The sky collapsed, and in the blink of an eye, I found myself transported to Nanluoguxiang.

Time passed slowly as Li Kaixin and Guan Yue drank tea cup after cup.

Finally, when the fifth cup of tea was finished, Hu Laoliu pushed open the courtyard gate and hurriedly returned.

Guan Yue put down his teacup, looked up, and spoke in a calm tone with a hint of reproach:

"Sixth Brother, don't be so hasty. Is everything ready?"

"Ready, but..." Hu Laoliu saw that Li Kaixin was still beside him, so he only got halfway through his sentence.

Then, he quickly approached Guan Yue and said in a low voice, "Boss, we might not have enough money on hand."

Guan Yue frowned almost imperceptibly, quickly calculating in his mind.

Although Hu Laoliu's voice was soft, Li Kaixin could still hear it clearly.

So he put down his teacup and took the initiative to say, "Boss Guan, if you don't have enough money right now, we can trade half of it first."

"Brother Zhou, I have a suggestion."

Guan Yue turned his head, a smile on his face: "This time, can we do this without paying?"

Upon hearing this, Li Kaixin's eyes sharpened instantly, and his body tensed up almost imperceptibly.

He was ready to act immediately if Guan Yue showed even the slightest sign of something amiss.

"Don't be nervous, Brother Zhou!"

Guan Yue quickly explained, "What I meant by not needing cash was that I could use other hard currencies to offset the cost."

He then leaned forward involuntarily and lowered his voice: "For example... large yellow croaker!"

Hearing that the payment would be made with large yellow croaker, Li Kaixin breathed a slight sigh of relief and nodded: "Sure, Boss Guan."

"Alright, Brother Zhou, let's go make the deal now!"

Hu Laoliu, who was standing to the side, also looked delighted and rubbed his hands together, ready to take action.

Just then, "creak!" the courtyard gate was pushed open again.

"Sixth Brother, what big order have you landed this time? You're making quite a fuss." A slightly slick voice rang out from the doorway.

This sound immediately drew the attention of everyone in the courtyard.

Guan Yue frowned slightly, his voice deepening, "Xiao Ma, what are you doing here?"

"Boss, I just saw that Lao Liu was making quite a fuss, so I came over to see if there was anything I could do to lend a hand."

A man walked in through the door, a fawning smile plastered on his face; it was Ma Xiaohai.

Li Kaixin also recognized the person.

He remembered that last time, Ma Xiaohai had called him "Brother Hu" so affectionately.

In just a few days, the way he addressed her changed to "Sixth Brother," and there was hardly any respect in his tone.

Li Kaixin couldn't help but look at Hu Laoliu, and sure enough, he saw that Hu Laoliu's face darkened instantly, and a hint of barely perceptible anger flashed in his eyes.

"This is none of your business. Just mind your own business," Hu Laoliu replied, barely suppressing his anger.

Ma Xiaohai remained unmoved.

His gaze shifted to Li Kaixin, and he immediately recognized the outfit. A smile spread across his face: "Oh! Isn't this Brother Zhou? Long time no see, long time no see!"

As he spoke, he quickly stepped forward and reached out his hand to shake hands with Li Kaixin.

Li Kaixin didn't have a good impression of Ma Xiaohai from the first time they met, and now she's even less inclined to be polite.

He felt that saying anything more to someone who had only recently climbed up the ladder and was already showing disrespect to his former boss was superfluous.

Li Kaixin didn't even glance at the outstretched hand, turning directly to Hu Laoliu and urging, "Brother Hu, let's get going! I'm in a hurry."

Ma Xiaohai's hand froze in mid-air, and his smile also froze, but he couldn't immediately lash out because his boss Guan Yue was present.

"Alright! Brother Zhou, let's go now." Old Hu quickly agreed.

Seeing Ma Xiaohai's humiliated expression, he felt a surge of satisfaction and couldn't help but give Li Kaixin a grateful look.

Then he turned to Guan Yue and asked, "Boss, I'll go with Brother Zhou to make the deal now."

Guan Yue didn't speak, but nodded slightly, his gaze subtly sweeping between Li Kaixin and Ma Xiaohai.

Having received permission, Hu Laoliu quickly led Li Kaixin out the door, one after the other.

Ma Xiaohai watched the two figures leave, a ruthless glint flashing in his eyes.

In the past few days, he has gradually come to appreciate the taste of power and realized that apart from his boss Guan Yue, no one can embarrass him.

However, when he turned to face Guan Yue again, that fierce look had disappeared, replaced by a fawning smile: "Boss, since there's nothing else, I'll head back now."

"Go."

Guan Yue had already closed his eyes again, slowly turning the pair of walnuts in his hand, without even glancing at him.

Ma Xiaohai's anger intensified. He gave Guan Yue a deep look, then silently turned and left the courtyard.

After he left, an older man slowly emerged from the shadows of the courtyard.

Guan Yue opened his eyes again and raised his hand to indicate, "Uncle Chen, please have a seat."

He then waved to the remaining men in the courtyard.

For a moment, only Guan Yue, Uncle Chen, and the burly man who had opened the door for Li remained in the courtyard.

As soon as Uncle Chen sat down, he spoke in a low voice: "Sir, could the person you were testing just now be a government official?"

"It shouldn't be."

Guan Yue shook his head and picked up the slightly cooled tea:

"Public officials rarely act in this way. However, this person must have a very strong backing, otherwise, he wouldn't be able to produce such a large quantity of goods."

"Sir, as long as you know what's going on, that's fine."

Uncle Chen nodded, then changed the subject: "I've noticed that Ma Xiaohai has been acting rather restless lately. Should we give him a talking-to?"

"Need not."

Guan Yue put down his teacup, exuding an undeniable coldness:

"I never intended to keep that kid around. Right now, I'm just letting him stabilize the situation. Once I find suitable replacements, I'll get rid of him."

He paused, glancing at Uncle Chen, and said, "Furthermore, this is also to teach Xiao Liu a lesson, so he won't recommend any lousy or substandard people to me again."

The change in Ma Xiaohai's attitude towards Hu Laoliu these past few days is also due to Guan Yue's tacit approval and indulgence.

.......

Li Kaixin and Hu Laoliu walked out of the courtyard gate, and Hu Laoliu called to his men who were waiting outside.

When Li Kaixin saw that only six of his underlings had come, he couldn't help but wonder, "Brother Hu Liu, why did you only bring this many men? I'm afraid it's not enough."

"Brother Zhou, didn't you say last time that you were worried about having too many people?" Old Hu asked, somewhat puzzled.

Upon hearing this, Li Kaixin remembered that he had indeed mentioned it during the last transaction.

So he lowered his voice and explained, "That's true, but I'm mainly a little worried about Ma Xiaohai."

As he spoke, he glanced into the courtyard.

Old Hu sighed, "Ah! Brother Zhou, you have a good eye for people, unlike me..."

"Alright, alright, Brother Hu Liu."

Li Kaixin quickly interrupted him: "Let's make the deal as soon as possible!"

As soon as he finished speaking, he walked ahead and led the way.

Upon seeing this, Hu Laoliu immediately stopped talking and quickly followed after him.