Chapter 147 — The Long-Awaited...

The purpose of running away from home was to build the world's number one assassin organization, not to come out and be lovey-dovey with a boy under the moonlight. But now the situation seemed to have turned upside down—everything to do with the assassin group was being handled by Yang Ce, and there was nothing left for her to do. Her only daily occupation was eating, talking, and sleeping with Yan—a companion in three respects. Wang Yanqiu broke out in a sweat. But how could a mere reminder take effect just because one gave it? Wang Yanqiu herself probably did not realize that in many matters the participant is blind, and no matter how she reminded herself, it would not have much effect.

"Are you done washing or not?" Seeing Yang Ce hop back into the tub again, Wang Yanqiu asked impatiently.

"Done. Your turn." Yang Ce stood up, stepped out of the tub, and pulled a towel off the rack at random to wipe himself down. "Yang Ce!" Wang Yanqiu suddenly opened her eyes wide and glared at him, puffing with anger.

"What is it?" Yang Ce was baffled by Wang Yanqiu's sudden shout, and the hand wiping his body stopped in mid-motion.

"Yang Ce, you—you actually used my face towel to wipe—to wipe your junk—" Wang Yanqiu was beside herself with fury, pointing at the towel in Yang Ce's hand and crying out.

"Uh—" Yang Ce quickly wiped himself a few more times with the towel, then said, "This is your face towel? I really didn't know. But I just had a bath—I'm clean."

"That's not the point!" Wang Yanqiu said furiously.

"It's not dirty anyway. Besides, last night you used your mouth—" Yang Ce went on shamelessly.

"Don't say it! Go die!" Wang Yanqiu snatched the towel from Yang Ce's hand and shoved him toward the door. "Get out, quick. I can't stand the sight of you."

Yang Xu let himself be half-pushed, half-yielding out of the bathroom, and went back to the bedroom with a wry smile to get dressed, thinking: I only stated a fact—was there any need to throw me out? And I was hoping to enjoy the sight of a butterfly fresh from her bath.

Oh no—too busy running my mouth. Yang Ce slapped his thigh, thinking, this is bad. Chen Fei is still at home waiting for me!

To be continued.

1032. Feeding Porridge

Yang Yongjin did not dare delay. He threw on his clothes in a hurry and ran out of Wang Yanqiu's villa. At the gate of his own villa, he saw a familiar car parked outside.

It was Hou Lin's old beat-up Jetta. And looking at the person in the car—it was actually Zhang Zhishen.

Seeing Yang Ce come out, Zhang Zhishen opened the door and got out. "Brother Yang, did I get the wrong place? Brother Bao told me it was here—Riyue Pavilion. Do you live next door?"

"No, I was at a friend's place. You've got the right place," Yang Yanzhou said. "What, you've gotten in touch with Bao Lin?"

"Yeah. After I got back from my master's wife's place, it was already pretty late, so I didn't want to trouble you. I went straight to Brother Bao, and I never expected he'd already have the house and car ready for me," Zhang Zhishen said. "Brother Bao works fast!"

Yang Ce had not expected that a single mention to Bao Lin would be taken care of so quickly. What was strangest was that the two of them had actually gotten in touch on a direct line. Still, it saved him trouble, which was rather nice. He only asked, puzzled, "Bao Lin just gave you this beat-up car? This looks like something some government office retired—it's about ready for the scrapyard."

"I picked it myself," Zhang Zhishen said, a little embarrassed. "Brother Bao took me to the parking lot and told me to pick any car I liked. I thought this one was good—pretty beaten up, not conspicuous."

"Fine, suit yourself. As long as you like it." Yang Jincong shook his head with a smile. He remembered that when Hou Lin's car had been retired, it seemed to have been reassigned to someone else. He had not expected it to end up idle again. Still, it showed that the security company was making a great deal of money—it was not what it used to be.

"Brother Yang, you're heading out?" Zhang Zhishen asked.

"Yeah. I was just wondering how I'd get there when I saw you." Yang Juehuan's car had been in a crash the day before and had been towed off to the shop. Wang Yanqiu had had a heavy foot on the gas—it would likely be ten days to a fortnight before the thing was roadworthy again.

Zhang Zhishen opened the passenger door for Yang Ce, tugging at it for quite a while before it came loose, and said with some embarrassment, "The door's a bit warped. Doesn't open easily."

"Listen, Zhishen, do me a favor and swap this car out for me. I'll be without wheels for half a month, and riding in this drafty thing will freeze me to death." Yang Jincong laughed. "Fine—after you help me finish my business this afternoon, we'll make the switch tonight. Tell Bao Lin to get an Audi over here for me."

"Will do, Brother Yang." Zhang Zhishen nodded in agreement. Who wouldn't want to drive a good car? But Zhang Zhishen was not well acquainted with Bao Lin, and was too embarrassed to ask for anything too fancy, so he had picked out this beat-up old thing.

After giving Zhang Zhishen directions, the two set off for Chen Shutang's place. Passing a pharmacy along the way, Yang Ce got out and bought some cold medicine. When they reached the residential compound where Chen Shutang lived, Yang Ce told Zhang Zhishen to wait for him there and went up the stairs alone.

Chen Dazhuang had already arrived; Chen Fei had presumably told him that Yang Mo could help, and so Chen Dazhuang greeted Yan with great enthusiasm: "Little Yang, you've come."

"Yes." Yang Yu nodded, but he was in no mood for pleasantries and merely asked Chen Fei, "Uncle Chen, how is Mengyan doing?"

"She's in her room, lying in bed, won't even eat breakfast. Go and see her." Chen Fei sighed and gestured toward Chen Shutang's door.

Yang Ce walked briskly to the door of Chen Shutang's room and was just about to knock when Chen Fei said, "The door's not locked. Just go in."

Yang Ce pushed the door and found that it was indeed unlocked. Once inside, he pulled the door partly shut behind him and saw Chen Shutang lying on the bed with her eyes closed, her face deathly pale.

"Mengyan, how are you? I've come to see you." Yang Ce sat down on the edge of Chen Shutang's bed, took her small hand, and asked softly.

Chen Shutang was already awake, but her whole body was so terribly cold that she had curled up under the covers and did not want to move. Hearing Yang Juehuan's voice, she was seized with sudden joy, opened her eyes, and looked at Yang Ce: "What are you doing here?"

"I heard from Uncle Chen that you were sick, so I hurried over. Here, I bought you some medicine—take it first." Then a thought struck Yang Ce: "Have you eaten yet?"

"No," Chen Shutang said with a slight shake of her head.

"Then you'd better eat something first before taking the medicine." Yang Ce hesitated a moment and said, "I'll go fix you something. Wait here for me."

Ordinarily Chen Shutang had no appetite at all, but seeing how good Yang Minlan was being to her, she did not raise any objection.

Yang Ce left Chen Shutang's room. Chen Fei and Chen Dazhuang were talking in the living room, and from the sound of it, Chen Fei seemed to be trying to console Chen Dazhuang.

"Dazhuang, Chen Afu brought this on himself. You don't need to feel too guilty," Chen Fei said with a sigh.

"Chen Fei, I know. It's all my fault. I got into trouble in the past and went to prison, and I couldn't raise the boy properly, and that's what turned him into what he is now." Chen Dazhuang reproached himself: "When I think of all the people he's harmed, I can't find any peace."

"Let it go, Dazhuang. Afu has gotten the punishment he deserved. Don't dwell on it so much. You're not old yet—the proper thing is to find yourself a livelihood and start a family again," Chen Fei consoled him.