As we left that special restaurant, Yang Wei immediately asked me something in the car.
"Do it!" I sighed. "Why not?"
Yang Wei frowned: "But this is clearly the two characters 'Heaven and Earth' using you as a tool."
“I know.” I shrugged. “So what?” I glanced at Yang Wei’s expression, smiled, and whispered in her ear, “I suddenly had an idea… How about this…”
After I finished speaking, Yang Wei looked surprised: "This is your idea? It's good, but..."
"Fortune favors the bold." I said calmly, "The Qing and Hong families are always trying to scheme against me, can't I just turn the tables on them? Humph..."
Yang Wei pondered for a moment: "Alright, let's discuss the specific details of this matter... Where do you want to start? In the surrounding cities, Yangzhou? Suzhou? Zhenjiang?"
"No!" I whispered, "Nanjing!"
"Nanjing? You're planning to go straight to Ye Huan's headquarters?"
"Of course! It's Nanjing!"
Part Three: The Pinnacle, Chapter 133: The Operation Begins
My usual practice is that once you've decided to do something, you must make thorough preparations and then go all out to do it well!
Yan Di also noticed that I'd been acting strangely these past couple of days. Every day, I spent all my time in the office; the only people allowed in were Yang Wei and Tu. Yang Wei and I were constantly discussing things in the office; nobody knew what plans we were working on.
Qiao Qiao was quite annoyed by this behavior. She even deliberately snorted at me and then dragged Aze into a few minor mishaps, trying to get my attention. However, Yan Di quickly stopped her. Yan Di said to Qiao Qiao, "Chen Yang seems to have something very important to do. At this time, it's best not to distract him."
About five days later, I had made thorough preparations, especially for all the members of the "African Chinese Star Branch Business Delegation to China." They had been enjoying good food and drinks at the club for many days, but one morning, they all suddenly disappeared. This made Wu Gang very nervous—in fact, I knew he had been sending people to keep an eye on this place. Partly to protect me, and partly because he was worried I might cause trouble.
After all, I brought over a hundred experienced mercenaries from Africa!
“I had someone take them on a trip.” I explained to Wu Gang, “China is very big, my friend. Our motherland has beautiful mountains and rivers, and we should let these bumpkins from Africa broaden their horizons.”
Wu Gang was helpless against my almost shameless nonsense. However, he seemed convinced of one thing: as long as he kept an eye on me and prevented me from doing anything out of line, he could nip all possibilities in the bud!
His actions were getting a bit too extreme. This guy abandoned all his work and came to my place every day without fail... no, he even openly moved into my club! He moved into a VIP residence costing $10,000 a day and comfortably enjoyed everything in this top-tier club.
Then. He kept an eye on me every day, and even if I hid in the office, he would definitely be sitting outside. As soon as I went out, I could see Wu Gang sitting on the sofa outside, holding the day's newspaper.
Then, he became my shadow. I went to the gym, he followed; I went to play ball, he followed; I went to the bathroom, he followed!
Finally, I had to ask him, "Wu Gang, do you know how much it costs to stay here every day? In terms of expenses over the past few days, you already owe me over 60,000... in US dollars, not RMB. Are you planning to use public funds to pay for these expenses?"
Wu Gang deliberately widened his eyes: "You think you'd charge me? For Nannan's sake, would you even give me a bill?"
“…Okay.” I sighed. “I’ll be going shopping with my wife this afternoon, if you’re planning to come along.”
"Of course I'll go with you. Don't think I'll actually believe you sent those hundred-odd mercenaries on a trip."
I shrugged: "Go ahead and follow if you want."
So, in the afternoon, I really took Yandi out shopping. We went to... a women's lingerie store.
Seeing us enter the lingerie store, Wu Gang stood outside looking rather embarrassed, which was actually quite funny.
Chinese men are generally very traditional and rarely go into women's lingerie stores... Of course, there are exceptions, such as perverted sex maniacs.
As for me, many men these days accompany their wives to buy underwear, so it's not surprising. However, if Wu Gang walked into an underwear store alone, he'd probably attract a lot of suspicious glances.
In particular, this high-end women's lingerie store clearly displayed a sign that read: "No single male guests."
This is a women's club. Even though I came here with my wife, I was led to the rest area by a staff member.
Soon, Wu Gang realized that something was wrong.
He sent a whole group of people to follow me. Now, the area around the lingerie store I'm in, from one end of the street to the other, and even the side streets that lead in and out of this street, are all guarded. He's certain I can't shake off his surveillance. But I have no intention of doing so at all.
A little while later, his subordinates quickly reported to him that a car from our company had pulled up, and Qiaoqiao got out of it.
A little while later, another group of subordinates reported that another car from our company had arrived, this time carrying Fang Nan.
