Film and Television: Bao Zong has finance in his left hand and entertainment in his right.

Li Li first looked around at the other four female bosses, then stared at Lu Meilin and said coldly.

“Originally, I, Li Li, came to Huanghe Road to do business with the intention of making money peacefully with everyone, so I have never provoked you. But that doesn’t mean I’m afraid of you. Since you’ve brought this up today, I’ll give you an answer: my Zhizhen Garden will not be sold at the moment. If you want me to leave Huanghe Road, bring on whatever means you have. I, Li Li, will take them all!”

Feeling humiliated by Li Li's direct rebuke, Lu Meilin became enraged.

Lu Meilin rolled up her sleeves, pointed at Li Li, and said angrily, "Since you refuse to listen to reason and insist on drinking the penalty cup, then I, Lu Meilin, will grant your wish today!"

Li Li's expression remained unchanged as she coldly replied, "Then let's see what you're capable of!"

Lu Meilin angrily said, "I'll smash your shop today!"

Li Li chuckled but didn't reply, though her expression clearly showed she didn't believe Lu Meilin would actually dare to do such a thing.

"You don't believe me? I'll smash it right now and show you!"

After shouting angrily, Lu Meilin smashed the window of the private room in front of everyone, shattering glass all over the floor.

Just after Lu Meilin smashed the window, more than twenty burly men poured out from the second floor of the Jin Meilin Hotel across the street, all looking fierce and menacing as they walked toward Zhizhen Garden.

The commotion immediately drew gasps from pedestrians on the street, and Liu Xiaobao, who was in the private room, also heard it.

He walked to the window and looked out, then a slight smile appeared on his lips as he muttered to himself.

"Uncle was right, Du Honggen really did come!"

Chapter 24 What makes you think you're so special? (Please add to your favorites and give flowers)

That's right, the one who came with a menacing presence was none other than Du Honggen.

He must have arranged with Lu Meilin to use breaking the window as a signal, which is why he immediately brought his men to Zhizhen Garden as soon as Lu Meilin broke the window.

The arrival of Du Honggen and his group immediately drew gasps of surprise from inside Zhizhen Garden.

But Du Honggen ignored this and led his men directly to the private room where Lu Meilin and the others were.

Li Li did not show any fear at Du Honggen's arrival. She stood calmly to the side and watched as Du Honggen walked to Lu Meilin's side.

Lu Meilin, however, was different from the other four restaurant owners around her.

When they saw Du Honggen arrive with his men, they felt they had something to rely on and immediately became more confident.

Sister Huang and the other three took the opportunity to praise Du Honggen.

"President Du is here! With President Du backing us up, we don't have to worry about anything anymore!"

Du Honggen ignored Sister Huang and the others.

After nodding to Lu Meilin, Du Honggen turned to Li Li and asked in a cold voice, "Are you the proprietress of Zhizhen Garden?"

Li Li didn't know Du Honggen before, but when Du Honggen came in, Manager Pan quickly gave her a brief introduction.

So at this point, Li Li already had a basic understanding of Du Honggen, but she still didn't show the slightest fear.

"That's right, Mr. Du, right? I am Li Li. Mr. Du has come to my Zhizhen Garden today, and I should welcome you with fine wine. However, judging from your attitude, you seem to be here to make things difficult for Zhizhen Garden. In that case, I can only decline the wine. Please forgive me, Mr. Du!"

Seeing Du Honggen's cold attitude and knowing that he was clearly there to support Lu Meilin and the others, Li Li naturally didn't treat him well either.

Although her tone was harsh, she still spoke politely.

Unfortunately, just as Li Li said, Du Honggen was clearly there to make things difficult for Zhizhen Garden, and he didn't care whether Li Li had said anything wrong.

"It seems Meilin has already made her point to you, which saves me some trouble. I'll just say one thing: I don't care what Meilin and you talked about, I will definitely support Meilin. If you can't satisfy her, then I'll have dozens of people come to your Zhizhen Garden every day, each with a bowl of wonton noodles, sitting there from morning till night. Then you can forget about doing business!"

Du Honggen's words were clearly a veiled attempt to force Li Li to submit to Lu Meilin.

Li Li was at a loss for what to do about Du Honggen's shameless method.

"Wow, it's so lively! So many restaurant owners have gathered together. What big thing are they up to on Huanghe Road?"

Just as Li Li was wondering what to do, Liu Xiaobao walked in with a smile.

As Liu Xiaobao spoke, everyone's eyes in the private room turned to him.

"Boss Bao? What brings you here?" Sister Huang and the other female bosses asked in unison.

Clearly, Lu Meilin and Sister Huang were quite surprised by Liu Xiaobao's arrival.

They hadn't seen Liu Xiaobao enter Zhizhen Garden before, and they were unaware that Liu Xiaobao was the one who had rescued Zhizhen Garden from its predicament.

However, compared to Lu Meilin and the others' surprise, Li Li and Manager Pan were both delighted.

Du Honggen, however, acted as if nothing had happened. He merely glanced at Liu Xiaobao before turning his attention back to Li Li.

It wasn't that Du Honggen hadn't heard of "Boss Bao," but he had never had any business dealings or interactions with "Boss Bao." Therefore, Du Honggen didn't care much about Liu Xiaobao's arrival; all he cared about was whether Lu Meilin could get what she wanted today.

"I couldn't resist Miss Li's warm invitation, so I came to Zhizhen Garden for dinner. Sister Huang, what are you two talking about? You seem to be having a lively conversation."

