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Chapter 208: Chapter 177: Initial Success (Subscribe!)_1
Although Tang Qing’s car had already left, Liu Qian was still gazing in the direction it took off, his face bearing a smile. He behaved in the same way as he would usually do when seeing off important figures. Unable to resist, Gangzi asked him, "Boss Liu, does Manager Dou have an extraordinary background?"
He didn’t have the qualifications to join such a banquet. But he wasn’t a fool. He knew that Liu Qian’s enthusiasm wasn’t because of Tang Qing, but the general manager, Dou Jiao, under Tang Qing’s company, since the text message just now was sent by him.
Upon hearing this, Liu Qian laughed but didn’t turn around. He said, "Ha-ha, she is not just extraordinary, the gurus behind her are even mightier than Secretary Cao. Anyway, we can’t afford to provoke them. What’s truly unexpected, though, is Little Tang’s association with them. It looks like a deep one, I’m understanding him less and less."
By now, Tang Qing’s car had already disappeared from sight. Gradually, the smile on Liu Qian’s face faded, revealing a deep look of puzzlement on his face.
From the banquet earlier, he noticed the close relationship between Tang Qing and Dou Jiao. Especially when Dou Jiao insisted on pouring half of Tang Qing’s drink, Liu Qian wouldn’t misunderstand this as an employee’s attempt to curry favour with the boss. Considering Dou Jiao’s background, there’s no way she would need to flatter Tang Qing. This showed that they had an extremely good relationship, but it wasn’t a romantic one. It was more like the affection between siblings, a sentiment he was capable of recognising.
Maybe Tang Qing is Dou Jiao’s sworn brother?
That was very likely. Excluding the improbable powerful backing of Tang Qing and unconventional relationship between them, this possibility is most probable and easiest for him to accept.
There were also several other possibilities, like a relationship between their grandparents, or a good relationship between Tang Qing and a certain individual of the Dou Family. Once he started imagining the possibilities, dozens of them emerged, leaving Liu Qian uncertain.
Regardless of the reason behind it, one thing was sure — Tang Qing’s influence was growing. Since he had a good relationship with Tang Qing and was connected to him by the Exchange and Dream Melody Group, as well as Qin Yugang, Tang Qing’s growing influence meant his own was growing. Thinking up to here, Liu Qian started feeling excited. He considered Tang Qing as his lucky star, as through him, he realised he was intersecting with three massive powers.
The first one was the significant figure who was assisted by the U.S. dollars he exchanged through Tang Qing a while ago. This person was a super second-generation official in Beijing, who had a standing committee member of the Provincial Party Committee as a family member.
Another one was on Qin Yugang’s end. Last year, he was only a mayor and acting secretary of Province City. But this year, he became a secretary and even the standing committee member of the Provincial Party Committee. Although this connection seemed relatively weak, it was at least palpable.
The last group was where Dou Jiao came from.
My goodness, the number of the province’s eleven standing committee members whom he could possibly connect with suddenly increased by three. In other words, as long as he maintained a good relationship with Tang Qing, his concealed power within the province would surge unprecedentedly. How could that not excite him? Thinking of this, Liu Qian felt his body trembling uncontrollably from the excitement.
"Manager Dou’s background is even more powerful than Secretary Cao’s?" Gangzi asked in awe after hearing this. He naturally knew who Secretary Cao was. That was Liu Qian’s backer within the province, one of the members of the provincial standing committee. To be more powerful than Secretary Cao, wouldn’t that mean they are at least on par or even higher than him? Who on earth was Tang Qing, to have recruited such a well-backed woman into his company?
"Yes. And it’s much more powerful," Liu Qian nodded and said. He didn’t have anything to hide from Gangzi. His own backer had a bit of background, but when compared to Dou Jiao’s family, it did seem slightly inferior.
"I’m starting to not understand Tang Qing either. I used to think he’s weak, I hadn’t noticed before, but now I suddenly get the feeling that I can’t beat him," said Monkey gravely, after being silent for a while.
