Chapter 7: Journey to the Eastern City

  "Can you get me a chart of the average monthly price of land transfers in Guangzhou from 2008 to now?" Wu Lun said, looking up at his female secretary.

  It wasn't difficult for the female secretary, and soon Wu Lun got the chart and the answer came out. Li Pei took over the Guangcheng Garden City project in October 2008, when the land price in Guangcheng had plummeted to its lowest point. Now, a year and a half later, the land price has reached a historic high, having risen by nearly one and a half times compared to the original price. The Guangcheng Garden project is now nearing completion, and considering the sale of commercial housing, the profit will be even higher.

  However, Wu Lun had new doubts. According to the contract, the loan of 600 million yuan was for one year, and Li Pei should have repaid the money half a year ago. But Guangteng Industrial seemed to have no intention of pursuing debt repayment until just before the launch of Guangcheng Garden, when they suddenly made things difficult. Was it to give Li Pei a sudden shock, making him unable to raise funds to repay the loan? It didn't seem like it. If that were the case, Rongxing would have no reason to avoid it, as long as he repaid Guangteng's loan and released 60% of the mortgage, Li Pei should have had a stable debt repayment ability.

  In the blink of an eye, Wu Lun had finished flipping through the documents in his hand. The female secretary was shocked to hear him say, "Why isn't there an asset appraisal report for the two companies that were mortgaged along with 60% of the shares?"

  "None? I have these here, wait a minute, I'll go ask the chairman." The female secretary said and quickly walked away.

  The female secretary did not appear, and it was Lü Chóng who returned, looking at Wu Lún with a seemingly smiling yet not quite smiling expression. "I heard you want the information on Yī Shēng and Héng Hào?"

  Wu Lun nodded, but didn't say a word. Lü Chóng gazed at Wu Lun with narrowed eyes for a while, then sighed and said, "You're not wrong, these two companies are shell companies, Li Pei quietly dissolved them shortly after signing the contract."

  Wu Lun's eyebrows furrowed, guessing? But he didn't say anything.

  What's going on? Wu Lun quickly dispelled this idea, knowing that it would fall into Lü Chóng's "trap". The feeling of being probed by others was not good. Fortunately, such a situation did not last long. Li Péi followed closely behind, smiling and saying, "I've booked a private room in the East City, let's go there for dinner, no objections, right?"

  Lv Zhong was taken aback for a moment, then smiled knowingly. "I have no objection, but it's going to take almost an hour, Wu Lun, can you hold on?"

  At noon, Wu Lun was eating the little snacks on the plane and he was so hungry that his stomach was sticking to his back. But he found it strange that they had to go all the way to Dongcheng for a meal. The road was far, not to mention that in his mind Guangzhou was the provincial capital and even more prosperous. What could he say? He wasn't someone who would starve to death after just one hour of not eating. "I'm fine."

  Li Pei looked at Wu Lun with a thicker silly smile, "You can rest assured to let me order the dishes, I guarantee that as soon as people arrive, the dishes will be served directly."

  Lü Chóng said something casual, but then asked Wu Lún's opinion. By now, even if Wu Lún was stupid, he knew that Lü Chóng was trying to flatter him. Wu Lún tried to brush it off casually, but Li Péi seriously asked Wu Lún about eating Cantonese dishes, Hangzhou dishes, and Hakka dishes? Then she rattled off a string of unfamiliar yet familiar dish names. Wu Lún gave a perfunctory response, and after clearing his ears, he glanced at the rearview mirror to see Li Péi smiling slyly at Lü Chóng.

  Wu Lun soon understood the reason for coming to Dongcheng, this was the best meal he had ever had in the country, not only because of its novelty, but also because the same dishes tasted better here. When everyone walked out, it was already dark, Wu Lun saw that the food street near here without luxury commercial districts and residential buildings was particularly lively, all kinds of cars filled the streets, through the glass windows can be seen that every household was crowded with diners.

  "It's like this every day, mostly from Guangzhou and Shenzhen, and many from Hong Kong." Li Pei explained, seeing Wu Lun keep looking outside the car.

  "The dish is indeed good."

  Li Pei's smile revealed a hint of playfulness, "The dishes are not bad." After finishing speaking, he didn't see any reaction from Wu Lun. Li Pei patted Wu Lun's shoulder with a laugh, "You haven't heard of Dong Cheng's 'Prosperous Brothel'?" The emphasis was on the word "brothel", Wu Lun pretended not to hear clearly, and Li Pei burst out laughing, "I really suspect you......"

  Lü Zhòng didn't let Li Péi finish speaking, "Wú Lún just returned from America, how could you possibly know?"

  Li Pei smiled and said, "Don't worry, don't worry, you'll understand soon enough. Nothing beats personal experience."