Although Liu Xiaobao didn't explicitly say he was there to help Li Li, his words were ambiguous, indirectly indicating that he was on Li Li's side.

Lu Meilin and the others naturally understood the implication in Liu Xiaobao's words.

They couldn't help but glance at each other, and then the four of them, including Sister Huang, all turned their gazes to Lu Meilin, as if asking her what to do.

Lu Meilin was silent for a couple of seconds, then gritted her teeth and said to Liu Xiaobao in a warning tone.

“Mr. Bao, if it were any other matter, I would definitely give you face if you stepped in. But today I have completely broken ties with Zhizhen Garden. Either Zhizhen Garden will go out of business, or my Jin Meilin will close down. So I advise you, Mr. Bao, not to get involved in this mess, lest you get yourself into trouble.”

Upon hearing Lu Meilin's words, Liu Xiaobao laughed, but it was a cold laugh.

Originally, Liu Xiaobao only intended to mediate between Li Li and Lu Meilin, but now that he saw Lu Meilin showing him no respect, Liu Xiaobao was really angry.

So after his cold laugh, Liu Xiaobao's face turned cold. He looked at Lu Meilin coldly and asked in a cold voice.

"Boss lady, are you trying to scare me or threaten me?"

When Liu Xiaobao gave her that cold look, Lu Meilin, who had been so arrogant just moments before, couldn't help but pause for a moment.

But after Lu Meilin glanced at Du Honggen beside her, she resumed her previous "number one in the world" attitude.

Lu Meilin replied fiercely to Liu Xiaobao, "Whether you want to scare me or threaten me, Mr. Bao, think what you want. In short, today I, Lu Meilin, will make sure Zhizhenyuan closes down!"

Liu Xiaobao's eyes grew even colder: "What gives you the right? Just because you cut off their electricity, cut off their supplies, and poach their chefs—those underhanded tricks?"

Feeling annoyed by Liu Xiaobao's public belittling and disparaging remarks, Lu Meilin found herself speechless, as she had indeed done those things.

Just as Lu Meilin was at a loss for words, Du Honggen spoke up.

"Just because she's Lu Meilin, and because she has me, Du Honggen, as her backer, so what!"

Chapter 25 From Boss to Underling (Please add to your favorites and give flowers)

Upon hearing Du Honggen's domineering declaration, Lu Meilin and the four female bosses were all delighted.

Manager Pan's expression changed. She was worried that if things continued like this, Du Honggen and his gang would start a fight with Liu Xiaobao, and Liu Xiaobao would definitely suffer a loss.

Li Li didn't show any fear, but she didn't say anything and just quietly watched Liu Xiaobao from the side.

Clearly, Li Li wanted to see how Liu Xiaobao would deal with Du Honggen, while also handing over the decision-making power entirely to Liu Xiaobao.

Upon hearing Du Honggen speak, Liu Xiaobao couldn't help but smile slightly, and slowly walked over and sat down opposite Du Honggen.

After Liu Xiaobao sat down, he calmly poured himself a cup of tea and said something to Du Honggen in a somewhat sarcastic tone.

"President Du is truly imposing. Anyone who didn't know better would probably mistake you for a big shot like Du Yuesheng, judging from your aura just now!"

Du Honggen's expression changed, and anger slowly crept onto his face. His gaze towards Liu Xiaobao was filled with rage.

Du Honggen wasn't stupid; how could he not understand the meaning behind Liu Xiaobao's words? Liu Xiaobao was mocking him, Du Honggen, for pretending to be a big shot but lacking self-awareness!

boom!

Du Honggen slammed his palm hard on the table, causing the bowls and plates on the table to shake.

Du Honggen, looking like he was about to explode at any moment, stared intently at Liu Xiaobao and said coldly, "President Bao, right? Judging from what you just said, you look down on me, Du Honggen!"

Liu Xiaobao was not intimidated by Du Honggen's ruthless appearance.

He calmly took a sip of tea, then casually toyed with the teacup in his hand while giving Du Honggen a nonchalant reply.

"If you want to be respected by others, you need to have the strength that matches your status. Mr. Du, don't be anxious. Let me show you something first. After you've seen it, you can decide what to do!"

After saying that, Liu Xiaobao took an envelope out of his pocket and placed it on the turntable on the table.

Du Honggen didn't move. After ten seconds of silence, he exerted his strength and slowly started the turntable spinning. When the envelope was in front of him, he raised his palm and pressed down, stopping the turntable.

Throughout this time, Du Honggen's gaze never left Liu Xiaobao's face, as if he didn't care about the contents of the envelope.

But Du Honggen wasn't stupid. He knew that if Liu Xiaobao took out such an envelope, then the contents must be related to him.

Out of curiosity, Du Honggen eventually picked up the envelope and slowly opened it, pulling out the IOU that his uncle had given to Liu Xiaobao.

Du Honggen hadn't actually read the entire IOU; he'd only pulled it out and looked at half of it, but he already recognized what it was.

Du Honggen abruptly shoved the IOU back into the envelope, then his expression changed drastically as he asked Liu Xiaobao, "Where did you get this?"

Liu Xiaobao said casually, "It was a gift from a friend!"

Liu Xiaobao wasn't lying; the IOU was indeed given to him by his uncle.

But Du Honggen thought it was given to Liu Xiaobao by the person in the casino.

Because this IOU was written by Du Honggen in Las Vegas, in his view, since Liu Xiaobao was able to obtain this IOU, Liu Xiaobao must have some connection with that person in Las Vegas.

If that person really is Liu Xiaobao's friend, then Du Honggen should think twice before taking action against Liu Xiaobao again.