Chapter 236: One Man Sweeps Away the Enemy

"Good heavens, who knows that handsome guy?"

"No idea. He's a new face; I've never seen him before."

"Listening to their accents, they seem to be from out of town, not locals from Jiangnan."

"Could he be some young master from the North? He must have quite the background!"

The onlookers nearby chatted and laughed about what had just happened.

They had expected a catfight, but didn't expect there to be a twist later on.

Zheng Qian hadn't even needed to lift a finger; the people at the table had suppressed the situation, adding plenty of gossip and amusement to the dinner.

Yao Qiuqiu stood by, silently linking her arm with Zheng Qian's.

She hadn't realized that Zheng Qian's influence was so vast, and his social status so high.

She had expected a heated verbal battle, but in the end, it was the man dining at the same table as Zhao Ying who extinguished her arrogance.

"Fine, I'd like to hear how you explain this."

Under the attentive service of Zhang Lekang, Zheng Qian and Yao Qiuqiu were invited into a private room.

The crowd watched the man and woman with linked arms, and the sight of Zhang Lekang bowing his back.

Zhao Ying wore a look of astonishment, her heart filled with boundless regret.

"Sigh..."

Lu Shanshan let out a long sigh over this.

There was much helplessness in her eyes.

Zheng Qian had actually been more than benevolent to her.

It was just that her mother kept coming up with bad ideas, time and time again, angering Zheng Qian.

Zhang Lekang had taken back his money.

Zheng Qian had also demanded 150 million in breach of contract damages!

How was this going to end?!

"Mom, look at the tense situation you've created..."

Lu Shanshan really wanted to say, "Can you stop courting death?"

But no matter who said those words, she couldn't be the one to say them.

Without Zhao Ying raising her, what would she even be?

Inside the private room.

After hearing Zhang Lekang's explanation, Zheng Qian more or less understood.

So, the four of them gathering earlier was Zhao Ying "selling her daughter."

Selling her daughter for 30 million.

It wasn't to say that Lu Shanshan wasn't worth that money.

It was just that Zhao Ying's behavior was... speechless.

Is this something a mother would do?

"Alright, President Zhang, I don't want to bring up those two women again."

"If you have something to say, just say it."

Seeing that Zheng Qian wasn't angry, Zhang Lekang breathed a sigh of relief: "President Zheng, it's actually just a small matter I wanted to discuss with you."

"Do you think it's... convenient for us to talk here?"

Zhang Lekang glanced at Yao Qiuqiu beside Zheng Qian.

"President Zheng, if you're discussing business, I can step out..." Yao Qiuqiu said proactively and tactfully.

"It's fine, no need."

"We're all our own people, there's no such thing as convenient or inconvenient. Just speak directly, don't waste time." Zheng Qian held Yao Qiuqiu back.

Having already rolled in the sheets together, Zhang Lekang's weight in Zheng Qian's heart couldn't compare to Yao Qiuqiu's.

Upon hearing this, Yao Qiuqiu felt a flutter in her heart.

Zheng Qian was willing to let her sit in on such a business discussion?

Favorability +10.

"Alright, President Zheng, then I'll be direct."

Zhang Lekang stated his thoughts; the general idea was that he wanted to cooperate with Zheng Qian to run the cruise ship business together.

Zheng Qian had actually already guessed what Zhang Lekang wanted to say; rushing over so frantically, it was most likely about this matter.

"President Zhang, to be honest, from this afternoon until now, at least twenty people have come to find me."

"If you don't believe me, look."

Zheng Qian took out his phone to show Zhang Lekang; he scrolled through two pages of unread messages that he couldn't even finish, with every chat box showing at least 5 little red dots.

"I can tell you the truth, I really can't manage that cruise ship; it's something I gave to a friend."

Zheng Qian shrugged helplessly.

Zhang Lekang's eyebrows were already furrowed into a deep frown.

He thought Zheng Qian didn't want to discuss cooperation with him.

Before coming, Zhang Lekang had already inquired; that Song Yaxian was Zheng Qian's secretary!

