Chapter 147 — The Long-Awaited...

Yang Ce had not gone far before he noticed someone following him. Sun Zhiwei's tailing skills were simply too clumsy—he had never been a professional to begin with. Yang Ce did not even turn his head; he used his ability to see that the man was there.

"Sun Zhiwei is behind us," Yang Minlan said to Tian Yan.

"Sun Zhiwei? What's he doing here?" Tian Yan frowned and looked back, and sure enough, there was Sun Zhiwei sneaking along behind them. "Don't tell me he's cooked up some nasty trick to harm you again."

Tian Yan knew about the conflict between Yang Ce and Sun Zhiwei—that was why he said it. But the Tian family served Sun Jie, after all, and as a second-generation Tian he naturally could not clash with a second-generation Sun. Still, he thought Sun Zhiwei foolish and childish, utterly unfit for any great responsibility, and nowhere near the equal of his sister Sun Jie.

"Never mind him. Let him be." Yang Ce was not afraid of anything Sun Zhiwei might do to him. Sun Zhiwei was, plainly put, just a child who had never grown up; he might scheme to get his revenge, but his methods were childish, even laughable—nothing like Wang Lin's viciousness.

So, for the sake of his being Sun Jie's younger brother, Yang Ce did not want to make things hard for him. They had no deep grudge between them, after all; there was no need to become irreconcilable enemies.

Sun Jie had not driven, and the Audi R8 could only seat two—though three could squeeze in at a pinch, it would look ridiculous, and besides being unsafe, it would draw far too many stares. So Sun Jie and Xiao Qing discussed it and decided the three of them would simply find a restaurant near the school and not go far.

Zhao Ying had an easygoing temperament and raised no objection, and Sun Jie and Xiao Qing had similar tastes, so without the slightest disagreement the three of them headed for a mid-sized Northeastern restaurant.

Sun Jie—Xiao Qing—Yang Ce blinked, catching sight of the two women's backs disappearing through a restaurant doorway. But there was a familiar figure with them as well—Zhao Ying, it seemed.

Yang Ce rubbed his eyes, wanting to use his ability to get a clear look, but then thought it unlikely. How could Zhao Ying possibly be together with Xiao Qing and Sun Jie? He must be seeing things. Besides, Tian Yan was just then pointing at a barbecue place and saying to Yang Ce, "Let's eat here. Looks pretty good."

Yang Shuoxuan did not dwell on it, and turning back to Zhou Yanning, he asked, "What do you think?"

"Looks quite clean. Let's eat here." Zhou Yanning nodded.

The four of them walked into the barbecue restaurant together, and Sun Zhiwei came in right on their heels. Yang Ce finally could not hold back any longer; he stopped in his tracks and turned sharply around. Sun Zhiwei had no time to stop and nearly collided with him head-on.

"What are you following us for?" Yang Ce asked, looking coldly at Sun Zhiwei.

"Me?" Sun Zhiwei gave a hollow laugh. "Me, following you? What a joke. What's there about you worth following?"

"Then what are you doing here?" Sun Zhiwei's acting was simply too clumsy—how could Yang Ce not see through it?

"I came here to eat, of course. What, is this place your family's? Am I not allowed in?" Sun Zhiwei said with perfect self-righteousness.

"Fine, then eat. I won't disturb you." Yang Xutang smiled wryly and waved a hand. The fellow had been caught following people and still acted so self-righteous. Forget it—let him be.

Yang Ce turned to the waiter and said, "Waiter, get me a private room." He thought to himself: once I have a private room, let's see if you can still follow me in.

The waiter nodded in assent, but Sun Zhiwei was not to be outdone. He said to the waiter, "Get me a private room too."

"Sir, how many in your party?" the waiter asked, seeing that Sun Zhiwei was alone.

"Just one—is that a problem?" Sun Zhiwei replied.

"Sir, you want a private room for just yourself?" The waiter was somewhat put out. It was the lunch rush, and four people like Yang Ce and his companions could reasonably be given a small private room, but Sun Zhiwei was one man asking for a room of his own—it was really too wasteful.

"So what if I'm one person? It's not like I won't pay. Tell you what—I'll order ten platters of grilled meat in a bit. That ought to settle it, wouldn't you say?" Sun Zhiwei had no intention of losing face in front of Yang Ce, so he waved his hand and spoke.

"Very well." Seeing Sun Zhiwei so free with his money, the waiter had nothing more to say. If the man was willing to spend, then let him take a room all to himself.

Sun Zhiwei was thoroughly vexed. Facing the ten platters of meat, he stewed in his anger, dumped the meat all at once onto the grill, poured oil over it, and listened to the grill sizzle.

He pressed his ear to the wall, but no matter how hard he tried, he could not make out the voices from the private room next door. From the corridor, though, the waiters' chaotic shouting drifted in from time to time. After listening for ages and catching nothing, Sun Zhiwei could only give it up. He sat before the table and wolfed down the grilled meat to ease the frustration in his heart.

Yang Ce, Tian Yan, Zhou Yanning, and Wang Xue sat in the room next door, naturally paying no mind to how Sun Zhiwei was faring over there. If he wanted to make a fool of himself, let him.

"Jiajia, let me raise this glass to you in apology." Wang Xue poured herself a drink, then stood and, lifting her glass, said to Zhou Yanning with utter sincerity, "You and I are the best of friends, but because Wang Lin is my half brother, I wanted you to be with him. I'm sorry."

"It's nothing." Zhou Yanning shook her head with a smile. "You had no way of knowing Wang Lin would be so crazed."

Wang Xue's expression darkened, and she went on, "That's what I want to talk about next." She turned to Yang Yanzhou. "Yang Ce, I'm sorry. I was possessed by some devil at the time. I knew full well Wang Lin meant to harm you, and still I lured you out, and even drained the gasoline from the boat. I hurt my best friend, and I meant to hurt Donghua's best friend too. I—"

"Forget it. I said long ago that I don't want to pursue anyone's responsibility for that." Yang Ce waved a hand. "Let's not talk about it anymore, all right? It's all in the past. Be good together with Tian Yan, and don't think so much."

Wang Xue nodded emphatically, then drained her glass in one go. "I've drunk mine. Jiajia, you only just got out of the hospital, so you shouldn't drink. Yang Ce, you'll be driving tonight, so you'd better not either."

Seeing that neither Yang Ce nor Zhou Yanning had the slightest intention of holding Wang Xue to account, Tian Yan finally breathed a sigh of relief and tried to smooth things over. "All right, Wang Xue. Since neither Jiajia nor Yan is holding you responsible, let's call it settled. But I don't want to see anything like this again. This time you had no choice, so I forgive you, but if there's a next time, don't blame me for being heartless."

"That's enough, Old Tian, stop scaring Wang Xue," Yang Ce said. "Let's eat—the meat's about to burn." As he spoke, he placed a piece in Zhou Yanning's bowl.

It was the first time Yang Ce had ever taken the initiative to serve Zhou Yanning, and she was overjoyed. It seemed their relationship really had grown much closer, like a couple newly fallen in love. "Thank you," Zhou Yanning said in a small voice.

There was nothing much to do in the afternoon; today was only registration and picking up books, with no formal classes yet. Yang Ce and Tian Yan walked Zhou Yanning and Wang Xue to the entrance of the women's dormitory, then headed back toward their own dorm together.

They had just reached the dormitory building when they saw Zhang Bin weaving unsteadily toward them from the other direction—clearly he had just eaten and had quite a lot to drink. Spotting Yang Ce and Tian Yan, he quickened his pace.