Chapter 147 — The Long-Awaited...

"Then I'll buy you a villa with a courtyard, something similar," Yang Ce said. "I'll keep an eye out for one in the next couple of days."

"You could have that brat Dong Jun buy it too," Fang Tian said after a moment's thought. "He's richer than you."

"You're kidding—richer than me?" Yang Ce was startled. This was the first he had learned that Dong Jun was actually richer than he was. He had thought that the pile of black money squeezed out of old Dorsk was already quite a lot.

"That bit of money of yours is nothing much," Fang Tian said carelessly. "By the way, there are two assignments. Take a look and see which one you'll accept."

"Two assignments? Why not just take both?" Yang Ce found it rather odd. He even felt there were too few assignments; what was there to look at? Naturally, he would take as many as he could.

"That won't work, I'm afraid." Fang Tian shook his head. "Unless you take money from both sides—kill the target, then kill the employer. But that's not very moral."

"They wouldn't happen to be hiring assassins against each other, would they?" Yang Ce asked.

Fang Tian nodded. "Exactly. It's that business in Africa again—two factions in a small country, each wanting to assassinate the other's leader."

At the mention of Africa, Yang Ce suddenly thought of Huang Yan's family affairs, and of his own diamond mine there. So he asked, "That reminds me, Old Fang—which country was my diamond mine in again?"

"Country X," Fang Tian said. "Though it was an authorization agreement signed with the previous interim regime."

"Country X?" Yang Ce was startled. Surely not—that was too much of a coincidence. Wasn't Huang Yan's family's gold mine in Africa also in Country X? Since the regime had changed, his diamond mine wouldn't have been taken back too, would it? So he asked, "Now that the interim regime has changed, does that mean our agreement is void as well?"

"He wouldn't dare." Fang Tian said carelessly, "The new man in power, General Kars, even sent me an email greeting me and asking when I would come to take over the diamond mine. I wrote back saying I'd go when I had the time."

Yang Ce was speechless. What a difference this was! Huang Yan's family had been driven to the end of their rope, while on Fang Tian's side, General Kars was begging him to come take over the mine, and Fang Tian couldn't even be bothered. Still, it was hardly surprising—who would dare offend someone like Fang Tian? Unless General Kars had a death wish.

General Kars must also understand that Fang Tian certainly did not care about this one diamond mine; to Fang Tian, it was dispensable. But even so, if he dared to take the mine back, he would probably not be far from death himself. This was not a question of caring or not caring—it was a question of the King of Assassins' face.

Defaulting on the King of Assassins' payment was not a game worth playing.

"Are you close with this Kars?" Yang Ce asked. He supposed that if General Kars knew that the Huang family's daughter was the new King of Assassins' little wife, he would be scared out of his wits.

"I don't know him. Who knows where he got my public email address—probably from the archives of the previous interim regime," Fang Tian said. "It was he who asked me to help take out the leader of an opposing faction. General Kars also knows that in a country torn by war like that, maintaining a long-term regime is nearly impossible; the only way to relieve the pressure is to assassinate the enemy's leaders."

"So did you agree?" Yang Ce asked.

"That's just what I'm telling you about. There's also one from the opposing faction's leader—he's posted a contract on the international assassins' network to have General Kars killed, but no one has taken it yet." Fang Tian said, "People are usually reluctant to take assignments like this. Assassins may be formidable, but no matter how formidable, they're no match for tanks, artillery, and bombers. So it's been posted for several days, and no one has taken it."

"And you want me to go?" Yang Ce's eyes went wide. He had thought it was some kind of good opportunity—so this was how dangerous it was. The old devil Fang Tian was actually sending him off to risk his life.

"It's not that difficult for you. It wouldn't hurt to give it a try," Fang Tian said instead. "Besides, you were the one who asked me to keep an eye out for assignments."

"All right, I'll go back and look into it." Yang Ce was somewhat resigned, but having something was better than nothing. He had to deal with Huang Yan's family affairs anyway, so earning a bit of money along the way would be fine.

"The pay this time has to be higher," Fang Tian said. "Once you've decided, give me a call."

"Mm, all right," Yang Ce answered. "By the way, is this job urgent?"

"Not really, I suppose. If you don't take it, no one will. Why, are you busy lately?" Fang Tian asked.

"Yeah, school just started, so I probably won't have much time," Yang Yanzhou said.

That afternoon, Yang Ce stayed at Fang Tian's place, helping him pack all sorts of junk into cardboard boxes to prepare for the move.

"Yang Ce, could you sort things into categories before you box them up?" Fang Tian could not help saying, seeing Yang Ce tossing everything in at random.

"I don't even know what half this stuff is for, so how am I supposed to pack it?" Yang Mo said, somewhat helpless. "If you ask me, just throw it all out and buy new ones for the new place."

"I'm used to these, don't want to replace them," Fang Tian said with a wave of his hand. "Never mind, I'll do it myself."

Yang Ce stayed at Fang Tian's until after four in the afternoon. It was the first day of school, and Chen Shutang and Lin Yanhe were probably not going to be free anytime soon, so Yang Ce simply called Wang Yanqiu. "Yanyan, it's me. What are you up to?"

"Just got assigned to my dorm, I'm unpacking, I'm exhausted," Wang Yanqiu said, already growing casual with Yang Ce.

"Got a moment? I need to see you about something," Yang Yanzhou said.

"About what? I haven't finished unpacking yet." Wang Yanqiu was puzzled—why would Yang Ce come looking for her at a time like this?

"We'll talk when we meet. I'll wait for you at the school gate," Yang Ce instructed, then hung up without allowing any argument. Civilian communication devices like this weren't exactly secure, after all; Yang Yongjin might say too much to Wang Yanqiu over the phone.

Wang Yanqiu hung up in a huff, rather annoyed. This Yang Ce was getting more and more overbearing—without even asking whether she was busy, he ordered her in that tone of voice to wait for him at the school gate.

Still, Wang Yanqiu put down what she was doing, told her roommate, and hurried out of the school.

Yang Juehuan already had the car parked by the roadside. Wang Yanqiu pulled open the passenger door, got in, and glared at Yang Ce. "Why are you in such a hurry to see me?"

"We'll talk when we get home." Yang Ce started the car and drove toward Huashang Residential Complex.

Wang Yanqiu frowned, somewhat displeased. "Don't tell me none of your girlfriends were free, so you thought of me, your mistress."

"It's true they're not free, and it's also true I thought of you—but you seem to have gotten the wrong idea." Yang Ce glanced at her current expression and smiled.

"How have I gotten the wrong idea?" Wang Yanqiu said. "You rushing to find me like this, it can't be anything good."

"Once we're home, you'll know whether it's good or not," Yang Ce said.

Seeing how mysterious Yang Ce was being, Wang Yanqiu said no more. She figured his coming to find her at a time like this was nothing good anyway; lately, every time Yang Ce sought her out, it was to cultivate their "rapport" in bed, and nothing else.

That was why Wang Yanqiu assumed Yang Yongjin had no one to keep him company and was simply pent up.