Chapter 105: Discussing something important today
“You’ve slimmed down.” Situ Mingze said, with a little tenderness in his eyes.
“Not too slim, just enough.” Rose dully replied.
Everybody had difficulty understanding just what was going on, didn’t this pair of father and daughter of the underworld have a fall out which resulted in them pointing swords at each other for years? Why would he tranquilly and caringly talk about his daughter’s figure!?
Situ Mingze looked at Rose’s supple and tender face, sighed and said, “You look more and more like your mother, practically the same as her when she was young.”
“I don’t remember.” Rose apathetically said.
“You should not remember, for she left us after giving birth to you. Speaking of that, you mother and daughter are really fickle to me, she left me after giving birth to you, while you left me once you grew up.” Situ Mingze lamented.
“The crux of the problem is you, not us.”
“That’s because the two of you have no way of understanding me.”
Rose’s face remained calm and unyielding, “Have you come here just to say such things?”
“Don’t say that, I’m your father after all. Whether you admit it or not, half of the blood in your body comes from me, there’s no way you can deny this.” Situ Mingze seemed a little pleased, “No matter how strong and obstinate you become, in this lifetime you will have the name ‘Situ’ imprinted on you, Situ Rose.”
Rose clenched her fist, and then loosened it, “You’ve aged, and like to speak nonsense.”
“Haha……” Situ Mingze raised his head and laughed, “That’s true, I’ve aged. Recently I have grown more and more white hairs, but luckily I have a good daughter like you, so I won’t be lonely when I grow old.”
“You will be lonely.” Rose resolutely said.
“That’s hard to say.” Situ Mingze gave a strange glance at Rose’s body, “Your gunshot wound, is it alright?”
Rose sneered, “Thank you for caring, your subordinates don’t have much skill in shooting a gun.”
“I’m glad that you weren’t seriously hurt after getting shot, truly…… Although it’s a pity, you would still be able to participate in the banquet next week since you’re healthy.” Said Situ Mingze.
“Be rest assured, I will attend.” Rose said, “If that’s all, you may leave.”
Right at that moment, one of the young heads in Red Thorns Society picked up a call. He chatted on the phone for awhile, then ran to Rose’s side in a flurry to whisper something into her ear.
Rose’s expression changed, she looked at Situ Mingze’s smug face, and gazed sharply at him, “Your thick skin and judgement of seizing every opportunity is greater than me.”
“Haha, when one has aged, one would like to do things the lazy way. Rather than crossing swords with you people, why not directly take back the territory during this period of time.” Situ Mingze said with a smile, “It’s good now, I’ve taken back the three territories you snatched without losing a single brother, I welcome all of you to try snatch it again, I won’t guard them heavily, this is true……”
After saying that, Situ Mingze waved his hand, and everybody from the West Union Society stood up. Some of them were already brazenly laughing their hearts out while following Situ Mingze as they walked out of Rose bar’s entrance.
Several men of Red Thorns Society breathed a sigh of relief, but after seeing Rose frown, they walked up to her to ask what had happened.
Rose briefly explained, and everybody was filled with resentment.
It turned out that while Rose was hurt and the Red Thorns Society was in chaos, Situ Mingze regained control of the three territories that the Red Thorns Society had taken from him by brazenly sending a large number of people there.
Yang Chen who was watching this scene play out from the bar counter finally finished his third glass of cocktail. He made a few alcohol burps and got off the stool. He then walked over to Rose’s side, embraced her in front of everybody, and patted her tender back.
“Don’t frown, all of this will end after next week’s banquet.”
Rose leaned her head on Yang Chen’s shoulder, sniffing the man’s scent of smoke and alcohol in enjoyment, and slightly nodded.
All of the youngsters in Red Thorns Society revealed shock and awkward smiles as they watched their boss gently lean into this man’s embrace, but all of them silently gave these two their blessing.
。
While leaving the bar, Yang Chen took a look at the time, it was already past noon. He rubbed his stomach and felt hungry, yet he was too lazy to rush back to the company for lunch. He suddenly remembered the restaurant that Liu Mingyu had brought him to previously. The food there was pretty good and it was close by, so he just drove there alone.
After getting into the restaurant, the waiter led him to a table for two that was right beside the wall. As he was alone, Yang Chen was too lazy to order drinks, so he straightforwardly ordered one meat and one vegetable dish, along with a soup bun to go along with the meal, planning to go back to the company for an afternoon nap after eating.
Before the dishes came, a group of people entered from the main door in front of him. Yang Chen was stunned when he noticed that he recognized this group of people, it was the Li family whom he hasn’t seen for a while!
But what made Yang Chen feel more weird was that there wasn’t just Old Li, Li Jingjing and Aunt Li, there was one other familiar person; Jiang Shuo!
As he had to go to the company and hospital lately, along with the various situations that he had to deal with, it had been long time since Yang Chen contacted Li Jingjing, but Li Jingjing also didn’t take the initiative to contact him.
It has been a while since they last met, and Yang Chen noticed that Li Jingjing seemed a little more haggard than before. She wore a simple white dress, carried a dull coffee colored bag, and her hair was tied into a ponytail. She looked mature yet elegant than she had been before, perhaps it was because she became a teacher, and was no longer the innocent college student from before. She had become more like an educated city woman, revealing confidence while still being extremely attractive.
At that point, Li Jingjing was supporting her mother in walking, while Old Li was happily chatting with Jiang Shuo who led the way; they walked in Yang Chen’s direction.
