Chapter 141 — Old Buffon's Origins

"Donghai, Songjiang, Jidun—the three key cities of our V Province, all under our control. So in terms of overall strength, we may not need to fear the Ouyang family now." Having learned all this, Sun Lin felt considerably more at ease. In an outright open fight, this was his own territory, and the Ouyang family would surely not gain the upper hand. But he feared the Ouyang family might resort to petty tricks, so he said, "The Ouyang family is different from ordinary underworld clans. I'm told that the Russian Eagle Eye Group, one of the world's assassin organizations, is backed by the Ouyang family. Open spears are easy to dodge; hidden arrows are hard to guard against."

"Assassins, the Eagle Eye Group?" Yang Yongjin curled his lip in disdain. "What's that supposed to be? Never heard of it."

No wonder Yang Yongjin was so dismissive. Fang Tian had already told him about the world's rankings of famous assassin organizations, and the Eagle Eye Group was nowhere on them. In fact, the name did not appear even in the top thirty.

Sun Lin's face was a mask of black lines. He thought to himself, how would you know about Russian assassin organizations? Assassins and the underworld are two entirely different worlds. But seeing the look of utter disdain on Yang Ce's face, something stirred in Sun Lin's heart. "You have connections with assassin organizations too?"

Yang Hengye smiled but did not answer. Assassins—well, in truth, under his training, Li Qiang and the others were now all but indistinguishable from assassins. And more formidable than ordinary assassins, at that.

Most assassins operated alone, with no team spirit to speak of, whereas Yang Juehuan's crew was not only deadly in individual combat but also worked together with perfect coordination.

Sun Lin found Yang Ce more and more unfathomable. The man was simply too mysterious. Just how much power stood behind him, Sun Lin truly could not guess.

The ferocious skill Yang Ce had displayed in the living room alone had been enough to shake Sun Lin—especially the way he had, by some unfathomable means, turned Ouyang Junyuan into a mute.

"Uncle Sun, there's no need to worry so much," Yang Hengye said. "If you're really uneasy about it, I'll go deal with the Ouyang family. But let's get one thing straight first: when P Province's underworld is left without a leader, Uncle Sun, you'll have to take charge of it."

"Huh? That doesn't sound right." Sun Lin shook his head, a little dizzy. "I believe I was supposed to be grooming you to be my successor."

"Don't." Yang Ce waved his hand at once. "I told you long ago, my ambitions don't lie in the underworld. If you've got the energy, why not take care of Songjiang and Jidun for me while you're at it?"

Sun Lin was instantly dumbstruck, staring at Yang Ce with his mouth agape. After a long while he said, "The whole reason I was in such a hurry to get Xiaojie a man was so I could retire. And now look at you."

"Just joking. The men I have on hand are enough for now. But as for Donghai, Uncle Sun, you'd better see to it yourself. We'll talk once Jidun and Songjiang are stable," Yang Hengye said.

"You scared me to death." By now Sun Lin had already begun to regard Yang Ce as his son-in-law, so he could not be bothered to demand Yang Juehuan's territory anymore. Wasn't that just asking for trouble? It would all work out the same in the end; sooner or later they would be family.

Had it been anyone else offering Sun Lin a piece of territory, he would have worked himself to death to go claim it. That was the difference in mindset. That very morning he had still been wondering whether he could get a slice of the pie; by evening he was already pushing it away.

"However, Uncle Sun, there is one thing I must come clean about with you first." Seizing the advantage of his current position, Yang Ce prepared to tell Sun Lin about his several women.

"Oh? If you have something to say, just say it. What's all this 'come clean' business?" Sun Lin waved his hand with a laugh. Clearly, he was in excellent spirits now.

"Uncle Sun, the truth is, besides Sun Jie, I have other women." Yang Puqi spoke word by word.

"Oh?" Sun Lin was not as furious as one might have expected. He merely gave a flat "oh."

Yang Jiyan was somewhat nervous. Though he was only a fake son-in-law, Yang Ce truly did have designs on taking Sun Jie for real—after all, Sun Jie was his woman, and Yang Yongjin would not allow his woman to be anywhere but at his side.

So Sun Lin's opinion still mattered a great deal. Yang Yongjin could not afford to ignore it.

"Does Xiaojie know?" After a long pause, Sun Lin finally spoke slowly.

To be continued

659. The Ouyang Family's Decision

"She knows." Yang Yuting nodded. He had not concealed it from Sun Lin; Sun Jie had known all along about Yang Moyi's other women.

"Then don't bring this up with me anymore. It's between you and Xiaojie. I don't want to get involved." Sun Lin was, after all, a towering figure of the underworld. Though he himself had no wives or concubines, he had seen plenty of such things and was not particularly averse to them.

Moreover, Yang Ce's current status and standing had already made Sun Lin regard him with new eyes. The contempt of that morning was gone—because Sun Lin's chief fear had been that Yang Ce's union with Sun Jie was motivated by ulterior designs, by a scheme to seize the Sun family fortune. But Yang Ce's own family holdings were far vaster than the Suns'. His paltry assets would not even register in the man's eyes.

"There is one more thing, Uncle Sun, that I don't want to keep from you." Yang Ce thought for a moment, then spoke.

"Oh? There's more? Don't tell me that not only do you have women on the side, but men as well?" Sun Lin had meant it as a joke, but the moment the words left his mouth, he abruptly thought of his own daughter. Could it be that Sun Jie had a woman on the side? He had heard certain rumors about his daughter. Surely they could not be true?

"That's not it." Yang Ce shook his head with a wry smile. "The truth is this: Xiaojie and I are not the boyfriend-and-girlfriend you imagine us to be."

"What do you mean?" Sun Lin started, asking nervously.

"How should I put it? It's just that, although Xiaojie is already my woman, the two of us haven't formally established our relationship yet." Yang Ce rubbed his chin and explained.

"Xiaojie is already your woman?" How could Sun Lin fail to grasp his meaning? With an ambiguous, somewhat baffled laugh, he said, "What nonsense is this? You two sort out your own affairs. I'm not getting mixed up in it."

Yang Xu was helpless. He had meant to tell Sun Lin that his status as boyfriend was only temporary, that he had not yet been upgraded to official. To his surprise, the old fellow would not listen to his explanation at all. What Yang Ce feared most now was Sun Lin summoning him over for a chat every other day, so he had wanted to clarify his relationship with Sun Jie. But it seemed to have had no effect whatsoever.

The two of them hashed things out in secret in the study, and the estrangement between Sun Lin and Yan ceased to exist. They went downstairs together, the earlier unpleasantness set entirely aside, and the bloody scene in the room just now seemed never to have happened. The objects in the room had been put back in place, and the bloodstains on the floor wiped clean.

Chatting and laughing, the two returned to the dining room. Given Sun Lin's standing in the household, no matter how great the commotion outside, Sun Jie and Mother Sun would not have gone out to watch. Presumably, similar incidents had occurred before.

"What was that just now? Who were those people?" Seeing the two return, Mother Sun asked with some concern.

"Nothing. They've been dealt with. Let's carry on with our meal." With that, Sun Lin shot Yang Puqi a look. Fearing Mother Sun and Sun Jie would worry, he had no intention of recounting what had just happened.