Chapter 303: A Big Shot from the Sun Family

Chapter 303: A Big Shot from the Sun Family

“Brother-in-law, it’s about Tang Xinbao,” Li Ruotai’s voice came through. “I called my dad about it this morning, and we spoke again this afternoon. He just called me back. He’s sending my third maternal uncle to Donghai. He’ll arrive tomorrow to help deal with it.”

Wu Chen’s eyebrow rose.

Something was off.

Li Ruotai’s third maternal uncle was, naturally, Li Ruobing’s as well.

Their mother’s younger biological brother, Sun Yongzhang—one of the Sun family’s second-generation power figures.

He had taken the business route.

On the face of it there was nothing strange about it.

The Li and Sun families had been joined by marriage for nearly thirty years, and the alliance was extremely stable, the sort nothing could break. The two houses were so close that if something happened on the Li side, it made perfect sense for a Sun to come and help.

Wu Chen also knew Sun Yongzhang counted among the Sun family members closest to the Li family.

Mainly because he was in business.

Which meant he often did business jointly with the Lis, so he moved among them far more often than most of his relatives.

Li Maoren was the number-one figure of the Li family’s second generation and its future head.

Sun Yongzhang could practically be described as obeying his brother-in-law Li Maoren in everything.

So.

It all fit.

But.

Wu Chen had spoken with Li Maoren that afternoon.

Li Maoren had said plainly that the Tang Xinbao matter would be left entirely to Wu Chen, and that he would stay out of it.

They had agreed on it.

And now Li Maoren was sending someone anyway.

That was…

very strange.

“Brother-in-law, you know who my third uncle is, right?” Li Ruotai asked.

“I know.”

“Then there’s nothing else, really. My dad just told me to pass it along. Said you needed to know.”

“Mm. All right. Understood.” Wu Chen answered with a smile.

He had worked out why Li Maoren had suddenly decided to send someone.

“Oh, right, Brother-in-law. Ding Ruilong—he’s coming to Donghai tomorrow. You know that, don’t you? My sister told you?” Li Ruotai changed direction abruptly.

“Of course she did.”

“Ah! She called me this afternoon and told me. I was thinking I’d make some arrangements, work out how to mess with him tomorrow. I was going to have that bastard carried out of Donghai flat on his back!” Li Ruotai said in a rush. “Now that’s ruined. My uncle arrives tomorrow. Damn it…”

He sighed again.

That was why Li Maoren had suddenly sent someone to Donghai.

It had nothing to do with Tang Xinbao at all.

Sun Yongzhang was coming to hold the situation steady.

But not because of Li Ruotai.

Li Ruotai certainly had a temper. He could be impulsive, and where Li Ruobing was concerned he could turn especially aggressive.

But there was no need to send anyone to keep him in check.

Li Ruobing could manage him herself.

She would not let him run wild.

So sending Sun Yongzhang—

Wu Chen could be certain.

The most important reason was this: Li Maoren was worried Wu Chen might kill Ding Ruilong.

Even though Wu Chen had already promised he would not.

People had tempers.

An argument could become a confrontation, and in a moment of fury, with blood rushing to the head, a man might do anything.

Ding Ruilong was supposedly appearing tomorrow.

The chance he and Wu Chen would meet was high.

The chance they would clash was high too.

What if Ding Ruilong cursed Wu Chen out in public, Wu Chen’s temper snapped, and Ding Ruilong ended up dead in Donghai?

What then?

So Sun Yongzhang was being sent.

He was there to keep a conflict from breaking out.

Sun Yongzhang was an elder, and one of the Sun family’s genuine power figures. If Ding Ruilong appeared tomorrow, he would certainly end up meeting him too.

With Sun Yongzhang present, Ding Ruilong would restrain himself. He probably would not say anything ugly at all.

He would not dare. He could not.

And so he would not provoke Wu Chen when they met.

As long as he did not start trouble and anger Wu Chen, he would leave Donghai safely.

Wu Chen thought that was almost certainly what Li Maoren had in mind.

And the reason he was so sure was this: Li Maoren had asked Li Ruotai to pass on the news rather than calling Wu Chen himself.

As though he did not want Wu Chen to misunderstand.

They had agreed.

And he was still sending someone.

It might look like distrust.

Explaining it himself would have been awkward. Wu Chen might see straight through his thinking.

So instead he had Li Ruotai relay it, and used the Tang Xinbao matter as the reason for the trip.

A perfectly legitimate excuse.

“Brother-in-law, since you know Ding Ruilong arrives tomorrow…” Li Ruotai unconsciously lowered his voice. “Have you made any arrangements? I mean, he’s coming all the way to Donghai. We have to make him suffer a little, don’t we? Whatever we do to him later is later. We should at least vent some of it now, shouldn’t we?”

Li Ruotai genuinely wanted to move against Ding Ruilong.

He had even begun egging Wu Chen on.

“Mm…” Wu Chen murmured, thinking.

By his original plan, something was supposed to happen to Ding Ruilong tomorrow.

But now there were new complications, along with Li Ruotai’s attitude.

The complications were not a problem.

Wu Chen need only adjust the plan slightly.

What mattered more was Li Ruotai’s attitude.

It made Wu Chen think that perhaps he could change the plan a little.

Expand it.

Which would make things…

more interesting.

He ran through every stage of the plan in his mind, along with everyone involved.

The room was very quiet.

Lei Cheng was still reading. What Wu Chen had said on the phone revealed so little that the call had drawn little of his attention.

He was deeply absorbed in the documents.

“Wait a moment,” Wu Chen said suddenly, once he had thought it through.

Then he stood and walked out.

What he was about to say to Li Ruotai could not be overheard by anyone.

Outside, Wu Chen went all the way to the window at the end of the corridor. There were servers in the hallway, but far enough off that they would catch nothing.

“When are you planning to burn down that club of yours?” he asked once he stopped.

“Uh… everything was ready a few days ago, but with Xie Hu—you know, we needed him dead, so it got held up. It’s fine now. I could burn it today if I wanted.”

Something in his tone was off. He paused, then hurried to explain.

“Brother-in-law, it’s not that I can’t bear to lose it. I was just thinking I’d wait until after my sister’s launch. A fire’s bound to make the news, and I was worried Ding Ruilong might find a way to use it and hurt my sister.”

“Have you decided where it starts? How many floors burn?” Wu Chen asked.

“We have, Brother-in-law. It’ll start—” Li Ruotai laid out the details.

After a brief rundown, Wu Chen asked, “That box Old Dao had when I found him last time. You still have it?”

“I do, Brother-in-law. I’ve kept it safe,” Li Ruotai answered at once.

“Good.” Wu Chen smiled. “Here’s what you do…”

At the window at the end of the corridor, the two spoke privately for several minutes.

Only in broad outline.

Wu Chen revealed a single part of his newly revised plan.

Five minutes later.

He hung up and turned back.

Inside the room, Lei Cheng had read more than half the documents. They were very thick; in truth he was skipping ahead. Otherwise he could never have gotten through them so fast.

Creak.

Wu Chen pushed the door open and came back to his seat.

“So, Brother Lei?” He looked at him with a smile. “Interested?”