Chapter 428 — Catching a Few Thieves

But today he had run into an iron wall named Wei Zhao, and his greatest prop had failed him!

"No match for him? It wasn't even close! Uncle Yan never got a single blow in—Wei Zhao sent him flying with one slap. An instant kill, plain and simple!" Bu Ruoming felt a chill just thinking about it. Clearly Wei Zhao had never used his full strength back when he slapped him; if Uncle Yan could be sent flying like that, wouldn't his own head have been slapped clean off?

"An instant kill..." The corner of Bu Tiandi's mouth twitched. He had assumed Uncle Yan had at least fought Wei Zhao before being defeated, but now it seemed that Wei Zhao's strength was far beyond Uncle Yan's... "Ruoming, do you think we ought to buy some gifts, pay Wei Zhao a visit, and offer an apology?" Bu Tiandi asked after a moment's thought.

"That... I don't know either, but I don't think now's the time, is it?" Bu Ruoming shook his head. "Wei Zhao's still angry. If we go now, aren't we just asking for death? Once things have quieted down and it's mostly blown over, we can go apologize—that should be fine."

"True enough!" Bu Tiandi nodded. "These next few days I'll see if I can pull some strings and get in to visit Uncle Yan, and get a clear read on Wei Zhao's real strength!"

"That works too. Know your enemy and know yourself, and you can fight a hundred battles without defeat!" Bu Ruoming trotted out an idiom.

"A hundred battles without defeat, my ass! Even if you know exactly how strong he is, we still can't win! Unless we get to know someone even more powerful!" Bu Tiandi cursed. "With what we've got, don't even think about it in this lifetime!"

"Ah... then that's all we can do..." For all his fear, Bu Ruoming still felt a lingering unwillingness. This business of being bullied and having no choice but to swallow it made him thoroughly uncomfortable.

Bu Tiandi parked the car at the entrance to the Flower, Bird and Fish Market, and he and Bu Ruoming got out. The market was his, and normally Bu Ruoguang's people kept an eye on the place, so nothing ever went wrong. The rent alone brought in tens of millions a year—a business that was all profit and no loss.

"Son of a bitch! Whose wreck of a car is parked in my private space?" Bu Tiandi frowned and swore. There had never been a marked parking spot right at the main gate, but when cars were thick on the ground it got used anyway.

Only there weren't many cars today, and the spot was still taken, which naturally irritated Bu Tiandi—it was the space he used every single time he came.

"A junky van, no less! Someone go ask whose delivery vehicle this is—they're asking for a lesson, are they? Tomorrow have Ruoguang fine them!" Bu Tiandi was in a foul mood, so he took his temper out elsewhere.

"Huh?" Bu Ruoming got out and looked where his father was cursing, and nearly tripped and fell flat on his face—because he recognized that van. Wasn't it Wei Zhao's?

"Dad, stop, please stop. Look at the license plate..." Bu Ruoming hurried to cut off his father's swearing, terrified that Wei Zhao might hear.

"What about the plate? What's so interesting about a license plate?" Bu Tiandi was unimpressed, and, belly first, made to walk into the market.

"It's Wei Zhao's car!" Bu Ruoming said. "Wei Zhao has come to the Flower, Bird and Fish Market?"

"What?" The moment Bu Tiandi heard the car was Wei Zhao's, he got a fright too. Thank goodness he hadn't acted on impulse and called the guards over to tow it away—the consequences didn't bear thinking about! Bu Tiandi broke out in a cold sweat and turned to leave. "Ruoming, let's go. Better not stay here..."

Bu Ruoming hesitated. He still hadn't picked up the saplings, and surely they wouldn't run into Wei Zhao so unluckily? So he said, "Why don't we go straight to the office and wait until Wei Zhao's gone before we come out?"

"That'll do!" Bu Tiandi nodded, and he and Bu Ruoming walked into the Flower, Bird and Fish Market together. The guard at the gate saw Bu Tiandi and immediately called out loudly, "Good day, Boss Bu!"

"Shut up! Don't shout!" Bu Tiandi was about to explode. What are you yelling for? What if Wei Zhao hears?

The guard blinked, not understanding what was going on, but then he guessed—could Boss Bu have brought people here to make an incognito inspection? To check up on conditions inside the market?

The more he thought about it, the more likely it seemed, so he nodded hastily. "All right... I won't say anything..."

Bu Tiandi and Bu Ruoming slipped into the manager's office like a pair of ghosts. Xie Fenpian, the manager of the Flower, Bird and Fish Market, had just received a report from his security captain: they had caught a sucker and two young women, and their backgrounds had been thoroughly investigated—they had only come in a beat-up van, so they were definitely nobody important!

So Xie Fenpian was getting ready to go down and take advantage of the situation. Phone snatching, was it... then he would have them strip and be searched! This was the sort of thing Xie Fenpian loved best! He didn't dare go any further than that, of course, for fear of trouble; but when thieves were caught, a body search—a bit excessive, perhaps, yet not likely to cause him any real problem. Xie Fenpian was all fired up when he looked up and saw Bu Tiandi and Bu Ruoming burst in, and he was badly startled. Could they have found out what he had been up to?

But from what Xie Fenpian knew, Bu Tiandi was no good either—he specialized in preying on the young girls in the company. As the saying goes, when the beam is crooked the rafters are askew; that was simply the way of it.

The whole Bu family—Bu Ruoguang and Bu Ruoming, and their underlings—were none of them any good. The only reason Xie Fenpian was so brazen was that Bu Ruoguang indulged him.

He had been a hoodlum in the North District himself, and it was only because Bu Ruoguang thought well of him that he had been made manager of this market.

Recalling that Bu Tiandi was that same kind of goods, Xie Fenpian stopped being afraid. "Boss Bu, you're here! Good timing—there's a bit of good news I was going to have Brother Guang pass on to you."

"What good news?" Bu Tiandi was caught off guard. He was in a foul mood, and if there was something good to lift it, so much the better.

"Security caught a few thieves, and there are girls among them. Would you like to go help search them, Boss Bu?" Xie Fenpian said, his eyes glinting with lust.

"Oh? Have their backgrounds been checked?" Bu Tiandi started, his interest piqued. This was one of his hobbies; if there was really no problem, then he could vent his anger on these thieves.

"No background at all. The lot of them came in a beat-up van, junk like something picked out of a scrap yard. They definitely have no connections!" Xie Fenpian said.

"Wait! What did you say? A beat-up van?" Bu Tiandi was alarmed. He had just been frightened out of his wits by Wei Zhao's beat-up van, and now, hearing Xie Fenpian mention a beat-up van, his nerves jangled so badly he nearly jumped right off the ground. "Who are the thieves you caught? Tell me, quick—who are they!"

For the fastest updates and pop-up-free reading, please visit—