Bai Yanyun

"Who was that guy? Why did he get out of the same car as Li Ruobing...?"

"Is he Li Mingze?"

"No, Li Mingze isn't as tall or handsome as him. Could he be Li Ruobing's boyfriend?"

The Li family held considerable influence in Tongzhou City, and Li Ruobing was equally well-known. So when Su Rui stood beside her and familiarly linked arms with her, he instantly became the center of attention.

An elder in a Tang suit standing at the entrance wore an odd smile as he quietly spoke with his companion.

"The Bai family's granddaughter just returned home with her boyfriend too. I didn't expect Li Ruobing to come to this summit as well. Once those two run into each other... there'll be a good show."

"Those two have never gotten along, and they both brought boyfriends. They'll definitely try to outdo each other."

"Hehe..."

"That Bai family son-in-law is no simple man. I heard his family is from the north... I've never heard of Li Ruobing's little boyfriend. Could he be the son of some prominent family from elsewhere too?"

Su Rui smiled and politely nodded to those around him before leading Li Ruobing straight into the hotel.

"Miss Li." A middle-aged man with graying temples stepped forward and greeted Li Ruobing with a smile. "And this gentleman is..."

"Her boyfriend," Su Rui answered before Li Ruobing could.

"What a fine-looking young man!" the middle-aged man said with a chuckle.

The middle-aged man was named Wang Fu. He was thirty-eight this year, of average build and around five feet nine. Fair-skinned, with short hair, he looked refined and scholarly. He spoke with impeccable manners and wore gold-rimmed glasses. Judging solely by his appearance, he resembled a university professor.

But that was far from the truth.

More than a decade ago, Wang Fu had merely been a contractor in a small county town. He later made his fortune through demolition projects and steadily built up a net worth of one billion, becoming a bona fide Underworld Boss.

Although his power could not compare to Lin Jiatao's family, Wang Fu's rise to prominence had been far more dramatic—and far more brutal.

His rise began with a municipal development project. Following directives from above, Tongzhou City's leadership designated a plot of land in the Suburban District for factory construction. However, it happened to be an old residential area filled with all sorts of people, most of whom were brothers from a border ethnic group. The moment they heard about the demolition, they immediately refused.

In those days, the fierceness of the border ethnic group brothers was easy enough to imagine. The Demolition Team tried several times to begin work, only to be beaten back each time. Even their bulldozers and excavators were smashed.

For two whole months, the Demolition Team made no movement at all.

The higher-ups flew into a rage and immediately removed the person in charge of the project. Yet even after replacing several stewards in succession, no one could get the matter resolved.

And so it dragged on for another two or three months.

No one knew where Wang Fu got his information, but he went straight to a municipal party committee leader and guaranteed that he could settle the matter within three days.

The leader was so angry he laughed, saying that if Wang Fu could pull it off, all future municipal projects would be handed over to him.

That very night, Wang Fu sold one of his city apartments to relatives at a low price. After scraping funds together from everywhere, he gathered just under two million and drove his beat-up Songhua River Van straight to the old residential area.

He brought neither men nor weapons.

When he arrived at the residential area and explained his purpose, the borderland brothers immediately prepared to smash his vehicle and beat him.

At that moment, Wang Fu pulled out a canister of gasoline from the trunk, poured it over himself, and laid the two million in cash on the ground.

The borderland brothers had dealt with the Demolition Team for so long, but they had never seen anything like this. They were instantly stunned.

Then Wang Fu said, "This two million was scraped together after several friends and I sold off all our family property. If you agree to relocate, this money will be my personal subsidy. It has nothing to do with the compensation for demolition!"

"If you refuse to relocate and still want to take the money, then I'll burn myself and my money right here. Our family property has already been sold off cheap, and my brothers and I can't go on living anyway. But after I die, you'd better watch out for my brothers who can't go on living either. When people are driven to a dead end, do you think they'll care whether you're fierce or protected by border ethnic group policies?"

The moment he said that, the borderland brothers flared up. One of them casually cursed, "If you've got the guts, then light it! If you dare, kill my whole family!"

Without another word, Wang Fu lit the clothes on his chest and immediately threw his arms around the man who had spoken.

In just three seconds, the two became a pair of blazing fireballs.

Fortunately, there was a large pond nearby, and the people around them managed to put out the flames. Wang Fu's skin was split and charred, while that borderland brother was so terrified he wet himself.

Everyone saw it for what it was—this was a fucking final ultimatum. Wang Fu's move had genuinely made them tremble. He lit himself up the instant he said he would, treating his own life as nothing!

The borderland brothers might have been fierce, but they were not invulnerable!

No one could stay on guard every moment against retaliation from a desperado like that.

Thus, that very night at City Center Hospital, the borderland brothers from the residential area signed a relocation agreement with Wang Fu and went back to divide up the two million.

