Chapter 954 — A New Enterprise

"Ha, no need to be so formal with family from now on—Yang Yongjin here is rather fond of it," Chen Shutang said with a smile.

At that moment, Jing Yu promptly sat down beside Huang Yan and said, "Lele, you had me worried sick!"

Huang Yan had already learned Jing Yu's identity through Alice, and now she sighed with feeling. "Xiaolu, I never imagined it was you. But why didn't you say so earlier? You nearly frightened me to death—I thought that sister I could pour my heart out to online had turned out to be a villain!"

"I meant to wait until you arrived this time before telling you. How was I to know that Luan Xiaoru would turn out to be an outer member of the Center? Ah, it's my fault—I misjudged her! I'm truly sorry for giving you such a fright," Jing Yu said, a trace of self-reproach in her voice.

"Never mind, I'm fine, and I'm actually glad—so the little fox spirit was you all along!" Huang Yan said.

"Yes. But looking back now, when I said I was playing cards in my office and someone reported me, that must have been Luan Xiaoru too." Jing Yu recalled the past and gave a faint sigh. If Luan Xiaoru really was an outer member of the Center, she would surely have tried her hardest to become a nail driven into Yang Ce's side—and back then Jing Yu had no ties with Yan at all, so Luan Xiaoru could only have been using her to curry favor with someone.

Every girl around him had her own distinct traits; if they were all the same, life would lose much of its pleasure.

Back at the villa in Songjiang City, Yang Ce hosted an enormous banquet that very evening. Besides his own women, the guests included his parents, his uncle Yang Dashan's family, and his cousin Yang Xiaobo's family. There were Zhang Bin, Zhao Sisi, and Wang Mei; Tian Yan, Dong Jun, Bao Lin, Hou Lin, Guo Jianchao, Bi Hai, and Ge Xinyao. And finally, the fat man was there to keep them company.

Fang Tian and Wang Ruoshui did not care for such occasions, so they did not attend. The two of them preferred peace and quiet these days, and so they remained in the villa next door.

However, just as Yang Ce was preparing to invite his mother's relatives over to explain these matters, something utterly unexpected happened! His fifth cousin on his mother's side—the relative who worked at Mingyang Property Management—had secretly, while Yang's mother was not paying attention, transferred Mingyang Property Management into his own name, and had already moved every last cent of the company's funds into his own accounts!

When this came to light, Yang Ce was both furious and amused! He knew this fifth cousin—a shiftless fellow in the past who had seemed to mend his ways later on, and so Yang's mother had gradually entrusted him with some of the company's affairs. Family was family, after all; seeing a younger relative of her own blood turn over a new leaf, she could hardly not support him. What's more, Yang's mother had moved into the villa on Yang Ce's side during this period and no longer bothered with the property company's affairs—and then this had to happen!

At any other time, Yang Ce would certainly have taught this fifth cousin a lesson and taken back what was his. But now, he could only scoff at the man's shortsightedness! For the sake of one small property company, he had thrown away a far greater opportunity!

One could well imagine that Yang Cheyan's relatives who went to X Island would inevitably be given important posts and put in charge of various companies, and their prospects there would far exceed anything they had now. But for a few petty profits, the fifth cousin had lost that chance…

So Yang Shuoxuan simply did not invite the fifth cousin or his family. Let him keep the property company—Yang Shuoxuan had been planning to sell it off anyway. Consider it a parting gift to a relative, a bit of sponsorship and nothing more!

That evening, Yang Juehuan's relatives, friends, and subordinates all arrived and gathered under one roof. Yang Shuoxuan was ready to tell them about his plan to go into seclusion on X Island.

Everyone had, to varying degrees, already known something of Yang Juehuan's plans and intentions, and at this moment they were all overjoyed. Yang Shuoxuan instructed them to divest themselves of their holdings as quickly as possible—after all, X Island would need enormous sums for construction. Alice had brought a great deal of capital as well, but it was still not enough; until the tourism industry was formally launched, every investment was a bottomless pit.

These people were all prepared to go with Yan to X Island. They were, after all, the most loyal friends and subordinates around Yang Ce, and Yang Shuoxuan needed people of his own to build his private island.

A month later, Yang Puqi and the others boarded a private jet arranged by Huang Yan and flew to the newly completed airport on X Island. There were not many there to see them off—only Xia Yan and the fat man.

The fat man had already promised Yang Ce that he would seek him out after retiring, and Xia Yan, as Xia Xue's brother and Yang Juehuan's old superior, naturally had to come and see them off.

As for the families of the women, such as Chen Fei and the others, Yang Ce and the rest had already said their farewells in advance, urging them to settle on X Island once they retired or had nothing left to occupy them. But those able to go in the first batch were only Zhao Ying's mother, Lin Yanhe and Shen Yuxi's parents, and Jing Yu's grandmother; most of the other girls' parents had matters on their hands and could not go for at least a few months.

As for his godfather Liu Yan, he chose to stay behind. He had devoted his whole life to teaching and cherished a special affection for Songjiang Engineering University; he did not wish to leave, and so Yang Shuoxuan did not press him.

"Yang Ce, remember your promise—whenever I run into trouble I can't solve, you'll step in, no matter when!" Xia Yan clapped Yang Juehuan on the shoulder.