Chapter 141 — Old Buffon's Origins

Reading Manager Liu's expression, Yang Ce knew he dared not offend Miss Song, and he did not mind. He simply said, "Then we'll sign in a while. Dagang, there's nowhere to sit in here—let's find a place to catch up."

"That works too," Li Dagang said, glancing at Manager Liu. Seeing no objection, he nodded.

"You can't leave! If you've got guts, stay right here and wait!" Miss Song, thinking Yang Ce meant to slip away, immediately protested.

"Whether I've got guts isn't for you to decide," Yang Ce said, glaring at Miss Song and speaking coldly. "Fine. But if you're so sure of yourself that you'd call someone to teach me a lesson, then I'll wait a while. Once I've sent your lot packing, I can sign the contract."

"Hmph," Miss Song snorted coldly, thinking: strut a little longer, and we'll see who's crying soon enough.

"Li Dagang, go find me a chair—there's not even anywhere to sit in here," Yang Ce said, looking at Miss Song, who had taken the only sofa for herself.

"Mr. Yang, please take my seat," Manager Liu said, rising hurriedly at Yang Juehuan's words and offering up his own chair. He knew that Yang Juehuan's status was surely no ordinary one—and compared with Miss Song, this was a man he could afford to offend even less.

This was what they call the illusion of the involved party: Miss Song had plainly seen Yang Ce obtain a lower price than she had, yet she still refused to credit Yang Moyi with any real strength.

Getting a discounted price did not prove anything, after all. She had just overheard Yang Juehuan's phone call, and it seemed he was merely on familiar terms with the son of Xinheng Real Estate's chairman.

To be continued.

690. Borrowing Momentum

Guo Jianchao had been riding high lately. Ever since the vast Wang Group was renamed Mingyang Entertainment Group, Guo Jianchao could hold his head higher than before.

There was no other reason—only that his boss was formidable. Wang Pu had been a man of considerable influence back in Songjiang, but set beside Hou Lin and Bao Lin, he was somewhat the lesser sorcerer facing the greater.

The people Guo Jianchao once dealt with were at most officials and insiders—natural enough, for Wang Group was Songjiang's leading enterprise. But other companies had not been so willing to defer to Wang Group.

Now it was different. Guo Jianchao could plainly feel that his words carried far more weight with his business partners. Yes—everyone understood the position he now represented, and no one dared ignore him.

So Guo Jianchao was delighted. Being Yang Juehuan's dog was simply marvelous. And so what if he was a dog? Plenty of people wanted the role and could not get it. Watching those men bow and scrape before him, a sense of pride welled up in Guo Jianchao's heart.

He considered himself a formidable dog—a proud dog. He still did not fully grasp Yang Juehuan's true strength, but it did not matter; he had no regrets. After all, Bao Lin and Hou Lin, two of Yang Juehuan's subordinates, were formidable enough to serve as his own backing—so Yang Juehuan's strength must be all the more terrifying.

As for Sun Jie, Guo Jianchao had long since given up. He was the sort who knew which way the wind blew: if a thing could not be his, he would not fight for it—fighting for it could cost a man his life. He understood that much.

Recently Guo Jianchao had taken up with a girlfriend, a female student, passably good-looking. He planned to buy a house near her school. He was no longer young, his parents kept pressing him to settle down, and now that his career was flourishing, Guo Jianchao decided to marry first and have a child before thinking of anything else. In this day and age there were plenty of men keeping mistresses anyway; finding a few more women later would be no problem.

This girlfriend of his was the rather proud type, from a southern family with some connections. Guo Jianchao thought her acceptable enough, and took her to pick out a house near the school.

To his surprise, one phone call got him a twenty-percent discount from the developer. Guo Jianchao fairly floated on air, feeling himself to be a real power in Songjiang.

Just as he was basking in self-satisfaction, his girlfriend Song Ran suddenly called to say she had been struck while paying her money. Guo Jianchao flew into a rage at once—striking his girlfriend was striking his own face.

One phone call from Guo Jianchao brought several company security men—in truth, peripheral members of the underworld. The whole party tore off toward the Huasong Wenyuan sales office in a Benz van, fast and furious.

Guo Jianchao leaped from the car first. The guards at the gate tried to stop him, but Guo Jianchao's men shoved them aside. They were all guards, yet there was a world of difference between them.

The sales office guards were simply unemployed youths hired off the street, while Guo Jianchao's men were gangsters. Which was the fiercer was plain enough.

Yang Ce was sitting at his ease in Manager Liu's office, Chen Shutang on his lap, looking utterly relaxed. Suddenly the office door was kicked open and a man charged in, murder in his face: "Ranran, what happened to you?"

"Darling, you're finally here—that woman hit me." Song Ran raised a hand and pointed at Chen Shutang. "Those two bullied me."

"Who the hell—" Guo Jianchao got half the sentence out before the rest was swallowed hard. He had seen Chen Shutang, the woman who had struck Song Ran. He did not know who Chen Shutang was, but at this moment Chen Shutang was sitting in that man's lap—and that man was his master, Yang Ce.

Yang Ce lifted his head, glanced at Guo Jianchao, and said mildly, "So it's you."

"Boss—" Guo Jianchao nearly said it, but recalling Yang Yongjin's order to make his identity public, he checked himself at once: "Brother Yang, you're here too."

"Mm. I had my eye on a villa, but someone got there first." Yang Ce's face was expressionless. "We were going to let the matter drop, but that Miss Song wouldn't let it go—she kept mocking and sneering. By the way, what is she to you?"

"She's—I—I have nothing to do with her." Much as Guo Jianchao liked Song Ran, before Yang Ce he had only one choice: to give her up. Plainly, Yang Ce had taken a great dislike to Song Ran.

"Darling, what are you saying?" Hearing Guo Jianchao deny any connection to her, Song Ran grew frantic at once.

"Enough." Guo Jianchao flared up on the spot and put out a hand to slap her again, but seeing the swollen half of her face, he could not bear it, and heaved a sigh.

"That's enough. I don't want to meddle in your private life. Take her away and keep her in line." Yang Ce waved a hand. "Remember who gave you your power—whose momentum you are borrowing now. Don't be so ostentatious."

At Yang Juehuan's words Guo Jianchao broke into a cold sweat. His expression turned grave, and he said solemnly, "I understand. I'm sorry, Brother Yang."

"Go on. I have business to attend to." Yang Ce dismissed him.

Guo Jianchao, as though a great weight had lifted, dragged the dumbfounded Song Ran away and left the place at speed.

Manager Liu, sitting to one side, could hardly fail to read the situation. Yang Ce was so dominant that he had cowed Miss Song's boyfriend—her very backing—so thoroughly that the man dared not breathe a word. This showed plainly enough that Yang Ce was the one truly not to be crossed.

Though Yang Ce had not said it outright, between the lines he had made clear that Guo Jianchao owed his present standing in no small part to him. Manager Liu was no fool; how could he not hear it?

Yang Shuoxuan was already resolved to step out into the open, so he was not much inclined to keep hiding.

Chen Shutang, who had expected a hard fight, had not thought the matter would be settled so easily. A few words from Yang Ce and Song Ran's boyfriend had been sent off with his tail between his legs.

She did not know why, but she felt greatly vindicated. Who does not want her man to be formidable?