Chapter 100: Undiminished Ambition

"So this means you don't mind me cursing you out again?"

Chai Jin's voice wasn't loud, and his expression didn't show the slightest hint of confrontation.

But every word cut to the bone—provocative, dripping with contempt.

Boss Mo slapped the table. "So you don't want to continue this discussion?"

Chai Jin shook his head, taking a sip of tea as if it were nothing.

"There's three hundred thousand in the car outside that I brought with me."

"I did the math. You trashed my company, and Fang Yi owes you a few hundred thousand. Back and forth, I should be giving you three hundred thousand."

"The car door's unlocked. If you think this settles things, have your lackey take the money and leave."

"If you don't think that's enough, we can always set up another meeting elsewhere."

This time, Boss Mo really had trouble controlling his temper.

Being completely ignored from start to finish by some eighteen-or-nineteen-year-old kid sat terribly wrong with him.

One question—who the hell do you think you are to put on airs in front of me?

His rage turned to laughter: "The waves behind drive the waves ahead. Young people these days are certainly something."

Chai Jin smiled and replied, "Isn't Boss Mo himself a wave behind, thinking you've washed Old Master Long onto the beach—and that's why you're so arrogant?"

"Right back at you."

"Also, I haven't been in Shenzhen long, but I know this place has all kinds of people—and a whole bunch of desperados who care only about money and nothing else."

"Between you and me, if my budget really has to cost a million to settle this, so be it."

"But I won't put that two million on a table. I have no problem tossing that two million to those desperados and letting them chase their dreams of becoming millionaires. You get what I mean?"

It was only at this moment that Boss Mo finally understood—this young man in front of him hadn't come here today with the slightest intention of backing down.

The message was clear: I'm here to talk business, but the upper hand stays with me.

He took off his sunglasses, his eyes sharp as blades: "Are you threatening me?"

"He is threatening you." Old Master Long answered from the side, adding, "And he has both the means and the backing to do it."

"Long Ye, do you have to stick your nose into this?" Boss Mo clenched his fist.

Old Master Long picked up his teacup: "Young people these days love to tell me hypocritically that my blade still holds its edge."

"But in reality? As time passes, no one remembers the hot-blooded stories of the older generation."

"So if I have to grind the rust off my blade and let its gleam sting the eyes of the young, that's fine by me."

"Hahaha!" Boss Mo saw that Old Master Long was dead set on seeing this through to the end.

He laughed wildly and arrogantly.

Then he shot up from his seat, pointed at Chai Jin, and said, "Long Ye, you can't protect him."

With a grand wave of his hand, he led all his men noisily out of the restaurant.

Clearly, the smoke of war was about to rise.

The moment they left, Zhang Yinglong cast a sharp, piercing glance at Chai Jin with his old eyes.

Clearly, he was impressed by what Chai Jin had just said.

If an ordinary young man had said those things to Boss Mo, Zhang Yinglong would have thought him too green, too reckless.

But this youth was someone introduced by his old brother, Zhang Ye of Zhonghai!

Didn't he know the kind of man his old brother was?

That old fox from Zhonghai had more pride in his heart than anyone. If he was willing to send this young man over, then this youth was no ordinary person.

So far from thinking Chai Jin's words rash, he felt the young man had brought him considerable pride.

He crooked a finger toward the side.

The yellow-haired Ahu immediately handed over the brick cell phone.

Chai Jin and the others thought the old man was going to call in his people.

Instead, he used the phone's antenna to pick at his nostril, then set it down on the table and said, "It can't be avoided now. Ahu, get in touch with our brothers below."

"There's going to be a knife fight soon, I'd guess."

Ahu nodded, but Chai Jin quickly cut in: "Long Ye, resolving this doesn't have to mean a knife fight."

"The times are different. Let's put away that old-school way of handling things."

"Let's drown him by another means. He's a smuggler, isn't he? Let's see how good his swimming really is."

"Oh?" Old Master Long looked at Chai Jin curiously. "Young Chai, have you already figured out the solution in your head?"

Chai Jin held his teacup, taking a sip with a smile. "I actually came here today just to see what kind of man he is."

"Seeing how arrogant he is, I'm finally relieved."

"I'm the kind of person who's naturally fond of taking down the insufferably arrogant."

Then Chai Jin began to explain.

It wasn't actually all that mysterious—simply crushing Boss Mo from the front.

Could a knife fight solve anything?

Not only would it not solve anything, the whole thing would only blow up bigger.

Shenzhen wasn't the obscure little fishing village nobody paid attention to back in the sixties and seventies.

This was a Special Economic Zone. Pull that kind of stunt, and you wouldn't even know how you died.

Besides, Chai Jin would never touch the underworld.

Since that method was out, the solution was simple enough.

Old Master Long was also a man of the streets—he knew street matters better than anyone.

How did Boss Mo get his start?

Smuggling. With his scale of operations, if it got exposed, it would be more than enough to destroy him.

Chai Jin's plan was to use Old Master Long's connections on the street to gather evidence, then hand it straight up the chain.

When that happened, Boss Mo would be ripped up by the roots, finished for good.

Old Master Long sat in silence, listening.

As he listened, he finally let out a deep breath. "Maybe, as you say, the times really have changed."

"If we can't adapt to the way you young people handle things, I'm afraid we really won't know how we died."

"Little Mo not taking your three hundred thousand today was the biggest mistake of his life."

Chai Jin smiled and raised his teacup. "With tea in place of wine, I toast you."

Old Master Long laughed heartily. "Good, I accept this toast."

"Come, pick up your chopsticks. This place's pork belly and chicken stew is the real deal!"

"We come here for meals whenever we need to settle matters, big or small."

Chai Jin smiled slightly. "Thank you, Long Ye."

...

After Boss Mo left the restaurant, he was already at the edge of losing it.

But at the same time, he was deeply puzzled about what kind of rich second-generation this kid was.

At the time, Shenzhen's wealth wave had swept across the whole country.

Many scions from various provinces had come here to develop and dig for gold—even plenty of princelings from the capital had shown up.

What if this kid who'd made him look like a fool was also some big shot's son?

Where else would his arrogant confidence and backing come from?

And why was that old bastard Zhang Yinglong giving him so much face?

Once he thought through that angle, Boss Mo's mind quickly cooled down.

After returning, he mobilized every connection he had to investigate Chai Jin's background.

He wanted to know just who the hell this little firecracker of a kid was.

It wasn't until after ten o'clock that night, at his villa in Shenzhen.

The brick cell phone on the coffee table rang.

He picked it up lazily, held it to his ear, and said directly, "Talk. Where's he from, and what does his family do?"