Chapter 645 - They Came Prepared

They Came Prepared

“If I were to guess, this is my second mother-in-law?” Yang Chen asked, grinning.

Liu Qingshan had two women. One of them was Liu Mingyu’s birth mother who was his first wife, the other was the woman he met in Beijing who had supported him in his businesses, Liu Minghao’s birth mother.Yang Chen figured that she was the latter.

The woman in yellow smiled. “I heard from Qingshan that you’re not an ordinary guy. Now it seems that is indeed the case—you’re addressing me as your ‘second mother-in-law’ when we’ve only just met. Even Mingyu’s mother and I have never differentiated ourselves into first or second. How is it that you’re differentiating it on our behalf now?”

Yang Chen touched his nose, thinking,?

How would I know that you’re of equal ranking? I was even going to segregate the both of you as the legal wife and the mistress.

Liu Qingshan snorted coldly. “Save your breath. There’s really no point arguing with him. He says one thing but does another. He addresses you nicely, but when things go wayward, he doesn’t care about relationships regardless.”

Yang Chen rolled his eyes at this fellow.?

All I did was beat up a subordinate of yours. Does that warrant such denigration?

?he thought.

“Let me introduce you.” Liu Qingshan had one hand wrapped around the woman’s shoulder and another holding a cigarette. “This is Xu Ying, Minghao’s mother. Yu’er has met her before, and calls her mom as well. For now, you will refer to her as mother-in-law.”

Yang Chen took the chance to fawn on Xu Ying and said, “Oh Mother-In-Law, what a waste it is for you to have married this man. He is practically an old cow grazing on young and tender grass!”

Xu Ying laughed heartily at his words. Liu Qingshan on the other hand, wanted to retaliate. But by doing so he would inevitably be calling Xu Ying old. So all he could do was glare at Yang Chen.

“Do you know why I asked you here today?” Liu Qingshan finally said after a short exchange.

Yang Chen rolled his eyes. “You are the one who called me here. Why are you asking me this question?”

Liu Qingshan’s lips twitched slightly, but didn’t want to beat about the bush. “You know that Minghao is my only son. After all these few years of striving in my business, I need a successor. But Minghao is still young and inexperienced. Even if he shows promise, it’s impossible for him to manage the business all at once.

“And I’m no longer young. I had intended to expand my business after forming an alliance with Red Thorns Society when I went back to Zhonghai previously. However, I realized that it won’t be easy to keep that snake under control. I’m planning on leaving these matters for Minghao to deal with in the future.”

Yang Chen understood the meaning behind Liu Qingshan’s words. It would appear that he, too, knew there was very little chance of him reigning control over the whole of China. Not mentioning that there were hidden forces in other provinces. The nation wouldn’t allow them—the Green Dragon Society—to be the only ones in power. Besides, there was still the Red Thorns Society in Zhonghai who reigned supreme in the south.

Therefore, all Liu Qingshan could do right now was pave the road for Liu Minghao.

“Although you’re not from the underworld, you are also not just an ordinary man. At least, President Rose listens to you. As for how Minghao can perform in the future, I’ll have to enlist your help. I believe since you are already courting my daughter, you would be willing to lend a hand.”

“Coincidentally, our gang—the Green Dragon Society—is having an elders’ meeting today. All the important figures will be there. My plan is to bring you along to meet the important figures in our gang while you’re in Beijing. That way, everyone will get to know one another. I hope that after I retire and pass the reins to Minghao, you would still be there to guide him.”

Yang Chen was caught in a dilemma.?

So, he wants me to protect that brother-in-law of mine. Not mentioning the incident where Liu Minghao caused Zhenxiu to be bullied by those young gangster girls. Also, Green Dragon Society is based in Beijing. Does he expect me to visit this place every now and then?

However, Liu Qingshan’s arrangements, to a great extent, are not for my sake. He probably thinks that I’m the true master of the Red Thorns Society. And with that, I probably hold a significant amount of power that could aid Liu Minghao in frightening those fellows in Green Dragon Society who hold the actual powers.

Xu Ying gave out a sorrowful look and sighed, saying, “Qingshan, Minghao is still young. Are you really so cruel involving him in the gang even though he’s still so young?”

“He is my son. Since he doesn’t want to attend school, this is the only route left for him.” Liu Qingshan disregarded Yang Chen’s presence and grabbed Xu Ying’s hand, saying, “Once I retire, you should do the same. You’ve been following me everywhere throughout all these years of hard work. I know it hasn’t been easy for you either. We should spend the remaining half of our lives together.”

