"To be honest, I am completely unprepared."

Ning Zheyuan gave a bitter smile.

His expression was worried.

Ning Zheyuan tried to be conservative in his assessment, but in reality, after obtaining the Xing family's Jiang City plan, he was completely helpless.

The Xia family is not in the country; all their family power has been taken away, leaving only the young master in front of us and the Yan Yun Gang, whose prestige and foundation are not what they used to be.

If it were the Yan Yun Gang at its peak, Ning Zheyuan would have some confidence. Even if they weren't a match for the Xing family, he could at least hold his own for a few moves.

And now?

Ning Zheyuan sighed.

The Yan Yun Gang is now struggling to survive; otherwise, they wouldn't be using Qingshan Real Estate as a cash cow, hoping to extract money from it.

At its peak, why would it need to ask a nouveau riche, a household name in Jiang City, for money?

Many powerful families want to give him money...

"It's normal to have no clue, because I don't either."

Xia Che shrugged.

The fact that the Xing family could be considered an enemy of the Xia family speaks volumes about their formidable power. But he was penniless, barely able to survive. If the Xing family truly intended to harm him…

Go ahead and do it. If you're so capable, just kill me.

Xia Che lay down.

“Young Master, I need money right now. If we have enough funds, we might be able to put up a fight. Xing Zhicheng is only the third-in-command of the Xing family. He's probably just here to explore new land in Jiang City. The real leader of the Xing family hasn't arrived yet. In other words, they're just a bunch of lackeys using the Xing family's name. My Yan Yun Gang is going all out. Even if we can't beat them, we can still cripple them!”

Ning Zheyuan gritted his teeth, his eyes instantly turning fierce.

When the master and others chose to go abroad and abandon their base in China, Ning Zheyuan, as a servant, naturally had no say in the matter, which was understandable. But things were different now. The master's bloodline was in Jiang City. If he couldn't protect Xia Che, Ning Zheyuan felt that he might as well find a place to slit his own throat. That way, he could die a quick death, which was better than living a wretched life.

"You... that's why I said I didn't want to move to your Yan Yun Gang's place."

Xia Che shook his head helplessly, "Always resorting to violence... Who told you that the Xing family would definitely attack me?"

"Huh? This... You are the only son the master left in the country. If I were Xing Zhicheng, I would definitely start with you. What other way is there to directly seize the opponent's weakness than by capturing their son?"

Ning Zheyuan was a little confused; he didn't understand what Xia Che meant.

"Let me ask you, apart from you and the Four-Colored Rose, who in the entire Jiang City knows that I am the eldest son of the Xia family?"

"Don't bring up those people from the Jiang City Chamber of Commerce. They only know that the young master of the Xia family was abandoned in Jiang City, but they don't know exactly who it is."

"I used to lament that people forget you once they leave the country, and no one in Jiang City contacted me after the Xia family went abroad. Now that I think about it, maybe it's not that they didn't want to find me, but that they simply couldn't find me..."

Xia Che gave a self-deprecating laugh.

Before his soul transmigrated into this body, the original owner's lifestyle was also very much like that of a homebody. Every day, apart from staying at home playing games and watching anime, occasionally going to school, he spent the rest of his time on the mountain, running to his master's thatched hut. Such a low-key lifestyle was indeed somewhat unbelievable for a scion of a noble family.

After all, the actions of those spoiled brats—eating, drinking, gambling, and whoring—were never low-key, yet the original owner of this body was able to achieve such a level, which was truly rare.

In retrospect, the original owner's low profile back then was likely because he realized something and wanted to protect himself, which ultimately benefited him.

"Yes! How could I forget about that?"

Ning Zheyuan's eyes lit up as well, and he punched the palm of his hand.

The young master's identity is currently a secret, and no one outside of himself and a limited number of his own people knows it.

Even if Xing Zhicheng wanted to cause trouble for the young master, it probably wouldn't be too easy.

—In the vast sea of ​​people in Jiang City, even if they know that the young master of the Xia family is in Jiang City, what can they do? With so many people, where does your Xing family even begin to look?

"So, I'm still safe for the time being. The worst thing to do right now is to make a move before the enemy does. We're in the dark, and we have the advantage. But if you make a move, the whole world will know I exist. That's when the situation will be most dangerous."

Xia Che's words made Ning Zheyuan's old face flush with embarrassment. He had indeed been thinking of going head-to-head with Xing Zhicheng, wanting to take the Xing family down with him. Luckily, he didn't act impulsively, otherwise he would have died for nothing...

"Does the young master mean... to remain inactive?"

"Yes, from now on, I will not change my previous lifestyle. I will wait for the Xing family to make a move. Once they do, we will discuss the next steps."

Xia Che let out a long sigh; this was the best solution he could think of at the moment.

He gave a self-deprecating smile.

He was, after all, the young master of the Xia family, yet he hadn't had a single good day. One bad thing after another happened. He was a really sloppy young master.

"Okay, I understand."

Ning Zheyuan nodded, his expression solemn.

"By the way, how are things going with the Li family?"

With the Xing family's threat temporarily over, Xia Che asked, "Li Junyang firmly believes the false information you obtained and should now have some initial trust in you. Given his suspicious and cautious nature, he probably won't give you much benefit in the short term, but he will show some goodwill."

"Young Master really understands him..."

Ning Zheyuan clicked his tongue slightly. "I just got the news that the Li family plans to give me shares in the land that Weiyang No.1 Middle School has leased, so I can be a shareholder. This land will certainly be very valuable after it is built, but as for the process... I probably won't see any money."

Any project involving land development is a highly profitable one, but while such projects are extremely lucrative, it takes a long time to actually make money from them, and it's impossible to expect to do so in the short term.

Therefore, Ning Zheyuan was also somewhat hesitant after receiving this news. He was unsure whether to accept this generous gift, since the Yan Yun Gang was currently short of money and needed to allocate a portion of it to manage the Xia family's assets in China.

At this critical juncture, Ning Zheyuan was unsure whether taking on a project that couldn't be monetized in the short term was a good thing.

"They invited you to be a shareholder in a land development project? And even gave you shares?"

Xia Che pondered for a moment, then his brows furrowed. It was no wonder this was the work of that hypocrite, Li Junyang…

The cake offered may seem big, but it will take time to actually cash in and make money from it.

During this period, Li Junyang essentially tied Ning Zheyuan and the entire Yanyun Gang to his Li family's ship.

This is much better than giving money directly. To put it simply, you won't get money now, but you'll get it later. However, during this time, you have to protect the Li family and do things for them.

"Don't release the hawk until you see the rabbit..."

Xia Che murmured softly.