Chapter 043: It's Only That I'm His Daughter's Classmate, Really!

Everyone in the banquet hall turned to look toward the entrance.

At the doorway, a man in a suit and tie strode confidently into the hall.

"Zhao! Where are you hiding?" he shouted, his presence overwhelming.

Song Kai glanced over and was rendered speechless. Damn, only Liu Zhishan could manage to make a suit look like military attire!

Liu Zhishan had rolled up his suit sleeves and pant legs, scanning the banquet hall.

A few people turned their eyes toward Zhao Dongpeng.

Zhao Dongpeng’s complexion changed instantly, and he quickly turned his face away.

By now, Liu Zhishan had already spotted Zhao Dongpeng. He called out, "Sorry, Elder Feng, I’m just here to find someone at the birthday banquet! Everyone, carry on eating and drinking—why’s everyone staring at me!"

With that, Liu Zhishan strode directly toward Zhao Dongpeng.

Zhao Dongpeng was at a loss; he knew he couldn’t escape, so he hurriedly stood up and said, "Mr. Liu, we’re both businessmen—can’t we talk things over properly? Isn’t this a bit too rough? Besides, this is Elder Feng’s birthday—you should at least give him some respect, even if you don’t care about your own reputation!"

"Don’t try to fool me!"

With one hand, Liu Zhishan seized Zhao Dongpeng by the collar and lifted him off the ground.

Zhao Dongpeng was thin to begin with, and now both his feet dangled in the air.

Liu Zhishan glared at him. "I’ve called you eighteen times and looked for you seven times. Every time, you dodged me. And now you think you can run away again? Listen up, Zhao, if you push me any further, I’ll bring my men and tear your headquarters apart—believe it!"

Zhao Dongpeng, infuriated, retorted, "Liu Zhishan, this is no way to do business! Sure, your main business now is running gyms, but nobody said the entire fitness and martial arts industry in Tengyun City has to belong to you! You even muscled in on someone else’s KTV business, and they didn’t come after you, did they?"

Liu Zhishan sneered, "Spare me the nonsense. I don’t care if you want to run a gym, but you play by my rules, and you play fair! What’s going on with the women in your gym? Why are all those women and female instructors doing yoga naked? I welcome fair competition, but if you’re going to use tricks like this, I won’t stand for it—I’ll make trouble for you!"

"That wasn’t my doing; the manager decided it on his own to boost sales. Give me a bit of time and I’ll sort it out, alright?" Zhao Dongpeng pleaded helplessly.

There was simply no reasoning with a brute like Liu Zhishan.

"I already gave you half a month!" Liu Zhishan cursed, raising his fist to punch Zhao Dongpeng.

Song Kai was completely stunned.

Damn.

He’d never seen a boss in a suit and tie act like a street thug while talking business!

This Liu Zhishan really was one of a kind!

Zhao Dongpeng wanted to beg for mercy, but it was useless.

"Uncle Liu!" Song Kai called out.

This really wasn’t the time or place to fight!

Liu Zhishan’s fist froze mid-air. He turned and looked at Song Kai.

"Song Kai?" Liu Zhishan frowned. "What are you doing here?"

"I… Uncle Liu, maybe you could put Mr. Zhao down first? This really isn’t a good way to do business," Song Kai said quickly.

Liu Zhishan hesitated, then set Zhao Dongpeng back on the ground. He glanced at Zhao Dongpeng, then at Song Kai.

"You two know each other?" Liu Zhishan asked.

Song Kai didn’t know how to reply.

Zhao Dongpeng jumped at the chance, seeing that Song Kai’s words carried weight. "Yes, yes, we know each other. I was good friends with Song Kai’s father. Even though Mr. Song has passed away, I still wanted to bring Song Kai here to meet people and build connections for future business opportunities."

"Business, my ass! Just a bunch of money-grubbing bastards," Liu Zhishan cursed, then turned to Song Kai. "Song Kai, you’d better focus on your studies. You’re a senior in high school—stop wasting your time with this crowd. When you graduate college, if you still want to do business, I’ll help you out. But not now!"

"Yes, sir," Song Kai nodded.