Xu Ying smiled bitterly. She gave up trying to persuade him.

Listening to this entire conversation from aside, Yang Chen felt that although Liu Qingshan’s behaviors weren’t all that commendable, at least his concerns for his children were genuine. But he also asked curiously, “Does Second Mother-In-Law also hold a position in the gang?”

Xu Ying smiled. “At first, I owned a bar in Beijing. But I later gave up that life to pursue this one after I met Qingshan. Your father-in-law and I were the ones who established the foundations of Green Dragon Society. After that, I have mainly been in charge of internal affairs and logistics. I can be considered as a hall master.”

Yang Chen nodded his head while thinking,?

No wonder that fellow Liu Minghao is so restless. It might be because his mother isn’t just an ordinary woman.

It took nearly an hour’s drive before they finally arrived at their destination. It was a holiday resort with a garden-style design. One could easily tell who it belonged to from the name—Green Dragon International Holiday Resort.

They drove all the way into the center strip of the holiday resort, where a three-storey Baroque style bungalow stood beside a manmade lake.

A few staff greeted them, and Yang Chen tailed Liu Qingshan and Xu Ying as they walked slowly into the main hall of the building.

Upon entering, he noticed that the building consisted of both banquet hall and meeting hall in one place. There were already a number of men in suits and women in stunning outfits waiting in the banquet hall.

It was more accurate to describe them as a big company that was doing business in the underworld than an underworld gang.

When Liu Qingshan and Xu Ying entered the hall, everyone would come forward to greet them. Most of them showed a mixed look of respect and fear towards Liu Qingshan. After all, he was the one who had single-handedly established Green Dragon Society.

On the other hand, when everyone rested their gazes on Yang Chen, they were slightly baffled. But since he came with Liu Qingshan, no one dared to question.

Since Liu Qingshan had arrived, the elders’ meeting of Green Dragon Society could officially commence the meeting. They were prepared for a meeting that would last for an entire day.

They all sat down around an enormous oval meeting table. Liu Qingshan was seated in the main seat, whereas Xu Ying, who was the president’s wife as well as one of the hall masters, sat to his left. Evidently, she was the second in command. A position much higher than Yang Chen assumed her to be.

Yang Chen was mulling over where to sit when a man approached him, saying neutrally, “You can take the seat behind the president.”

The voice sounded familiar to Yang Chen. He lifted his head and was slightly startled. Wasn’t this man with tender, fair skin standing before his eyes the very person whom he had beaten up and sent into the police station back then—Gao Yue?

By right, this Gao Yue should be serving sentence in prison right now. How did he escape to Beijing? Given Cai Yan’s personality, she wasn’t one to easily release criminals she caught!

At this moment, Liu Qingshan turned around and spoke to Yang Chen in a solemn voice, “I was the one who ensures Gao Yue’s release from prison. Regardless of your past feuds with him, he is still my right-hand man. Since you’ve already taught him a lesson before, don’t hold on to it anymore and just let it go. Everyone, please sit. We’re starting the meeting.”

Yang Chen furrowed his brows. He didn’t expect that Liu Qingshan would still come up with a way to release Gao Yue. He wasn’t particularly concerned over the likes of Gao Yue, but that odd behavior of Gao Yue obviously revealed his enmity towards Yang Chen.

Xu Ying shot a glance at Gao Yue, then at Yang Chen. She had a complicated look in her eyes, but said nothing.

After a while, Liu Qingshan signaled for everyone to settle down. With a serious face, he started his speech. “In today’s elders’ meeting, there are a few important matters that I would like to discuss. I believe that everyone had been notified about it before this meeting was called. But before moving on to the important matters, I would like to introduce to you a young man.”

Liu Qingshan turned around and pointed at Yang Chen, signaling for him to stand up. He then said, “This is Yang Chen. He’s my son-in-law. Many of you have probably heard of his name. That’s right, he can be said to have deep connections to Red Thorns Society in Zhonghai.”

With that, all the hall masters and heads in the hall started whispering to one another, shooting weird stares at Yang Chen. Being the higher ranking people in the society gave them access to information not readily available for the public. Obviously, they never expected that the rumored mastermind behind Red Thorns Society would be such an ordinary young man.

Yang Chen felt rather awkward. He found that he was being stared at as though he was an animal. He stood up for a short while then quickly sat down again.

