Chapter 197 — Before the Storm
Years of Heartflutter · Page 1 of 3
So Zhang Jingyao was a clever man—and how could a man like that be fooled by a few words from Huang Ce? Besides, the Huang family's earlier misfortune was by now common knowledge throughout high society; there was no way Zhang Jingyao had not heard of it.
Under such circumstances, for Zhang Jingyao to still resolutely and unhesitatingly throw in his lot with Huang Ce, he must have been certain that the Huang family had the means to win and to turn the tables. Otherwise, he would never have made such a move.
But Li Shu and Li Tianjia were now just as Huang Ce had once been—their self-confidence had swollen to a point where they simply refused to think through things that could be grasped by ordinary common sense.
To them, Zhang Jingyao's conduct was nothing short of the behavior of a madman. So Li Shu never once asked himself why Zhang Jingyao would defect to the Huang family; he simply convinced himself that Zhang Jingyao had lost his mind.
Thus both Li Shu and Li Tianjia felt a certain contempt for Zhang Jingyao at that moment. They had neither the willingness nor the inclination to think that far.
On the plane, two groups of people, each convinced the other was a pack of fools, sat nursing their own thoughts. Yet who the truly clever ones were, some of them knew in their hearts. Who the true fools were—that, no one could say.
Yang Shuoxuan could not be bothered to waste words with the Li father and son on the plane. It was, after all, a public place, and he disdained to lower himself to their level. Once they reached Country X, there would be ways enough to deal with them.
……
Liu Chan's hand rested on the telephone he had just hung up, stroking it back and forth as though caressing something precious. (Liu Chan was Liu Cha's father; Liu Cha was one of Shen Hua's suitors; Shen Hua was the girlfriend of Yang Juehuan's younger brother, Yang Xiaobo.)
Liu Chan's mind was in utter turmoil. He had long known that the master behind him would one day make such a move, but he had never expected the day to come so soon.
True, Liu Chan no longer had the fire he had possessed when he first left prison. A life of comfort and ease had blunted his edge. But this time, he could not refuse.
His leverage was still in their hands. The moment the boss behind the scenes made it public, Liu Chan would die an even worse death. Refuse to work for the boss—death. Work for the boss—still death.
He had no choice now.
Liu Chan sighed softly and picked up the phone again. He dialed the number of Qu Daming, third vice president of Mingyang Entertainment. (Qu Daming was a vice president of Mingyang Entertainment and Qu Cai's father.)
"It's me, Liu Chan." Liu Chan and Qu Daming were grasshoppers on the same string, so Qu Daming knew his voice especially well. There was no need for pleasantries.
"Brother Liu, what's the matter?" Qu Daming had just transferred a surplus portion of the company's accounts into his own. The books were not cooked very elegantly, but he reckoned Bao Lin and Hou Lin would have no time to examine them closely.
Qu Daming himself had no real ability. It was only through the recommendation of his cousin-in-law Zhai Lei—Yang Ce's cellmate back at the detention center and one of Bao Lin's men—that he had begun running with Bao Lin and entered the underworld. Still, he counted as one of Bao Lin's first batch of old guard; from the days when they were trading blows with He Yu and Xiang De, Qu Daming had been at Bao Lin's side.
So even if he had no merit, he had put in the sweat. Bao Lin arranged fitting positions for these founding elders who had fought alongside him to build his domain. And Qu Daming became third vice president of Mingyang Entertainment.
Though the day-to-day operations of Mingyang Entertainment were now in Guo Jianchao's hands, it was easy enough for Bao Lin to install a man of his own. So Qu Daming took up his post.