Chapter 147 — The Long-Awaited...

At the time, the man's family had come to make a scene and were preparing to take Du Liuliu to court. In response, Du Liuliu rounded up a gang and went straight to the worker's hometown. After a round of threats and inducements, the family took sixty thousand yuan from Du Liuliu and swallowed their grievances, no longer daring to make trouble.

Because Du Liuliu had threatened them: "I've got more than one or two lives on my hands already. If you lot keep getting uppity, I'll wipe out your whole family. Killing a few more is all profit to me anyway."

The country folk were timid by nature, and after Du Laoliu's scare tactics they caved at once. A hundred thousand yuan was in fact not even enough to cover the medical bills, but seeing how savage Du Laoliu looked, they dared not make trouble.

Whenever Du Laoliu stirred up trouble, he never asked Wei Dekang to clean up his mess; he always handled it himself. It was precisely for this that Wei Dekang held him in such high regard.

Half an hour later, Du Laoliu arrived at the Xianren Resort. Apart from Zhou Xiaoming and Ma Fengzi, Du Laoliu was the man Wei Dekang trusted most. It could be said that he trusted him now even more than Zhou Xiaoming and Ma Fengzi.

Otherwise, he never would have put Du Laoliu in the position of construction manager—what people commonly called a contractor. The pickings in this line of work were far richer than those in demolition; the two were not even on the same level.

Yet greedy as Du Laoliu was, he kept his accounts crystal clear, recording down to the last cent how much he had pocketed. He never cut corners on construction materials—what he skimmed came out of the workers' wages, so Wei Dekang was perfectly at ease with him.

So long as the project came off without a hitch and the finished buildings did not collapse, Wei Dekang was satisfied. As for the money Du Laoliu pocketed, that was his own skill; after glancing over the accounts, Wei Dekang generally gave tacit approval for that sum to slip into Du Laoliu's pocket.

Du Laoliu was deeply grateful to Wei Dekang for this. Over the past few years his personal assets had topped ten million, and he now ranked among the more prominent figures in society.

"My son Wei Jin has been beaten up," Wei Dekang said, coming straight to the point. There was no need to keep anything from Du Laoliu.

"What? Who's got the guts to lay a hand on Young Master Wei? Do they have a death wish?" Du Laoliu bellowed the moment he heard it. "Boss Wei, just tell me and I'll take my men and raze his house to the ground!"

"Here's his file. Have a look." Wei Dekang handed over the materials he had just received.

Du Laoliu took the file with an air of indifference. At first glance he was unimpressed, but when he saw the identity of Yang Juehuan's father, Yang Cheyan, his expression shifted ever so slightly.

Ruthless as Du Laoliu was, he still understood the rules of this society. A man of Yang Cheyan's standing was not someone to be trifled with—nothing like those timid migrant workers with no connections behind them, easy to push around.

"Well? Do you dare touch him?" Watching Du Laoliu's expression, Wei Dekang could hardly fail to read his thoughts, and so he put the question.

Du Laoliu paused, then a savage look flashed into his eyes. "What's there to be afraid of? If Boss Wei wants him taken down, I'll take him down."

"Excellent. Seems I wasn't wrong about you." Wei Dekang nodded with a satisfied smile. "But I'm not asking you to kill anyone. I'm asking you to set a fire."

"Set a fire? What do you mean?" Du Laoliu was baffled.

"That brat Yang Ce's company—heh heh. Find yourself an opportunity and burn the whole thing down." Wei Dekang broke into a sinister laugh. "Call it a lesson for him. I reckon Yang Cheyan won't cross me over a thing like this. And if he does, I'll show him what's what."

"Spend the next few days studying the place. Once it's done, find somewhere to lie low and don't contact the outside world. I'll smooth over the rest for you," Wei Dekang said.

"Understood, Boss Wei." Hearing that Wei Dekang only wanted him to set a fire, Du Laoliu did not think much of it. He did this sort of thing often enough; it was nothing to make a fuss about.

"Then off you go." Wei Dekang waved a hand. "Be careful. Don't contact me these next few days either. If you get caught in the act, say nothing—I'll find a way to protect you."

"Don't worry, Boss Wei," Du Laoliu said.

Neither Yang Ce nor Wang Yanqiu had noticed Zhao Ying's departing figure outside the window. After finishing their noodles, they settled the bill, left the noodle shop, and got into the car.

"I've got a good buddy from middle school who runs a billiard hall around here. I used to go all the time in high school. You free? Come with me to see him?" Yang Ce said to Wang Yanqiu beside him once he was in the car.

"Let's go. Nothing else to do anyway." Wang Yanqiu was rather curious about Yang Ce's past. She wanted to know what sort of life Yang Juehuan had actually led.

Wang Yanqiu's path to becoming an assassin had been almost a matter of course—because of her family, nothing unusual about it. But Yang Juehuan puzzled her greatly. How could a student raised in an ordinary environment possibly become an assassin?

Xu Peng's billiard hall was not far; a few minutes' drive and they were there. Yang Ce parked the car at the entrance and went in with Wang Yanqiu.

At this hour there should have been no one in the billiard hall, but upon entering they found Xu Peng and his wife sitting to one side, while on the other side a plainly dressed girl, rustic in both clothes and appearance, was talking to the two of them, her eyes brimming with tears.

"Sister Xiaoying, you've doted on me since I was little. Please, talk to brother-in-law for me—can you two think of some way to help us?" The girl wiped her tears sorrowfully.

"Xiaoju, it's not that we don't want to help, but Dapeng and I really can't do anything for you," Xu Peng's wife said, trying to console the girl.

"Sister Xiaoying, you two are in the city and you've seen more of the world than we have. I want to take them to court. Can you help me find a way, help me hire a good lawyer?" The girl looked at Xu Peng's wife full of hope.

"I—" Xu Peng's wife had also come from the countryside to work in Songjiang, and had not been here many years. How would she know any lawyers? As for Xu Peng, he was merely the small-time owner of a billiard hall—how could he know anyone of influence?

"Xiaoju," Xu Peng spoke up, "you've already signed a private settlement with them. Going to court now would be rather difficult. And your Sister Xiaoying and I really don't know any big shots—how could we help you with this?"

Hearing this, Xiaoju lowered her head in disappointment. It was not as though she did not know all this. She had simply thought that Xu Peng and Sister Xiaoying had lived in the city long enough to be more worldly than she was, and so she had wanted to try.

"Still, your Sister Xiaoying and I do have a bit of money put by. Take twenty thousand to tide you over—your brother's injuries can't wait." With that, Xu Peng went into the back room, brought out twenty thousand yuan he had already set aside, and handed it to Xiaoju.

"Th-this is too much—how can I?" Xiaoju had not expected Xu Peng to hand over twenty thousand just like that. It was help in time of dire need.

"Xiaoju, just take it. Your brother Dapeng and I have the billiard hall and can earn more. Your family's in a crisis now—don't stand on ceremony with us," Xiaoying said.

To be continued

957. A Direct Threat

957 A Direct Threat

"But—" Xiaoju still hesitated. Twenty thousand yuan was no small sum, after all. She had heard from the villagers roughly what the billiard hall brought in—over three thousand a month, and after expenses, barely twenty thousand saved in a whole year. This was the couple's entire year's savings.