Chapter 147 — The Long-Awaited...

"Any amount is fine. No minimum—you can play with just a few bucks," the short man said in a low voice.

Only then did Yang Cenbin understand: it was an underground gambling den fishing for customers. Yang Ce glanced at his own clothes—he did not look like a poor man. So he smiled and politely declined. "No, thanks. I don't care for gambling."

"Just go play a couple of rounds. It's no big deal." The short man, however, was persistent. "Try your luck—you might strike it rich."

"Really, no need." Yang Ce waved his hand and turned to leave.

The short man probably did not want to let the business slip away. Seeing Yang Ce turn, he grabbed hold of Yang Juehuan's coat, unwilling to let him go. "Wait a moment."

Yang Ce's patience was fast running out. A moment ago he had thought the short man was just a struggling fellow trying to make a living, so he had let it slide. But now the man was clinging to him and refusing to let go. Yang Wenru frowned and was about to pry him off by force.

"Hey, don't go with him—they're scammers!" Before Yang Ce could move, a soft, melodious voice came drifting over.

The voice was very familiar, and Yang Ce was slightly taken aback. He looked up—sure enough, he knew her. It was Huang Yan, the flight attendant he had met on the plane.

Huang Yan was at that moment with another flight attendant from the plane, a woman named Wang Mei. The two of them were arm in arm, looking in his direction.

Huang Yan had only recognized Yang Ce after coming closer, and she too was startled. But Wang Mei had sharp eyes and had spotted Yang Ce from the start.

Otherwise, she would never have deliberately steered the conversation toward the subject of someone running a scam. Nearly all the locals knew that this short man and his lot were swindlers.

They ran an illegal gambling den and sent out runners specifically to lure in tourists from out of town. Once the tourists arrived, they would cheat them out of every last cent. Most tourists did not understand local law and assumed that losing money gambling was simply normal—that even calling the police would do no good. In truth, these underground dens had no operating license at all and were prime targets of strict crackdowns.

Huang Yan was the sort of girl with a strong sense of justice—otherwise Wang Mei would never have taken the initiative to tell her about all this. And precisely because she had counted on Huang Yan speaking up to stop it, Wang Mei, upon seeing that the man was Yang Ce, had not told Huang Yan anything and instead let her discover it for herself.

In fact, these runners were quite afraid of stirring up trouble. Seeing a local expose him for what he was, the short man muttered a couple of words under his breath and hurried off, fearing it would bring him unnecessary trouble.

Huang Yan had never expected to run into Yang Ce here. In the midst of her astonishment, she immediately remembered how Yang Ce had stood her up the day before. Fury surged in her heart, and she glared at Yang Ce with wide-open eyes.

Huang Yan's looks were of the sweet and lovely type to begin with; even now, with fury blazing in her, nothing of it showed on the surface—if anything, her widened eyes only made her more striking.

Yang Ce had long since put the matter of treating Huang Yan to a meal out of his mind. Seeing her expression, he assumed she really did have feelings for him. By rights Yang Ce was not such a conceited man, but ever since he'd gained his abilities, beautiful women had swirled around him and he had genuinely grown a little giddy with it—and more than that, Yang Ce truly did not want to incur any debts of the heart. He had to be careful about every possibility.

"The thing is, I actually have a girlfriend." Looking at Huang Yan's enormous, beautiful, blinking eyes, Yang Ce's breathing quickened—she was devastatingly lovely. Huang Yan, hearing this baffling remark from Yang Cen, was at first utterly bewildered; but thinking it over carefully, she immediately grasped what Yang Ce was trying to say. Huang Yan nearly exploded with rage.

What did this guy mean by that? Did he actually think she was the one pestering him? Huang Yan gritted her teeth, her whole body trembling. From childhood until now, she had always been the one doing the rejecting—and now here she was, on the receiving end, when that had never been her intention at all.

Although Huang Yan's first impression of Yang Ce had been favorable, that did not mean she had truly fallen for him, or was eager to see some follow-up develop between them.

Seeing her expression, Yang Ce assumed he had rejected her and hurt her feelings, and could not help feeling somewhat helpless. "The truth is, I'm not much of a catch."

One has to say, Yang Shuoxuan was not normally this obtuse. But today, first, Huang Yan was genuinely captivating, leaving Yang Mo scarcely able to restrain himself; second, Yang Ce truly feared he might lose his grip and bring yet another girl home with him. That was what left Yang Juehuan's thinking so muddled—muddled enough to produce this whole ridiculous misunderstanding.

Heroes have always stumbled at the gate of beauty—that saying is not the least bit false.

Huang Yan truly did not know whether to laugh or cry. Looking at Yang Ce, she wished she could trample him to death. With a heavy "hmph," she turned to leave.

Wang Mei, too, was left scorched and tender by Yang Juehuan's words—she had meant to create an opportunity for Yang Ce and Huang Yan, never imagining it would end like this.

"You already have a girlfriend, so why go provoking our Lele?" Wang Mei shot Yang Puqi a glare, flung out the words, and went after Huang Yan.

This baffling remark left Yang Ce thoroughly depressed. Provoking? Whom had I provoked? Am I not even allowed to take a plane now?

Huang Yan stalked forward, huffing with anger, while Wang Mei hurried along beside her, consoling her. "Lele, don't be angry. There are plenty of men in the world."

Huang Yan had never suffered such an indignity. The more she thought, the angrier she grew. It wasn't as though she had actually pursued Yang Ce and been turned down, but it still left her feeling utterly humiliated.

To be rejected by a man in front of her best friend—what could be more humiliating? Huang Yan had already cursed Yang Ce a thousand times over in her heart. What kind of person was he? "It's not like I'm desperate for a man," Huang Yan explained, afraid Wang Mei might misunderstand. "He's so full of himself—he actually thought I liked him."

"Exactly, Lele. In a few days, I'll find you a handsome guy—better looking than him," Wang Mei said with a nod.

"I don't want one!" Huang Yan had no mind to think about any handsome guy—she was furious enough to die.

She had finally gotten a rare holiday, and the very first day her mood had been ruined. She had wanted to go shopping with Wang Mei, but now she had lost all interest. Huang Yan apologized and took her leave of Wang Mei.

Wang Mei knew Huang Yan was in low spirits, and said nothing more. She simply put her into a taxi and watched her drive away.

Wang Mei sighed, thinking to herself that Yang Ce really had no idea how to handle things. Other men tried every trick to appear single in front of Huang Yan, and here he was, coming right out and saying he had a girlfriend. She had to admit, the man certainly had a personality of his own.

But how could Yang Ce have thought so much of it? This trip to Macau was mainly for Shu Ya's sake, so he had scarcely any thought to spare for other women.

He checked the time. The concert was still a good while off. Yang Ce picked a coffee shop at random, went in, ordered a cup of coffee, and began leafing through the free dining magazine provided there.

He had picked up the magazine, which was nothing but advertisements, purely to pass the time. But when Yang Ce turned to one particular page, his eyes went wide.