8:30 AM.

Fengjiang Building.

This was the same place where Xu Ke had met with the Siao Family Member last time, and business was still mediocre.

When Xu Ke arrived carrying a large bag, Li Shichuan and Li Lang had already drunk half a pot of tea.

"Li Lang, Family Head Li, good morning," Xu Ke approached, smiling as he greeted them.

Anyone who didn't know the situation would have thought Xu Ke had a great relationship with the Li Family.

Yet, upon seeing the man who had killed his son appear before him for the first time, Li Shichuan was so overwhelmed with hatred and killing intent that he almost lashed out. It was Li Lang's words that pulled him back from the brink of fury. "You're so late. Isn't that a bit insincere?"

"Sorry, I'm the type who likes to sleep in," Xu Ke said, sitting down opposite the father and son. He placed his backpack by his side and smiled. "Alright, let's talk about how we can cooperate."

Hearing this, Li Shichuan remained silent, just watching Xu Ke quietly.

Li Lang stood up. "I need to check for recording devices. Are you secretly recording this?"

The father and son were afraid of being schemed against by Xu Ke.

Xu Ke laughed. "Go ahead, search me. All I have is my phone, and I can even turn on the screen for you to see. I'm being very sincere about cooperating with you."

Li Lang stepped forward, and Xu Ke stood calmly, allowing himself to be searched.

Of course, after Li Lang finished, Xu Ke searched him in turn. Li Shichuan quietly took out his own mobile phone, keys, and wallet, and turned his pockets inside out. Xu Ke then checked the room. There were no recording devices.

Both parties had reached a tacit understanding.

...

Li Shichuan finally spoke. "Xu Ke, two conditions."

"First, you cannot act against the Li Family, nor can you report to the Martial Alliance that my son hired the media to corner you."

"Second, the Ye Family must not know that we were the ones who provided this evidence."

Aside from the terms of their cooperation, Li Shichuan didn't want to waste a single word on his son's murderer.

Xu Ke nodded. "Protecting your own interests. A very reasonable request."

Then, Xu Ke opened his backpack and took out a laptop, a USB drive, two sheets of A4 paper, and a pen. "I have all the evidence concerning Li Lang stored on my phone, laptop, cloud drive, and this USB drive. If you want me to destroy it, I can delete it for you right now."

"If that's still not enough for you, we can sign a settlement agreement. As the injured party, I can officially forgive Li Lang."

"After signing the settlement agreement, I automatically forfeit my right to pursue the matter with the Martial Alliance. You should be well aware of this, right?"

As he spoke, Xu Ke pushed the two A4 sheets forward. They were copies of the settlement agreement. He was now ready to trade forgiveness for Li Lang's media ambush in exchange for the evidence the Li Family held.

Li Shichuan nodded.

Seeing this, Li Lang let out a sigh of relief and reached for the pen to sign.

But Xu Ke pulled the papers back, a slight smile on his face. "My sincerity is on the table. Where's yours?"

At that, Li Lang and Li Shichuan exchanged a glance.

Li Shichuan took out a USB drive. "This contains the information from last year when the Ye Family snatched the Grade A office building project from the Wang Family. Ye Fan was in charge of it."

"You just have to submit this to the Martial Alliance, and it will be enough to get him punished."

Xu Ke's eyes sharpened. "That's it?"

"That's it," Li Shichuan said, his face expressionless.

Although he was willing to betray the Ye Family for the sake of his son and the rise of the Li Family, it wouldn't be an unconditional betrayal. The Li Family was entangled in many of the Ye Family's shady dealings. If he revealed too much evidence against the Ye Family, the Li Family would inevitably be dragged down as well.

Therefore, only the incident from last year, when the Ye Family stole the Wang Family's project, could be used while ensuring his own safety. The Li Family had collected this evidence—a list of names—during a moment of Ye Fan's carelessness.

...

Hearing this, Xu Ke frowned.