"You must be talking about his bodyguard. I noticed, too. He’s very strong. Just now, I asked around about his background and learned he is from the army. He didn’t share any other details, this probably means it’s not simple," Gangzi replied, laughing. He thought Monkey misspoke. With Tang Qing’s frail build, how could he possibly intimidate Monkey?
"If someone like you, who’s fighting instincts are almost wasted, could sense what I’m talking about, I’d be damned. I’m not talking about him, but... never mind... maybe it’s just my illusion," Monkey derisively said. Martial artists only respect the strong. At the beginning, Gangzi was able to compete with him, but now, he’s completely being oppressed.
Gangzi wasn’t annoyed by Monkey’s attitude and naturally said: "Are you talking about Tang Qing? Have you lost your mind from training? With his physique, I ... you must be delusional."
He originally wanted to say he could beat ten of them, but considering his excited boss and Tang Qing’s complicated relationships, he quickly changed his words. If he made such a disrespectful remark, Liu Qian would surely reprimand him for it. Disrespecting important individuals, even behind their backs, always backfires someday — this was a lesson Liu Qian had taught Gangzi.
Sun Chao escorted Tang Qing and the others back to the hotel.
While walking into the hotel lobby, Tang Qing and Dou Jiao naturally led the way.
"Sister Jiaojiao, did you know Liu Qian before?" Tang Qing asked. He didn’t realize it initially, but the more he pondered, the more odd it seemed. Remembering Liu Qian’s unusual reaction upon seeing Dou Jiao, Tang Qing immediately suspected that Dou Jiao and Liu Qian might know each other. 𝘯𝘰𝘷𝘱𝘶𝑏.𝑐𝘰𝑚
His powerful photographic memory continuously ’replayed’ Liu Qian’s expressions, finally confirming that Dou Jiao’s identity was not simple. It certainly wasn’t because of her connection with Feng Hai, secretary of the Qingyan City Judicial Committee. As for Dou Jiao’s background, he wasn’t too interested, but he just wanted to clear the doubts in his heart because guesses and facts always have some differences.
"That’s correct, I met him once before." Dou Jiao admitted with a nod. She, too, understood that Tang Qing had noticed something. Liu Qian had been quite restrained throughout their "meet and greet" dinner, so it wouldn’t surprise her if her observant younger brother figured something out.
"I see. No wonder Liu Qian looked so odd today." Tang Qing said with a laugh.
"Are you going to ask about my background?" Dou Jiao spoke nervously.
"No, Sister Jiaojiao, I’m not interested in your background. All I know is I have a kind sister named Jiaojiao." Seeing Dou Jiao’s anxiety, Tang Qing said in a lighthearted manner. He knew if he asked, Dou Jiao would surely answer honestly, but he only wanted to answer the doubts in his heart. As for Dou Jiao’s identity, he genuinely wasn’t interested.
For one, he didn’t have powerful enemies that would make him need to climb the social ladder. And secondly, even if Dou Jiao knew the Province’s top leader or was related to them, it wasn’t like she could help him make money. If his financial deficiency spiraled out of control, it would be a bottomless pit. His path to wealth through actual business had long been vetoed. Therefore, he didn’t care. Plus, if the Dou family were indeed powerful, she would surely help him if he encountered difficulties. There was no need to dig into her past and create awkwardness.
Furthermore, it wasn’t as if Tang Qing couldn’t find out if he wanted to. Once the communication server was built, he could examine the population registration records from the Public Security Bureau. Even though access to the data of important individuals might be restricted, it wasn’t a problem. Don’t forget that his team of basic intelligence analysts are all elite hackers.
He didn’t know the extent of their hacking prowess, but he knew products from the system couldn’t possibly be substandard commodities. With Little Two’s supercomputer of unknown grade at his disposal, investigating something would be easy. Even if he was reluctant to cross the Chinese law enforcement and invite trouble, he could delve into foreign intelligence. If they didn’t have domestic intelligence, it would be surprising.
Hearing his response, Dou Jiao breathed a sigh of relief; her worries lifted like a cloud, replaced by a sunny smile. Tang Qing’s answer made her very happy. She had been scared that Tang Qing would probe about her family, and that he may change and become less open because of it.
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