Chapter 276: Such a Long Chapter and All I Got Was This Lousy t.i.tle [4 in 1]
Translator: Lonelytree Editor: Millman97
The attack on Lin Yu was actually still related to the residual problems that had happened during Mo Xiao Xia’s previous kidnapping. At the time, the Lin family’s nemesis wanted to kidnap Mo Xiao Xia to threaten Lin Yu, but Ye Shuang had decided to channel the issue to Xia Cheng, framing the guy. Then, after that, the more that they investigated Xia Cheng, the more they realized how mysterious he was. To create a certain misunderstanding effect, Ye Shuang had decided to maintain her silence, and thus, with the secret continuing to fester and with Lin Yu running up and down to cry for alarm, the Lin family’s people started to pay attention toward this particular enemy.
To ensure that the threat would not continue to grow endlessly, the original plan of trying to just ignore them became a focused retaliation. The firepower owned by the Lin family focused on this particular gang. After some back and forth, the gang, which was not used to being targeted so harshly, was naturally fl.u.s.tered from being attacked. In just a few days, they lost more than half of their bases.
Naturally, it was expected that this result would be hard to accept. Therefore, it was also expected that revenge was something that was going to happen. It was a cyclical thing.
…
“San He Gang?” Qian Qianxiang was kicked by Ye Shuang to the pa.s.senger’s seat, and the car soon reached its maximum speed, the engine roaring. The car was moving so fast that all of its pa.s.sengers had green faces, and they held their hands over their mouths like they could start to vomit in the next second.
In such a unique situation, the only person who could maintain her ease and relaxation, while still communicating with Ol’ K on the Bluetooth device and driving, was none other than Ye Shuang.
Ol’ K’s voice came out from the Bluetooth device before entering Ye Shuang’s ears. “San He Gang is the umbrella term for the underground mafia in Xiang Jiang—it does not point to a fixed gang. The gangs there actually do not rely on pure firepower and fighting to fight for their territory. After all, this is no longer the era where every problem can be solved with the power of the fists. Therefore, to consume a gang, one needs to deal with more details and problems. The examples include greasing the palms of government agents or forming a shared consensus with the organization and big companies who have their a.s.sets and stakes on this particular piece of land.
“Because of that, the territory of Xiang Jiang’s San He Gang rarely changes because once the territory changes, it signifies that something serious has happened or is going to happen.”
Due to the urgency of the situation, the sound of typing coming from Ol’ K’s side was so constant that it felt like it was non-stop. The rhythm that he used to move information around and to pull up information was very frantic and fast.
“After knowing this, Brother Shuang you should be able to understand that what the Lin family did this time was something that was very hard to understand. This focus fire was something that was unexpected in many people’s eyes. Even though conflicts between gangs are something expected, a conflict to such a degree, where even the core was shaken, is definitely not something that was constant.”
“You mean, this is because one of the parties got cornered?” Ye Shuang chuckled lightly, and the expression of Qian Qianxiang, who sat closest to him, twisted instantly to a new level.
He… help… someone! He did not want to see such a scary smile when he was in such a deep sense of pain!
“Yes, you can say that again,” Ol’ K replied on the phone. “The gang that sent its people over to kidnap Mo Xiao Xia was practically wiped out, and the remaining people had nowhere else to run in Xiang Jiang. Cornered, they decided to gather their last energy and came to Shanghai to try to counter. After all, Lin family’s forces have not spread to this place. There is an important possible hostage in Lin Yun, and it was much simpler for them to do something here compared to at Xiang Jiang. With regard to the att.i.tude of the other gangs, they did not plan to care about that. Their old nests had already been razed and cleared, so why should they still care about the rules?”
The conflict between smaller gangs was actually silently supported by the other San He Gang in the dark at Xiang Jiang. Just as he had said earlier, the actions of the Lin family were confusing in other people’s eyes. With them not understanding the reason behind their actions, it was easy for them to misunderstand that the Lin family had their dissatisfaction about the current situation at Xiang Jiang, and they wanted to do something about it. An insane patient with great ambition was someone that one could never be incautious around.
Therefore, if the small gang managed to cut off a part of the Lin family’s power in their last effort, then at least it would be able to slow down the Lin family’s footsteps or even exhaust their originally burning flames. If that failed… they could still continue like nothing had ever happened. Everyone knew, but no one admitted. They could continue to negotiate with the Lin family.
