Chapter 147 — The Long-Awaited...

839 On the Eve of the Assassination. After hanging up, Yang Ce went on sitting on the bench with an easy conscience, but Wang Yanqiu was growing a little impatient. If Yang Ce stayed here the whole time, then once the club let out, it would be hard for her to seize the chance to strike.

But this was the only bench in the area for people to rest on—there was simply nowhere else to sit. Wang Yanqiu couldn't very well drive Yang Ce away.

With no other choice, she could only take things one step at a time.

Fortunately, it wasn't long before the security guards stationed at the club entrance suddenly bustled into activity, and right after that a group of people came out of the club and headed for the parking lot beside it.

These people were mostly directors of the major casinos, and they had all come in their own cars, so even though they would be dining together shortly, each drove his own vehicle and they would regroup at the dinner venue.

Wang Yanqiu glanced sidelong at Yang Ce beside her. It was time—she had to move. If the restaurant was also guarded like this club, with outsiders kept out, then she would have no chance to strike at all.

If Wang Yanqiu was moving, there was no reason for Yang Ce to stay behind either—only he couldn't move at the same time as she did, and could only follow behind her and watch how things developed. Yang Ce had no intention of stopping Wang Yanqiu from anything. To him, whether Zheng Shaopeng lived or died was of no concern whatsoever; whether Zheng Shaopeng was good or evil, and why there was a bounty for his assassination, made no difference at all.

The purpose of Yang Ce's trip was to find out exactly which faction Wang Yanqiu represented. If she really did have ties to that Black Widow organization, then Yang Ce would have to investigate carefully.

The reason was simple: Black Widow had once sent people to assassinate both him and Bao Lin. He didn't recall ever making an enemy of any Black Widow, and if he could start with Wang Yanqiu, he believed it wouldn't be too hard to unravel this puzzle.

But just as Yang Ce was pondering how to tail Wang Yanqiu, his phone suddenly rang.

Yang Ce took out his phone and glanced at the caller ID. It was Zhang Bin. His heart immediately tightened, and a bad premonition welled up inside him.

"Hello? What is it?" Yang Ce answered the call.

"Boss, we've got trouble," Zhang Bin said urgently.

"Trouble? What kind of trouble?" Yang Yanchuan asked.

"Wang Mei's parents have been taken by men sent by Liu Jihao," Zhang Bin said. "By the time we got to Wang Mei's home, her parents were already gone. All they left was a note on the table, saying the boss should go claim them."

"Go claim them?" Yang Ce found it both laughable and absurd. The logic seemed off no matter how he looked at it. The ones kidnapped were Wang Mei's parents, yet they hadn't summoned Wang Mei or Zhang Bin—they had singled out him, an outsider.

Even if Liu Jihao had guessed that he'd swindled the check away, the person he should be looking for was Zhang Bin. He could get the check from Yang Ce through Zhang Bin—so why come directly after him?

It left Yang Ce deeply puzzled, though it also set his mind a little at ease. After all, these were extraordinary times, and he had important matters of his own to attend to; he couldn't afford to spare the time.

If Zhang Bin and the others had been clashing with Liu Jihao's men right then, Yang Ce truly wouldn't have known what to do. But as things stood, Liu Jihao had already seized Wang Mei's parents and was demanding that Yang Ce come claim them—either way, a direct confrontation had been avoided, which bought Yang Ce a gap in time.

Since he was the one summoned to collect them, Liu Jihao surely had a purpose, and that purpose could be nothing other than money—he wanted that check. That being so, Liu Jihao probably wouldn't make things hard on Wang Mei's parents.

At that thought, Yang Ce reassured them: "Liu Jihao doing this means he's certainly figured out the business with the check. But there's no need to worry—to get the money smoothly, he won't harm Wang Mei's parents. People after money don't stir up extra trouble. You two head back to the hotel first; tonight we'll work out a plan."

Zhang Bin had been blinded by panic, but hearing Yang Juehuan's analysis, he calmed down at once. Yang Yanzhou was right—Liu Jihao was most likely just after money. If he'd simply wanted revenge, he wouldn't have bothered leaving that note.

"I understand, boss. I'll take Wang Mei back to the hotel right away," Zhang Bin said hurriedly.

After hanging up, Zhang Bin relayed Yang Juehuan's meaning to Wang Mei, and she too relaxed a little. Staying here would do no good anyway—better to return to the hotel first and wait for Yang Ce to come back before deciding anything.

While Yang Ce was on the phone, Wang Yanqiu had already hailed a taxi by the roadside and was trailing the convoy ahead. She probably wouldn't pay attention to the content of Yang Ce's call, so it was better to slip away while he was still talking—that way she could avoid the awkwardness of Yang Ce asking where she was going.

Seeing the cars ahead had already gone far, Yang Ce hurried into another taxi idling by the curb for passengers and told the driver to follow the taxi Wang Yanqiu was in.

"Master, could you please follow that taxi ahead?" Yang Ce instructed the driver once he was in. "Don't get too close—I don't want them to notice."

Hearing Yang Juehuan's words, the driver grew wary. After a moment's hesitation he said, "That's hardly proper, is it? What are you following that car for?"

Yang Ce hadn't expected the driver to be so upright as to ask. But Yang Juehuan's reflexes were superb, and his gift for spinning tall tales was second to none—back in high school he'd spent his days hoodwinking Chen Shutang.

"Brother, to be honest with you, the one sitting in that car ahead is my girlfriend. We came from the mainland to travel, and just now we quarreled over a difference of opinion. She even told me not to follow her. But this place is strange to us, and I'm truly afraid she'll get lost, so I just want to trail her from a distance without her noticing." Yang Jincong put on a worried face.

"So that's how it is." Seeing Yang Yanzhou's earnestness, the driver half believed him. But the main reason was that while waiting for fares earlier, he really had seen a girl get into the taxi ahead—and that girl had been sitting with Yan before. Whether they were really boyfriend and girlfriend, or whether they'd quarreled, he hadn't paid much mind.

Still, judging by what he'd seen himself and hearing Yang Ce's explanation now, it was probably close to the truth. So he said, "All right, young man, rest easy. My driving's no boast—I guarantee I'll get you onto your girlfriend's tail."

"Then thank you, brother." Yang Ce pulled a hundred-yuan note from his pocket and set it on the dashboard. "A little token of my thanks."

Seeing that Yang Ce had produced a renminbi note rather than patacas, the driver believed him even more. If Yang Ce was a tourist from the mainland, then he couldn't be anyone with ulterior motives.

In the convoy ahead, inside a black Buick Park Avenue, Zheng Shaopeng was on his cell phone with someone.

"Boss, the seminar's over. I'm on my way to the restaurant now," Zheng Shaopeng reported.

"Very good. Has that little girl latched onto you?" a male voice asked from the other end.

"She has. I spotted a taxi trailing behind the convoy—that should be her," Zheng Shaopeng said.

"Excellent. Everything according to plan. I'm leaving this matter in your hands—don't disappoint me," the male voice said.

"Rest assured, boss." Zheng Shaopeng nodded solemnly.