Chapter 141 — Old Buffon's Origins

But Sun Lin had misunderstood. He believed Yang Ce's earlier performance had all been an act—playing hard to get, to win his favor.

However, that "so that's it" of his made Yang Jiyan rather unhappy. He himself was open and upright, yet this old fellow had imagined him to be so base. So he said, neither coldly nor warmly, "Uncle Sun, to be honest, I'm not terribly interested in the underworld. I mean no offense, but if running with the underworld were so interesting, why wouldn't you go run it yourself instead of leaving the Tian family to manage it?"

"In my view, the underworld is just a means to an end—a tool, if you will. That sort of thing, I really don't care for. If I liked the underworld, I could have just gone into it back in Songjiang. Why go to all the trouble of coming to Donghai?"

Hearing Yang Juehuan's words, Sun Lin was instantly irritated. "Young man, you've got some nerve. From what you're saying, you look down on the underworld?"

"I didn't say that," Yang Ce shook his head. "But I don't think there's anything so remarkable about the underworld either."

"Hmph. So in your view, if you wanted to run it, you could? Well then, fine!" Sun Lin, having been checkmated by Yang Ce and unable to save face, said in a fit of pique, "I'll put it plainly right here and now: since you think it's so easy, so unremarkable, then go unify the underworld of Songjiang for me. If you do, I, Sun Lin, will say nothing more and agree to give you my daughter. Otherwise, I'll be the first to oppose this match!"

Seeing her husband lose his temper, Mother Sun was taken aback. They had been getting along fine just moments ago—how had it turned into a quarrel? Mother Sun's impression of Yang Juehuan was actually quite good.

She didn't have as many worries as Sun Lin. In her view, as long as Yang Ce was easygoing and her daughter liked him, that was enough. So she hurried to smooth things over. "Hongjun, aren't you just making things difficult for the boy?"

"Hmph, making things difficult for him? He's the one who said it—that it's nothing remarkable," Sun Lin snorted.

"How much effort did you spend, how many years did it take, to bring Donghai to what it is today?" Mother Sun complained. "You're telling young Yang to unify the underworld of Songjiang—aren't you just joking?"

Sun Jie was also caught in an awkward spot. Oh, this Yang Ce—really, still so proud, so macho. Couldn't he just hold his tongue for a bit?

But unexpectedly, she heard Yang Linyue say coolly, "Songjiang? Just one city's underworld—what's so hard about that? Need me to add another city? Say, Jidun?"

To be continued.

648. Could it be that you are...

"What?" Sun Lin looked at Yang Ce, baffled. Really—had Yang Ce taken the wrong medicine? One Songjiang wasn't enough; now he was adding Jidun?

Even Sun Jie was starting to think Yang Ce had gone mad. If it were just Songjiang, Yang Ce had a good relationship with Bao Lin; a word with him, and maybe Yang Ce would be given a fairly high-ranking position in a gang, which could count as fulfilling her father's demand. But Yang Ce actually wanted to add Jidun too?

Back then, to unify the underworld of Donghai, Sun Lin had spent roughly ten years, and even then it wasn't fully consolidated—in Donghai there were still six or seven gangs, large and small. Apart from the Tian family, which was controlled by the Suns, the rest merely sheltered under the Sun family's wing.

And Yang Ce was saying he'd unify the underworld of two cities—wasn't that just daydreaming? What's more, Sun Lin knew the situation in Jidun. Though Jidun wasn't a big place, only one gang operated there—the Money Gang—and its boss, Guo Jinbiao, was no pushover either.

Sun Lin was thoroughly provoked by Yang Ce. "Fine!" he roared. "You said it yourself. Once you've unified the underworld of these two cities, I'll hand my daughter over to you. Hmph!"

With that, Sun Lin rose to his feet and turned to head upstairs. In his view, this Yang Ce was simply too arrogant. Even if you're not after my Sun family's business, you still can't talk like that!

Now that he understood Yang Ce had no designs on the family fortune, Sun Lin was nonetheless furious.

Back in his study, the phone happened to ring. Sun Lin frowned. This line wasn't public—only a few of his subordinates knew the number. Unless something major had happened, they wouldn't call.

"Hello, this is Sun Lin," he said, picking up the internal line.

"Elder Brother, this is Old Tian," said Tian Qianren, head of the Tian family.

"What is it?" Sun Lin was in a foul mood, so his tone was a little impatient. "If it's nothing major, let's talk later. I want to rest a while."

"Elder Brother, something big has happened!" Tian Qianren's voice was somewhat urgent.

"What is it?" Sun Lin turned serious, because he knew Tian Qianren's temperament—ordinary trifles wouldn't disturb him.

"Guo Jinbiao of Jidun City has been taken out," Tian Qianren said.

"What? You're saying Guo Jinbiao has been taken out?" Sun Lin was startled, his voice cracking.

"Yes. I just got the news, and it's solid. The official word is that Guo Jinbiao died in a car accident," Tian Qianren said.

"A car accident?" Sun Lin frowned.

"When it happened, Guo Jinbiao was in Songjiang," Tian Qianren said.

"Songjiang? Could Baolin and his people have done it?" Sun Lin knew all too well about the feud between Guo Jinbiao and Baolin of late, so his thoughts jumped straight to Baolin.

"Can't be certain yet, but it's almost a sure thing," Tian Qianren said.

"What's the situation over in Jidun City?" Sun Lin's eyes lit up as he realized at once that if Guo Jinbiao was gone, Jidun City's turf presented a golden opportunity for expansion.

"This old man," Mother Sun said with an embarrassed smile at Yang Hengye. "Little Yang, don't listen to his nonsense. Things will be handled properly. I'll have a word with him later."

"It's all right, Auntie Sun," Yang Xu said with an easy smile.

"Little Yang, don't you worry," Mother Sun said. "I think highly of you. For all the prestige that old man enjoys out there, at home he's only second in command."

"Ha ha, then I'll have to trouble you, Auntie Sun," Yang Minlan said, quite amicably, for he held a rather good impression of Mother Sun.

Mother Sun smiled too. "Just for that 'Mom' you called me a moment ago, I have to help you out. Besides, I'd like to hear you call me that from now on."

"Heh heh." Yang Mo scratched at his scalp, a little embarrassed.

"Xiaojie, Yang Ce has come to Donghai. Why don't you take him around and show him the sights? I'll have a good talk with your father, and we'll all have dinner together tonight," Mother Sun said.

Yang Shuoxuan understood that Mother Sun wanted him and Sun Jie out of the way so she could work on Sun Lin, so he said, "That works out well. I've been to Donghai several times and never really had a proper look around."

"Then it's settled, Xiaojie. You two have lunch out at noon—no need to make the trip back," Mother Sun said.

"All right, Mom, I understand," Sun Jie said. "Don't worry. We'll grab something when we're hungry. We're not children anymore."

After saying goodbye to Mother Sun, Yang Ce and Sun Jie left the Sun family villa together.

"Yang Ce, what's the matter with you?" The moment they were outside, Sun Jie frowned and scolded him. "If you keep this up, aren't you afraid of making my father angry?"

"Sun Jie, what's between us is between us. I just can't stand your father's tone—as if I'm after his fortune," Yang Ce said with a curl of his lip.

"But you could at least give me some face," Sun Jie said, displeased. "I'm telling you, Yang Ce, we agreed beforehand—you help me this once."

"And haven't I come to give you face?" Yang Xu said helplessly.

"Forget it," Sun Jie sighed. "When we get back tonight, just apologize to him. Do it for my sake."

"What for?" Yang Yanchuan said. "It's all an act anyway. Let's just leave it as it is."