White Glove

Longzhou City, District Four, Ping'an Hotel.

"The Green Gang's targeting is becoming increasingly severe."

Lu Mingzhu lightly tapped the rosewood table, sweeping her gaze over everyone present.

"I know this isn't Jiangzhou. We don't hold the dominant position here, but if there are difficulties, we overcome them."

A bald middle-aged man raised his hand.

"Manager, the Source Origin Research Institute has confirmed that it will only recruit one researcher in Longzhou City this time. There are currently three candidates."

"One is Zhang Lingzhi from our side, one is Chen Sijiu backed by the Green Gang, and the remaining one needs no attention—Zhang Xiaoxi, who has no foundation to speak of."

Lu Mingzhu gave a soft hum.

"Pay attention to Zhang Lingzhi's safety."

The bald middle-aged man asked.

"Should we strike first?"

"No. Our foundation in Longzhou City is too shallow." Lu Mingzhu said calmly, "The Green Gang may be waiting for us to make a move. Chen Sijiu cannot be touched. As for Zhang Xiaoxi, the Green Gang will handle her themselves."

After a pause, she changed the subject.

"One last matter. Boss Si from Jiangzhou will arrive in Longzhou City today. Have everyone below make preparations. Don't let anything go wrong."

The bald middle-aged man spoke curiously.

"Boss Si? Why haven't we heard of him before?"

Lu Mingzhu smiled.

"A new little boss. Just a First Refinement martial artist. Of course, weak is weak, but appearances must be properly maintained. Respect should be given where respect is due. Do you all understand?"

"Understood!" The management team answered in unison.

Just then, Lu Mingzhu's phone rang. "Ring, ring, ring!"

She answered the call.

"You lost him?"

She frowned.

"There were too many people outside the station, so what were you lot even there for? Afraid of being discovered if you followed too closely? Heh. Go receive the family punishment yourselves. Failure in your duties—twenty Red Cudgels, one cut and two eyes."

She hung up. Less than two minutes later, her phone buzzed again.

When she picked it up and saw who was calling, her brows lifted slightly. Her tone became respectful, but her expression did not change in the slightest.

"Boss Si, we've been waiting a long time for your call."

"Yes, alright, no problem. I'll arrange it immediately."

She put down the phone.

"He arrived rather quickly." After making a few simple arrangements, Lu Mingzhu leaned back in her chair, not taking it too seriously.

Though both were small cities, Jiangzhou stood at the peak among small cities, while Longzhou City was the bottom rung.

It was small in scale, with excellent public security. Its underground world was nowhere near as dangerous as Jiangzhou's, nor did it have so many experts.

Yet Lu Mingzhu had risen from the insignificant and enabled Ping'an Hotel to gain a firm foothold in Longzhou City. Her abilities were still exceptionally outstanding.

As for this newly elevated so-called Boss Si—

First Refinement. He was not even as capable as that child Boss San. A little coaxing would be enough.

Not long after.

A string of footsteps sounded outside the empty conference room once more. Lu Mingzhu unhurriedly smoothed her clothes, rose calmly, and put on a humble, gentle smile.

The conference room door opened, and a youth walked in. Just as expected, he looked delicate and refined, his eyes brimming with the clear innocence and stupidity of someone who had never seen the world.

Like those students at Longzhou University.

"Boss Si." Lu Mingzhu swayed her waist as she walked forward and extended her hand. "I'm Lu Mingzhu, the person in charge of Ping'an Hotel in Longzhou City."

The youth reached out and merely brushed her hand before quickly pulling back. The smile in Lu Mingzhu's eyes deepened. Still a shy fledgling?

Then she saw Boss Si turn around and extend the hand that had shaken hers.

A great monster walked in, carefully wiping the youth's hand with a pale blue handkerchief.

Lu Mingzhu's vision blurred slightly.

Even the most beautiful and gorgeous top courtesan among the latest batch of goods they had bought—now the Public Security Bureau Chief's pillow companion—was not one-tenth as beautiful as this "monster."

There was also an unconscious person behind the monster, a hood over his head that hid his appearance.

Zhang Fusheng withdrew his hand and turned back, his gaze openly roaming up and down the beautiful woman before him.

She remained perfectly composed.

He said simply.

"Arrange a house with a dungeon for me in the Fifth District. How much Star Beast Meat does the hotel have in storage?"

"Star Beast Meat?" Lu Mingzhu answered without thinking. "The hotel has little demand for it. We only keep a small amount for certain guests who enjoy that sort of thing. We usually stock around one or two taels of Iron Horned Giant Rhinoceros Meat."

"Bring it over. Also prepare ten kilograms of gold bars for me." Zhang Fusheng gave an order from the corner of his eye.

No one moved.

Only after Lu Mingzhu nodded did someone hurry away. Before long, they brought over a sealed bag of Star Beast Meat and a handbag containing ten gold bars, each weighing a full kilogram.

The Federation's gold price was one hundred yuan per gram. Ten kilograms of gold bars came to a little over one million.

Lu Mingzhu smiled.

"Boss Si, if you have any other needs, we will do our utmost to provide for them."

She could not help glancing at the fairy-like girl following behind Boss Si.

As Zhang Fusheng weighed the Star Beast Meat, he spoke kindly.

"When I left the station, someone was following me. Can you find out who it was?"

Lu Mingzhu froze.

"Something like that happened? Rest assured, Boss Si, we will pursue it with all our strength. Xiao Jiu, contact the Public Security Bureau immediately and retrieve the surveillance footage near West Station."

"Yes, Manager."

Zhang Fusheng calmly watched the two of them put on a double act.

When he entered the hotel, his spiritual will had already sensed those two people who had been monitoring and spying on him outside the station.

Zhang Fusheng waved a hand.

