Chapter 800 — Is There Really Anyone?

"Same as ever — stuck at the early Mystic tier, unable to advance. I had pinned all my hopes on little Kun, and who could have foreseen such a calamity falling out of thin air!" Yu Bide shook his head in grief.

"It seems that among our generation of the Yu family, the only one who can get into that place is Big Brother..." Yu Bifu sighed as well. "I doubt that in my lifetime I'll ever break through to the Earth tier..."

"Second Brother, then, in your view, little Kun's matter..." Yu Bide hesitated there, then lifted his head to look at Yu Bifu.

"Rest easy on that count. Little Kun is my nephew too. I've already sent men to Songshan City to investigate quietly — the moment there's any word, they'll report back at once!" Yu Bifu said.

"Then that's all we can do!" Yu Bide nodded.

Yu Bifu left Yu Bide's room with Yu Feng. Only after they had walked some distance did Yu Feng say, "Father, I told you before — Yu Kun is useless, let me go instead. And now look? Someone's crippled him! Still, it's not all bad. From now on, no one in this generation of the Yu family will be able to surpass me!"

"What nonsense are you spouting? He's your cousin — how is it 'not all bad'?" Yu Bifu snapped in sudden anger. "Can there ever be too many good hands in the Yu family?"

"Sorry..." Yu Feng was somewhat unconvinced. "He was weak to begin with. If I had gone myself, it would never have come to this! Whoever could wound Yu Kun without killing him is at most a peak late Yellow tier expert, and I'm already at the peak of the early Mystic tier. With strength like that, I could walk sideways through the mundane world!"

"You'd do well to remember the saying: there's always a higher mountain, always a higher heaven!" Yu Bifu glared at his son.

"I know that, but all those formidable people never show themselves in the mundane world anymore!" Yu Feng took not the slightest notice of his father's words. Among the younger generation of the Yu family he was the finest, and out in the world he was a tyrant who strode roughshod over all — even the heads of the other great clans could not match his strength. How could a young man like him not be cocky?

……………………

Wei Zhao had no wish to interfere in the demolition of the shantytown, but his very presence had still led Li Cihua to raise the compensation offer. Li Cihua did not want to either, but he was afraid Wei Zhao would make trouble.

Xiaofen's family smoothly received a demolition payout of a hundred and eighty thousand yuan — on the high side. As for the smashed appliances and furniture, they weren't worth even a thousand yuan, so they simply let them go.

Once the money was in hand, Xiaofen's mother's face split into a broad grin. Altogether, the family now had six hundred and eighty thousand yuan — more than enough for a big apartment. Her mind began to work, and she set her sights on buying a house.

"***, could you talk to Wei Zhao and have him take us to look at some apartments?" Xiaofen's mother said in a low voice to Kang ***. By now she already regarded Kang *** as her son-in-law. "I hear he knows the developer — could he get us a discount?"

"I'll ask, then..." Kang *** knew this would put Wei Zhao out, but it was a request from Xiaofen's mother — surely he could not simply ignore it?

So Kang *** went to find Wei Zhao and mentioned the favor Xiaofen's mother had asked of him. Wei Zhao agreed without a moment's thought; he had long since promised Tang Zhi he would do this.

Wei Zhao phoned Mama Tang, and then phoned Tang Zhi as well. Mama Tang's new apartment had only just come into her hands and she was thrilled with it; she was going today to check on the renovation's progress, and when she heard Wei Zhao was coming too, she was naturally glad to have him along.

With Mama Tang going, though, and without Tang Zhi there as a link between them, Wei Zhao did feel rather awkward. It was not that he disliked Mama Tang as a person — only that she was, frankly, a little too mercenary, and Wei Zhao had never quite grown used to it.

Still, he understood her. Papa Tang's legs were broken, and Mama Tang had single-handedly raised a family for all these years. A deep-rooted, money-first set of values had taken hold in her heart. To change her was hardly realistic, and Wei Zhao had no intention of trying.

What Wei Zhao liked was Tang Zhi, not Mama Tang. If Mama Tang liked money, then give her some money — to Wei Zhao it was no more than a drop from a bucket.

Gu Mengyao's Audi S5 clearly could not seat so many people, so Wei Zhao asked Fatty Lai to send a car over to pick up Mama Tang and Tang Zhi. He had not expected Fatty Lai to drive over himself, first to collect Tang Zhi, then to collect Mama Tang.

Wei Zhao smiled wryly. Fatty Lai was being far too eager — there was no guaranteeing sharp-eyed Mama Tang would not spot something off.

When Xiaofen's mother saw Fatty Lai, the boss, she grew somewhat stiff and ill at ease. Kang *** and Xiaofen, however, had met Fatty Lai before — had even seen him groveling and weeping at Wei Zhao's feet — and so held no particular awe of him.

"What sort of apartment are you looking for?" Fatty Lai greeted Kang *** and Xiaofen warmly, then asked Xiaofen's mother.

"I... I was just wondering if there's anything a little cheaper — even a bad spot at the tail end of the block would do..." Xiaofen's mother spoke rather stiffly. She had assumed that once she arrived she would have to plead and pull strings and impose on someone before she could buy this kind of cut-rate housing, yet to her surprise the man sent to receive her had been so courteous and generous.

"This... is there?" Fatty Lai turned his head to look at Wei Zhao.

Wei Zhao was so furious he nearly kicked Fatty Lai. "Whether there is or not, what are you looking at me for?"

"Uh... so this one can be arranged, then?" Wei Zhao had not explained things very clearly before, and Fatty Lai was not quite certain whether Wei Zhao wanted to help Xiaofen's mother or not. To Fatty Lai's way of thinking, a single apartment was a small enough matter, but souring Wei Zhao's mood over it would be a real disaster.

Fatty Lai knew that Wei Zhao was not someone who much liked helping others. Back then, for all his weeping and pleading, Wei Zhao had refused to help him; if not for his own perseverance, how could he ever have become Wei Zhao's underling?

So now that Xiaofen's mother was angling for an apartment, Fatty Lai had to seek Wei Zhao's opinion first.

Xiaofen's mother, however, was left dumbfounded by Fatty Lai. "Ah? Mr. Lai, is there or isn't there..."

"There is, isn't there?" Tang Zhi, seeing Fatty Lai's put-upon look, could not help covering her mouth and giggling.

"There is, of course there is!" Seeing that even Tang Zhi said there was, Fatty Lai concluded there must be, and gave a hearty laugh. "I was just trying to think whether there was or not, wasn't I? I've got too much on my plate these days — I can't keep it all straight."

"That's wonderful!" Xiaofen's mother, hearing that there were still discount apartments to be had, was overjoyed at once and asked eagerly, "Where are they? Could you take me to have a look?"

"Of course, let's go — we'll head over right now!" Fatty Lai nodded and agreed.

Mother Tang looked at Fatty Lai with a thoughtful air, then at Wei Zhao and her daughter. There was something going on here! There most certainly was! She had already sensed something off back when the apartment was being bought, and today she felt it even more strongly.