Hearing Nanrong Hao mentioning his elder sister, an image of the wheelchair-bound otherworldly beauty surfaced in Ling Chen's mind.
Nanrong Wanqing!
It's a pity that this sort of beauty could only be admired from afar, but one couldn't get close to them.
Ridding himself of his complicated thoughts, Ling Chen grinned and patted the flat-top youth's shoulders. "Relax, I won't beat you up. Later I'll even treat you to dinner. I wonder if you're interested."
"I...."
Jiang Hao, who was standing nearby, frowned. "Bro Chen asking you to get dinner with him is already sparing your dignity, do you dare to reject him?"
"Yes yes yes! I will definitely go!" Nanrong Hao hastily replied, but he cried in his heart and wailed internally. Cousin, you're too vicious, abandoning me like this!
"Jiang Hao, go find him a hotel to stay in nearby, I'll go take a look at the company. I'll be back later." Saying that, Ling Chen made a beeline for the East City Express Delivery company.
Entering the office, he saw an overweight middle-aged figure clutching his swollen cheeks and was currently tidying the items sprawled all over the floor.
"Boss."
The fat boss lifted his head and immediately flew into a rage at the sight of Ling Chen. "Ling you punk! You still have the gall to come and see me?!"
Ling Chen hastily tried to calm him down. "Calm down, Boss, calm down. Listen to my explanation first!"
"Fuck your explanation!" The fat boss bellowed. "Get the fuck out of my office! You can forget about coming in tomorrow. My tiny place can't accommodate a great figure like you." His sentences were oozing with sarcasm.
"Boss, it's not my fault this time! They were finding trouble with me!" Ling Chen whined. He didn't have any academic accomplishments nor any connections he could rely on, and he only found this job after much painstaking effort. He could not afford to lose it.
"Stop talking nonsense!" The fat boss angrily pointed at his swollen cheek and erupted with rage, "This is all because of you! You better believe that I'll toss you out if you don't scram out on your own?"
Ling Chen was helpless in the face of his boss's rage. Boss is really agitated. Welp, I guess I've lost this job for sure.
It's all Su Lin that vixen's fault! If that woman didn't come to find trouble, then how would things end up in this state?
His heart full of grievances, Ling Chen turned and stormed out of the company. Right before he left, he didn't forget to ask his boss to pay him his salary for that month. The initial sum of one thousand eight hundred dollars was reduced by a few hundred dollars, his boss insisted that he pay reparations. This deduction left him red eyed.
Prosperity Pavilion. When Ling Chen arrived at the hotel, Jiang Hao had already reserved a private room in the hotel restaurant. The dishes had not been served yet, and the people inside were all joking and conversing boisterously.
"Bro Chen." Everyone stood up to greet him when he entered the private room.
However, Nanrong Hao continued sitting there unmoving. Jiang Hao gave him a hard slap on the back, fiercely lecturing, "Oi brat, hurry up and show your respect!"
Nanrong Hao scrambled to follow his orders. He was in a wolves' den now and did not dare to offend these hungry predators, fearing that they would devour him. My tender flesh can't withstand their beating!
Seeing these hoodlums being so respectful towards Ling Chen, curiosity overcame him, and he started wondering to himself, what background does this punk have? Is he really just a delivery man?
Ling Chen strolled over to the seat at the head of the table, which Jiang Hao specially saved for him, and grinned. "Take a seat, there are no outsiders here, why are you all being so polite?" As he was saying that, he pointed at Nanrong Hao and patted the empty seat right beside his. "Young Master Nanrong, come, take a seat beside me."
Nanrong Hao did not dare to disobey, and without even a shred of hesitation, he hurriedly rushed to sit beside Ling Chen. The fawning smile he forced on to his face was even more sorrowful than if he was crying. "Mr… Mr Ling, it's my cousin who forced me to find trouble with you. It has nothing to do with me! Really! If you want revenge, go find her, please don't take it out on me!"
"Relax, I've asked you here simply to have a meal. No need to overthink it." Ling Chen heartily patted Nanrong Hao's shoulders and reassured him.
"Just one question for you though, Young Master Nanrong." Ling Chen deftly switched the topic to the burning question lingering on his mind.