“There should be no problems on Lin Chen’s side; after all, they have the preparation. However, Lin Chen probably did not expect that the other forces from San He Gang would silently help that small gang in the dark. Therefore, the stragglers that escaped came to make trouble for Lin Yu. It was not really a big problem as long as their plan failed; after all, this kind of surprise attack can only be carried out once. The police in the state are not to be trifled with. This time, they have shocked the local police. Their superior will not give them a second chance.”
After listening to Ol’ K’s explanation, Ye Shuang relaxed slightly. As long as things did not go out of control, if a harmless business discussion became a full-fledge gun fight between gangs, then she would really cough out blood.
Then all the pa.s.sengers in the car accompanied Ye Shuang to witness once more the power of the latest technology. Qian Qianxiang’s car was a good car, but the greater the technology, the easier it was to be hacked because it would have a greater reliance on technology. After the conversation ended, the ECU in the car was automatically connected and then a map appeared on the screen. It marked the location of the car and then the distance and the route as well as the traffic condition between it and another coordinate.
Ol’ K’s voice continued to come out from the multi-media system, and the man naturally took the form of the guide for Ye Shuang. “I’ve already asked Ace to help manipulate the traffic lights and the street cameras on the way. You only need to follow the route that is marked red on the map, and you will be able to get to the destination in less than ten minutes… Do you think we should call the police?”
“We’ll see how things go first. If we can control the situation on our own, it is best that we do not involve the law enforcement,” the big boss, Brother Shuang, said coolly.
With one hand over his lips, Qian Qianxiang raised his other hand to fight for the chance to ask a question. “Can someone please tell me what is happening?”
Basically, it had been Ol’ K who had been explaining on the phone, and all Ye Shuang did was reply and answer. Therefore, everyone mostly had no idea what had happened.
Brother Shuang smiled handsomely. “No.”
“Brother Ye, Xiao Xia, she…” Rong Su had tears in her eyes.
“Huh? Don’t worry, I’ll explain it slowly to you. The situation is like this. This is what happened….”
In an instant, Qian Qianxiang’s expression warped in indignation. What the f*ck‽
…
Ten minutes was more than enough time for many things to happen. Furthermore, before Mo Xiao Xia made the call, the things had actually been going on for quite some time already. Even though the members of the small gang that came to capture Lin Yu carried guns with them, it was crazy for them to pull the guns out in broad daylight. That only happened in TV shows, not in reality.
After all, those people went to Shanghai with a purpose. They did not go there to kill Lin Yu and then get killed by the police as terrorists. They went there to find a chance to rise back from the ashes, and for that to happen, they needed to capture Lin Yu as a hostage to threaten Lin Chen.
Because of that reason, illegal items like gun could only be used at the corners where it would be hidden from the public eyes or when they were holding the man hostage. No matter what, they could not take them out publicly and in front of innocent bystanders lest they create a ma.s.s hysteria. Because of this point, the people around Lin Yu managed to find cover and a route for their boss to retreat.
Even though Shanghai was an international city, it did not mean that it did not have small alleys and places where people rarely frequent. The gang members blocked Lin Yu’s path at these places. With the advantage of the location and the advantage in numbers, they managed to hold the situation within several minutes. After all, this was a calculated ambush. Unless Lin Yu had a hidden world martial arts master by his side, the ending was not something that was surprising.
However, the lynchpin that caused the situation to go wrong was an old gentleman who walked out to the alley to throw some rubbish out. When he saw the gang members fighting among themselves, since there was no involvement of guns, the old man looked at them calmly before going back into his house.
The gang members from Xiang Jiang had originally been afraid that the old man might scream and attract the attention of other people, so his reaction came as a great surprise to them. They were even internally impressed by the psychological stability of the citizens in Shanghai.
After a while, after the old man finished tossing away the rubbish, the gang fight had already spread to the front of the old man’s home. After all, this was a fight; it was understandable for them to mess up the surroundings. However, the old man did not want to give his understanding. He looked at the marks that had been left on the walls of his house and then at the flower pots that lay in pieces. Then, he glared at them and roared angrily, “You dare to ruin my house?”
No one paid him any attention. Even Mo Xiao Xia was too busy screaming for help. The surrounding neighbors who only dared watch the fight from behind the window slowly poked their heads out. A tenant on the second floor leaned against the window and tutted, “Master w.a.n.g is angry now.”
“These ruffians sure are brave. They even dared to come after Master w.a.n.g.” Another tenant snacked on sunflower seeds and joined in the conversation. The gang members did not hear these comments that they a.s.sumed were not that important, and that caused their first tragedy.
