It was no wonder Yang Ming and Chen Bo were so shocked.
After all, these were arms dealers.
Although they ran in underworld circles, they never imagined they would have dealings with a power of this magnitude.
It wasn’t that they hadn’t wondered how powerful Lu Feng’s backing was; after all, being able to take out the Gao Brothers was already incredible.
But who knew it was this terrifying?
In that light, the way he’d dealt with the Gao Brothers had been a very gentle approach.
At that moment, Yang Ming and Chen Bo understood. No wonder he could produce so much Gold. For an arms dealer, that must have been simple.
And the jade—wasn’t Myanmar full of it?
Everything clicked into place.
Still, Yang Ming was a little puzzled as to when his younger cousin had gotten involved with a force like this. As far as he knew, his cousin had never had anything to do with the underworld.
’Or was honestly working in a factory just a front, a way to deceive everyone?’
Yang Ming couldn’t figure it out, so in the end, he simply stopped trying.
In any case, his cousin had never done him any harm. On the contrary, he was the one constantly benefiting from his cousin’s success.
Black Snake listened from the side. He felt there were some discrepancies between what President Lu was saying and what he knew, but he was shrewd enough not to say a word.
’Who knows if President Lu has some ulterior motive for saying all this? Staying silent is the best choice for me.’
"So, who can we send over there?" Lu Feng asked again. "The person who goes won’t need to do much. Just help me keep an eye on the two factions there and report any developments to me immediately."
Hearing this, Yang Ming and Chen Bo exchanged a look.
Some of their other brothers were clearly eager to volunteer.
Though it was all part of the underworld, how could running things in Tianzhou City compare to the thrill of being an arms dealer?
Finally, Chen Bo spoke up directly, "President Lu, in a situation like this, it wouldn’t be appropriate to send any of the other brothers. It would be best if Yang Ming and I went personally."
"However, Yang Ming just got a girlfriend and needs time to nurture their relationship. So, it’s better if I personally lead a team over there."
He knew this was his chance.
President Lu’s organization had grown into a massive ship, and their power in Tianzhou City alone was considerable. But he was well aware that his duties overlapped with Yang Ming’s.
Moreover, Yang Ming was President Lu’s cousin. He had no desire to compete with him, much less fight for position.
Therefore, helping President Lu by monitoring another faction was an excellent choice.
Lu Feng nodded. "Chen Bo, in that case, you’ll take some men over there. I’ll have Black Snake arrange everything. Someone will be there to receive you when you arrive."
In truth, he had been thinking of sending Chen Bo himself.
First, after the last incident, Chen Bo had proven himself trustworthy. Second, Chen Bo had started out with him at the same time as his cousin, and most of their current men in Tianzhou City had been recruited by Chen Bo.
Between Chen Bo and his cousin, Lu Feng always had more tasks for his cousin, which left Chen Bo relatively idle. He didn’t want the man to feel neglected.
He wasn’t a heartless or disloyal person. Though he would naturally take better care of his cousin, he wasn’t one to show blatant favoritism.
Therefore, sending Chen Bo was indeed an excellent choice.
"Understood, President Lu," Chen Bo nodded immediately.
After arranging this, Lu Feng had tea with Yang Ming and the others for a while longer.
Once they had all left, he went upstairs to get some rest.
He hadn’t rested at all after the long flight and was quite tired.
「Time passed.」
In a drowsy haze, he felt a tickle on his nose. A faint, sweet fragrance wafted by, and he instantly knew who it was. Without opening his eyes, he wrapped his arms out, pulling a soft body into his embrace and eliciting a delicate cry from Yang Qingxue.
Lu Feng rolled over, pinning her beneath him. "You little troublemaker!"
Yang Qingxue asked happily, "Lu Feng, when did you get back?"
"Just now!" Lu Feng replied with a grin. Gazing at Yang Qingxue’s delicate and beautiful face, he smiled wickedly. "Qingxue, I’ve really missed you!"
...
Yang Qingxue snuggled in Lu Feng’s embrace, her voice a bit weak as she said, "Lu Feng, the beauty salon is opening in two days. Sister Yao has already started the promotional activities, but I just don’t feel confident."
"You have to believe in yourself. It’ll be fine," Lu Feng offered, his attempt at comfort sounding a bit stiff.
He wasn’t someone who was good at counseling others.
However, seeing how insecure Yang Qingxue was, he felt he had to help her. When Yang Qingxue went to take a shower, he pulled out his phone and found Master Kai’s contact information.
In Tianzhou City, Master Kai was a local kingpin. And he wasn’t just any kingpin—he was an incredibly powerful one, the kind of local snake that could crush even a powerful outsider.
Master Kai certainly knew countless wealthy wives, madams, and socialites. If he helped spread the word, there was no way Yang Qingxue’s beauty salon would lack business.
After finding Master Kai’s contact information, Lu Feng sent him a message: "Master Kai, my girlfriend’s beauty salon is opening soon. Make sure your girlfriend comes to show her support, and help spread the word."
He added the salon’s address at the end.
When Yang Qingxue came out of the shower, Lu Feng asked her, "Qingxue, what’s the pricing like at the salon? What’s the target market?"
