"Boss, Star City has two fairly large underworld forces. One belongs to Gu Yuanshan. He runs concrete batching plants and deals in construction sand and gravel. He has several hundred men under him and also runs an underground fighting arena for gambling."
"Oh? Who's the other one?" Every place had underworld forces like these, but ordinary people generally never came into contact with them. This piqued Li Rui's curiosity.
"The other is Lord Black Tiger. Quite a few KTV lounges and foot massage parlors in Star City belong to him. He also has several hundred men under him."
Hearing Zhao Yi's report, Li Rui clicked his tongue a few times. These underworld forces were just like those in the movies, running either KTV lounges or concrete batching plants. Art really did draw from life.
"Boss, according to our investigation, Gu Yuanshan is investigating you too. He hasn't made another move only because he hasn't gotten to the bottom of your background yet. You need to nip trouble in the bud, Boss."
Zhao Yi's words reminded Li Rui of something. Although he wasn't afraid of scum like this, he still had his family to consider. He had to make absolutely sure nothing could go wrong.
"Zhao Yi, keep a close eye on him. Notify me immediately if he makes a move. I'll go meet him myself in a few days."
"Yes, Boss."
"System, buy me fifty advanced bodyguards."
Ding! Fifty advanced bodyguards have been deployed within a one-kilometer radius of the host. 500 million yuan has been deducted from the overseas financial account.
"Li Yi, once those fifty brothers arrive, send twenty to Star City to wait for us. Have the remaining thirty return to Li Family Village to protect my family and clansmen." With a cheat like the system, wouldn't it be a waste not to use it? He had to ensure his family's absolute safety.
Early in the morning three days later, on Shen Yong's wedding day, Li Rui got up early and drove his McLaren P1 toward the wedding planning company, accompanied by four bodyguards and two Land Rover Range Rovers.
Shen Yong was already waiting for Li Rui at the wedding planning company.
"Mr. Shen, everything is ready. All that's left is decorating the wedding car. When will the car you've arranged arrive?" Seeing that the wedding car still hadn't arrived, an employee of the wedding planning company asked rather anxiously.
"Soon. My friend's already on his way," Shen Yong replied after checking the time.
Just as the employee was about to remind him that there wasn't much time left, a sleek black McLaren P1 sped up, followed by two Land Rover Range Rovers.
After getting out, Li Rui tossed the car keys to Shen Yong. "Congratulations, Eldest Brother."
"Heh, heh... Third Brother, thank you." Shen Yong put an arm around Li Rui's shoulders and patted him.
"All right, don't get all sentimental with me. Hurry up and get down to business," Li Rui urged.
"Mm," Shen Yong answered, then told the wedding company's employee beside him, "This is the wedding car. Decorate it as you see fit."
The employee was still marveling at how the groom had such a wealthy friend, who had driven a sports car worth over thirteen million yuan to attend his wedding, when he heard the groom say that this would be the wedding car and ask him to decorate it.
He immediately felt at a loss. They wanted to use this as the wedding car and have him decorate it? If he damaged it even slightly, selling himself wouldn't cover the cost.
"W-well, Mr. Shen, with such an expensive car, why don't you decorate it yourselves? It's very simple," the employee stammered, clearly unwilling to touch this sports car worth over thirteen million yuan.
"Well..." Shen Yong turned helplessly to look at Li Rui.
"It's fine. Go ahead, don't worry. You won't have to pay even if you damage it." In fact, the so-called decorations amounted to nothing more than attaching a couple of small red flowers and adding a couple of signs with phrases like "A hundred years of marital harmony." They wouldn't cause any damage to the car, but faced with such a luxury car, the employee clearly didn't want to take even a one-in-ten-thousand risk.
Only after receiving Li Rui's assurance did the employee feel at ease enough to begin working.
"By the way, Eldest Brother, how are the other brothers from our dorm doing? Are any of them coming to your wedding?" Li Rui thought of his good friends from the dorm.
"Second Brother and Fourth Brother are both back in their hometowns managing their family businesses. Fifth Brother and Sixth Brother are working in Magic City. They're all over a thousand kilometers away. Each of them sent me a red envelope, but they couldn't make it here for the wedding," Shen Yong said with some regret.
"Ah, it's been more than three years since we last saw each other. We have to find time to get all the brothers together," Li Rui said with a sigh.
"Sure. You're the big boss now, so you make the call." Shen Yong smiled and punched Li Rui in the chest.
"Whoa, why's your chest so hard? Let me see. Have you put an iron plate over it?" Shen Yong was surprised at first, then began horsing around with Li Rui. Their brotherhood hadn't changed just because Li Rui had become rich.
After the system's modifications, Li Rui's muscles rivaled those of the very best bodybuilders, so naturally they were extremely hard.
As time passed, the wedding company's staff gradually all arrived. They were astonished at the sight of the supercar, all remarking that this groom really had some clout.
At nine in the morning, the wedding pickup procession set off on time. Shen Yong drove the black McLaren P1 at the very front, closely followed by the two Land Rover Range Rovers driven by Li Rui and Li Yi. Behind them were more than ten assorted vehicles, the best of which was a BMW 7 Series with an on-the-road price of just over eight hundred thousand yuan. What had originally been quite a decent car paled beside the black McLaren P1 leading the way.
After half an hour on the road, the convoy arrived at the residential complex where He Xiaozhu lived. It was an old complex with seven-story buildings and no elevators. After years of wind and rain, the walls had lost their former sheen and color and become dull and drab. The coating on the walls had begun peeling away, exposing mottled patches.
A red semicircular arch stood at the entrance to the complex, and a red carpet stretched from it toward a nearby building.
Quite a few people stood downstairs, ready and waiting, while plenty of children played noisily nearby. The scene was bustling with excitement.
In contrast to the lively scene downstairs, inside He Xiaozhu's bedroom, Mother He stood with her arms folded, complaining with displeasure on her face, "Your cousin had a wedding car worth two million yuan when she got married. Are you any worse than her? If that boy Shen Yong doesn't drive a wedding car worth over ten million today, I certainly won't let him take you away. I can't afford the embarrassment of a wedding car worth only a few hundred thousand."
"Mom, getting married means marrying a person, not a car. Besides, all the cars at my cousin's wedding were rented. They didn't even belong to her family. You're just vain." Although He Xiaozhu knew that today's wedding car was a McLaren P1, she hadn't told her mother. She wanted to give this vain mother of hers a resounding slap in the face.
"I don't care. I'm giving him the daughter I spent over twenty years raising, and I only asked for a bride price of three hundred thousand. If the wedding car doesn't give me some face, why should I marry you off to her? There are plenty of rich people who want to marry you. That Mr. Lin from last time was quite good."
"Mom, if you keep this up, I'm really going to get angry," He Xiaozhu said, her face flushed red with anger.
"All right, all right, it's too late to say anything now. But if today's wedding car doesn't satisfy me, I won't just let it slide." Seeing that her daughter really was getting angry, Mother He quickly stopped.
Just as He Xiaozhu was about to speak again, she heard waves of startled cries and cheers from downstairs.
He Xiaozhu and Mother He knew that the wedding pickup procession had arrived.
Mother He walked to the window, opened it, and looked out. The car at the very front of the wedding pickup procession was one she had never seen before. All she knew was that this kind of car seemed to be called a sports car. It looked very nice, and apparently wasn't cheap.