Seeing how those ignorant ruffians ignored his warning, the Master w.a.n.g, who appeared to be the leader of the local gang, pulled out his phone angrily and yelled, “Son, someone has come over to our home to trash our place!”
“What? I’ll be there in a minute!” the voice on the other end of the line roared. Several minutes later, just as the gang members had almost taken care of all of Lin Yu’s men, and when they had almost captured Lin Yu and Mo Xiao Xia, a group of strong men in uniforms arrived at the scene. They rushed into the alley and joined the fight without saying a word. Their firepower was even greater than that of those professional gang members. In just several minutes, they managed to tackle the gang members until they were stumped.
Mo Xiao Xia understood the situation. When she saw the uniforms that those guys were wearing, she immediately pulled back Lin Yu, who was rus.h.i.+ng into the fight. “Quick, we have to take this opportunity and run! They will not be able to defeat this new group.”
Lin Yu was both shocked and confused. “Who are these people? Are there underground gangs in Shanghai as well?”
When did Shanghai have such a large underground gang? Did they not say that the country had been watching over gang activity very closely?
“No, these people are Cheng Guan 1 ,” Mo Xiao Xia explained seriously.
The gang members from Xiang Jiang were heavily surrounded by the Cheng Guan who slowly gathered. Their number was slowly increasing. Every single one of the gang members was beaten until their parents could not recognize them. The tenants by the window looked at the commotion with amus.e.m.e.nt like they were visitors at the zoo, pointing and laughing among themselves.
Cheng Guan did not have the right to carry firearms, but because of that, they had more vibrant experience with using organic weapons. One can of pepper spray was enough to rule the world. Those who were a.s.saulted would go blind temporarily. Combined with the punches and kicks that landed on the body… the body and the mind were a.s.saulted simultaneously. The gang members from Xiang Jiang were incredibly angry and sad. Their numbers had been halved from the combined a.s.sault of the pepper spray and the kicks and punches. Furthermore, they noticed that Lin Yu and Mo Xiao Xia had almost run out of the alley. The remaining five or six people who could still fight finally lost their patience. They pulled out their guns angrily to try to tip the fight around.
Their targets had almost escaped, so why should they still be cautious? As long as they were not detained on the spot and accidentally hurt other people, after the event blew over, they could say that they were carrying fake guns!
After the first bullet was shot, everyone present s.h.i.+vered, and the nearby windows all closed up one after another.
“That looks like the real thing.” There was someone among the Cheng Guan who knew his stuff. Master w.a.n.g’s son clapped his hands and stopped his people. “They have guns; this is a police matter. We should stop.”
The gang members were feeling very wronged. They scoffed, and they were going to say a few words to threaten Master w.a.n.g’s son when a middle-aged woman rushed out from Master w.a.n.g’s home. She was crying and howling as she stepped between the barrel of the gun and Master w.a.n.g’s son. “Does this place still have law? If you want to kill my son, you will have to kill me first! If you dare, then shoot! If you want to kill someone, then you kill me!”
When she spoke, she showed no fear to the gun and even pulled on the gang member’s hair while kicking and spitting.
The gang member was no match for the lady’s anger. He also noticed that Lin Yu and Mo Xiao Xia had escaped from the alley. He had no time to waste and used his elbow to knock into the middle-aged woman’s neck. The middle-aged woman’s eyes rolled back, and she collapsed to the ground. Master w.a.n.g’s son immediately rushed forward to catch his mother. The remaining members of the gang ran out of the alley. Since they carried guns with them, no one present dared to stop them.
Seeing the group of people run away, the rest of the people from the Cheng Guan looked at each other, and one of them stepped out to ask, “Leader w.a.n.g, are we going to let this be?”
Master w.a.n.g’s son did not even have the chance to say anything before his father gripped his fists that were shaking with anger turned to look at the other gang members who were abandoned and hissed, “We are not going to let this be! Take all these people back to your place and do what you have to do!”
The gang members were moaning on the ground, clutching their faces.
And what was this ‘do what you have to do’? Well, everyone should understand.
Even with the help from the justice-filled Cheng Guan, Lin Yu and Mo Xiao Xia were unable to outrun the five gang members who had activated the anger buff. The reason was none other than Mo Xiao Xia, who was not as physically fit as those gang members. After all, few people could run at a speed that was faster than an Olympic runner.
Since Lin Yu was unwilling to give Mo Xiao Xia up, naturally, he was bogged down by the girl. His one pair of hands was not enough to fight five people, and the numerical advantage meant that the gang members easily managed to catch up to and then overwhelm Lin Yu.
