Chapter 1: Strange Phenomena in the Underworld

  As people were celebrating a birthday for someone they wanted to get close to in such a wealthy family, a dark shadow slipped into the villa and left quietly, with no one noticing, each person's face only had a smile that made their facial muscles ache.

  Everyone was chatting and laughing, clinking glasses and changing cups, it was a lively and extraordinary scene!

  Mr. Heo brought Ho Ju-cheon to a middle-aged man who was not very tall and slightly fat, and the middle-aged man was chatting with Qian Xiaohong, perhaps they were chatting enthusiastically, occasionally the two of them burst out laughing lightly.

  Qian Xiaohong and Lu Xiao Ying originally hadn't read any books, nor had they received any education, let alone participated in high-society gatherings. If it weren't for Huo Jucai, with their identities, it would have been impossible for them to receive an invitation, so in this setting, they should have appeared unsophisticated. But on the contrary, they were elegant and refined in their demeanor, from walking into the courtyard until now, neither of them had made any ignorant or low-class moves, especially relying on others' beautiful faces and slender figures, they unexpectedly received praise from many people present. Their elegant performance was so convincing that many people who met them for the first time thought they were young ladies from a wealthy family, even if not, they should have been socialites frequently attending high-society parties or banquets. Their performance couldn't help but astonish Lan Jingqiu and Chen Zhenhua, occasionally glancing at them as they mingled with the crowd, several people exchanged knowing smiles.

  Originally, due to work-related reasons, they learned a bit about the so-called lady image during this period of time. In addition, before coming, they also bought several DVDs on how to appear elegant and refined at high-society parties, which resulted in such a performance.

  "Secretary Huang," Old Man Huo walked up to the middle-aged man, pulled over Huo Jucai and stood in front of him, interrupting the whispers between the man and Qian Xiaohong. He then smiled and said, "Secretary Huang, were you having a good chat? I hope I didn't disturb the two of you. If so, I can only say sorry."

  "Where is this place, Mr. He?" The middle-aged man turned around and took a look at He Jucai, then nodded his head towards Qian Xiaohong, meaning "Excuse me, please wait", with elegant and dignified movements, showing great politeness and refinement. After getting Qian Xiaohong's nod in response, he turned back to face Mr. He and He Jucai and said: "Is this the young master?"

  "Indeed a good son," Old Master Huo replied to the middle-aged man's words, looking at Huo Jucai and saying, "Jucai, this is Secretary Huang, the most trusted person of the Provincial Party Committee Secretary. In the future, you should learn from Uncle Huang."

  "What a talented young man!" The middle-aged man looked at Huo Jucai, sizing him up like a priceless antique, then smiled and said, "I've long heard that the young master of the Huo family is both talented and handsome. Today, I see that it's indeed true. Ah, by the way, what should I call you?"

  Huojucui responded politely, but after hearing the middle-aged man's words, he felt a bit uncomfortable in his heart. What does "talent and appearance" mean? For himself, Huojucai always felt that this fat Huang secretary was sarcastic and mocking him, especially when he asked what his name was later on.

  "Where did the young master graduate from?" asked the middle-aged man after taking a sip of wine.

  "This...," Old Master Ho hesitated for a moment, seemingly finding it "hard to mention" the work of his son, Ho Jucai. He didn't want to tell the provincial party secretary's confidant that his son was a member of the Urban Management Bureau staff. In recent years, the image of urban management personnel in the eyes of citizens had not been good. They patrolled the streets like bandits, brutally treating small vendors, although not every individual was like this, but a few rough people could affect the entire bureau. As a result, in people's minds, urban management personnel were associated with the word "brutal".

  "I work at the City Management Bureau!" said Huo Jucai, who thought it was nothing to be ashamed of and not like he was doing something illicit.

  "Is that so?" As expected, the middle-aged man immediately showed a look of disdain and said, "How do you go to work at the Urban Management Bureau?"

