71: Ninth Master's Thoughts

In the night of Lianhua Residential Area,

Li Zhan's phone screen suddenly lit up.

He looked down at the text message, and a smile slowly spread across his lips.

"A message came through?"

A Zhen walked out of the kitchen carrying a plate of fruit.

Li Zhan tossed his phone onto the sofa and reached out to wrap his arm around her waist.

"Good news, the South City has been taken."

He stood up and walked to the balcony.

Looking at the lights of ten thousand homes in southern Chang'an in the distance, he slowly spread his arms.

The night breeze brushed against his shirt.

Months of planning had finally settled like dust at this moment.

A Zhen hugged his waist from behind, her cheek pressed against his back.

"A-Zhan, we have enough territory now..."

"Can we... stop now?"

Li Zhan's figure paused slightly, and he turned around to pull her into his arms.

He gently stroked her long hair, his fingertips intertwining with the strands.

"Once you're in the underworld..."

He didn't finish the sentence, only letting out a sigh.

He kissed A Zhen's forehead. "Go to sleep first, I'm going back to the company for a meeting."

A Zhen looked up, her eyes filled with worry.

Li Zhan lowered his head and left a kiss on her forehead. "Don't worry, it's fine."

Watching A Zhen's back as she obediently went back to the room,

An unfathomable smile appeared on his face.

The sound of the door closing softly echoed, and Li Zhan's figure merged into the night.

The descending numbers of the elevator kept flickering, reflecting his deep gaze.

Tonight, besides the meeting,

He also had a fruit of victory to harvest.

—

9:00 PM, Xinmin Street basement Gambling Den.

Li Zhan walked through the bustling main hall of the Gambling Den and arrived at his office.

When he pushed open the door, his core team had already arrived.

It seemed the takeover work tonight had been very smooth.

Sister Hua leaned lazily on the sofa,

Wisps of blue smoke rose from the lady's cigarette held between her red lips.

Seeing Li Zhan enter, she gave him a charming roll of her eyes.

"When are you going to remove the wiretap?"

"Have you become addicted to acting..."

Little Night and the others kept straight faces, but the corners of their mouths couldn't stop twitching.

*Cough, cough.*

Li Zhan gave a dry cough and walked straight to sit beside Sister Hua,

His palm naturally resting on her thigh clad in black stockings.

He looked around at everyone and clapped his hands. "Everyone did a great job tonight."

Old Zhou unscrewed a bottle of mineral water and took a gulp, a trace of a smile appearing.

"The integration of the venues here in South City will follow the old rules of the Bai family."

Li Zhan's fingertips slid gently on Sister Hua's leg.

"The original territories of the venue heads who came over will remain untouched,"

"But we must plant our own people as deputies by their side."

He looked at Shui Sheng. "I'll leave the surveillance to you."

"In the coming months, I want to know their every move."

Shui Sheng took a drag of his cigarette. "It's already been arranged."

"Three hidden moles in every venue; they will report to you once a week from now on."

Li Zhan nodded with satisfaction.

"Our territory is getting bigger and bigger now, so we need to divide the work and clarify what everyone should do."

He looked at Old Zhou.

"Old Zhou, the security company will be under your management, with Big Courage and Shui Sheng assisting."

"This time, the people from South City must also be broken up and integrated into various security squads."

"Every venue must have a security squad stationed, and a rotation must be arranged, with a change of defense once a month."

Old Zhou raised his mineral water bottle in acknowledgment.

"AZu,"

Li Zhan turned his gaze to AZu, "All Gambling Dens and money-lending businesses are handed over to you."

He narrowed his eyes, "Arrange your own people for each Gambling Den; if anything goes wrong, I'll hold you solely responsible."

AZu stood up abruptly, his face full of excitement. "Thank you for the opportunity, Brother Zhan!"

"Who else but you is a college student among us?"

"These guys are all uneducated; they can't even do basic arithmetic. We'll have to recruit more educated people in the future."

Li Zhan joked, drawing laughter from everyone.

Indeed, AZu's performance lately was obvious to all.

This young man with glasses had handled everything Li Zhan assigned to him perfectly recently,

And all kinds of accounts were settled clearly.

His ability was unquestionable; he was truly a talent.

Finally, Li Zhan looked at his two women.

"Sister Hua will manage all the night venues and massage centers under the company's name."

"Little Night will be responsible for the card rooms, Billiard Halls..."

Pausing, he swept a glance over his close subordinates,

His voice suddenly turning cold.

