Chapter 619: We Are Friends with Xu Shao

Liang Huan and Zhao Li were walking out of Hua’e Mountain Manor with unsteady steps.

They knew they had fallen into Xu Shaochen’s trap, yet they still jumped with their eyes closed—and they were quite happy about it.

Although Xu Shaochen had leverage over them, they were currently getting benefits from him. In the short term, it was a mutually beneficial relationship.

As for the future?

The future can wait—we’ll deal with it when the time comes.

After all, it can’t get worse than things are now.

“Ding ding ding…”

Suddenly, Liang Huan’s Phone rang.

Liang Huan glanced at the screen and frowned, then said to Zhao Li: “It’s a call from Chen Ju.”

“Let’s hear what he has to say,” Zhao Li said, already guessing it had something to do with tonight’s events.

Liang Huan answered and turned on speaker: “Young Master Chen.”

“Liang Huan, do you have time now? Let’s meet up. I want to talk about the progress on the gold mine contract.”

Liang Huan looked at Zhao Li, who nodded before he responded: “Sure, just tell us the place. Zhao and I will head over now.”

About twenty minutes later, the three met at a café.

At this time, the café was empty, eerily quiet.

It was obvious that Chen Ju had rented out the entire place for the night.

“Tonight, under Xu Shaochen’s arrangement, I met with the top official of Qinghua County. The gold mine deal is practically finalized.”

Chen Ju stirred his coffee leisurely with a spoon as he spoke to Zhao Li and Liang Huan.

“Young Master Chen, this hardly seems like an issue important enough for a special meeting. Let’s skip the small talk and get to the point,” Zhao Li said bluntly. Frankly, he wasn’t even considering this one gold mine to be worth much thought.

After they made it through this tough period and took down the Kong Family, both he and Liang Huan would each gain a 10% share of the special medicine.

When that happened, their status within their families would rise significantly, and small matters such as a gold mine would seem insignificant.

As for whether Xu Shaochen would go back on his word and refuse to give them the 10% shares afterwards—

That didn’t concern them. If Xu Shaochen really tried to double-cross them…

They would simply report everything, including the details about the special medicine, to their families.

With both the Liang and Zhao Families targeting Xu Shaochen, they were certain that it wasn’t a situation Xu Shaochen wanted to face.

This was also why Xu Shaochen had disclosed the information about the special AIDS medicine to them earlier tonight, to reassure them.

Chen Ju was stunned, not expecting Zhao Li to be so direct. After a moment, he asked:

“What did Xu Shaochen offer you? Or, what kind of leverage does he have on you?”

“Young Master Chen, I’m afraid we cannot answer that.” Zhao Li replied without a trace of emotion.

Chen Ju nodded thoughtfully. “Don’t you realize that taking down Kong Biao and Kong Tianjing and inciting conflict between the three families will lead to disaster? Regardless of which side wins, you’ll end up shouldering the blame and being marginalized within your families. The chance to become family heirs will be lost to both of you forever.”

“I really can’t imagine what Xu Shaochen did to make you willingly throw away your bright futures to help him eliminate the Kong Family.”

Liang Huan chuckled and smiled sincerely: “We are friends with Xu Shao.”

“Friends? I’d say your relationship must be a lot closer than that of ordinary brothers,” Chen Ju commented with a knowing look. Regardless of the reason, it was obvious that Liang Huan and Zhao Li were now deeply tied to Xu Shaochen.

“Young Master Chen, after the Kong Family is wiped out, you’ll understand why we’re doing this,” Zhao Li said casually. Initially, they listened to Xu Shaochen because they had no choice; now, they were following him because they could gain more from it.

Until they secured that 10% share of the special medicine, there was no way they would reveal this to Chen Ju. Who knew what complications it might invite?

After all, such an enormous fortune would tempt anyone.

Despite not getting the answers he wanted, Chen Ju didn’t leave empty-handed.

From the attitudes of Zhao Li and Liang Huan, he now knew one thing for sure.

They didn’t seem to resent Xu Shaochen; if anything, they were more than willing to help him.

So, Xu Shaochen must have offered them something appealing, rather than merely using blackmail.

Of course, Chen Ju wasn’t aware that Xu Shaochen had done both—offered benefits while keeping leverage over them.

It was like herding cows—you give them grass, but you still hold a stick to keep them in line.

“Young Master Chen, we have to head back to Jingcheng overnight. You can handle the gold mine situation however you see fit, but we’ve got to go now.”

Liang Huan and Zhao Li exchanged glances before standing up, smiling slightly at Chen Ju, and walking out of the café with confident strides.

Everyone in Jingcheng believed that they were heading back to face punishment and be marginalized by their families.

But only they knew that they were merely going back to rest. Once they recovered, they were going to soar to new heights.

Watching their proud, departing figures, Chen Ju’s brow furrowed deeply.

What exactly had Xu Shaochen promised them to make them so confident?

………………

Hua’e Mountain Manor.

Xu Shaochen was watching a drama with a group of women.

It was a series from Stick Nation, dragging on and on like an old lady’s bound feet—stale and endless.

The plot kept circling back to the same tired tropes: Cinderella meets her prince, misunderstandings, a break-up, a reunion, pregnancy, miscarriage, amnesia…

Xu Shaochen was getting sick of watching it, but the women were thoroughly enjoying themselves, even holding heated discussions about the twists and turns.

The only highlight, in his opinion, was how seductive the female supporting character was. Every move she made exuded sensuality.

Even though his eyes were fixed on the TV, his thoughts had long wandered off to another place…

“Hey! I’m talking to you, are you listening?”

Suddenly, Liu Rushuang pushed him, snapping him back to reality: “Huh? What’s up?”

“Tomorrow, my sister and I are going for a maternity check-up. You’re the father, so of course you should come with us,” Liu Rushuang said.

Xu Shaochen blushed, feeling a little embarrassed as he replied: “Isn’t that a bit—awkward? I mean, wouldn’t I feel out of place?”

“You didn’t feel awkward doing this, but now you’re worried about what people will say?” Liu Rushuang rolled her eyes and pinched him hard.

“Ahh! Ouch—” Xu Shaochen gasped in pain and quickly surrendered: “Alright, alright! I’ll go, okay? Just stop, please!”

Once Liu Rushuang finally let go, Xu Shaochen checked and found a red mark where she had pinched him.

He pulled out his Phone and called Dean Fu to arrange the check-up for Liu Rushuang and her sister tomorrow.

Waiting in line?

That’s something regular people have to do. The rich don’t stand in line. One Phone call, and everything’s set.