Chapter 438 - 438 Carry Me on Your Back!
However, the next thing Ye Qing said immediately disappointed Lin Mengjie again.
"Li has found you guys a house, let me take you to check it out, it's a good chance to see how the location is," Ye Qing said, shaking the car keys in her hand, "Let's go in my car this time, yours isn't comfortable to drive!"
Lin Mengjie was deeply disappointed and gave Ye Qing a blank look, unable to resist saying, "Your car is even less comfortable, and you still want to drive mine!"
Ye Qing shrugged and said, "Whatever then, if you want to go in yours, I'll drive yours!"
Lin Mengjie suddenly shook her head, "No, I've changed my mind again, I don't want to go in mine either!"
"Not in yours and not in mine, which car shall we take?" Ye Qing looked around and said, "Right, Black Bear has a second-hand Santana, we could take that one..."
Lin Mengjie almost lost it, clenched her fists tightly and said, "We're not taking any, I want to walk there!"
"Don't joke, it's over ten kilometers, if you walk, it won't be until the afternoon!" Ye Qing glanced at Lin Mengjie's foot, "Your foot injury hasn't healed yet, how could you walk?"
"If I can't walk, then you carry me," Lin Mengjie said.
Ye Qing's eyes widened in disbelief, "Carry you? You're joking, right? Carrying you for over ten kilometers, that would be more exhausting than our weighted drills!"
Lin Mengjie also felt it was unrealistic, thought for a moment, and said, "Then let's take the bus!"
Ye Qing looked at the two cars parked nearby, surprised, "We have cars, why take the bus?"
"Eco-friendly travel," Lin Mengjie said, "so, are you willing or not?"
"Alright, alright, have it your way!" Ye Qing replied helplessly, this girl's mind really was too odd, it was impossible to reason with her.
Lin Mengjie smiled triumphantly, and seeing Ye Qing walk ahead, she got so angry she stomped her foot, "Ye Zi, you're leaving me behind!"
"Let's go together!" Ye Qing called back.
"My foot still hurts, how can I walk!" Lin Mengjie said, bending slightly to emphasize her pain as if she couldn't walk.
"What now?" Ye Qing said in frustration, "Shall we drive instead, right here!"
"No way, I want to take the bus!" Lin Mengjie blinked her beautiful eyes, suddenly stretched out her arms, "Carry me to the bus stop!"
"What?" Ye Qing's eyes widened, "Carry you?"
"Hmm!" Lin Mengjie nodded vigorously, putting on a pitiful look towards Ye Qing, "Are you going to carry me or not? If you don't want to, I won't force you, I'll just have to bear the pain and walk with you!"
As Lin Mengjie spoke, she slowly moved forward a step, then immediately appeared to stumble forward as if in unbearable pain, seemingly on the verge of collapsing any moment.
Seeing her like this, Ye Qing couldn't help but frown. After a long silence, he went over to Lin Mengjie, bent down and said, "Alright, I'll carry you!"
"Really?" Lin Mengjie was instantly overjoyed, spreading her arms and laying on Ye Qing's back.
Ye Qing picked her up, feeling the softness against his back, and his thoughts ran wild, remembering the unforgettable scene in the car. The place where his hands were locked was also soft—it was Lin Mengjie's buttocks—and the round, gentle feeling almost drove him mad.
For a moment he was lost in a daze, Ye Qing bit his tongue in haste to maintain alertness, then pushed Lin Mengjie upwards and moved his hands away from her jade-like hips. But then, his hands landed on Lin Mengjie's smooth, jade-like legs. Lin Mengjie was still wearing a skirt, her straight, slender legs didn't need any stockings to enhance them, so she usually didn't wear any. One could only imagine what Ye Qing felt at that moment.
Ye Qing didn't even know how he managed to carry Lin Mengjie out. He walked with his head down the whole way, feeling as if all the blood in his body had rushed to his head. All he could do was bow his head and silently chant various phrases like "Amitabha" and "Hallelujah" to himself in order to stay alert.
With her body resting against Ye Qing's back, Lin Mengjie also had an indescribable feeling, as if they were the only two people left in the world. She wished this situation could continue forever, even if the whole world disappeared, as long as Ye Qing continued to carry her like this, that would be better than anything.
However, blissful times are fleeting. Ye Qing, with his mind in a state of chaos, didn't watch where he was going and walked past two bus stops without realizing it. It wasn't until they reached the third bus stop that an elderly person, seeing their situation, kindly reminded them, "Young man, is this your girlfriend? Did she sprain her ankle? You can't just walk like this, why not take a cab instead!"
Only then did Ye Qing remember what he was out to do, looking around in shock, he had already passed three bus stops, and his face immediately turned red.
"Old man, she... she's not my girlfriend..." Ye Qing replied quietly.
The elder looked at Ye Qing and then at Lin Mengjie, saying, "If she's not your girlfriend, why are you carrying her? Ah, these young people nowadays, really incomprehensible!"
After speaking, the elder got on a bus and, while boarding, did not forget to look back and disdainfully glare at Ye Qing. The look seemed to say, "If she's not your girlfriend, why the heck are you carrying her!"