Today, Jiang Shuo wore a fitting black suit with a red tie, had combed hair glistening with gel, and looking manly with his rather handsome face. There was smiles and laughter as he chatted with Old Li, he seemed very warm and humble.
The waitress was about to lead the four to their table when Old Li just happened to glance at Yang Chen who sat beside the wall while looking his way with a smile.
“Little Yang, you’re here too?” Old Li still liked Yang Chen very much, so he displayed a face of sincere happiness.
Li Jingjing, Aunt Li and Jiang Shuo also turned to look at Yang Chen who was eating alone at the same time. Aunt Li was a little displeased, while Li Jingjing became slightly flustered. As for Jiang Shuo, he creased his brows, then showed a faintly complacent smile.
“I decided to eat here when I was passing by, and still need to return to work later. I never expected that I would so coincidentally bump into you and your family here.” Yang Chen directly pretended as if he couldn’t see Jiang Shuo.
“Why not eat with us, there’s no point eating alone, we haven’t had a meal together in a long time, this is a rare opportunity.” Old Li suggested.
Aunt Li who stood behind immediately showed disapproval all over her face, pondered for a moment, then dragged Li Jingjing forward, she said in a cold manner, “Little Yang still has to go to work later, we’re here to discuss important things for Jingjing and Jiang Shuo, it will take up a lot of time. Old man, if you want to drink, you can specifically call Little Yang out another time.”
Important business between Li Jingjing and Jiang Shuo?
Yang Chen was stunned, he looked towards Li Jingjing, and the girl first blushed, then paled, but she refused to speak. She lowered her head, so he had no idea what was on her mind.
Yang Chen felt a little depressed inside, could it be that during the period he hadn’t met Li Jingjing she had become a couple with Jiang Shuo?
“Oh yes, although I’ve only met Brother Yang once, I welcome Brother Yang to come eat with us. But as we have important things to discuss today, I’m afraid we will hold Brother Yang up from going to work. Uncle, how about you invite Brother Yang to a meal another time, we can choose a nicer place for a gathering then.” Jiang Shuo genially said to curry favor.
Old Li had been a peddler all his life, and had to depend on his daughter as he aged. Now that the son of the chief of the department of education came to curry favor with him, he felt a little like he was on cloud nine. Thinking for a bit, it made sense that Yang Chen shouldn’t be involved when they discussed something as important as family matters, in addition to that, it would be awkward, so he nodded, “Alright then, Little Yang, I guess we can’t today, I’ll treat you to a meal another time.”
Yang Chen didn’t mind and smiled, “No worries, I’ll be leaving soon, since you’ve got important business to deal with, don’t mind me.”
“See? Little Yang is a man who stands to reason.” Said Aunt Li as she beamed with joy.
Jiang Shuo provocatively glanced at Yang Chen with disdain, it was obvious that with Li Jingjing’s family siding with him in front of Yang Chen, Jiang Shuo felt as if he had finally washed off the humiliation he received from Yang Chen at Heavenly Province KTV that day as he softly snorted in pleasure.
You think you’re a big deal driving a BMW? The woman I want still belongs to me anyway. Jiang Shuo was incredibly joyful inside. He looked at Li Jingjing, who remained silent like a beautiful orchid with greed and eagerness.
Under Aunt Li’s urging, the four quickly followed the waitress into a room they booked beforehand, leaving Yang Chen all alone by the wall. He was alone from the very beginning though.
From start to end, Li Jingjing never glanced straight at Yang Chen, this left a bad taste in Yang Chen’s mouth.
Actually, Yang Chen understood clearly that with a wife like Lin Ruoxi and a close lover like Rose, he really shouldn’t stain a pure girl like Li Jingjing.
Besides, Lin Ruoxi treated him coldly previously because their relationship was just tied by a contract, but now that they have experienced some things together, along with Yang Chen understanding more about Lin Ruoxi and her family, the relationship between the two had become more and more complicated. There was also the fact that had once done what married couples do, so the marriage had become more and more steady. Yang Chen could no longer leave Lin Ruoxi carefreely, he didn’t want to, and wasn’t willing to.
Therefore, if Li Jingjing married off to someone else, it may be a good thing for her.
However, the opposite party was Jiang Shuo, this made Yang Chen’s head hurt. Old Li and his wife come from a poor background, and it was only natural for them to hope that their daughter would be married off into a wealthy family, but this decision may very possibly lead Li Jingjing to a lifetime of suffering.
After pondering over it for awhile, he had no solution. He couldn’t forcefully barge his way into their family matters. So Yang Chen decided to just let things be for now, and think about it another time.
At the same time, Old Li and his wife chatted while they walked towards the room, but their voices were very soft, so the two youngsters wouldn’t overhear their conversation.
After Old Li bade farewell to Yang Chen, he felt uncomfortable in his heart as conversing that way felt too apathetic. He hesitantly asked Aunt Li, “Little Yang did so much for us, it isn’t nice of us to treat him so coldly, right?”
Aunt Li secretly glared at Old Li, “What nonsense are you spouting, can that matter compare to our daughter’s lifetime of happiness? If we let this department chief’s son go, that’s leaving behind great prospects, can you take responsibility for spoiling Jingjing’s lifetime of happiness?!”
Old Li looked at Jiang Shuo who was walking alongside Li Jingjing in front of him. Jiang Shuo was enthusiastically chatting with Li Jingjing about something while Li Jingjing slightly forced a smile.
The matters between youngsters are hard to talk about. Old Li had a headache as he thought, he couldn’t help but sigh inside.