Only after being reborn did I realize how fascinating the world of the rich is.

As expected, Li Xiaofeng's earlier estimate was correct. After his series of moves, Secretary Li, who was entrusted by someone, personally came to Shanghai to meet with him.

"Oh my, Secretary Li, what brings you here? You've taken time out of your busy schedule to visit me. I'm truly flattered. You should have told me sooner so I could have made some preparations!"

The two had already interacted several times. Although their relationship was a gentlemanly one, they were quite familiar with each other. Therefore, Li Xiaofeng was very enthusiastic, and his tone was even a little teasing.

Secretary Li said irritably, "Fearful? Do you look even slightly fearful? Are you preparing to teach me a lesson too?"

You're the chairman of a large conglomerate now, the renowned President Li, with assets exceeding 10 billion. Countless people depend on you for their livelihood. How dare I be disrespectful in front of you!

Li Xiaofeng, in a very warm manner, said with a smile, "Secretary Li, look at what you're saying. We're all from the Li family, we're all family. When you're family, you don't have to talk like two different people."

You're a very busy person, and taking time out of your busy schedule to come see me must mean something very important. Just tell me, and I'll do whatever it takes to get it done for you!

Secretary Li stared at him blankly for a while, then sighed and said with some helplessness, "You've been causing too much trouble these past few days, affecting unity and already impacting the current harmonious situation."

"Secretary Li..."

"Stop calling me Secretary Li. Since you say we're family, just call me Old Li from now on!"

"Oh dear, I wouldn't dare. You're about the same age as my adoptive father, and I wouldn't dare to presume to be your equal. How about this, I'll call you Uncle Li from now on, okay?"

Secretary Li was taken aback, smiled at Li Xiaofeng, pondered for a moment, and nodded slightly: "Alright, a big boss like you with a net worth of over 10 billion shouldn't be using my name to swindle and deceive people outside, right?"

The biggest fear of powerful people is being implicated by others, even their own relatives or their spouses. But people like Li Xiaofeng, who control a vast amount of resources, can form an internal and external alliance.

In addition, people at Li Xiaofeng's level are generally more measured in their actions and less likely to act recklessly, unlike their relatives who would bother them with every little thing.

However, he still wanted to give Li Xiaofeng a heads-up beforehand, so that he would know his place.

Having lived two lives and now risen to this position, Li Xiaofeng not only understands the other party's mindset but also the meaning behind his words.

So he smiled and said in a light tone, "If President Song knew that I called you Uncle Li, he probably wouldn't have kept a straight face and insisted that our Li Group had operational problems, forcibly lowering our credit rating."

Uncle Li, think about it. If a core institution like a bank says that our Li Group's operations are in trouble, it's practically pushing our Li Group to the brink of collapse!

Even if he wanted to flaunt his official power, he went too far. Even if we don't care about bank loans, what will our peers think of us? What will our upstream and downstream partners think of us?

I had no choice but to prove my innocence to demonstrate that there were no problems with the Li Group's operations.

The reason we keep disclosing these things in the media isn't to spite President Song, but to show them to our upstream and downstream partners, and to ensure the survival of the companies under the Li Group.

After listening to Li Xiaofeng's words, Secretary Li nodded slightly, but then asked with some doubt, "It wasn't easy for Xiao Song to climb to where he is today. He shouldn't be so tactless. Did you offend him somewhere?"

Li Xiaofeng spread his hands and said helplessly, "At first, he gave me a woman and asked me to support her. After that woman caused a stir in my circle, she has now become a madam and is doing escort business."

You know, my company is so big and influential in the industry, do you think it can tolerate something like this? So I fired her.

As a result, Bank Manager Song used this incident to attack me, trying to get me to side with him, seemingly implying that I should choose sides, and even demanding that I directly give them some money.

"Choose sides?"

"Well, his exact words were a bit harsh. He said that a local official is more powerful than a county official, and that Secretary Zheng is in charge of Shanghai now. He told me to see the situation clearly."

Secretary Li looked somber, lost in thought, and remained silent.

Li Xiaofeng stayed there too, without saying a word.

Seeing that Li Xiaofeng was also sitting there without saying a word, Secretary Li forced a smile and said in a somewhat serious tone, "Xiaofeng, you may be overthinking it. There is no issue of taking sides here."

Perhaps something else was said that caused you to misunderstand. We are all public servants, all serving you. Don't make wild guesses. You should still actively cooperate with Secretary Zheng.

Li Xiaofeng smiled and nodded, but then spread his hands again and continued in a helpless tone, "I'm a businessman, I believe in making money through harmony, and I prioritize obeying the law. But Director Song is making things too difficult for me!"

"How did he make things difficult for you?"

"He asked me for money directly. How could I do that? I told you the truth. I said directly that with my current wealth, taking out 100 million to share is nothing. But I can't let him cross the legal line!"

If you, President Song, have any good ideas on how I can avoid crossing legal boundaries, I really don't care. There's no intention to show off here.

At my level, money is just a number to me. To put it bluntly, even if I just put all the money I have in the bank to earn interest, the bank would give me over a billion yuan every year.

Then, Li Xiaofeng said in a heavy tone, "Uncle Li, to be honest with you, I know that ever since I accumulated a certain amount of wealth, many people have been coveting me."

"It's not that I'm being pretentious with President Song. The reason I've been able to hold out until now is because I'm innocent. I've been thoroughly investigated before, like being sifted through a sieve, as you know."

Secretary Li sighed and said with emotion, "Yes, with the rapid economic development in recent years, the gap between the rich and the poor has widened to the point that it is now even larger than in the West."

As the gap between the rich and poor widens, people's sense of imbalance grows. This imbalance isn't limited to ordinary citizens; many officials within the system are also beginning to feel it.