Chapter Ninety-Four: Threat

There were over fifty people in the banquet hall at that moment. Hearing the arrogant and overbearing voice, everyone turned their heads to look.

They saw a man wearing a white printed t-shirt walking in haughtily, surrounded by a few followers. The remark that had just been spoken came from this man, while his companions looked around at the crowd with amusement, as if watching a spectacle.

When the crowd recognized the people accompanying him, the expressions of several shifted dramatically, and some even let out gasps of surprise. The atmosphere instantly became somewhat noisy and stirred up.

Zhou Xuan and his group also stood up, though they did not step forward. Instead, they remained standing quietly behind the crowd, watching the newcomers with cool detachment. Meanwhile, Deng Ting'an and the others inside had already heard the commotion and walked over.

"Those people standing next to him are the presidents of several other large real estate groups in the province. But do you have any idea who this arrogant fellow is?" Deng Cheng asked, looking at the man with a puzzled expression, wondering who was trying to undermine his father.

Seeing this person, it was obvious he had come to crash the party today, which naturally infuriated Deng Cheng. However, he also knew that since the man was accompanied by the heads of several major real estate corporations in the province, he was certainly someone beyond his ability to handle. He could only hope that his father would be able to suppress the man's arrogant momentum; otherwise, the cocktail party hosted by his father would become the laughingstock of the town.

Jiang Yun glanced at Zhou Xuan, recalling Zhou Xuan's prediction from two days ago. It had been spot on.

"That is Xue Ling."

"What! He is Xue Ling from the Xue family?" Deng Cheng's heart gave a jolt, and he let out a low gasp, filled with deep apprehension.

Unwilling as he was to admit it, Deng Cheng knew very well that both he and his father were mere merchants. In terms of status and wealth, they fell far, far short of the man standing opposite them. Furthermore, that man's father was a towering regional official holding supreme provincial authority—there were only a few dozen such positions in the entire nation of China.

Thinking of Wang Ximing and Jiang Yun beside him, Deng Cheng's anxiety subsided by a large margin. That was right; although his own Blue Sky Group was no match for them, Jiang Yun and Secretary Yu would certainly not allow Xue Ling to get his way.

Wang Ximing nodded and said, "That's right, he is Secretary Xue's son, Xue Ling. However, everyone must not be deceived by his outward appearance. This man's depth and tactical mind are not to be underestimated in the slightest."

Zhou Xuan said, "Uncle Deng and the others are coming over."

After Zhou Xuan finished speaking, Deng Ting'an and several other bosses were seen stepping out from the crowd and walking to the front, stopping a mere two meters away from Xue Ling and his associates.

"Ha, Young Master Xue, welcome! Deng has truly failed to greet you from afar." Although he despised Xue Ling for leveraging the Xue family's power to extort money everywhere, as the foremost scion of the province, Deng Ting'an remained extremely courteous in his speech.

What if Xue Ling and his Dongling Real Estate were a powerful dragon crossing the river?
What if he had just used aggressive and sharp words to squeeze him out?

Deng Ting'an still greeted him with a smiling face. One had to admit that those who succeeded in business were all seasoned old foxes and smiling tigers.

Xue Ling narrowed his eyes, but one of the men beside him spoke up instead, "President Deng, long time no see! Ever since that meeting in the imperial capital a couple of years ago, we haven't seen each other for quite a while. How have you been lately?"

"I didn't expect Meng Qi to have come as well?" Jiang Yun continued. "He truly is a lackey; wherever his master goes, he follows."

"Ha, the general manager of Dongling Real Estate. Looking at his bald head, I really think it's a huge waste that he didn't become a Buddhist monk," Zhou Xuan remarked.

Meng Qi, the general manager of Dongling Real Estate, sported a clean-shaven bald head while wearing a western suit and a necktie. From afar, his shiny bald head caught the light and gleamed brilliantly, making it quite an eye-catching sight.

