Chapter 2591 - 2655: Playing the Fool
This is the third time seeing him, and inside the Meng Father and son felt a chill, knowing they’ve encountered trouble. The other party is likely sent by Fu Yingwei to kill them.
Meng Xuesong immediately stood in front of his son. They ran into an alley to avoid the other party, which was quiet and with few pedestrians, now seemingly at a disadvantage. Moreover, the key issue is not knowing how long the other party has been there, whether they’ve heard the conversation between the two before. If they did, it would be even worse; he must immediately let his son leave, or the father and son might not be able to escape.
Thinking of this, Meng Xuesong pushed Meng Xiaoxiong on the back and whispered, "When we act, you run quickly, I’ll hold him."
"Dad!" Meng Xiaoxiong said painfully, clenching his fist. He couldn’t bear to run away and leave his father behind, but he knew if he asked his father to go, leaving himself behind, his father would absolutely not agree. With a faint pause, Meng Xiaoxiong looked at Li Yifei and demanded, "Who are you? Following us since yesterday, are you sick?"
Li Yifei discarded the cigarette butt in his hand, stepped to extinguish it, looked up at the two, and smiled faintly. He wasn’t wearing sunglasses at the moment, but the two opposite couldn’t possibly see his true face clearly. Upon hearing the other’s question, Li Yifei replied, "Is it unacceptable to chance upon each other? How do you know I’m following you?"
"You, you’re Fu Yingwei’s dog, right? What, not satisfied with beating me yesterday, want to beat me again today? Do you think I’m afraid to retaliate, huh? Damn, yesterday it was because there were many people, today it’s just you, I’m not afraid!" As he spoke, Meng Xiaoxiong rolled up his sleeves and was about to walk toward Li Yifei. Meng Xuesong hurriedly reached out to grab his son, saying, "Let me handle this, you just watch."
"Dad, it’s only one guy, don’t worry, your son can fight!" Meng Xiaoxiong shook off Meng Xuesong’s hand.
The father and son pulled and tugged, seeming determined in attitude but actually they were just stalling. Li Yifei smiled broadly, raised his hand and clapped a few times, praising, "Not bad, quite the performance, haha. Too bad I heard quite a lot just now, so continuing to act won’t help."
"Ga!" The Meng Father and son stopped simultaneously, looking at Li Yifei. Indeed, he had heard the previous conversation, the two exchanged a glance, a hint of melancholy in their eyes. Does this mean they must fight?
Then let’s fight; they’ve pretended to be fools long enough. If they can’t escape Fu Yingwei’s killing intent even this way, there seems to be no other option. So determination floated in their hearts. Meng Xuesong said grievously, "Fu Yingwei doesn’t intend to let us go, does he? Haha, the twenty billion has been given to him, yet he’s still not satisfied? Oh, right, he plans to silence us to feel at ease. Fu Yingwei, if there’s no escape today, I’ll be waiting for you in Yama’s Palace!"
After shouting, Meng Xuesong moved toward Li Yifei, his son Meng Xiaoxiong followed suit. Li Yifei blinked and said blandly, "I said I heard your conversation earlier, but did I say I’m here to kill you?"
"Ah?" The father and son promptly stopped, looked at Li Yifei, and suspiciously asked, "Aren’t you a killer sent by Fu Yingwei?"
Li Yifei didn’t reply immediately but tilted his head at them, slowly saying, "Your method is not bad; acting crazy and foolish is your only way to escape a disaster."
"Who exactly are you, is it fun to toy with us? If you’re Fu Yingwei’s man, then act now; my father and I have been humiliated by you so many times, if we’re to die, give us a quick one." Meng Xuesong appeared resigned as he spoke.
Li Yifei chuckled, "Sometimes hard words don’t mean you’re brave inside, but I do feel some sympathy for you two. Such a fortune lost, going from top tycoon to pauper overnight, and having to worry every day about being killed to silence—it’s not something ordinary people can endure."
Upon hearing Li Yifei say this, Meng Xuesong felt slightly relieved; although it’s possible the other spoke deliberately, it seems there is a thread of change. He suspiciously asked, "Brother, what is your purpose exactly? Please inform us; if you’re here to kill us, we accept it. If not, please stop toying with us!"
Li Yifei gazed at them, his smile growing, speaking after a while, "Now that sounds reasonable, haha. If I were a killer, you both would already be corpses, could still be standing here talking to me?"
