Chapter 147 — The Long-Awaited...

"That motherfucking Zou Ruoguang—I'll never let him off." A vicious look flashed in Wei Jin's eyes and was gone. Then he said to Sister Gu, "Forget it. This isn't your fault. I'll get to the bottom of it, and if it really was Zou Ruoguang who passed it on, I won't let him get away with it."

And indeed, things turned out just as Sister Gu had foreseen. When Wei Jin called Zou Ruoguang, the man's tone was noticeably unnatural: "Cousin? You're looking for me?"

"Zou Ruoguang, why did you do this to me?" Wei Jin sneered coldly. He was bluffing, for it was all only Sister Gu's guess, and he had no real evidence.

"So you've figured it out." Hearing Wei Jin's tone, Zou Ruoguang dropped all pretense and laughed heartily. "Wei Jin, you're a real bastard, you know that? You set me up with an AIDS-infected whore, and I didn't know, and I went and screwed her. Hah—well, I wanted you to taste what it's like to be diseased too. Feels great, doesn't it?"

"Zou Ruoguang!" Wei Jin was seized with rage. He had never expected it really was Zou Ruoguang's doing, and a tightness gripped his chest. "You brought it on yourself, you lecher, messing around with Zhao Xiaoyu—and now you've got the gall to blame me?"

"Ha! And you're one to talk?" Zou Ruoguang laughed crazily. "You're dead right, though—if you weren't such a lecher, if you hadn't screwed that Sister Gu, would you have caught it? Hahahahaha!"

"Zou Ruoguang, you'll get yours." Wei Jin slammed the phone down in a fury, gnashing his teeth, and screamed like a madman, "Zou Ruoguang, you and I are mortal enemies from this day on! If I don't see you dead, I'm no man!"

"Young Master Wei, let it go. He's caught the disease too—otherwise he wouldn't have gone to such extremes." Sister Gu had overheard most of the call from beside him, and tried to counsel him.

"Sister Gu, this can't be let go. I'm not done with him." Wei Jin's eyes were bloodshot, his face contorted. "Never mind infecting me—just for raping you alone, I'll see him dead. He put horns on me—I want the bastard dead!"

Hearing this, Sister Gu was moved at heart and said no more to dissuade him, while Wei Jin gritted his teeth and began turning over in his mind how to deal with Zou Ruoguang.

His own father was dead, and several of his father's ablest men were finished as well. Wei Jin was now, so to speak, a lone army of one, with no forces behind him. But Zou Ruoguang was different: he was on good terms with Sui Guangheng, and if Wei Jin moved rashly, he might not even be a match for the man—fail to kill him, and get killed himself instead; that was not out of the question.

So Wei Jin brooded, trying to think of a way to take Zou Ruoguang down without endangering himself. But turn it over as he might, no good plan came to him, and he could not help sighing, "Damn it—if only Madman Ma and Zhou Xiaoming and the rest hadn't been finished off, they'd have been useful. That bastard Yang Ce!"

To be continued.

1023. The Assassin Squad Training Plan

"Young Master Wei, speaking of Yang Ce, something just occurred to me—could you talk to him, get him to take out Zou Ruoguang for you?" Sister Gu suggested. "He looks savage enough that killing Zou Ruoguang should be child's play. And he's got a grudge against Zou Ruoguang too. Offer him a rich enough reward, and I'd bet he'll help you."

"Right!" Wei Jin slapped his thigh. "Sister Gu, you're onto something. This is a man worth working with."

Yang Cenbin was a born butcher, a brawler down to the bone. Last time, both he and Zou Ruoguang had been beaten half to death by him—yet Wei Jin didn't much hate Yang Ce. After all, his own side had been the ones strutting around first; if you can't match a man's strength, getting pounded is only what you deserve.

Besides, Yang Ce seemed tangled up with all sorts of underworld factions. That was a kind of man Wei Jin would rather not provoke. But when it came to dealing with Zou Ruoguang, perhaps they could work together.

By now money had become a thing of little consequence to Wei Jin. However rich he grew, he and Sister Gu could only enjoy so much of it. Too much money was pointless—enough to cover medical treatment and daily expenses was all he needed.

At that thought, Wei Jin resolved to find a time to have a proper talk with Yan, to offer a generous sum and see whether Yang Ce could help him do away with Zou Ruoguang.

Yang Ce committed Chen Dazhuang's phone number to memory. Chen Shutang hadn't noticed; she picked her phone up off the coffee table and slipped it into her pocket.

By then Auntie Li had dinner ready, so Yang Ce and Chen Shutang went together to the dining room to eat.

From that evening until the following afternoon, apart from trips to the bathroom, the two of them scarcely left the room. Chen Shutang was exceptionally accommodating toward Yang Ce, and both of them treasured this hard-won time alone together.

It lasted until that evening, when Chen's mother called and asked Chen Shutang to come home and stay a couple of days. Chen Shutang was reluctant, but she knew the new term was about to start and her time at home would soon be scarce—and besides, she'd already been away for several days. There was no help for it. Apologetically she said to Yang Ce, "Once school starts, I'll be able to stay here often. But right now, I really do have to go home."

Yang Shuoxuan understood Chen Shutang's situation. They were still students, after all—if they openly told Chen Fei the two of them were living together, that would never do. So for now neither said anything outright. Uncle Chen knew in his heart, and Yang Lanxu knew in his, but both simply turned a blind eye.

After driving Chen Shutang home, Yang Ce returned to the Huashang residential compound. As he passed the building where Zhao Ying lived, he couldn't help lifting his head to look up—he wanted to go up and sit awhile, but in the end he gave it up.

It had been three days now. Zhao Ying must have discovered the secret of that memory tree by now, hadn't she? Why hadn't she given him any answer yet? Yang Ce was anxious, yet there was nothing he could do.

He wanted to ask, but didn't know how to bring it up. Helpless, he let it drop.

Still, if he couldn't go to Zhao Ying's, he was free to visit Wang Yanqiu's home whenever he liked. He parked the car and rang Wang Yanqiu's doorbell with carefree nonchalance.

After a moment Wang Yanqiu came running to open the door. Yang Ce was just about to say something when he heard her whisper, "Sister Ying is here. Don't do anything foolish."

"What?" Yang Ce was startled. Damn—no way. Zhao Ying had actually come over here? So he really had picked a bad time to show up. Yang Moyi thought he'd better avoid her, and said, "Then I'll get going."

"You'd better not leave. You rang the bell—Sister Ying already heard it. If nobody comes in, she'll be even more suspicious. And besides, there are monitors in the house. She's probably already seen you," Wang Yanqiu said.

"All right, then I'll come in." Yang Yuting nodded and went into Wang Yanqiu's villa.

"Yang Ce?" Zhao Ying was slightly taken aback when she saw him come in, and a sour feeling welled up in her heart. Had Yang Ce come looking for Wang Yanqiu?

"Ha, Sister Ying, so you really are here!" Yang Jiyan said shamelessly, without so much as a blush. "I went to your place just now and found you weren't home, so I came here on the off chance—and it turns out Wang Yanqiu says you're here."

"Oh?" Zhao Ying was suddenly rather pleased. So Yang Ce had come looking for her—not specifically for Wang Yanqiu. Her face flushed as she said, "Xiao Yan and I haven't seen each other in ages, just catching up on girl talk. What are you doing here?"

"Ha, I was just thinking of dropping by your place for a meal. Since you're busy, I'll be off—you two carry on!" With that, Yang Yanzhou turned to leave. "Sorry to intrude."