Chapter 141 — Old Buffon's Origins

"Yang Ce, Xiaojie—you two know each other?" Xiao Qing looked at Yang Ce and Sun Jie with deep suspicion.

"Know each other? Of course we do," Yang Ce said before Sun Jie could speak. "Sister Xiao Qing, don't tell me your 'someone special' is her?"

Seeing that Yang Ce knew Sun Jie, Xiao Qing's expression grew even more awkward. Hearing Yang Ce ask such a pointed question, her face flushed at once—but the facts were right there, and she had no choice but to admit it. So she nodded and said, "Yes."

"And you, my dear? What business do you have with my wife?" Yang Ce turned to look at Sun Jie.

"Who's your 'dear'?" Sun Jie shot him a glare. "I have no business."

For some reason, with Yang Ce standing right there, the words Sun Jie had prepared earlier just wouldn't come out—otherwise, she would have loved to say that it was because of Yang Ce that she had broken off that kind of relationship with Xiao Qing. Sun Jie simply didn't want to see Yang Ce looking so smug.

"Oh, fine then. Since there's no business, the three of us might as well have some coffee and a chat together, and dream about the future while we're at it." It was plain to see that Yang Ce was in an excellent mood.

No wonder—how could Yang Ce not be pleased? In the end, it all worked out in his favor. Since both women were his, whatever happened between them, Yang Ce lost nothing.

Sun Jie's lips moved, but no words came out. Xiao Qing, however, asked in confusion, "Yang Ce, what on earth is going on?"

"This isn't the place to talk. How about we find a hotel, get a room, and have a proper discussion?" Yang Ce said with an evil grin.

"Enough, Yang Ce. If you won't say it, I will." Sun Jie had already composed herself and spoke calmly. "Xiao Qing, you saw it yourself—Yan and I have known each other for a while."

To be continued

673. Testing the Waters

"Enough, Yang Ce. If you won't say it, I will." Sun Jie had already composed herself and spoke calmly. "Xiao Qing, you saw it yourself—Yan and I have known each other for a while."

"So you two know each other." Xiao Qing still had not grasped the situation and did not dare speak carelessly.

"But don't worry, there's nothing between Yan and me. Yang Ce was only pretending to be my boyfriend." Sun Jie paused a moment, then said, "My father was pressuring me to get a boyfriend, so I dragged Yang Ce in as forced labor."

"Now, Sun Jie, that's not quite fair of you to say." Yang Ce heard her words and felt somewhat uncomfortable. What did she mean, nothing between them? Then what were those nights before—one-night stands, two-night stands?

This made Yang Ce, a man with a strong sense of male pride, feel a sudden distaste. "There's no outsider here. Why not just lay everything out clearly?"

"Fine, you're the one who asked me to say it." Sun Jie was entirely unfazed by Yang Ce's words. "Xiao Qing, since this guy doesn't mind losing face, then I have nothing to hide. True enough, I was raped twice by this bastard Yang Ce. Do you know why I came to see you this time? I wanted to cut off our relationship. And why? Because I was afraid this bastard Yang Ce had some filthy disease, that he'd pass it to me, and then I'd pass it to you—that wouldn't do at all."

"Ah?" Xiao Qing stared blankly at Sun Jie, unable to speak.

Yang Ce was furious, glaring at Sun Jie, his face dark as a thundercloud. "Could you show a little decency when you speak? If I had a disease and gave it to you, would you enjoy that?"

"You're the one who insisted I speak. I'm only telling the truth." Sun Jie fought back a smile and said with a perfectly straight face.

But what neither of them expected was that Xiao Qing would boldly interject, "Xiao Jie, Yang Ce doesn't have any disease. You don't need to worry too much."

"What?" Sun Jie and Yan exchanged a glance, and this time, in perfect unison, they smiled bitterly and shook their heads.

"I was joking." Sun Jie explained helplessly. "Xiao Qing, what happened between Yan and me was purely an accident. And besides, you know I don't like men. Don't worry."

"Oh." Xiao Qing nodded with a frown, no one knowing what she was thinking.

Two women, one man—and each of them entangled in ambiguous relations with the others. The atmosphere at Yang Ce's table had turned somewhat strange.

But the atmosphere was soon interrupted. A commotion rose from a nearby table—several young men were having a conflict with a waiter in the café.

"We ordered three coffees. Why did you charge us for four?" one of them, a youth in a basketball jersey, pointed at the waiter and shouted loudly.

"Sir, you clearly ordered four. Look, there are four cups on the table." The waiter pointed somewhat aggrievedly at the used cups on the table and explained in a low voice.

"Damn it, are you running a crooked shop? Four cups sitting here means four cups? Then if you put a hundred cups here, that's a hundred cups? What kind of bullshit logic is that?" the youth in the basketball jersey cursed.

"But sir, weren't there four of you earlier? Please think carefully—one person left first, and he ordered a cup too." The waiter patiently prompted.

"That earlier guy—the coffee that earlier guy drank, why don't you go ask that earlier guy for the money? What are you telling me for?" The youth in the basketball jersey would have none of it, glaring and baring his teeth.

"Weren't you all together?" The waiter was somewhat exasperated, but seeing the three tough-looking young men before him, he did not dare lose his temper and could only continue explaining.

"Together? Who said we were together?" The youth in the basketball jersey was growing impatient. "Keep dawdling and I won't pay for these three cups either."

"Weren't you talking together just now? You ordered the coffee together—how can you say you weren't together?" the waiter said, troubled.

"Damn, are you never going to shut up?" The youth in the basketball jersey waved his hand. "So what if we talked? Lots of people talk to you every day—do you know all of them? You talked to me too, so are you going to pay my bill as well?"

"Sir, isn't that being unreasonable?" the waiter muttered.

"What the hell did you say? Who's unreasonable? Tired of living, are you? Annoying, aren't you?" The youth in the basketball jersey grabbed the teapot from the table and hurled it at the waiter.

The waiter jumped in fright and hastily dodged to the side—but that dodge mattered little, for the teapot flew straight toward Yang Ce's table.

Yang Ce was instantly furious. You don't pay your bill—fine, that's none of my business. But throwing a teapot my way—that's your fault. Yang Ce's reaction was incredibly quick. Seeing the teapot about to hit, he casually flicked his hand, and the teapot flew back the way it came.

However, some of the water in the teapot still splashed out, drenching both Yang Ce and Xiao Qing—something Yang Ce could not control by human effort. Yang Ce could deflect the teapot, but not the water. And precisely because of this, Yang Ce's counterattack showed no mercy: the teapot whooshed back and struck the youth in the basketball jersey square in the face, instantly sending blood spurting from his nose.

The sudden turn of events left the waiter and the youth's companions stunned. Then the youth in the basketball jersey came to his senses, clutched his nose, pointed toward Yang Ce, and shouted, "You—stand up!"

"And they say we're from Donghai. Seems Songjiang has its share of small-time thugs too." Sun Jie had seen it all; she did not take these petty thugs seriously at all, so she could still chat and laugh.

Yang Ce smiled. Back in Donghai, when Wang Cheng'en had come to make trouble, Yang Ce had once made veiled jibes at Sun Jie—implying that on the Sun family's own turf, thugs still dared to trouble Sun Jie, which spoke poorly of their management.

Now, though Sun Jie still did not know that the hidden boss of Songjiang was none other than himself, he had more or less settled that old score.