Chapter 109: Four Gamblers

Zhou Ming's strong words made the atmosphere in the restaurant very tense, but Edward, Lawrence and Louis did not move a muscle, because they all knew very well that what Zhou Ming said was the truth.

As the first family of Massachusetts, the Adamses were the family that had father and son become president, and went on to create the first American dynasty. They had been rooted in Massachusetts for more than a day or two. Even though they had moved to Rhode Island, it was still impossible to avoid the Adamses completely, especially after Ming Zhou had made such an open speech at the dinner at Auburn Castle.

Now that they knew the news, how could the Adams family remain indifferent? Even if they took the initiative to seek out the Adams family afterwards to apologise, it would be useless. The Adams family would definitely take action against the other three families to prevent this from happening again.

In addition, these three people are the spokespersons of their respective families. Since they have come today, they must have come to achieve something, otherwise why would they go to all the trouble of making an appearance here? If they simply threw a tantrum and stormed out because they disagreed, wouldn't that make them look like children? Such childish behaviour is definitely not their style.

It is for these reasons that they hate to swallow Zhou Ming in one bite, but they still hard to pin their buttocks to the chair; of course, Zhou Ming on the other side also reckoned on this, and that is why he dared to be so arrogant.

Zhou Ming just sneered at the looks of Edward Lawrence and Louis: 'So what? Have the three of you calmed down now? If you still want to continue arguing, I can absolutely keep up. I just informed the club manager to automatically renew the contract, which means we have 12 hours a night. I think that's enough for you to finish arguing for the rest of your lives, right?'

Edward Lawrence and Louis looked at each other, and Edward said, 'Mr. Zhou Ming, I think you've misunderstood. We're not actually arguing. It's just that any league needs a centre.'

Lawrence and Louis nodded in agreement: "That's right. A league without a centre will be like a bowl of loose sand, destined to fail at everything!'

'I see. But I'm not really a problem, because I can be this centre," Zhou Ming said.

Edward Lawrence and Louis were both stunned. At first, they thought they had heard it wrong, but then they both laughed when they were sure they had not heard it wrong.

Zhou Ming also laughed, but he said in a very serious tone, 'I know you will think I am joking. After all, I have no capital or resources, and I have even been driven to a dead end by the Adams family and must leave the United States. What qualifications do I have to be the centre? But I want to say that I am not joking, I am very serious.'

Edward shrugged, 'Okay, Mr. Zhou Ming, I'd like to believe you, but can you give me a reason? Just a little bit of a reasonable one will do.'

Facing Edward's slightly mocking words, Zhou Ming was not angry, but calmly replied, 'Because becoming the center of this alliance means being able to control the direction of things, and by taking advantage of this, it can bring the greatest gains to the family. Then in that case, Mr. Governor, the three families of Candini Lawrence and Lowell, no matter who becomes the center, the other two will not agree.'

'Then if it's so difficult, can you avoid it by replacing the centre with Mr Zhou Ming?' Louis countered.

'It can be avoided completely, because the Brighton Consortium may be an unimaginable behemoth, but because of this, it is worthless to me. As for my opponent, there is only the Adams family in the end. No matter how rich the Brighton Consortium is, I can't take even a single cent.' Zhou Ming stared at everyone and said, 'To you, I am just a professional manager, nothing more.'

'So,' Ming Zhou said, leaning back in his chair, "instead of the three of you arguing without a result, it would be better if you all left it to me.'

Ming Zhou's words were undoubtedly very constructive, but Lawrence still said, "But Mr. Ming Zhou, don't you think that it would be the most ridiculous thing for us to leave things to you?'

Ming Zhou shook his head: 'I don't think so, unless you can come up with a proven method to deal with the Adams family, and this method can also convince the other two.'

Edward Lawrence and Louis both shook their heads. Edward asked Ming Zhou, 'We really don't have a good solution, but the important thing is that we only need to convince two families, but you want to convince all three of us.'

'With all due respect, Governor, if you could convince the other two families, I think there would be a balance of power within the Brighton Consortium, rather than the Adams family dominating,' Ming Zhou said. 'The fundamental reason for the current situation is that you are unable to unite.'

'Okay, I admit you make a lot of sense,' said Louis this time. "Then Mr. Zhou Ming, you might as well tell us your ideas first, such as how you are going to fight against the Adams family, and we can discuss it.'

'I'm sorry, I don't have any ideas about that," Zhou Ming replied very readily.

Zhou Ming's answer was like a heavy bomb that instantly blew Edward Lawrence and Louis three people away. They looked at Zhou Ming like they were petrified.

