Chapter 141 — Old Buffon's Origins

"It's like this: why don't we go visit Sun Lin tonight and say that the young master has taken a fancy to his daughter and wants to take her back to P Province. What do you think of that idea?" Wang Chengen suggested.

"But I haven't had my fun yet—I don't want to get married," Ouyang Junyuan said. Though he lusted after Sun Jie's beauty, he had no wish to hang himself from a single tree.

"Boss Ouyang, think about it. Once we're back in P Province, that's our turf—whatever you want, you're the one who decides. Here she's a precious young lady, true, but in P Province she'll be nothing, and she'll be entirely at your disposal," Wang Chengen said.

"Ha ha, well said!" Ouyang Junyuan nodded vigorously at that. "Good, then it's settled. Go find out where Sun Lin lives—we'll pay a visit tonight."

Ouyang Junyuan was indeed wildly arrogant, and that was because he had never suffered the slightest setback. In P Province he could summon the wind and call the rain; since there was no conflict of interest with his elder brother, the eldest Ouyang Junwei looked after this younger brother of his very well.

As it happened, that evening Wu Yunsheng was also due to visit Yang Xin's home, so the four of them strolled about casually for a while and then went their separate ways.

"You know that Snake Bro?" Sun Jie suddenly asked Yang Yanchuan on the way back.

"Mm," Yang Puqi grunted, startled, though he did not conceal it. "How did you know?"

"I could see it," Sun Jie said. "The way he looked at you—it was almost fearful, more afraid than he was of me."

Yang Ce looked at Sun Jie with a genuine sense of awe. Her powers of observation were astonishingly keen—such a fleeting detail, and she had seen it perfectly clearly. So he said, "Back when Bao Lin and Yu Xiangde were fighting over territory, this fellow got a beating from me. I suppose it left him with a psychological scar."

"Fighting over territory—you were involved in that too?" Sun Jie stared at Yang Ce, trying to read something in Yang Juehuan's face.

"Is there a problem with that?" Yang Ce countered.

"No," Sun Jie said faintly. "Yang Ce, you seem to keep a great many things from me."

"Ha!" Yang Ce suddenly laughed. "That's rich. I keep things from you? What are we to each other? I've told you everything about me—could you keep it a secret for me? You're not my wife. I'm not that foolish."

"True enough." Sun Jie, surprisingly, was not angry; she nodded instead. "Then wait for the day I fall in love with you—tell me then."

It had to be said that Sun Jie was a rather unusual woman; her logic was something Yang Ce found very hard to adapt to.

"Tch. What good is you falling in love with me? You have to make me fall in love with you," Yang Ce said, curling his lip.

"I think you're already trending that way," Sun Jie said flatly. "An automatic car doesn't need gear-shifting, but that's no reason to keep your hand on my leg all the time. Hey, you're really getting into it—where are you groping? And pinching, too!"

Yang Jiyan put on a look of letting it go in one ear and out the other, directly ignoring Sun Jie's complaints. Sun Jie, however, pressed her legs tightly together to stop Yang Juehuan's hand from wandering further, and said angrily, "Yang Ce, the more you do this, the more you make me find you disgusting. Don't you think it's sordid and vulgar?"

Yang Ce pulled his hand back sheepishly, not having expected his move to provoke Sun Jie's distaste. But Yang Puqi had always been the more forceful type; though he withdrew his hand, he said nothing more.

Seeing Yang Ce silent for a long while, Sun Jie grew rather curious. "What's wrong? Angry?"

"..." Yang Xuyu said nothing.

"Are you even a man? So petty," Sun Jie said, looking at Yang Ce in some surprise. He did not seem like the small-minded sort.

"..." Yang Ce remained speechless.

"Forget it. How about I let you touch me, then? But not down there—it's a bit uncomfortable. Touch up top," Sun Jie teased Yang Ce.

"Sure!" Yang Cenbin answered briskly without a moment's thought, not the slightest displeasure on his face.

"..." This time it was Sun Jie's turn to be speechless. She glared at Yang Ce, fuming—she had actually been played by Yang Ce.

Yang Ce said that, but his hands made no further move. He was not a man driven by lust; the reason he had touched Sun Jie's thigh and that particular spot just now was simply to tease her, and he had not expected it to provoke her distaste. So this time Yang Cenbin merely talked the talk without acting on it.

Back at Sun Jie's home, Yang Jiyan sensed a change—a change in Sun Lin. Clearly, Sun Lin's attitude toward him was much better than before, and he no longer brought up what had happened previously.

"Xiao Yang, come, the food's ready. You and Xiao Jie go wash your hands and come straight to the table," Mother Sun said warmly.

Yang Ce and Sun Jie had gone back to acting as intimate as before. Though Sun Jie had plenty of complaints about Yang Juehuan's little maneuvers, she swallowed them in silence. In front of her family she was, after all, supposed to be his girlfriend—and if the two of them seemed too distant, that in itself would raise questions.

The dishes that evening were lavish. A man of Sun Lin's standing rarely entertained guests at home anymore, but Yang Shuoxuan hardly counted as a guest, so this meal was better described as a family dinner.

Only four sat at the table—Yang Ce, Sun Jie, Sun Lin, and Mother Sun. Sun San did not join them. Sun Lin and his wife took the seats of honor, with Yang Ce and Sun Jie flanking them on either side.

"Little Yang, try some of Auntie's cooking." Mother Sun had more or less already accepted Yang Ce's place in the household, and she made no effort to hide her fondness for him.

"Thank you." Yang Ce thanked her again and again—then promptly began helping Sun Jie fill her plate. Mother Sun saw it all, and her heart swelled with delight.

Sun Jie, meanwhile, mouthed silently at Yang Ce: 'You're putting on quite the show.'

Yang Hengye grinned and took no offense.

Just as the mood was at its warmest, Sun San suddenly appeared. "Sir, there's someone outside claiming to be from the Ouyang family of P Province, asking to see you."

"The Ouyang family of P Province?" Sun Lin was taken aback. Then he asked, "Why would they come at this hour? Did they say what they want?"

"They say they have business with you, sir, and wish to see you as soon as possible," Sun San replied.

Had it been anyone else, Sun San would simply have sent them packing—what nonsense, as if Sun Lin were someone you could see on a whim, especially now that he was dining with his prospective son-in-law's family.

But the Ouyang family of P Province—that forced Sun San to take it seriously. He knew well enough what the Ouyang family did. They were, in effect, the underground emperors of all P Province. Sun Lin controlled only Donghai City; beside the Ouyang family, he was utterly outmatched.

Still, P Province, though it bordered them, had never had much dealings with the Sun family. What business could the Ouyang family have with Sun Lin at a time like this?

Sun Lin mused for a moment, then said, "Let them in. Have them wait in the sitting room—I'll be out shortly."

To be continued.

656. Don't Leave

Sun Lin set down his bowl and chopsticks and said to Yang Ce and the others, "I'll step out for a moment. Go ahead and eat."

This so-called Young Master Ouyang could actually make Sun Lin leave the table to receive him—clearly no ordinary person. Curious, Yang Ce used his ability to take a look at what was happening outside.

When he made out the so-called Young Master Ouyang at the door, Yang Yongjin couldn't help but frown. So it was this fellow. That was right—the man Yang Ce saw was none other than Wang Cheng'en, and the man beside him was presumably Young Master Ouyang himself.