"You are all spokespersons of your own areas now; manage your people well."

"If there are any troublemakers..."

"Leave them to me."

Old Zhou crushed the empty water bottle, the sound of plastic bursting exceptionally crisp in the office.

"Meeting adjourned."

Li Zhan stood up, and as everyone filed out,

He suddenly added,

"By the way, AZu, bring me the documents Seventh Uncle signed tomorrow morning."

AZu nodded.

After the door closed, Sister Hua stubbed out her cigarette,

Leaned against Li Zhan's shoulder, and looked at him charmingly.

"Boss Li, when do you plan to handle our Officer Lin..."

Li Zhan put his arm around her shoulder without responding, only a smile flashing at the corner of his mouth.

—

Inside the top-floor tea room of Phoenix City,

Several antique palace lanterns emitted a dim yellow light.

The night outside was as dark as ink.

Ninth Master leaned back in his armchair, the cigar between his fingers flickering.

Amidst the swirling smoke, his narrow eyes squinted slightly, looking very much like a nocturnal fox.

"Ninth Master, about South City..."

Brother Biao stood to the side, his voice unconsciously lowered, "It's already surnamed Li."

The cigar in Ninth Master's hand paused.

He didn't even lift his eyelids, only giving a soft "Mm."

Brother Biao bowed his body, fine sweat seeping from his forehead.

"That kid Li Zhan moved too fast."

"The mercenaries Seventh Uncle hired were wiped out as soon as they arrived."

"Tonight, their people have already smoothly taken over all the venues in South City."

The kettle on the tea table suddenly let out a sharp whistle.

Ninth Master unhurriedly picked up the kettle handle.

Boiling water rushed into the Zisha teapot, the rising white mist blurring his expression.

"West Suburbs, the Wharf, South City..."

Ninth Master suddenly chuckled, "This kid probably planned it all out long ago, stringing the southern part of Chang'an together like candied haws."

"The next step should be..."

His gaze sharpened, "...me, right?"

Brother Biao's expression also became complicated.

After all, Li Zhan had started out under him.

He hadn't expected that in less than half a year, he would reach such a stage.

He was truly born for this line of work.

Ninth Master rinsed the teacups and looked up at Brother Biao.

"Once a young man's ambition is ignited, it can't be stopped."

"We should look for allies from other directions; I think everyone understands the principle of 'if the lips are gone, the teeth will be cold'."

"The side of Lianhua Mountain is probably unreliable."

Brother Biao hurriedly chimed in.

"Those mountain villagers have their own system and never interfere in underworld matters."

"Daling Mountain Town is dirt poor, there's no profit to be had..."

North of Chang'an is the Lianhua Mountain Nature Reserve, and beyond that is Daling Mountain Town in Dongguan.

Ninth Master waved his hand, and Brother Biao immediately fell silent.

He paced a couple of steps in the tea room with his hands behind his back.

Today, Bai Shaqiang from Tiger Gate in the west had someone send word, saying he would visit in a few days.

He also knew it certainly wouldn't be anything good.

The matter with Young Master Hua last time was handled too hastily.

That group of mountain villagers to the north had always kept to themselves, never having much contact with the several factions in central and southern Chang'an.

To block Li Zhan's northward expansion, he could only look toward the east of Chang'an.

Ninth Master pulled out a map from under the tea tray, his fingertip pointing toward eastern Chang'an.

"Boss Chen from Baoan, Shenzhen?"

Brother Biao's eyes lit up, "I heard the 'Chaoshan Gang' in Baoan has been looking for new ways to make money lately."

"Their boss, Chen Jinsheng, started out in smuggling..."

"Go and scout things out first."

Ninth Master suddenly crushed a tea cake in his hand, the fragments falling onto the map.

"Take two tea cakes of Lao Banzhang and say..."

"In two days, I'll invite Boss Chen for tea."

Brother Biao was about to respond when Ninth Master added another sentence.

"Be careful whenever you go out lately..."

Silence returned to the tea room.

Ninth Master stood before the floor-to-ceiling window, the smoke from his cigar swirling around him.

Outside, the neon lights of Chang'an pierced the night sky.

The blinding red light made him unconsciously squint his eyes.

Memories of twenty years ago suddenly flooded his mind—

Back then, Phoenix City had just opened, the night in Chang'an wasn't this bright, and the underworld wasn't this complicated.

"Getting old..."

He murmured to himself as the cigar ash fell silently to the floor.