Chapter 147 — The Long-Awaited...

"I, um—" Huang Yan's lie was exposed, and she was instantly mortified.

Yang Jiyan didn't seem inclined to let her off the hook. He continued whispering in her ear, teasing: "Besides, if it wasn't your first time, you should know whether it hurts or not."

"Oh, fine!" Huang Yan pouted and said, somewhat deflated, "I admit it, all right? So tell me, will it hurt this time?"

"This time? Of course not," Yang Heng said.

"Oh, then go ahead," Huang Yan said, as if a weight had been lifted, and breathed a sigh of relief. But then she suddenly furrowed her brows: "Ah, you liar! Didn't you say it wouldn't hurt? Why does it still hurt so much?"

"I didn't finish," Yang Ce said. "What I meant was, of course it won't hurt as much as the first time—but it'll still hurt a little." He moved slowly as he spoke.

"You're terrible, lying to me—" Huang Yan had only gotten half the words out before she couldn't help gasping under Yang Juehuan's movements, unable to speak.

"It really doesn't hurt after that, and it actually feels pretty good—quite comfortable," Huang Yan said lazily, lying against Yang Juehuan's shoulder. "But now it's starting to hurt again."

"The first few times will hurt a little, but it'll decrease each time," Yang Heng said, stroking Huang Yan's skin. "And then every time after will feel like it did afterward."

"Really?" Huang Yan asked, a little skeptical. "You're not lying to me this time?"

"Don't you think it hurts a good deal less than the first time?" Yang Ce said.

"That's true enough." Huang Yan nodded, then abruptly scrambled up from the bed. "Yang Ce, how about we do it a few more times?"

"A few more times?" Yang Ce started in alarm and stared at her in disbelief.

"Yes. Better a short agony than a long one—if we do it plenty of times today, then it won't hurt anymore after that, will it?" Huang Yan nodded with a perfectly serious face.

Yang Ce was caught between laughter and tears. What he had meant was that they should wait a few days between times, until Huang Yan's body had recovered, before doing it again—how could it possibly be finished in a single day? If she insisted on forcing it like this, she would be in agony, and likely unable to walk the next day.

Helpless, Yang Ce had no choice but to give her an example, telling Huang Yan the story of the farmer who pulled up his seedlings to help them grow, so that she might understand this sort of thing could not be rushed. Only then did Huang Yan give it up, though she said a little sheepishly, "How was I supposed to know about any of that? You never explained it clearly."

Yang Ce said that no one could have expected her to be so impatient—and "impatient" was a word with a double meaning. After lying there a while longer, Yang Ce said, "We'd better get up. If Wang Mei comes up in a bit, neither of us will have time to get dressed."

Hearing this, Huang Yan saw that it was indeed so, and hurriedly sat up to dress. Only the discomfort between her legs made her grimace as she pulled on her trousers, and she kept shooting Yang Ce dirty looks. "By the way, the consultant at your casino—Zheng Shaopeng, isn't it?" Yang Ce suddenly remembered. Zheng Shaopeng was not yet dead, and the man was highly suspect. If he had been at any other casino, Yang Ce would not have bothered with him, for it would have had nothing to do with him at all.

But now things were different. Zheng Shaopeng was the consultant at the Huawei Casino, and the Huawei Casino was the Huang family's property—which meant Yang Ce had no choice but to warn Huang Yan.

"Yes, that's right. Why do you ask?" Huang Yan, having dressed, lay back down on the bed, because sitting up was uncomfortable.

"How did this man get into your family's casino? Do you have his file?" Yang Ce asked.

"His file? I can have someone bring it to you. Do you want it now?" Huang Yan was rather curious as to why Yang Ce should take an interest in the man. "You still haven't told me why you're asking about him."

To be continued

864. Investigating Zheng Shaopeng (Part One)

864. Investigating Zheng Shaopeng (Part One) "There seems to be something questionable about this man's background. I don't know whether he has any designs on your family's casino, but he himself is certainly not clean." Yang Ce did not put it so bluntly, because he did not yet know how to explain it to Huang Yan—the matter was too complicated to be set out in a few words.

"Ah?" Though Huang Yan took little part in running the casino, she had heard that someone in her family's casino had a questionable background—and he was a consultant whose authority was not to be taken lightly.

In the running of a casino, apart from the manager, the consultant also had a considerable say, for while the consultant might not be an expert in management, he was absolutely an expert in gambling technique, and so many of his opinions simply had to be taken into account.

"Then I'll have someone bring you the file right now." Huang Yan did not dare delay. Having heard Yang Ce out, she at once picked up the phone and called the casino's manager.

"Uncle Zhang, it's Lele." Huang Yan spoke to the person on the other end.

Manager Zhang was the general manager of the Huawei Casino, Xuanming Zong. When Yang Ce had investigated Zheng Shaopeng earlier, he had familiarized himself with the casino's other personnel structure, and so he knew of this Xuanming Zong. But as the man had nothing to do with the whole affair, Yang Ce had not investigated him further, and knew only his name.

"Lele? Is there something you need?" Xuanming Zong recognized the voice at once as that of the Huang family's eldest daughter, and did not dare be negligent.

"Manager Zhang, come to my room. I have something to discuss with you," Huang Yan instructed.

At this moment Huang Yan was every inch the daughter of a great house, giving orders to those beneath her. Yang Ce watched her with interest; the Huang Yan of this moment was truly quite different from the one of a moment ago.

Only Yang Ce knew that although Huang Yan was innocent, raised from childhood in a great family, she had seen and heard a great many things, and knew well how to speak to the people who worked for her family.

"All right, the general manager will be here shortly. You can ask him then," Huang Yan said to Yang Ce.

Before long, a knock came at the door from outside the room.

"Come in." Huang Yan sat up in bed and smoothed the hair at her brow, making herself look a little more presentable.

Yang Ce had unlocked the door just after the phone call, so when Xuanming Zong pushed at it from outside, the door swung open at his touch.

"Eldest Miss, you wanted to see me?" Seeing that there were others in the room, Xuanming Zong changed his form of address from the private "Lele" to "Eldest Miss."

By rights he was Huang Yan's elder; Xuanming Zong had worked for Huang Yan's father since long ago, right up to the present, so calling her "Lele" was perfectly natural. But now that outsiders were present, to call her that might invite ridicule for not knowing his place—or even for presuming on his age—so before outsiders Xuanming Zong still addressed Huang Yan respectfully as "Eldest Miss."

"Yes, it's he who has something to ask you. The details you two can discuss yourselves." With that, Huang Yan walked over to the computer desk, switched on the monitor, and began playing on the computer as if no one else were there.

"Hello, Manager Zhang, is it? My surname is Yang—Yang Ce." Yang Ce smiled and extended his hand; Xuanming Zong shook it.

Having run so large a casino, Xuanming Zong had long since trained a pair of keen eyes. He had not noticed anything when he first entered, but now he had some inkling of the relationship between Yang Ce and Huang Yan—the two were certainly close, most likely lovers.