After capturing Lin Yu and Mo Xiao Xia, the five angered people decided to beat Lin Yu until he was almost dying to vent their previous anger. This was also to stop their desire to escape from their grasp. Mo Xiao Xia was held hostage with the gun that was hidden inside one of the members’ coats. She could only cry and wipe at her tears, looking very pitiable.
“Why don’t you try to run again?” The four people who taught Lin Yu his lesson were very angry, and they did not hold back. Once they thought about their friends who had been a.s.saulted in the alley by the pepper spray and were caught in the rumble, their emotions were incredibly heavy and saddened.
Lin Yu was a real man. Since he had been able to destroy the limbs of the group that had the leader with a cap without flinching, naturally he would not have cried or begged for mercy when it was his turn.
Therefore, even though Lin Yu was kicked and stepped on like a dog, he did not issue a single groan. The smell of iron that rushed up his throat was forcibly pushed down into his stomach. Even with the bone in his hand broke with a clear snap, he only treated it as music. The way that he acted made chills run up the spines of his attackers. The man who held Mo Xiao Xia finally could not watch this anymore and said something to stop the attack. “You can stop now. If we accidentally kill him, then all our effort will go to waste. We still have important things to do.”
The group of people looked at each other, and they stopped with the desire to attack still burning in their eyes. Mo Xiao Xia rushed forward with a cry coming out from her lips. This time, no one stopped her. After all, it was one girl carrying an invalid—they were not going to run very far.
Mo Xiao Xia was all fl.u.s.tered. She wanted to pick Lin Yu up from the ground, but she was afraid of touching any wounds and making it worse. The tears fell onto the ground continuously. “Are… are you okay?”
This was a pointless question. Just with her eyes, she could tell that Lin Yu was not okay.
Lin Yu forced his lips to curve into a smile. “I’m fine.”
That was a lie as well; no one would have believed it.
Mo Xiao Xia glared at him and started to sniffle and wipe at her tears. The people around them were impervious to their little love drama. The men who stepped forward pulled Lin Yu up from the ground with no gentleness at all. Earlier, when they were teaching the man a lesson, they had paid special attention to not harm the man’s legs, so after Lin Yu was on his feet, he could still barely walk… or at least, he had to force himself to walk. “If you want to live, then follow us honestly.”
Mo Xiao Xia insisted on supporting Lin Yu. The other people were too lazy to argue with her about something as insignificant as this. The five people surrounded the two in the middle. From the outside, it looked like they were protecting them, but in reality, they were holding them hostage. This was how they walked toward the place where the gang members had parked their cars.
Avoiding the crowd and walking through the small alleys, the five were not afraid of Mo Xiao Xia and Lin Yu. After all, there were few good Samaritans, and it would have been hard for these two to escape. Mo Xiao Xia was unusually obedient. She silently helped Lin Yu walk down the street and did not say a word. Seeing this, Lin Yu was afraid that she was scared, so he tried to comfort her.
After walking past another street, Mo Xiao Xia had to stop to catch her breath. The gang members frowned, and they scolded her angrily, “What are you doing? Keep walking!”
“I have no energy anymore.” Mo Xiao Xia rubbed at her tears and retorted angrily. “My legs hurt, and I’m thirsty and hungry!”
Lin Yu quickly tried to stand on his own. “Then you shouldn’t carry me anymore. Are you tired already?”
“How come you have so many issues‽” a gang member roared. “Are you going to move or not? You’re up to something, aren’t you?”
Mo Xiao Xia glared back at the man angrily. “I want to have something to eat and something to drink, or else I’m not moving even one more step! If you dare, then use your gun to kill me!”
The gang members were not afraid of Mo Xiao Xia escaping, but they also did not want to attract the attention of unwanted people. After frowning, the people all turned toward the man who seemed to be the leader among the five. The man opened his lips and said with impatience, “Ah Hu, you go and buy something to eat.”
Then he turned to warn Mo Xiao Xia. “No more requests and tricks from you. After we buy you the food, you will follow us into the car, or else don’t think I won’t fire a bullet into your skull.”
Mo Xiao Xia harrumphed and turned her head away. Abandoning Lin Yu, who was afraid that she might anger these people, she touched the shoulders of Ah Hu, who was ordered to buy food for her. “I want to eat that one!”
She pointed at one of the mobile carts by the street.
The man looked at the cart and then used his eyes to show his condescension toward Mo Xiao Xia’s taste. He said impatiently, “Go, go, go. Go and buy it for her!”