"What does your cousin work as?" As the saying goes, know thy enemy and know thyself. If Su Lin that witch wanted to find trouble with him, then he had to dig up information on her background to use against her.
Nanrong Hao gave him a frank reply. "My cousin is still in university, and this year is her fourth year."
A student, huh?
Ling Chen let out a low whistle. Students nowadays sure had well-developed figures. Just speaking of Tang Shiyun, she was only eighteen this year. Still, she already had curves in all the right places and would develop to be a captivating beauty in the future.
After asking Nanrong Hao a few more questions, he had a much better grasp of Su Lin's background. She came from a very influential and wealthy family with both her parents overseas, busy managing a company. She was your typical second-generation pampered nouveau riche, born with a golden spoon in her mouth. No wonder she had no manners at all!
"What about your older sister?" Ling Chen suddenly asked. For some reason, the image of Nanrong Wanqing refused to dissipate from his mind.
"My older sister? Why are you asking about her?" Nanrong Hao suspiciously looked at him.
Ling Chen scratched his cheek and gave a sheepish smile. "No reason, I'm just casually asking."
He was really just asking casually. Women of her calibre were too far out of his league, needing only to be admired from afar. His asking of this question was just to satisfy his curiosity. He did not harbour any ulterior motives towards her.
"My older sister is the chairman of the Hongyu Multinational." When speaking of his older sister, Nanrong Hao puffed out his chest in pride as though her achievements were his and animatedly started boasting. "I kid you not, but even if you comb through the entire country, you will not find someone as impressive as my older sister. She started managing the company when she was only fifteen, formally taking over the helm when she was eighteen, becoming the youngest chairman in history! In the eyes of everyone, my sister is an unrivalled genius!"
"Your sister is the chairman of Hongyu Multinational?" Jiang Hao, who was eavesdropping on their conversation, was suspicious and incredulously scoffed. "Are you for real, or are you just pulling our legs?"
"Who would want to kid with you? If you don't believe me, then you can just search it up on the internet."
Ling Chen noticed the look of disbelief on Jiang Hao's face and asked curiously, "You've heard of this Hongyu Multinational?"
"Bro Chen, do you really not know? They're the most badass company in Donghai City. I heard that the government have issued a written notice for our old city district to be completely rebuilt. Every old building will be torn down and replaced by beautiful gardens. The government is helming this project, and more importantly, it is funded by the Hongyu Multinational! Think about how much it would cost to rebuild such a large area in the old city district. It would at least cost several tens of billions! I estimate that in Donghai City, only Hongyu Multinational has the financial resources to carry out such a large-scale project."
"Is that so?" Ling Chen swept Nanrong Hao a glance and gave a smile that did not reach his eyes. "I didn't expect Young Master Nanrong to be so rich."
Seeing the malicious intentions in Ling Chen's gaze, Nanrong Hao felt a sense of foreboding overcoming him. This punk can't be eyeing my family fortune and thinking of ransoming me, right?
Just as wild thoughts started to jumble up in his mind, Ling Chen had shifted his focus from Nanrong Hao as though nothing had happened. Irritation filled his tone, and he glumly asked, "Why haven't the dishes been served after so long?"
"I'll ask someone to rush them." Jiang Hao hurriedly answered and sent one of his underlings to find the hotel owner.
"Jiang Hao you brat, you sure are capable! I haven't seen you for just a few days, and you've managed to gather so many underlings. Not bad!"
Jiang Hao fawningly answered, "Isn't it all thanks to Brother Chen's help! Five Mile Street is also nicknamed the Golden Street. All the restaurants, tea houses, game halls, hotels, and businesses are all crowded on this street. The protection fee for one month is a good ten thousand dollars. After getting word that I took over here, many hoodlums in the old city district rushed to come under my umbrella."
"Not bad, kid. Try your best to avoid disrupting law and order." Ling Chen said.
It was almost impossible for people in the hoodlum business to avoid deeds that violate the law. The key is to grasp the degree that they do so. Hence, that was why Ling Chen reminded Jiang Hao that he must have a bottom line for everything he does, and he should not cross that line.