Chapter 141 — Old Buffon's Origins

Still, Yun Guangdu knew well enough that without calling upon the hidden forces lurking in Songjiang, dealing with Yang Juehuan would be difficult. That fellow Yang Cenbin seemed to be some sort of big-time thug with solid social connections; taking him on through ordinary means was equally unlikely.

And mobilizing the hidden forces in Songjiang was even more out of the question. For one thing, the Right Elder would never agree to it.

Yun Guangdu could only grit his teeth and endure. For a gentleman, revenge is never too late—even ten years hence. Once the clan chief's grand plan was complete, he would have his vengeance, every last drop of it.

To Yang Ce, a nobody like Yun Guangdu was not worth a second thought. After instructing Li Qiang and Hou Lin to give him some trouble, Yang Ce put the whole matter out of his mind.

A man like that was not worth Yang Ce's attention. At least, the identity he currently presented on the surface was not worth Yang Ce's notice.

When the Right Elder heard about the matter, just as Yun Guangdu had expected, he showed no inclination to vent his anger on his behalf. Instead, he admonished him not to stir up any more trouble. They were here to get things done, not to chase women and quarrel out of jealousy. If he was unwilling to stay, the Right Elder would consider sending someone else in his place.

Yun Guangdu deflated at once, not daring to make the slightest further misstep. Yet the hatred in his heart burned all the fiercer. Early the next morning, Yang Ce drove to the apartment complex where Chen Shutang lived.

Chen Shutang came down together with Chen Fei, and Yang Ce hurried over to greet them.

"Uncle Chen. Mengyan," Yang Yanzhou said.

"Yang Ce, I hear you and Mengyan are going to the hospital to see Zhou Yanning?" Chen Fei asked.

"Yes, Uncle Chen. Would you like to come with us?" Yang Yanzhou said.

"I have other business at the bureau, so I won't go," Chen Fei said. "I've given Mengyan some money—just buy a few things and pay a visit, that's enough."

"Uncle Chen, there's no need for money. I have some," Yang Yanzhou said. "Then let me drive you to work."

"Don't bother. I'll take the unit's car," Chen Fei said, shaking his head. "If you drive me to work in a BMW, heaven knows what people would think."

To be continued.

680. Meeting Li Mingyue Again

Yang Yuting nodded. In Chen Fei's position, one really did have to mind appearances. Otherwise, if the head of the criminal investigation unit were picked up and dropped off in a luxury car every day, certain people might well make something of it.

After saying goodbye to Chen Fei, Yang Ce and Chen Shutang got into the car together and drove out of the apartment complex.

When they were almost at the hospital, Chen Shutang pointed to a flower shop by the roadside and said, "Yang Ce, stop the car. Let's buy some flowers."

"All right." Yang Ce checked left and right, saw no cars coming, and began merging toward the temporary parking spot by the road.

To his surprise, a Santana 2000 suddenly swung out from a side road and came straight at Yang Ce. Instinctively he spun the wheel, but could not avoid it—the two cars scraped against each other.

Yang Wenru frowned and said to Chen Shutang, "You stay in the car. I'll get out and have a look first." With that, he opened the door and stepped out.

The door of the Santana 2000 opened as well, and a fat man emerged from the driver's seat, swaying and belching out liquor. Catching sight of Yang Ce, he cursed, "Can't you fucking drive? Are you blind?"

Yang Ce looked at the drunken fellow and couldn't help but laugh. You're the one who's drunk, and you're lecturing someone else? And he had never seen anyone driving a Santana dare to square off so arrogantly against someone in a BMW.

"Settle it privately or go through insurance?" Yang Yongjin had no wish to argue with a drunk, so he asked directly.

"Settle, my ass!" The drunk pointed at Yang Ce and cursed, "You scraped my car. Hand over ten thousand yuan and we'll call it even. Otherwise, I'll make you and your car disappear."

"Make me disappear?" Yang Xutang laughed out loud. "You think you're Doraemon, making people vanish? Looking at you, there's no reasoning with you anyway. Let's just call the police."

"Call the police? What good will that do? Take a good look—this is an army vehicle, military plates!" The drunk pointed at his car. "Ordinary cops can't touch it."

Only after hearing the drunk's words did Yang Xutang notice the plates on the Santana 2000. Sure enough, they were white plates.

Yang Wenru frowned. Had he run into a military thug? With Yang Ce's current strength, disposing of one thug would be easy enough, but it might drag in a great deal of unnecessary trouble.

After all, the military and the civilian world were two separate systems of authority. Yang Ce drew a deep breath and decided to call the traffic police first, then deal with the fellow once he sobered up.

Yang Ce took out his phone, preparing to call the traffic accident reporting center—a number he had saved in his contacts. As he flipped through the address book, a name suddenly caught his eye, and something clicked in his mind.

When he had dined with Yang Xin last time, they had exchanged phone numbers. Yang Shuoxuan hadn't paid it much mind then, never expecting it would come in handy now. Hadn't she said that her boyfriend Wu Yunsheng's family was connected to the military sub-district? Now was the perfect time to use that connection.

He dialed Yang Xin's number, and before long the call went through.

"Hello, is this Sister Yang Xin?" Yang Yanzhou said.

"Yes, speaking. Who is this?" Yang Xin was driving and hadn't looked at the caller ID; she had answered through her Bluetooth headset, so she had no idea it was Yang Ce calling.

"It's Yang Ce. Do you remember me?" Yang Yanzhou said.

"Of course I remember, little brother—it's you! What made you think to call your sister?" Yang Xin laughed.

"Well, I've run into a bit of trouble here..." So Yang Ce gave Yang Xin a rough account of what had happened. "Isn't your brother-in-law's family connected to the military sub-district? Could you ask him to lend a hand?"

"Can I or can't I? Let me tell you—you go to him, and he's got to get it done for you, or I'll straighten him out." Hearing Yang Ce's polite words, Yang Xin immediately glared and said, "A small matter. Wu Yunsheng is sitting right next to me. I'll order him to handle it for you right now."

"Ha ha, then thank you, sis," Yang Yanzhou said.

"Thank me for what? Next time you come to Donghai, treat me to a meal," Yang Xin said.

After hanging up, Yang Ce turned back to look at the drunk man—though, why did this fellow look a little familiar? As if he had seen him somewhere before.

But Yang Ce dealt with a thousand matters a day and simply would not retain any impression of walk-on types; there was no need to remember them. Because a walk-on was, after all, a walk-on—not even qualified to become a supporting character.

The drunk man was still rambling on when another drunken man climbed out of the Santana, shouting loudly, "What the hell's going on? You hit the car and won't pay up—do you not want to keep living?"

Yang Ce simply stood with his hands clasped behind his back. Against military thugs, Yang Ce really was somewhat helpless. Beat them up? Not worth the trouble it would stir up.

Wu Yunsheng worked with remarkable efficiency—especially with Yang Xin supervising at his side, he dared not be the least bit careless. Less than ten minutes after Yang Juehuan put down the phone, two 4500s bearing the "Inspection" insignia came speeding over.

The car door opened, and a young man glanced this way before quickly striding over to Yang Ce. "Are you Mr. Yang?"

"Yes." Yang Yuting nodded.

"Hello, Mr. Yang. Leave this place to me." Clearly the young man had already received Wu Yunsheng's instructions.