Chapter 147 — The Long-Awaited...

"Rest easy. There definitely won't be any slip-ups," the Boss said. "The Huaxia Jewelry Association has already sent a letter to Mingyang Security Company, engaging them to handle security for this Jewelry Festival. And I will bring out my long-cherished jewelry collection—heh heh. Then, when the pieces go missing, we'll see Yang Yongjin pay through the nose."

Xiao Ai's disappearance had driven the Boss somewhat frantic. When she still had not returned by the next day, the Boss knew she could not be coming back. Given Yang Juehuan's methods, Xiao Ai had probably already been finished off.

Amid his heartache, the Boss's hatred for Yang Juehuan grew all the more bitter. He could not swallow this insult, which was why he had hurried to confer with the young man overnight and finally settled on this countermeasure.

It so happened that the annual Jewelry Festival was about to be held. The Boss had thought nothing of it, but the young man had seized the opportunity: have the organizers hold the Jewelry Festival in Songjiang, and then have Mingyang Security Company take on the security work for the festival.

That way, if anything went wrong at the Jewelry Festival, Mingyang Security Company would have an inescapable responsibility. And it happened that the Boss owned a great many rare jewelry pieces from around the world, which would fit perfectly into the plan.

They were all jewels from Biluo City. Once they went missing, even if Yang Ce were the richest man in the world, it would be enough to give him a severe headache.

So the Boss mobilized every connection he had and got in touch with a vice chairman of the Huaxia Jewelry Association. The association was, after all, a private, non-official organization, and this vice chairman was accordingly bold—he demanded ten million outright and promised the Boss that the matter would definitely be settled.

And indeed the Boss was not disappointed: that very afternoon, the Huaxia Jewelry Association abruptly changed the venue, from the previously planned V City to Songjiang as it now stood.

On the list of exhibitors there also appeared a bogus company registered overseas—the Boss's company—and the items it brought for display were several of the world's finest jewels.

When Baolin's security company received the commission letter from the Huaxia Jewelry Association, it was somewhat surprised. This was the largest job the company had taken on since its founding.

Not the highest price, of course, but the largest in scale and influence. Previously, most of the security work Mingyang Security Company had undertaken consisted of malls, companies, residential compounds, and private individuals.

The money had been decent enough, but the influence was lacking—Mingyang Security was known only locally and had no name at all elsewhere. But once it took on the security for this Jewelry Festival, Mingyang Security's reputation would rise a whole grade at a stroke.

After all, this was a large-scale exhibition. To be able to provide security for such an event meant that Mingyang Security had been recognized by the public and had become a professional-grade security firm.

After receiving the letter of intent, Baolin did not decide on his own. Instead, he called Yang Ce and told him the whole thing straight: "Brother Yang, do you think we should take this job?"

Yang Ce had just learned about the Jewelry Festival from Zhao Sisi, and he had not expected that the association would choose Mingyang Security Company to handle security for it.

Still, on reflection it was not strange. In Songjiang, the largest security company was Mingyang Security; the other small firms amounted to nothing and offered only private bodyguard work and simple security for malls, parking lots, and the like.

When it came to a company that could stand in respectable company and had real strength, Mingyang Security was the only one left. And with the Jewelry Festival being held in Songjiang, it was impossible to hire a security company from somewhere far away, so choosing Mingyang was only reasonable.

"As long as the price is fair, you can make the decision yourself." Yang Ce saw nothing improper in it. "But you must make a name for Mingyang out of this."

"Don't worry, Brother Yang. I'll do my best." Seeing that Yang Ce had agreed, Bao Lin gave his assurance.

There was still some time before the jewelry festival opened; for now it was only the preparation period, so neither the jewelry company nor the security firm felt rushed. Everyone went about their business step by step.

In the blink of an eye, the holiday was almost over, and tomorrow the new semester would begin.

So much had happened over one holiday. His former classmate Wang Lin had sunk to the bottom of the sea forever, and Zhou Yanning had made a complete recovery.

Wei Dekang was dead, Wei Jin had sold the company, Zou Ruoguang had been taken out, and the Sui family was in a state of panic.

There was joy and there was sorrow. The only thing that left Yang Ce somewhat disappointed was that ever since he had kissed Zhao Ying that night, she had not contacted him again. That dampened his spirits a little, but fortunately Jing Yu called and invited him out for a stroll, which gave Yang Shuoxuan a chance to ask her advice about himself and Zhao Ying.

Yang Ce thought about looking for Zhao Ying online, but discovered to his dismay that the "Teacher Youlan" icon remained gray. On reflection it made sense—Zhao Ying had only just moved in and had not yet applied for a broadband connection, so of course she could not get online.

The day before the semester began, his fifth cousin came to Songjiang and called Yang Ce's home from the station.

He was a distant relative, and Yang Minlan was not particularly warm about it, but Mother Yang eagerly called for a car and hurried with Yang Puqi to the station. Yang Juehuan's car had still not been repaired, so Mother Yang casually borrowed a minivan from Mingyang Heavy Industries.

She had meant to find a sedan, but then she thought of the luggage Fifth Cousin would likely be carrying and feared a sedan would not hold it all, so she took a minivan instead.

The car pulled up at Songjiang Railway Station. Fifth Cousin had not come in Fifth Uncle's car but had taken the train himself—though he probably did not want to ride with Fifth Uncle anyway, and would have found him too dawdling on the road.

Yang Ce stood helplessly at the station entrance holding up a sign reading "Yu Chi." Heaven only knew who had come up with a name like that—it was full of creativity, to say the least.

Just then a young man came striding over, brightly dressed, wearing a mink coat and sunglasses, his feet in a pair of gleaming leather boots. Seeing the sign in Yang Ce's hand, he called out, "Hey, man, are you Yang Daming, my second aunt's son?"

"I'm not Yang Daming, I'm Yang Ce." Yang Ce broke out in a sweat. Sure enough, just as the rumors said, his fifth cousin looked like a real street operator.

"Oh, it's all the same. I heard from my old man that your name was Daming, so I figured you were Yang Daming." Fifth Cousin spoke without a care, then turned his head and caught sight of Mother Yang. He raised a hand in greeting: "Is this my second aunt? Second Aunt—hello there!"

To be continued

1040. Fifth Cousin

"Hello." Mother Yang had not expected that the Yu Chi Fifth Uncle spoke of would be such a slovenly, flippant sort.

"I'm telling you, cousin, this big city is really something else. The girls dress so stylishly, way better than back home." Yu Chi familiarly clapped Yang Juehuan on the shoulder and spoke with abandon, seemingly unbothered that Mother Yang was right there. "Look at that broad up ahead—so slutty, in the dead of winter, wearing a leather skirt. Tsk, tsk."