This answer was undoubtedly unexpected, because from the previous slapping of the table to the subsequent explanation, Zhou Ming had spoken in a well-structured manner, and he had also called the meeting today. He also wanted to be the centre of the alliance, or some kind of professional manager, so on this premise, he would have to come up with a constitution to convince everyone, right?

But then he just blustered out that he didn't have any ideas... Is he kidding me?

With Zhou Ming's answer, the atmosphere on the scene was awkward for a while, and Zhou Ming continued, 'I'm not joking. I really don't have any ideas. The reason is very simple. I don't have a systematic understanding of the Adams family or the Brighton Consortium. Without knowing the facts, if I hastily come up with any articles of association, I think that would be just empty talk, and that would be the greatest irresponsibility.'

'But does saying you don't have any ideas mean you are being responsible?' Lawrence asked in return.

'I don't think I've ever said that,' Zhou Ming said with his arms spread out.

'But that's what you're implying,' Louis reminded Zhou Ming.

Zhou Ming laughed: 'So what does Mr. Louis want me to say? The Adams family's roots are in the Brighton Bank, so let's sell Brighton Bank's shares as hard as we can, so that the Adams family will go bankrupt? Or do we keep buying Brighton Bank's shares in private, and when the shares we hold exceed those of the Adams family, we can simply say that anyway, and kick the Adams family out of the shareholders' meeting?'

Zhou Ming paused for a moment before continuing, 'Is this what you want to hear? Don't you think this is completely out of the question?'

In response to Zhou Ming's rhetorical question, Edward stood up and said, 'Well gentlemen, I think we are all sitting here today with the common goal of dealing with the Adams family, so we must all calm down a bit. Anger will only blind us, making us blind to everything, and in the end, it will only allow our enemies to take advantage of us, which I'm afraid is not the result we want to see.'

Edward is the one who was elected governor of Massachusetts, and his words immediately calmed everyone's mood.

Edward then said to Zhou Ming, 'And Mr. Zhou Ming, in fact, personally, it doesn't matter who is at the centre of this alliance, what's important is that this centre must lead us to victory. But I'm sorry, with regard to what you just said, you haven't convinced us.'

'I never said I wanted to convince you,' Zhou Ming said.

Edward Lawrence and Louis were shocked once again. They never expected Zhou Ming to give such an answer, especially Edward, who felt that Zhou Ming's answer was like slapping him directly in the face.

Facing the stunned expressions of the three people in front of him, Zhou Ming stood up and said, 'I think I need to reiterate. We are not sitting here in talks because I begged you to come. This alliance does not exist just because I say it does. We are not running for office here, and you are not big shots sitting up high. We are completely equal.'

'There is also one more important point. You still seem to have not figured out the current situation. Do you think that if we can agree, we will talk; if we can't, we'll just say goodbye?'

Zhou Ming paused deliberately after saying this, and then said in a single sentence, 'Have you all not noticed that from the moment you set foot on this bay, you have already had no way back, unless you are willing to go back and face the Adams family's anger on your own, or you can let go of your dignity and beg, and perhaps you can beg for a way out for yourself.'

Edward Lawrence and Louis let out a cold breath, but before he could think much more, Zhou Ming continued, 'So I can tell you here, I am not trying to convince you, but you have chosen me, and you must unconditionally believe in and support me, and I will give you the future you want. Otherwise, please go back to Brighton and crawl under the Adams family's crotch to stay safe.'

'The choice is yours: bet on your future or give up your dignity and that of your family.'

Zhou Ming sat back down in his chair after finishing speaking, waiting for Edward Lawrence and Louis to make their choice. Zhou Ming's expression was very serious, and his eyes swept back and forth over their faces.

Zhou Ming sat there looking as if he had everything under control, but in fact he was very unsure in his heart. After all, his attitude was too arrogant, his words were nonsense, and he could hardly come up with anything convincing. So he could only keep pushing them into a corner, leaving them with no choice.

It cannot be denied that this approach will make them make the choice they want, but it may also make them go in the opposite direction.

Fortunately, however, God is still on Zhou Ming's side, and soon Edward is the first to make a choice: 'I am a politician, and every election is actually a gamble. I am used to it, but I am not yet used to bowing to my enemies without a fight, so I choose to take a chance.'

With Edward's choice, Lawrence and Louis also made their decisions: 'I also choose to take a chance.'

Zhou Ming then broke into a smile, and extended his hand to Edward, Lawrence and Louis: 'Since everyone's choice is the same, I think I have reason to congratulate the establishment of our alliance.'