Even though an hour had passed, the paper was still cleaner than his face, or rather, he had replaced it with a cleaner one, and there was a pile of crumpled paper at his feet.

The two of them looked so relaxed, it was really not like the way a host should behave when entertaining guests.

Meng Luo, oblivious to the awkwardness, smiled ingratiatingly, "Zhi Su, this is all the money I can afford."

He handed A-Gu a briefcase.

A-Yi glanced at it out of the corner of his eye. If it was filled with large denomination banknotes, it would only be one-tenth of his savings at most, much less than he had estimated Meng Luo could produce. He became increasingly curious whether Meng Luo had hidden the money or used it for something else.

"That's all?"

Meng Luo smiled wryly, "That's all I have."

He continued, "I know you desperately need money to start your business. In that case, take a look at these shops I have here. Do they meet your standards?"

He took out a stack of contracts and was about to hand them to A-Yi-Gu when he was stopped by the people who came with him.

The man looked disapproving. "Brother Meng, what are you doing? Even if the bank is having cash flow problems, you can't use your own savings to cover them!"

Meng Luo shook his head, "Brother Ruan, you misunderstand. These are all things I should give you."

Before Zheng Quanshan could say anything more, Meng Luo stepped forward and placed the shop's contract in front of A Yigu.

There weren't many, only a dozen or so, and they were mostly in less prominent locations.

Zheng Quanshan sighed as he looked on. Brother Meng was an honest and upright man, yet he hadn't managed to accumulate any valuable possessions over the years.

Citrus aurantium...

He had heard some rumors about this person, but no matter how powerful he was, he was just a mercenary. How dare he be so arrogant in front of such a big shot as the leader of the alliance?

Zheng Quanshan immediately developed an extremely negative impression of "Zhisu" and labeled it as "extremely arrogant".

A-Yi-Gu looked at the contract on the table, finally stopping his drawing. He put down his pen, his expression cold and aloof. "You said before that you invested the money in the construction of Pi City. I want to know, what kind of construction is it, and how much will it cost..."

Meng Luo hurriedly explained, "Zhi Su, I know I shouldn't have done this because of the lack of... Alas, I really had no choice. I couldn't bear to see those poor people continue to suffer, which is why..."

Zheng Quanshan, having witnessed his brother Meng being so humble in front of others, lost his temper and pulled Meng Luo aside, saying, "Brother Meng, why do you have to humiliate yourself like this?"

He shouted at A-Yi-Gu, "I don't care what you're trying to do, it's unacceptable to bully my honest brother Meng to my face! He's the leader of your mercenary alliance, don't think you can act lawlessly just because you're a freelance mercenary with some skills and no one to control you!"

"Brother Meng, let's go! We're too lazy to put up with this. The city lord is waiting for us for tea!"

"Let's go, let's go, let's go!"

Zheng Quanshan hurriedly grabbed Meng Luo and prepared to leave.

"Whoosh—"

The door closed.

Zheng Quanshan, who had just popped his head out, almost bumped into the door.

He turned around angrily, "What do you mean?"

A-Yi-Gu came over with the dozen or so contracts in his hand, saying, "It's better to take these worthless things with you."

Zheng Quanshan strode over and took it, letting out a cold snort. He didn't want to say another word to A Yigu. He shoved the door open, and Meng Luo was about to follow with a troubled expression when A Yigu spoke up, "Meng Luo, you'd better think this through."

Meng Luo shivered.

Zheng Quanshan was furious; this guy was going to threaten him!

Look how frightened Brother Meng is! If he didn't have to go see the city lord right now, he would definitely give this Zhi Su a good beating!