Chapter 2345 — The Wrong Door

Still, it seemed Gu Pengzhan had no objection to that, and as for Gu Mengyao—if she could accept Tang Yun and Feng Xiaoxiao, she might well accept Sun Jingyan too. That thought set Qing Bo's mind at ease.

The family was talking happily among themselves when the door of the private room was pushed open. They had assumed it was the waiter bringing the dishes, but the person who entered was no waiter—rather, a man who looked like a lobby manager.

"Sorry, everyone. Our chairman just telephoned to say that you are unwelcome guests at our Arctic Ocean Seafood Restaurant, and to ask you to leave on your own." The lobby manager spoke these words flatly the moment he entered, giving no one a chance to ask a question.

Gu Pengzhan had not expected Lei Daming to actually go through with it. Pressuring the chairman behind the restaurant to send a man over and show Gu Pengzhan the door—this was a slap in the face, and a thoroughly vicious one at that. Even business rivals, as a rule, did not do such things, for it would not only make Lei Daming seem treacherous, but would leave absolutely no room for compromise between him and Gu Pengzhan.

"How is your restaurant run? What rule says you can just ask guests to leave?" Gu Pengzhan had restaurants of his own among his holdings in Songshan City, but he had never pulled anything like this. Even when his competitors came, they were received with every courtesy.

"What our chairman says is the rule," the lobby manager said blandly. "If you will not leave, we will have to call in the security department. The chairman said courtesy comes before force, so I hope you will all make your choice as quickly as possible!"

A threat—a bare, undisguised threat! Gu Pengzhan truly felt that Lei Daming had gone too far. What kind of way was this to do business? It had a distinct whiff of gang boss about it.

The lobby manager's words were followed by a chill silence.

Gu Pengzhan felt rather like a scholar who had run into a soldier. Wei Zhao, meanwhile, frowned and was about to speak—but before he could open his mouth, someone did.

"Boss, I'm here!" Han Xiaopo burst into the private room at that moment. He seemed not to notice the awkward atmosphere, and instead rattled on to Wei Zhao: "Sorry about that. I rushed the whole way, but this restaurant is a bit far from my home... Heh heh, to make up for my lateness, it's my treat!"

"Your treat? No need for that. You came for nothing—you're all people our chairman doesn't welcome, so you can go!" The lobby manager found it rather amusing. This fellow clearly had no idea what had happened here, and still wanted to play host?

"?" Han Xiaopo was taken aback. Only then did he notice that the man before him was not dressed as a waiter but as a lobby manager, and a moment later he picked up on the strange atmosphere in the room—and on Wei Zhao's furrowed brow!

What the hell! Who was the chairman of this restaurant? Han Xiaopo was genuinely astonished. Was the man deranged? He would even drive Wei Zhao away, of all people? And call them unwelcome?

Of course, there was no need for the boss to lift a finger—he, the underling, could take care of this. The Han family had kept a low profile in the past, but that did not mean Han Xiaopo would keep his head down after what was done to Wei Zhao. This man actually had the nerve to tell him that they were all unwelcome guests?

"Who the hell do you think you are?" Han Xiaopo said furiously.

"Huh?" The lobby manager's eyes went wide. He had not expected this latecomer to be so hot-tempered, even more full of himself than he was.

"Tell your chairman my name is Han Xiaopo, of East Sea City's hidden Han family. If he doesn't welcome me, I don't welcome him either. He can get the hell out of East Sea City tomorrow—my family will take over his hotels and his businesses!" Han Xiaopo's voice was not loud, but it carried the weight of authority. East Sea City's hidden Han family had that kind of backing. For years they had kept a low profile and stirred up no trouble, but they were not afraid of trouble either!

Other things could be endured, but an insult to the boss—never!

"Hid... hidden Han family?" The lobby manager froze. He might not be important enough to come into contact with that world, but as the lobby manager of East Sea City's most luxurious restaurant, he had heard that the city harbored two great families—the hidden Zhao family and the hidden Han family—two colossi no one could afford to provoke!

And so the lobby manager's expression changed. The hidden Han family—at the very mention of it he lost his composure, and with none of the arrogance he had shown upon entering the room, he blurted out: "My apologies—I've come to the wrong door!"

Then he tucked his tail between his legs and fled, a woebegone look on his face, to call the chairman.

The lobby manager vaguely knew that the chairman had some power and connections, but they seemed neither great nor deep, so he wisely chose to swallow his anger.

"Chairman Zhao..." The lobby manager put through a call to Zhao Guangsi, chairman of the Guangsi Group behind the Arctic Ocean Seafood Restaurant.

"Well? The task I gave you—is it done?" Zhao Guangsi asked.

"Chairman Zhao, we have trouble. Someone from the hidden Han family has shown up—he says his name is Han Xiaopo, and he's with the very people in that private room you wanted thrown out!" the lobby manager said, his face twisted with dismay. "The moment he arrived he was shouting that you should get out of East Sea City and that his family would take over your businesses..."

"What! The hidden Han family? What are they doing here?" Zhao Guangsi was thrown into alarm by the lobby manager's words. He had never imagined the hidden Han family would intervene! Didn't the hidden Han family stay out of business? Why were they meddling in this of all things?

Zhao Guangsi's head began to ache. In the past he would not have feared the hidden Han family, for two reasons: first, he had claimed kinship with Zhao Guangyin, the young heir of the hidden Zhao family, making him an outer business member of that family; he paid the hidden Zhao family a great deal of money every year, and naturally they supported him.

Second, before the Hidden World Family Summit, the hidden Han family had been small and declining, a clan the great hidden houses all wanted to carve up. But after the Hidden World Family Summit, the winds had changed abruptly: the hidden Han family had miraculously secured its footing, and the hidden Zhao family seemed to hold them in some wariness now, no longer suppressing them as before.

As an outer member, Zhao Guangsi did not know the inside story, but he did know that the hidden Han family was not to be trifled with. What was more, he had already been thoroughly marginalized by the hidden Zhao family—he had been dragged into the fallout from what happened with his son Zhao Fafa.

Of course, because he still paid tribute to Zhao Guangyin and still handed the hidden Zhao family large sums every month, he had quickly regained his footing in East Sea City—but he would never again rise to a higher stage.

The hidden Zhao family had picked a new business representative: the chairman of the East Sea Chamber of Commerce, Lei Daming.

It had been Lei Daming's order just now that had him throwing people out. He could not possibly defy Lei Daming's demands, for he and Lei Daming belonged to the same faction.

Clearly this was a case of kicking an iron plate. He would have to make things clear to Lei Daming; the hidden Han family would have to be suppressed by someone from the hidden Zhao family. But Zhao Guangsi did not have the clout to summon anyone from the hidden Zhao family—Lei Daming, however, did.

"I understand. Don't do anything rash for now—serve them their dishes as usual and stay out of sight. I'll arrange for someone else to go over!" Zhao Guangsi said.

"Yes, Chairman Zhao!" the lobby manager said hastily.