"Why did it take so long to open the door?" Li Yun asked suspiciously, her gaze sweeping over Zhang Guodong and Xiang Chunyan as if trying to find some evidence.

When Zhang Guodong saw it was Li Yun, he was immediately speechless with bitterness. Li Yun had interrupted his good time, making him seethe with resentment. But how could he be resentful? He was the one who invited Li Yun to eat here! He had brought it upon himself.

After Zhang Guodong left, Li Yun felt increasingly uneasy about the idea of ​​a lone man and woman being together. She worried that if Zhang Guodong and Xiang Chunyan got together, something might happen... So Li Yun quickly left Da Hei and the others behind and took a taxi over. She arrived just as Zhang Guodong was starting to get intimate with Xiang Chunyan, who was aroused and incredibly tempting.

Li Yun frowned, trying to discern something from Zhang Guodong's face, but Zhang Guodong's expression remained indifferent. Xiang Chunyan, on the other hand, had a flushed face that hadn't yet faded, yet she looked somewhat sickly.

"Li Yun, come in quickly. It's just you two and Lin Yue who came to see me today!" Xiang Chunyan was an experienced woman with a sharp mind. She warmly took Li Yun's hand and walked side by side like sisters, as if Zhang Guodong didn't exist.

"A young couple?" Li Yun's attention was immediately diverted, and her face flushed red. She muttered, "Sister Xiang, you're talking nonsense again! Who's a couple with him? Even if he paid me, I wouldn't want him!"

Zhang Guodong shrugged speechlessly. His relationship with Li Yun was becoming a complete mess. They were like lovers, but not quite; they'd never even held hands. And Zhang Guodong had never taken the initiative, living in a state of blissful ignorance.

Xiang Chunyan, being a person from the officialdom, was best able to grasp the thoughts of a young girl like Li Yun.

With Li Yun joining them, Zhang Guodong, no matter how depressed he was earlier, had to pull himself together and deal with it. That evening, Xiang Chunyan's complexion was noticeably better, and Zhang Guodong personally cooked a wild feast, which the two women thoroughly enjoyed. Li Yun kept praising how delicious Zhang Guodong's cooking was, and how it was good for her skin, so Xiang Chunyan ate more. Li Yun's skin was indeed much better than hers and Lin Yue's, and she ended up stuffed.

Li Yun was fine, as she often ate things that were not commonly seen in the market, but this was Xiang Chunyan's first time eating them, and the feeling was quite different.

Wild foods are definitely much better in terms of taste and other aspects.

Zhang Guodong had almost finished eating when he felt a surge of anger rising within him—a burning desire, of course. After the meal, Xiang Chunyan invited Li Yun to stay the night, leaving Zhang Guodong with no choice but to leave.

"Brother Zhang, this is Li Ningguang, remember me?" Back at the shop, Zhang Guodong received an unexpected phone call. It was from Li Ningguang, whom he had met at the black market flower shop. The one who looked like Maitreya Buddha, whose eyes narrowed into slits when he smiled, was a complete old fox.

"Brother Li, hello! Why did you remember to call me? Is there some good business opportunity?" Zhang Guodong said with a smile. His relationship with these people was limited to the flowers and trees; any other personal connections were pure nonsense.

"Hey, Brother Zhang, where are you now? How about this, I'll come pick you up. I've actually found some good stuff here, but I'm not entirely sure. Let's make some money together, Brother Zhang!" Li Ningguang said.

Together we make money?

Zhang Guodong didn't believe that. It's foolish not to make money when it's available, let alone give it away to someone else. Unless there's a huge risk involved, as Lao Cao said, Zhang Guodong wholeheartedly agreed.

"Oh? The flower market is opening next Saturday, right? Brother Li, aren't you going to wait until it opens?" Zhang Guodong wasn't fooled and changed the subject.

Li Ningguang naturally knew about the big event in the black market flower and tree industry next Saturday: a large-scale flower and tree auction jointly held by several black markets across the province, a fact known only to those in the industry. But just today, an acquaintance provided some information: someone in his network had unearthed something amazing deep in the mountains. An absolutely rare treasure, and he was asked if he wanted it.

Rare items generally mean valuable items.

Li Ningguang went to the countryside with his friends to look at some goods. There were a dozen or so strange plants scattered around. They weren't very big, but they could be considered large trees. He didn't know if they were newly grown or just not big enough. They didn't seem to be able to be described as towering. In short, Li Ningguang couldn't identify what kind of plants they were.