Seeing his hesitation, Li Lang sneered, "Xu Ke, don't be too greedy."

At that, Xu Ke's frown gradually relaxed, and he smiled. "Don't worry, I'm not a greedy person. This evidence is enough to trade for yours."

"I'm just curious about what exactly happened with that project last year."

As he finished speaking, Li Lang glanced at Li Shichuan, who showed no intention of speaking.

So, Li Lang began, "Last year, there was a Grade A office building project worth about nine hundred million. The associated construction covered 250,000 square meters in a good location, so everyone was optimistic about the profits."

"At the time, the Wang Family's relationship with the Huang Family was decent, mainly because Wong Ting had taken a liking to Wong Qifu..." Li Lang paused deliberately, giving Xu Ke a contemptuous look. He had mentioned Wong Ting on purpose to provoke him.

Look at him, a War God. And what are you? Useless trash.

But Xu Ke simply said, "Continue."

Annoyed, Li Lang had no choice but to continue, "So, the Wang Family planned to develop the project jointly with the Huang Family to share the financial burden. But then the Huang Family introduced a new project with mediocre profits and suggested the Wang Family invest. Wong Qifu refused."

"However, Wang Tianlu felt he would get no credit for the office building project, so without Wong Qifu's permission, he secretly took the funds to invest in that other project. As a result, when it came time to start work on the office building, the Huang Family suddenly backed out of the partnership, leaving the Wang Family short on funds."

As he spoke, an expression of schadenfreude appeared on Li Lang's face.

Xu Ke frowned.

Wang Tianlu? He vaguely remembered the name. Wong Qifu had told him this was the person within the Wang Family most covetous of the Helmsman position. So there were hidden details like this about last year's incident.

"What happened after that?" Xu Ke asked.

Li Lang's malicious glee intensified. "They tried to borrow money from a major bank, but the loan application was held up in approvals and never came through!"

Xu Ke instantly understood.

The Ye Family... they must have interfered at the bank!

Xu Ke raised an eyebrow. "How many people did he bribe?"

Li Lang pointed to the USB drive. "See for yourself in the evidence."

"Wang Tianlu messed things up, but he got off scot-free?" Xu Ke asked, picking up the USB drive.

Li Lang shook his head. "I don't know how your Wang Family handled that internally."

"But it's obvious what he would claim," Li Lang continued. "He'd say the failure of the office building project and the lost profits were the bank's and the Huang Family's fault. He'd argue that if it weren't for him investing in that other project, the Wang Family wouldn't have earned any money at all. Looking at it that way, how could he possibly get in trouble?"

Xu Ke's brow furrowed slightly.

It seems Wong Qifu's situation within the company is even more difficult than I imagined. To outsiders, the Wang Family Empress seems domineering and unrivaled. But with both internal and external threats, every step she takes is a struggle. No wonder Wong Qifu didn't want Wang Qiya to return from the start. In this kind of environment... if it were me, I wouldn't let anyone close to me come back either.

The more Xu Ke thought about it, the more his heart ached for Wong Qifu.

...

After Li Lang finished speaking, Xu Ke checked the evidence on the USB drive. Ever since Feng Wei came over, his computer's antivirus protection had improved significantly, so he wasn't afraid of the Li Family planting a Trojan horse.

Subsequently, Xu Ke signed the settlement agreement.

Having obtained the signed agreement, Li Lang and Li Shichuan left without hesitation. Xu Ke, meanwhile, packed up his things and prepared to leave Fengjiang Building.

However, just as he was stepping out of the building, he received a call from an unknown number.

Xu Ke answered the phone, "Hello, who is this?"

"Son-in-law, it's me, Aunt Lin."

Xu Ke was taken aback. "Aunt Lin, what's wrong?"

Lin Qinghua said, "It's a long story. May I ask where you are right now? I'm very sorry, but I need to get the Black Card back from you."

"If I don't, they're going to accuse the young miss of abusing her authority..."

As her words fell, Xu Ke's expression changed dramatically.

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