Chapter 141 — Old Buffon's Origins

"I'm a Big Star," on the other hand, had left Yang Ce quite a few messages. At first the tone was amiable enough, but later on there was nothing but furious emojis. No doubt the other party was a little angry that Yang Ce had been offline for so long.

"Sorry, I've been busy lately and haven't been online. Are you still there?" Yang Ce sent an apologetic smiling face.

Come to think of it, Yang Minlan felt genuinely sorry toward "I'm a Big Star." It had been a long time since he had chatted freely with her. Back when he was down on his luck, having such a friend to encourage each other had felt truly wonderful.

Now that he was riding high, he had forgotten this netizen who had once kept him company. Though the two had never met face to face, online they were friends who talked about everything.

To be continued

679. A Down-on-His-Luck Fellow

"I'm a Big Star's" avatar was gray, so Yang Shuoxuan did not pay it much mind. After leaving her a message, he closed the chat window.

Looking over the other messages, he found that Chen Shutang had left him a few. Checking the time, they had come in just moments ago.

"Mengyan, are you still there? I just got online." Yang Ce replied.

"Yang Ce, you're here." Chen Shutang fired back a reply almost at once.

"Yeah, just got on. What, did you miss me?" Yang Yanzhou said.

"What have you been up to these past few days? You didn't even come looking for me." Chen Shutang did not answer Yang Juehuan's question directly, but her tone had all but admitted it for her.

"My dad's factory is being restructured. I got involved a bit," Yang Ce said.

"I see. I saw it on the news too. Uncle Yang is on TV all the time now," Chen Shutang said.

"My dad says our families don't match in standing, so he has to work hard," Yang Ce said.

"Stop joking around." Chen Shutang naturally did not believe it; she had never once given a thought to whether their families were well matched. On the contrary, she now felt Yang Ce was only growing more outstanding, and she had begun to worry a little that he might change his heart.

"Heh." Yang Ce sent back a smiley face.

"Yang Ce, are you free tomorrow?" Chen Shutang asked.

"I should be. Where do you want to go?" Yang Yanzhou said.

"It's not for fun, Yang Ce. I want to go see Zhou Yanning. Would you come with me?" Chen Shutang asked.

"See Zhou Yanning?" Yang Puqi was stunned.

"Yes. She's quite pitiful. And she got hurt because of you, so we can't just leave her be," Chen Shutang said.

Yang Ce was thoroughly surprised at Chen Shutang for this. All along, Chen Shutang, that little jar of vinegar, had borne a twelvefold hostility toward any girl who liked him, and only in Zhou Yanning's case was it an exception. Not only did Chen Shutang not dislike her, she was actually quite concerned about her.

"It's not that I've left her be. I just went to see her a couple of days ago," Yang Yanzhou said.

"Then come pick me up tomorrow. We'll buy some flowers first, then go to the hospital," Chen Shutang said.

"Of course," Yang Ce replied.

"All right, I'm going to sleep now. I'm a bit tired," Chen Shutang said.

"Good night." Yang Ce sent a goodbye emoji.

Only after Chen Shutang logged off did Yang Ce go check his other messages. To his surprise, I'm a Big Star had actually replied not long after Yang Ce had sent his message.

I'm a Big Star: You finally show up. I thought you'd vanished.

I'm a Big Star: Why aren't you saying anything? What are you doing?

I'm a Big Star: Gone again.

I'm a Big Star: I'm so mad. If you don't show up again I'm leaving and I'll never talk to you again.

I'm a Big Star: Forget it, goodbye. I was going to tell you some good news. Yang Ce looked at the messages from I'm a Big Star and did not know whether to laugh or cry. Barely ten minutes had passed—was there really any need to get this angry?

Yang Ce hurriedly sent back a message: "I just went to wash my face. I'm back now. Are you still there?"

For the longest time no one answered, and Yang Ce had no choice but to log off in dismay.

Yun Guangdu had had a rotten night. But to carry out the clan chief's grand plan, he could only swallow his anger and dare not resist.

First, the tires on his car had been let down with no way around it, so Yun Guangdu had the driver go find a tow truck while he himself hailed a cab. He did not think much of it—just gave the destination and closed his eyes.

After about twenty minutes or so, Yun Guangdu sensed something was wrong. Why weren't they home yet? Ordinarily he would have arrived long ago. And the car had been moving the whole time—there had been no traffic jam at all.

Yun Guangdu opened his eyes, glanced at the scenery outside the window, and immediately felt something was off. He said hastily, "Where is this? You've taken the wrong road, haven't you?"

"Nothing wrong." The driver turned his head and grinned. "We'll be there very soon."

"There? My home isn't here!" Yun Guangdu said, somewhat irritated. "You're driving in circles, aren't you? Trying to cheat a little money out of me? Aren't you afraid I'll call and report you?"

These days, cab drivers fleecing passengers happened time and again, so Yun Guangdu reflexively assumed the driver was circling around to rack up the mileage.

"Don't worry, I won't take your money." As the cabbie spoke, he casually flipped up the meter, and the fare system on it was reset to zero.

"Then—then what do you want?" Seeing that the driver was not out to fleece him, Yun Guangdu immediately grew alert.

"Nothing much," the cabbie said flatly.

"Stop the car. Stop the car right now!" Yun Guangdu shouted.

"You're welcome to jump." The driver did not even look at Yun Guangdu, and said with utter swagger.

Jump? Yun Guangdu really did not have the guts for that. The car was doing at least sixty miles an hour—jumping out would leave him dead or crippled.

The car stopped at the gate of an abandoned factory, and a gang of men surged forward and dragged Yun Guangdu out of the vehicle.

This, of course, was Li Qiang and his men's training base. In this desolate, deserted place, Yun Guangdu was locked up.

No one beat him, no one cursed him. It was only that every day someone brought him a basin of something more disgusting than pig slop. At first, Yun Guangdu naturally would not eat it—it was revolting just to look at, let alone eat.

But after three days, Yun Guangdu had reached the point of being so hungry he would eat anything. Pig slop or whatever else—so long as it filled his belly, that was the greatest blessing of all.

Unfortunately, from the fourth day on, there was not even pig slop anymore. What was brought to Yun Guangdu was swill dug out of a gutter in front of some restaurant or other—rank, stinking, and revolting.

Yun Guangdu was filled with regret. If he had eaten his fill a few days earlier, he wouldn't have to drink so much of this swill now. Fearing that even the swill might run out, he had no choice but to grit his teeth and gulp it down.

Sure enough, just as he had expected, three days later the swill was gone too, replaced by a bucket of something black and unidentifiable. Yun Guangdu no longer cared. If these people meant to kill him, they could have done it long ago; there was no need for poison.

So never mind whether the stuff tasted foul or not—so long as it staved off hunger, it was good enough.

Finally, on the tenth day, Yun Guangdu was released. By then he was sallow and gaunt, his eyes dull and vacant.

"Remember this, kid—get out of Songjiang as fast as you can. Otherwise, every so often, we'll have you brought back here for another little treat." As he was leaving, one of the thugs warned him in an icy tone.

Hearing the man's words, Yun Guangdu understood everything at once. It really was that bastard Yang Ce behind this.