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Chapter 225: Chapter 192: Showdown (Please subscribe!)_1
When everything settled down, Tang Qing stopped focusing on people like Pi Qiang and Xiong Zhiyang. There were ’residual’ long-range eavesdroppers in Xiong Zhiyang’s home, in his car, and on Pi Qiang and the others. It would be the command room’s job to worry about those. For a significant amount of time in the future, they would be under the command room’s surveillance. However, they weren’t particularly important.
After all, the information these people had was limited and of little value. Plus, with the intimidation from before, they couldn’t really cause trouble. Furthermore, with no deaths, the police wouldn’t get involved. Otherwise, Tang Qing wouldn’t have just injured them without going for the kill.
The next day.
It was 4 a.m.
Tang Qing woke up and immediately went to the hotel where his Second Uncle Tang Kai was staying. Even though it wasn’t light out yet, the surveillance showed that Tang Kai was already awake and washing up. Tang Qing had matters to attend to in the morning, so he decided to get a handle on his Second Uncle’s situation before Dou Jiao woke up. That way, the command room could form the next plan. As of now, even though a fair amount of information had been gathered, it was still not as reliable as hearing from someone who knew ’everything’ first-hand like his Second Uncle.
The hotel owner was still asleep in his own room, but it was a light sleep. The VIP guest was still in the hotel, so he couldn’t rest easy.
Suddenly.
"Clang! Clang!"
The sound of the roll-up door startled the hotel owner awake. He had the key to the door; it wasn’t likely his wife was coming early. Who was out there opening the door? Could it be the group from yesterday?
The thought sent a wave of fear through the hotel owner. He wanted to call the police, but he didn’t dare. The fact that the group could open the door without a key didn’t surprise him at all. To these adept bodyguards, what was a lock?
"Knock! Knock! Knock!"
The knock at the door startled the hotel owner so much he almost jumped. Trembling, he asked, "Who is it?"
"For the next hour, do not leave or call the police without permission. Understand?"
A cold voice answered.
The killing intent in the voice terrified the owner. He couldn’t see anyone but was nodding frantically, "Understood, sir. I won’t make a sound or call the police. But what if someone tries to check out?"
"I’ll handle it," the voice promptly responded.
"Thank... Thank you," the owner managed to stammer out.
...
Tang Qing followed the bodyguard into Room 307, took a deep breath while looking at the room number, and gave a significant look to the bodyguard behind him. The bodyguard came forward immediately with the key. Even though the hotel was small, it wasn’t poorly equipped. Even though it had a wooden door, there were no creaking sounds when it was opened. 𝔫𝖔𝖛𝖕𝖚𝔟.𝖈𝖔𝔪
After pushing the door open, Tang Qing walked right in, followed by three bodyguards. The last to enter gently shut the door behind him.
Tang Kai was still in the bathroom at the time. Tang Qing took a seat on the sofa with two fighters standing behind him and one at the door to prevent Tang Kai from getting frightened and running away.
They had carefully chosen this moment for their arrival. If they had called out, Tang Kai might not have responded. Breaking down the door was not an option. They concluded it was better to just let themselves in.
Tang Qing took a bottle of red tea from the minibar and started drinking. He had initially wanted to buy some breakfast and eat with Tang Kai, but it was too early. There were already some breakfast places that had opened and started to prepare, but their food wasn’t ready yet. After all, it would be more than an hour before dawn.
Tang Qing never imagined he would meet Tang Kai under such circumstances.
"Squeak..." the bathroom door opened. Its design was rather inconvenient; it opened outwards, blocking the soldier at the door. Tang Kai didn’t realize there was someone outside until he turned to his left and saw Tang Qing sitting on the sofa with two large men standing behind him.
The sight nearly scared the life out of Tang Kai – finding several strangers in his room all of a sudden was too damn horrifying.
"Who... who are you?" Tang Kai backed away a couple of steps and, out of instinct, tried to flee. But as he turned around, he saw a stern-looking soldier blocking the door. His icy gaze and aura froze Tang Kai in fear. As someone who himself had an entourage of strong bodyguards, Tang Kai had an acute sense for fighters—he instantly recognized that this man was a formidable fighter and not a show-off or a hooligan.
Having seen a lot in his life, Tang Kai only panicked momentarily before regaining his calm. He knew escaping wouldn’t be easy, so he didn’t bother. Instead, he turned to study Tang Qing, who was obviously the figure of authority in the room.
Despite the friendly smile on Tang Qing’s face, Tang Kai didn’t dare to let his guard down. He had seen too many two-faced people who appeared congenial while plotting against him.
"You’re Tang Kai, aren’t you?" Tang Qing began with a seemingly stupid question. But he had to start the conversation somehow, right? He couldn’t just introduce himself from the get-go. That would be too tacky.