Who would give a luxury cruise ship worth 500 or 600 million to their own secretary?

Yao Qiuqiu, standing on the side, had actually never believed this from the beginning.

This wasn't a watch worth tens of thousands, nor a bag worth hundreds of thousands, but a cruise ship worth hundreds of millions!

Even the "National Husband" didn't have such grand gestures as Zheng Qian!

"Also, President Zhang, aren't you on good terms with Yuehua Shipping and Changsong Shipping?"

"Discussing cooperation with me, isn't that backstabbing your teammates?"

"Hua Yunfeng would get mad at you!"

Zheng Qian's manner was frivolous; he leaned back casually against the chair, his lips curling into a sharp, mocking smile.

After hearing this, Zhang Lekang's expression turned grave, his thoughts in turmoil, as if his chest had been struck hard.

"President Zheng... do you not know yet?"

"Know what?"

"Hua Yunfeng, he... he got into a car accident!"

A car accident?

A tiny spark of joy emerged in the depths of Zheng Qian's heart.

"After the auction ended, probably around one in the afternoon, Hua Yunfeng got into a car accident on the elevated highway and is gone."

"The police autopsy found that the alcohol content in Hua Yunfeng's system was very high, meeting the standard for drunk driving; the accident report has already been issued."

Zhang Jian explained, trembling with fear.

If it weren't for Hua Yunfeng, he wouldn't have dragged his swollen, stroke-stricken foot and rushed to fly to Jiangnan.

He didn't know what others thought, but Zhang Jian knew some inside information.

Some time ago, Hua Yunfeng had discussed this matter with him and Fan Minxue; Zhang Lekang had not agreed, but Hua Yunfeng insisted on doing it.

Now, look what happened; he suffered retaliation from Zheng Qian!

Last time Zheng Qian barely escaped with his life, and this time Hua Yunfeng just died.

Too ruthless!

In Zhang Jian's eyes, the biggest suspect in this matter was Zheng Qian!

It must have been him planning it behind the scenes, doing it so flawlessly that even professional forensic personnel didn't suspect anything.

If this isn't terrifying, what is?

Zhang Lekang discussing cooperation was a small matter; his main goal was to be on good terms with Zheng Qian.

Otherwise, if Zheng Qian categorized him with Hua Yunfeng as first-class targets, he wouldn't even know how he died in the future!

The methods were too ruthless!

After hearing this, Zheng Qian was slightly stunned.

How did Hua Yunfeng just die like that?

Just a while ago, he was still organizing a plot to kill him.

Zheng Qian hadn't even had the chance to take revenge, and Hua Yunfeng had an accident himself?

It's good that he's dead.

It saves Zheng Qian from taking risks and dirtying his own hands.

"I'll consider this matter and give you an answer in a couple of days."

The conditions Zhang Lekang just proposed made Zheng Qian quite tempted; as long as he handed the cruise ship to Zhang Lekang, he would collect some operating fees annually, and all other profits would go to Qianhe Group.

It was equivalent to having him do the hard labor.

Zhang Lekang clearly wanted to use this method to be on good terms with him.

The reason Zheng Qian didn't finalize it immediately was because this cruise ship was indeed bought as a gift for Song Yaxian.

But how could Song Yaxian manage this cruise ship all by herself?

It certainly had to be handed over to a professional team to manage and operate.

That team would definitely be Zheng Qian's Qianhe Group.

Zheng Qian hadn't had the chance to talk to Song Yaxian about it yet, but that was his idea anyway. Getting the agency rights from Song Yaxian shouldn't be a problem, after all, he was the one who paid for it.

Zhang Lekang was overjoyed after hearing this.

He felt fortunate that he hadn't lost the watermelon while picking up the sesame seeds.

If he had offended Zheng Qian for the sake of those two women, Zhao Ying and Lu Shanshan, the consequences would have been unimaginable.

Let alone being on good terms, he estimated that after the auction ended, Zheng Qian would have taken advantage of the power vacuum at Yuehua Shipping to sweep through the Qijinyi Alliance alone and swallow it all up.