"Lin Group Manor!"
"It didn't look like northern architecture at all; instead, it was completely styled like a southern Chinese garden, filled with numerous pavilions and towers."
"There were small streams, flowing water..."
"You could even see wild animals like deer and rabbits!"
"Even in winter, one could tell that this manor was extraordinary. After all, this wasn't the suburbs, but the inner city. Such a massive piece of land with architecture on this scale was simply absurd. Of course, this absurdity only applied to ordinary people; for the Lin Group, it wasn't absurd at all. Strictly speaking, a manor this large definitely didn't comply with regulations, but there were always other methods—for instance, the entire manor was registered as a corporate building: commercial land! Yet, the entire manor was used exclusively for private purposes!"
"So..."
"Everything suddenly started to make sense!"
"Neither Qin Jiang nor Si Jiu showed any particular surprise at the various architectural facilities inside the manor. This left Butler Wang Si, who had originally intended to introduce the manor to the two of them, speechless as he could only lead the way. Soon, they arrived at the reception hall inside!"
"The butler announced, "Master! Chairman Qin has arrived!""
"Old Master Lin said, "Let him in!""
"Bang!"
"The butler pushed the door open, signaling Qin Jiang to walk inside."
"Qin Jiang and Si Jiu stepped directly into the reception hall."
"They saw that the reception hall was about one hundred square meters in area, featuring a purely traditional Chinese architectural style with solid wood chairs lining both sides."
"At this moment,"
"Old Master Lin was sitting on a chair on one side, sipping tea. His expression was calm and detached; he didn't even glance at the incoming Qin Jiang and Si Jiu. He was poised and composed, exuding an imposing aura."
"Butler Wang Si pointed at the opposite chairs and said, "Chairman Qin, Chairman Wei! Please take a seat!""
"Immediately afterwards,"
"he stood behind Old Master Lin with his hands cupped in front of him!"
"Qin Jiang and Si Jiu sat opposite Old Master Lin."
"At this moment,"
"Old Master Lin still didn't raise his head to look at the two of them. Instead, sipping his tea, he said, "Coming alone into the lion's den with such guts—there aren't many young people with your kind of courage left nowadays!""
"Although he praised Qin Jiang for having guts with his words, his expression and posture made it seem as though he was a big shot while the two of them were merely ambitious youngsters—completely incomparable."
"How should I put it!"
"He was simply overflowing with pretentious arrogance!"
"He completely looked down on Qin Jiang and Si Jiu!"
"This was his territory after all! Since Qin Jiang and Si Jiu came to the manor to see him, he was naturally the big boss!"
"This was what you call using power to pressure others!"
"Yet!"
"Qin Jiang, however, glanced toward the back of the reception hall. He could sense that quite a few people were lying in ambush there: "An old bastard as afraid of death as you is quite a rare sight indeed!""
"What?!"
"Both Old Master Lin and Butler Wang Si were inwardly shocked and furious!"
"What shocked them was that Qin Jiang was actually able to discover the manpower they had ambushed in the back in advance!"
"What infuriated them was that Qin Jiang's words were simply too insulting! What did he mean by calling him an old bastard? What did he mean by being afraid of death? What kind of description was a fearful old bastard!"
"Old Master Lin arranged for these people to ambush in the back not to do anything to Qin Jiang and Si Jiu,"
"but rather to guard his own safety."
"This was strongly requested by Butler Wang Si!"
"After all:"
"As the helmsman of the Lin Group, Old Master Lin was extremely important, and his safety could not be threatened. Although under normal circumstances Qin Jiang wouldn't make a move on their territory, what if..."
"Would Old Master Lin be able to withstand it by then?"
"He definitely wouldn't be able to withstand it!"
"Although Old Master Lin was also quite a fighter when he was young, he was already over seventy years old now, and years of living in luxury had long since ruined his martial arts skills."
"And who were the two people sitting opposite him?"