  "I like my job," said Huo Jucai with a cold smile. "Every profession has something to be proud of, even sanitation workers have great character. My work is also for the beauty of our city and serving citizens. At least that's what I think and do. If one doesn't serve the people, even if they hold high positions, it's still lowly."

  "What a noble view!" The middle-aged man heard what Huo Jucai said, and a faint shadow flashed across his face. He sneered and said, "But I still have friends to see, so I'll take my leave first." After finishing speaking, the man nodded to Old Man Huo and turned to find Qian Xiaohong who had already left while they were talking.

  "Why did you have to tell him about your job?" Mr. He was very unhappy when he saw the middle-aged man leave, and said to He Jucai, "I was planning to ask him to help you switch jobs."

  "This job doesn't make me feel ashamed," said Huo Jucai. "Can I find another job that I can do?"

  He finished speaking and turned around to find Lan Jingqiu, they left together.

  Everyone came to Lan Jingqiu's side and happily talked about their experiences over this period of time, each person speaking with relish, except for Lan Jingqiu, who remained silent, looking as if he had a lot on his mind.

  "Uncle Lan," asked Huo Jucai, "I see you're deeply troubled, what's wrong?"

  Lan Jingchou let out a long sigh and said, "Under the management of my incompetent son and the cunning CEO Qiu Xiaochuan, the Lan Corporation has been losing money day by day. Even if I try my best, it seems that it's very difficult to restore the former glory of the Lan Corporation."

  "Aren't you the sales manager? Can't you make some decisions?" Huo Jucai asked in confusion.

  "I strongly expressed my opinions to them, but they turned a deaf ear. They seemed determined to bring down the Lan Corporation no matter what," said Lan Jingqiu.

  "It's okay," Lan Jingqiu had just finished speaking, when Qian Xiaohong walked over, she smiled and came to the middle of the group, then said, "Uncle Lan can find another company to work for, use this company as a springboard, and then acquire the Lan Group, wouldn't you be able to keep the Lan Group safe?"

  "It's not that easy!" Lan Jingqiu said, "Firstly, which company would hire me with a high salary? Secondly, if another company acquires the Lan Group, then the Lan Group will have to change its name. Can it still be called the Lan Group? It's still the same outcome!"

  "I don't think so," Qian Xiaohong said, "I've already contacted a company that can hire you as the general manager. When the time is ripe, we'll secretly contact other shareholders and make a joint effort to acquire the Lan Group in your name, and let you manage it. Wouldn't the Lan Group remain unchanged then?"

  "This suggestion is not bad," Lan Jingqiu's face lit up with a smile as soon as he heard it, he raised his wine glass and toasted Qian Xiaohong before downing the drink in one gulp.

  Everyone saw Lan Jingqiu finally smiled, and everyone was happy. Until the He family's banquet began, people took their seats one after another.

  The banquet was arranged on the lawn in the courtyard, with dozens of large round tables, piled high with delicacies from land and sea, everything that flies in the sky, runs on the ground, and swims in the water. Even the tableware for serving dishes was very luxurious and beautiful, each table had a large Qinghua porcelain vase placed in the middle to decorate the table's luxury and wealth, as if every guest looking at the Qinghua porcelain would increase their appetite.

  Dining in the courtyard, this is the first time it has appeared in this city. In the past, banquets for birthdays and weddings were always held in luxury hotels. Mr. Huo told everyone that dining in the courtyard was mainly to experience nature and understand the truth of life. Everyone else thought this was a great idea too. They had always eaten at luxury hotels or high-end restaurants and had never lived like this before, so they all said that Mr. Huo's idea was unique and praised him for having insight into life and being tasteful.

  Seating is also a matter of great ceremony. Provincial guests and the host family sit at the central table, municipal government leaders and the city's most famous businessmen sit on either side, followed by municipal department-level cadres and directors, while those business people with no particular reputation sit at the lower seats, including Lan Jingqiu and Chen Zhenhua.

  Qian Xiaohong and Lu Xiaoying seem to be much luckier, they were actually arranged in the position of municipal leaders, it is said that it was still suggested by Secretary Huang.