From then on, Wang Fu entered the higher-ups' line of sight. That fire had burned him terribly, but it also changed his fate forever. With Iron-Blooded methods and audacious courage, he climbed step by step from a minor contractor into Tongzhou City's upper circles. He owned seven or eight construction companies alone, along with construction crews and design firms. Their market value was absolutely over one billion!

What made Wang Fu smartest of all was that he knew his place.

Any ordinary contractor involved with the underworld who encountered such an opportunity would have become so inflated that he could no longer tell east from west! Wang Fu, however, was different. Aside from fighting a few vicious battles during the early days of his rise, he remained extremely low-key afterward. He strictly restrained his men from causing trouble and actively cooperated with the authorities to clean up his image, preparing to transform from an Underworld Boss into an Outstanding Entrepreneur!

It could be said that if Lin Jiatao had not made his fortune a few years before Wang Fu and attracted the attention of the Far East Chamber of Commerce, Wang Fu should have been Tongzhou City's strongest Underworld Boss today.

Wang Fu had met Li Ruobing long ago through their families, but they had never interacted deeply.

Only recently had they begun contacting each other.

The Qiantang New Store project had been handled by Wang Fu's construction company.

"Miss Li, I'm truly sorry about what happened at the new store construction site..." Wang Fu pressed his palms together, his face full of smiles. "The company isn't mine alone. A lot of brothers rely on me for their livelihood. I had no choice."

Wang Fu was referring to when funding for the Qiantang New Store had been cut off, and he had urgently demanded the project funds.

Li Ruobing had previously been forced into a dead end at the Board of Directors meeting. Whether Wang Fu had intended it or not, he had played an important role in it.

"I understand." Li Ruobing's reply was neither warm nor cold. Then she linked arms with Su Rui and said, "Let's go in."

Wang Fu could hear the coldness in Li Ruobing's words. He gave a dry laugh and said nothing more.

"Let's have tea together sometime," Su Rui said over his shoulder to Wang Fu.

"Definitely! Definitely!"

Silence.

Su Rui and Li Ruobing passed through the corridor, and ahead of them was the hall where the summit was being held.

"The reason he was so eager to block the entrance and demand project funds was that his company was facing a financial crisis too." Su Rui seemed to see through Li Ruobing's thoughts. "Otherwise, an Underworld Boss who rose from the bottom would not risk offending you by blocking the new store construction site to demand money."

Li Ruobing paused for a moment, then nodded, seemingly accepting Su Rui's explanation.

"He'll still be useful in the future," Su Rui added. "He isn't your enemy. You can befriend him."

"Mm." Li Ruobing's expression remained unchanged.

After passing through a line of Welcoming Ladies, Su Rui and Li Ruobing appeared at the entrance to the hall. There were already more than forty or fifty people inside, while attendants in formal attire moved among them from time to time.

Although there were many people inside, it was not chaotic like an ordinary gathering.

The hall was very quiet, filled only with soft conversation. People stood in groups of three or five, admiring paintings and collectibles displayed on the walls and in glass cases. From time to time, they offered a comment or two and broke into laughter.

Su Rui spotted a figure standing in the center of the hall at a glance, standing out like a crane among chickens.

She was the girl who had stepped out of the custom Rolls-Royce earlier. A pure smile rested on her face as she stood before a nineteenth-century mahogany grand piano, holding the arm of a man in a white suit while chatting with several friends in front of her. Every now and then, she covered her mouth and giggled.

She was Bai Yanyun, Old Master Bai's biological granddaughter and the direct-lineage eldest daughter of one of Tongzhou City's two top aristocratic families.

Bai Yanyun wore a white gauze dress, somewhat like a princess gown. She truly was beautiful, and her distinctive air of innocence made her seem exceptionally pure and holy.

But if one observed closely, one would discover that although she was talking with several local Tongzhou friends, her expressions and body language constantly maintained an invisible distance, as if she were deliberately reminding them that her status was more noble.

Her smile was stiff. Even while speaking to friends, she seemed to be bestowing favor from on high, wearing a perfunctory fake smile.

Her gaze flickered, and Bai Yanyun looked toward the entrance of the hall. She froze for a moment, then an astonished expression appeared on her face.

"What is it?" the man in the white suit beside her asked.

"I saw someone I know." A spoiled, sweet expression surfaced on Bai Yanyun's pretty face. "Deng Hao, come with me and say hello!"

Deng Hao followed Bai Yanyun's gaze. His eyes swept past Li Ruobing's face, and he remained impassive. "Is she the woman you often mention, the one who always tries to compete with you in everything?"

"Hehe... Don't talk nonsense. We're very close. She was just always jealous of me before and liked pulling little tricks..." Bai Yanyun said with a smile.

"Want me to help you vent a little?" Deng Hao asked in a teasing tone.

"Can you?" Bai Yanyun tilted her head and asked softly.

"Hehe... Didn't you say she's a businessman who only knows how to do business? She doesn't even understand the basics of art, yet she dares attend the Arts and Culture Summit. Playing with her will be easy for me, won't it?" Deng Hao winked and smiled coldly.