The next day, Su Xiaoxiao and Yezi had another day of tests. Xiao Bing called Ye Bancheng. Ye Bancheng didn’t seem to feel any surprise when he picked up Xiao Bing’s call. He smiled and said, “Lil Bin, I’m afraid you have something to say. You want me to help you contact Master Hou? You know, Master Hou can’t be visited easily, and I think you probably don’t know his contact information.”
Xiao Bing laughed, “Indeed, Uncle Ye can see through everything. In fact, it is easy for me to find out Master Hou’s number. But, it is not polite after all. So, I still have to bother Uncle Ye.”
“Well, what are you going to say to Master Hou?” Ye Bancheng said bluntly, “To be honest, your performance in the challenge arena that day was really shocking. With your strength, once the performance that night is known by others, all forces are going to draw you in and even risk offending the North Heaven Queen.”
Xiao Bing laughed, “Uncle Ye, you should know that I don’t have that kind of interest. Otherwise, why would I run a small noodle house here?”
“I know. I’m just reminding you. There are some things you have to face sooner or later. I’ll tell you Master Hou’s number. You have offended the North Heaven Queen. As long as you can make Master Hou feel embarrassed to deal with you, it won’t get worse. Even though the North Heaven Queen is difficult to deal with, at least you won’t offend Master Hou.”
Xiao Bing laughed, “I am not just calling to express my goodwill to Master Hou.”
“Oh?” Ye Bancheng asked curiously, “Do you have another purpose?”
Xiao Bing smiled, “Yezi had a great talk with me. Her opinion is the same as yours. She thinks that I must have a good relationship with Master Hou before I can hold off the North Heaven Queen’s next attack.”
Ye Bancheng sighed with emotion, “I still underestimate my little daughter. I have always regarded her as a child. In fact, she is as good as her brother and sister.”
Xiao Bing said, “Yes.”
“Then are you calling Master Hou for other purposes?”
“Exactly.” Xiao Bing’s eyes sparkled with wisdom and a bit of cunning. He smiled and said, “I need to lower my figure and ask Master Hou to help me to make peace with the North Heaven Queen.”
Ye Bancheng quieted down for a moment, then suddenly burst out laughing. Xiao Bing also wore a cunning smile..
“Well, well, my daughter didn’t pick the wrong person. Lil Bin, you not only have courage but also have plans. You are really a person who will do great things. The plan you made is not for ordinary people. Since you want to talk to Master Hou, you can go. I’ll tell you his phone number. It is… ”
After Xiao Bing wrote it down, he smiled and said, “Thank you, Uncle Ye. I’ll visit you when I have time.”
“Sure. Sure.”
Xiao Bing hung up the phone. There was a smile at the corner of his mouth. Of course, he knew what Ye Bancheng had been laughing at. He also knew why Ye Bancheng had called him cunning. The idea of Yezi was to let Xiao Bing make peace with Master Hou first. So that he could defeat the North Heaven Queen with one strike when he got the chance. By that time, it would be too late for Master Hou to help the North Heaven Queen.
However, Xiao Bing’s idea was to take the initiative and show weakness and enough respect to Master Hou so that Master Hou would on his behalf. In Xiao Bing’s view, there was not a single chance that the North Heaven Queen would let him go. At that time, when Master Hou saw that his trump card wouldn’t listen to him, would there be any bad feelings in his heart?
Perhaps this bad feeling may not play any role, but after all, it would provoke the relationship between them.
Ye Bancheng clearly understood Xiao Bing’s intentions, so he would say those words and laugh happily.
Ye Bancheng called back not long after they had hung up and told Xiao Bing that Master Hou had promised to meet and invited Xiao Bing to have dinner tonight. He also told Xiao Bing where Master Hou lives.
After thanking Ye Bancheng, Xiao Bing went to the noodle house to check the decoration progress. Then he began shopping and tried to pick out the gifts that he could bring to the party. Since it was to ease the relationship, it was better to satisfy Master Hou.
It was difficult to judge what Master Hou would like, but that wasn’t important. The important thing was for the gift to be expensive so that it could show Xiao Bing’s sincerity. According to the status of Master Hou, he definitely didn’t need the gift but rather the respect.
Xiao Bing specifically bought a piece of calligraphy at the antique market, which cost about 100,000 yuan. It was not too expensive. However, according to Xiao Bing’s current status that he showed to others, more than 100,000 yuan was a lot of money for him. People like Master Hou would know that a million yuan was nothing for a billionaire, but ten thousand yuan is a huge sum in the eyes of an ordinary salaryman. Xiao Bing’s status was just a shopkeeper and a cook, and 100,000 yuan was a big sum for him. It would be said that he had shown enough sincerity.
