Chapter 164: The Underdog's Counterattack

"Ah, God Mo truly has incredible resolve. Which club have you decided to visit first to test the waters? I happen to have good acquaintances in all four of them who can introduce you," Su Zhenghao asked.

"Let's go with the one you're most familiar with. Once I fully understand them, there's no need to visit the others," Mo Shu replied.

"Alright, I'll arrange it for you tomorrow."

"Thanks, brother."

After finalizing the meeting time for the next day, Mo Shu and Wang Yu stood up, preparing to leave. Unexpectedly, Su Zhenghao hesitated, acting as though he still had something to say.

Noticing this, Mo Shu said, "Brother Su, if you have something on your mind, just speak your mind. We are all family now."

Su Zhenghao scratched his head, his face turning red as he stammered, "Well... God Mo, Boss Wang, could you guys take me along with you in the future? After all... I'm part of this plan too."

Amused by his awkward expression, Mo Shu burst into laughter. "Is that all? Didn't I just say we're all family now? Forget about whether we'll take you along or not—there will be plenty of opportunities for us to help each other out in the future."

"That's great, that's great! Thank you, two great gods. Take care on your way out," Su Zhenghao said, over-the-moon with joy.

Early the next morning, the weather refused to cooperate, pouring with torrential rain. Mo Shu drove alone once again to the entrance of the Sanmu Modification Workshop.

Su Zhenghao had been waiting for a long time. Shielding his head with his hands, he took a few quick steps and jumped into Mo Shu's car.

Within those few short steps, Su Zhenghao's clothes were already more than half soaked. It seemed the rain was much fiercer now than when Mo Shu had first set out.

"Should we head straight there? Have you had breakfast yet?" Mo Shu asked, handing Su Zhenghao a towel to dry off.

"I've eaten. What about you, God Mo?" Su Zhenghao asked.

"Me? Of course I have. Shall we get going then?"

"Let's go!"

Along the way, the rain was so heavy that even the windshield wipers couldn't keep up. Mo Shu had no choice but to slow down, carefully maintaining a safe distance from the car ahead.

A journey that normally took half an hour was now likely to take a full hour. Mo Shu felt a tinge of frustration; he was already burning with impatience.

However, this gave Su Zhenghao plenty of time to share some trivia. Once inside the car, his mouth barely stopped moving, filling the air with everything he had seen and heard within the Nanshan modification circle.

As it turned out, among the car enthusiasts across Nanshan's fifteen districts, members from a full six districts belonged to this single establishment.

The remaining three clubs split the other nine districts among them, yet the total number of their members still fell short of the member count of Diamond VIP alone.

The owner of Diamond VIP was named Wu Li—a name that practically spelled out someone who preferred to resolve matters through "martial might."

Wu Li was not born into a wealthy family; rumor had it that he used to work as a car salesman at a 4S dealership.

His success today was thanks to two things: first, his clever, quick-witted, and daring approach to handling affairs; and second, the silver tongue he was naturally endowed with.

Because he used to sell a luxury car brand back then, Wu Li seized the opportunity to get acquainted with many figures from the upper echelons of society.

Yet, making acquaintances was easy, while breaking into the inner circle of the upper crust was an absolute challenge. Countless salesmen at the 4S dealership broke their heads trying to squeeze their way in.

There were even young women who resorted to sacrificing their dignity to "blend into the circle," letting customers take full advantage of them before being kicked aside without a second thought.

Witnessing this, Wu Li told himself that he must never resort to such conventional methods to achieve his goals; the "bloody" cautionary tales of others were already laid out before him.

Thus, Wu Li mobilized all his interpersonal connections to "accumulate wealth." Over the course of half a month, through a mix of borrowing and pooling funds, he finally purchased an "accidental" second-hand GTR that had been parked in the 4S dealership's workshop for a long time at a "super-low price" of 500,000.

Although it was a salvaged car, it still drained eighty percent of Wu Li's "savings." Afterward, he had no choice but to beg a familiar mechanic to help him repair and tune the car, and even hired a hometown acquaintance working at a spray-painting shop to restore the GTR to pristine condition.

With everything in place, he drove that GTR and boldly barged into the annual gala of the fledgling "Nanshan Supercar Club" of that era.

You have to hand it to Wu Li for being clever, quick-witted, and daring.

At that night's gala, Wu Li, hailing from a humble background, showed not a shred of stage fright when facing a lavish gathering dominated by first- and second-generation heirs to fortunes.

The scenes of money flowing like water and songs playing amidst dances only fueled his excitement and ambition.

Yes, it was that very pursuit of wealth and status that allowed Wu Li to perform far beyond his usual limits and showcase his talents.

First, relying on his "eloquent tongue," he persuaded the bosses of two private enterprises to become his potential "financial backers."

Then, he successfully provoked the leader of the "Nanshan Supercar Club"—who had previously looked down on him entirely—into a racing duel.

To put things in perspective, before the race, the low-fuel warning light on Wu Li's GTR was already flashing because he couldn't scrape together a single banknote larger than fifty to pay the gas station.

Just like that, bearing the heaviest pressure of his life and pressing the gas pedal harder than he ever had, Wu Li kicked off the biggest gamble of his life.

Although the stock GTR ultimately failed to defeat a multi-million-dollar, heavily modified MCP1 supercar, the name Wu Li began to be passed from mouth to mouth in circles frequented by the wealthy.

Hearing this, Mo Shu nodded, secretly marveling to himself that he had truly chosen the right target.

"What happened after that? How did Wu Li end up becoming the boss of Diamond VIP?" Mo Shu was burning to know the answer.

"Heh, once he started gaining fame, naturally certain people began approaching him on their own initiative. Among them was a rather famous socialite in our Nanshan City who actively cozied up to Wu Li. Later on, Wu Li suddenly acquired the Nanshan Supercar Club and renamed it the Diamond VIP Car Club," Su Zhenghao said, his tone turning teasing.

"Oh? Does that mean Wu Li ultimately built his empire thanks to this socialite?"

"I'm not entirely sure either, but there are two prevailing rumors in this world. One says that Wu Li is a 'kept man' who relied entirely on the socialite family fortune to make it big; the other says that Wu Li made his fortune first and latched onto the socialite afterward. There's no single unified version of the story."

"Hmm, I see. What about this Wu Li himself? Has he ever admitted to it?" Mo Shu couldn't resist indulging his gossiping side.

"Of course he hasn't admitted to it. Would you admit to it if you were in his shoes, God Mo?" Su Zhenghao chuckled.

"That's true too. But regardless, Wu Li can still be considered a legendary figure."

"Legendary, absolutely! The biggest rags-to-riches story in all of Nanshan, haha!"

"That actually bears a bit of similarity to my own experience," Mo Shu said, abruptly pivoting the conversation to himself.

"No, no, no! God Mo, you mustn't lump yourself together with those people! You genuinely have racing talent; I saw it firsthand on the scene, after all. Besides, whether you call yourself a pauper or a commoner—as the old saying goes, heroes are not judged by their origins, right?" Su Zhenghao's passionate rebuttal was the genuine outpouring of a die-hard fan.

"Alright, stop flattering me. Will I be able to see this Wu Li today?"

"Yes, you will. My relationship with Wu Li is alright—we went to the same elementary school back in the day. I specifically gave him a heads-up about today's matter."

"Ha, elementary school alumni? You managed to stretch the connection that far?"

"Of course! Wasn't I just following Wu Li's inspiring example?" Su Zhenghao said, mocking himself.

"Haha, alright then, we're about to arrive." As he spoke, Mo Shu began looking along the roadside for a parking space.