Yang Qingxue was taken aback by the question but quickly answered, "We’re going for an affordable, mid-range market. Our facilities and equipment are really good, but our technicians are a bit lacking."
Hearing this, Lu Feng immediately said, "Go for the high-end market instead. Go back and raise all the prices. It doesn’t matter if the technicians aren’t the best right now; you can always hire more. As long as you get the salon off the ground, you won’t have to worry about finding good technicians."
’What a joke,’ he thought. ’I already asked Master Kai to help promote it, and she wants to stick to the affordable route? We have to go high-end.’
Even if the technicians weren’t perfect for now, as long as the products were good and customers started coming, the technician issue could always be solved later.
In a villa, Master Kai was in the middle of doing something indescribable with a female celebrity.
The first time he’d met President Lu, it was with this very same celebrity. If President Lu hadn’t given him a warning that day, prompting him to go for a hospital check-up, he might not have been able to "play" with this star anymore.
After finally finishing his breathless work, he picked up his phone and saw the message from President Lu.
"President Lu’s girlfriend is opening a beauty salon?" Master Kai was surprised by the message.
Having his girlfriend show support was no problem at all. As for helping to promote it, he just smiled and patted the very fleshy backside of the woman beside him. "President Lu’s girlfriend is opening a beauty salon. When the time comes, help spread the word."
While he didn’t keep many starlets like her, this one had a wide social circle. In particular, by leveraging her relationship with him, quite a few people tried to curry favor with her by going the "madam" route and befriending her.
He was well aware of this but didn’t care.
They could try to cozy up to her all they wanted; it was his decision whether to acknowledge them or not.
"Mm, got it," the actress nodded languidly.
「Two days passed in a flash.」
Yang Qingxue’s beauty salon had its grand opening. The name was simply Qingxue Beauty Salon.
It was a somewhat plain name, yet also direct and simple, which reflected Yang Qingxue’s personality.
Yang Ming and Chen Bo both came with their men, and the brothers in charge of the various nightclubs all sent congratulatory flower baskets, filling the entire storefront.
This attracted a great deal of attention. A large number of women also came to have a look, drawn by the salon’s advertisements. Some had even received flyers.
Grand opening promotions always managed to attract a lot of women.
After all, the opening discounts were genuinely fantastic.
Inside the salon, Lin Yao stared worriedly at the new price list. "Qingxue, are you sure about this? Setting the prices so high, I’m afraid it will scare away customers."
She had researched the beauty industry in Tianzhou City and was familiar with the pricing. The new prices Yang Qingxue had set positioned them completely in the high-end market.
The high-end route was not an easy one to take, especially for a new salon like theirs with no established reputation or customer base.
Yang Qingxue immediately replied, "Sister Yao, Lu Feng told me to do it. It should be fine."
Lin Yao was taken aback. Hearing his name, she suppressed her doubts.
But the customers obviously didn’t care about any of that. As they entered the salon, many of them started clamoring as soon as they saw the prices.
"Why are these prices so much higher than what was advertised?"
"Exactly! This is way too expensive! How can they use false advertising to lure people in?"
"Who would spend money at a place that does business like this? I’ll be sure to ’promote’ them—by telling all my girlfriends to avoid this place like the plague."
"..."
These comments made Yang Qingxue and Lin Yao’s faces turn pale.
It was clear this was becoming a problem.
If they failed to attract clients after switching to a high-end model, and also ruined their reputation for the affordable market, the salon would be facing bankruptcy.
"Qingxue, is this really okay?" Lin Yao couldn’t help but frown again.
Even the salon’s own technicians were looking at Yang Qingxue with doubt in their eyes.
They had worked in high-end salons before and knew that you couldn’t just switch to luxury pricing on a whim like this.
They were starting to think they had made a mistake applying to this salon. Not only was the owner young, but she also seemed completely unreliable, making decisions on a whim.
By now, the women who had been attracted by the promotions were leaving, complaining and grumbling as they went.
But just as they stepped out of the salon and headed for the parking lot, they saw a luxury car pull up. Several beautifully dressed women with amazing figures stepped out.
The woman in the lead wore a very sexy short dress. It was obvious she took excellent care of herself and spared no expense on her upkeep.
Seeing this woman, many people looked surprised:
"That woman looks so familiar. I feel like I’ve seen her somewhere!"
"She does look familiar... I think she’s some kind of celebrity!"
"I think you’re right. I saw her play the daughter in the show ’XX Daily.’ Her chest and legs look even better in person than on TV."
"Now that you mention it, I think that’s really her!"
"..."
A buzz of astonishment went through the crowd. After all, seeing a celebrity was a rare event for ordinary people. And the women with her also looked vaguely familiar, as if they were also actresses.
They just couldn’t understand why several celebrities would appear here.
While they were still wondering, the group of actresses walked straight toward Yang Qingxue’s beauty salon.
The women who had just left the salon complaining stopped in their tracks, stunned.
When the celebrities walked into Qingxue Beauty Salon, Yang Qingxue and Lin Yao were stunned as well.
They had both watched "XX Daily." The show was incredibly popular with women, so they instantly recognized the woman in the lead.
Why was a celebrity coming to their salon?