Chapter 243 - 243 Did She Take a Fancy to You?
When Ye Qing was calling Huangfu Ziyu, Zhao Chengshuang was right beside him. He still couldn't reconcile himself with the situation and wanted to stop Ye Qing from making the call. Listening to Ye Qing recount the whole incident, he nearly choked with frustration.
"For someone like you, I can only borrow a phrase from Cao Cao!" Zhao Chengshuang shook his head and waved his hand, sighing repeatedly, "You're not fit for plotting schemes!"
Ye Qing ignored him and hung up the phone, still lost in silence. Huangfu Ziyu's response had completely caught him off guard and made him start to speculate about her true intentions.
He did not know Huangfu Ziyu at all before, and the only link between them might be that strange old man at Third Master Li's grave.
Huangfu Ziyu had personally entered Shenchuan City to ask him a few questions, killed the Tiger King who could be said to command wind and rain in Shenchuan City, and won four billion from Fierce Tiger Gang, nearly annihilating one of Shenchuan City's three major gangs.
This matter was not difficult for her, but its impact was immense. Poisonous Mantis never set foot in Shenchuan City; her sudden move to slay Tiger King seemed like a signal. To be honest, during this time, all the major forces in Shenchuan City were fearful of themselves, dreading that Poisonous Mantis might suddenly come after them.
Huangfu Ziyu's actions were ostentatiously high-profile, as if done deliberately for all to see. Then, she gave Ye Qing a chance to collect debts for her, announcing to everyone that Ye Qing was working for her, Poisonous Mantis.
Ye Qing originally thought that Huangfu Ziyu was doing this mainly to warn Xikou Fire Butterfly not to assassinate him. However, tonight's call made Ye Qing feel that Huangfu Ziyu had other purposes; it seemed as though she deliberately wanted to elevate Ye Qing.
"Chengshuang, what kind of person is Huangfu Ziyu after all?" Ye Qing suddenly asked, as he found himself increasingly unable to fathom this woman.
"Why do you ask?" Zhao Chengshuang curled his lips, "What, are you interested in her?"
Ye Qing shook his head, "I'm talking about serious matters."
"I'm also talking about serious matters. You giving all that money to this woman, don't you have some ideas about her?" Zhao Chengshuang suddenly became interested, "Based on what you said, Huangfu Ziyu is a rare beauty. Let me tell you, I, your brother, have seen countless women over the years. I've seen all sorts of women, but for someone of Huangfu Ziyu's caliber, honestly, I've only seen one.
So, are you interested in knowing which beauty could be so highly regarded by me?"
"Not interested!" Ye Qing replied very directly, nearly causing Zhao Chengshuang to fall from his wheelchair.
"Are you impotent or what?" Zhao Chengshuang looked at Ye Qing suspiciously.
Ye Qing said, "Stop talking nonsense; just tell me about Huangfu Ziyu."
Zhao Chengshuang shrugged his shoulders, "This woman, how should I put it? The men of Eastern Province can be said to both love and hate her. As beautiful as a heavenly immortal, as poisonous as a viper—this is the unanimous assessment of her. She's not from Eastern Province, and no one knows where she really comes from.
She rose to power in Dongzhou at the age of seventeen, and now, ten years later, nearly all the underworld of Eastern Province, except for the areas controlled by Fire Butterfly in West Gate, bow to her. Honestly, it's incredibly difficult for a woman to achieve such a feat.
However, for a woman to get to this point means she can only be described with the word 'terrifying.' My elder brother saw her once, and he told me, 'Never get involved with this woman; otherwise, she'll chew you up until not even the bones remain!'"
After finishing, Zhao Chengshuang glanced at Ye Qing and said, "How about it? Does that give you the creeps? Let me tell you, Huangfu Ziyu is the Queen of Eastern Province. If you want to be the Queen's man, you better be prepared to be a slave. However, your situation is a bit special, being such strong characters. If you really were to get together, I truly don't know who would be the slave to whom."
Ye Qing did not pay attention to Zhao Chengshuang's teasing; he furrowed his brows tightly. Zhao Chengshuang's assessment of Huangfu Ziyu, especially his description of her character as poisonous as a viper, was very fitting. In other words, this woman was definitely not a good person. To make her do a good deed, there would undoubtedly be a price to pay.
Now that she had given him such an opportunity, what was she scheming?
Seeing that Ye Qing did not speak, Zhao Chengshuang became somewhat worried, "Hey, I was just joking around; you don't have to look so down. You... you couldn't have really fallen for her, right?"
Ye Qing shook his head and said in a low voice, "You're right; all she really wants is the money."
"What?" Zhao Chengshuang's eyes widened, "What... what did you guys talk about on the phone just now?"
Ye Qing repeated Huangfu Ziyu's words and Zhao Chengshuang was instantly stunned, sitting in his wheelchair in silence for nearly half a minute. Suddenly slamming the desk, he exclaimed, "Damn, it's not you who's smitten with her—it's her who's taken a liking to you! Two billion, and she's willing to hand it over to you, that's a token of commitment that's way too valuable."
Ye Qing was already used to Zhao Chengshuang's nonsensical chatter. He furrowed his brows and said, "What do you think, is she plotting something?"
