Lu Qingfeng kept the truth to himself and wouldn't vocally admit that to anyone. Not because he was afraid that people would change their opinion towards him, but because he didn't want anyone to assume that they could use Su Xiaofei against him.
If the rest of the brotherhood was bothered by his sudden change since his marriage, none of them had voiced their displeasure towards his wife. It wasn't Su Xiaofei's fault that he'd been on edge these days due to Mo Yuchen's blatant accusation. Anyway, the purpose of their brotherhood wasn't to poke into each other's private affairs. It mostly started out of business needs.
The six of them played poker and talked about the current issues and updates related to their business, leaving Li Xiran speechless. He'd considered himself a lone wolf, always doing everything on his own rather than relying on someone else's help.
But as he listened to how the five men talked casually about how their companies were faring, he somewhat understood why Lu Qingfeng invited him tonight. They were lowering their guard to accept each other's criticisms and opinions over the projects they were handling.
Li Xiran had to admit that it was a genius move, but a dangerous one. One needed absolute trust in one another before he could lay his cards and reveal his own weaknesses, but what he couldn't understand was why these prominent men needed to consult each other.
It wasn't like he couldn't recognize the five men in front of him. Lu Qingfeng had come from old money. The Lu family had been in the finance and banking industry before any of them were even born. Lu Qingfeng was one of the youngest billionaires under 30 and Li Xiran didn't doubt that the Lu family's wealth could sustain several family generations.
As for the scarred real estate tycoon that was seated across from him, well… Li Xiran had only heard of Yan Xiuchen's name and not many knew anything about the man. It made sense to him why Yan Xiuchen chose to keep himself away from the limelight. It wasn't like Yan Xiuchen could hire competent people to do his bidding anyway.
Zhu Baichuan had come from a family of government officials and he was the first one to break the tradition and go to the business side rather than following in his forefathers' footsteps. He had to fight for every penny that came his way and his hard work paid off eventually.
Among the five of them, only Ning Xuan and Song Yiran came from nothing. Although Song Yiran's family was well off, considering that their whole family fortune was coveted by his uncle, he only had the grandiose of his family name without any money attached to it. As for Ning Xuan, he was a trader and had made a hefty amount of money from his risky investments.
"So what about you, Mr. Li? Care to share what's happening in your yard?" Ning Xuan asked Li Xiran, before taking another swig of his beer.
"Relax. You don't need to overthink. It's normal that you don't trust us. You don't need to say anything if you don't want to." Song Yiran said when he noticed Li Xiran stiffened in his seat next to him.
Li Xiran hesitated for a moment and sighed.
"Not good. Some of the projects have been put on hold since my father's health deteriorated. Some of our investors have already pulled out and it's been challenging to find new ones that wouldn't question my ability to lead the company." He admitted.
"You haven't proven anything to them yet, so that's a given. But you can't make excuses every time you fail. I suppose you've already swallowed your pride when you decided to come here on your own."
Surprisingly, it was Yan Xiuchen who told Li Xiran this. The rest of his brothers glanced at Yan Xiuchen with a knowing look on their faces.
"You need a good start and I'm willing to give you a chance. I heard that there's an island resort being reconstructed under your company." Lu Qingfeng chimed in.
Li Xiran's jaw hardened. If Lu Qingfeng knew such details about their business deals, then the rest of them probably know how it was already hanging by a thread now. It seemed that Lu Qingfeng wasn't completely relying on the Lu Corporation and had already ventured out to start a company on his own instead.
"Ah, what's this? Another acquisition for Lu Conglomerates?" Song Yiran laughed. "I'm starting to think that Su Xiaofei should only be wary of your love for money than worry about you seeing another woman."
"I would rather choose money over women. We just love making money." Zhu Baichuan laughed and passed another bottle of beer to Yan Xiuchen. "How about you, bro?"
"Who has time for them? It's already surprising that Lu Qingfeng could still marry the woman of his dreams, given how busy his schedule is." Yan Xiuchen shrugged.
"It's all about time management and I didn't have any reason to micromanage my staff. They were hired for a reason." Lu Qingfeng said in defense. If it was about his wife, he would make sure to make time for her.
"So what do you want me to do then?" Li Xiran asked, hoping that Lu Qingfeng would explain himself.
"Convince the owner to sell the resort to me. In return, I will invest in your company. I'm sure that you're well aware of the condition of that resort and how the owner mismanages it." Lu Qingfeng answered him.
His private company was all about buying businesses that were on the verge of bankruptcy, turning them into profitable ones and reaping the benefits from it.
Li Xiran fell silent at that. Truth to be told, it was easy for him to follow Lu Qingfeng's way of thinking.
"Fine. I'll do it, but give me some time."
"A week then. That's all we need." Lu Qingfeng gave him an unltimatum.
This 𝓬ontent is taken from f(r)eeweb(n)ovel.𝒄𝒐𝙢