The three of them were startled, their gazes all focused on the small business card.
The blue and white business card was simple, only showing the words "Tang Dan, Shengxuan Real Estate," and a phone number.
It was undoubtedly the same person they had been talking about.
But the brief excitement was followed by a deep sense of disappointment.
Li Huiran shook her head weakly. "I don't know where you got this card, but what's the use of just knowing him? There's no way he'd do you a favor."
Chen Dong said nonchalantly, "We can always try."
Li Jianwen said with a contemptuous look, "Don't tell me you picked this card up off the street! Why waste your energy? Tang Dan probably doesn't even know who you are."
While the father and daughter didn't believe Tang Dan would do Chen Dong a favor, only Elder Li believed him.
"Will he listen to you?"
Chen Dong shrugged. "I don't know. We can try."
Elder Li nodded.
Chen Dong took out his phone, dialed the number on the card, and put it on speaker so the Li Family could hear.
After two rings, the call connected quickly.
"Hello? Who is this?" a rather authoritative voice asked.
Chen Dong said calmly, "This is Chen Dong."
Immediately, the voice on the other end became incredibly excited. The authoritativeness vanished, replaced by a warm and gentle tone.
"What? You're Mr. Chen? This is wonderful! You've finally called me. I've been waiting for your call all this time."
This shocked the father and daughter. Chen Dong actually knew Tang Dan.
Before Chen Dong could speak, the man on the other end continued, "Are you free right now? How about I come pick you up?"
Chen Dong replied nonchalantly, "No, I'm still at work."
The father and daughter exchanged a look. They could tell that the two not only knew each other, but might even have a good relationship. 'But you're the one asking for a favor,' they thought, bewildered. 'He offered to come pick you up, and you just said you were at work?'
Listening on the side, the father and daughter grew anxious.
"Then... Then are you free after work?"
Chen Dong remembered he had to brew more medicine for Elder Li today; the last batch had been almost completely absorbed. He replied, "I'm not free after work either."
This made the father and daughter even more anxious. 'You're not free after work either? What in the world are you doing!?' One of them fidgeted restlessly on the sofa; the other's fingers clawed at the table. They desperately wanted to snatch the phone and speak for him.
"When are you free? About that matter from last time..."
Chen Dong cut him off. "Mr. Tang, I'm calling this time to ask you for a favor."
The father and daughter instantly focused, perking up their ears, afraid to miss a single word. At the same time, a small spark of hope ignited within them.
"Mr. Chen, just say the word."
"You have a piece of land called Land Plot No. 5, right? Just don't sell it."
The father and daughter both swallowed hard. With their ears perked, they could almost hear their own heartbeats.
"A small matter, Mr. Chen. If you say not to sell it, then I won't sell it."
Li Jianwen and Li Huiran's eyes widened in utter disbelief. 'The problem they had been powerless to solve was taken care of just like that?'
Chen Dong seemed to be in a hurry. Seeing the matter resolved, he immediately said, "Alright, it's settled. I have other things to do, so I'm hanging up now!"
The voice on the other end quickly said, "You must come see me when you're free! I still haven't..."
Before he could finish, Chen Dong had already hung up.
This left the three members of the Li Family speechless. Wasn't Chen Dong afraid of offending the man?
Elder Li said earnestly, "Xiaodong! You can't be so casual when dealing with people!"
Chen Dong said with a serious expression, "It's not that, Grandpa. That guy is super stingy. I don't want to talk to him more than I have to!"
Curiosity filled Li Huiran's eyes as she asked, "How is he stingy? And how do you know him? Why would he listen to you on a matter like this?"
Chen Dong pouted. "When I was coming to Jiangzhou, I passed through Tianjiang City and happened to save his life. I didn't get any actual reward for it. He just gave me a business card and told me to look him up when I had time."
The three of them had a sudden realization. No wonder. It was a life-debt.
