Chapter 862 — A Favor

"Are there magpies here?" Yang Ce glanced at Barton and shrugged.

"Er—"

"..."

Barton looked a little awkward. "Never mind. You've gotten fatter, I see. Life seems to be treating you rather well?" Yang Lin Yue asked mildly.

"Treating me well..." Barton smiled bitterly. "Thanks to Mr. Yang, things have indeed been quite comfortable these days, but—"

"..."

"But what? All the hotel's profits go to me—so there's nothing left for you to skim off?" Yang Yan Chuan said. And yet the Douglas Grand Hotel's income was truly considerable, rising month after month; it was plain that Barton had worked hard, and just as plain that he had not been helping himself to any extra cut.

"That's not it at all. How would I dare lay a finger on Mr. Yang's money?" Barton shook his head quickly. "Serving Mr. Yang is an honor. What I fear is that I won't be able to serve him any longer!"

"What's the matter? You're dying?" Yang Ce asked, puzzled.

"Alas! It amounts to about the same. The family's council of elders has suggested that I step down—"

Barton smiled bitterly. "Before, thanks to Mr. Yang, I was not only kept on here to help manage his business, but I even became a member of the family's council of elders, with a share of the family profits. But—"

"...recently some people want to impeach me and have me step down—"

"..."

"Oh, so that's what this is about. I understand." Yang Shu Yu knew Barton was pouring out his troubles to him, but Yang Min Lan was never stingy with people who could serve him well, and to him, keeping Barton in comfortable circumstances was a matter of a single phone call.

"Ah, thank you, Mr. Yang!" Barton was both startled and delighted—he had never expected Yang Cen Bin to agree to it so easily. "Mr. Yang, thank you for your great kindness. I will work as hard as ever to run the Douglas Grand Hotel well!"

"All right, I'll call Kake right now." With that, Yang Yan Zhou took out his phone and dialed Kake's number.

"Mr. Yang..." Seeing Yang Jue Huan's number on the screen, Kake was seized by a sudden foreboding. He had a vague guess as to what it was about, yet he still did not dare refuse the call.

"Kake, it's me. I'm at the Douglas Grand Hotel in Las Vegas. I hear that the next time I come, Barton won't be here anymore? You people want to replace him—is that true?" Yang Ce asked directly.

"What? Where did that rumor come from? What son of a bitch started that lie? That's impossible! It's not as if the Douglas family has a death wish—how would we dare replace anyone Mr. Yang has taken a liking to? Absolutely impossible!" Kake swore to heaven.

"Oh, then it must be a rumor." Yang Yan Zhou said, "Well, that's that, then. Good news—otherwise I might have had to pay you a personal visit once I finished up here. As for whoever started that rumor, you'd better find them. Because if I have to come find them myself, it becomes a different sort of matter altogether."

"Yes, yes!" Kake, the head of the family, was so furious he felt his lungs might burst. Inwardly he cursed his family's second elder up and down. The fool had gone looking for trouble where there was none, and had nearly brought disaster down on the family again!

Yang Cen Bin had no sooner hung up than Kake convened an emergency meeting of the Douglas family. At the meeting, Kake said not a word more than necessary—he simply played the recording of the earlier phone call. The second elder's face turned the color of earth on the spot.

And those council members who had previously backed the second elder now fell silent as cicadas in winter, not daring to say another word—

"..."

"Second Elder, you've grown muddle-headed in your old age. It's time you retired," Kake said evenly. "Does everyone agree?"

"Agreed!"

"Of course we support it!"

"We firmly uphold the head of the family's decision!"

Those council members who had once backed the second elder and coveted Barton's share of the profits now swung over entirely to support Kake, the head of the family!

They all knew what Yang Jue Huan was capable of. If they defied his wishes now, whether the Douglas family would even exist tomorrow was another question entirely!

When the tree falls, the monkeys scatter. If the tree itself is gone, what do they care about a paltry share of the profits?

The second elder was unwilling to accept it, yet he could not think of a word to say.

"Second Elder, you've taken a good deal of the family's profits over the years. To retire quietly now and enjoy your remaining years is the head of the family's way of protecting you. If you stayed in that seat, I'm afraid Yang Yong Jin would not only refuse to let you off, but would vent his anger on our whole family!" the third elder spoke up.

"I understand..." The second elder sighed. Greed—it was all greed in the beginning. But there is no medicine for regret in this world, and regretting it now was useless.

"As for the second elder's share of the profits, I think we should give it to Barton. I'll call Mr. Yang back right away!" Kake did not dare delay; for fear that a long night would bring more dreams, he had to report the outcome to Yang Ce at the first opportunity.

Not a single person opposed Kake's proposal. The second elder's share of the profits was a hot potato—whoever took it now would only bring himself bad luck—so it was better to give it to Barton.

The family meeting was very brief—convened quickly, concluded quickly. The second elder stepped down in gloom, and Kake placed a call to Yang Jue Huan.

Yang Duo Ran was fairly satisfied with Kake's handling of the matter. Earlier, Yang Yong Jin had only meant to give Kake a scare, but he had never imagined Kake would take it so seriously. Yang Duo Ran could hardly say more; he told Barton the outcome, and Barton was somewhat overwhelmed by the favor!

"Mr. Yang, I don't deserve this share. How about this—I'll keep my original share, and the extra profits, together with the Douglas Grand Hotel's annual earnings, I'll remit to your wife, Ms. Huang Yan. What do you think?" Barton was no fool, and certainly not greedy. He knew this was the only way to keep Yang Pu Qi's support.

"That works. Suit yourself." Yang Ce did not care about such a trifling sum, but he did care about Barton's attitude! And from the look of things, Barton had handled it rather well, which pleased Yang Ce greatly.

"Thank you for the honor, Mr. Yang!" Barton gave Yang Ce money and yet thanked him profusely besides—which pleased Yang Ce very much.

"All right, open a few rooms for me. Three to start with." Yang Ce did a quick count: one for Dong Jun, one for Chu Peng Zhan and Ye Wan Er, and one for himself—exactly three.

"Certainly. I'll open the VIP rooms!" Barton kept five VIP rooms, one of them reserved for Yang Ce's exclusive use, the other four held for emergencies and contingencies. Yang Ce had asked for only three, so there was no problem at all. (To be continued)