Jiang Yun also nodded and said, "He is certainly a man who walks his own path. Among all the real estate presidents in the country, he's the only bald one. Accompanying Xue Ling here this time, and even rallying several provincial real estate bosses, it seems they are dead set on getting their hands on the assets of Tengfei Group."

"With that person nodding and giving a greeting to secure them some loans for real estate development, there's absolutely no problem at all. It's no big deal if those few people lean toward them. What's worrisome is that if the local bosses here see Xue Ling making a personal appearance today, they might go back on whatever was just discussed a moment ago. That would spell trouble," Wang Ximing said, looking at the presidents standing next to Deng Ting'an with a trace of uncertainty.

Zhou Xuan noticed that the expressions of those few executives had become rather strained. Clearly, they had recognized the identities of Xue Ling and Meng Qi standing across from them, and as a result, they were beginning to doubt the strength of Deng Ting'an's side, leaving them hesitant and undecided.

At that moment, Deng Ting'an let out a hearty laugh. "Old Meng, how could I not be doing well? A while ago, Tengfei Group marched into Rongcheng, attempting to knock my Blue Sky Group off its pedestal. Little did they know that greed swallows an elephant, and in the end, they ruined themselves instead. Ah, what a pity."

Changing the subject abruptly, he continued, "On the other hand, your Dongling Real Estate expanded into the Northeast recently, and things haven't been going too smoothly in Lianhai, have they? In my opinion, when it comes to real estate, it's always better to take steady and solid steps. Sometimes, taking strides that are too large isn't necessarily a good thing."

Hearing this, Meng Qi's expression shifted slightly. "You don't need to trouble yourself with that. A minor setback is of no great consequence to our Dongling. But speaking of recently, your Blue Sky was actually beaten black and blue by Tengfei Group, a mere small company, and lost several plots of land. If Tengfei hadn't suddenly collapsed, you lot would probably be struggling to keep the pot boiling by now."

"Heh, previously I was letting them have their way and chose not to haggle over every little thing with them. But now it seems that resorting to underhanded and crooked paths will ultimately bring about one's own destruction. Don't you agree, Old Meng?" Deng Ting'an's remark was quite venomous, instantly striking at the very core of how Dongling Real Estate had made its fortune.

Everyone heard the words clearly. The implication was that if Dongling continued to operate in such a manner, sooner or later it would follow in the footsteps of Tengfei Group.

"Ha, I never expected Uncle Deng's tongue to be so sharp. I've truly witnessed it today." Seeing the two men trading barbs, Zhou Xuan mentally awarded Deng Ting'an thirty-two thumbs up.

"Right, exactly! Underhanded tricks must not be tolerated. However, everyone knows full well why President Deng invited so many peers to a banquet today. As for Dongling, hearing that Tengfei Group left behind a mountain of messy troubles, we also wanted to help the province solve its difficulties. That is why we traveled from afar, hoping to contribute to the construction of Rongcheng. Surely, President Deng won't be unwelcoming, right?" Meng Qi smiled broadly as he steered the conversation away, while also insinuating that Deng Ting'an's banquet for industry peers was the real underhanded trick.

As soon as Meng Qi finished speaking, Xue Ling chimed in, remarking in an offhand manner, "I heard that your planning proposal for Star-Moon Lake has been submitted for half a month now. Has it really not been approved yet?"

"Since when has Young Master Xue become so well-informed about our company's affairs? But planning always requires revisions and tweaks, and taking a year or half a year is quite normal. There's no need for you to trouble yourself over it." Deng Ting'an felt a wave of speechlessness; it turned out that the reason the Star-Moon Lake planning proposal had been blocked was because Xue Ling was pulling strings behind the scenes.

"That's true as well. I also feel that doing real estate is better done step by step and steadily. President Deng should focus well on getting the planning for Star-Moon Lake right. Really, taking strides that are too wide is not a good idea."

Xue Ling's seemingly casual remarks brought two specific words to everyone's mind:

"Threat."