Chapter 147 — The Long-Awaited...

"Who was it?" Yang Ce could not help asking.

"My dad." Wang Yanqiu did not bother to hide it and answered point-blank.

"Your dad? No way—I'd have thought it was some mortal enemy of yours." Yang Xutang shook his head in astonishment, finding it truly hard to believe.

Hearing this, Wang Yanqiu said, "Yeah, we have our conflicts, I suppose. That's why I'm so eager to build up the Assassin Group."

"All right. I'll do my best." Yang Shuoxuan asked nothing further. It was, after all, a family matter, and prying further would not help—it would only add to her troubles.

"I believe in you," Wang Yanqiu said, nodding with absolute certainty.

For a time the mood inside the car turned subdued. Clearly Wang Yanqiu was not in good spirits, and so the conversation between them cooled, and they sat quietly in the car waiting for a table to free up at the restaurant.

But the restaurant seemed to work some kind of magic: everyone who went in seemed never to come out. Yang Ce was at a loss. A great many people had been queuing ahead of them, and those people had not yet been seated, let alone Yang Ce and his companion.

"How about we don't eat here?" Half an hour later, Yang Ce could truly bear it no longer and looked up at Wang Yanqiu.

"All right." Wang Yanqiu had lost her appetite as well, and so she agreed to Yang Juehuan's suggestion.

Just as Yang Ce was about to drive away, a blue sports car came tearing up, screeched to a halt right in front of Yang Juehuan's car, and stopped. A man and a woman got out, dressed in a most outlandish fashion. The man had been driving; after getting out he did not so much as glance at Yang Juehuan's car, but put his arm around the woman and walked on ahead.

Yang Wenru frowned, rolled down the window, and stuck his head out. "Your car's parked right here—how am I supposed to get out?"

The man acted as though he had not heard, and without so much as a backward glance walked straight on.

Yang Xu was speechless. Surely the fellow wasn't deaf? There was nothing for it but to get out of the car and chase after him.

"I say, could you park with a little common decency? Blocking the way like this, how is anyone supposed to get past?" Yang Juehuan's tone had turned unfriendly.

"Who?" The man finally turned around, looked at Yang Ce with an expression of disbelief. "You talking to me?"

"Who else? Am I talking to myself and the empty air?" Yang Ce wanted to slap him, but his temper had changed somewhat from the old days. He was older now, no longer a child, and not so impulsive.

"You don't know me?" The man pointed at himself and said with utter indifference, "My car's parked in front of yours—you ought to be glad. Plenty of people would love the chance and never get it."

Yang Xutang was baffled. Had the man's brains leaked out? You block my way and I'm supposed to be glad? Was he insane?

"I don't know you, and I don't want to know you." Yang Juehuan's words turned blunt. "Now, kindly move your car, or you'll bear all the consequences. Don't say I didn't warn you."

"Ha, threatening me?" The man raised a hand and pointed at Yang Juehuan's nose. "I'll have you know, I'm the race car driver Cha Ce. My fans could drown you in their spit, one mouthful each—believe it? One phone call and I can summon hundreds of people."

"Cha Ce—never heard of you. I've never had much interest in racing." Yang Linyue spoke coolly. "I don't care whether you're some race car driver or not. Move your car. This is the last time I'll say it, or you'll bear the consequences."

"Ha, that's the funniest thing I've heard all day. Isn't it, darling?" Cha Ce said to the woman beside him, utterly unconcerned.

"It is, darling. Someone actually talks to you like that—you're a god among these drivers, and he talks to you like that?" the woman said, with equal distaste.

"Fine. Then I won't waste any more words on you." Yang Ce was getting ready to open Cha Ce's car with a skeleton key in a moment, then drive it off and dump it in some garbage heap.

"Oh, I can't wait. Let's see what 'bearing the consequences' looks like. Haha." Cha Ce laughed scornfully. "If you've got it in you, bring it on."

The words had scarcely left Cha Ce's mouth when there came a tremendous bang, and what happened next left both Yang Ce and him staring open-mouthed.

Yang Juehuan's BMW, like a wild horse that had thrown off its reins, hurtled forward and smashed into Cha Ce's sports car, crumpling it to pieces. But the BMW fared little better—its entire front end was battered beyond recognition.

For a long moment Cha Ce stood frozen. Then he came to his senses, ran at top speed to his beloved car, and wailed in agony, "My car! My darling! How did you come to this? Who could be so heartless?"

Even Yang Shuoxuan was dumbstruck. This was madness! He had just finished telling Cha Ce to bear the consequences, and now the car had rammed right into him. Then Wang Yanqiu, looking as though nothing had happened, pushed open the door and jumped down from the driver's seat, her little face flushed pink with excitement. "Now that felt good. I was already full of anger, and you had to go and block the way—smashing your car serves you right."

Yang Puqi was speechless. So Wang Yanqiu had used Cha Ce's car as a punching bag—only it was a pity about his own car, which had been badly wrecked as well.

Cha Ce crouched on the ground in agony, stroking his beloved car. The woman, seeing Wang Yanqiu step down from the driver's seat and add that mocking remark, was furious. She stepped forward and raised her hand to slap Wang Yanqiu across the face.

But Wang Yanqiu—how quick was she? If she could be hit by this little hussy, she might as well give up being an assassin. Wang Yanqiu simply reached out, almost casually, and struck hard at the woman's elbow. The woman's arm reflexively straightened of its own accord, and she howled in pain: "You dare hit me?"

Wang Yanqiu glared and slapped her across the face. "Quiet, or I'll kill you."

Seeing Wang Yanqiu so fierce, the woman was frightened into silence. She was used to being fawned over wherever she went at the side of the racing god, used to being cocky; now that someone refused to play along and simply slapped her, she quieted down.

"You're fierce, all right, and then some." Yang Jincong looked at Wang Yanqiu with a smile. "So what do we do now?"

"You've got money. You pay him, then." Wang Yanqiu said it as though it hardly mattered.

"I've got money?" Yang Ce shook his head. "You really know how to make trouble for me. Call the police first—the car has full coverage."

But after the police were called, a dramatic scene unfolded. On inquiry, Cha Ce's car turned out to be an illegally assembled and modified vehicle with no right to be on the road. Not only would the insurance company bear no liability for the accident, but after the traffic police arrived, Cha Ce's car was impounded.

Yang Ce did not mind. Once the car was towed away, he told Bao Lin to follow up and handle the matter directly.

Cha Ce kept saying something to the traffic officer, making clear his identity as a race car driver. But a mere race car driver was nothing compared to Bao Lin's standing in Songjiang—worlds apart. Besides, the car had no papers; even in the right, he could not argue his case clearly. In the end, the officer grew tired of his questions and told him, "Don't even think about compensation. Even if this car of yours were repaired, it would be seized and destroyed in a mass scrapping."

Cha Ce was struck dumb, tears welling with nowhere to fall. Sure enough, Yang Puqi's words had hit the mark—he had borne the consequences.

"I challenge you to a duel!" After coming out of the traffic police station, Cha Ce pointed at Yang Ce and shouted, "If you're a man, race me once. What kind of skill is it to stab me in the back?"