Li Jianwen got another idea. "Chen Dong, can you ask him to sell Land Plot No. 5 to us?"
Chen Dong shook his head.
With the matter resolved, Chen Dong played a few games of chess with Elder Li before returning to his office.
He looked at his game screen, shaking his head and sighing. "Sheng Yi He Huan" had killed "Tianxia Diyi".
That's right, he'd been killed again. And by the warrior who had helped him level up, no less.
He opened his friends list, found the warrior's name—Sheng Yi He Huan—and began to send a "friendly" greeting.
He sent one line of curses, and got dozens back in return.
Chen Dong felt utterly stifled. He couldn't win in a fight, and he couldn't win in a shouting match.
With a ruthless resolve, he began his journey of pay-to-win once more.
At quitting time, Li Huiran sent a message telling Chen Dong to wait for her in the parking lot, as she had a few last things to wrap up.
So, Chen Dong went to the parking lot first. He didn't find Li Huiran, but he did find a man in his thirties.
The man wasn't tall, had a short crew cut and a common-looking face. His muscles were well-proportioned, but he radiated a biting killing intent as he walked purposefully toward Chen Dong.
The crew-cut man stopped three meters from Chen Dong. "My name is Ke Si. Patriarch Huang suspects you killed his son and Huang Wenlong!"
Chen Dong cracked his neck and asked, "And?"
"Guess it's your bad luck to have offended the Huang Family. And they hired me!" After speaking, he took a fierce step forward, spun, and launched a roundhouse kick. A sonic boom echoed, a testament to the kick's incredible speed and power.
Chen Dong raised his right leg high, a half-moon afterimage tracing its path, and blocked the powerful kick without moving an inch.
Ke Si quickly retreated. "To be able to take a blow with thirty percent of my strength... it seems it really was you."
Though he said that, he had actually used seventy to eighty percent of his strength.
Chen Dong said flatly, "I don't look for trouble. Why does trouble always seem to find me?"
"What's the use of saying all that? Come and try this move at fifty percent of my power."
Ke Si took a two-step running start, gathering True Qi in his knee. He launched a ferocious flying knee strike at Chen Dong with the force of a tidal wave.
Chen Dong chuckled. 'Interesting.' He gathered his qi into a fist and struck Ke Si's knee directly.
CRACK! Ke Si's kneecap, along with his femur, shattered.
Standing on one leg, Ke Si broke out in a cold sweat from the pain but didn't make a sound. He just wondered, 'How can this young man be so strong? I used my full power, yet I'm the one with a broken leg.'
"Now it's your turn to taste a blow with half of my strength."
Chen Dong suddenly vanished from Ke Si's sight. Then, he felt as if his back had been hit by a speeding heavy truck, and his entire body was sent flying more than ten meters.
As he flew through the air, one word surfaced in Ke Si's mind: 'Grandmaster!'
After landing heavily, he was somehow still alive. He quickly shouted, "Don't... don't kill me! I won't expose your strength."
Chen Dong was speechless, feeling like his intelligence had been insulted. A high-level True Qi expert had been beaten to a bloody pulp; how could he possibly not expose his strength?
However, he had no intention of killing him. This was the Li Group's parking lot, after all.
Ke Si's purpose was more to test him than anything else.
It didn't matter whether he killed him or not. The man was already crippled.
By the time Li Huiran came downstairs, Ke Si had already been carried away by two underlings.
When Li Huiran saw Chen Dong by the car, she narrowed her beautiful, bright eyes and smiled gently at him. "Get in."
Chen Dong stood motionless, arms crossed over his chest. "What's your scheme?"
Li Huiran gave a dazzling smile. "No scheme. I just wanted to ask about Land Plot No. 5..."
Chen Dong shook his head. "Impossible. Absolutely impossible!"
"A two-hundred-thousand bonus," Li Huiran said decisively.
Chen Dong quickly whipped out his phone and dialed a number. "Hello, Mr. Tang?"