After welcoming Yan Bin, Li Jin also appeared here a few days later.
Li Jin originally thought that the Huo family's large villa was quite big, but compared to Hu Taidou's yard, which had five in and five out and an area measured in acres, it still pales in comparison.
It is enough to prove that Hu Taidou spent a lot of effort on this.
When we arrived at the entrance of the courtyard, there were already servants waiting for us.
After confirming Li Jin's identity, the servant led the way, and Li Jin entered this courtyard with hundreds of years of history.
After walking for seven or eight minutes, passing two rockeries, an artificial lake, and two pavilions in the middle of the lake, Li Jin arrived at the inner courtyard.
Among the sculpture galleries and paintings, in a pavilion in the middle of the lake, Li Jin met Hu Taidou.
His hair and beard are as white as snow, and he grows stronger with age.
When Li Jin came, Hu Taidou was studying.
Li Jin glanced at the cover and saw that it was a thread-bound ancient book, "History of the North and South" that is rarely seen nowadays.
Li Jin walked into the Huxin Pavilion. Hu Taidou raised his eyes from the book, glanced at Li Jin with a smile, and said, "Here he comes."
Although it was not clear yet whether he was a friend or an enemy, Li Jin still maintained enough respect for the spiritual leader of Huizhou merchants and nodded and replied: "The junior is here."
Hu Taidou hummed, then lowered his head to read. He just pointed to the seat opposite and said, "Sit down."
Li Jin followed his instructions and sat down opposite Hu Taidou, with a small round stone table between them.
Sitting like this lasted half an hour.
During this half hour, Hu Taidou always focused on the book in his hand, while Li Jin didn't care and concentrated on tasting the tea brought by the servant.
Half an hour later, Hu Taidou put down the book in his hand and sighed: "It is no longer useful when you get older. It is always easy to forget other things while doing one thing."
"Especially reading. I read wonderful things and am fascinated by them. Little friend Li Jin, please forgive me for my slightness."
Li Jin smiled and said: "Mr. Hu still insists on studying every day. He is a role model for our young people. It is too late for the younger generation to learn from you, so how can they feel neglected?"
Hu Taidou put down the book with a smile and said: "In the "History of the North and South" I just read, I happened to read one of the chapters "The Biography of Chen Qing", "White Horse Yi Cong", which is really fascinating."
"If you think about it carefully, there are still some similarities between little friend Li Jin and Chen Qingzhi from a thousand years ago."
Li Jin hurriedly said: "Mr. Hu is so ridiculous that the white-robed general Chen Qingzhi is a famous general with an eternal reputation. How can the younger generation compare?"
Hu Taidou said with a smile: "The ancients once commented that Chen Qing's nature is cautious, his clothes are not frivolous, he is not good at silk and bamboo, he can't shoot through razor, and his horse is not in his place, but he is good at caressing the soldiers, and he can get his death power."
"Compared to you, you have a humble and low-key personality. You don't show off in the market. You don't rely on your power when you succeed at a young age. In terms of business methods, you make good use of people's hearts and have many clever tricks."
"Don't you two have many similarities?"
Li Jin looked at Hu Taidou and said calmly: "Mr. Hu pays a lot of attention to the younger generation, which makes the younger generation feel a little flattered."
Under Hu Taidou's snow-white eyebrows, his experienced eyes were filled with profound meaning. He said, "Actually, I didn't know you before, but then Yan Bin came to my door and asked for help."
"So I became interested in you, a young man who can drive my disciples into despair, so I asked someone to inquire about it."
"It's okay if I don't ask about it. Once I ask, I will become interested. You, a young man, are very interesting... Lao Huo, do you also think highly of you?"
Li Jin said calmly: "Mr. Huo loves the younger generation and always takes good care of me."
Nodding, Hu Taidou said: "Speaking of which, as you know, Yan Bin is my disciple and also belongs to Huizhou merchants."
Li Jin chuckled and said: "This is the first time I heard that he is your disciple, but I know that he seems to have a close relationship with you, and I have known about the identity of Huizhou merchants from the beginning."
"Then you are still going to kill him to death?" Hu Taidou asked with a twitch of his eyebrows.
Li Jin looked at the expressionless Hu Taidou and said without giving in: "He touched my inverse scale! He crossed the bottom line!"
"The Yan family...must die!"
"Otherwise, if we are the Yan family now, will there be the Zhou family, the Zhao family, and the Liu family in the future?"
Hu Taidou said calmly: "Young man, you are famous at a young age, but Chen Qingzhi is middle-aged and powerful, but you are famous and powerful at the same time. Your hostility is too strong."
Li Jin shook his head and said: "My anger is not serious, it just depends on when. Does Mr. Hu intend to seek justice for your disciples?"
When these words came out, Hu Taidou looked at Li Jin seriously and did not speak immediately.
Li Jin also quietly waited for Hu Taidou to express his position, and also remained silent.
In this small pavilion in the middle of the lake, the winter air is slightly cool, and in the silence, the sound of water and the sound of fish splashing not far away can be heard. The scenery is great, but the atmosphere is not relaxing.
It seemed that the relationship between Li Jin and Hu Taidou, or even the relationship between Li Jin and the entire Huizhou merchants, was about to be determined in this short silence.
"No."
After a long time, Hu Taidou shook his head, and there was a hint of disappointment in his calm face. He said: "Actually, I don't like Yan Bin's gloominess and ruthlessness. Many of his acting styles are contrary to the purpose of Huizhou merchants."
"It's just that his father was kind to me back then, and I owed them two favors to the Yan family. The first favor was when his father begged me to accept Yan Bin as my disciple, and I did it."
"The second favor, Yan Bin asked me for help, and I helped."
"The romantic relationship between Yan Bin and I ends here."
Following Hu Taidou's words, the atmosphere relaxed.
Li Jin slowly exhaled. To be honest, if possible, Li Jin really didn't want to antagonize the powerful Huizhou merchants at this juncture.
After all, the influence of Huizhou merchants is so wide, and the influence of members of this chamber of commerce exists in almost all parts of the country and in all industries.
It is really not in Li Jin's current interests to fall out with Hu Taidou, the spiritual leader of Huizhou merchants, during his own development period.
"In this case, juniors can rest assured. As far as I know, Yan Bin's 3 billion is your money, Mr. Hu?" Li Jin asked.
Hu Taidou looked at Li Jin with a half-smile and said, "What, are you going to return the money to me?"
Li Jin was stunned, but before he could speak, Hu Taidou waved his hand and said: "That's all, I'm an old man, why do I need so much money? Do I need to take it into the coffin?"
"Since I gave the 3 billion to Yan Bin, I have no intention of getting it back. This can be considered a complete end to this matter."
Li Jin nodded and said: "The old man is righteous."
Hu Taidou chuckled and said meaningfully: "But after all, you have killed the leading figure of Hui merchants in Shanghai. I don't know how many pairs of eyes are watching this matter. From the time you stepped here, there are also many people."
I’m concerned about the follow-up to this matter.”
"So in order to calm down the emotions within the Chamber of Commerce, or to show outsiders that you are looking after me, an old man, you have to promise me something."