This person’s surname was Yuan. He started a mechanical manufacturing business from scratch and had some business dealings with the Wang family a couple of years ago. However, at the end of last year, when the Wang family was busy with numerous matters, he cut corners. When Wang Yuan’s father found out, he canceled the contract. Unexpectedly, Yuan had connections with the Tao family as well.

Although Wang Yuan had never directly dealt with Sui Yuesheng, just the fact that he decisively froze Tao Fengche’s card indicated that he was not someone to be trifled with. Wang Yuan listened in for a while and could almost guess the general situation. The Tao family was powerful, and Mr. Yuan had always been honest and reliable. But now, seeing Sui Yuesheng in power, he mistakenly thought Sui was an easy target to fool, so he courageously tried the same old tricks again.

However, judging by his now sarcastic way of speaking, it seemed he had been caught and severely dealt with by Sui Yuesheng.

But… did Tao Ge know about this? With so many people around today, if Mr. Yuan’s instigation led Tao Fengche to show any dissatisfaction with Sui Yuesheng, it would be difficult to manage if the news spread.

Wang Yuan was a bit anxious. He wanted to remind Tao Fengche to be cautious, but whispering in his ear would be too obvious. So he nudged Tao Fengche’s arm, trying to hint at him frantically.

Mr. Yuan spoke until his mouth was dry, but Tao Fengche remained as still as a mountain. Standing beside him, the young master of the Wang family, had a strange expression, his face looking somewhat twitchy… Could it be that he recognized him?

As soon as this thought emerged, Mr. Yuan suppressed it. Even if he was recognized, it didn’t matter. He and the Wang family had parted ways amicably. The immediate priority was to gain Tao Fengche’s trust.

The Tao family was vast and powerful. The small amount of money he had taken was just a drop in the ocean. But Sui Yuesheng not only withheld the final payment but also cut off all business dealings with him, determined to ruin him. He had many workers in his factory waiting for their wages. He had thought about selling the machines, but when others heard they were returned by the Tao family, they refused to buy them.

He was truly at his wit’s end.

But it wasn’t entirely hopeless! There was still hope!

As long as the young master of the Tao family could stand by his side and be willing to oppose Sui Yuesheng’s decision, he and his factory could still be saved!

Mr. Yuan steeled himself and once again, with a sincere look, began to fan the flames, “Young Master Tao, you see, I am an old man, there is no need for me to lie here. I am speaking from the heart because I have done business with your father for many years…”

“Tao’s family still bears the Tao name, don’t be careless and fall for an outsider’s trick.”

In the end, Mr. Yuan seemed to be moved by his own words, looking like a sage writing a memorial, just short of kneeling and crying out “Young Master! Don’t be deceived by treacherous people.”

Mr. Yuan’s posture looked indeed earnest. Many guests had already turned their attention to this corner. Even Wang Yuan, who knew his background, was somewhat moved and began to wonder if he was biased against the other party, who seemed truly sincere.

However, Tao Fengche still looked disinterested. Only after Mr. Yuan finished speaking did he finally glance at him. Mr. Yuan had been acting for so long, but Tao Fengche remained unaffected, even finding it somewhat amusing.

To this day, he and Sui Yuesheng had never appeared together in social occasions. Many people secretly speculated that they disliked each other. Tao Fengche attended Mr. Zhu’s birthday banquet today partly because of these speculations.

—As the only son of Tao Zhixing, the once-certain heir of the Tao family, he was living well and was neither murdered nor under house arrest. So, stop speculating.

And this balding alpha’s excessive performance and his words made Tao Fengche uncomfortable—he was just short of calling Sui Yuesheng a traitor and him a fool.

Even Zhao Jiayang hadn’t said things to this extent; who was this bald alpha to make such claims?

Indeed, there were some minor conflicts between him and Sui Yuesheng, but he never truly hated him. No matter what, even if he bore a grudge against Sui Yuesheng, it was their private matter, and outsiders had no right to interfere.

Moreover, this person was clearly not very smart; his instigation was too obvious and urgent, making it somewhat ridiculous.

Thinking this, Tao Fengche couldn’t help but laugh. Suddenly, he had a great idea that could kill two birds with one stone.

Then he snapped his fingers.

A nearby waiter quickly stepped forward. Tao Fengche handed his plate to him, then took out the handkerchief from his chest pocket, slowly wiping his lips, and then carefully folded it back.

“Are you telling the truth?” he asked slowly.

Seeing his target taking the bait, Mr. Yuan’s eyes lit up. He hurriedly said, “Of course, I wouldn’t lie about this, Young Master Tao. If you don’t believe me…” he said, reaching for his phone.

