Chapter 272: Lu Lingyun’s request

Bai Xiaofei didn’t meet with the nine bosses immediately as Chu Qingtian requested, but had him shoulder the pressure for now and arrange for them to rest until tomorrow.

Bai Xiaofei could fool normal merchants all he wanted, but facing these kinds of elites from the big groups, meeting them unprepared could possibly mean throwing all efforts down the drain, just like how he had been totally crushed by Chu Qingtian before…

Therefore, Bai Xiaofei planned to use that afternoon and night to catch up on the information on these nine groups, and the ‘teacher’ who was going to fill him in on this overlooked lesson was naturally the one who wasn’t participating – the Babel Merchant House.

If someone asked you who knew you best, the answer would definitely be your opponent. The Babel Merchant House was the long-time rival of two-thirds of the nine businesses. Moreover, Zhuang Ming and co. were more than happy to help out Bai Xiaofei at this time. In Bai Xiaofei’s words, they were now grasshoppers tied to the same rope. The more he earned, the further the Babel Merchant House would be away from danger.

To this end, the three people Zhuang Ming recommended really spared no effort to teach Bai Xiaofei, afraid to miss any important points. It was so intense that when Bai Xiaofei left, he felt like he had been competing with those merchant groups for a dozen years!

The nine big merchant groups started up in their own different ways. Just as the Babel Merchant House relied mainly on gambling stalls, the rest had their own distinguishing features. However, they also never limited themselves to those features and they extended their reach into various fields as time passed. Consequently, it was competition among the nine groups instead of each minding their own field in peace, so fierce to the point that there were members of every group being quietly assassinated every year…

In a nutshell, the competition among the nine merchant groups was far more intense than Bai Xiaofei had imagined.

Apart from the competition among the nine major merchant groups, Bai Xiaofei also had the other three who were coming basically figured out.

The Hundred Flavor House and the Thousand Aroma Restaurant were a pair of old rivals whose relationship was just like KFC and McDonald's. Where there was one, there must be the other. These two both followed the high-end route and covered all major cuisines on the continent. Like a copy-paste from Starnet, the situation in the other parts of the continent was either the Hundred Flavor House had the upper hand or the Thousand Aroma Restaurant had the upper hand.

This seesaw battle had lasted for hundreds of years!

However, one thing that couldn’t be denied was that this kind of competition also forced the two to keep improving, thus leaving other restaurants far behind. So, sometimes it wasn’t a bad thing to have an equal opponent.

As for the last one – the Phoenix Cry Pavilion, it was a legend.

The first leader of the Phoenix Cry Pavilion was a Starnet graduate, and she was the top in the Blossom Ranking of her time. Under her leadership, what had been a small street performing group back then had become today's colossus.

After that, the Phoenix Cry Pavilion seemed to have an unspoken tradition: anyone who took over as head of the group must be the No.1 of Starnet’s Blossom Ranking, but this requirement was really a bit high, that was why the Phoenix Cry Pavilion had only changed three heads so far. The current leader was about the same age as Lei Min. This was also an important reason why they sent someone this time. They needed a new leader! And even if they couldn’t find a new leader, it was still a good thing to replenish their reserve troops.

So, although tomorrow's meeting hadn’t come yet, the degree of excitement was palpable. Even Bai Xiaofei was starting to look forward to it!

Nursing a heavy head as he returned to the Demon of Illusions, Bai Xiaofei was going to share the joy with Chu Liuyun and the others and then go straight to rest, but unexpectedly, someone had been waiting for him there all night.

It was Lu Lingyun.

Originally, Lu Lingyun still had time to struggle. He really hadn’t lied when he told Bai Xiaofei that the headquarter inspector would take at least two weeks. However, no one could have predicted that the movement from Starnet would push up the date by more than ten days!

The current Thousand Aroma Restaurant compared with the Hundred Flavor House was like earth and heaven, so an assessment was simply not needed. If it weren’t that Lu Lingyun learned the reason why the inspector came early, and that the reason also had something to do with him, he would have packed up, ready to scram already.

So now, Bai Xiaofei was truly his last lifeline!

After explaining everything to Bai Xiaofei, Lu Lingyun sank into silence, not because he didn't believe Bai Xiaofei, but because the movement from Starnet this time was too big.

If nothing else, the person from the Thousand Aroma headquarters alone was someone who could shake the entire business with a stomp of his foot, one of the three executives – Qian Chonglou. The surname Qian was already telling of his extraordinary identity as an immediate member of the family clan that owned the Thousand Aroma Restaurant.

As for the other eight, their identity was basically on the same level as that of Qian Chonglou, so Lu Lingyun really didn’t think Bai Xiaofei had any chance to turn the tide…

“I see. Just go back to tell that executive that you have received my assurance. At that time, there will be a bias towards you guys. But I hope he is understanding and is a wise man. After all, I am only a student.”

Only a student…

That indeed seemed to be the case, but to think carefully, had Bai Xiaofei ever looked like a serious student?

However, Lu Lingyun couldn’t think of this. He was busy being shocked by Bai Xiaofei’s words. He really didn't expect that Bai Xiaofei would be so straightforward to help!

“Lil’ Brother Bai, I, Lu Lingyun, will remember your kindness. As long as you need me for anything in the future, I will go through fire and water, through a mountain of blades and boiling oil for you without frowning,” said Lu Lingyun fluently and skillfully.

“Alright, I’ll remember this. Maybe it won't be long before I need you to go through a mountain of blades and boiling oil. If you frown then, I'll have a good talk with you, Big Bro,” said Bai Xiaofei with a serious face. Lu Lingyun was dumbstruck a little.

After two seconds of embarrassment, Lu Lingyun laughed.

“You nearly scared me, Lil’ Bro Bai. You’re good at joking.”

Lu Lingyun acted like it had dawned on him that it was a joke, but there was no response from Bai Xiaofei, who only sat there quietly looking at him.

His laughter came to an abrupt end as he gulped hard.

He’s serious?! But what can I do for him? Is there something else I don't know about this kid?!

A series of questions flooded Lu Lingyun's mind, and his gaze on Bai Xiaofei grew complicated in the process.

After quietly taking in Lu Lingyun’s reaction, Bai Xiaofei finally revealed a smile.

“It's getting late. Old Bro Lu, you should go back. Your executive should be waiting. Don't let him wait too long.”

As Bai Xiaofei’s voice rang out, Lu Lingyun, who was still in doubt, slowly stood up and left. Even after exiting the Demon of Illusions, he still hadn’t figured out what Bai Xiaofei meant.

In fact, Lu Lingyun couldn’t be blamed. Bai Xiaofei himself had just acted on a whim, an idea that had only popped up on the spot.

It’d be so fun to scoop out someone’s wall1, wouldn’t it?

1. The phrase ‘to dig under someone’s wall’ means trying to steal a person from someone (like stealing someone’s lover, or a talented person from an organization, etc.)↩