When Qin Siyang saw Old Li looking furious and flustered, he smiled, "Old Li, how did you know I was getting mixed up in the Chu family and the Huo family's affairs?"
Li Tianming shot Qin Siyang a sideways glance for two seconds and sneered, "What, you wanted to keep it from me all along, and didn't expect me to find out?"
"I didn't mean to hide it from you, because I really don't plan on getting involved in the Chu family and Huo family's matters."
"Not involved? Today you went with Chu Baxing to pick up Huo Dangkou and brought him to the guesthouse, and you still say you're not involved?"
"Don't tell me that this morning at the school gate, you were just accompanying Chu Baxing to pick up Huo Dangkou, and that Huo Dangkou has nothing to do with you! If this had nothing to do with you, I don't believe for a second that you'd stick your nose into it!"
Li Tianming turned to Zhao Longfei again, "And you too, Principal Zhao. You must be involved in this as well! Huo Dangkou settling down in South Glory, if you hadn't nodded behind the scenes, I absolutely wouldn't believe it!"
Zhao Longfei lit a cigar where he sat, tugged the corner of his mouth, and remained silent.
Whether it was Chu Baxing or Huo Dangkou, those were Qin Siyang's own matters. What did they have to do with him, Zhao Longfei?
At the end of the day, he was just someone helping Big Shot Qin carry the sedan chair. He had no dealings whatsoever with Huo Dangkou or Chu Baxing.
Now that the main person involved, Qin Siyang, had arrived, he couldn't be bothered to deal with Li Tianming, this walking powder keg, any further.
As for whether to tell Li Tianming about obtaining a sequence regiment establishment, he would let Qin Siyang decide for himself.
"Old Li, it really isn't what you think. I've got nothing better to do than meddle in the military's internal affairs? That wouldn't benefit me at all."
"Then why did you take in Huo Dangkou?"
Li Tianming was so worked up that spit was flying onto Qin Siyang's face.
"Do you know how many people are trying every possible way to get in touch with the Huo family, hoping to use the Huo family's reputation to stir up chaos in the Chu Legion?"
"You bring Huo Dangkou to your side, and in other people's eyes, it's like hanging a full pound of crimson crystal right on your chest! Do you know how many people will be drooling over you?"
Qin Siyang twitched his nose, 'Only a pound? That doesn't sound too bad.'
Seeing that Qin Siyang didn't take it seriously, Li Tianming got even angrier and slapped the table hard, "Qin Siyang, tell me, you've always been pretty reliable in how you do things, haven't you? So why, when it comes to Huo Dangkou, does it seem like your brain's been filled with piss? What kind of benefit could possibly make you do something this absurd?"
Qin Siyang knew Li Tianming was worried about his safety, and he couldn't bear to keep hiding it anymore. He sighed and said, "Old Li, the reason I took in Huo Dangkou is because I got my hands on a sequence regiment establishment from Chu Xiao'ang."
This sudden confession left Li Tianming stunned for a moment.
"A sequence regiment… establishment?"
"That's right."
Qin Siyang nodded, then explained how he had obtained a sequence regiment establishment from Chu Xiao'ang, and how he planned to have Huo Dangkou serve as the nominal regimental commander.
However, he skipped over the drug transaction between Zhao Longfei and Chu Xiao'ang, as well as the fact that the Zhao Chamber of Commerce's currency issuance plan owed him a favor.
The sequence regiment establishment was his own secret, and there was no problem telling Li Tianming. But the drug deal and currency plan were secrets of the Zhao family, and he naturally couldn't casually reveal them.
Li Tianming, of course, knew what should be asked and what shouldn't, and didn't pry into how Qin Siyang had gotten this chance to deal with the Chu Legion.
He simply listened to the whole story from beginning to end. The anger on his face clearly subsided, replaced by surprise and confusion.
"You… got an establishment from the Chu Legion?"
"Yes."
Li Tianming frowned, then asked, "Then will this establishment be taken back later?"
"No. It's an independent establishment, the kind that doesn't have to follow the legion commander's orders."
"Oh. Good."
After asking that, Li Tianming quietly thought it over, and didn't speak again for a long while.
Zhao Longfei's office fell into silence.
Li Tianming looked at Zhao Longfei, "When Little Qin was negotiating this condition with Chu Xiao'ang, you must have been present, right?"
"Mm."
"Why didn't you stop him?"
Zhao Longfei leaned back leisurely in his chair, taking a puff of smoke and a sip of tea, "Little Qin's matters are all decided by himself. I'm not his father. Why should I stop him?"
"Even if you're not relatives, after all this time, everyone's developed some feelings. When he was being young and rash, why weren't you there to help pull him back a bit?"
Zhao Longfei laughed, "Ask him whether I helped when he was negotiating terms with Chu Xiao'ang."
Qin Siyang nodded, "If Principal Zhao hadn't been there pulling and supporting me, I definitely would've been led into a ditch by Chu Xiao'ang."
"That's not the kind of help I mean! Little Qin is young and eager for quick success. Why didn't you tell him to be more steady?"
After being questioned again and again, Zhao Longfei finally lost his patience.
"Be more steady? Professor Li, do you think he's doing scientific research? That he just needs to accumulate slowly, advance steadily, and in the end become a top Tiger-brand professor like you inside the safe zone?"
"You're immersed in research yourself, keep yourself clean, and have always just circled around the academic world. Is he the same as you? Up to now, he hasn't done a single research project with you people, has he? Can he walk your path?"
"He's hanging the title of vice chairman of my Zhao family, living in the same room as the Holy Son of the Zephyr Church, making deals with military people, and even being hunted down by Snake-cards!"
"You expect him to just not fight or compete, live peacefully, and grow slowly over time?"
"He doesn't have that opportunity! He has to break through on his own."
Li Tianming also sprang to his feet in anger, "Breaking through on your own means you'll live well? After the apocalypse, there are tens of thousands of people in the safe zone who want to push forward. In the end, how many actually make it out?"
Zhao Longfei slammed the table, "Little Qin, whether in ability, scheming, or luck, is among the very best in the entire safe zone! Someone is bound to make it through. Why can't it be him?"
"Principal Zhao, this kind of fluke mentality of yours won't do! When the safe zone was first established, relying on sheer struggle to rise from nothing might still have had some chance. Now all the major forces have already carved up the cake. Little Qin is an eighteen-year-old orphan with no backing. What are the odds that he can make it through?"
"Professor Li, you're being far too conservative! This is exactly how I made it through! If I could do it, Little Qin definitely has a chance!"
"If breaking through really works, why don't you let Zhao Sifang go try it first?"
"What kind of aptitude does my big nephew have? And what kind does Little Qin have? How could they be the same?"
"So what if he makes it through? Isn't the Zhao family still constrained from all sides right now?"
"At least he won't be controlled by trash like Guo Jiuxiao."
Li Tianming refused to back down even an inch, "With a stage set up this big, can you really take all sides into account? I only need to beat Guo Jiuxiao. What about you, Principal Zhao?"
Zhao Longfei was steady as a mountain, "Holding the protagonist's script and stepping onto the stage, what's wrong with fighting a few more villains?"
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