Chapter 147 — The Long-Awaited...

Only after they had run a good distance did Yang Ce slow his pace and say in a low voice, "In a bit we'll hail a cab. Don't go back to the Xinhai Hotel. Is there anywhere else near there?"

"Yes—there's the Xinhai Mall. They sell trendy fashions inside," Wang Yanqiu said.

"Good. We'll take a cab to some random place first, then go to the Xinhai Mall, and then walk back." Yang Minlan instructed Wang Yanqiu, "Once we're in the car, just act like we're a couple. Don't say anything more than you have to, so we don't stir up trouble."

Wang Yanqiu was astonished at how calm Yang Juehuan was. He had just killed a man, yet he seemed as if nothing had happened at all. Wang Yanqiu doubted she herself could ever manage that.

What she felt about Yang Juehuan now was that Yang Ce was more and more like a killer—a more professional killer than she was. But Wang Yanqiu knew this was no time to dig for answers.

Though Wang Yanqiu had many doubts, she was not stupid. She knew that asking too much now might earn Yang Juehuan's displeasure; it would not be too late to ask once they were safe.

After hearing Yang Juehuan's words, Wang Yanqiu nodded, reached out, and lightly slipped her hand through his arm. The two of them did, in fact, look a little like a couple.

Yang Ce flagged down a taxi with a wave, and then he and Wang Yanqiu climbed into the back seat together.

"Ha, young man, so you and your girlfriend made up?" the cab driver said with a smile, turning his head back.

Yang Puqi was startled. He had not expected such a coincidence—this driver was the very same one who had carried him earlier while he followed Wang Yanqiu.

Fortunately, the way he and Wang Yanqiu were acting now looked exactly like a couple very much in love. So he smiled and nodded. "That's right. I spent all afternoon talking her around. Let's find a restaurant and get something to eat—we're both starving."

"You got it!" The cab driver had no suspicion at all upon hearing this. What Yang Ce had told him before matched perfectly with what he saw now—what was there left to doubt?

The driver had no doubts, but Wang Yanqiu was full of them. She shot Yang Puqi a strange look, not knowing what he had said to the driver earlier. Yet though she was puzzled, she could not ask, or she would ruin everything.

Yang Shuoxuan saw Wang Yanqiu's confusion. He reached out and put his arm around her slender shoulder, drawing her body a little closer to his, and murmured by her ear, "I'll tell you when we get back."

Wang Yanqiu had never in her life so much as had a boyfriend—when had she ever been this intimate with a boy? Her whole body gave a slight tremble, and her breathing grew a little hurried.

Wang Yanqiu knew they were only acting, but she still could not help casting Yang Puqi a reproachful glance. If she knew that the man before her was the one who sent her flowers every day, who knew how she would feel?

Yang Ce had told the driver earlier that the two of them were tourists from out of town, here on a visit. So when Yang Ce did not say where to eat, the driver pulled up in front of a very distinctive little Macanese eatery and recommended it. "The food here is good—cheap, hearty, and delicious. When we drivers get tired working nights, we often eat here."

"All right, thank you." Yang Yanzhou said this and reached for his money to pay the fare.

But the cab driver waved his hand and laughed. "Forget it. It's not far, and what you paid me before is plenty. I'll just say I gave you a ride on my way."

Yang Xutang smiled at the driver's words and did not argue further, only saying, "Then thank you very much."

He took Wang Yanqiu by the hand and got out of the car with her, and the two of them walked toward the little eatery the driver had recommended.

"Are you hungry?" Yang Ce had been out here all night and had not eaten a thing; he was already very hungry.

Wang Yanqiu felt the same, in fact. Asked this by Yang Cenbin, she really did feel a pang of hunger, so she nodded and said, "A little."

"Let's get something to eat first," Yang Minlan said to Wang Yanqiu. "We'll deal with everything else when we get back."

"All right." Wang Yanqiu nodded instinctively. Here in Macau, with no family or friends to turn to, and with something like this having happened, she truly felt a little helpless.

Back then, in a fit of pique, she had left home, wanting to make something of herself to show her family. But now, so many years later, she was still just herself—the same self who, upon graduating, would have to obey her family and go back to be married.

Wang Yanqiu had imagined everything too ideally. Her plans had never accounted for a situation like this. In her view, as long as she was careful and cautious, she could complete this seemingly simple assignment.

This was a specialty shop centered on beef brisket, called Old Wu's Beef Brisket. There were only two flavors—curry beef brisket and original beef brisket—but it was crowded with diners. By the time Yang Ce and Wang Yanqiu arrived, only one table was left, just vacated by the previous customers.

Yang Ce ordered two bowls of original beef brisket rice noodles, and he and Wang Yanqiu each took one and began to eat. The flavor really was quite good, though Yang Ce, accustomed to rice as his staple, was not especially keen on rice noodles.

Having them once in a while was fine; eat them too often and one would naturally grow tired of them.

Just then, a young man with a bowl cut and a black leather jacket came into the food stall, followed by a girl of about ten or so. The girl was dressed in that typical non-mainstream style—her hair teased into an explosive frizz, her ears pierced with any number of earrings.

The girl's original features were no longer discernible; like most non-mainstream types, she looked as if she had been stamped from a mold. Yang Minlan was thoroughly disgusted by girls dressed like this. Natural beauty was the truest beauty; plastering yourself until you looked neither human nor ghost, thinking yourself trendy when in fact you were making a spectacle of yourself.

Bowl Cut glanced at the packed crowd and could not help frowning. He cursed, "Damn it, why are there so many people?"

Yang Minlan disliked people who swore like that. Though Yang Moyi sometimes used foul language too, it was only aimed at certain people—people who deserved it. Ordinarily he would not curse in the street at random.

"There aren't usually this many people," the non-mainstream girl whined coquettishly. "What do we do, darling? Think of something."

Bowl Cut was used to throwing his weight around—he was a well-known thug on this street. Hearing his girlfriend coo at him like that, a surge of swagger rose in his chest. He glanced around, and at last his eyes came to rest on the table where Yang Ce and Wang Yanqiu sat.

To be continued.

844. Another Expert

844. Another Expert. Bowl Cut might have been a bully, but he was no fool. He picked only the soft targets to push around. Scanning the shop, he found that Yang Cenbin's table looked like the easiest to bully.

Neither of the two looked especially fierce; they probably belonged to the softer sort. Judging by Wang Yanqiu's clothes and appearance in particular, they seemed to be tourists. He was just pondering how to drive the two of them off when the girl beside him grew impatient. "Hurry up! I'm starving. Don't you always say you're the boss of this street? How can you not even handle a little thing like this?"

Stung by his girlfriend's goading, Bowl Cut grew a little frantic. Pointing at Yang Ce and Wang Yanqiu's table, he said, "We'll sit right there."

With that, he pulled his girlfriend toward Yang Ce's table, and with a swagger slapped his hand on Yang Juehuan's table. "All right, all right, that's enough eating. What, you've never eaten before? Hurry up and clear out."