Ah Hu ran to the cart identified by Mo Xiao Xia. Looking at the local snack that he could not recognize, he indicated the size of the block that he wanted with his hands. He planned to finish this as soon as possible. “Give me… this much.”
The hawker smiled happily and then tossed the snack into the paper bag.
Ah Hu accepted the bag and then asked, “How much?”
“@$*#*#@*%…” The hawker said something in a local dialect that Ah Hu could not understand. Then he pulled out one hand after another to make the sign for ‘6’.
Ah Hu took out a one hundred bill and gave it to the man. “No need for change!”
He was about to turn and walk away when he was pulled back.
“[email protected]($(#[email protected]#&$!!” the hawker said darkly, and his two fingers moved back and forth before Ah Hu’s face. Ah Hu’s expression changed. “Are you asking for 600?”
Not far away, the gang leader started to get impatient and shouted, “Are you ready yet or not?”
Mo Xiao Xia hid her fake tears behind her fingers, and she sneaked a glance at Ah Hu, who was in the middle of argument with the hawker. She pretended to hold Lin Yu as she leaned over to whisper, “Humph! Bunch of bad guys, who told you to bully me.”
Lin Yu felt that something was wrong. He lowered his voice and then asked when people around them were not paying attention, “What’s going on?”
“Do you know what he is purchasing?” Mo Xiao Xia replied with pride in her voice.
Lin Yu shook his head. Mo Xiao Xia leaned in closer and then giggled twice like a little fox. She revealed the answer by whispering into Lin Yu’s ears. “That isQie Gao 2 .”
Qie Gao? Lin Yu was confused.
Even though he was confused, it did not stop Lin Yu from enjoying what happened next. He saw Ah Hu hand the hawker his entire wallet, and the hawker was still not satisfied and was not going to let him go. The originally quiet corner of the street suddenly became rowdy as a few people came out from the alleys to surround Ah Hu.
The leader looked at Mo Xiao Xia with a frown, and the girl turned her head away to play dead. The leader waved for another man to go and help Ah Hu, but he saw the hawker also call for his helpers. His people pulled out knives, completely ignoring the order from the government that banned weapon. The leader was shocked, unable to understand why there was such an openly illegal group operating in daylight.
Didn’t they say weapon like guns and knives are banned in China?
The scariest thing was that they had exposed their location to the people. The hawker pointed at them and said a string of words that they could not understand, but they saw four people with dark faces carrying knives walking toward them.
The gang members did not want to raise a commotion in China, so unless it was absolutely necessary, they did not want to pull out their guns. However, the hawker and his buddies did not look like they were afraid. The gang members understood that they would not hesitate to use their knives. The enemies were more powerful, so the gang members pulled all of their wallets, wanting to settle this peacefully. However, even after gathering all the money that they had, they did not get the hawker’s satisfaction.
Very soon, the hawker’s people started to gather, and the people started to gather, and the police started to gather. Before the gang members realized what had happened, they suddenly realized that things had gotten way out of their control.
Mo Xiao Xia, who had been preparing for this perfect opportunity, took in a deep breath, ran into the crowd, and shouted at the top of her lungs, “Police, these gangster have guns on them!”
…
When Ye Shuang raced the car and arrived at the location that Ol’ K had been fixing and fixing, they finally saw Mo Xiao Xia and Lin Yu. They saw Lin Yu being surrounded by reporters, and he was being interviewed.
“…There are many people with a good heart in China. This time, the gang members were able to be captured so quickly, and that is due to the courage and the bravery of the Chinese people who were willing to stand against evil. They have protected the name of their ancestors and helped maintain the justice of the society. This made me feel incredibly touched…”
Ye Shuang ignored Lin Yu, who was lying out of his teeth to the reporters. She looked around and saw Mo Xiao Xia, who was squatting on the ground just away from the crowd. Even though there were bruises on Lin Yu’s face, Mo Xiao Xia appeared completely unharmed. Ye Shuang sighed in relief subconsciously. She led Qian Qianxiang and the confused group over to Mo Xiao Xia and squatted down before her. “Xiao Xia, are you okay?”
Mo Xiao Xia lifted her head when her name was called. When she saw Brother Shuang and Rong Su, she finally reacted. She jumped up from the ground and happily exclaimed, “You’re finally here!”
“Yes.” Ye Shuang nodded as she stood up. Then, she looked around with a frown. “…Didn’t you say someone was holding you hostage with a gun?”
“Oh, that thing.” Mo Xiao Xia waved her hand. “That has already been solved!”
