Chapter 286 — The Night Raid Plan

Still, there was no need to be in such a hurry about this matter; at the very least, there had been no need to do it before dealing with Tian Long. After settling matters on Tian Long's end, it would not be too late to deal with these people slowly, and it would not be as risky as tonight! To be honest, if these people had stood united tonight, things could very well have gone wrong. Although Yang Ce was certain that most of them were timid, self-interested men, who could guarantee they would not be rallied to stand as one for once? There are exceptions to everything.

Still, since he had already brought these people under control first, and it benefited his plan without doing it any harm, Yang Shuoxuan gave it no more thought. One should always prepare for two possibilities; before this, Yang Shuoxuan had not been certain whether Wang Renping knew where Tian Long lived.

And who could guarantee Tian Long would be at his residence tonight? A cunning rabbit has three burrows—let alone a man as treacherous and crafty as Tian Long.

He checked the time. It was just past nine in the evening, still two or three hours before Tian Long's rest time. Yang Ce glanced at Wang Renping and asked: "Have you had dinner?"

"Not yet," Wang Renping answered truthfully. He had come straight to see his grandparents after work, so naturally he had not eaten. He had planned to go back to his own place to eat, but who would have thought he would run into Yang Ce.

"Come on, let's get something to eat." Yang Ce stood up and strolled toward the door.

Wang Renping was slightly startled. He had never imagined that Yang Ce would make such a suggestion, asking him to go eat together? Watching that figure—the one that had just radiated the air of deciding life and death, the one whose cold cruelty he had just experienced—he realized he had not yet seen this other side of the man.

So this man's heart was not so black after all. It seemed what he had done was not so detestable either. Helping Tian Long seize power had been a mistake from the start; Yang Juehuan's appearance had merely helped them correct that mistake.

Early spring nights were still quite cold, and the night wind blew in gusts. Yang Yongjin gave an involuntary shiver, and suddenly thought of Zhao Yinglai—the same moonlit night, the same hour.

He did not know whether Wang Yanqiu had come clean with Zhao Ying about what had happened between him and her. On QQ, Yang Ce had already learned Zhao Ying's thoughts from Zhao Ying herself.

Zhao Ying was deeply bitter about the fact that her best friend, Wang Yanqiu, had gone behind her back and gotten together with her. Women's thinking was sometimes very strange: Zhao Ying might not mind him being with other women, but when it was her closest friend who had gotten together with him, Zhao Ying's reaction was unusually fierce.

Perhaps this was the anger of being deceived and betrayed! Other women had nothing to do with her; if he was with them, she would not have many thoughts about it—but Wang Yanqiu was different.

Zhao Ying had always treated her as a dear sister, as her very best friend, and had even poured out all her secrets to Wang Yanqiu. And in such circumstances, Wang Yanqiu had secretly taken up with him without telling Zhao Ying—how could Zhao Ying not be angry?

Still, if Wang Yanqiu could just be open with Zhao Ying and honestly tell her about the two of them, Zhao Ying's character being what it was, she would surely understand. They were, after all, the closest of friends, and what had made Zhao Ying angry was not that Wang Yanqiu had stolen her man, but simply that she had been deceived—that Wang Yanqiu had never told her.

So having Wang Yanqiu untie the knot in Zhao Ying's heart would be far easier than going to Zhao Ying himself. Whatever he said now, Zhao Ying might not hear; but whatever Wang Yanqiu said, Zhao Ying would probably listen. The foundation of their friendship was there, after all, and they were both girls—they shared more intimate talk, and could communicate more easily.

As things stood now, since Zhao Ying could go to Wang Yanqiu's house and stay with her, it showed that Zhao Ying did not truly resent Wang Yanqiu; perhaps she was merely a little angry. Once the two of them had it out, everything would be fine.

Yang Ce sighed. He wondered what the two of them had talked about. There had been too many things these past few days; otherwise he could have stayed at home and used his ability to peek into Wang Fuyan's house next door, to see just what she and Zhao Ying had said to each other... The very thought was thrilling! Of course, Yang Ce had no habit of peeping—but spying on his own woman surely did not count as peeping, did it? Zhao Ying was not yet his woman, but Yang Ce believed that one day she would be. In fact, tonight Zhao Ying was still staying with Wang Yanqiu. The two had cleared up their misunderstanding and no longer harbored suspicions of each other over the matter of Yang Juehuan.

Zhao Ying had bathed, and now sat on the sofa with Wang Yanqiu watching television. It should have been a warm, lovely scene—but the television just had to be showing this particular film! The film was about a woman who, to make her affair with her lover convenient, bought a house right next door to his, so that late at night he could climb over the courtyard wall and carry on with her.

The more Zhao Ying watched, the more amused she became—especially watching Wang Yanqiu's face grow redder and redder. At last Zhao Ying could not hold back her laughter: "Ha... I can't... Yanyan, don't misunderstand, I'm not laughing at you..."

"When I bought this house, I wasn't even with Yanhao yet..." Wang Yanqiu explained sheepishly, her face crimson. But however one looked at it, it carried all the guilt of a man protesting too much.

"I really wasn't laughing at you..." If Wang Yanqiu had not explained, it might have been fine, but her explanation only made Zhao Ying laugh harder.

"I'm moving tomorrow." Wang Yanqiu ground her teeth and switched off the television, though her face was still red enough to squeeze water from.

"Oh, it's not that serious. These dramas are all made up." Seeing that Wang Yanqiu had taken it to heart, Zhao Ying hurried to console her.

But no sooner had she spoken than Zhao Ying regretted it. Made up? Wang Yanqiu's house really was right next to Yang Ce's, was it not? She might as well have said nothing—now would not Wang Yanqiu only be more embarrassed?

"Yanyan... how about the two of us swap houses? I truly didn't mean anything by it..." Zhao Ying said anxiously, afraid Wang Yanqiu would be angry.

"Heh, swap houses? Don't tell me you want to act out the plot from the television too?" Wang Yanqiu was not angry—only a little embarrassed. Having finally caught Zhao Ying out, how could she let it go?

"Ah... how could I!" This time it was Zhao Ying's turn to flush bright red. At last the two of them were even.

But teasing aside, the two soon settled back into calm. Hand in hand, they went upstairs. The night was deep; it was time to rest, was it not?

Reaching the entrance of the residential compound, Yang Juehuan's thoughts returned from Zhao Ying and Wang Yanqiu. He opened the car door with the remote, got in, then pushed open the passenger door and motioned for Wang Renping to get in as well.

Wang Renping did not hesitate, and got straight into the car. Yang Ce started the engine, then asked Wang Renping beside him: "You know Donghai better than I do. Is there anywhere nearby where we can get a full meal?"

"There is. Not far from here there's Old Wang's One-Penny Big-Bowl Noodles. When I was small, I ate there all the time." As Wang Renping said this, he suddenly seemed to be recalling the old days.

The family had been poor back then, but life had been happy. Every day he lived with his grandparents, without all these troubles. And now... though he had more money than before, was he truly happy?