Chapter 2931 — Liu Tianli's Bankruptcy

Zhao Qilei nodded silently. Everything Old Master Zhao was saying, he understood. He had been bitter before—why should Zhao Qibing rise? But after learning of Zhao Qibing's contributions, he felt only that his own luck had been poor.

"Grandfather, I understand all of this..." Zhao Qilei sighed.

"Yes, you understand. And now you've brought a third-grade elixir back to the family as well. Your contribution now equals Qibing's, so I will no longer favor him. You start from the same line now, which is why I lean toward making you the young heir! Qitan, do you understand?" Old Master Zhao said, his words weighted with earnest feeling.

"Me?" Zhao Qilei was a little stunned. Why had Old Master Zhao suddenly come out with this?

"The hidden Han family, the hidden Pi family, the hidden Zhuang family—among these, the hidden Zhuang family was once far weaker than our Zhao family, and the hidden Pi family was about equal to us in strength. But both of those families are now developing better than our hidden Zhao family. Why is that?" Old Master Zhao paused there, then went on: "I'm sure you understand, Zhao Qilei—because they acknowledged Wei Zhao as their leader, and so their families have grown enormously!"

"So, Grandfather, you mean..." Zhao Qilei finally caught on, and was at once shocked and overjoyed! Grandfather had finally seen the light, finally recognized how formidable Wei Zhao was, and was finally ready to throw in with Wei Zhao's camp!

"Exactly!" Old Master Zhao nodded firmly. "Before, your grandfather thought Wei Zhao was just a loose cultivator with no real ability, and then certain matters involving Zhao Qibing put some strain between us and Wei Zhao. Because of that, I never again lowered myself to weigh the pros and cons of the matter. But looking at it now, you were the clever one! You left our hidden Zhao family a way out!"

Seeing his grandfather come to his senses and turn back from the wrong path, Zhao Qilei was overjoyed. He was so excited he hardly knew what to do, or what to say.

"Grandfather... I only felt that Leader Wei Zhao treats me well, and that he is strong enough to shelter me, so..." Zhao Qilei said.

"Mm, I know. You don't need to explain—you did the right thing!" Old Master Zhao said. "It's only that your grandfather had some misunderstandings with Wei Zhao before, and to go rushing to him like this would be rather abrupt—and then there's your grandfather's pride..."

"Grandfather, our family never showed Leader Wei Zhao much respect to begin with. Why are you still worrying about pride at a time like this? The men under Leader Wei Zhao have already reached the ancient-sect level. If we keep standing on ceremony, it really will be too late!" Zhao Qilei was a little anxious. Here they were, at such a moment, and Grandfather was still fretting over something like pride?

"What? Ancient level?" Old Master Zhao's heart gave a jolt, and he probed cautiously: "Ancient sects have submitted to Wei Zhao too?"

"Well, no—only disciples at the ancient level," Zhao Qilei answered truthfully, holding nothing back. He did not realize that Old Master Zhao was fishing for information.

Zhao Qilei did not know that the local tyrant's submission had been on behalf of the Yellow Earth Sect. After all, that involved Xiao Jiu, and Wei Zhao had not explained it to Zhao Qilei in detail, only glossing over it—so Zhao Qilei still did not know.

"Is that so!" Old Master Zhao feigned surprise, but inwardly he breathed a sigh of relief. A few disciples, he thought, were nothing much. If an ancient sect had truly submitted to Wei Zhao, that would have been genuinely troublesome! Then even if he killed Wei Zhao, and the ancient sect came to retaliate, came seeking revenge against him, he would have no way to deal with it. Fortunately, that was not the case. "Qitan, then what do you think I should do now?"

"If Grandfather truly wishes to have Leader Wei Zhao shelter our hidden Zhao family, then I think Grandfather should host a banquet and apologize to Leader Wei Zhao, and put the past behind us," Zhao Qilei suggested after some thought.

"You make sense!" Old Master Zhao was so elated he nearly laughed aloud. Zhao Qilei, oh Zhao Qilei—don't you know that old ginger is the spicier? I was waiting for you to say exactly that, waiting for you to propose it yourself!

"Grandfather, then you agree?" Zhao Qilei breathed a sigh of relief. If they acknowledged Wei Zhao as leader while he himself still put on airs, Wei Zhao would surely be displeased—even if he accepted the hidden Zhao family as a subordinate for Zhao Qilei's sake, he would feel uncomfortable about it. But if Old Master Zhao took the initiative to host a banquet and apologize, that would smooth things over.

"Of course. Aren't I listening to you?" Old Master Zhao waved a hand. "Here's what I'll do: I'll look into it, convene a family council, then invite Wei Zhao to a meal and settle this relationship."

"Very good, Grandfather. I'll go tell Leader Wei Zhao of our Zhao family's decision right away!" Zhao Qilei said at once, delighted.

"Mm, go on," Old Master Zhao said. "In a moment I'll announce that your status in the hidden Zhao family and Zhao Qibing's are now equal—you are both heirs to the position of young family head! You know as well as I do that I can't simply strip Zhao Qibing of his heir's status; he has contributions too. From here on, it depends on your contributions! Though with Wei Zhao backing you, there shouldn't be any problem."

"I understand, Grandfather!" Zhao Qilei said hurriedly.

Had Old Master Zhao simply said he would remove Zhao Qibing and put Zhao Qilei in his place, Zhao Qilei would surely have felt some doubt and confusion, and might well have given himself away. But the more Old Master Zhao spoke like this, the more reasonable it seemed to Zhao Qilei!

When Wei Zhao got home, he had no time even to exchange pleasantries with Gu Mengyao and Shen Yushu, or to tell them the interesting things that had happened during this trial at the Xuandan Sect, before he was thrown into a towering rage by a troublesome piece of business!

These past days, Liu Tianli had been living a life of drunken indulgence, muddling through on the principle of getting by one day at a time and hiding things as long as he could. He reported nothing about the company's affairs to the Liu family, and explained nothing to Lai the fat man and the others; instead, he smoked cigarettes endlessly every day.

The cigarettes in his hands were limited—once they were smoked, there would be no more. Boss Lang had already fled, and it was even less possible to get cigarettes from Boss Lang. So Liu Tianli simply sought out some shady bars and bought drugs on the black market! (To be continued.