Chapter 602 — Li Cihua's Probing

"Hurry it up. If Gu Pengzhan won't play nice, give him a little prod. Find out the truth of Wei Zhao's background as fast as you can — I can hardly wait to put that man in the ground!" Zhao Qibing urged.

"Don't worry, Young Master Bing, I know what to do!" Li Cihua wiped the cold sweat from his brow and nodded.

"And what about my Qibing Tower?" The thought of the tower Wei Zhao had razed sent a wave of humiliation washing through Zhao Qibing. His tower, barely finished — flattened by Wei Zhao. Was that not a slap across the face? It had cost him his dignity before all those scions of the great houses, and it had thrown the work of Qibing Real Estate into disarray.

They did not even have an office for the group — so what was the point of building houses? The early demolition work was not held up, true enough, but when it came to actually putting up buildings, when there was not one single worker to be had, what in hell was there to develop?

"Qibing Tower is a total ruin. There's no hope of repairing it..." Li Cihua said with rancor. That tower had cost him and Jin Gubang no small sum, and no sooner was it finished than it was leveled. The loss was simply too great.

"Ruined? If it's ruined, then rebuild it! Right now, this instant, this very minute — build me a new tower! Before I can leave this sickroom, I want to see a brand-new Qibing Tower standing there!" Zhao Qibing was growing frantic. Without the Qibing Tower, he would lose face beyond repair.

"Uh... Young Master Bing, how could a tower possibly be built that quickly? You can't be serious. A towering edifice rises from level ground, but Rome wasn't built in a day!" Li Cihua said with a fawning smile, plainly uncomfortable.

"Didn't I give you time? In ten or twenty days I'll be able to get around in a wheelchair, and by then you must have rebuilt a Qibing Tower for me!" Zhao Qibing handed down the order.

"Young Master Bing, how could ten or twenty days be enough to put up a tower? Aren't you... aren't you making things impossible for me..." Li Cihua said with a bitter smile.

"Ten or twenty days is more than enough. I saw a video online — some tower went up in only a few days! If others can do it, why can't you? Are you trying to fob me off?" Zhao Qibing glared and barked.

"Uh... then let me try..." Li Cihua had no choice but to grit his teeth and agree. He would ask around afterward, see if he could track down that video and hire a formidable construction crew to throw the tower up.

"Go and get it done!" Zhao Qibing waved impatiently, dismissing Li Cihua.

Li Cihua left the Awesome Clouds Bar in a sour mood. He was no longer master in that place; everyone inside now had more say than he did. Young Master Bing was one thing — he was the boss's son, naturally above him. But Uncle Zhu and the Medicine King were people he dared not offend either, and so he had been reduced to a common errand boy.

"Brother Cihua, what's the matter with you?" Su Jiaonang saw Li Cihua come out with a face like thunder and hurried over to ask.

"Don't ask. Come on, you're coming with me to the Gu Group!" Li Cihua had decided to settle the matter of Wei Zhao first. It would be a touch easier than building a tower, and once it was handled, even if the tower could not be finished on schedule, at least he would have something to show Young Master Bing.

"All right!" Su Jiaonang asked nothing further. He got into the car with Li Cihua, and they set off for the Gu Group.

Gu Pengzhan was a little surprised by Li Cihua's arrival, though not greatly puzzled. After all, he had learned from Wei Zhao the night before that the man Wei Zhao had crossed was Zhao Qibing, and Li Cihua was Zhao Qibing's man; his turning up here was nothing strange.

"Boss Li, might I ask what brings you here?" Gu Pengzhan made no effort at pleasantries. There was no business between the two of them, and besides, the scheme Jin Gubang had lately used against him had been Li Cihua's doing; so Gu Pengzhan did not even put on a show of civility.

"President Gu, there's no need for me to spell out what line of work I'm in. The relationship between us can hardly be called cordial, but that doesn't matter." Li Cihua spoke coolly. "Let what happened before be considered water under the bridge. Since Jin Gubang failed, I've no intention of moving against you again."

"Oh? Then what has brought Boss Li here this time?" Gu Pengzhan was not particularly surprised that Li Cihua so openly admitted to his own schemes; spoken or unspoken, the truth was clear to them both.

"A straightforward man doesn't mince words. Mr. Gu, you've hired a bodyguard by the name of Wei Zhao?" Li Cihua meant to carry out Zhao Qibing's charge as quickly as possible, and so could not be bothered with pleasantries; from the first he struck an aggressive pose.

In Li Cihua's estimation, though he was no match for Wei Zhao, he was still a figure of consequence in Songshan City. Gu Pengzhan, say what one might, was nothing but a businessman — how could he be mentioned in the same breath as a man like Li Cihua, one who moved in the shadows?

"That's right. Is there some problem?" Gu Pengzhan frowned. Li Cihua's visit was indeed aimed at Wei Zhao.

"Heh heh, there is in fact a small matter I'd like to trouble Mr. Gu with. I imagine you've heard that my Young Master Bing was beaten and wounded?" Li Cihua asked mildly.

"Just what are you trying to say?" Gu Pengzhan shot back.

"There's no one truly capable at Young Master Bing's side. I wonder whether Mr. Gu might be willing to part with what he prizes, and let us have Wei Zhao?" This time Li Cihua employed a little cunning: he was probing whether Wei Zhao, too, had been wounded, how badly, and whether his martial skill still remained.

"Oh, I have a contract with Mr. Wei Zhao," Gu Pengzhan answered flatly.

"So that's how it is..." Li Cihua cursed Gu Pengzhan inwardly as an old fox. He had assumed that if Wei Zhao were injured, Gu Pengzhan would surely have said that Wei Zhao was hurt as well and unfit to protect anyone; or that if Wei Zhao had lost his skills altogether, Gu Pengzhan would have said Wei Zhao could no longer guard anyone at all.

But what Gu Pengzhan said had been precisely about the contract! What was that supposed to mean? Did it mean Wei Zhao still had his skills and Gu Pengzhan was unwilling to give him up — or that Wei Zhao had lost his skills and was gravely wounded, and that Gu Pengzhan kept him on purely because of the contract?

The words were spoken without any particular tone, and Li Cihua truly found it hard to judge Gu Pengzhan's real intent.

"In that case, I won't press a man against his will." Li Cihua gritted his teeth and said inwardly with hatred, "Might I ask where Mr. Gu came by Wei Zhao? At a bodyguard company, or some formidable organization? Why not recommend me to them as well, so that I might hire a bodyguard too?" (If you enjoy this work, you are welcome to visit *** (***.***) to cast your recommendation votes, ***; your support is my greatest motivation.)