  The car had arrived at another street lined with bright lights, and finally stopped in front of a nightclub. Through the lobby, you could see the wide curved staircase leading to the second floor, along which stood a row of ladies wearing purple silk vacuum dresses, with white waist cards on their waists. Li Pei let the greeter follow behind, and himself familiarly came to the private room. Before long, two rows of women wearing gold three-piece suits and fiery red vacuum silk long dresses entered in an orderly manner, making the originally spacious private room crowded beyond recognition. Without distinction, they also had the same waist cards on their waists. Wu Lun was not stupid, and he understood that in this nightclub, all the women were identified by waist cards, becoming coded commodities.

  Li Pei still smiled foolishly, "Do you want to stay?"

  Wu Lun slightly shook his head, he finally understood that the smile on this person's face was just a shell that had been polished for a long time, and there was no soul behind it.

  Wu Lun's calm expression was somewhat piercing, and suddenly made everyone feel awkward. Li Pei burst out laughing and scolded his driver, "Hurry up, let's go outside to have some fun, or you can just stay in the car."

  The driver took away a tall and slender woman, and the remaining women suddenly dispersed. At this time, a woman in her thirties with a full smile walked in. Wu Lun noticed that she didn't have a name tag on her body. Li Pei looked down on the women from earlier, but the woman in front of him, although full of feminine charm, was obviously older. People like them were good at taking care of themselves, so if they looked to be in their thirties, their actual age would be even greater. Could she be a cougar? Wu Lun smiled and thought it was interesting.

  Mom sat on Li Pei's leg and fidgeted for a while, whispered a few words and left, then it was just waiting...

  The door was gently pushed open, and a woman walked in, casually taking off her red coat to reveal a black blouse with lace trim and a gathered waist that accentuated her slender figure. Her satin black skirt fell just above the knee, showcasing her smooth, unblemished long legs and shiny high heels. She tilted her head, letting her hair down, and her shoulder-length locks cascaded down. She raised an eyebrow, scanning the crowd with a cold, elegant face that cracked into a faint smile, like a fissure. She was every inch the epitome of a seductive white-collar beauty, especially with the depth in her eyes that was far beyond what any carefree or struggling woman could possess. What made her so captivating?

  Li Pei's eyes were dazed, Lü Chóng was also stunned, Wu Lun thought he was sober, but he was also puzzled. However, everything had not ended yet. When the smiling Mimi came back with the three red cards she mentioned, she saw that the woman who had already appeared in front of her was shocked. At this moment, the three red cards with beautiful faces and seductive figures, carrying a model-like arrogance, were also dimmed. Just like they used to look down on those cheap women, the woman in front of them could also be looked down upon.

  Wu Lun quickly ruled out that the woman was a model, but a decent woman should not be able to understand the rules of this circle, nor should she be able to get along with three red cards, smiling continuously, let alone facing Li Pei who was full of desire with ease. But the woman in front of him did it, and this contradiction made her particularly different from others.

  Li Pei was enjoying himself, drinking with the women, while Lv Zhong was quiet and didn't say much. They drank without caring about winning or losing, and had already forgotten about Wu Lun. Wu Lun had become a forgotten corner, and it was his own doing. A woman wearing a red cheongsam dress presented herself in front of him, enough to tempt anyone, but Wu Lun was too calm and collected, beyond the realm of normal men. Li Pei sneered at himself, feeling dirty and unbearable, decided to leave first, perhaps this was just self-consolation. The seductive woman didn't even glance at him from start to finish, Wu Lun wasn't even a side dish, the woman was the core, with enough aura to make Wu Lun feel out of place. Lv Zhong didn't force it, handed the car keys to Wu Lun and told him to go back to the car first, this was the treatment of a driver.

  Lü Chóng and Lǐ Péi returned without a woman, but instead carried a drunken man.

  "Wu Lun, the driver isn't coming, you come and drive. By the way, you just returned to China, have you applied for a driver's license?" Lü Chóng asked.

  Wu Lun shrugged and sat in the driver's seat, "Has a driver's license", the guy who helped him get his Chinese ID provided full service.

  Li Pei pushed the person into the back seat, and only then did he regain a bit of clarity. He looked around at the cramped space and shouted, "This is kidnapping! Where's Yuanyuan? She can't treat me like this! Despicable! You actually used her to trick me! You're taking advantage of a woman! How shameless!"

  Lv Zhong and Li Peili didn't care, they just sandwiched him in the middle, as if afraid he would run away. The man shouted but soon resigned himself to his fate, throwing his head back and falling asleep.

  "I said how did the garden come over, it turned out that you arranged it, or you have a way." Li Pei smiled.

  "I won't do it!" Lü Chóng's face sank.

  Li Pei laughed, "It's not you, then it must be Cui Zimin. You're a foolish man. Women, sometimes letting them help themselves and making them feel valuable will give them a sense of security. Understanding women's thoughts, you're not as good as him."

  Lü Zhōng's face was expressionless, and he didn't respond.

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