Chapter 101: What you fear most is what comes

'Dear Mr. Governor, congratulations on making a wise decision,' Zhou Ming said to Edward.

'Mr. Zhou Ming, but I think this matter is very important, and I think just between us is not enough. Since the Lowell and Lawrence families have also agreed, it is most important for the four of us to sit down and discuss the plan together carefully, isn't it?' Edward said.

Zhou Ming smiled slightly: 'I know what you, Mr. Governor, are worried about, but I can't produce any evidence for this kind of thing. I can only promise you that I will arrange a face-to-face meeting for everyone, although it won't be like today.'

Edward raised an eyebrow: 'I'll be waiting for your good news.'

Zhou Ming then ended his conversation with Edward, and left the villa with Zhang Lin. As Zhou Ming walked out of the villa door and returned to the car, Zhou Ming finally let out a long breath.

At this time, Zhou Ming suddenly felt something vibrating at his waist. Zhou Ming immediately thought of something, so he took out his pager, and sure enough, it was this thing. Zhou Ming opened it to see that there had been countless messages received inside. Since pagers at this time were not the mobile phones of the future, the message storage function was not that powerful, so that the previous messages were all pushed off, and without exception, these messages were all from Lin Muqing.

Zhou Ming had turned off his phone because he was going to enter the governor's holiday villa. Lin Muzhen knew what she was going to do today, and she also knew that her phone would be out of service while she was doing it. But she wanted to know the result as soon as possible, so she had no choice but to stupidly page herself over and over again.

If a mature and capable woman can become so uncool, then one can imagine the weight she places on you.

After instructing Zhang Lin to drive, Zhou Ming took out his phone and dialed Lin Muqing's number. Zhou Ming almost didn't hear the busy tone before the call was connected.

'Zhou Ming, you must have just left Governor Edwards' villa now that you've turned on your phone. How did it go? Did he agree to your request?' Lin Muqing asked, her tone full of concern.

'Ming, don't worry, everything went very well. I'm already out of the governor's holiday villa,' said Ming. "And I just pretended to be a jerk in front of the governor, a member of the famous Kennedys, and then ran away. It was so exciting! And of course, what's more important is that our governor was unable to do anything about me, the pretender.'

Ming didn't understand the internet culture of later generations, but she noticed another important point: "Ming, so you just convinced the governor and he'll help you?'

'Of course it wasn't that simple,' Zhou Ming replied. 'In the end, the governor said he wanted to sit down with the Lowell and Lawrence families to discuss the plan. I think he was obviously expressing great skepticism about what I said. But that's normal. When the second and third or fourth oldest sons join forces to get rid of the oldest son, it's not like they can just let any random person come to them and say a few words and they'll believe them. That would be stupid.'

'But Zhou Ming, you haven't even approached the Lowell and Lawrence families, so your words will soon be revealed, right?' Lin Muqing asked nervously.

'That's why this is what I'm going to do next. I'm in the car right now, and I'm going back to Harvard University. If I remember correctly, the president of Harvard University is a Lawrence by surname,' said Ming.

Lin Muqing was stunned for a moment before she said, 'It seems that Harvard is indeed within the sphere of influence of the Lawrence family, but Ming, you're going to talk to Lawrence after you meet Governor Edwards. Isn't that a bit putting the cart before the horse? Will that work?'

'Reversing the order of things? I don't think so, and after getting the governor's approval, I'm even more confident about convincing Lawrence,' said Zhou Ming.

Lin Muqing was very puzzled by Zhou Ming's words, so Zhou Ming continued, "Muqing, in fact, I'm using the same method to deal with him as he used on me. You know that I just went to see Governor Edward, and you also know that he is an important figure in the Kennedys. But do you know the history of the Kennedys" growth? To put it simply, the most important person in the development of the Kennedys was the second generation of the Kennedys. Because that Mr. Kennedy married the daughter of a congressman and also became the manager of a bank, he was the key figure in the rise of the Kennedy family.'

Lin Muqing had no idea why Zhou Ming suddenly said all this, but she didn't interrupt him.

'In fact, at that time, Mr. Candini was just an ordinary pub owner with quite a bit of savings. But he understood that, for someone like him, he was afraid that he could only open a bigger pub in his lifetime. However, he was not satisfied. He wanted more room for development. He wanted to go into politics and business. He wanted to marry the daughter of a member of parliament and hoped to get an important position in the bank. But he was just a dock porter, had never been to university, and was a small person at the bottom of society. These were just extravagant hopes.'

Zhou Ming said: 'Most people would probably give up, but Kennedy was unwilling to give up. He knew that there was nothing that couldn't be done in this world, only minds that were unwilling to move. So he figured out a way. He first went to a very prestigious member of parliament in Brighton and told him that he wanted to marry his daughter because he was the manager of the Massachusetts Bank. Then he went to the Massachusetts Bank and said that he wanted to be the manager of the bank because he was the son-in-law of the member of parliament.'

After hearing Zhou Ming say this, Lin Muqing immediately understood, and she said, 'Zhou Ming, are you saying that you are going to do the same thing? You told Governor Edwards that you had united the Lowell and Lawrence families, and then you told them that you had united the Kennedys, right?'

