Chapter 423: Ye Tao’s Gesture of Sincerity Has Been Delivered

One day later.

9:00 AM.

Songshan Airport, within the country.

Xu Shaochen, Mei Liangxin, Zhang Wei, and Zhao Qing were preparing to board the plane back to Jiangzhou, accompanied by a large group of people seeing them off.

After all, the matters in Songshan had been concluded, so staying longer would be a waste of time.

Furthermore, they still needed to return and resolve matters with Yunbei Industries.

“Young Master Xu, we hope to see you in Songshan again.”

“Young Master Xu, have a safe trip.”

“Safe trip? Are you crazy? Do you not know you’re not supposed to say that before a flight?”

Huang Wenqiang, Tang Siyu, Xie Tianlin, and Ye Yang were all part of the farewell party.

Ye Yang had originally planned to visit Xu Shaochen in Jiangzhou, but now there was no need. He stayed in Songshan to prepare for his own business.

Bystanders kept their distance. The lineup of luxury cars and the large group of bodyguards surrounding Xu Shaochen had already set them apart.

Occasionally, some would look on with envy, jealousy, or even resentment. After all, what’s the difference between someone without dreams and a salted fish?

“Alright, that’s enough. Everyone, please go back. We’re heading in now.”

Xu Shaochen addressed the crowd. There were too many people; Xu Shaochen didn’t like being overly flamboyant. He had always been a ‘low-key’ person.

He was a bit disappointed that Mei Liangying was on a business trip and couldn’t see him off today.

Thankfully, he had already informed Liu Rushuang and Liu Ruxu in advance. They would both come to pick him up later.

The thought of seeing this pair of charming sisters as soon as he got off the plane made Xu Shaochen’s disappointment gradually fade.

The crowd stayed outside the airport as Xu Shaochen and his group, accompanied by bodyguards, walked grandly into the terminal.

“Young Master Xu, wait for me!”

Ye Tao shouted as he rushed through the crowd, holding a metal box.

Huang Wenqiang and the others exchanged puzzled looks. What was going on? Although curious, they restrained their nosiness and didn’t eavesdrop.

“What’s the matter?”

Xu Shaochen stopped and smiled at Ye Tao.

He hadn’t seen Ye Tao today and had assumed that his words the other day had discouraged him from coming to see him off.

Who would have thought he was just late.

“Young… Young Master Xu, my… gesture of sincerity.” Ye Tao panted as he handed the metal box to Xu Shaochen, beads of sweat on his forehead.

Gu Jun had traveled multiple routes this morning to return to Songshan. After getting the item, Ye Tao hadn’t even had time to look at it before rushing over to deliver it to Xu Shaochen.

Xu Shaochen was taken aback. He didn’t expect Ye Tao to still remember that incident. He took the box and asked, “What is this?”

“An antique. The one that reached a sky-high price online.” Ye Tao grinned as his breath started to stabilize.

“What?!”

Mei Liangxin and the others were astonished, looking at Ye Tao in disbelief.

They had joked about who would be foolish enough to buy such a thing. Little did they know that the ‘fool’ was so close.

However, they were more envious of Ye Tao. Not many people can afford to be so ‘foolish’ with billions. It’s an inhuman level of wealth.

“I didn’t spend any money,” Ye Tao said.

Upon hearing this, Zhang Wei thought Ye Tao was embarrassed to admit his foolishness and teased, “Didn’t spend any money? A friend of mine abroad told me that this thing was in the hands of private armed forces in Myanmar-Vietnam. How did you get it without money? Did you steal it?”

Unexpectedly, Ye Tao nodded seriously: “Yes, I stole it.”

In an instant, everyone fell silent, looking at Ye Tao in utter disbelief.

They felt like this guy was insane. If he had bought it, it would’ve been annoying, but understandable.

But daring to steal something from that group of armed forces, those maniacs with guns, was nothing short of suicidal.

Selling that antique would provide a fortune in military funds for those impoverished private militaries, enough to replace their old weapons and seize more territory. It was their hope for rising to power.

And Ye Tao had stolen that hope. This would undoubtedly mean a life-and-death struggle. The key point was that while those people had no money, they had plenty of guns and men.

Only Xu Shaochen understood that this was Ye Tao’s so-called ‘gesture of sincerity.’

However, it did surprise him; he hadn’t expected Ye Tao to be so bold and daring.

If Xu Shaochen didn’t accept Ye Tao, his entire family might have to sleep with one eye open, fearing someone might secretly plant a bomb near them.

Of course, Ye Tao most likely realized that Xu Shaochen wouldn’t reject him because this ‘gesture of sincerity’ was enough to impress him.

Xu Shaochen couldn’t help but regard him with more respect. Someone who adapts quickly to their environment, even without Xu Shaochen, would surely fare well in life.

“I’ll take it. Get your affairs in order and come find me in Jiangzhou.”

“And if someone comes looking for you, just tell them the item is with me and let them deal with me.”

Xu Shaochen said this to Ye Tao, then turned and walked deeper into the airport.

“Just a bunch of poor, semi-organized armed forces. They might be tyrannical in places like Myanmar-Vietnam with their few hundred men and guns.

But let them try coming after me.

I could deploy a fully-armed battalion from Xu International Security Company and wipe them out in the blink of an eye. They wouldn’t even know what hit them.”

“Yes, Young Master Xu!”

Ye Tao raised his voice with a smile, watching Xu Shaochen’s back.

Even being a lackey requires knowing for whom you work. Riding on Xu Shaochen’s coattails, he would rise to unimaginable heights.

Huang Wenqiang and the others looked on, completely unable to grasp what had just transpired between Xu Shaochen and Ye Tao.

“Boss, we still don’t know if this thing is genuine, but taking it probably means making enemies with hundreds of guns.”

Zhang Wei looked at Xu Shaochen with concern. Private militias were ruthless and would do anything for money. Robbing them was worse than killing their parents.

Xu Shaochen responded with a calm smile, staring at Zhang Wei as he said, “I can muster a thousand-man, fully-modern security force to give them a run for their money any time.”

“Security force? Numbers won’t matter if they have more guns and nothing to lose.” Zhang Wei continued trying to persuade him.

“Smack!”

Mei Liangxin gave him a slap on the head without spending any money: “Idiot! Those ‘security forces’ he’s talking about are mercenaries. And you call yourself Jiangzhou’s top informant? You don’t know that?”

Then, Mei Liangxin quickly put on a fawning face as he looked at Xu Shaochen and said, “Big brother, can you take me to see them sometime? I’ve never even touched a gun in my life.”

He added with emphasis: “I’m not talking about the handguns Long Yi and the others carry. I mean the big ones— like sniper rifles and other cool stuff.”

“The one in my pants is pretty long. Want to touch that?” Zhang Wei replied, looking at Mei Liangxin with an embarrassed grin.

Mei Liangxin’s face darkened: “Get lost! Anyone with less than 20 centimeters, stop talking to me. It’s an insult to my dignity.”