Chapter 141 — Old Buffon's Origins

She had let Yan let the matter slide, yet the woman had only grown more brazen. Though Chen Shutang had not been born into great wealth, her father was after all the head of the municipal bureau's criminal investigation division—a cadre of no small standing. How could she let herself be mocked?

What was more, in Chen Shutang's heart, Yang Ce was the finest of men, and this Miss Song had actually dared to say he was no good. Naturally, Chen Shutang could bear it no longer: "I'd trouble you to watch your tongue. We didn't provoke you, and we knew you wanted the Sun-Moon Pavilion first, and we didn't compete with you for it. Aren't the things you're saying now a bit out of line?"

Angry as Chen Shutang was, she did not curse the woman back but instead pointed out Miss Song's fault in the most reasonable of terms.

"Didn't compete with me? Hah, why don't you just try competing?" Miss Song curled her lip. "Stop trying to save face. If you can't afford it, you can't afford it. These days it isn't money alone that gets things done—you need connections too. You look like a pretty girl, so let me give you a word of advice: when it comes to men, money isn't all that matters—you need power too. While you're still young, find yourself another one, and quickly. If that's too hard, I can introduce you to a vice president at my husband's company—he does quite well for himself in Songjiang."

"Shut your mouth!" Chen Shutang was now truly furious. Miss Song's words were simply too vicious. In her eyes, it was as if she and Yan were together only for the money. Chen Shutang's face flushed crimson with rage, and unable to contain herself any longer, she raised her hand and dealt Miss Song a fierce slap.

"Smack"—the crisp sound of the slap rang out incomparably loud in the office.

Chen Shutang was truly beside herself with anger, and she held nothing back in that slap, putting all her strength into it. A girl's strength may not be great, but landing on Miss Song's delicate cheek, it sent her sunglasses flying on the spot and swelled her face up high.

"Ah—" Miss Song shrieked, clutching her swollen cheek and glaring at Chen Shutang in shock and fury: "You dare hit me?"

Watching Miss Song's expression, Yang Ce silently cheered. He had wanted to give Miss Song a taste of it himself a moment ago, but this was a public place, and striking a woman would have made him look bad. Chen Shutang hitting her, though, was another matter entirely—woman to woman, who could say what was fair?

"Hitting you was letting you off light," Yang Ce said with a cold sneer. "You brought this on yourself. And another thing—I hadn't intended to compete anymore, but with someone like you, I find it hard not to take you to task."

Having finished, Yang Yanzhou paid her no further attention and asked Li Dagang directly, "Which real estate company owns this development?"

In Songjiang, no real estate company could afford to ignore Hou Lin and Bao Lin—unless it had a death wish. Besides, all Yang Ce had to do now was secure a single apartment; no company president would be so foolish as to offend underworld figures over such a trifle.

"It's Xinheng Real Estate," Li Dagang said, somewhat at a loss. Yang Ce was his boss, but to start a dispute with other clients right in front of Manager Liu put Li Dagang in an awkward spot. Still, weighing the two, his ties to Yan were naturally far closer than those to Manager Liu, so he raised no word to dissuade Yang Juehuan.

As for Manager Liu, his expression changed at once. He did not know exactly who this Miss Song was, but a call from the sales manager on the developer's side had vaguely hinted that the person Miss Song had behind her was no ordinary sort.

And now someone had actually slapped Miss Song in his own office. If this blew up, he would be in real trouble too. But then he looked at Yang Ce's side—anyone who could afford the Sun-Moon Pavilion must have means as well. Whichever side was stronger, neither was something a man of his station could contend with. After weighing it every which way, he decided to help neither side.

"Xinheng Real Estate?" Yang Puqi was startled. He knew this company all too well—the jewelry company's shop had been bought through Xinheng; it was Wu Zhongjie's father's enterprise.

Yang Ce had originally meant to have Bao Lin step in, but the moment he heard it was Xinheng Real Estate, he changed his mind, took out his phone, and called Wu Zhongjie directly.

"Hello? Yang, it's been ages since you called me—I've missed you to death!" Wu Zhongjie, picking up Yang Juehuan's call, said excitedly.

"Save the rest for later. I need a favor. Huasong Wenyuan is a development by Xinheng. I've taken a fancy to an apartment here, but I hear someone reserved it through your father's company. Ask around for me and see if it can be transferred." Yang Yanzhou said.

"That? Shouldn't be a problem," Wu Zhongjie said with a chuckle. "And even if it is, once I kick up a fuss, my dad's got no choice—I'll threaten him with failing my next exam."

"You little rascal. Fine, I'll wait for your word," Yang Shuyu said. This was as good as settled.

While Yang Cenbin was on the phone, Miss Song was making a call of her own to summon help: "Honey, I've been hit—boo-hoo—you have to come over right now, I've been bullied to death. I'm at the sales office of Huasong Wenyuan, at Manager Liu's place, right—I'll be waiting for you."

Before long, Wu Zhongjie called back.

"How'd it go?" Yang Yanchuan asked.

"Done. The sales manager was the one who booked it out—one word from my dad and it was settled. The sales office should have gotten the call by now," Wu Zhongjie said, angling for credit.

"Good. I owe you one—one of these days I'll teach you a thing or two," Yang Yanzhou said.

"Heh, you said it—no taking it back!" Wu Zhongjie said, beaming.

Sure enough, Yang Cenbin had no sooner hung up than Manager Liu's office phone rang.

"Hello? Oh, Secretary Wang, hello, hello," Manager Liu said, greeting him again and again.

This Secretary Wang was the secretary to Chairman Wu of Xinheng. He was not Manager Liu's superior, but Xinheng was the largest real estate company in Songjiang, and whether Manager Liu's side made money at all depended on whether they handed him the apartments to sell.

There were plenty of real estate sales companies in Songjiang, and more than one or two eager to curry favor with Xinheng. Manager Liu knew this well, and so had always treated Xinheng's people with the utmost deference.

"What? The Sun-Moon Pavilion at half price?" Manager Liu was stunned. He had sold houses for years and had never sold at half price—half price would barely cover cost. True, these were villas with relatively larger margins, but no discount was given like that; eighty percent was already the limit. And now came half price?

Whatever was said on the other end, Manager Liu replied, "Chairman Wu gave the order personally—I understand, I understand. Sign the contract with Mr. Yang, is that right? Yes, of course."

The call ended, and Manager Liu now understood the strength of the two parties before him—one at eighty percent, one at half price. Anyone could see which was the more powerful.

"Manager Liu, the call's done—can we sign the contract now?" Yang Hengye smiled and asked mildly.

"This—" Manager Liu could not afford to offend Yang Ce, but neither could he afford to offend Miss Song. Word had it that the man behind Miss Song had deep underworld connections, and Manager Liu dared not offend anyone to the death.

Miss Song was now only waiting for her reinforcements. If she fought back herself, she would surely be no match for the two of them, so she swore inwardly that once her husband arrived, he would have to teach these two insolent fellows a lesson.