Chapter 147 — The Long-Awaited...

Yang Yongjin disdained to argue with him, and stopped walking as well. He stood there, wanting to see just what trick Wei Jin was going to pull.

Zou Ruoguang, because the little drama he'd staged had fallen apart and because his whole body ached, sat dejectedly on the bed, paying no mind to how Wei Jin was cleaning up the mess over there. But since he'd ruined things with Zhao Xiaoyan, there was no way he'd be rolling around in the sheets with her anymore, and he felt rather disappointed.

He was just quietly lamenting his bad luck when he suddenly heard a familiar name—Yang Ce. Zou Ruoguang perked right up and raised his head for a closer look. Holy shit, if that wasn't Yang Ce himself! Who else could it be?

Ha! He'd been brooding over having no chance at revenge, and now the bastard had delivered himself right to his door. Zou Ruoguang was overjoyed. Forgetting the pain in his body, he stood up and pointed at Yang Ce. "Cousin, that's him—that's the guy! This Yang Ce, over in Jingshan—that's him!"

Wei Jin had still been weighing whether provoking Yang Ce was worth it. Hearing Zou Ruoguang's words, he froze for a moment, then immediately understood: the man who'd made an enemy of Zou Ruoguang was this very Yang Juehuan.

Well, that settled it. Wei Jin no longer had to hesitate at all. He'd already crossed paths with Yan, and this guy was also his cousin's enemy, and he'd promised his cousin he'd settle the score for him. When better to hand over a favor than right now?

With that thought, Wei Jin stopped hesitating, pulled out his phone, and got ready to call for backup. If his cousin didn't want the trouble, fine—he just wouldn't use his cousin's men. His own people would do, wouldn't they?

He was only borrowing his cousin's resort as a place to have a fight, after all. Surely his cousin couldn't object to that.

As Wei Jin was getting ready to make his call, Zou Ruoguang's gaze came to rest on Chen Shutang. He frowned, then looked Yang Ce over more carefully, and the more he looked, the more familiar he seemed. Suddenly Zou Ruoguang slapped his thigh and shouted, "I remember now! Hahahahaha! Yang Ce, you two-timing pretty boy—aren't you Zhao Ying's boyfriend? So how come you're with Chen Shutang now?"

To be continued

925. The Conflict Begins

925. The Conflict Begins. Back when Chen Shutang had first started at the school, Zou Ruoguang had pursued her for a time. But before he could succeed, Chen Shutang's boyfriend had found out, and he'd hired some thug off the streets to give Zou Ruoguang a beating. Zou Ruoguang remembered it vividly to this day.

But at the time he'd been too busy drooling over Chen Shutang's beauty to pay any attention to what Yang Juehuan looked like. And even if he had noticed, he'd have forgotten it afterward—after all, he'd only laid eyes on him once.

But here and now, seeing Chen Shutang again, Zou Ruoguang suddenly remembered: Yang Ce was the boyfriend who'd appeared at Chen Shutang's side back then.

No wonder he'd thought Yang Juehuan looked a little familiar back in Jingshan, as though he'd seen him somewhere before. He'd never expected this. With this discovery, Zou Ruoguang was overjoyed. He'd caught Yang Ce cheating, so how could he not seize the chance to spill the beans?

He might not be able to beat Yang Ce, and he might have no chance of winning Zhao Ying's or Chen Shutang's love anymore, but if he couldn't have them, no one else should either. He'd use this chance to leave Yang Ce with nothing at all.

Yang Juehuan's expression shifted slightly, and he cast Zou Ruoguang a cold look. He hadn't planned to trouble this guy today, but it seemed the man just couldn't sit still and was asking for a beating.

"Chen Shutang, there's something you don't know yet, is there?" Zou Ruoguang went on loudly after that first sentence. "This boyfriend of yours is a real heartbreaker. He's got another woman on the side—her name's Zhao Ying. Go look into it and you'll see. You've been played! Hahahahaha!"

Chen Shutang already knew about the Zhao Ying business—Yang Ce pretending to be Zhao Ying's boyfriend had had her tacit approval. But now that Zou Ruoguang had blown it wide open like this, it was impossible for Chen Shutang not to feel at least a flicker of doubt.

It wasn't that she didn't trust Yang Ce; it was simply that Yang Ce really was, just as Zou Ruoguang said, a heartbreaker. Having her wasn't enough for him—there was still Lin Yanhe and Lan Ling, and now Su Ya as well. But doubt was one thing; compared to that, she would still rather trust Yang Ce than believe a word out of Zou Ruoguang's mouth. Last time she'd already wronged Yang Ce and Zhao Ying once. This time, Chen Shutang was determined not to be so reckless, no matter what.

Still, having Zou Ruoguang keep spouting on like this was genuinely tiresome. So Chen Shutang glanced at him and said with perfect composure, "Oh, that. I know all about it."

"What?" Zou Ruoguang was dumbstruck, standing frozen like a statue for a long moment. He was truly floored. He'd been hoping to watch Yang Ce's backyard go up in flames—best of all, to see everything blow up in his face so that every last woman ran off and left him with nothing. And yet Chen Shutang had just told him she knew about it.

Of course, Chen Shutang only said so; she simply didn't want to make a scene again like before, flying off the handle without rhyme or reason like an immature girl. Later on, she still intended to have a proper talk with Yang Juehuan.

Yang Xutang was startled by Chen Shutang's words as well. It seemed the little girl really had turned over a new leaf—no longer throwing tantrums and refusing to give him any face the way she used to.

Secretly delighted, he thought: Zou Ruoguang, oh Zou Ruoguang, you've underestimated Chen Shutang's intelligence. After that lesson with Wang Lin, if my little Yanyan could still believe a word from a big idiot like you, then the sun would rise in the west.

Still, shocked as he was, Zou Ruoguang seemed unable to quite believe it. He stared wide-eyed at Chen Shutang. "You really knew?"

Yang Ce had put up with this idiot long enough. If Chen Shutang hadn't refused to believe a word of it earlier, Yang Ce would have slapped him across the face on the spot. But now the bastard was still yammering on, and Yang Ce's patience finally snapped. He raised his leg and kicked out, sending Zou Ruoguang sprawling flat on his back, where he lay unable to get up.

For all his height, Zou Ruoguang was a spineless coward—though only when no one was watching. The moment an audience appeared, he puffed himself up like a rooster.

"Cousin, you saw it—he hit me!" Zou Ruoguang jabbed a finger at Yang Ce and hollered. He would never dare take Yang Ce on himself, but he could get Wei Jin to find people to do it for him.

Wei Jin's face had gone terrifyingly dark. He had not intended to touch Yang Ce at first, but now that Yang Yongjin had barged in to defend Liu Baoqiang and Liu Ting and actually struck his cousin, Wei Jin was not about to let Yang Ce off the hook.

Yang Ce might be unbeatable across all of Songjiang, but he had no idea how many men Wei Jin had just summoned over the phone. If they resorted to sheer numbers, he was not afraid for himself—but Chen Shutang, Liu Baoqiang, and Liu Ting at his side would suffer for it.

To guarantee Chen Shutang's safety and leave nothing to chance, Yang Ce secretly sent a text to Bao Lin while Wei Jin was making his call.

Yang Juehuan kept his phone in his pocket; there was no need to take it out—he could operate it with his clairvoyant ability. So Yang Ce had only to slip his hand into his pocket to get the job done. Yang Ce had no taste for reckless gambles; in his eyes, Chen Shutang's safety outweighed everything.