"That’s me, and who are you guys?" Tang Kai responded calmly, his expression serious. It was not surprising to him that others could find him here and know his name.
Instead of answering, Tang Qing posed another question, "What is your relationship with Tang Zhong?"
In his previous life, he had practically no interaction with Tang Kai. He knew some basic information, but when he tried to find out more, Uncle Er would be evasive and his parents would be tight-lipped about Uncle Er’s information. He knew he had not mistaken the person, but to avoid any awkward situation like acknowledging that Uncle Er was adopted, he had to clarify things.
At the mention of Tang Zhong, Tang Kai’s face noticeably changed. He couldn’t keep calm anymore and took two steps forward, his voice was full of threat, "Who exactly are you? How do you know who Tang Zhong is? If you dare do anything to harm them, I swear I won’t let you off even if I’m a ghost."
He never talked about his family and their whereabouts, not to mention their names in public just to avoid any potential danger. After all, he had an enemy in Bangkok who doesn’t play by the rules and likes to threaten others using their loved ones. Plus, he also has enemies back at home. He simply wouldn’t risk revealing anything about his family in China.
Seeing Uncle Er react so strongly, Tang Qing decided not to test him anymore and his face was filled with a smile. Judging by Tang Kai’s reaction, he recognized Uncle Er no matter what.
Tang Qing stood up smiling, saying, "Don’t be nervous, how could I harm my own parents?"
This statement left Tang Kai completely dumbstruck. Parents?
Whose parents?
Could it be this young man standing right before his eyes?
As if realizing something, Tang Kai pointed at Tang Qing, his eyes wide in shock, stammering, "You, you...you.."
"That’s right, my name is Tang Qing, I am Tang Zhong’s son. Uncle Er, don’t stand there, come and take a seat." Without waiting for Tang Kai to finish, Tang Qing quickly went forward and guided Tang Kai to sit on the sofa nearby.
The bodyguards immediately took the cue and went to make tea.
"You’re Tang Zhong’s son?" Tang Kai said incredulously. He, of course, knew his older brother had a son, but that memory was from when the boy was very young, and he wouldn’t recognize him now as an adult. But what concerned him more were the ominous-looking bodyguards: how did they fit into this scenario? And how could Tang Qing recognize him? But then he realized it was not so surprising: there must be pictures of him at home, and the unique scar on his face was easy to recognize. So, he pieced everything together.
That’s when he remembered the way Tang Qing was staring at him blankly at the hotel the other day, he must have recognized him then.
"Haha, yes indeed, it is me. No doubt about it," said Tang Qing, laughing.
Tang Kai examined Tang Qing’s face closely. There indeed was some resemblance to his older brother when he was young, although Tang Qing was significantly more handsome. Knowing Tang Zhong’s name too, made him believe his claim. However, he looked at the three robust bodyguards and asked, "Tangtang, who are they?"
Tangtang was the nickname he was given since birth, and he would never forget it.
"Uncle Er, they work for one of my close friends. They happened to come across you in danger today, and they lent a hand," explained Tang Qing.
"Danger? What danger?" asked Tang Kai, puzzled.
He was just sleeping, what kind of danger could there be? Plus he’s in China where the public safety is generally very good. If not for certain other considerations, how could a wealthy boss like him have settled for such a shabby hotel?
"Uncle Er, just now someone tried to kidnap you, but they were stopped by these guys here," said Tang Qing.
Upon hearing this, Tang Kai was so shocked that he stood up immediately asking three key questions, "Who wanted to kidnap me? What was their purpose? Where are they?"
"The ringleader of the kidnap gang was the chairman of Wangtai Jewelry Group in Bangkok. He first got the information from Xiong Zhiyang. When Xiong Zhiyang got your address, he hired five hooligans to kidnap you around 12 noon. But fortunately, they were subdued by these guys. Their intent in kidnapping you was to get the transfer contract of your jewelry company," Tang Qing explained tersely.
Tang Kai fell silent after hearing that. He had no reason to doubt Tang Qing’s words, as no ordinary person could know so much information. But what he found hard to believe was that Xiong Zhiyang would betray him. Being betrayed by someone you trusted is always hard to swallow, especially considering how much concern he had shown for Xiong Zhiyang in the past. It seems Xiong Zhiyang, now bereft of the protection of the Wei family and being perceived as a foreigner in Bangkok, deemed himself no match for the might of Wangtai Group.
It’s true; people do kick someone when they’re down!
Tang Kai laughed bitterly to himself. He didn’t hold much against Xiong Zhiyang, instead, he was cursing the dog-eat-dog world and the cutthroat competition involved in surviving it.