After shopping around, Xiao Bing checked the time. It was about an hour’s drive to the Hou Palace where Master Hou lived. Now it was just the right time.
The Hou Palace was Master Hou’s residence in Jiang City. Jiang City had a total of three manors. One was the Northern Manor where the North Heaven Queen lived. The other was the Western Manor where the West Heaven King lived. And the other manor was the Ye Manor belonging to the Ye Family, which was also the largest manor in the entire city.
The residence of East Heaven King Paint-face had a theater built by himself. Naturally, the theater was not open to the public. The actors in the theater were all dedicated to performing for East Heaven King alone, and he often performed operas on stage in person. The audience were all of his subordinates.
South Heaven King owned a villa halfway up the mountain.
As for Master Hou… As the Lord of the underground world in Jiang city, Master Hou didn’t like the feeling of living in villas or manors. What he really pursued was ancient mansions lived in by the royal family or local officials from ancient China. So, he built a mansion and named it after himself.
When arriving at the gate of the Hou Palace, Xiao Bing felt emotional when he raised his head and looked at the words Hou Palace that was written on a golden plaque. The two words, written to look like a dragon flying, reflected a kind of magnanimous ambition, the ambition to conquer the world.
Xiao Bing went up to knock on the door. With a squeak, two servants opened the door from the inside. They looked at Xiao Bing and one of them asked, “Mr. Xiao?”
“Yes.”
“Come in.” The two men moved to the side, and one of them lead the way. “Master Hou has prepared dinner, sir. Please come with me.”
Xiao Bing had a better impression of Master Hou. Even the doorman of his palace understood the rules, and these people at least didn’t show the slightest arrogance, from which he could tell that Master Hou didn’t have a simple mind.
This was a kind mind and a kind of tolerance. When a person was able to maintain such an attitude toward his servants, he must have great ambition.
The palace was very large and there were some guards patrolling the courtyard. The man led Xiao Bing all the way into the living room. The maids who were busy stopped their movements and bent down to greet Xiao Bing. Then Xiao Bing was led all the way to the dining room. At the door of the dining room, the servant didn’t enter but knocked at the door. Then he said, “Master Hou, Mr. Xiao is here.”
At this time the door opened from the inside, and a gentleman wearing a pair of glasses stood at the door. He smiled at Xiao Bing with a gentle face, “Is it Mr. Xiao? Master Hou is waiting for you.”
Xiao Bing smiled and answered. Even though it had been only one look, Xiao Bing still felt a kind of danger from the eyes of the elegant looking middle-aged man. Even if he had an easy-going smile, Xiao Bing thought of a cobra, that would be fatal when it attacked.
Master Hou was sitting in the master seat. There were bodyguards and servants standing around the dining room. Xiao Bing and the man wearing glasses also took their respective seats.
With the table full of food and high-grade liquor, Master Hou said with a smile, “We were talking and haven’t started to eat yet. You’re just in time.”
Xiao Bing laughed, “It’s good not to be late. I have a little gift for you.”
A servant next to him came over and took the calligraphy and he put it away for Master Hou. Master Hou smiled genially and said, “You didn’t have to bring me a present.”
Xiao Bing laughed, “It’s my first time visiting you. The gift was not expensive and is just a way to show my respect.”
Master Hou said with a smile, “Come on, Mr. Xiao. You didn’t have to. I’ll take it though. Let’s start to eat. Our cooks are all super cooks hired from the capital. Have a try.”
Xiao Bing picked up some food with his chopsticks, put it in his mouth, chewed a few times, and then praised heartfully, “Good cooking. The chef in Master Hou’s house is really amazing.”
Master Hou smiled and said, “Eat more if you like. You can’t find this kind of cooking in the entire Black Province… Originally, my cook was going to be a private cook for one of the leaders. Later, he did me a favor and entered the Hou Palace. Now his monthly income is several times as much as before. He has a car and even his own villa… I have no other advantages. But, I have a good memory. I will always keep in mind the respect others showed to me.”
Of course, if others didn’t respect him, he would also remember that. He was suggesting that he had been planning to be a peacemaker but Xiao Bing refused. People with his status, no matter how open-minded they claimed to be, believed that respect from others was still very important.
Since Xiao Bing had come here with a purpose today, he would play the part. After turning his eyes, he picked up his glass from the table and stood up.
