Chapter 211: What Can You Do to Me
At Donghua Garden's Nuanshan Pavilion, Cai Yong arrived at the private room early. This was a rare occasion for him. The last time he'd arrived so early was years ago for the Liuying family's little princess's full-month banquet, when he'd wanted to show his face to gain connections.
Every year-end, the powerful families of the capital gathered at Donghua Garden to exchange pleasantries. Of course, it wasn't really about small talk.
These gatherings served two main purposes. First, to exchange information. For the great clans, making money was easy—what mattered was how to make even more and how to secure their family's standing while continuing to grow. So, beneath the polite chatter, they were really seeking valuable intel. A single offhand comment could alter the direction of an entire family for the coming year.
The second purpose was to smooth relations among the families. Though each family had its own leading industries, their interests often clashed. As the economy developed, such conflicts had grown fiercer—sometimes even deadly.
In the past, these clashes mostly occurred among smaller clans. But in recent years, even major regional families from the third tier were fighting—especially in construction, real estate, and finance. Nowadays, even second-tier powers had begun to clash openly.
If such conflicts spiraled out of control, it could devastate not just the families involved but the entire regional economy—and even affect the nation's economic stability.
So the top-tier families took it upon themselves to prevent such chaos, and Donghua Garden became a place for the elite to mend and manage their ties.
Still, direct confrontations among the great clans were rare—especially for families like the Cai family. Such open rivalry was almost unheard of.
But clearly, the Cai family and the Qiao family had already broken that precedent.
First, the Cai family struck preemptively, using their media influence to pressure the Qiao family through insinuations and public opinion, then moved in on the Southeast Province.
They forcibly snatched the Du family's allegiance from the Qiao family, leaving both families now evenly matched across the province.
The Qiao family, of course, wouldn't take that humiliation lying down—they immediately counterattacked.
And their retaliation was heavy-handed. They hacked all of Cai family's media networks, causing damage to themselves as well but making one thing clear:
The Qiao family was not to be underestimated.
Then, while the Cai family was working on acquiring Yimao Group, the Qiao family made a move behind the scenes, seizing control of the Xinjin Fund—leaving the Cai family with heavy losses.
Both sides had now completely torn off their masks. The Cai family had gained the upper hand at first, but the Qiao family quickly delivered a slap back in kind.
As of now, the two sides were even—the Cai family had taken the Du family, and the Qiao family had taken the Xinjin Fund. Which was more valuable?
Outsiders could tell easily.
The Xinjin Fund's worth couldn't compare to half of the Southeast Province. After the first round, the Qiao family had clearly taken a loss.
Still, their rivalry remained somewhat polite. Though relations were tense, it hadn't yet escalated to open warfare.
But an incident yesterday shattered that delicate balance.
Among the third generation of the Cai family, one of their most promising young heirs—
A key leader of the Yongxing Fund, Cai Yu—
Had been utterly humiliated in Meining City.
Though rival clans often used ruthless tactics, they always kept up appearances. Yet Cai Yu had suffered the most degrading public embarrassment.
In front of everyone, he was drugged with a laxative, shitting and pissing his pants on the spot. Reporters caught the whole thing, and the footage spread across the internet in no time.
Now, Cai Yu had become infamous online, even earning a nickname—Diarrhea Yu.
For a young master of a top-tier family, such a fall from grace was unbearable.
While there was no solid proof linking it to the Qiao family, the incident occurred at the Haitian Pavilion in Meining—a Qiao family property. It was impossible to claim they weren't involved. What enraged the Cai family most was the Qiao family's silence. They didn't clarify or deny anything, effectively admitting guilt by omission.
When Cai Yong heard the news, he almost fainted from rage. He wanted to storm into the Qiao estate to demand justice, but given the families' current strained relations, he forced himself to endure.
Worse still, he received numerous calls from the most powerful families—those above both the Cai and Qiao clans—urging him not to escalate things further and to resolve it peacefully.
After all, the situation wasn't yet irreparable, and truth be told, the Cai family had started it in the first place.
Even their allies, like the Shen family, were advising reconciliation.
At this point, Cai Yong had no choice but to agree to a negotiation.
Meanwhile, Qiao Zhengguo, the Qiao family patriarch, also agreed to mediate after being persuaded by the Gu family. The meeting was set to take place at Donghua Garden's Nuanshan Pavilion.
