Chapter 141 — Old Buffon's Origins

"Yun'er, when you go to Xiao Yang's company, you must learn with an open mind. Don't rely on being Xiao Yang's girlfriend and get spoiled and arrogant—you must keep a calm, ordinary heart." Shen Yueping spoke with unmistakable worry. "You have such a rare opportunity—you must cherish it."

"Mom, don't worry. I won't." Lin Yanhe's face flushed slightly. Her disposition made it impossible for her to become spoiled and arrogant.

"Mm, good that you know it." Shen Yueping nodded. "Though the company is Xiao Yang's, it's ultimately a partnership between two people—it's not for one household to decide alone."

"Auntie Shen, rest assured. Zhi Yun isn't that kind of person—I know that better than anyone. Otherwise I wouldn't have put her in this position," Yang Heng Ye explained.

Only after hearing Yang Cen Bin say this did Shen Yueping set her mind at ease. She still had great faith in Yang Jue Huan's word.

Now that everything that needed saying had been said, Shen Yueping stopped playing the third wheel. She rose and said, "I'll go wash the vegetables in the kitchen. You two enjoy yourselves."

After Shen Yueping left, Yang Ce pondered for a long while, feeling that he still ought to bring up the matter of Li Dadong openly.

"Zhi Yun, what do you think of Li Dadong as a person?" Yang Yan Chuan asked.

"Huh? Why do you suddenly ask that?" Lin Yanhe said, flustered. "Didn't I already tell you? I've always regarded him like my own older brother."

"Heh, I'm not asking about that—what are you getting nervous for?" Yang Ce looked at Lin Yanhe with a half-smile. "I mean, what do you think of Li Dadong's character?"

"Oh." Lin Yanhe was a little embarrassed—she'd misunderstood Yang Jue Huan's meaning. She lowered her head. "Brother Dadong is a very good person. He's kind and doesn't have any bad intentions."

"Mm, I've observed him carefully too, and I think his character is quite good." Yang Ce continued, "Say—how would you feel about having Li Dadong come help at the jewelry company?"

"What? Him?" Lin Yanhe was startled and blurted out, "Aren't you worried?"

"Why would I be worried?" Yang Pu Qi laughed, looking at Lin Yanhe's flushed, pretty face.

"Uh—I mean, that is—" Lin Yanhe stammered. What she'd just said had slipped out involuntarily, and now, thinking it over, it seemed far too suggestive. She hurried to explain, "I mean, aren't you afraid Brother Dadong might deliberately do something to sabotage the company?"

But once the words were out, Lin Yanhe felt something was off again. She'd just said Li Dadong's character was good and that he had no bad intentions—wasn't she contradicting herself now?

Sure enough, Yang Ce said, "Zhi Yun, you mustn't lie now. Didn't you just say Li Dadong is a very good person? How is it that in the blink of an eye you're saying he'd cause trouble?"

"Me, well, oh—anyway, what I mean is, Big Dong, you should understand how he feels about me. If things go on like this, how can he possibly focus on his work?" Lin Yanhe forced herself to say, brazening it out.

"Some things can never be resolved unless you face them," Yang Hengye said. "The best approach is to make Li Dadong accept the facts as quickly as possible, so he doesn't fall apart entirely."

And there was another purpose behind Yang Cenbin's actions: to display his own strength before Li Dadong. In truth, this too was for Li Dadong's own good—to make him realize clearly that no matter what, he could never reach the heights Yang Cenbin occupied, and thus to extinguish his longing for Lin Yanhe.

"Maybe you're right. All right, then—next time I see Big Dong, I'll go ask him what he thinks."

It was about time. He called Zhao Sisi and learned that the company had finished its renovations, so Yang Cenbin and Lin Yanhe prepared to set off and take a look.

They had not gone far from the house when they saw Li Dadong approaching with two of his friends. The three were talking loudly about something, and Li Dadong looked extremely agitated, taking no notice of Yang Ce and Lin Yanhe nearby.

"Zheng Zetao, if you still consider me your friend, don't bring that up again. I may not claim to be any gentleman, but that thing you're suggesting—I will absolutely not do it," Li Dadong said loudly. "It's too despicable. It would hurt Zhiyun far too much."

"Dadong—" Zheng Zetao had spotted Lin Yanhe not far away and hurriedly tried to warn him.

But Li Dadong cut him off: "Say no more. I will never agree to it. Don't bring that underworld way of doing things out here. Zetao, have you spent so long running around bathhouses with your brother that you've picked up their thuggish habits? You never used to be like this."

"Dadong, look who's in front of you," Yaoyang said, seeing that Li Dadong was on the verge of giving everything away, and clapped him on the shoulder.

"Ah?" Li Dadong looked up and saw Yang Ce and Lin Yanhe walking toward them. He started. "Yang Ce, Zhiyun, you—"

"Li Dadong, I was right about you after all." Yang Ce walked over and patted Li Dadong's arm with satisfaction. "Clear-eyed about good and evil, right and wrong. Very good."

Yang Shuoxuan was no fool. From what Li Dadong had just said, he had roughly grasped the hidden meaning. That Zheng Zetao was clearly no good sort—how good could his advice possibly be? He was merely trying to persuade Li Dadong to use despicable means to win Lin Yanhe. But Li Dadong had flatly refused, which showed that he was a man of strong principle and a keen sense of justice, not to be seduced by profit.

"Damn, what the hell are you?" Zheng Zetao had been irritated for a while. If Li Dadong hadn't been doing his utmost to hold him back, he would have taught Yang Ce a lesson long ago. Now Yang Juehuan's every word implied that Zheng Zetao was the villain and Li Dadong the virtuous one—how could that not infuriate him?

"Li Dadong, let me give you a piece of advice: a friend like this is no friend at all. Don't think he's helping you—he's harming you." Yang Ce swept a cold glance at Zheng Zetao. "Those shitty ideas he's feeding you will be the death of you."

Yang Yanzhou's words were no lie. If Li Dadong dared to harbor any improper designs on Lin Yanhe, he would meet a very ugly end.

"Zetao means well for me too." Li Dadong looked somewhat embarrassed. Yang Ce's dressing-down of Zheng Zetao to his face put him in an awkward position.

"Go to hell. Dadong and I have been friends for how many years? And what the hell are you? Let me tell you—if Dadong hadn't pleaded for you, I'd have you lying on the ground right now, if not crippled. You don't know your place!" Zheng Zetao cursed.

Yang Ce clenched the fist of his right hand, then released it. He shook his head and said, "I've said my piece. Think it over yourself. As for this friend of yours, I have nothing more to say. In Songjiang, there aren't many people who dare talk to me like that."

And the few there were consisted of Yang Juehuan's parents, his elders, and his woman.

Zheng Zetao wore a look of utter disdain. He had seen arrogance before, but never arrogance like Yang Cenbin's. Besides, those people had the capital to back up their arrogance—what did this one have? Just a bit more bulk. In a one-on-one fight, Zheng Zetao was certain he could take him, so with no backup at hand, he dared not strike first, and merely stood to one side sneering.

"Oh, right, Big Dong—I'm going to Yang Juehuan's company to have a look. Why don't you come along with us?" Lin Yanhe suddenly remembered what Yang Ce had told her at home, and so she extended the invitation.

"A company? Great, sure!" Li Dadong did not think at all about what company it was or what it actually did; he simply agreed instinctively because Lin Yanhe had asked.

Over on the other side, Zheng Zetao's face was full of mockery: "What company? Dadong, don't let him fool you."

"Wait, Zhiyun, what's this really about? What company?" Only now did Li Dadong react, and he asked Lin Yanhe in puzzlement.