Chapter 141 — Old Buffon's Origins

Yang Ce opened the CD case, took out the lyric sheet, and began to leaf through it. When he saw that the lyricist was Shu Ya, he was momentarily taken aback, then said: "The words to this song—you wrote them?"

To be continued

694. The New Neighbor

"Yes, why do you ask?" Shu Ya's face showed not the slightest awkwardness, but inside she was greatly excited—he had finally noticed.

"The things written in here—are they true?" Yang Ce asked casually.

"Maybe, maybe not." Shu Ya smiled and gave no direct answer. Instead she said: "The world is such a big place—who can say? Even films carry the notice that any resemblance to actual persons is purely coincidental. Which is to say, there are still plenty of coincidences in this world."

Yang Yu nodded, a little wistful. He absently picked up a pack of cigarettes left on the dashboard, drew one out, and was just about to light it when he paused and turned to Shu Ya: "You don't mind if I smoke?"

"N-no, not at all." Shu Ya did not particularly dislike the smell of smoke, but at any other time, no one would have dared smoke in front of her. Yang Ce was clearly the exception. When had he learned to smoke?

Yang Yu lit the cigarette and drew deeply on it, then said: "You're right. There are many coincidences in this world."

Even as he said it, Yang Shuoxuan did not believe that ring was a coincidence. But for now Yang Ce let nothing show; he simply did not want Shu Ya to be on her guard in advance.

Before long, Hou Lin and the others arrived as well, and Miss Xu and her staff climbed down from the stretch Audi Q7.

"I'll be going now." Shu Ya had not had her fill of his company, but she had no reason to stay on. After a moment's hesitation, she took a card from her bag and held it out to Yang Juehuan: "This is my private number. If anything comes up, call me."

Yang Ce glanced at Shu Ya but detected no clue. From earlier until now, he had noticed that Shu Ya was somewhat constrained in his presence. As for exactly why, Yang Yongjin knew all too well—perhaps it was because of that business aboard the Alice. So Yang Shuoxuan gave it no further thought.

Although Mingyang Entertainment was the organizer and Yang Ce could easily reach Shu Ya, even then he could only reach her manager, Miss Xu, and have any matter passed on to Shu Ya through her. Generally, a major star's private number was not given out lightly.

Yang Ce took the card and gave a slight nod. Shu Ya had no further reason to stay; reluctantly, she got out of the car.

"Miss Shu, are you all right?" Miss Xu asked with some concern.

Yang Minlan found Miss Xu's nervousness a little amusing—though it was only natural. As her manager, she had to consider everything on Shu Ya's behalf.

"Of course I'm fine," Shu Ya said with a smile. "It's you I'm worried about—did the reporters give you trouble?"

"Ha, yes, they did. But when they saw you weren't in the car, they had no choice but to give up," Miss Xu said.

"Then let's leave it at that. Miss Shu, Miss Xu, you've just gotten off the plane—rest well today. Tomorrow I'll send someone to discuss the details of the concert with you," Hou Lin said.

"All right." Miss Xu nodded. "Sorry to put you to so much trouble."

The staff of Celestial Paradise had already been briefed, and they kept everything concerning Shu Ya low-key. Hou Lin had issued strict orders: no member of staff was to pester Su Ya at will, or ask for autographs or photographs, on pain of dismissal.

And the rooms for Shu Ya and her party had been arranged on the very top floor of Celestial Paradise, where they would not be disturbed by other guests.

After seeing Shu Ya off, Yang Ce turned to Hou Lin and said: "There are still concert tickets, aren't there?"

Since the concert tickets were sold in advance, sales had begun a month earlier. Especially for a heavyweight star like Shu Ya—the tickets had all sold out half a month ago. "Of course there are. We even have VIP seats. I'll bring them to you tomorrow," Hou Lin said. "Brother Yang, how many do you want?"

"Give me two for now. I don't know if anyone else will ask me for some." Yang Ce meant Zhang Bin and the others.

"Sure. VIP seats aren't many, but there are quite a few ordinary seats held in reserve," Hou Lin said.

"All right then. Call me tomorrow when you deliver the tickets." Back from the hotel, Yang Ce drove over to the villa he had recently bought.

Although the interior had already been fully renovated, no one could possibly attend to every last detail; everyone has their own habits, and even a finished house must be altered to suit one's own routines and way of living.

Once the keys to the villa were in hand, Yang Ce and Chen Shutang hired a professional renovation firm to redesign the interior. Naturally, the two of them put forward a few key suggestions according to their own tastes.

Because time was tight, Yang Ce told the renovation company to work overtime as much as possible, with two shifts of workers rotating day and night. The project manager had initially grumbled, since night labor cost far more—after all, who wants to work the graveyard shift?

But under Yang Ce's formidable financial offensive, the manager's face immediately broke into a broad smile; the wages Yang Ce offered more than covered the extra labor costs.

"How's it going, master?" Yang Ce asked the head of the renovation crew after entering the house.

"Boss, you're here at last. This job, it's not easy to do!" the crew leader said to Yang Yanzhou with a bitter face.

The man was in his thirties, with a shrewd look about him—clearly an old hand in the trade.

"Not easy? I haven't shorted you a single cent, so what's not easy about it?" Yang Wenru frowned. "There aren't that many changes I've asked for. You're a professional renovation company—can't you handle even this little bit of work?"

"Boss, that's not how it is. The work itself is nothing much—the main problem is the neighbors aren't happy with the noise," the crew leader said. "Last night they came knocking at our door, telling us to keep it down."

"Neighbors? What neighbors?" Yang Puqi was stunned, thinking to himself that even a lie should be plausible. He'd bought this villa alone—where would neighbors even come from?

"Next door!" The crew leader was about to say more when Yang Jiyan waved his hand and cut him off.

"Forget it. Just do a good job. If the work is fine and you finish ahead of schedule, I won't treat you badly." With that, Yang Yanzhou casually tossed the half-pack of Zhonghua cigarettes he had left to the crew leader.

Only then did the crew leader grin and accept the cigarettes. He pulled one out, sniffed it, tucked it behind his ear, and said, "No problem, no problem. Since the boss is so straightforward, we'll put our backs into the work."

He knew Yang Ce was generous—anyone who could afford a villa this big was no ordinary person. So when he heard that good, fast work would be rewarded, he was instantly energized.

Yang Ce made a casual inspection of the renovation progress, which was essentially satisfactory. As for materials, he had used only top-grade eco-friendly, non-toxic, pollution-free materials, so the house could be occupied immediately after completion.

Not long after Yang Juehuan's car departed, a black Lamborghini sports car pulled into the villa next to Yang Ce's. A beautiful girl dressed all in black stepped out, frowned at the clanging Sun-Moon Pavilion over there, and shook her head.

"This neighbor is truly annoying. The villa was clearly already renovated, yet they're renovating again, working day and night—do they expect anyone to sleep?" The girl knitted her brows slightly, thinking to herself that she had no idea what sort of person this neighbor was, but anyone so domineering surely wouldn't be easy to get along with. If he became too much of a nuisance, she'd have her men make trouble for him.