Chapter 810: Chapter 806: Clichés
“Yo, Brother Ye, come in, come in!”
The speaker was a middle-aged man, around forty years old, with a beer belly, a round face, a bald head, and a big nose, his face greasy. He was holding a microphone, and as he spoke, the whole private room buzzed.
Four scantily clad women with heavy makeup surrounded him, all looking over.
There was only one man in the room, so the identity of this bald man was obvious. He was Zhang Kun, the manager at Hongguang Real Estate.
Zhang Kun thought it over for a while but couldn’t recall where he had seen this person in front of him. However, being a businessman, being naturally sociable was a key skill, so he greeted Ye Fan warmly, “Brother Ye, why are you so late? We’ve been waiting for you for over ten minutes!”
With that, he personally poured three glasses of wine, “Penalty of three drinks!”
In the world of drinking buddies, the key is the word ‘drink.’ One drink to be an acquaintance, two drinks to be friends, three drinks you’re close.
Ye Fan put on a smile, walked in, and without a word, picked up the three glasses in order and downed them. Zhang Kun was taken aback, then clapped his hands: “Good, good, Brother Ye, you’re a straightforward person!”
Seeing that Ye Fan was on the right track, Zhang Kun poured another two glasses, and the two of them downed one together.
The woman who opened the door, wearing short shorts, picked up the microphone, “Brother Zhang, would you like to keep singing?”
Zhang Kun gave Ye Fan a knowing look, “Brother Zhang, would you like to sing one?”
‘Barge Hauler’s Love,’ what the hell kind of taste is that? Ye Fan shook his head, “Forget it, I’m tone-deaf, I’ll pass.”
“Then I’ll finish this song first,” Zhang Kun said with a smile and then turned to the heavily made-up woman beside him, “Xiao Li, go pour Brother Ye a drink.”
The woman called Xiao Li laughed happily, squeezed over in black stockings and short skirt, her cleavage evident, clung to Ye Fan’s side, and poured a drink, “Handsome, have a drink?”
The strong smell of perfume immediately overwhelmed him. Although the woman was called Xiao Li, the heavy makeup couldn’t disguise her age — she was at least past thirty-five. It seemed only Zhang Kun, with such unique tastes, would find her appealing.
Ye Fan waved his hand, “I can’t drink anymore.”
“How can that be?” Xiao Li leaned over again, clearly trying to pull a cougar move on him.
Ye Fan felt nauseated and quickly moved aside. Xiao Li was about to lean over again but was stopped by Ye Fan as he casually picked up a knock-off LV women’s bag from the table and placed it between them.
“Haha.” Xiao Li laughed awkwardly, somewhat disappointed.
After a while, Zhang Kun finally finished his pig-like wailing, slapped the thigh of Xiao Li, who was playing Fruit Crush, noticing her unhappy look. He teased, “You look unsatisfied, I’ll let you experience my new tricks tonight!”
Sitting down, he said to Ye Fan, “Sorry, Brother Ye, I just love to sing. If I don’t finish a song, I feel uncomfortable all over. Let me at least self-impose a drink!” Saying this, he picked up the glass Xiao Li poured and downed it in one go.
“Not at all. I think Brother Zhang’s singing has about seventy or eighty percent of Liu Dehua’s essence,” Ye Fan complimented.
This flattery hit the spot, and Zhang Kun laughed out loud.
Zhang Kun found Ye Fan more and more pleasing to the eye, and after another ten or so drinks, Zhang Kun was a bit tipsy. Ye Fan, sensing it was about time, suddenly said, “Actually, I lied. Before this, I hadn’t actually met Brother Zhang.”
Zhang Kun shook his head abruptly, staring fixedly at Ye Fan, his smile faded, “Oh?”
“I was introduced by Wang Qiang from the west of the city,” Ye Fan said, secretly observing Zhang Kun.
The corner of the pudgy bald man’s mouth twitched unnaturally, his gaze flickered as he examined Ye Fan, waiting for him to continue.
No doubt about it, Ye Fan thought, and continued, “Brother Zhang, you may not know, but my boss set his sights on that piece of land at the makeup factory a long time ago. We were negotiating with the county planning bureau then, but Mo Yan Group suddenly barged in. I don’t know what those guys at the planning bureau were thinking, but without a word, they signed a contract with Mo Yan Group.”
Zhang Kun suddenly asked, “Who is your boss?”
Ye Fan replied, “My boss’s surname is Xu.”
In the Mingde County business circle, there are quite a few people with the surname Xu, but only one stands out, the owner of Mingfeng Fertilizer Factory, who often dines and plays cards with county leaders.
Ye Fan mentioned President Xu to take the fall for a reason. As the deputy of the police bureau, he often had to deal with these bosses, and Mingfeng Fertilizer Factory was preparing to build a new plant, which was documented. Ye Fan had just seen it recently.
“Is it that President Xu?” Zhang Kun blinked and asked.
Ye Fan said nothing, neither nodding nor shaking his head. Some things are best left implied. Letting Zhang Kun imagine it was more convincing than saying it outright.
Sure enough, the vigilance on Zhang Kun’s face immediately disappeared, “No wonder lately, people from your company have been coming here often. Looks like there’s going to be some action!”
“It’s like being delivered a pillow when you’re sleepy.” Ye Fan thought to himself.
Zhang Kun quickly poured two more glasses, and after a few more rounds of drinking, Zhang Kun finally lowered his voice, saying, “Since Brother Ye, you were introduced by Wang Qiang, you must know some things. Honestly, our company doesn’t get along with Mo Yan Group either, and Wang Qiang causing trouble at the cosmetics plant was actually at the behest of our big boss!”
“Big boss?” Ye Fan showed a puzzled expression.
“Hehe,” Zhang Kun burped, clearly a bit drunk. When people drink too much, they like to boast. “Although our company is run by Boss Li, there’s a big boss behind the scenes named Xie Liping. Not to brag, but this Boss Xie is an impressive figure with seven or eight major companies under his command and assets worth billions. For the big boss to go after Mo Yan Group is just a matter of lifting a finger!”
Zhang Kun put his hand on Ye Fan’s shoulder, “This matter, Brother Ye, you can’t spread around!”
“How could I?” Ye Fan quickly nodded, reached his left hand into his pants pocket, turned off the recording pen, and raised his glass with his right hand, “Come, Brother Zhang, let’s drink!”
Half an hour later, leaving behind a completely wasted Zhang Kun, Ye Fan walked out of the private room, went downstairs, got into a Volkswagen, and called Mo Xiaoyan.
“Hello, brother-in-law, are you thinking of me?” Mo Xiaoyan asked.
“Don’t talk yet,” Ye Fan said, “Let me play you a recording.”
He turned on the recording pen, pressed the fast-forward button, and soon, Zhang Kun’s voice came on, “… Since Brother Ye, you were introduced by Wang Qiang… it was actually at the behest of our big boss… there’s a big boss behind the scenes named Xie Liping… For the big boss to go after Mo Yan Group is just a matter of lifting a finger…”
After turning off the recording pen, there was a long silence on the other end of the phone.
Ye Fan asked, “Do you know this Xie Liping?”
“Hmm,” Mo Xiaoyan hesitated, “I just didn’t expect him to be that kind of person!”
“No, brother-in-law, you’ve already helped me a lot; I’ll handle the rest myself,” Mo Xiaoyan said.
Ye Fan thought for a moment, knowing this stubborn girl was doing it again, he had no choice but to say, “Alright, take care of it yourself, and you can come to me if you need anything.”