Liu Zhishan looked back at Zhao Dongpeng. "Zhao, for Song Kai’s sake, I’ll let you off today. But as for the gym issue—"

"Give me five more days, just five days!" Zhao Dongpeng pleaded. "Mr. Liu, I swear I had no prior knowledge of this; it was all the manager’s doing. He signed those women for one month. If I kick them out now, it’s a breach of contract—I’d have to pay at least half a million in compensation! Just give me five days, let the contracts expire, then I’ll get rid of them all, including the manager. Is that acceptable?"

"Fine! Five days. If you’re still using women to attract customers after that, don’t blame me for tearing your gym apart!"

With that, Liu Zhishan turned to leave. Halfway out, he called, "Elder Feng, best wishes for your longevity—I’ll be going now."

"Go ahead, go ahead, you rascal. You’re not young anymore—don’t be so hot-tempered," Elder Feng replied from inside.

"Alright then, farewell!"

Liu Zhishan swaggered out like a hooligan.

Everyone in the hall now turned their gaze to Song Kai.

No one was surprised at Zhao Dongpeng’s predicament; after all, five or six of the bosses here had already been beaten up by Liu Zhishan! No one’s plea ever worked—not even the mayor’s!

But today, no one expected Liu Zhishan to give face to a kid like Song Kai. Who exactly was he?

Song Kai himself was bewildered. What the hell was going on? Wasn’t anyone going to let him have a peaceful meal?

He turned to the others at the table and said, "Why aren’t you eating? If you all stop, it looks awkward for me to eat alone."

"No need to feel awkward, it’s fine," Zhao Dongpeng said quickly, his face plastered with a smile as he looked at Song Kai. "Song Kai, how do you know Liu Zhishan?"

"We’re classmates—his daughter and I are in the same class," Song Kai replied. "That’s all there is to it. I went to his house to look for his daughter once, and he beat me up. But after fighting, we actually became friends."

Zhao Dongpeng didn’t quite believe it. "Just like that?"

"Just like that. Now eat," Song Kai said, digging into the pork knuckles.

The table fell into silence.

If before, Tang Zhong’s respect for Song Kai could be explained as a coincidence, or that Song Kai was just a pretty face, now things were different. Liu Zhishan—a man who didn’t even give the mayor face—actually yielded to Song Kai. That spoke volumes.

Zhang Gang was speechless. He was furious and wanted to smash the pork knuckles onto Song Kai’s head, but… he didn’t dare.

He’d planned to humiliate Song Kai, but now, all the attention at the table was focused on Song Kai. Even Xu Haitian, who had been scowling the whole time, was now watching Song Kai with a look of surprise and anticipation.

He’d really shot himself in the foot—tried to steal a chicken, but lost the rice and the wife.

Zhang Gang gritted his teeth. He knew that after today, there was no way he could slander or undermine Song Kai again. Tang Zhong was the city’s business leader. Liu Zhishan had once been a high-ranking official in Jun District—a man who could strut around Tengyun City without a care, not even for the mayor.

Both of these men were so close to Song Kai. Even if Xu Haitian didn’t want his granddaughter to marry Song Kai, he wouldn’t dare oppose it openly.

Zhang Gang’s face burned with humiliation. He abruptly stood up and stormed outside.

He couldn’t swallow this humiliation.

Once outside, Zhang Gang pulled out his phone and dialed a number in fury.

As soon as someone picked up, Zhang Gang shouted, "Big B, what the hell are you doing? Didn’t we agree you’d take care of Song Kai for me? Why is he still strutting around, better than ever?"

The man on the other end was Big B.

Big B replied lazily, "Oh? Is that so? I was just looking for him. Where are you—are you together?"

"Yes, we’re both at the Jinhua Hotel! Send someone over right now—if you can’t kill that idiot, at least break his leg, you hear me? Money is no object!"

Zhang Gang was truly furious; otherwise, he’d never dare speak to Big B like that.

"Alright, wait for me in the underground parking lot," Big B said, then hung up.

In a hidden residential house, Big B was puffing on a cigar. He tossed his phone onto the sofa and sneered, "He dares talk to me like that? Last time, four of my men died. I don’t know who the killer was, but it definitely had something to do with that fool!"

Beside him stood a man dressed entirely in leather, wearing sunglasses, as motionless as a tree trunk.

"Boss, shall I handle it?" the leather-clad man asked.

Big B waved his hand. "No need. It’s just two idiots. Call Mad Bull. Tell him to take out both Zhang Gang and Song Kai, then get out of town. Three million U.S. dollars have already been wired to his offshore account…"