"Chen Yang, are you planning to spend the whole day shopping with your women? You even invited them... You're not planning to bring all your women on a shopping day, are you?" Wu Gang couldn't help but call me.
"Why not? Unless you're planning to pay for it?" I chuckled and hung up the phone.
So, for the rest of the day, I took Wu Gang and his group to stroll around Huaihai Road and Nanjing Road in Shanghai! We bought shoes, coats, underwear, sweaters, pants, and even spent two hours waiting for the ladies to get their hair done. Finally, in the evening, I even called Ning Yan to come over for dinner.
"What are you up to? A family gathering?" Wu Gang complained on the phone. "You have top-notch chefs at your club, and you choose to eat out! Your club has professional representatives from the world's major fashion brands, and the latest news on new product launches. And you take them shopping for those out-of-season discounted items?"
I answered calmly, "If it's a family gathering, how could we leave you out? Wu Gang, you're Fang Nan's brother. As for eating out... after eating too much gourmet food, we always need a change of pace. Having some Korean kimchi hot pot once in a while is nice. And shopping... you don't understand women. Actually, the fun for women when shopping isn't in 'buying,' but in 'browsing.'"
It was past 8 p.m. when our group was having dinner in a private room at a Korean restaurant. Suddenly, the door was pushed open, and Wu Gang barged in with a serious expression.
"Oh, you've finally come in." I smiled. "There's still a seat here. Sit down and have a drink together. Korean soju may not be as good as our baijiu, but it's quite fun to have it once in a while."
Wu Gang wasn't in the mood for jokes this time: "Chen Yang! You...you've got some tricks up your sleeve! Where's Yang Wei? Where did Yang Wei go?"
I smiled; he had finally noticed.
I know. Wu Gang has always had three groups of men following me. Today, I deliberately wandered around all day and then called out Qiao Qiao, Fang Nan, and others one after another. This forced Wu Gang to send out more people to keep watch from the club.
However, his manpower is limited. With more people to track and monitor, it's inevitable that some will be missed.
For example, right now, I have Yan Di, Qiao Qiao, and Fang Nan by my side... but Yang Wei is nowhere to be seen!
After Wu Gang discovered this, he immediately asked his subordinates, "Is Yang Wei still at the club?"
But his subordinate's reply left him helpless: "Boss, there are only two groups of us left in the club. One group came out with Miss Qiao, and the other group came out with Miss Fang Nan... There's hardly anyone left in the club now."
Therefore, Wu had no choice but to barge into my private room.
“Oh, Yang Wei? Let me think…” I smiled: “I sent her out to meet up with those black bumpkins. You know, our country is vast and diverse, and I was worried they would get lost, so Yang Wei went to be their guide.”
Wu Gang was so angry he was speechless. After a long while, he finally managed to squeeze out three words: "You...you've got guts!"
After saying that, he left feeling very depressed.
“Chen Yang… Wu Gang…” After all, they are relatives, and Fang Nan couldn’t bear to see me teasing Wu Gang like this.
I nodded. I said slowly, "It's okay, I didn't mean any harm. But in the current situation, he's keeping a close eye on me, so I had to resort to a little trick. He's annoyed, but he won't really be angry with me. I'll explain to him later."
Then I smiled and said, "Okay, I really don't have anything else to do today. Since we're all free anyway, let's eat and drink as much as we want and treat it as a rare day off."
Everyone present except Ning Yan was my woman, so Ning Yan was the first to speak: "Boss, I don't understand, why did you call me here? Good heavens, do you know how much work I have to do at the company?!"
“Ning Yan, please still call me Chen Yang, or Xiao Wu. Don’t call me boss anymore.” I smiled, then looked at her and said very seriously, “Actually, I had no choice. I bet there are people in the company following me. So, I had no choice but to send you out. Your status is different now; you’re a key figure in the company. Once you’re out there, you can draw out Wu Gang’s men. Even if not all of them, you can at least distract some of his forces.”
"But what's in the company?" Ning Yan frowned.
"Didn't the company just import a batch of movie props from the US last week?" I smiled. "Those things are in the company warehouse now, right? There are some things in there that I don't want anyone to know, especially Wu Gang."
Seeing a hint of worry in Ning Yan's eyes, I immediately smiled and said, "Alright, don't worry, I won't cause any trouble for the company. After all, Deep Blue Entertainment is Fang Nan's life's work, and I won't let anything happen to this company. Don't worry, it's just something I don't want others to know, it's nothing. Besides, my people should be dealt with now."
I quickly changed the subject, laughing, "Sister Ning Yan, you're still single, oh, but you're already the CEO of Deep Blue Entertainment. I heard someone mention you at a party last time, listing you as one of Shanghai's most famous single, powerful women, and you're also very beautiful. I don't want my good friend and partner to be lonely. So, what kind of guy do you like? How about I introduce you to someone? My company has quite a few outstanding single men. Uh, what do you think of Sun Wendi at Huaxing Company headquarters? He's an overseas Chinese, highly educated, charming, and has no bad habits. I guarantee he has nothing to do with my illegal business. Uh, if you don't mind foreigners, Sun Wendi's deputy, that white guy, is also quite nice."
