Chapter 147 — The Long-Awaited...

"Yes, President Wei." Zhou Xiaoming was secretly delighted—the demolition contract was a job with rich pickings. Crazy Ma had originally been Wei Dekang's driver and was one of his closer men. Back when Wei Dekang put Crazy Ma in charge of demolition, Zhou Xiaoming had been rather unhappy about it. Now it was settled—the fat job had finally fallen into his lap.

In a ward at the city's First People's Hospital, Crazy Ma's face was wrapped entirely in gauze. Fortunately, the oil had not been very hot; otherwise he would probably be dead by now.

He had already learned President Wei's intention—control of the demolition company had fallen to Zhou Xiaoming. Crazy Ma was unwilling to accept it, but there was nothing he could do. In his heart he loathed Yang Ce with a passion, wishing he could chop him into ten thousand pieces.

Not only had the man disfigured him, he had cut off his source of income.

"Brother Ma, we absolutely can't let this go. Once we find that bastard, we'll kill him," one of Crazy Ma's men said viciously.

They all made their living following Crazy Ma; cutting off Crazy Ma's income was the same as cutting off theirs.

Crazy Ma felt the same way, but in his current state, even revenge would not come quickly. And with his face wrapped in gauze, he could barely speak, let alone discuss anything.

Yang Ce returned the car to Mingyang Heavy Industries and went to his uncle's office, intending to tell him the good news—but to his surprise, his uncle rose to his feet first and said with a smile, "Daming, you really are something! I simply can't imagine how you got the people from Sankun Machinery to agree."

"Huh?" Yang was rather surprised. "Uncle, how did you know? I haven't told you yet, have I?"

"Haha, it's in today's paper already—Sankun Machinery announced bankruptcy yesterday afternoon." Yang Dashan laughed heartily. "Daming, how on earth did you pull that off?"

"Nothing much. Just gave them a scare." Yang Duoran could hardly go into detail. "Don't mention this to my dad. I don't want him worrying."

"Don't worry, my lips are sealed." Yang Dashan was in excellent spirits now. Who would have thought the ailment that had plagued him so long could be cured so easily by Yang Ce?

To be continued

909. Chen Shutang's Junior-High Sisters

909 Chen Shutang's Junior-High Sisters. Once out of Yang Heavy Industries, Yang Ce phoned Bao Lin, intending to ask about the shantytown relocation.

"Brother Yang, that business at the Night Dance Bar last night—was that your doing?" Bao Lin asked mysteriously the moment he picked up.

"Yes, it was me." Yang Duo would not deny it; he had already instructed Bao Lin to find a way to get the bar's property rights into his hands.

"Brother Yang, I'm in awe. You're something else—you've got pull even with the officials. Word came this morning that the Night Dance Bar's been sealed up by the police," Bao Lin said with admiration.

"That wasn't me. Yesterday I was at the Night Dance Bar with Xia Xue," Yang Ce explained.

"Heh heh, understood, understood." Bao Lin gave a strange little laugh. "Brother Yang, you're calling me this early—something up?"

"Yeah, a question for you. Do you know which real estate company's developing that plot in the shantytown?" Yang Yanchuan said.

"The shantytown—that'd be Dekang Real Estate. I had my eye on that land too at the time, but real estate isn't our main line of business, so I didn't go after it." Bao Lin said, "Why, Brother Yang? Something wrong?"

"Have you ever heard of a fellow named Ma in their company?" Yang Ce silently repeated the name Dekang Real Estate to himself and filed it away.

"Ma—you mean that lunatic Ma, that idiot? He's the driver for Wei Dekang, the boss of Dekang Real Estate. He used to run with the underworld too, and he's still got a few flunkies under him." Bao Lin thought for a moment, then said, "The guy's always trying to cozy up to us, but I never gave him the time of day."

"All right, I've got it. It's probably him." Yang Yanzhou said, "Look into Dekang Real Estate for me—dig up whatever you can."

"Sure, no problem. Brother Yang, you're not thinking of going after Dekang Real Estate, are you?" Bao Lin thought to himself that whoever Brother Yang told him to investigate never came to a good end, and this time would likely be no exception.

"Don't go making wild guesses about things that aren't settled." Yang Ce gave Bao Lin a dressing-down, lest the fellow go around shooting his mouth off. Yang Shuoxuan hadn't decided whether to take on Dekang Real Estate, but he was planning to get into real estate himself, and if he could climb to the top on Dekang's shoulders, so much the better.

Of course, that would depend on Dekang's attitude going forward. If they kept digging in and really did offend Lin Yanhe's family over the demolition, then they had only themselves to blame for what followed.

"Yes, Brother Yang, don't worry—I won't run my mouth." Bao Lin was startled. Lately Yang Minlan had been speaking to him quite amicably and rarely so sternly, and the relationship between Bao Lin and Yan had grown more harmonious. But Yang Juehuan's words just now had reminded Bao Lin that Yang Ce was, after all, still his boss.

"No need to be so nervous. I'm not blaming you, just giving you a reminder." Seeing Bao Lin like this, Yang Ce hastened to reassure him. "By the way, how's the car coming along?"

"I've already put in a word with the 4S dealership at the auto mall—the moment they've got a car, it's ours." This much pull Bao Lin did have. What company boss would want to offend someone like Bao Lin? Besides, it wasn't as if Bao Lin was asking for the car for free, and smoothing things over with the manufacturer to get an early delivery wasn't hard for the 4S shop owner either—only a fool would pass up such an easy favor.

"Fine, I'll leave it to you." Yang Ce hung up, then drove the newly swapped BMW X5 in the direction of home.

Now that he finally had a day to himself, Yang Ce decided to go home and take a shower first, then arrange to meet Chen Shutang. After all, since coming back to Songjiang he had seen Lin Yanhe, but not Chen Shutang—and if that little minx got hold of such an excuse, he'd be in for it.

"Mengyan, I'm back in Songjiang. I'll come see you in a bit." On the way home, Yang Ce called Chen Shutang.

"Ah—Yang Ce? I've got my junior-high classmate over at my place right now. I thought you wouldn't be back today, so I promised my classmate I'd go to our junior-high reunion," Chen Shutang said, immediately a little apologetic at the sound of Yang Juehuan's voice.

"A class reunion." Yang Xutang laughed. "Then let's forget it for today. Have a good time, and we'll talk on the phone when you get home tonight."

"Okay, sure. I'm free tomorrow—let's go out together then," Chen Shutang said.

"Sounds good. We'll figure it out when you're back tonight." Yang Ce was not one to meddle in Chen Shutang's private life; who didn't have junior-high classmates? He himself had just been to a junior-high reunion not long ago.

"Mengyan, who's that? Don't tell me it's your husband! Here, give me the phone—let me talk to him." A girl's voice came over the line.

"Oh, Liu Ting, stop it!" Chen Shutang, blushing, said to her old junior-high sidekick beside her, then spoke to Yang Yanzhou: "Sorry about that. My good friend from junior high, Liu Ting—she's just like that."

"It's fine. You two have fun," Yang Ce said with a laugh, naturally not minding in the least.

"Mengyan, lots of people bring their other halves to these reunions. Tell your husband to come too—the more the merrier. My boyfriend's coming along later as well." Liu Ting laughed and snatched the phone right out of Chen Shutang's hand. "Hey there, handsome brother-in-law, I'm your Mengyan's third sister. Come join us!"