Chapter 66: Old People Like Stability
He had to eliminate this threat, but not yet.
Several men carried Fu Qi back to his apartment. Tang Ze didn’t join in the commotion. He went back to his own apartment. The kittens at home were about to rebel; he hadn’t fed them properly for the past two days.
The three women were relieved. They could finally get some rest.
Feng Mengmeng and Fang Wei watched Tang Ze leave, a hint of disappointment in their eyes. They thought of Tang Ze’s cute and beautiful girlfriend, who seemed superior to them, and felt a pang of insecurity. What if Tang Ze didn’t take them with him when he left?
Huo Wannian was dead, but there could be a second, a third…
Once this thought took root, it blossomed into anxiety.
Fang Wei didn’t want to go home, so she went to Feng Mengmeng’s apartment to chat. The TV was on, but their minds were elsewhere.
“Mengmeng, how do you think Tang Ze killed Mr. Huo? He had so many men with him. How did he do it?”
Fang Wei couldn’t figure it out. How could one man, alone, defeat so many, especially when they had a gun?
Feng Mengmeng sighed. “Tang Ze is probably more complex than we think. Every time I see him smile, I feel…”
“A chill run down your spine, right?”
“Weiwei, you feel it too? I thought it was just me.”
Feng Mengmeng smiled helplessly, wondering if she was overthinking things.
Fang Wei propped her long legs, of which she was proud, on the coffee table. “Maybe it’s because he’s killed people, so we have that feeling.”
“Maybe. I feel like even CEO Xi is a little afraid of him.”
Feng Mengmeng had been with Xi Meng for a few years and had noticed many details today that she had never seen before.
Fang Wei sat up, nervous. “Now that Tang Ze has a gun, will he try to control the entire complex?”
“I don’t know. It seemed like CEO Xi could still control him just now. But if one day she can’t…”
Feng Mengmeng bit her lower lip, feeling that this place was becoming more and more unsafe.
Fang Wei felt the same way. Especially when she was with Tang Ze, he didn’t seem to care about her at all, just using her as a tool for his own release. Although it was a transaction…
The more she thought about it, the more unreliable Tang Ze seemed. The sweet nothings he whispered were all lies. She had to rely on herself.
They chatted until they fell asleep on the sofa.
They even had the same dream: Tang Ze came and “opened their eyes.”
In a warehouse on the outskirts of Hua’an City.
The warehouse was brightly lit, with boxes of supplies piled up like a small mountain. Men were playing cards and drinking. After drinking, they would go to a small room next door to “solve their problems.”
In the second-floor office, a man in his sixties listened to his subordinates’ report.
This man with graying temples was Mr. Qian, Qian Zhongran.
He wasn’t a big boss, not even worthy of carrying Mr. Huo’s shoes before. After all, he just owned a few large warehouses.
But now, these warehouses were more valuable than gold. Everyone had to obey him.
And this was just one of his warehouses, the one with the fewest supplies. Qian Zhongran entrusted the transportation of supplies to his two sons; outsiders were not to be trusted. This was how he controlled their lifeline.
With his sons holding two shotguns, his men were even more obedient.
“Dad, something happened to Huo Wannian.”
Standing beside him was his eldest son, Qian Ming, now forty-two, but looking much older, almost as old as his father.
Qian Zhongran frowned. “What happened? Was he killed by Xi Meng’s men? Didn’t I give him a gun?”
“Our men went to pick up the goods today, but the apartment was full of corpses. Huo Wannian’s head was missing. The floor was littered with shotgun shells, the same model as ours.”
Qian Ming’s face was grim. The enemy was strong.
Qian Zhongran’s eyes glinted. “So there’s someone else with the same idea. But why would they go after Huo Wannian?”
“Dad, could it be Xi Meng’s men?”
“Heh, how could there be a gun in that complex? Huo Wannian must have provoked someone he shouldn’t have. I hope he didn’t expose me!”
Qian Zhongran was angry. His strategy was to lay low and develop his power.
But the young Qian Ming thought differently. “Dad, we have guns. We could just kill them all. Why do we need to rely on others?”
“Do you know if there’s someone more powerful out there? It’s only been a month. Those who move first will die first. Look at Huo Wannian, didn’t something happen to him? Wasted my gun and bullets, didn’t even get a single hair from Xi Meng.”
Qian Zhongran was an old lecher.
He had witnessed Xi Meng’s beauty before. If it wasn’t for the disaster, he would never have thought he’d have a chance to taste her lips.
But he didn’t want to do it himself, afraid of attracting attention.
Speaking of women, Qian Ming smiled. “Dad, although Huo Wannian is dead, the club is full of women. Even though many of them are dead, we brought back about sixty, all between twenty and thirty years old. They’re a bit smelly, need a wash.”
“Heh, Huo Wannian kept so many women and told me he had none. Good riddance. Don’t waste too much water.”
“Okay, Dad. Should I arrange for one to… freshen you up?”
“Clean her up well. Don’t let your mother know.”
“Don’t worry.”
Qian Ming left the office. A man was leaning on the railing, smoking. It was the second son, Qian Pu, two years younger than Qian Ming. The two brothers looked alike, both with square faces.
But Qian Pu seemed more ruthless. From his eyes, it was clear he had killed many people recently.
“What did Dad say?”
Qian Pu asked.
“Dad still wants to play it safe, wants us to mind our own business and wait a few more months.”
“Wait a few more months?”
Qian Pu stamped out his cigarette, looking at his father in the office with dissatisfaction.
“Little brother, don’t be so rash. I’ll find you a decent woman to blow off some steam.”
Qian Pu pushed his brother’s hand away and said in a low voice, “Big brother, you and Dad need to stop thinking about women. The world has changed. We have a lot of men, we have guns. We need to secure our territory first! First come, first served!”
“But we have to be able to defend it! If we recruit too many men, how many mouths will we have to feed? Stop thinking about fighting all the time. Look at the brothers below, they have food, drink, and women. Isn’t this a good life?”
“Big brother! Have you ever thought that if you don’t kill others, they will come and kill you? Dad’s warehouses will be discovered sooner or later.”
Qian Ming didn’t speak. His father advocated stability, his brother advocated aggression. He was caught in the middle.
Seeing his brother waver, Qian Pu whispered, “Dad likes that woman Xi Meng, right? If I bring her here, will he agree to my plan? Go and ask him.”
“This…”
“Brother, Dad is old. Old people like stability.”
Qian Ming sighed and went back into the office to ask. Qian Pu stood outside, occasionally glancing at his father with a strange look.
A few minutes later, Qian Ming came out with a grim face. Qian Pu had a bad feeling.
Suddenly, Qian Ming grinned and patted his brother’s shoulder. “Dad said, if you can really bring Xi Meng here, he’ll agree.”