Ning Yan smiled, "I know. Just don't give me too much work and let me have more personal time. I'm already swamped with work. Hmm..." She then took a small booklet from her bag and placed it on the table, smiling, "Look what I have here... Miss Qian Pan made me a roster. It's a list of all the unmarried men aged 25 to 45 from all the other companies in that building where our company is located!"
"..." I was stunned for a moment, then couldn't help but burst into laughter: "Qian Pan would do such gossipy things?"
Ning Yan was a little embarrassed: "Qian Pan is a married woman. She was just concerned about me. It's just that this list..."
“We’ve already investigated the list.” Qiaoqiao replied, “We’ve investigated the information of each person.”
"You?" I glanced at Qiaoqiao.
"Of course! When you're bored, you always have to find something to do." Qiao Qiao pouted. "Just a few days ago, when you and Yang Wei were sneaking around in the office every day, I didn't want to bother you, so I had to find something to distract myself. So, I don't mind helping Ning Yan choose a partner."
I opened the booklet and started reading... There were over a hundred names! Each name was followed by detailed information, such as: marital history, bad habits, job title, income, hobbies, home address, phone number, and so on.
However, there were also a few names that had nothing written after them, but instead had a strange English letter marked in red before the name.
"Who are these... people whose names are blank after their names?"
"Oh. Those are the names that were eliminated." Qiao Qiao pouted.
"Oh? Why?"
"You can tell by looking at the letter markings at the front."
Letter markings?
I took a look, and there were two names that had the English letter "D" written in front of them.
"D?"
“DEAD.” Qiao Qiao sighed. “Qian Pan got the list from the personnel files, but unfortunately it was from two years ago. Now, three people on this list have… passed away. One died in a car accident, one committed suicide due to failed investments, and the other got cancer at the age of forty-five.”
"Oh, that's unfortunate... And what about these few marked with the letter 'G'? What does that mean?"
“GAY,” Qiao Qiao replied without changing her expression.
"..."
************************
To Wu Gang's dismay, our dinner lasted a full two hours, yet we seemed to have no intention of going back. Instead, we bought boat tickets for a night cruise on the Huangpu River!
Since Wu Gang had already given up all pretense of recklessness, he didn't even bother to hide it anymore. He openly led a dozen or so men to follow us and even boarded a cruise ship on the Huangpu River with us. I even paid for the cruise tickets.
I know Wu Gang has made up his mind: I'm sticking with you! Let's see what tricks Chen Yang can pull! As long as I'm with you to the death, you can forget about doing anything!
The Huangpu River at night is enchanting. The neon lights of the Bund in Shanghai are so dazzling that even the stars in the sky lose their color. There aren't many tourists on the boat, but there are small groups of tourists standing on the deck looking around. Among them are some young couples who come to enjoy the romantic atmosphere, and many tourists from other places who are taking pictures everywhere.
At night, there are very few boats on the river, with only a few similar cruise ships passing by in the distance. Of course, there are also some yachts belonging to wealthy people, as well as motorboats patrolling the surface. However, compared to the wide river, it is much quieter than during the day.
The wind on the river was a bit strong, so I took off my coat and draped it over the woman next to me who was dressed the least—to the women's surprise, my coat was draped over Ning Yan.
There's no way around it; my relationship with Ning Yan is the purest. If I were to drape my coat over either Qiao Qiao, Yan Di, or Fang Nan, it would probably upset the other two.
"Shanghai's night view is beautiful and bustling," Yan Di said quietly.
"Yes, it's very bustling," I said softly. "Unfortunately, I don't like this city."
"So, where do you like to go?" asked Qiao Qiao.
"I don't know... I just feel like it's too crowded and too noisy here. I like a quiet life." I looked at the sky and said, "Jojo, do you remember Tiger?"
“Tiger… ah, he was that guy from the old Big Circle, the one who worked under Master Fang…” Qiao Qiao stopped abruptly, because she knew that Tiger’s death was closely related to her.
“Hmm.” I replied as if I didn’t care at all: “Tiger once told me that he’s thinking about buying a small island in the Caribbean after he retires, and then living a leisurely life on the island. I think his idea is great.”
Fang Nan said softly, "It is indeed good..." A hint of longing appeared in her eyes: "After... after everything is over, we can try it."
“That’s good, after things are over. And I don’t think it will be long.” I smiled, then suddenly reached out and hugged Fang Nan. I whispered something in her ear, and then without pausing, I hugged Yan Di and Qiao Qiao tightly, whispering something in each of their ears.