Chapter 544 — Zhong Yongliang with Backing

"You dare do such a thing, and you still dare come to my office? Are you not afraid I will send you to the police?" Gu Pengzhan could not tell whether Zhong Yongliang was lying, but he was furious all the same. He was utterly enraged. He had not burned with such anger even when Jin Gubang joined hands with Xie Guangbo to swallow the Gu Group! Then he had felt only grief and regret, but now he wanted to strangle Zhong Yongliang!

"Heh, I do not think you will!" Zhong Yongliang shook his head with certainty. "Uncle Gu, you are a man of standing in Songshan, and the Gu Group is one of the top five hundred companies in the country. Your family affairs are exactly what the press loves to watch. If you are not afraid of losing face, then go ahead and blow this up! Just think who would gain from it? At worst my crime is only rape, and Gu Mengyao was drugged with an aphrodisiac, so at most it counts as half consent. Never mind whether you could even find evidence, even if you did, I would only get a few years... Oh, I forgot to tell you, Uncle Gu, my father is working with Brother Cihua now, following Bing Shao. Bing Shao would hardly watch me go to jail, would he?"

Gu Pengzhan knew the name "Bing Shao" all too well! He already knew that the deal between Jin Gubang and Li Cihua had been made for this very "Bing Shao"! This so-called "Bing Shao" was the illegitimate son of the heir to a great family, a family whose influence in the province was enormous, and "Bing Shao" himself was a man of formidable means. That was an important reason why Gu Pengzhan had not fought back even after he learned who had plotted against him!

Forget matching himself against "Bing Shao", Gu Pengzhan could not even wrestle with Li Cihua! He wanted no entanglement with men who ran in the underworld. He was an honest businessman, and no opponent for Li Cihua.

What puzzled Gu Pengzhan was that Zhong Yongliang's father, Zhong Fabai, had actually gone to work for "Bing Shao". What could Bing Shao possibly value in Zhong Fabai?

Watching Gu Pengzhan's face cloud and clear by turns, Zhong Yongliang knew the man was wary, and he rejoiced inwardly. I knew you were afraid! So he pressed his advantage. "Uncle Gu, you had better think this through! At most, charging me will put me away for a few years, but the prison is full of Brother Cihua's men, so I will be looked after inside! I will go in and enjoy myself for a few years, while you will have offended Brother Cihua, and worse, if you ruin some great plan of Bing Shao's, you know the consequences without my telling you!"

"Whoever dares harm my daughter, whoever he is, I will make him pay the price he owes! I would rather give up this company!" Gu Pengzhan fixed Zhong Yongliang with a vicious stare. He had his fears, but for his daughter he could cast everything aside.

"But why go that far? I am hardly a disgrace as a son-in-law. Since the raw rice is already cooked, we might as well have a proper engagement!" Zhong Yongliang advised him calmly. "My father is no longer just some ordinary boss of an entertainment center. With the backing my family has now, we are no weaker than your Gu family! What do you say? Does that not make sense?"

"It makes no sense at all!" Gu Pengzhan said coldly. "If you really did something to Yaoyao, even with all that backing, I will make you pay in blood. Do not think I am joking!"

"Well... why must it come to that?" Zhong Yongliang did not dare meet Gu Pengzhan's eyes and gave a guilty, dry laugh. "You should know, your daughter is already a ruined woman. If you blow this up, it will hurt both your reputation and Yaoyao's! She herself has no complaint against me now. If you face reality, I will still honor you as my father-in-law! Otherwise, we will just keep fighting it out!"

"Fine, then let us see who can protect you! Whether it is Bing Shao or Li Cihua who will step forward for you!" Gu Pengzhan said slowly, looking at Zhong Yongliang.

Zhong Yongliang grew anxious at heart. Why was this Gu Pengzhan so stubborn? They said businessmen cared only for profit, that there were no eternal enemies, only the weight of gain! In this situation, doing as he suggested was the only true win for both sides. Could the man really want them both to perish together?

Outwardly, however, he could not let it show. "Uncle Gu, so you really mean to turn me in?"

"Let me think about this. You go back first." At that moment Gu Pengzhan did not threaten Zhong Yongliang further, but waved his hand to signal that he might leave.

Gu Pengzhan's attitude left Zhong Yongliang utterly baffled! What did Gu Pengzhan mean by this? Did he accept him or not? Why send him away so suddenly?

"Well..." Zhong Yongliang knew that since Gu Pengzhan had ordered him out, he could not stay any longer, or he would only invite more suspicion! He guessed that Gu Pengzhan probably could not make up his mind for the moment. After all, it had all happened so suddenly. Though he had proposed a solution that benefited both sides, Gu Pengzhan still had to weigh the gains and losses carefully, whether to fight to the bitter end or to accept him as a son-in-law!

If there was still a chance, that was good. Having figured this out, Zhong Yongliang breathed a sigh of relief and said, "All right, Uncle Gu, think it over. If you insist on sending me to prison, there is nothing I can do!"

Gu Pengzhan said nothing, and Zhong Yongliang could only rise to his feet in embarrassment! Gu Pengzhan's attitude left him no way to carry out the next step of his plan! His original plan had been that if Gu Pengzhan accepted him as a son-in-law, he would set out that very night for the cave at Shuangyan Mountain and make the deed with Gu Mengyao irrevocable! If Gu Pengzhan refused, he would let Gu Mengyao go, so that since nothing had really happened to her, Gu Pengzhan would surely not hold him to account!

After all, if Gu Mengyao was unharmed, and Gu Pengzhan still clung on without end, he would be asking for trouble, for neither Bing Shao nor Li Cihua was to be trifled with! That was why Zhong Yongliang acted without fear! He had hesitated before, but once he had secured his ties to Li Cihua and Bing Shao, he had grown bold.

"I will consider it. You do not need to teach me that!" Gu Pengzhan waved his hand indifferently. "Uncle Qing, show him out!"