  "Look at Yan Song, how good he is to Director Chen!" Chen Zhenhua saw Yan Song sitting not far from them, next to the director of the police station. Yan Song was smiling and helping the director adjust his chair, straighten his clothes, and even pick off dandruff from the director's shoulders.

  "Otherwise, could he still be promoted to deputy director without doing anything?" Huang Aiguo said.

  Hu Jucang walked over to their table with a wine glass, listened to Huang Aiguo's words and glanced at the deputy director and police chief before sneering: "You don't know that Yan Song's father-in-law is the director of the municipal government office, his wife is the secretary of the municipal party committee, with such connections, he will be promoted to deputy director sooner or later. To put it bluntly, Ran Lujiao's case has become a good excuse for him to rise up."

  "No wonder!" Chen Zhenhua said with a pout.

  "But I don't envy him," Huo Jucai sneered, "I heard his wife has an ambiguous relationship with the municipal party secretary. Does he know about it? Can't he just swallow his pride and keep quiet? Do you admire someone who wears a green hat and still dares to lecture others?"

  "Don't mention him," Ouyang Qing joined their conversation at this time, pointing to a fat man in white formal wear at the second table, "Look at that middle-aged man with his face tilted, staring intently at the city committee secretary's wife's chest. And the secretary's wife is also occasionally giving this fat man flirtatious glances."

  "Then look at the man in blue suit at the third table, he's always smiling, busily serving dishes and offering cigarettes to Director Guan of the City Planning Bureau beside him. I've been observing him for a while, still smiling like that, without getting tired facial muscles." Chen Zhenhua chuckled.

  "As for expressions," said Huo Jucai, "which one is not a fake smile? Which one does not have a hypocritical gaze. This is the life of civilized, elegant and refined high society, truly multifaceted human life."

  "It's like this in official circles," said Dugu Jin with a shake of his head, "why must you worry and be troubled, younger brother?"

  He has lived with them for so long, but he still hasn't shed his Song Dynasty way of speaking, and it's still so affected. When Huo Jucai heard him speak, his eyes suddenly lit up, and he walked up to him, saying: "Brother, I'd like to introduce you to someone." Before Dugu Jinzhong could respond, he had already grabbed his right hand and pulled him in front of the Yellow Secretary who used to look down on him, saying: "Uncle Huang, my nephew is introducing someone to you. Guess what this person does?"

  "Who is this?" Secretary Huang had previously heard that Huo Jucai was just an urban management worker, and he already looked down on him with disdain. However, he still tried to show himself as a gentleman, so he forced a smile and said, "Please enlighten me."

  "In the lower part of the valley," said Dugu Zhong, making a fist and bowing, "I don't know your honorable surname and great name, where is your immortal residence?"

  Secretary Huang had never seen this way of speaking before, so he was stunned and speechless for a moment. After a while, he opened his mouth to speak: "My name is Huang Tianyu, the secretary of the provincial party committee secretary. Who is this gentleman?"

  "Not so!" said Dugu Zhong, "I am not a 'master', a master is one who imparts knowledge in a private school. I am the Minister of War."

  "You..." Secretary Huang thought he had met a madman.

  "May I ask what you don't understand? I hope you can speak clearly, perhaps I can help you resolve your concerns." Dugu Jinzhong still had a serious face and looked at Huang Shu seriously.

  "There's nothing below, there's nothing below." Secretary Huang hastily mumbled two sentences, looking embarrassed as he chatted idly with others.

  Huo Jucai couldn't help but stifle a laugh at Huang Shu's embarrassed expression, and pulled Du Gu Zhong back to their seats.

  The two sat down, and Huo Jucai immediately told Chen Zhenhua and Huang Aiguo about the embarrassing thing that Secretary Huang had just done, and everyone burst out laughing.

  But little did they know, just as they were laughing loudly, a gust of cold wind blew by, and several people knew that something had happened, so they furrowed their brows and looked around. Then they saw someone on the second floor of the villa shouting: "Oh no, there's a dead person!"