" The moment Xiao Ji heard the name Wei Zhao, his face became a spectacle of delight, and he rocked back and forth with laughter.

Suddenly Xiao Ben sensed that something was off. He was more observant than his elder brother Xiao Ji, the shrewdest man in the Xiao family, and now, seeing Wei Zhao appear, and seeing that Gu Pengzhan's face held neither the terror nor the rage of before but a kind of calm, his heart gave a jolt.

No—something is definitely wrong. Xiao Ben frowned, seized Xiao Ji and stopped him from saying more, then probed cautiously: "Gu Pengzhan, has someone been here before us?"

"Yes." Gu Pengzhan laughed inwardly. So Xiao Ben was no fool after all—only now had he noticed something amiss. But it was too late! Gu Pengzhan knew Wei Zhao's temperament well: if the Xiao family had walked in and immediately fallen to their knees in tears, begging forgiveness and offering Wei Zhao compensation, Wei Zhao might perhaps have let them off.

But now Xiao Ji had thoroughly offended Wei Zhao—so how could Wei Zhao possibly spare them?

"People of the Yu family?" Xiao Ben's expression turned ugly. To his mind, it must have been the Yu family who came and struck some agreement with Gu Pengzhan, which was why Gu Pengzhan was so utterly unafraid, and why even the crippled Wei Zhao had jumped out.

"Yes," Gu Pengzhan nodded.

"What did the Yu family give you?" Xiao Ben's face darkened. If the Yu family really had a hand in this, then things would indeed be troublesome.

"The Yu family gave me their shares in the Yu family auction house and in another business, and threw in two Yu family girls as concubines." Wei Zhao glanced at Xiao Ben and said mildly, "Now it is your Xiao family's turn. I hear you asked for two hundred million? And the deeds to the Pengzhan Commercial Building and the Pengzhan Business Hotel? Very well then—you give me four hundred million, and bring me the deeds to four businesses besides, and you may get out."

"What?" Xiao Ben was stunned, not quite able to take in Wei Zhao's words. If the Yu family had come and, while demanding their own share, secretly promised Gu Pengzhan certain terms, that could indeed explain Gu Pengzhan's newfound calm. After all, Xiao Ben had heard that the Yu family wanted Gu Pengzhan's daughter, Gu Mengyao, as a concubine for their house—which would make Gu Pengzhan the Yu family's father-in-law, and would truly give him reason to be calm.

But now it seemed that was not the case at all. Wei Zhao's words struck Xiao Ben as bizarre; from them one could gather that the Yu family had come off the worse here, and had been forced to agree to certain terms.

If the Yu family really had formed a marriage alliance with Gu Pengzhan, would Wei Zhao dare say such outrageous things?

Yet after his initial shock, Xiao Ben's heart steadied. If Wei Zhao had not said such wild and outrageous things, Xiao Ben might have been afraid, might have grown suspicious, might have thought Gu Pengzhan had gained the Yu family's backing.

But hearing Wei Zhao speak as he did, Xiao Ben felt reassured instead! What a formidable existence the Yu family was—the foremost of all the great clans! How could the Yu family possibly compensate Gu Pengzhan with shares in the Yu family auction house and another business? And as for the Yu family sending two girls to be Wei Zhao's concubines—that was even more impossible!

How noble were the Yu family's daughters? Even when they married, they would choose another great clan, and they must be the principal wife—how could they be given to another as concubines?

So Xiao Ben naturally believed he had guessed the truth behind Gu Pengzhan's calm. They must be putting on an act—they had planned it beforehand, before his arrival, deliberately feigning this utterly unruffled manner to make him think they had someone to rely on, and so frighten him off!

True, at first Gu Pengzhan's expression had genuinely frightened Xiao Ben. But their mistake lay in letting Wei Zhao jump out and spout those baffling words that seemed so badass and so terrifying! What Wei Zhao said was simply too much—badass, yes, but when badass goes too far, it becomes idiocy!

"Ha, Wei Zhao, you needn't put on that tough act for me, and you, Gu Pengzhan, needn't pretend either!" Xiao Ben laughed. "I'll tell you both: spare me all that nonsense. If you don't hand over the two hundred million and the Pengzhan Commercial Building and the Pengzhan Business Hotel to the Xiao family today, then Wei Zhizun will be your example! Pi Bo?"

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