What in the world just happened?
When they drove Mo Xiao Xia home, Ye Shuang finally heard from Mo Xiao Xia what really happened. After hearing everything, the only thought in Ye Shuang’s mind was… nothing. Complete blankness.
Cheng Guan, Qie Gao… She did not expect the things that would turn the situation around were so… unexpected. In the end, the result was a positive one, so she did not mind so much about the procedure. And in this incident, Lin Yu’s performance was praise-worthy, and Mo Xiao Xia’s ability to think on her feet had managed to impress many people.
However, since she was in her male ident.i.ty, it was not Ye Shuang’s place to make overly-close jokes. However, Rong Su exclaimed several times when she heard the story, and then after that, she even knocked into Mo Xiao Xia with her arms, asking in a mocking voice, “So, what is your opinion of Mr. Lin now? He has changed your opinion about him, hasn’t he? Were you so touched that you are willing to marry him to thank him for saving your life?”
Lin Yu was sent to the hospital by his men who arrived later at the scene. Qiu Yu also asked to be dropped by the street during their journey home. She would take a taxi to go back to the hotel on her own. It was still Ye Shuang driving the car. Qian Qianxiang had to settle in at the pa.s.senger seat, and the backseat was a chatting s.p.a.ce for the girls.
After hearing that, Mo Xiao Xia’s cheeks flushed, and she lowered her head out of embarra.s.sment. The alarm for danger started to scream intensely in Qian Qianxiang’s mind. Looking at the shy Mo Xiao Xia, the mocking Rong Su, and then finally at Ye Shuang, who once saved his sister at the film set…
Qian Qianxiang’s face straightened and then directly vetoed the romantic ideals of little girls. “Even if he saves you during period of danger, it does not mean that he is a good person… Even if there is a guarantee of his personality, what if this man has a weakness that you cannot stomach at all? You’ll need to consider something from all sides and do not make a decision that you might regret for the rest of your life due to the emotions within the moment! This is especially true for something that will affect you for as long as you may live!”
Do you hear that, little sister! Even though the man might have saved you, the idea that you have to surrender your body to repay him for his kindness is something that you should never consider.
Mo Xiao Xia blinked several times and nodded after some hesitation. “…Ok.”
Even though Rong Su’s cousin was still quite a bit of a stranger, what he said seemed to be directed at her… right?
Rong Su was confused. “Brother Xiang, why are you so agitated?”
Naturally, Ye Shuang could understand Qian Qianxiang’s hidden meaning, and as sad as it was, she could not help but sigh for Lin Yu. This was the best chance for him to turn things around, and the beauty was almost falling into his arms, but he definitely would not have expected someone to dirty his business when he was not around. With his words, Qian Qianxiang pulled the affection level back to zero. He wanted Mo Xiao Xia to consider it calmly and carefully… The saddest thing was that this was collateral damage; the target that the man was going after was not even him…
After taking Mo Xiao Xia back to Boss Mo’s home, Ye Shuang bade farewell to Qian Qianxiang and Rong Su. The former guarded against him like he was a thief going after their money.
After returning to the hotel, Ye Shuang took a shower to unwind. Then she sat at her computer to think. She tried to summarize the events that happened that day as best as she could in an email and sent it to Han Chu’s address. She also coupled it with her own opinion.
From the way the gang members were willing to give up everything to do this, this went to show the pressure that the Lin family had applied on their gang in Xiang Jiang. Since the small gang had been targeted, even though Xia Cheng had not yet been exposed at Tian w.a.n.g Media, it was certain that his power at the company would become even more limited.
If everything had still been within a barely controllable situation before this, then the issue that day where Lin Yu was a.s.saulted would definitely cause Lin Chen to deal with Xia Cheng. This was where they would tear at each other. Whether he gave Xia Cheng the chance to explain his situation or not, or perhaps even after Lin Chen heard the reasoning from Xia Cheng, he would not have believed it. Ye Shuang did not think that the man would be dumb enough to allow such an uncertain element to continue working for him at Tian w.a.n.g Media.
If Xia Cheng stopped working at Tian w.a.n.g Media, then their method of following his trail to find the other people on his connection and his money would not be so simple anymore. Then, should they volunteer to provide another platform to Xia Cheng, or should they wait patiently to see what the man might do next?
Ye Shuang had not interacted with Xia Cheng enough to predict what he might do next. Other than the lead that she had with Tian w.a.n.g Media, the only other lead that she knew had connection with Xia Cheng was the latest spokesperson for LPA, Rong Su, and LPA’s chief designer, Karen.