Lu Mingzhu followed suit. All the accompanying people left the conference room and closed the door behind them.

Only three people remained in the room, along with the unconscious Huang Zhongxiao.

"Boss Si, what else do you..." Lu Mingzhu smiled sweetly, but before she could finish, Chen Nuanyu had already seized her throat and lightly lifted her into the air.

She was skilled at management and conflict, but her cultivation was not high—only at the Second Refinement.

One minute, two minutes.

Lu Mingzhu neither struggled nor called for help. She simply allowed Chen Nuanyu to hold her aloft as her face began to turn blue.

Only when Zhang Fusheng gave a nasal "Mm" did Chen Nuanyu release her fair hand.

The beautiful woman collapsed to the floor, quickly climbed back up, and lowered her head.

"Boss Si, I was wrong. Later, I will accept the family punishment myself. If Boss Si wishes to personally set the sentence, Mingzhu will kneel and accept it."

Zhang Fusheng asked with interest.

"According to the family rules, how should this be handled?"

Lu Mingzhu answered without hesitation.

"A severe punishment: burial alive. If Boss Si shows mercy and spares my life, then eighty Red Cudgels, Three Cuts Six Eyes, and four fingers severed."

"Oh, then do it that way."

Zhang Fusheng nudged Huang Zhongxiao, who lay unconscious on the floor beside him with a hood over his head.

"Send him to that house with the dungeon, then send me the address. Do not remove the hood. You go with him."

He glanced at Chen Nuanyu, and she nodded.

Zhang Fusheng looked at Lu Mingzhu again.

"Also, for the next few days, the hotel will obey my orders unconditionally. Understand?"

"Yes, Boss Si."

Lu Mingzhu answered with meticulous seriousness.

Zhang Fusheng turned and left.

Until his figure disappeared from sight, Lu Mingzhu stood where she was with her head lowered.

After he had gone far away.

The eight waiting members of management entered.

"Send Miss Chen and this person to the Fifth District. Find a house with a dungeon. Do not remove the hood."

Only after watching Chen Nuanyu and the unconscious man be taken away did Lu Mingzhu lower her eyes and murmur.

"Boss Si is establishing his authority. His methods are a little too immature, though. Not only did he fail to achieve the effect, but I didn't expect him to have a Third Refinement monster by his side."

She swept her gaze over the eight managers.

"Bring me a knife."

The management team did not understand. They had no idea what had happened inside the conference room.

Soon, someone handed over a short knife. Then, before the horrified eyes of the eight people, Lu Mingzhu decisively chopped off four fingers from her left hand and crushed every severed finger beneath her foot.

"Arrange for the punishment to be carried out tomorrow. I will receive eighty Red Cudgels and Three Cuts Six Eyes."

"Manager?"

"Do it."

"Yes."

The management personnel gradually left, leaving behind only one confidant.

"Manager, hasn't this Boss Si gone too far?" a confidant asked in a low voice.

Lu Mingzhu raised her left hand and examined the bleeding stump.

"I overstepped my authority. I should have been punished in the first place. Blame me for not being careful enough and getting discovered."

More than ten kilometers away.

Inside a taxi.

Zhang Fusheng, who had been resting with his eyes closed, narrowed them. This woman was quite ruthless. He had underestimated her.

He had indeed used the matter as an excuse, intending to establish his authority so that what he needed to do next could proceed smoothly—for example, searching for Star Beast Meat regardless of cost.

But just as Lu Mingzhu had said, his methods had been too immature.

Not only had he failed to establish authority, he had instead exposed some of his own shortcomings.

Zhang Fusheng tiredly rubbed his brow as his spiritual will slowly withdrew from Ping'an Hotel. He let out a melancholy sigh.

He suddenly realized that when it came to ruthlessness, he was not even Chen Nuanyu's equal. She could unhesitatingly kick those controlled travelers to death, while he had instinctively tried to stop her.

Zhang Fusheng asked himself.

If it truly came to what his master had said, to wiping out someone's entire family, he feared he might not actually be able to bring himself to twist a child's neck.

At the very least, it would be difficult for him to do it with his own hands.

Having lived two lives, he could not claim they had been especially wealthy, but both lives had at least been spent in complete families. To put it plainly, he was merely an ordinary civilian who had lived in peace and health.

Where would he get so many venomous thoughts and vicious methods?

He could kill people, but indiscriminate killing was something he truly could not do. His mindset had not yet changed. Unless he encountered some extreme upheaval, Zhang Fusheng felt that he would not be able to undergo a major change in mentality anytime soon.

"Perhaps I need a... glove?" Zhang Fusheng thought.

Mm, a glove. Someone to do the dirty work for him.

After all, what the eye did not see, the heart did not grieve over.

Lu Mingzhu was ruthless enough, but whether she was qualified still needed to be seen.

The taxi soon arrived in the Fifth District. It was estimated that they would reach their destination in another ten minutes.

He casually sent his older female cousin a message.

Zhang Fusheng: I'm outside the residential area. Get ready to open the gates and welcome your king.

Zhang La Xi: Stop dawdling. Pick up the delivery from the courier station in Building 1 while you're at it. 220757.

Zhang Fusheng: 1.

His contact name for Zhang Xiaoxi was Zhang La Xi.

Not long after, the taxi arrived at Jiayuan Residential Area.

"I still have to pick up a delivery. Every time I come here, she makes me run errands. Damn it." Zhang Fusheng muttered as he entered the residential area, turned left and right, and found the courier station just before it closed at nine.

Standing before Zhang Xiaoxi's delivery, Zhang Fusheng fell silent.

He took out his phone.

"You bought a refrigerator?"

Zhang La Xi: The weather is so nice today!

Zhang Fusheng: Fuck, come down and get it yourself!

"Message sent, but rejected."

Zhang Fusheng: ???