"You’re... really not here to kill us?" Meng Xuesong felt his heart settle, yet still dared not believe, asking.
"Meng Xuesong, I’m curious about how you lost all your assets, as you’ve climbed from a small character. Logically, you should have brains; how could Fu Yingwei deceive you out of all your money?"
Meng Xuesong gritted his teeth, deciding to gamble. If the other came to kill, indeed there’s no need to chat so long. So, he smiled self-deprecatingly, "This is a long story. Brother, since you’re not here to kill us, listening to the story is no harm, but probably not convenient here."
"Ha, want me to treat you to a meal?" Li Yifei laughed; the faces of the two opposite softened, although still unsure of Li Yifei’s true intentions. At least now, he hadn’t acted. Meng Xuesong and Meng Xiaoxiong were prepared to fight but had no confidence in their hearts, feeling a powerful pressure from him that left them with no chance of winning,
Indeed so, if Li Yifei truly wanted to kill the two, it would only be a blink. There’s no need to chat with them for so long.
Sitting in Li Yifei’s car, the two felt much more at ease; what killer would go to such lengths with their target, proving he doesn’t intend to kill.
Without heading to a restaurant, the car arrived near a square. Li Yifei stopped the car, looked at them in the rearview mirror, and said, "Alright, you can tell your story now."
"Sir... truthfully, we’re somewhat perplexed now. If you’re just passing through and purely curious, it’s no harm, as these stories we’ve already shouted for long. But if you have a purpose, can you tell us?" Meng Xiaoxiong cupped his hands and said earnestly.
Li Yifei looked at him, "What’s the difference if there’s a purpose or not?"
"This..." Meng Xiaoxiong wanted to continue, but his father pulled him, saying, "Since you want to hear the story, there’s no problem telling it. Honestly, this matter was my negligence. Doing business so many years, yet I fell over this incident, speaking about it is rather embarrassing."
Li Yifei signaled him to continue, though he had guesses, hearing the reason firsthand was interesting. Li Yifei also took down those three families in the provincial city, but it was through violent means. Seeing the father and son acting crazy to survive, Fu Yingwei likely didn’t use direct violence; otherwise, they wouldn’t even have a chance to act.
Meng Xuesong sighed and explained; indeed, he was careless, but that was because Fu Yingwei initially targeted him, so he calculated against him, causing enormous liquidity shortage in his company. At that moment, Fu Yingwei appeared offering help, Meng Xuesong had no choice but to agree. Such a large amount of money, even if someone helps, comes at a huge cost, but he ignored Fu Yingwei’s trustworthiness. As several projects started simultaneously, Meng Xuesong suddenly faced a huge funding gap, yet Fu Yingwei’s assistance hadn’t arrived.
Yes, they hadn’t signed any formal agreements; they hadn’t even gotten around to signing when Meng Xuesong concurrently started several projects, leading to funding gaps. When he approached banks for loans, he found they wouldn’t lend, meaning these projects faced a money shortage.
Like the land Li Yifei saw yesterday, Meng Xuesong bet half his wealth for it. With enough funds, it could be developed, being in a prime location, development meant money. Normally, with asset collateral, bank loans aren’t hard to get; overall, these are normal occurrences yet encountered abnormality then, causing funding issues.
Added to land purchases, other projects started normally. Initially brimming with confidence, Meng Xuesong found the expected assets for doubling even growing suddenly became hard stones, utterly unchewable.
This was awkward; Meng Xuesong then was anxious. A funding chain break meant simultaneous project failure. He sought help but found prior business partners either avoided him or... revealed greed like Fu Yingwei.
Unreasonable conditions proposed, Meng Xuesong wouldn’t agree, in his mouth watching meat almost eaten, yet suddenly one demands, handover the meat or face ruin entirely. Of course, Meng Xuesong refused, even humiliated them.
However, the truth proved since the start Fu Yingwei targeted him, not the meat. Of course, he wanted both person and meat. As projects halted, banks began demands, leaving Meng Xuesong helpless. Entering procedure, he realized he was tricked, but it was too late.
Originally not left penniless, but unfortunately landed in this predicament, with Fu Yingwei as his most hated foe. Without Fu Yingwei, even with funding problems, he wouldn’t face such extreme distress.
For survival, Meng Xuesong began playing the fool with his son.