Chapter 748: An Old Acquaintance Not Seen for a Long Time

“Dad… why are you looking at me like that?”

“I… I really don’t know anything. Someone must be framing me…”

Xiao Huang felt a bit nervous and instinctively denied everything.

After all, Xiao Yan had been shot and his fate was unknown. He couldn’t take the blame for this.

“Bang!”

Xiao Li raised his foot and kicked out viciously.

“Ah!”

Xiao Huang let out a miserable cry, clutching his abdomen as he crouched on the ground in pain, his features contorted.

“If anything happens to your second brother, I’ll no longer consider you my son!”

Xiao Li spat out these words through gritted teeth, then turned and strode away.

“Sigh, Third Brother, oh Third Brother, what am I to do with you…”

Xiao Ye also sighed, looking exasperated, as if he were deeply disappointed.

“Is this amusing to you? You must be very worried now.”

Xiao Huang sneered.

Xiao Ye was taken aback: “Of course I’m worried. Your second brother’s life hangs in the balance.”

“Hmph! I think you’re more worried that Second Brother might be saved.”

Xiao Huang snorted coldly, bluntly exposing Xiao Ye’s true thoughts.

“You… nonsense! Xiao Huang! If you’ve got the guts, say that in front of Dad! You’ve completely lost your mind!”

Xiao Ye was furious, pointing at Xiao Huang with a trembling finger. His anger seemed more like guilt at having his thoughts exposed.

“Big Brother, madmen aren’t scary. What’s truly terrifying are those who think they’re clever but treat everyone else like fools.”

Xiao Huang grinned. He suddenly felt that this big brother before him was very irritating.

If he were dead, things would probably be much better.

Xiao Ye frowned, feeling that something was off about this useless brother of his.

However, he didn’t dwell on it and quickly turned to catch up with Xiao Li.

The key now was to go to the hospital and see Xiao Yan, to determine his chances of waking up.

“Help me up.”

Watching Xiao Ye’s retreating figure, a cold glint flashed in Xiao Huang’s eyes as he spoke in a chilling tone.

Outside the pavilion, a middle-aged bodyguard stepped forward to help Xiao Huang up from the ground.

“Send that useless Xiao Ye on his way. The Deng Family can take the blame, saving me a lot of trouble.”

Xiao Huang spoke calmly, as if discussing something trivial.

But this one sentence sealed Xiao Ye’s fate, condemning him to an early death.

Xiao Yan had just been shot by someone from the Deng Family.

Killing that annoying Xiao Ye could easily be pinned on the Deng Family, avoiding any suspicion falling on him.

“Also, have the Zhao Family from the Northwest make a move to keep the Deng Family in check. The Dengs aren’t much of a threat, but they’re currently dealing with Xu Shaochen. Having the Dengs involved is quite troublesome.”

Xiao Huang didn’t take the Deng Family seriously at all. It was just that he couldn’t spare the effort now. Once he dealt with Xu Shaochen, the Deng Family could be easily eliminated.

“Understood.”

The middle-aged man nodded and took out his Phone to make a call.

…

Xu Shaochen hadn’t originally planned to return to the hotel.

He had intended to go to the hospital to have a chat with Deng Tianwen.

But unexpectedly, he received a call from Xie Wei on the way.

She said someone claiming to be his old friend was waiting to see him at the hotel.

Xu Shaochen didn’t know who it could be and, puzzled, had Long Yi drive back to the hotel.

Upon arriving at the hotel, Xu Shaochen was stunned when he saw the person on the sofa.

He couldn’t have imagined it would be him wanting to see himself.

Jiang Yaohai, the General Manager of Sheng Qin Group.

The one he had outmaneuvered and humiliated back in Songshan.

It was surprising enough that he didn’t harbor a deep grudge, but now he had come to see him? What for?

“Young Master Xu, it’s been a long time.”

Seeing Xu Shaochen enter, Jiang Yaohai quickly stood up from the sofa, his attitude extremely respectful.

Gone was any trace of his former arrogance in Songshan.

“Manager Jiang, your temperament has changed quite drastically.”

Xu Shaochen remarked teasingly.

Jiang Yaohai looked a bit embarrassed and said with a bitter smile, “I was ignorant back then and offended Young Master Xu. If I don’t show some restraint now, how could I possibly get by?”

Recalling the incident in Songshan made his teeth ache.

Initially, relying on the backing of Sheng Qin Group, he hadn’t taken Xu Shaochen seriously and was confident in challenging him.

But what was the result?

Xu Shaochen bypassed him entirely and contacted his backers at Sheng Qin Group directly.

Without his backing, he had fallen hard, bruised and battered.

Now, having learned his lesson the hard way, he adopted a very humble attitude before Xu Shaochen.

“What brings Manager Jiang to see me? I’ve been quite busy these past couple of days and fear I won’t have time to entertain you.”

Xu Shaochen asked while pulling out a cigar and tossing it to Jiang Yaohai.

There are no eternal friends, no eternal enemies, only eternal interests.

Jiang Yaohai coming to find him now was probably not just to reminisce about old times.

“I wouldn’t dare to disturb Young Master Xu on my own. To be precise, it’s the people behind me who want to meet you. They’re very interested in what Young Master Xu has been busy with these past few days.”

Jiang Yaohai caught the cigar clumsily and spoke to Xu Shaochen with utmost respect.

Xu Shaochen narrowed his eyes: “Oh? Do those bosses behind you have a grudge against the Xiao Family?”

“Young Master Xu, that question puts me in a difficult position. I’m just an employee, a tool for making money for them. How would I know about such inside information?”

Jiang Yaohai shook his head bitterly. After being outmaneuvered by Xu Shaochen in Songshan last time, he had thoroughly understood his position.

The title of General Manager of Sheng Qin Group might sound impressive, but in reality, he was just a high-level employee.

With one word from the bosses behind him, even if he had ten thousand objections, he’d have to obediently follow their orders.

“Right now?”

Xu Shaochen asked.

“Yes, I’m here to escort Young Master Xu.” Jiang Yaohai added, “Due to their status, the people behind me can’t meet Young Master Xu directly. It might startle the snake in the grass. Otherwise, they would have come to see you themselves today.”

“Alright, since you’ve put it so nicely, I’ll go with you.”

Xu Shaochen nodded. The enemy of my enemy is my friend.

Since the other party was also interested in bringing down the Xiao Family and had taken the initiative to seek cooperation, why not?

“This way, Young Master Xu.”

Jiang Yaohai made a gesture of invitation.

Xu Shaochen nodded to Xie Wei as a farewell and then followed Jiang Yaohai out of the room.

“Young Master Xu, to be honest, I was quite shocked when I came to the hotel. The corridors are full of bodyguards, and they even searched me. I thought I was going to meet the President.”

Looking at the bodyguards Chen Ju had arranged in the corridor, Jiang Yaohai joked.

“Can’t be helped. My woman was almost kidnapped a couple of days ago, so we have to take security seriously.”

“Look, I have a grudge against you. If there weren’t these bodyguards, what if you came to take revenge on me in the middle of the night?”

Jiang Yaohai waved his hands in panic: “Young Master Xu, I’m a coward who can’t handle scares. Please don’t frighten me. I don’t have the guts for that, not even with ten thousand lives.”

“Hahaha, I’m just joking. Why so tense?”

Jiang Yaohai wiped the sweat from his forehead. Big brother, don’t you realize your status? Even a joke from you could scare someone to death.