Gu Sheng swept his gaze over the ten faces, then glanced at the only person standing before heading straight for the two empty chairs.
"Mr. Gu..." The only person standing was an Arab man wearing a headscarf. He cleared his throat and spoke, but Gu Sheng ignored him completely.
The ten people seated raised their eyebrows and watched Gu Sheng with interest, saying nothing.
Gu Sheng dragged a chair back to where he had originally stood, plopped down, crossed his legs, and lit a cigarette. Only then did he spread his arms and speak.
"I'm not really used to talking to people standing up. You don't mind, do you?"
When no one spoke, Gu Sheng raised an eyebrow provocatively. "Don't tell me none of you actually mind?"
His gaze swept over their faces. Seeing that no one spoke, he finally laughed. "Of course, even if you did, I wouldn't care."
Then, taking charge as though he were the host, he waved at the only person still standing. "All right, you can speak now."
Clap, clap, clap!
Soft applause rang out.
Not from one person, but two.
One was Gianna, and the other was the Asian man.
"No wonder you managed to become the biggest force on Hong Kong Island in such a short time. Your confidence and boldness are truly impressive, Mr. Gu," the Asian man said. He was in his thirties, wearing gold-rimmed glasses with his hair slicked back. He looked cultured and refined, but the body beneath his clothes was powerfully built, filling them out.
He said it once in Chinese, then repeated it in English.
Gu Sheng now knew which organization he belonged to.
An Asian who could sit here should be from the North American Hongmen. There probably wasn't anyone else.
"If I didn't have that