Stirred up by the elder's meddling, both Ye Qing and Lin Mengjie's faces turned completely red. They didn't continue walking, but waited there for a bus to come. Ye Qing helped Lin Mengjie onto the bus.
Li Lianshan had rented a house for Lin Mengjie in the North City District, in fact, he rented houses for all of Ye Qing's group. Ye Qing had no place to stay, Black Bear and the rest were living at Tian Sheng's, and people like Chen Jun had stayed at a hotel just last night. It definitely wasn't a long-term solution, so a place had to be found for them to settle down.
Li Lianshan found a three-story house built by a family who had gone abroad, leaving the house unoccupied, which just happened to meet Ye Qing's needs. Lin Mengjie came over to look at the house, and seeing that the decoration and setup were very cozy, it was exactly to her liking, so Ye Qing rented it on the spot. The ground floor was for Chen Jun and the others, Ye Qing and Black Bear were on the second floor, and the third floor was intended to house all the girls, such as Fang Tingyun, Huo Pingping, Mo Xiang, and others. They would take care of the children at the orphanage during the day, but Ye Qing still planned for them to return to this house in the evening, as the living conditions at the orphanage were not very good. After all, the three girls were urban young adults, and Ye Qing didn't feel it right to have them live continuously in that remote town, as it seemed akin to banishment.
Furthermore, there was a reason Ye Qing called them back to live here. After all, Chen Jun and the rest were living here, and if the third floor were to be occupied by Lin Mengjie alone, who knows what kind of rumors might arise outside, which could harm Lin Mengjie's reputation. Having three women to keep her company would obviously be the most suitable arrangement.
After renting the house, Ye Qing immediately called Black Bear and instructed him to bring over Chen Jun, Hou San, Yue Peng, and the others to tidy up the place.
Li Lianshan was sitting downstairs eating tangerines, looking quite imposing nowadays with two to three dozen bodyguards following him around. Stepping out of the door was like the President of the United States, extremely awe-inspiring.
Seeing Ye Qing come down with a phone in his hand, Li Lianshan immediately waved at him, shouting, "Ye Zi, come over and have some tangerines. I just bought them, they are really good!"
Ye Qing had just finished his phone call and walked over to grab a tangerine. As he peeled it, he looked at Li Lianshan, "Li, how is your injury?"
"Ah, it's just a scratch, nothing serious," answered Li Lianshan. "But you, lad, you're quite sharp, huh? How did you manage to bluff that bastard Pi Junchao and get him to send so many people to protect me?"
Ye Qing recounted to Li Lianshan how he had threatened Pi Junchao. Li Lianshan burst into laughter, repeatedly saying, "Deserves him right, deserves him right. That bastard dared to send someone to ambush me. If we don't show him some color, he really thinks we're Garfield cats!"
Ye Qing simply smiled and said, "This matter was mainly for Tianqing Gang and Fu Bang to see. I guess people from Tianqing Gang and Fu Bang must be feeling uneasy now that Pi Junchao has sent people to protect you!"
"Even if they feel uneasy, what can they do? Shangguan Tian and Li Wenyuan, those two bastards, they really think they're something," Li Lianshan waved his hand dismissively. "Don't bother with them. You have Old Master Tie, Tie Yongwen backing you up; Shangguan Tian and Li Wenyuan don't dare lay a finger on you!"
"They dare not touch us, but who's to say they won't kill us using someone else's hand?" said Ye Qing. "Look, if we want to secure a footing in Shenchuan City, our power is still insufficient. Those gangs from other provinces may not be afraid of Old Master Tie. With our current strength, if we are ambushed again, the outcome is uncertain. Even if Old Master Tie is powerful, it's easy to dodge the open spear but hard to avoid the hidden arrow. Tianqing Gang and Fu Bang don't dare to mess with us because their roots are in Shenchuan City, and they're scared Old Master Tie will uproot them. But the gangs from other provinces don't worry about this. If they take us out, they can just run back to their province never to return to Shenchuan City. Even Old Master Tie, strong as he may be, can't venture out of the province to chase them, right?"
Li Lianshan frowned and said, "What you're saying is right, but that's the way the situation is in Shenchuan City right now. It's not easy for us to grow our power. Not to mention, the people you've called in from Jiuchuan County, more than half of them haven't even arrived yet. Even when they do, our manpower combined doesn't even amount to one-fifth of Tianqing Gang's or Fu Bang's, how can we compete with them?"
Ye Qing smiled faintly, "We can't compete with Tianqing Gang and Fu Bang, but the Fierce Tiger Gang can!"
"Fierce Tiger Gang?" Li Lianshan was taken aback. "You're thinking of targeting the Fierce Tiger Gang? I think it is better not to, they hate you even more than Tianqing Gang and Fu Bang do. To expect them to help us is harder than reaching the heavens; it's easier to negotiate an alliance with Tianqing Gang and Fu Bang!"
"I wasn't planning on having the Fierce Tiger Gang help us…" Ye Qing paused for a moment, gazing steadily at Li Lianshan, "What I mean is, we can take over the power of the Fierce Tiger Gang!"