In the swimming hall, Boss Ma, half-reclining on a lounge chair, watched with eagle-sharp eyes as a long-legged beauty walked past him. Then, twisting his head, he frowned at Shen Qiang, who was fiddling with his phone, and said, "I say, Qiang, can you quit messing with that busted phone of yours? With all these long-legged beauties around and you're staring at your phone, what for?"

Shen Qiang smiled, put down his phone, and said, "Got some private stuff to deal with."

"The guy blackmailing you?" Sun Kaiping said from the other side.

Seeing Shen Qiang's somewhat surprised expression.

Boss Ma laughed and said, "Stop playing dumb, Qiang, you can't hide that kind of thing from me and Old Sun. We've been in the antiques market for most of our lives, what kinds of people haven't we seen? What haven't we encountered? Some things, you just need to take one look, and you can guess pretty accurately what's going on."

Shen Qiang chuckled, changing the subject, "Brother Ma, Brother Sun, some things are better off unknown to you, better for you. If you really want to help, why not talk to me about the thugs from the antiques market instead, the ones you're always grumbling about?"

Hearing this, Boss Ma laughed, "You really believe that?"

Shen Qiang looked mildly surprised and said, "Of course, wasn't it you guys who helped secure Datong River?"

Boss Ma laughed heartily, "Naive kid, what era do you think this is? Those who dabble in the Black Society, no matter how capable they are, will eventually end up in prison. How do you think the owner of Datong River agreed to sell it to you? I'll tell you, he had a mistress on the side behind his wife's back."

"We found that woman and told her, now someone wants to buy Datong River. She could take the money with the owner of Datong River and flee far away, start anew abroad."

Shen Qiang was astonished, "Just like that, it was settled?"

Sun Kaiping smiled, "The woman was pregnant with twins. On the other hand, we informed the wife of Datong River's owner. She came with people to force the mistress to abort the baby and even resorted to violence. Our people helped Datong River's owner save his pregnant mistress."

"In such a situation, the owner of Datong River was furious and in a hurry to have the child, and at the same time get back at his wife. The best, and only, way was to sell Datong River, take the money, and run away far. Since you offered the market price, of course he'd sell it to you."

Shen Qiang exclaimed in wonder, "I always thought..."

"That we are Great Kings? Holding a gun to the owner's head, telling him, 'Hey, listen, if you don't sell Datong River you're dead'?" Sun Kaiping said, beaming.

Boss Ma also laughed, teasing Shen Qiang, "Kid, don't tell me you really thought we were the Black Society? We're not bad guys, at most we deal in some fakes, wooling over those parvenus trying to launder money through the antiques market."

Shen Qiang let out a sigh, a mix of relief and bemusement, then after a moment's silence, he said, "Let's talk about how to stop people from messing with you guys instead."

Hearing this, Boss Ma laughed and looked at Shen Qiang, "Ever been to a used car market?"

Shen Qiang shook his head, "No."

Boss Ma chuckled, "Let me tell you, what's the standard look for a car dealer there? Bald head, tattoos, gold chains."

Seeing Shen Qiang frown, Boss Ma continued, "You think they're all thuggish scoundrels breaking the law? I'm telling you, the vast majority aren't, but they like to put on a fierce front. The reason is that when you see them in large numbers, looking fierce, some people in the business won't dare to compete for their business."

"When they go out of town to buy cars, they won't easily be bullied either, because no one knows if those they've offended might find themselves chased by a bunch of machete-wielding men pulled from a car."

Shen Qiang frowned, "Does putting on such an act really help?"

"Of course it does," Sun Kaiping said. "A guy with glasses selling cars, wearing a plaid shirt—the swarm of car dealers can stare and talk nonsense to desperately lower the price, or even scratch the paint and break mirrors on the spot, and he can't do a thing about it even if he knows that those scratches were caused by the dealers right then and there."

"But what if the seller is a bunch of bald guys with big gold chains, shirtless, covered in tattoos? You ask those lowlifes if they dare swarm around and try to sneakily scratch the car then?"

Shen Qiang's frown deepened slightly, "That seems to make some sense, but when real trouble comes, those tattoos and gold chains might not help much."

"But they can still prevent a lot of trouble," Sun Kaiping said.

Shen Qiang breathed out, "Actually, I've been having a rough time recently in all respects. Always so many competitors plotting against me. I feel like if I don't come up with some measures, I'll face even more troubles later."

Upon hearing this, Sun Kaiping smiled, "Silly brother, that's life for you. Everywhere some people scheme. If you're an office worker aiming for a promotion, you got to compete. If you're doing business wanting to make money, you got to outperform others. Heck, even in kindergarten wanting your favorite toy, you got to shove other kids aside."

Boss Ma chuckled, "Old Sun and I have some standing in our antique market, don't we? Even the owner of Ancient Moon Pavilion, doesn't he bully us still? You think he's awesome? When he comes to Shanghai to observe the market, doesn't he have to suck it up and listen to the nonsense those bastards spout?"

Looking at Shen Qiang, Sun Kaiping laughed, "A school principal seems very powerful, right? But in front of the head of the Education Bureau, doesn't he still have to toe the line? So the only way you can rise above and never be bullied is to become strong—so strong that everyone fears you. Then people will think twice about their schemes against you, considering the consequences. Naturally, you'll have fewer troubles."

Shen Qiang nodded, "I get the principle, but I'm still a bit confused about what exactly I should do."

Boss Ma laughed, "What's there to be confused about? If you want fewer troubles, just make them afraid of you. Ever heard of 'new official takes office with three fires'? What do you think those fires are for? Let me tell you, fundamentally, it's for one purpose—to kill the chicken to scare the monkeys."

Hearing this, Shen Qiang laughed, "That sounds like a good idea."

Just then, with the approaching sound of footsteps, a few tall and burly cultivators walked over.

They coldly encircled Shen Qiang, Sun Kaiping, and Boss Ma in the center.

Mr. Zhang, wearing a false smile, came over, sat beside Shen Qiang, and with a slight smile said,

"I really am curious, has the world really changed? After taking my 500 million yuan, not only did you not run away, you're actually here swimming? Believe it or not, if I can't get Datong River, I'll throw you in the sea to swim till you die."

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