Chapter 124: The World of Desire
“Actually, in my eyes, if a real man’s life hasn’t experienced many women, his life is incomplete. I mean, when that man hasn’t lost his own direction. Take me for example. Besides Eva’s mother, I’ve had countless women, but I just happen to like that woman. Not only because she gave birth to my only daughter, but also because she took a sneak attack arrow for me. That mistake made me regret for a long time, and I could only devote myself to raising our flesh and blood. Until now, there is still no new mistress in my house. That position is forever reserved for Eva’s mother.”
After listening to this story, which was full of life philosophy, Chen Ran couldn’t help but agree in his heart. Perhaps this reason was very suitable to cover up his own absurd past. In fact, men all have a commonality. When they talk about a common shortcoming with other men of the same kind, they will take it for granted and shamelessly attribute it to nature. Obviously, Chen Ran was also this kind of person.
Leif looked up and sighed with emotion. “Actually, the purpose of opening this hotel was also very boring. When I was a gangster, I envied the rich people in this city who had a woman on each arm. I swore that one day I could have it too. It was only after I got rich that I bought this hotel and lavishly decorated it to its current state for my own enjoyment.”
Leif glanced contemptuously at the fawning girls in palace-dress attire and said to Chen Ran, “Back then, those women didn’t even deign to look at a small fry like me. Even if I used money to spread their legs, they still wouldn’t give me a good face afterwards. Just like the girls here, most of them are from Diya Academy. They are usually as proud as peacocks, but when they come here and see me now, they all fawn over me. Whenever I want to try something new, I will come here. There is never a shortage of gold-digging girls coming in, and there are even many virgins. They are very happy to be our playthings, for us to enjoy.”
Then, Leif patted Chen Ran’s shoulder and said, “For example, the leading woman just now. What do you think? Do you have any feelings?”
“In terms of seducing men, she should be very good at it,” Chen Ran answered honestly.
“Indeed, that woman is very good at serving men. There was a time when I often had her sleep with me. Her skills in bed are amazing. But not just anyone can get into her bed,” Leif said, rubbing the ring in his hand. “In this city, what you enjoy is nothing more than power and women. This is a world where materialism is supreme. For example, the Diya Academy here. The teachers seem to be good on the surface, but few decent talents have come out of it. The turnover of personnel is large, and it’s just an empty shell. It’s not even as good as those second- and third-rate cities. The girls there often come to places like ours to earn some pocket money and jewelry with their youth. The glamour you see on the outside is just on the surface. But it is precisely because of what everyone sees on the surface that this has become a pursuit. Therefore, the character of most people here is very superficial. People are always trying to climb up. This is a place that laughs at the poor but not at the prostitutes.”
Chen Ran said, “A very realistic world. This is the characteristic of Diya City.”
Leif enjoyed and possessed all of this, and said with satisfaction, “Every time I come to this place, I am always proud of what I have done over the years. But these things can’t bring back some of the things I’ve lost in the past. Jeral, from today on, I will also let you participate in the management of this place. In the future, if you have business to handle in the city, you can stay here for your convenience.”
At this, Leif smiled mysteriously. “Of course, if you want any woman, there are plenty here. Just enjoy them. I don’t deny that there are good women in the world, like Eva’s mother. But the ones here are just playthings that can be bought with money. If you group my daughter with them, don’t blame me for turning against you. But from my observation these past few days, you shouldn’t be a scoundrel like me.”
“Thank you for your praise, uncle,” Chen Ran said with a nonchalant smile. “I know what I’m doing.”
In Chen Ran’s view, he was actually not much different from people like Leif. It was just that his vision was a little higher, and his thoughts were a little more. That was all. The reason Leif belittled the women here, and even had “intimate” relationships with many of the girls here, was nothing more than to convey a message to Chen Ran: he had slept with many of the women here. Thinking of the arrogance Chen Ran had shown these past few days, he probably wouldn’t deign to touch these low-class women.
And Chen Ran didn’t want to go too deep into this topic. He went straight to the point. “Uncle, from the feeling these past few days, the situation at home is not very good. It seems you’ve run into some trouble, uncle?”
“It seems this is the real question you wanted to ask,” speaking of the situation in the city, a hint of frustration flashed on Leif’s face. “Indeed, the situation has been getting a little tense recently. It seems that a hand is interfering with the forces here in the dark. Now, nearly one-third of the forces in Diya City have been integrated, and they are putting pressure on the scattered merchants, constantly annexing and expanding. If it weren’t for the fact that the Prince’s mansion is keeping things in check on the surface, my life would be far from as easy as it is now. I have to think of some countermeasures.”
Under Leif’s guidance, the two came to a living room that was decorated with extreme luxury.
Here, the walls were all plated with gold, and the floor was covered with valuable, soft, genuine leather. It felt very good to step on, and you could even sleep on it like a bed. At the same time, all kinds of valuable antiques and decorations filled the entire room, making it more like a collection room.
The two sat down on the spacious, luxurious sofa that was worth nearly a thousand gold coins and chatted. A trusted subordinate of Leif took out a map of Diya City, on which the major forces were marked, simple and clear.
At this time, on this map, a certain force was particularly eye-catching, occupying nearly one-third of the area.
“In the past six months, this force has been unusually active. I don’t know what means they used to unite the originally scattered forces. And the ones who promoted the plan were mostly the young disciples of those families. The old guys who were in power before either fell ill or had some other small accidents. And it was the important successors of those families who almost simultaneously formed a business alliance and began to suppress other forces. Their cohesion is surprisingly high, and they completely disregard the gains and losses of a small number of people. If this continues, it’s only a matter of time before they annex me.”
Leif’s sphere of influence was mostly in the south of Diya City, while that potential alliance was the entire area to the west. Chen Ran naturally knew the reason behind all this. It was just that the people of the Dark Holy Court were secretly interfering. The reason they chose the younger generation as the main successors was that they were easier to control, and the human body would not have too many side effects. The biggest advantage was that it was more secretive and would not cause too much turmoil.