It's true that the world is full of wonders, and it's normal for him to encounter species he doesn't recognize. But the old hunter's asking price of one million for a dozen or so trees made Li Ningguang hesitate.

If you buy ordinary goods, it will be a huge joke.

Moreover, he recently brought back several truckloads of rough stones from Myanmar and is still selling them, which has tied up a large amount of his funds, and is one of the reasons for his hesitation.

But gambling on flowers and trees is like doing business; Li Ningguang was unwilling to give up, yet he didn't want other veterans to take over, which is why he thought of Zhang Guodong. Zhang Guodong was a novice, without many tricks up his sleeve, and his previous actions had left a good impression on Li Ningguang, so he inexplicably called Zhang Guodong.

Li Ningguang explained the general situation. Zhang Guodong thought about it and realized that it was too late to go and inspect the goods. Besides, there was still time tomorrow, and they could make arrangements accordingly.

So in the end, I made an appointment with Li Ningguang to go see that guy first thing the next morning.

"Then I won't disturb Brother Zhang's rest any longer. See you tomorrow, haha!" Li Ningguang hung up the phone.

After resting for a while, Zhang Guodong was already quite eager to get started. However, without anyone to guide him, he felt a little uneasy, after all, it was the black market, and it was illegal.

The next morning, I called Xiang Chunyan and told her I was going out for the day, asking Li Yun to order takeout for us. There was no other way; having the patient cook would definitely make Li Yun uncomfortable, but if I let her cook, she'd probably get food poisoning.

Xiang Chunyan was very curious about what Zhang Guodong was doing outside.

Yesterday, Li Yun interrupted their good time, forcing them to stop just as they were getting started. The desire and her own ecstasy made Xiang Chunyan, who had already woken up, blush.

Looking to the side, Li Yun was sleeping soundly, a drop of water still clinging to the corner of her mouth, a smile on her face, clearly dreaming of something happy. This girl wasn't a sound sleeper; Xiang Chunyan had to cover her with a blanket several times throughout the night.

What an adorable girl!

Xiang Chunyan thought to herself.

Zhang Guodong went to meet Li Ningguang at a four-star hotel.

After calling Zhang Guodong last night, Li Ningguang called two high-class girls and they had sex all night. When Zhang Guodong arrived early this morning, the guy was still in bed, with two hot girls naked on either side of him. Last night's battle was intense!

"Brother Zhang, wait a minute, I'll get up right away. Sigh, I was so tired last night!"

This kind of tiredness is different from that kind of tiredness. At around forty years old, **the physical strength required is considerable, and it's the kind of tiredness that comes from bed.

Zhang Guodong was waiting outside, bored, when suddenly a familiar figure flashed past him, accompanied by a gruff voice: "Director Liu, I'm so sorry to have made you up so early. How about we grab some morning tea? I recently discovered a great morning tea place; the food is delicious and it's very quiet!"

The man smiled and said calmly, "Oh? Mr. Liu praised it, then I must try it. But I have something to do later, so I have to go after my morning tea!"

Liu Haojun immediately said, "Work is important, work is important, please!"

Zhang Guodong watched the two leave thoughtfully. It was indeed Liu Haojun! But this time, he hadn't even brought Sister Mei. That "Director Liu"—Zhang Guodong guessed it probably referred to a director or deputy director of some bureau?

Speaking of which, Liu Haojun has been harboring some resentment lately.

Former gangsters have become big entrepreneurs—that's remarkable. You see, only a tiny fraction of gangsters manage to clean up their act and build a large business; most fail, ending up with executions or life imprisonment. However, his success is due to the support of his brothers. The bond that held them together was based on mutual respect, loyalty, and an abundance of money and women.

But Zhang Guodong had humiliated Liu Haojun. He had been tricked by Zhang Guodong in the flower and tree market, causing him a loss of millions, and he simply couldn't swallow this insult.

Otherwise, his prestige would be diminished.

Moreover, this was always a crucial matter for maintaining relationships between superiors and subordinates, and without the vegetables provided by Zhang Guodong, the situation became delicate. Some people were picky eaters; just a slight order or a question was enough to make Boss Liu sense the crisis.

But Zhang Guodong was no longer the drifter he once was; he had made many connections and had a certain network of influence. Although Liu Haojun was crude, he wasn't reckless; otherwise, his business wouldn't have grown to such a large scale, worth hundreds of millions! Before dealing with someone, he sent his underlings to build relationships and find out Zhang Guodong's background before taking action.

