Chapter 1100 — The Rise of the Xiao Family

And so the hidden Pi family came to the Xiao household as a matter of course, and through their dealings with the Xiao family, they thrust their hands into the affairs of the mundane world!

Xiao Ji did not quite follow Pi Zhishan's words, but Xiao Ben was a clever man and understood at once: the Pi family wanted to rake in money from the mundane world, yet could not reach out openly, and so they had fixed their eyes on the Xiao family. Uncle Pi's business was merely a pretext. Judging by the looks on these two young masters' faces, they did not seem to care much whether Uncle Pi lived or died — otherwise, why had they been at the Xiao household so long without once asking to see him?

At that thought, Xiao Ben actually felt relieved. So long as the Pi family had not come looking for trouble, everything would be easy. And from the look of it, the Pi family even meant to use the Xiao family to reach into the mundane world's business — then the Xiao family would have nothing to worry about at all!

"You two young masters of the Pi family, the Xiao family has fallen to its present state for two reasons. First, when my old father was alive, one failed investment after another squandered the greater part of our fortune. Second, our Xiao family has no truly presentable experts, so our ranking among the families is low and we are held in little regard..." Xiao Ben was quite honest, laying out the causes of the Xiao family's decline. "And in the matter of Uncle Pi, the Xiao family misjudged things as well — we never reckoned that the Gu Group had an expert sitting behind it, and so we lost both men and money. But when all is said and done, it comes down to this: our Xiao family's experts are simply not up to the mark..."

"You need not tell me all this; I know it well enough." Pi Zhishan nodded. "If I send experts to sit watch for you, can you spread your business out within a short time?"

"Young Master Pi, if I may speak bluntly: however great the support you give me, that is how great a stage I can climb onto," Xiao Ben said. "When families do business, nine times out of ten it comes down to connections and strength!"

"Good. Then now we should discuss how the profits are to be divided." Pi Zhishan had more or less grasped Xiao Ben's meaning, though what Xiao Ben asked was no problem at all for him. The Pi family had already deliberated: they would send experts to be stationed at the Xiao household year-round — under the fine-sounding pretext, of course, of investigating the truth of Uncle Pi's injury and, incidentally, protecting Uncle Pi's friends, the Xiao family.

"How does Young Master Pi intend to arrange it?" Xiao Ben's expression turned grave; this too was a crucial question.

"One to nine. You take one, we take nine," Pi Zhishan said indifferently.

"This..." Xiao Ben's face changed at once, and he smiled bitterly. "Young Master Pi, isn't that a little too harsh? One tenth — isn't that a bit little for our Xiao family?"

Though circumstances pressed hard upon him, Xiao Ben thought that the Pi family also wanted to use the Xiao family to make money, and so he haggled.

"Xiao Ben, you had better understand your situation!" But what Xiao Ben had not expected was that Pi Zhishan would turn on him outright. With a cold laugh he pointed at Xiao Ben. "Your Xiao family is merely atoning for its crimes by service. To speak bluntly, if I wanted to butcher you all, it would be the work of a moment! If our Pi family wants money, we can raise up any puppet family we please! If we went to the Kang family to cooperate, I believe the Kang family would be only too willing, wouldn't they?"

In truth, Pi Zhishan was only trying to frighten Xiao Ji and Xiao Ben. The Pi family would not dare cooperate with anyone else. After all, the Hidden Family Pact was no joke — though that witness was gone, the Hidden Family Arbitration Association still existed!

The Pi family's cooperation with the Xiao family had its reasons; even if the Hidden Family Arbitration Association came knocking, the Pi family was not afraid and had excuses to offer. But to raise up some puppet at random — that was a different matter entirely.

Of these things, however, Xiao Ji and Xiao Ben knew nothing. They had a vague sense that hidden families could not directly make money in the mundane world, but that if they worked through another's hands there was no problem — was that not what the Yu family did? So Xiao Ben did not know that the Pi family had no choice but to cooperate with the Xiao family; he took it for no more than a passing remark.

And so Xiao Ben grew somewhat afraid. Only then did it dawn on him: these people were doing the Xiao family a favor by cooperating with them. Otherwise, if they simply found someone else to work with, what would the Xiao family amount to?

At that thought, an awkward look appeared on Xiao Ben's face at once, and he said with some embarrassment, "Please calm your anger, Young Master Pi... I was only speaking offhand... One tenth it is, then..."

Xiao Ben calculated inwardly: if they truly won the Pi family's support, then wealth would surely pour in from every direction, and one tenth was not so little after all. It was far better than their present circumstances, at any rate. And with the Pi family's help, the Xiao family's standing would rise with the tide; the Xiao family would become in the mundane world what the Yu family was. By then, what use would so much money be? It would be enough to spend freely — so long as their ties with the Pi family held unbroken, the Xiao family's lasting prosperity was already assured.

"Mm, you know what's good for you." Pi Zhishan said indifferently. "In fact, on this visit Grandfather's bottom line for me was one tenth. Originally everyone meant to give you not even that — only a fixed salary for the Xiao family. But as the saying goes, if you want the horse to run, you must feed the horse. So I stated the bottom line outright and saved us the haggling."

"Many thanks, Young Master Pi!" Xiao Ben's heart tightened. So that was how it was! Thank goodness he had not insisted — otherwise, if the Pi family had taken offense, the consequences would likely have been severe.

"No need for thanks; it is a win for both sides." Pi Zhishan was amused inwardly. In truth, the Pi family's bottom line was to yield three tenths, the same as with the Yu family, but Pi Zhishan had pushed it straight down to one tenth, moved by the sight of the Xiao family's present destitution.

And the Xiao family truly had nowhere left to turn. To gain the Pi family's arm was a stroke of enormous good fortune; as for the division of profits, that was secondary. If their business grew as large as the Yu family's, then one tenth would be no less than the entire income the Xiao family had enjoyed in its heyday.

"Then the Pi family's experts..." Xiao Ben had his mind on the crux of the matter. If the Pi family's experts did not arrive, all of this was empty talk.

"Rest assured, I will send an outer-family expert of peak late Profound rank to sit watch for you, and another outer-family expert of early Profound rank to assist him," Pi Zhishan said. "You know as well as I do that our Earth rank experts cannot lightly walk the world — there are rules about such things!"

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