"Si Jiu: The Black Dragon God of War! Famed for having invincible external qigong! His battle record was nothing short of absurd! Beating dozens of people by himself was like child's play to him. And Qin Jiang had fought countless hard battles across the north and south—"
"He was practically inhuman!"
"Qin Jiang: Although he hadn't made a move many times, every single time was earth-shattering and utterly absurd. He was a pure martial arts master, the kind of existence who could take on dozens of people single-handedly without breaking a sweat."
"Under this kind of situation:"
"Old Master Lin VS Qin Jiang and Si Jiu!"
"That was completely a 1-to-9 split!"
"Yeah!"
"Old Master Lin would be beaten to death nine times in one minute!"
"Without a single shred of suspense!"
"Therefore, just in case, Butler Wang Si selected dozens of elites to hide in the back to prevent any unexpected situations."
"In case Qin Jiang and Si Jiu really didn't play by the rules and attacked, those dozens of people would swarm them all at once."
"Even:"
"He even kept a gun in his pocket!"
"Making foolproof preparations!"
"But who would have thought that such a thing would be seen through by Qin Jiang at a single glance? How on earth did he do it? How could he know that although Qin Jiang didn't have Lin Feng's sharp intuition, living two lives had made his keenness far exceed ordinary people's, allowing him to sense the killing intent coming from that direction."
"And with a casual guess, he could arrive at the result."
"At this moment:"
"Old Master Lin's freshly mustered aura vanished completely into thin air. With someone calling him a fearful old bastard, what kind of aura could he possibly talk about?"
""Haha...""
"Old Master Lin felt no embarrassment or anger; instead, he laughed and said, "Qin Jiang! You brat... you really surprise me. To be honest, you are the most promising young man I've seen in all these years!""
"Qin Jiang said, "Is there any point in talking such nonsense? Do you still need your evaluation now? Across the entire country, who doesn't know that I am the most promising young man? Do you need to repeat it again?""
""Besides, what do you expect me to reply to you with? Should I say you're the worst old bastard I've ever seen!""
"Old Master Lin:..."
"Damn it!"
"Would you brat die if you didn't diss people? I praised you a couple of times, and you really climbed right up the pole?"
"Butler Wang Si said, "Chairman Qin! Watch your language...""
"Swish!"
"Old Master Lin stopped Butler Wang Si and said to Qin Jiang, "Being full of youthful vigor is fine! But ginger is still spicier the older it gets!""
"Qin Jiang said, "Nowadays, the rule is that fists fear the young and vigorous! Moreover, it remains unknown whether your ginger is spicy or not.""
"Old Master Lin didn't continue to trade jabs with him, realizing that he definitely wouldn't get any advantage from arguing with the other guy. After all, this brat Qin Jiang simply didn't play by the rules; even after making it big, he still spoke with complete unconcern."
"Old Master Lin said, "State the purpose of your visit today.""
"Qin Jiang said, "To cooperate with you!""
"Old Master Lin said, "Cooperation? Do you think I'd believe that? Black Dragon Group cooperating with my Lin Group...""
"Qin Jiang said, "It's not the Black Dragon Group that wants to cooperate with you, but the Nail Project Team that told me to cooperate with you!""
"He directly blurted out the name of the Nail Project Team!"
"What?!"
"Old Master Lin couldn't help but be stunned: even he knew of the existence of the Nail Project Team without knowing its exact name, after all, the confidentiality level of this project team was extremely high, and his connections only allowed him to know of its existence. Of course, he knew that Qin Jiang must be connected to the Nail Project Team, otherwise the matter with the Yaowu Group couldn't be explained. But what he couldn't understand was that Qin Jiang would actually blurt out this name directly and expose himself as representing the Nail Project Team."
"What on earth was he trying to do?"
"Was he playing Infernal Affairs?"
"Old Master Lin said, "I don't know what you are talking about.""
"Qin Jiang said, "No! You do!""
"Old Master Lin:..."