Was everything going well?

It appeared that everything had unfolded as anticipated by Rong Shaobai.

Jiang Xiaochuan sat across from him and remarked, “Among all the players in the game, there are probably few who can appreciate the art of making tea as well as you do now.”

Or perhaps none at all.

This time’s confrontation was essentially orchestrated by Rong Shaobai behind the scenes. If it were a gamble, there would only be one victor – Rong Shaobai.

Rong Shaobai’s eyes narrowed with a smile at Jiang Xiaochuan’s observation, exuding a relaxed demeanor. He held the ear of the pot in one hand and gently pressed the body of the pot with the fingers of the other. The tea belly of the protruding purple porcelain pot was round and emitted a soft glow, yet its surface was not entirely smooth. It was evident that the quality of the porcelain was exceptional.

Instead of directly addressing Jiang Xiaochuan’s comment, Rong Shaobai shifted the conversation to the purple porcelain pot: “In the mountains of Yixing, a purple porcelain pot stamped with a seal costs one yuan; halfway up the mountain, it becomes two yuan; at the foot of the mountain, it may fetch five to ten yuan; once out of the mountains and into the country, the lowest price for a purple porcelain teapot is hundreds of thousands – the disparity is immense.”

The purple porcelain teapot was a premium tea set, with Yixing producing the finest quality, and the Gongchun teapot being the most widely recognized among them. However, many people were unaware of why purple porcelain teapots were so expensive; they only know of their high price tag.

Rong Shaobai seemed well-versed in this aspect, but the purpose behind his explanation remained unclear. It didn’t seem to be a directly relevant topic.

Jiang Xiaochuan didn’t interrupt, just listened.

Rong Shaobai poured the tea, his movements were very gentle. “Drugs in Southeast Asia, in the Golden Triangle, pure heroin is sold by the ton. When it reaches the Dian River, it is sold by the kilogram. When it reaches Chengzhou—the place where drugs flow most frequently in the country—the money is already calculated according to grams.”

He started to hear something; Rong Shaobai was also a master of conversation.

“In Chengzhou, it is not difficult to get guns. The gangs in the municipality next to us almost have their own arsenal. To be honest, the gangs in Chengzhou have no advantage over them other than being larger in size. Getting the gun is very simple, but getting big orders is difficult. What is even more difficult is the ammunition, just ordinary bullets. If you make it privately, the technology is not up to par, and problems often occur. If you buy it, it’s the same as buying purple porcelain pots and drugs. If you want me, Rong Shaobai, to lose face and argue with others about the price at which a bullet should be purchased, I can’t do it.”

“It hasn’t been long since I took over the Rong Group. The old and the new have replaced each other, and the direction of development is also different. Those who don’t meet the requirements or make demands beyond my expectations must be blocked. Therefore, provoking a fight between the Qingtuan and Hong families is an approach that kills two birds with one stone. The Qingtuan and Hong families are driving up the prices of drugs, guns, and ammunition in order to squeeze out the Rong family. A few days ago, I talked to the people from the Military Region, we agreed and got a batch of guns and ammunition, and used people who seemed to have nothing to do with the Rong family to release the news and throw them out at low prices. In the past, the Rong family had always been the dominant force in this area, but this time we did not interfere. Qingtuan and Hong families, because of mutual interest issues, compete for this business, and with my instigation, a fight is inevitable.”

“So, the final result is the good show yesterday.”

Rong Shaobai arranged the cups on the table. Opening one, his slender fingers were clasped on the rim of the dark purple porcelain cup, full of classical elegance and nobility. Just looking at him like this, without mentioning his identity, he really looked like the hermit who did not partake in the world’s affairs.

Jiang Xiaochuan also had a cup in front of him, but his eyes fell on Rong Shaobai’s face, which didn’t have an overly intense expression. However, some clues came together in his mind: “So, Qiu Yi’s case is actually just a cover. That’s when you started this plan, right? You found someone from the military region who could cooperate with you, or this collaborator already existed. Then, with the help of the outbreak of the case, you gave yourself no choice but to provide sufficient excuse to participate in this dispute over cheap guns and ammunition. Otherwise, how could the Qingtuan and Hong families start fighting so unscrupulously? They dared to do this only after they determined that you, the Rong family, were not a threat.” Although, in the end, the Qingtuan and Hong families, were still completely faded by Rong Shaobai.

Rong Shaobai expressed surprise that Jiang Xiaochuan could figure out the key to this so quickly. He raised his eyebrows: “Mayor Jiang responded very quickly. This Rong has to wonder if you got any news before. I heard someone said, that a reporter named Xue Cuiming has been secretly investigating the Rong family.”

Xue Cuiming?

Jiang Xiaochuan was stunned for a moment, and then realized that Rong Shaobai was talking about Xue Yan. He suddenly felt the urge to laugh. He pressed his eyebrows, shook his head, and smiled: “I don’t know.”

Rong Shaobai didn’t like that response. As if he wanted to say more about Xue Yan, he just said one more sentence: “Just because I don’t touch Xue Yan doesn’t mean that others can’t touch him. In a place like the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, if he doesn’t have any backing, what he is doing now is no less than seeking death.”

People who had an excessive sense of justice usually didn’t end well.

However, Jiang Xiaochuan’s behavior was very cold, which was beyond Rong Shaobai’s expectation. Jiang Xiaochuan actually said: “For such a person, one more person is not much of him, and one person less than him is not more much, so that’s it.”

It sounded like Jiang Xiaochuan really didn’t care about Xue Yan’s life and death, as if he had nothing to do with this person. Not even friendship.