After his introduction, Liu Qingshan continued, “The reason why I let Yang Chan participate in today’s meeting is because he will also be involved in what I am about to announce.”

At this point, Liu Qingshan paused his words for a while deliberately. He scanned at everyone in the hall with his eyes, ensuring that they were all paying attention, before resuming, “During my previous trip to Zhonghai in an effort to expand our territory in the south, I realized that I’ve been fighting on this route for nearly thirty years now. I am no longer the young man I used to be. And many young people out there are more resilient that I anticipated.”

“Hence, I have decided that after this elders’ meeting, I will officially transfer my authorities to my son, Liu Minghao.”

The crowd clamored upon hearing these words of his. A few hall masters who were nearer to him hurriedly offered their words of advice. “President, we have been carefully observing Minghao’s growth. He indeed has what it takes to continue on this route. But he is still very young—he’s still a child—how is he to assume the duties of a president?!”

Liu Qingshan said, “Of course I won’t make Minghao the president immediately. I will still be there to guide him as often as possible. Besides, he has your support. As for the safety of our gang after my retirement, I intend to let our ally, Red Thorns Society, provide us with assistance. This is also why I let Yang Chen participate in our meeting today.

“Yang Chen is my son-in-law, and also Minghao’s brother-in-law. He is one of our own. Which means, Red Thorns Society will definitely stand on our side. Even if I retire, I believe no other squad would dare to challenge us Green Dragon Society and Red Thorns Society both at once.”

Yang Chen who was sitting behind him pursed his lips, thinking,?

This father-in-law is an expert at spouting nonsense. I haven’t even gotten a chance to get my word in, but he has already spoken on my behalf. Besides, what era are we in now? He’s not even displaying any signs of democracy, and yet he is appointing his own son as the upcoming president? His methods of operating are inappropriate and inconsiderate to say the least.

Indeed, after a short uproar from the crowd, an elder man with grey-white hair raised his hand and inserted his opinion. “President, in my opinion, appointing Minghao as the president is not an appropriate action.”

Liu Qingshan didn’t expect anyone to sound out against him publicly. His gaze became colder, and he shot a glare at the man. Smiling, he said, “Uncle Zhang, you’re considered my senior. If there’s anything on your mind, please share it openly.”

The old man who was addressed as Uncle Zhang took a breath before he said, “I believe that the role of president should be given to the person who can win over the people with virtue. Although Minghao has potential, he hasn’t yet reached a stage where we are comfortable with giving him the position. There’s no guarantee that he will stand the test of time. Us older fellows don’t have that much time left to nurture a newbie. Thus, I, Old Zhang, think that this is inappropriate.”

“Uncle Zhang, back then when I first came to Beijing, I was but an ignorant young boy as well. But I have single-handedly made Green Dragon Society rule the entirety of Beijing. Some individuals’ growth far surpasses the speed of others. I believe Uncle Zhang you are also able to attest to this,” Liu Qingshan said expressionlessly.

Unexpectedly, Liu Qingshan had just finished his words when a woman in red who was slightly younger started chuckling and said, “President, you are our gang’s hero. We are well aware of that. But that child Minghao is still immature to say the least. I’ve heard that all he has done in Zhonghai is lead a few hooligans getting into small fights. Compared to you, he is nowhere near ready enough.”

“That’s right, President.” A middle-aged man with a boss-like hairstyle smiled coldly, “Any one of us hall masters seated here are far more capable than an ignorant young boy. Why then are you not taking anyone of us into consideration?”

Liu Qingshan’s face turned grim. He felt as though this going south very quickly. He had originally thought that given his reputation, everyone would at least agree to it on the surface, despite actually being against the idea.

If that happened, then even if they tried to do something behind the scenes, he would be able to stabilize the situation by just punishing a few of them on behalf of Liu Minghao.

Little did he expect that the current situation would happen—so many of them were about to fall out with him openly!

Yang Chen, who was still seated behind him, let out a yawn. He wasn’t oblivious to the tense atmosphere in the meeting room. But apart from finding it slightly interesting, he had no other thoughts. At the end of the day, it wasn’t his duty to care about who became president of their society. He was only here for Liu Mingyu’s sake.

At this moment, Liu Qingshan was so enraged that he broke into laughter instead. He pounded his fist on the table and said, “Alright, alright! Seems like you’ve all come prepared. We’ve all been working together for such long years, and we’re well aware of each other’s capabilities. In that case, I would like to know, who do you all think is more suitable to take my place as the president?”