The mediation lineup was as follows: the presiding mediator was Yuan Zhenfeng, head of the Yuan family, this year's rotating chairman of the Mediation Council; followed by the Cai and Qiao patriarchs themselves.
Given that the Yuan family's influence was slightly below that of the Cai and Qiao families, the Shen and Gu families—who had friendly ties with both—volunteered to assist.
The meeting was scheduled for 10:00 a.m., but Cai Yong arrived at 8:30.
His early arrival wasn't just due to the lingering anger over his grandson's humiliation, but also because both mediating families—the Shen and Gu—were among the first-tier elites.
The Shen family, in particular, was tied to the Cai family by marriage. Cai Yong himself and his father had once risen through the ranks alongside them, so he owed them both respect and gratitude.
By just past nine, Yuan Zhenfeng arrived. At 9:30, Shen Fengyun also showed up. But there was still no sign of anyone from the Qiao or Gu families.
Cai Yong's expression darkened. Even Shen Fengyun was displeased. If the Gu family was late, fine—they were equals.
But the Qiao family? Please. Back when the Shen family was building its empire—
The Qiao family were little more than tagalongs.
And now? The Shen family was here to mediate for them, yet they were acting high and mighty.
"Elder Yuan, seems the Qiao family's gotten pretty arrogant, huh? Didn't you confirm the time with them beforehand?" Cai Yong asked with a hint of irritation.
He conveniently forgot that at the last mediation, the Cai family had only sent Cai Xingteng to attend.
"Ah, Elder Cai, that's unfair. I called Elder Qiao yesterday to confirm the time and place. This morning, I even double-checked with him. He didn't object," Yuan Zhenfeng replied, frowning. "Maybe they're stuck in traffic." He glanced at Shen Fengyun. "Should I call again?"
"Fine, hurry up then," Shen Fengyun said impatiently, checking his watch. "It's ten minutes to ten."
Yuan Zhenfeng sighed and dialed Qiao Zhengguo's number. The call connected, but no one answered.
Yuan Zhenfeng waved his phone helplessly and chuckled. "Maybe bad signal…"
"Signal, my ass. Stop making excuses for them," Cai Yong snapped, standing up in anger. He'd never waited on anyone in his life.
"Forget it, Elder Cai. Looks like the Qiao and Gu families aren't coming. They're making fools of us," Shen Fengyun said, frowning but keeping his irritation contained.
"Oh? Brother Shen, Brother Cai—you're both here already."
Just then, a burst of chatter came from the entrance of Nuanshan Pavilion, followed by a teasing voice.
Cai Yong turned his head, and his already sour face turned livid. He checked the time—exactly 10:00—and barked, "What, the Qiao family's run out of real men? You send this wet-behind-the-ears brat instead?"
It wasn't Qiao Zhengguo, nor even his eldest son Qiao Yundeng—but their fourth, Qiao Yunfei, the playboy who ran a large software company.
To make matters worse, he had the gall to call Shen Fengyun 'Brother Shen'—fine, they were peers—but then he'd also called Cai Yong 'Brother Cai,' which was clearly meant as an insult.
"Heh, Brother Cai, it's not that the Qiao family's short on people. We just have a rule—what kind of person we meet depends on what kind of person shows up. To meet you, Brother Cai, someone like me is more than enough." Qiao Yunfei replied casually, completely unfazed.
"You—!" Cai Yong trembled with fury. "Didn't Qiao Zhengguo teach you how to talk to your elders?"
"Elders?" Qiao Yunfei glanced around, smirking. "Besides Elder Yuan, I don't see any elders here. And really, Cai Yong—Elder Yuan hasn't even spoken yet. What the hell are you yapping about?"
"Enough, Qiao Yunfei. Drop the act," Shen Fengyun cut in, frowning. "Where's your father? Doesn't he know today's mediation was arranged specifically for the Cai and Qiao families?"
"Oh, my father? He's busy. No time to attend." Qiao Yunfei walked casually over, plopped himself down beside Cai Yong, and said, "Whatever you have to say, you can say it to me."
"Insolence! The time and rules were set long ago—no matter how big or small the family, the patriarch must attend in person. Is he trying to defy the tradition?"
Qiao Yunfei squinted at him, grinning. "And if I said yes—what can you do to me?"