"What else could she be plotting? The girl is twenty-seven and still unmarried, for sure she's looking to get hitched to a good man.
But for a strong woman like her, she'll only settle for a man stronger than herself; how else would she be conquered?" Zhao Chengshuang looked Ye Qing up and down, clicking his tongue and said, "You're not bad yourself, a talented graduate from Northern University, the king among Special Forces. With both brains and brawn, you could definitely conquer her easily. No doubt she's taken a fancy to you.
You lucky dog!"
"What exactly does she want me to do?" Ye Qing was still pondering, paying no heed to Zhao Chengshuang's previous words.
Zhao Chengshuang himself realized how pointless his words were and said, "Who cares what she's up to? What matters is having control of the venue. Forget about that for now; let's just get the venue back first and then sell a few to gather the stark eighty million she's demanding. We still have a day and a half left, gathering the money shouldn't be a problem.
These venues are all profitable, if we're willing to let them go, there will definitely be a queue of buyers. However, the prerequisite is to reclaim the venues first. Those gangs are holding the venues hostage and without us taking them back, nobody will dare to buy."
Ye Qing also felt that this was the crux of the matter. He nodded and asked, "Eighty million, how many venues do you think we need to sell? I'm not too familiar with the market prices in Shenchuan City. Do you have a good understanding of these things?"
Zhao Chengshuang answered, "I'm as knowledgeable as a fart about that, I only have a general idea. But hey, why do we need to be experts on this? Isn't there someone who knows the ropes perfectly well?"
The knowledgeable person Zhao Chengshuang was referring to was Li Lianshan, who had started his career in this very business. He knew the locations and prices of these entertainment venues in Shenchuan City better than anyone else. It made perfect sense to consult him.
Li Lianshan had suffered a setback at the Southern Suburbs Dogfight Arena, having a fierce showdown with the Tiger King. Most of his men were injured and now they were in the hospital recuperating.
He was in the same ward as his godson Mao Mao, and when Ye Qing and his two companions entered, Li Lianshan was half-sitting, watching Mao Mao, who was soundly sleeping on the adjacent bed, with an unexpectedly kind expression on his face.
Ever since he had this godson, Li Lianshan had changed a lot, no longer the violent underworld figure he used to be.
"Wow, Boss Li in this loving father mode, send this picture out and you'll have people's eyes popping out!" Zhao Chengshuang started to make a racket as soon as he entered.
Li Lianshan hurriedly gestured to him to be quiet, pointing at the sleeping Mao Mao, signaling not to wake him up.
Zhao Chengshuang stuck out his tongue and whispered, "Boss Li is really caring, treating his godson just like his own son."
Li Lianshan got off the bed and pushed Zhao Chengshuang's wheelchair out of the ward, carefully closing the door behind them before he spoke with relief, "I don't have a son of my own, having done so many bad things in the first half of my life, I probably can't even produce one now. This only godson of mine will be no different from a real son from now on, so of course I'll treat him well!"
Zhao Chengshuang said, "That's quite touching. For this year's Top Ten Heartwarming Figures of Shenchuan, I'll find an opportunity to nominate you!"
Ye Qing looked at the sleeping Mao Mao inside the ward. The child was truly pitiful; his father had been crushed to death in a neighborhood explosion and he himself had been run over by a street racing gang, severing his right arm, leaving him disabled for life. Yet, he was also very fortunate because he found a foster father who cared deeply for him.
Compared to other children, he was much better off as at least someone cherished him. As for those other children, even though Ye Qing would set up a private orphanage for them, where they wouldn't have to worry about food and clothing, how many people would really care about them?
However, Li Lianshan's attitude towards Mao Mao had greatly raised Ye Qing's opinion of him. Ye Qing had been worried that he would care for Mao Mao only on a whim, but what he had done since showed Ye Qing that he was truly committed, a rarity and especially so for an underworld figure like him.
After a few verbal jousts between Li Lianshan and Zhao Chengshuang, Li turned to Ye Qing and said, "How's it going on your end, Ye Zi? I heard that Huangfu Ziyu came to Shenchuan City mainly for you... Do you have any grudges with her?"
"It's not a grudge; it's love at first sight!" Zhao Chengshuang interjected, recounting the account story from start to finish. Naturally, he couldn't resist embellishing the tale, making it sound as if Huangfu Ziyu was so infatuated with Ye Qing that she used the venues as a love token for him.
Li Lianshan knew Zhao Chengshuang all too well, the man was full of hot air, and only a couple of sentences out of ten could be taken as truth. Still, he was utterly astonished. With such actions, Huangfu Ziyu was clearly backing Ye Qing. This enchantress of Eastern Province could shake the entire underworld of the province with a mere stomp of her foot.
Moreover, Huangfu Ziyu had not set foot in Shenchuan City for ten years, and everyone thought she wouldn't enter it again. Not only did she enter the city this time, but she also made such a grand gesture—how could it not shock people?
"Ye Zi, is she... is she really letting you handle these twelve venues all on your own?" Li Lianshan stared at Ye Qing intently, his face filled with surprise, shock, and envy, and said, "Has she really taken a liking to you?"