Chapter 894 - 894: Shedding the Disguise

Xiao Feng was feeling quite good at the moment because he had just taken stock of the congratulatory gifts sent by the guests.

Speaking of which gift had the highest value, it was undoubtedly Chang Wenhua's seemingly thin stack of papers, which contained a fortune worth millions.

Afterwards, Xiao Feng analyzed it carefully and quickly guessed Chang Wenhua's intention, which was nothing more than using him to compete with Du Linlang.

To this, Xiao Feng didn't feel anything wrong; in fact, he felt this was how it should be.

The reason is simple: no company has ever been able to monopolize all profitable industries.

Not even the people of Korea, who from birth cannot escape the influence of the renowned "Three Stars Group," which is recognized to be as wealthy as a country, can achieve this!

Lanyue Group seemed to be expanding rapidly, but monopolizing the entire Jiangcheng market was impossible.

Even if, for the sake of argument, they could succeed, the ultimate result would only be that they would drive themselves to ruin.

Because when everything and all profits in an industry belong to you, there's nothing truly yours anymore.

You become the sole giant, eating meat, drinking wine, and dripping with oil, while everyone else can only watch enviously, without even a bone to gnaw on, not even a sip of soup. Who would want to play with you then?

So, the likely end is that everyone in the industry will flip the table and break the pot, and no one will get any meat from it.

Xiao Feng believed that Du Linlang understood this principle.

Her eagerness to expand, whether to establish Lanyue Group's position in Jiangcheng or to make quick money, could hardly be aimed at monopolizing the market.

Besides Chang Wenhua's generous gift, the other celebrities were also quite generous, with the gifts valued at no less than 100,000 each.

The standards in the VIP area were even higher, starting at 500,000 and no upper limit, but most were between 700,000 to 800,000.

This made Xiao Feng very suspicious if these people had coordinated in advance on how much to give.

However, even if it was 700,000, with twenty-nine people, they had over 20 million.

This was almost two-thirds of Fenghua Xueyue's investment, not to mention the scattered gifts from other guests, so they had almost recouped the investment.

In Jiangcheng, this was unprecedented!

Just by receiving gifts, Xiao Feng had made back the money, something only he had managed!

"You guys stay at home and take good care of the place, and meanwhile, summarize the lessons learned from this action. Carry on the good aspects and rectify the bad ones." Xiao Feng left these words and went out with Du Qingyue and others.

The evening banquet was mainly attended by the residents of Jinyue Garden.

Everyone sat around and discussed the main topic, which was their previous brush with death.

"Xu Chun and Chen Chunxia, this couple truly proves the old saying that pitiable people must have something detestable about them."

"Their son died, and yet they blame us; I have never heard of such logic."

"No matter how you see it, we're alive, and that's already being very fortunate."

After Xiao Feng arrived, over a hundred people in the private room stood up, clinking glasses and toasting with him.

Receiving a glass of red wine handed over by the waiter, Xiao Feng raised it above his head and drained it in one gulp.

The others in the group also finished their wine and started talking warmly with Xiao Feng.

The connections Xiao Feng showed at the morning's opening ceremony had frightened some people.

Nearly half of the prominent figures in Jiangcheng gathered, and how much influence does that display?

So now, in everyone's eyes, Xiao Feng wasn't just a savior but an indispensable figure they needed to desperately associate with.

...

Just as Xiao Feng was reveling in the festive atmosphere.

At the Jiangcheng Welfare Institute, Nie Longjiao sat by the stone table, one hand on the table, the other clutching her stomach, showing pain on her face.

"Slap!"

The crisp sound rang out, and a cup appeared on the stone table, with a hand holding it.

"Sigh... you've been in contact with cold water again?" Zhao Ce's tone was soft: "I made you some brown sugar water, drink it while it's hot."

These words, in the past, wouldn't have seemed out of place to Nie Longjiao, and she would have been grateful for his concern.

But now, for some reason, she felt so uncomfortable.

"Thanks, I'll be fine in a while." Nie Longjiao replied and stood up to head to the dormitory.

"Longjiao!" Zhao Ce frowned and said, "You might have issues with me, but your health is your own. Drink the brown sugar water before resting."

Hearing this, Nie Longjiao paused. She knew Zhao Ce's personality, and if she didn't drink it, he would keep pestering her until the sugar water went cold.

Thinking of this, she turned around, walked back to the stone table, and drank the brown sugar water.

However, she didn't notice that at the moment she lifted the cup, a fierce glint flashed in Zhao Ce's eyes.

"How is it? Does it taste good?" Zhao Ce sneered, his expression no longer like the usual gentleman, but like a beast shedding its disguise to reveal its savage nature.

Nie Longjiao's eyes widened in shock: "Is there something wrong with the sugar water?"

"Of course!" Zhao Ce said smugly, "It seems you still trust me. Once the rice is cooked, we can leave with 5,367,000, move to a new city, and start a brand-new life.

Are you feeling sleepy, wanting to sleep?

Sleep, and when you wake up, it will be a whole new life."

"You!" Nie Longjiao's eyes blazed with fury.

But as she took a step forward, she stumbled and fell to the ground.

She wanted to scream but couldn't, and she didn't even have the strength to use a killer move, only feeling her eyelids getting heavier, like under the weight of a thousand pounds, hard to resist.

In desperation, Nie Longjiao bit her tongue, using the brief moment of clarity to repeatedly press the power button five times through her pocket.

This was now a standard feature of smartphones; when this function is enabled, pressing the power button five times would automatically send the current location and pre-set help message to the preset emergency contact's phone.

And Nie Longjiao's emergency contact was her parents' phone number.

Her vision blurred even more, and her eyelids grew heavier.

She wasn't sure if she had successfully activated the "emergency help" function, only praying that her old phone wouldn't fail her at the critical moment.

Before losing consciousness completely, she heard Xiao Feng's earlier advice: "Always be cautious when eating or drinking, especially anything from Zhao Ce; if you can avoid it, do so."

Unfortunately, she still fell for it!

There wasn't time for regret as her consciousness faded away.

Zhao Ce approached the unconscious Nie Longjiao with a sneer, and just then, Nie Longjiao's phone rang.

He took out the phone and saw "Dad" on the screen.

After hesitating for a moment, Zhao Ce answered the call, speaking gently: "Hello, sir, I'm Longjiao's colleague. She's taking a bath. Is there anything you need?"

"Just now, Longjiao texted us, saying she's in danger and that we should call the police immediately. What's happened?" Nie Shouping asked anxiously.

Zhao Ce feigned surprise and said: "Nothing is wrong; she must have sent it by mistake. Her phone has a virus, don't believe it..."