Su Jialiang raised his hand, causing everyone to hold their breath.

Although both sides claimed to be outlaws, not one of them was truly fearless.

The reason for this stalemate is that everyone knows that if shots are fired, the situation will inevitably spiral out of control and lead to unmanageable consequences.

However, given the complete breakdown in relations between the Qing and Su families, I can't think of any other way to resolve this matter except for a fight to the death.

At the critical moment, a cell phone suddenly rang urgently in Su Jialiang's pocket.

Upon hearing the ringtone, Su Jialiang instinctively pulled out his phone.

When I met him before, I saw him holding a smartphone, but this phone was an old Nokia 1100 model that is almost impossible to find on the market anymore.

This type of phone is obsolete in this era. Its only advantage is its long standby time and the fact that it cannot be implanted with eavesdropping software. Therefore, most of the people I've seen who use this phone are using it to install a secondary SIM card and to answer important calls.

Sure enough, Su Jialiang glanced at the incoming number and still chose to answer at such a crucial moment.

He hung up the phone after only ten seconds or so, looked at the tense scene, took a deep breath, then waved for his men to put down their guns, and cast a glance at Qing Huai: "Shall we talk?"

Qinghuai didn't want to use such a risky method to achieve his goal, so he readily nodded and said, "Let's talk about what we want to say here."

Su Jialiang looked around and pointed to the basement at the back: "Let's go inside and talk. The fewer people who know what we're talking about, the better."

Song Laosan nodded to Qinghuai: "That room has no secret passages or mechanisms; it's just an ordinary room."

Qinghuai thought for a moment, then pointed at me and Song Laosan: "I need to take the two of them with me, as well as my bodyguard."

Su Jialiang remained noncommittal and led Su Jiaming towards the basement first: "Third brother, come in with me."

I pointed at Manjing, who had taken a bullet for me: "If we're going to talk, can't we save my friend first!"

Su Jiaming glanced at me, then nodded to his men, and several of them stepped forward to carry Manjing away.

Immediately afterwards, Song Laosan and I, along with Qinghuai and his two bodyguards, the Su brothers and a middle-aged man, all went into the basement, while the men of both sides remained outside in a standoff to prevent any unforeseen events.

Qinghuai surveyed the basement and said impatiently, "Su Jialiang, if you called me here just to continue this endless wrangling, then our conversation can end here."

"Do you really think I came here because of pressure from your Qing family?"

Su Jialiang was not led by the nose by Qing Huai: "Just as you said, I have been in this industry for decades and have accumulated a lot of wealth. If the Qing family really wants to take away my livelihood, I will take out all my life savings to deal with the Qing family. It will also tear a piece of flesh from your body! Moreover, you must understand that the business I am in is a technology-driven industry. Without me, this business will not last long."

Qinghuai did not refute this statement, but his curiosity was piqued: "What exactly did you want to say to me when you called me here?"

"cooperate."

Su Jialiang cut to the chase: "Xiao Duan's guess is correct. This is indeed the Su family's stronghold, which is why I'm willing to fight you to the death at any cost. If our cooperation fails, I will still choose this option, which is something neither of us wants to see."

Qinghuai took out a cigarette case from his pocket, bent down and lit one: "You continue."

"The information you just presented is enough to knock down the umbrella over my head. My business is not a legitimate business, so it's difficult for me to establish useful connections. But the Qing family is different. Among the haulers I know, the Qing family's transformation is the most successful, and their cleanest whitewashing is also the most successful."

Su Jialiang paused for a moment: "If the Qing family can help me break the umbrella over my head, I can use you to replace it, and give you 30% of the profits as your reward. Do you think that's reasonable?"

Qinghuai exhaled a puff of smoke: "A little less."

"Do you know why I wanted to remove the umbrella from his head? It's because he's too greedy. If the Qing family also becomes greedy, how is that any different from driving a tiger to devour a wolf?"

Su Jialiang also pulled a cigar from his pocket: "When besieging an enemy, leave an opening. Don't push your opponent into a corner. Didn't your father teach you that principle?"

"You've been in the antique business for so many years, don't you understand the tragic heroism of cutting off an arm to survive?" Qing Huai pondered for a moment and then offered his terms: "If you really want to cooperate with the Qing family, hand over 60% of the total profits, and we can consider it."

Before Su Jialiang could speak, Su Jiaming burst out with a string of curses: "You want to reap without sowing, and you still want to eat so much? Aren't you Qing family afraid of stuffing yourselves to death?!"

“In this day and age, ability is more important than opportunity. The reason I’m eyeing your Su family is simply because I’m interested in the channels and markets you’ve built up over the years. Otherwise, I wouldn’t even be interested in talking to you.”

Qinghuai pointed at me and Song Laosan and said, "As you can see, half of the four families are my friends. If I weren't afraid of wasting time, I could have completely wiped out your Su family and then, with the help of my two friends, rebuilt this business."

When Song Laosan saw Qinghuai pointing at us, he chuckled and scratched his nose, then covered his mouth with his hand and said to me, "Qinghuai is still too naive. He thinks that saying this is putting pressure on the Su family, but in reality, it exposes the Qing family's eagerness to get this done."

I chimed in, "Su Gouzi is a shrewd man. He can guess what we can think of. As a result, Qinghuai's share of the profits will be reduced by at least 10%."

As expected, upon hearing this, Su Jialiang's tense expression relaxed considerably: "It's taken me over twenty years to build my business to where it is today. If the Qing family were truly patient, we wouldn't be standing here. As you can see, my operations are incredibly large. This factory alone employs over three hundred workers. To ensure business stability, each of them is handpicked by me, and they earn more than double the wages they would elsewhere. If you're truly sincere about negotiating, after deducting all costs, I'll give you 40% of the net profit. This is my bottom line, and it's the final offer."

"Fifty percent."

Qinghuai still insists: "This is also my bottom line."

“The Su family’s business is not as simple as you think. We have other shareholders. I can only make decisions on 40%. In addition, I can personally contribute 1 billion yuan as an additional condition. However, this money is in an overseas account, and you will have to launder it in yourself at your own expense.”

Su Jialiang threw away his cigar: "From now on, I will no longer accept any of your conditions. If the Qing family agrees, all will be well! Otherwise, I don't mind fighting them head-on."