He had already prepared the “evidence” in advance. But with the banquet hall so noisy, Tao Fengche would at most glance at it. Given Tao Fengche’s young age, he didn’t think he would notice anything amiss—this was something he had concocted with someone inside the Tao family.

Many people disliked Sui Yuesheng. If he could deceive Tao Fengche today and make him start opposing Sui Yuesheng, it would not only get him his revenge but perhaps also bring in substantial profits.

“Let’s not do this here; there are too many people.” Tao Fengche shook his head.

Mr. Yuan was overjoyed, his eyes filled with visions of reaching the pinnacle of his career. However, Tao Fengche did not respond as he had hoped, with words of encouragement like “I believe in you.” Instead, Tao Fengche reached into his pocket, took out his phone, unlocked it with facial recognition, and tapped a few times on the screen.

“Young master Tao, what is this…?” Mr. Yuan asked, somewhat puzzled.

“Oh, I recorded a message when you first arrived,” Tao Fengche casually said. “As for the proof you mentioned, I have a simpler method.”

Then he held the phone up to his ear and lowered his gaze, starting to wait.

No, this is impossible! Mr. Yuan’s eyes were red with anger. He opened his mouth to say something, but Tao Fengche put his index finger to his lips, signaling him to be quiet, even mouthing “Shh.”

Although Tao Fengche appeared calm, he was actually a bit uncertain inside.

He was calling Sui Yuesheng. The latter had flown to Taiqing on the Tao family’s private jet early this morning. Without a flight number, Tao Fengche could not check the landing time, but logically, the other party should have already landed by now. However, Tao Fengche was unsure if he would answer the call.

Tao Fengche was prepared to play both roles himself if Sui Yuesheng did not answer the phone, but to his surprise, the call was answered after just three rings.

“Xiao Che?” The environment on Sui Yuesheng’s end was a bit noisy. “What’s up?”

Then there was a rustling sound. Tao Fengche’s ears perked up slightly, and he thought he heard a voice that sounded like Jiang Jingyun’s. But Sui Yuesheng had clearly moved to a quiet place, and besides his steady breathing, there was no other sound.

He waited quietly for Tao Fengche to speak.

A familiar yet unfamiliar address. Tao Fengche closed his eyes, pushed all thoughts of Jiang Jingyun out of his mind, and addressed the current issue. He cleared his throat, softened his voice, and added a touch of coaxing: “Ge.”

Sui Yuesheng’s hand gripping the phone instinctively tightened. This was completely different from the sarcastic “Ge” from earlier.

But Tao Fengche had been at odds with him just a few days ago.

He was very aware of this, but it still stirred his emotions. Fortunately, he knew how to control his feelings and quickly pulled himself back from the memories, repeating, “I’m listening. What’s wrong?”

The moment Tao Fengche decided to attend the banquet, Xu Song had informed him. Now it seemed like something had happened at the banquet?

He would never call him without a reason. Sui Yuesheng knew Tao Fengche was acting, and though he wasn’t sure if the speaker was on, he was definitely playing along.

Tao Fengche had thought about various reactions Sui Yuesheng might have when answering the call—perhaps silence, or a bland response as when checking homework—but he never expected this.

—He was so gentle, as if the timeline had suddenly reversed, bringing them back to ten years ago.

Tao Fengche suddenly felt a bit teary. He quickly frowned to alleviate the emotions and got back on track: “I met an Alpha named Yuan at the banquet today. He came over and said some very strange things. I recorded the whole conversation and will send it to you later.”

At this moment, he truly looked like an innocent high school student, calling his elder brother to complain without restraint.

Mr. Yuan’s face turned completely white. He turned to leave, but Wang Yuan, who was standing by and eating melon seeds in shock, immediately reacted, blocking his way and causing quite a commotion.

However, no one present paid much attention to this commotion.

Sui Yuesheng lowered his eyes, reminisced for a moment, and suddenly smiled: “Xiao Che, put me on speaker.”

Tao Fengche did as instructed.

“Is this Mr. Yuan Hui?” Sui Yuesheng’s lips parted slightly as he explained the situation in a slow and deliberate manner, confident that Tao Fengche had turned the volume up as high as it would go. “The Tao family’s factories have indeed cooperated with you for a long time, but you are not irreplaceable. To be precise, you are just one of Tao’s many partners and don’t even rank in the top ten in terms of revenue. And the batch of machinery you sent last time, let alone the delay of a week which caused additional costs, was actually substandard. The machines broke down in less than an hour of operation. According to the contract, I terminated the cooperation and reasonably demanded compensation for the breach. Not only has Tao’s finance department yet to receive the money, but you also started spreading rumors about me?”

“Is it because you’re used to cutting corners that you didn’t expect this time to be discovered, or did you think you could bully me just because I’m young?”