OFR – Chapter 259 Rong’s Attack!

At this moment, after thinking for a while, Mu Bai shook his head and stopped dwelling on it.

It was already past 7 PM. Feeling drowsy, he got into the bed he had made and quickly fell asleep.

In the quiet of the night, Mu Bai soon drifted off into dreamland.

Meanwhile, the lights in the living room were still on.

As a diligent live-in assistant, Li Xiaoqing had not only cleaned up all the dishes but also tidied the villa’s living room and several bedrooms. She even put Mu Bai’s previously worn clothes into the automatic washing machine.

Clearly, this girl was working hard to live up to her high-paying job that brought in a monthly salary of 100,000 yuan.

While Li Xiaoqing busied herself, time slipped by.

In the blink of an eye, it was already 9 PM.

At this time, not far from Xuanwu Zhongshan, in another top-tier luxury neighborhood known as Huan Zijin, on the fourth floor of a luxurious villa—

Two young men, both around twenty-seven or twenty-eight, were sitting in comfortable, plush seats, sipping red wine while enjoying the stunning night view of Nanjing’s Huan Zijin area from above.

After they downed a glass of expensive Romanée-Conti, one of them—a very average-looking young man, almost like any passerby—spoke calmly and directly:

“So, Young Master Li, now that you’ve finished your wine, what do you think?”

Young Master Li?

Indeed, sitting across from this seemingly ordinary man was none other than Li Shaofeng, the eldest son of the Li Group, a powerful figure ranked sixth on Nanjing’s Rich List.

Yet what made him truly terrifying wasn’t his own strength, but the enormous Li Group behind him, which held sway across all of southern China.

His father, Li Lingyun, was also a super tycoon—one who never appeared on the Forbes Rich List but was no less powerful.

It’s estimated that if the Li Group were to go public, its market value would exceed $200 billion, with Li Lingyun personally holding close to 80% of the shares.

This alone spoke volumes about how formidable the “hidden tycoon” supporting Li Shaofeng was.

Yet at this moment, Li Shaofeng knew that the man in front of him—who looked so ordinary—had a background even more powerful than his own.

This was someone whose personal strength and the influence behind him rivaled, or possibly even surpassed, that of the well-known Young Master Nalan.

The Rong family—over a hundred years ago, their name was more renowned in the South than even the Nalan family.

But now, they had faded into near obscurity among the southern elite, hidden deep within the system.

While the public believed the Rong family declined and disappeared from the business world after the founding of New China, the top circles knew the truth: the Rongs hadn’t fallen, they had simply retreated quietly from the South to the North.

And now—

The eldest son of the Rong family, Rong Qingwen, had returned to the South and appeared before him.

What’s more, he had come straight to the point with a shocking proposal—

To launch the Shangmeng (Merchant Alliance) in the South, an initiative created by the Rong family and many top northern tycoons.

This stunned Li Shaofeng for a long while, and he thought deeply before furrowing his brows and saying:

“Master Rong, it’s not that I don’t want to help you. But you, the Rong family, and your northern peers should understand the current situation in the South. The Nalan family dominates here. If you want to push the Shangmeng down here, there’s no point talking to me. Frankly, even if you approached my father, it wouldn’t change much. Right now, the real force shaping the commercial landscape of the South isn’t the Li Group—it’s the Nalan family!”

Indeed, Li Shaofeng wasn’t optimistic about the Rong family’s plan.

He believed that if they insisted on forcing the Shangmeng into the South, not only would they face strong backlash from the Nalan family, but they would also be met with united resistance from many of the South’s powerful enterprises.

No company wants to become someone else’s pawn.

Sure, joining the Shangmeng offered benefits, much like joining the WTO—but it also imposed too many restrictions.

More importantly, the Shangmeng would be controlled by the Rong family and various northern conglomerates. If southern companies joined, they’d reap far fewer benefits than their northern counterparts.

And did the Rongs really think the South was the same as it was seventy years ago when they left?

Since China’s opening up, which began in southern coastal cities, the South had become far more prosperous than the North.

Its elite and wealthy families were every bit as powerful as those in the North.

In fact, even just within Nanjing, there were many heavy hitters:

• Chen Yunzhi, whose wealth was unknown but definitely in the hundreds of billions,
• Yu Youxiong, the hidden hand behind the multi-billion-valued Baiyun Group,
• Young Master Nalan, heir to the Nalan family,
• Dongfang Jing, the decision-maker behind Huayi in the entertainment world,
• And the newly-emerged but overwhelmingly dominant and mysterious figure known only as “Leng.”

And many more influential figures besides.

So, for the Rong family and northern magnates to promote the Shangmeng in the South?

Difficult.
Incredibly difficult.

But Li Shaofeng also understood—Rong Qingwen was no fool.

Otherwise, the Rong family, who had remained hidden for over seventy years, wouldn’t suddenly bring him back into the spotlight.

Rong Qingwen, lightly smiling, said, “I know what you’re thinking, Li. You probably think I’m joking. But truly—I’m not. I wouldn’t come here and tell you my goal so clearly if I didn’t trust you. In fact, let’s just say we—the Rong family—trust your father to make the right call. For now, all I’m asking is for you to introduce me to the upcoming dinner at Huan Zijin the day after tomorrow.”

His words were simple, his request even simpler.

Li Shaofeng thought it over for several minutes before finally nodding.

After all, he had no reason to refuse.

He replied solemnly, “It’s no problem introducing you to the Huan Zijin dinner. But if the Rong family really wants to push the Shangmeng in the South, just getting a foot in the door in Nanjing clearly won’t be enough. I’m just curious—if you can’t say now, no need to answer.”

“Mm. It’s not convenient to share right now. But you’ll understand in time. I hope we’ll have a pleasant partnership.”

Rong Qingwen raised his wine glass, now filled by the elegant female server behind him, and gave it a light swirl as he casually spoke.

But for some reason, looking at this calm and composed posture—as if he held everything under control—made Li Shaofeng feel an inexplicable aversion.

Still, that feeling quickly faded.

He thought of something, and a faint smile appeared at the corners of his mouth.

Yes, maybe Rong Qingwen really did have some plan to counter people like Chen Yunzhi, Yu Youxiong, and Young Master Nalan.

But he was very curious—when Rong Qingwen eventually encountered that figure, the one known only as “Leng”—the forceful, mysterious presence that had stunned all of Nanjing’s elite and remained completely untraceable—what would Rong Qingwen do then?

Heh.

Li Shaofeng had a vague guess: perhaps the Rong family wanted to ignite a revolution in the South from the center outward.

But choosing Nanjing—this city full of hidden dragons and crouching tigers—as the center?

What a laughable, ridiculous choice!