Chapter 81: In Your Dreams
Xiao Ye's brow furrowed. He walked over to the balcony and answered the call.
Chen Bohua's voice came through, respectful and cautious. "Mr. Xiao, I'm just downstairs from the hotel right now. I was wondering if you had time to meet?"
"I would like to offer you a sincere and formal apology for what happened before!"
'What is the Chen Family up to now?'
Thinking that they were just downstairs, Xiao Ye glanced at Lin Chuyue. Worried something might happen to her, he finally nodded.
"Wait for me at the teahouse next to the hotel. I'll be down in a bit!"
After hanging up, Xiao Ye walked over to Lin Chuyue. "I'm going downstairs for a bit. I'll be right back."
Downstairs from the hotel.
In a private room at the teahouse.
Chen Bohua was sitting inside with his illegitimate son, Chen Ming.
When he saw Xiao Ye enter, he immediately stood up and bowed respectfully. As things stood, Xiao Ye held the lives and fortunes of the entire Chen Family in his hands.
"Mr. Xiao, you're here."
Chen Bohua shot Chen Ming a look, and the latter immediately brought over a box.
Inside was a bank card and a pink diamond that had been acquired from an auction house for tens of millions.
"Mr. Xiao, there are ten million in this bank card. In addition, this pink diamond is the only one of its kind in the country. It was brought back from an overseas auction house and cost fifty million."
"This gift, worth sixty million in total, is an apology from my Chen Family. We hope that you, Mr. Xiao, will remove the poison from our bodies."
"I, on behalf of the Chen Family, guarantee that we will never trouble the Lin Family again in the future!"
"What do you... think?"
Chen Bohua was confident Xiao Ye wouldn't refuse. After all, this was no small sum.
Xiao Ye leaned back in his chair and smiled faintly. "Sixty million to buy the lives of your Chen Family's main lineage? You're being a bit too optimistic."
"Let's not even talk about the Chen Family's assets. Just by holding your lives in my hands, I could probably make more than sixty million a year, don't you think?"
The smile on Chen Bohua's face instantly froze. 'Wasn't this Xiao Ye supposed to be just some poor Daoist from the mountains?'
'How does he even know how to make this calculation?'
Most people, upon seeing a huge sum of sixty million, would probably have been dazzled and wouldn't have thought about the future at all.
Besides, what you get in hand first is the most important thing. Who knows if there'll be another chance like this later on.
Xiao Ye took the box and toyed with it in his hands. "I wasn't originally planning to ask the Chen Family for money."
After all, money was the one thing he didn't lack. But since they had delivered it to his doorstep, he wasn't going to be courteous.
Xiao Ye pocketed the box. "Alright, you can go back now. If you want to give me more money next time, feel free to come over."
"But if you want the antidote, dream on!"
'The Chen Family has committed countless evil deeds, but they can't be eliminated just yet.'
'Only by controlling their lives and fortunes can I keep them in line. Otherwise, it won't just be the Lin Family that suffers, but other families as well.'
With that, Xiao Ye flicked the sleeves of his long robes and left the private room.
Chen Bohua watched his retreating back, grinding his teeth in anger. "This is too much!"
Chen Ming, who was beside him, quickly offered him a cup of hot tea. "Father, don't be angry. Since this Xiao Ye doesn't know what's good for him, let's go find Lin Chuyue."
"Lin Chuyue would never dare to offend our Chen Family. Xiao Ye might listen to her."
"You're right!"
Chen Bohua's eyes lit up. He immediately stood. "Let's go! We'll go straight to their room and find them!"
Xiao Ye had just stepped back into his hotel room when Chen Bohua and his son arrived right behind him.
Lin Chuyue's expression changed drastically when she saw the two men outside the door. 'How could the Chen Family be here?'
'Are they... here to cause trouble for us?'
She instinctively moved to shield Xiao Ye with her body. "What are you doing here? Even if this is the Chen Family's territory, we're in a hotel right now!"
"If you dare to do anything to me, I'll call the police immediately! The Lin Family is not to be trifled with!"
She hadn't been on guard when she attended the banquet earlier.
But things were different now. All she had to do was press the emergency call button on her phone, and it would immediately dial the police!
She refused to believe the Chen Family was arrogant enough to lay a hand on her and Xiao Ye in front of the police!
Xiao Ye sidestepped, pulling Lin Chuyue behind him.
'This silly girl,' he thought. 'If something really happened, who could she possibly block with that small frame of hers?'
Chen Bohua forced a smile. Although he, as the esteemed Patriarch of the Chen Family, looked down on minor families like the Lin Family, he now had no choice but to bow and scrape, apologizing to someone he despised.
"Miss Lin, I came here specifically to apologize!"
"What happened before was our Chen Family's fault. I guarantee that from now on, no one from the Chen Family will ever give anyone from your Lin Family a hard time again."
"I only hope that you can convince Mr. Xiao to cure the poison in my Chen Family's bodies!"
"Poison?"
Lin Chuyue froze, then immediately looked at Xiao Ye. "What's going on?"
Before Xiao Ye could speak, Chen Bohua cut in, "Mr. Xiao visited my Chen Family as a guest yesterday and forcibly fed all of us poison."
"My Chen Family already knows we were wrong. We hope Miss Lin can persuade Mr. Xiao to be merciful and let us off the hook!"
Lin Chuyue finally understood. No wonder President Li had suddenly changed his tune earlier. It turned out to be Xiao Ye's doing.
'But his methods are a bit too reckless. Actually poisoning the Chen Family.'
Seeing that Lin Chuyue didn't speak, Chen Bohua continued, but this time his words carried a veiled threat.
"Miss Lin, you are aware of my Chen Family's capabilities."
"If something were to really happen, it's inevitable that we would get desperate and lash out!"
Xiao Ye's brow furrowed. The Chen Family actually dared to threaten Lin Chuyue. 'It seems they're really asking to die!'
'He decided he would give them the next dose of the antidote a week late, just to let them have a good taste of what gut-wrenching, organ-rotting pain felt like!'
Xiao Ye snorted coldly. "It seems you're really tired of living!"
"Wait."
Lin Chuyue grabbed Xiao Ye's clothes and lowered her voice.
"This is too reckless. You poisoned all of them. They might really get desperate and lash out."
"When that time comes, forget the Lin Family—even you won't be able to withstand the full wrath of the Chen Family."
"What's there to be afraid of?"
Xiao Ye gently patted her back, reassuring her, "Even if they 'lash out,' they're no match for me."
Lin Chuyue's delicate brows furrowed tightly. 'Why doesn't he understand? An individual's strength can't be compared to that of a powerful family. They aren't even in the same league.'
"Xiao Ye, since the Chen Family has already said they won't go against us, just give them the antidote."
"If by some chance they find the antidote on their own, the Chen Family will definitely retaliate against us like crazy!"
"They won't find it."
Xiao Ye had absolute confidence in his poison.
'If just anyone could easily find the antidote, then he wouldn't be the Lingxiao Daoist's sole, final disciple.'
Lin Chuyue was getting angry now. She berated him in a low voice, "How can you be so sure they won't find an antidote? There are many people in this world with better medical skills than you."
"Give them the antidote right now! Otherwise, if the Chen Family really makes a move, the Lin Family, which has just barely gotten back on its feet, will be destroyed in an instant!"
Seeing his chance, Chen Bohua, who was standing nearby, immediately pressed his advantage. "That's right! I guarantee it, we absolutely will not make a move against the Lin Family!"
"But if we find the antidote ourselves... well, that's another matter entirely."