Ye Shuang arranged her thoughts and then tried to adjust the rest of her plan based on her prediction. After some time, the notification for a new email came from her computer. Opening it, there was only a simple sentence that was written in reply.
“Do it whatever way you want.”
As expected… Ye Shuang smiled, closed the computer, dried her hair, and went to sleep.
…
The next day, the explosive news that happened yesterday naturally… did not appear on the news. At most, it was only briefly mentioned in several smaller articles.
“Yesterday an incident with armed men occurred in City XX, and with the cooperation of the police officers and several brave citizens, they managed to capture x.x.x people…”
Such news.
Of course, the real news happened in Xiang Jiang. The whole member of the small gang was wiped out—this news practically shocked the whole San He Gang in Xiang Jiang. After all, everyone knew how many men Lin Yu carried with him. In terms of numbers and firepower, everyone expected the small gang to succeed. There was no possibility of them failing.
Who would have thought that things really did not happen like that. The whole of San He Gang was incredibly curious about what happened, and then people started to spread rumors about hidden masters residing in China. Could there really be a hidden master?
Regardless, Lin Chen managed to hear everything right from Lin Yu’s lips. For everything that happened to his youngest brother, this mature businessman had nothing else but “F*cking good luck!” to say about this whole incident. While he listened to the gossip, it did not deter Lin Chen from planning what to do next.
Just as Ye Shuang predicted, even though this thing had no proof that it was directly related to Xia Cheng, the point that it was not safe to keep Xia Cheng around was enough. Lin Chen did not want to keep an unstable element by his side, and he did not want to use his own brother’s personal safety to test out this possibility. Therefore, that morning, Xia Cheng received news from the main company in Xiang Jiang that he was fired.
Lin Chen followed the contract and paid Xia Cheng more than enough money as part of the severance package. He even went a step further and face-slapped Xia Cheng all over Tian w.a.n.g Media. He announced to everyone at the company from the highest manager to the lowest toilet sweeper that Xia Cheng was no longer an employee at their company. He made sure that even the auntie that cleaned the toilet knew about that. Other than that, he banned Xia Cheng from taking away his personal affects from the company and from the accommodation that had been provided by the company… other than the clothes that Xia Cheng wore on his back, his wallet, and necessary doc.u.ments.
Probably afraid that Xia Cheng would turn on him after he was cornered and spread company information to others when people were not paying attention, Lin Chen went about doing this quickly and efficiently. It had to be said that what he did indeed fl.u.s.tered Xia Cheng. He did not even know what had really happened.
The man had originally entered the company with negative intentions anyway. Even though he might not have gained access to important details due to his ident.i.ty, he did manage to copy some company accounts and internal information. Lin Chen had his a.s.sistant take over Xia Cheng’s accommodation in Shanghai immediately.
When the a.s.sistant was going through Xia Cheng’s computer, he found some doc.u.ments that Xia Cheng had illegally copied from the company server. They were encrypted doc.u.ment that contained company accounts and a few doc.u.ments that detailed the future development of Tian w.a.n.g Media. That evidence complemented the lie that Ye Shuang had made up earlier and supported her suggestion that Xia Cheng was a traitor.
“This is not enough to bring him to court, but it does not matter anymore. After all, my brother has found out the problem. He only needs to fix some clauses afterward.” Lin Yu had called Ye Shuang. He sounded lazy, and Ye Shuang could hear the sound of the television at the hospital in the background. “Even though you still have not come up with any investigation result, you are the reason Xia Cheng got exposed, so my brother says that the money can be considered our gift of appreciation. If there’s any news regarding our company in the future, I hope that you’ll be kind enough to inform us.”
“We also wish the best for your company. Of course, we welcome a generous client.” Brother Shuang b.u.t.toned up his s.h.i.+rt as he talked on the phone. “But I have a favor to ask. We still have other things to follow up on Xia Cheng. If your brother manages to find out information before we do, do you mind sharing some information with us? Of course, only within the acceptable range.”
“Within the acceptable range?” Lin Yu yawned weakly. He was so unhappy that Mo Xiao Xia did not come to visit him at the hospital. Even his tone sounded bored and weak. “For example?”
“I remember that Xia Cheng once offered someone a contract with LPA, right? At the time, didn’t you say that your company would not have that resources? Since you have already taken over Xia Cheng’s personal computer, do you mind looking through his company to see if there are any similar clues?”