Zhou Ming didn't need to hide anything from Lin Muqing, so he nodded and said yes. Lin Muqing then said, 'But will this work? In the past, the Kennedys were able to exploit a loophole because of inconvenient information a hundred years ago, and because the congressmen and bank chairmen didn't know each other. But things are different now. As far as I know, the families within the Brighton Consortium intermarry with each other, so how can this information not be passed on to each other?'

'Muqing, I know all about it. In fact, it is precisely because they intermarry that I dare to do this. Because they will worry about the news getting to the Adams family, they will not talk casually,' said Zhou Ming.

'What about the phone? How do you solve this problem? As long as Governor Edwards gives a phone call to the head of either the Lowell or Lawrence family, won't everything be revealed?' Lin Muqing added.

'This is indeed a problem,' Zhou Ming said, "but if you want to get something for nothing, how can you not take any risks?'

Lin Muqing wanted to say something else, but Zhou Ming said first, "Muqing, don't worry. Since the consulate has already intervened, it proves that the Brighton Consortium must have received the news. They definitely won't do anything to me. As long as my life is safe, what else do I have to fear?'

Lin Muqing was convinced: 'Zhou Ming, I understand. I will pray for you.'

After hanging up the phone, Zhou Ming's expression turned serious. There was no longer the relaxed look he had had when talking to Lin Muqing on the phone, because Lin Muqing had reminded him that if Edward called before he could convince the Lowell and Lawrence families, then all his plans would be ruined. Although he had thought about this before, now that Lin Muqing had brought it up, it made Zhou Ming increasingly worried.

With this in mind, Zhou Ming turned to Zhang Lin, who was driving, and said, 'Can you go as fast as possible?'

As the King of Soldiers, Zhang Lin is very clever and can understand Zhou Ming's mood. He nodded and said, 'Zhou Ming, don't worry, I will increase the speed as much as possible while ensuring your absolute safety.'

Zhang Lin did exactly what he said he would do. In just under forty minutes, he drove to Harvard University and finally stopped in front of the president's building. It was a four-storey red brick building where the president and other senior management of the university lived and worked. For this reason, the building had its own security system, and Zhou Ming and Zhang Lin were only able to enter after passing inspection.

A woman in professional attire led Zhou Ming and Zhang Lin to the door of the principal's office. This was the assistant to the principal, who also helped Zhou Ming knock on the door of the office. After obtaining the principal's consent, she said to Zhou Ming, 'Zhou Ming, the principal is waiting for you in the office.'

Zhou Ming and Zhang Lin pushed the door open, and the assistant to the principal proactively brewed two cups of coffee for them.

The chubby president, Lawrence, sat in his presidential chair, still looking stern and serious. 'Zhou Ming, you know that Harvard University's mission has always been to educate the elite for society. However, now, due to your relationship with your company, you have turned some people into street thugs. I hold you fully responsible for this!'

Zhou Ming smiled bitterly to himself. This was not the first time he had been in the president's office since the incident at the dormitory convenience store, but every time, the president would make the same opening remarks, which was also very frustrating.

Sitting across from Lawrence, Zhou Ming said, 'Mr. President, I think I have explained many times that this is not my responsibility, but I am not shirking my responsibility either.'

After clarifying his position, Zhou Ming added, 'I know this is not the first time I have said this, and you, Mr. President, always say that I only pay lip service and take no practical action.

'What practical action?' Lawrence asked curiously.

Zhou Ming glanced at Lawrence's secretary first and did not answer immediately.

Lawrence, although an old pedant from the history department, was usually serious and rigid, but not stupid. He immediately understood Zhou Ming's meaning from this action and immediately told his assistant to go out.

Zhou Ming then said, 'Mr. President, we are both sensible people, so I won't beat around the bush. I think you also know my current situation and the situation on Harvard's campus. Both are the result of the Adams family manipulating things behind the scenes. If we want to settle these matters, we must deal with the Adams family first. So I hope that President Lawrence can help me.'

Lawrence immediately froze. He looked at Zhou Ming for a long time in a daze and then suddenly laughed, 'You're not joking with me, are you? You caused trouble outside the school and want the school to help you fix it. You're a bit too arrogant.'

Zhou Ming shook his head and said, 'Mr Lawrence, I think you've misunderstood. I'm not asking the school to help me fix it, but the family behind you, the Lawrence family, to help me deal with the Adams family together.'

Hearing Zhou Ming say this, Lawrence's face immediately sank. 'How do you know?'

Zhou Ming smiled and said, 'Mr. Principal, I don't think this news is a secret. You can find out just by asking around, right?'

Lawrence's eyes narrowed, but he didn't say anything, so Zhou Ming continued, 'Mr. Principal Lawrence, I know that the Lawrence family is also a very old family, but it has always been suppressed by the Adams family. I know that this must not be a good feeling. I think the Lawrence family must also want to change this. Now is the best opportunity.'

'I just came from Governor Edward,' Ming Zhou said, 'I think you must know that Governor Edward's surname is Kennedy, right? So I want to say that Kennedy, Lowell and I have formed an alliance to deal with the Adams family. But just the Kennedy and Lowell families are not enough, so I need the support of the Lawrence family.'

Lawrence sat in his chair, tilting his head and looking at Zhou Ming with a sneer at the corner of his mouth: 'Mr. Zhou Ming, I'm surprised that you would say that to me, and I also understand that you must not know that Governor Edwards just called me.'

What?

Zhou Ming was shocked. Damn Murphy's Law, it really does come true!