Chapter 147 — The Long-Awaited...

"Really?" Sun Jie clearly didn't believe him. She wondered whether this was a performance Yang Ce had put on deliberately—or perhaps a deliberate display of his capabilities in front of her, to win her heart.

But then again, on second thought, that didn't seem right either. Yang Ce didn't strike her as the sort to be so childish. Besides, today's encounter was purely accidental—there was no way Yang Yongjin could have anticipated they'd run into each other and arranged all this in advance.

What's more, coming to a bar for hot drinks had been Sun Jie's own idea, not Yang Ce's. So her head cleared at once, and she cooled down.

Unless... unless this was the hidden strength behind Yang Ce's identity? Could he have some other formidable status? At the thought, Sun Jie resolved to look into Yang Ce properly.

Boss Zhu had barely gone out when Hui returned, together with the waiter, carrying a whole array of the bar's specialty drinks and setting them out across the table. "Brother Yang, these hot drinks and liquors were all mixed specially by our bartender. Every glass has a number on it—whichever one you like, just tell the waiter and they'll call it up for you."

"Mm, thanks." Yang Yuting nodded, then asked, "Your boss—does he know me?"

"Oh, our boss? No, he doesn't know you. It's just that I mentioned earlier that you're well acquainted with Brother Bao and his crowd, so he came over to toast you," Hui said.

"So that's how it is. All right, got it." Yang Cenbin finally understood why Boss Zhu had come to toast him—it was because of Bao Lin.

Hui had a keen eye for such things. Seeing that Yang Yongjin had spoken, he quickly withdrew from the private room. Once he was gone, Yang Ce shrugged. "See? I told you—I don't know him."

Sun Jie shook her head too. It seemed she had been overthinking things. Yang Ce was simply familiar with Bao Lin and his people, and that was why he did so well for himself in Songjiang.

Boss Zhu was the sort who knew how to work every angle—otherwise he could never have grown his bar this big. He never let slip any chance to get acquainted with people of consequence.

He had been worrying over how to find an excuse to get closer to Bao Lin, and now at last he had one. Boss Zhu picked up the phone and dialed Bao Lin's number.

"Hello, who's this?" Bao Lin had just gotten back from Xintong Town. Seeing an unfamiliar number on his phone, he answered it directly.

"Hello, is this Brother Bao?" Boss Zhu said cautiously.

"Speaking. And you are?" Bao Lin was a big manager now, and his manner had grown considerably more courteous.

"It's Little Zhu, from the Moyu Bar." In Bao Lin's presence, Boss Zhu wouldn't dare put on airs. Never mind that he was actually a little older than Bao Lin—age had nothing to do with it. In most cases, seniority rested on strength.

"Oh. What is it?" Bao Lin asked.

"It's like this—heh, there's a Brother Yang here, and I hear he's a friend of yours, Brother Bao. He's at the bar right now. I only just learned he was a friend of yours. We're awfully busy tonight, so if there's been any poor service, I do hope you'll forgive us." Boss Zhu sounded as though he were apologizing in advance, but in truth he was angling to curry favor with Bao Lin.

"Brother Yang?" Bao Lin was taken aback.

"Oh, his name is Yang Ce." Boss Zhu was startled too—he had thought Hui might be trading on Brother Bao's name to swindle people. Good thing I made this call, he thought; otherwise I'd have been kept in the dark.

Bao Lin's face fell at once, and his voice turned cold and grim. "Brother Yang is at your place?"

Bao Lin was angry because Boss Zhu had called Yang Ce "Brother Yang"—when even he had to address him as Brother Yang. Who the hell do you think you are? If you call him Brother Yang, then what you're really saying is that you're more capable than me. More capable than Brother Yang.

Hearing this inexplicable outburst from Bao Lin, Boss Zhu's heart lurched. Oh no, he thought, I've really stepped in it. So this Yang Ce wasn't Hui trading on Brother Bao's name to swindle people after all—he was someone even Brother Bao held in high respect.

And I actually called him Brother Yang, when Bao Lin calls him Brother Yang—so where exactly does that leave me?

Boss Zhu was quick-witted beyond measure. He understood at once why Bao Lin was angry and hurried to say, "Brother Bao, I didn't know it was Brother Yang. I'll go make amends right now—right now!"

"Treat him well. Otherwise—heh heh—if you offend Brother Yang, no one can protect you. Not me, and not even Boss Hou." Bao Lin's warning was delivered in a lukewarm tone.

Boss Zhu broke out in a cold sweat on the spot. Thank goodness he had made the call in time; otherwise, if Brother Yang had really taken a dislike to him, he'd have been finished.

To be continued.

798. How Awkward

798. How Awkward. Boss Zhu caught his breath. He didn't even bother wiping the sweat from his brow as he went dashing and stumbling back to Private Room No. 1. The waiters near the room all wondered what on earth had gotten into the boss, but none of them dared ask.

Only then did Boss Zhu find a moment to wipe his sweat. Then he knocked softly on the door—not daring to knock too hard, nothing at all like his earlier air of ease.

"Come in," Yang Ce said offhandedly, assuming it was the waiter bringing in more things.

But the man who entered was Boss Zhu again, which struck him as rather odd—he couldn't imagine what else the man could want.

"Brother Yang, I was terribly rude just now—please don't take it to heart." Boss Zhu bowed deeply the moment he stepped inside, stiff and cautious.

"What on earth are you going on about?" Boss Zhu's performance left Yang Ce utterly baffled, with no idea what he was talking about.

"Brother Yang, I know you're a man of consequence. A great man doesn't hold a petty man's faults against him. Just now I had no idea how things stood and called you 'younger brother Yang'—I really was..." Boss Zhu stammered out his explanation.

Yang Ce was struck dumb. Looking at Boss Zhu, he hardly knew whether to laugh or cry. "That's what this is about?"

Boss Zhu nodded. "Brother Bao said even he has to call you Brother Yang. I failed to recognize Mount Tai."

Yang Ce waved a hand to cut him off and said helplessly, "I never held any of that against you. By age you're my senior—calling me younger brother is only natural. All right, it's really nothing. You can go back."

"Th-then I'll be going." Boss Zhu looked at Yang Ce, saw he was not joking, and only then let out a long breath and set his mind at ease.

"Go on, it's really nothing. You're overthinking it," Yang Ce said reassuringly.

Only then did Boss Zhu withdraw. Yang Ce sighed, and when he raised his head he found Sun Jie staring at him, her gaze as if she meant to see straight through him. He could not help but laugh awkwardly. "What are you looking at me for?"

"Yang Ce, what exactly is it that you do?" Sun Jie asked, all seriousness.

"Wh-what could I possibly do?" Yang Ce feigned ignorance. "Don't you already know everything about me?"

"Then why does Bao Lin call you Brother Yang?" Sun Jie would not let it go. That one crack was enough to drag out the earth-shaking secret behind Yang Ce.

"You really want to know?" Yang Ce looked at Sun Jie lecherously and broke into a grin.

Sun Jie nodded.

Xiao Qing had no idea what riddle the two of them were trading. She was not of the underworld and did not know what forces the name Bao Lin represented, so she looked at them both in astonishment.

Yang Ce rose to his feet, leaned down to Sun Jie's ear, and said in a low voice, "If you want to know, I'll tell you tonight."

Hearing this, Sun Jie nearly exploded with rage. She had assumed Yang Ce was speaking softly because there were things he did not want Xiao Qing, who had never touched the underworld, to know. She had never expected him to come out with something like that.