“No problem,” Lin Yu said casually. “Xiao Xia said that you have a very good hacker, right? After we go through the computer, your people can come to our company to do some searches, but you cannot recover the files that we have deleted. Those will be our company’s confidential files.”
With the consensus made, Ye Shuang temporarily had no other requests. Even though Xia Cheng would not have kept any truly incriminating information on his computer, it was not impossible to find some valuable clues. He probably also did not expect Lin Chen to do something so drastic and cruel. He had banned him from reaching his personal stuff, which meant that even though Xia Cheng might want to stop it, it would already be too late.
How was he going to stop it? The man had already compensated him with more money than was stipulated in the contract. Furthermore, Lin Chen could have said that he did this to prevent company secrets from being leaked. Lin Chen had plenty of reasonable excuses for his actions.
On top of that, the Lin family came from a complicated background. They had connections to the mafia. This kind of local power was what the money-laundering organization hated to deal with the most. Therefore, what else could he do but let them keep his stuff? After all, they would not find anything important from the computer. Even if they did find something… with the intellect of the Lin family’s people, did they really plan to fight them as agents of justice after such things had been exposed?
Most likely, they would simply maintain their silence.
In the following few days, Mo Xiao Xia was busy running between the hospital and the film set; Lin Yu was busy trying to win his girl; Rong Su was busy shooting the spokesperson reel for LPA; Qiu Yu was busy translating…
Ye Shuang was the freest. She was so free that she even had time to go play mahjong and golf with Qian Qianxiang. This was not because she was willing but mostly because this man was too cunning. He knew that Ye Shuang was dangerous, but at the same time, he knew that Ye Shuang worked under Han Chu, so after giving it some thought, Qian Qianxiang came up with a solution. He sent a case directly to Han Chu and requested Ye Shuang to accompany him. With five thousand a day, he purchased the big bad wolf to stay by his side so that the wolf would not have time to go and find Little Red Riding Hood.
When Han Chu sent the case over, even though Ye Shuang was speechless, she did not mind it. After all, her schedule was wide open, and since someone was going to gift her money, she was not going to refuse. Therefore, she signed a contract with Qian Qianxiang. She changed into Brother Shuang and accompanied Qian Qianxiang. Qian Qianxiang got his wish—he would take Brother Shuang as far away from his cousin as possible, meaning they would leave the city every time.
Then he would be heavily face-slapped!
After Brother Shuang potted yet another hole in one, Qian Qianxiang pushed away the group of screaming girls that had gathered around them. He patted Ye Shuang on his shoulder and smiled faintly. “Your golfing technique is not bad. How many years have you been playing?”
“Actually, I just started not that long ago.” Ye Shuang smiled humbly—if she said that this was just her second time playing, people would have something to say, so she could only be vague.
Noticing the scowl on Qian Qianxiang’s face, Ye Shuang put the golf club away and planned not to rile up the man anymore. “I see, Mr. Qian, you are quite tired already. Shall we go to the side to rest?”
Qian Qianxiang gritted his teeth and glared at Ye Shuang for half a minute before nodding unwillingly. “Fine.”
The both of them reached the parasol, and the people who were standing around them served them drinks on the table. After taking their seats, Ye Shuang took a sip of the fruit juice and then sighed. “Actually, there is really nothing between me and Xiao Su. Mr. Qian, you do not need to be so cautious around me.”
Even though the money was easy, the atmosphere was too awkward. Furthermore, Ye Shuang thought that this was not going to affect her official business, but when she started doing this for real, she realized that there were many inconvenient places—like she was unable to carry her laptop with her. Yes, she had her phone, but many things needed the computer to understand. Sometimes, when Ol’ K or Anthony sent something to her, she would need to return to the hotel before she could see the message.
Qian Qianxiang smiled coldly. “It is because there is nothing between you that I am so angry!”
The man already did not show any interest in her, so why did his sister not get the hint?
Ye Shuang looked at Qian Qianxiang in confusion and then turned her head away because she did not know what to say. The man looked like he was so worried that he might explode. If he found out that Ye Shuang had promised Rong Su that she was going to Paris to meet up with her at the shooting spot, Qian Qianxiang would probably have a stroke on the spot.
“Hey! Why aren’t you saying anything anymore?”
Ye Shuang did not want to ruffle Qian Qianxiang’s feathers, but it did not mean that the other had the same feeling. He saw Ye Shuang turn his head away, and Qian Qianxiang felt annoyed and disrespected immediately.
Ye Shuang sighed. “It’s nothing, I just thought the scenery here is really not bad. The natural environment… Eh? Isn’t that people from the Yan Family?”