This understanding led to the revisiting of old issues.

The collapse of Haitong Catering and the arrest of Ming Ge and others made Liu Haojun frown deeply. Although there was no evidence to prove that Zhang Guodong was definitely involved, the timing was too coincidental. What kind of place was Haitong? Government officials were investigating it every few days; it was impossible for it not to be orchestrated by someone.

If the direct approach didn't work, Liu Haojun had to consider other methods, but Zhang Guodong was a low-key person who rarely went out, which gave him no opportunity to make a move.

But an unexpected encounter with Director Liu caught his eye.

One night they had sex, and the next morning the two met for morning tea, which is what Zhang Guodong saw.

Liu Wenjun is the newly appointed executive deputy director of the district's Administration for Industry and Commerce, and is the second-in-command of the bureau. The top leader is about to reach the age limit, so he has a very good chance of taking over the position.

And most importantly, he has connections and powerful backers.

The executive deputy director, in his early thirties (a high-ranking position equivalent to deputy division chief), what does it mean to be an executive deputy director with a deputy division chief position? It's clearly a sign he's going to succeed the director. Of course, he's still a bit behind Xiang Chunyan, who is already a division chief, but in terms of real power, that's uncertain.

Liu Haojun had already inquired about it; Liu Wenjun was the son-in-law of Vice Mayor Lin, but this relationship was rarely mentioned in private. A vice mayor of a sub-provincial city is at the ministerial level, a high-ranking Party cadre, and has very powerful connections.

Of course, this is not something Vice Mayor Lin can easily do.

Even so, it was enough for Liu Haojun to curry favor. He then set his sights on ingratiating himself with Liu Wenjun, and surprisingly, the connection was established smoothly. Bribing some officials with money and women was generally very effective; of course, one had to accept some benefits in return, and those without power usually dared not accept them.

Although Liu Wenjun was fond of women, he had a tigress at home, and if she caught him doing something wrong, it would be troublesome. So he didn't accept the women Liu Haojun arranged for him. But Liu Haojun offered him 500,000 yuan in cash, which tempted him.

There are techniques to accepting bribes, and cash is the most convenient and safest option.

Mingyuan Tea House.

Liu Haojun felt a little smug. Nowadays, doing business, such as contracting government projects, depends on who can give more money and who has connections. Many people just lack connections, so they can't get the money in.

"Director Liu, have you heard of Green Treasure Pavilion?" Liu Haojun asked, seizing the opportunity. "I've heard that the vegetables and seafood they sell are all wild-caught, and they're excellent!"

Liu Wenjun smiled and said, "Oh? This is the first time I've heard of this."

Then he stopped talking, but he understood in his heart that if you take money, you have to do things for people. This Boss Liu's matter is probably related to that Green Treasure Pavilion, right? But he didn't know the name 'Green Treasure Pavilion' and couldn't remember it. He guessed it was some small shop?

“Director Liu, you’re a very busy person. That shop is just a small shop, but it sells things that are very expensive, more than ten times the normal price. My manager from Da Ming Tang bought some vegetables there before, but the small boss actually took the opportunity to raise the price. You know, I’m a person who runs a legitimate business. If word gets out that Da Ming Tang is being extorted by the small boss, people will laugh at us. I wonder if the industry and commerce department will do anything about this arbitrary price increase?” Liu Haojun said.

"Of course, it's a small matter. I heard that the district is going to build a light industrial products market and is preparing to attract investment. Our Xingyi Group is also considering investing!"

Liu Wenjun wasn't stupid. Anyone would find the idea of ​​a big boss dealing with a small shopkeeper suspicious. But Liu Haojun changed his tune, fooling him. He made Liu Haojun believe that what had just happened was merely a prelude, and the real issue was yet to come.

But there's no need to overestimate Liu Haojun's intelligence; it was Sister Mei's idea!

“We naturally welcome investment, but the district hasn’t officially finalized it yet, and it’s hard to say whether the Industry and Commerce Bureau can get involved,” Liu Wenjun said ambiguously, using an official tone. “How much does Mr. Liu plan to invest? Let me hear it?”

P.S.: This is the third update, an extra one! Wow, we've reached 10,000 views today! Please vote, add to your favorites, give a reward, and leave a review! Haha!

"Experienced Farmer" level QQ group (not full)