Chapter 982: Chapter 952:
Just as chaos was breaking out in the kitchen, a voice that surprised all three arose from the doorway: “Hey, you all are here, discussing me? Are you missing your husband already?!”
“Ye Chen!” the three exclaimed in disbelief.
“Haha, your husband is back to celebrate with you!” Ye Chen tossed his travel bag onto the floor and extended his arms. Dian Ling was the first to leap forward, throwing herself into Ye Chen’s embrace, joyfully yelling, “Ye Chen, you scoundrel, you finally decided to come back? You didn’t come to see me even during New Year. Hmph hmph.”
“Yes, yes, I’m guilty. I’ll pamper you thoroughly later, is that okay?” Ye Chen looked at Dian Ling with a mischievous grin.
“Go away, who’s your wife? Who needs your pampering?” Dian Ling quickly broke free from Ye Chen’s hold, glared at him, and pointed at Zhang Yantong on the side, “That’s your legitimate wife, go hug her, go pamper her!”
Zhang Yantong, finding herself suddenly in the crossfire, replied speechlessly, “Lingling, that’s unfair of you. You hugged Ye Chen, yet you still want to drag me in. This is what they call gaining an advantage and playing innocent. Shameless!”
“Haha…” Dian Ling laughed heartily.
“Hey, hey, none of you three are escaping today, you’re all mine!” Ye Chen, like a big bad wolf, playfully lunged at the three, trying to envelop them in his arms. Dian Ling was quite willing, but unfortunately, Zhang Yantong stepped back repeatedly, quickly taking shelter behind Li Ruo, who also got pulled into Ye Chen’s embrace. With an arm around each, the extra Zhang Yantong ended up hiding in a corner, laughing secretly.
In truth, Ye Chen understood what Zhang Yantong was attempting. Among the three, only Zhang Yantong was actually married to him. Although the wedding wasn’t extravagant, it was a well-known affair in the city. She wasn’t avoiding Ye Chen because she didn’t want him, but because it was appropriate to step back at this moment. Her small concession made Li Ruo and Dian Ling feel better, ensuring a harmonious household in the future.
Ye Chen’s return delighted the three girls immensely, and they threw themselves into cooking with great enthusiasm. However, Ye Chen, upon returning, was forced by the three to step up and take on the chef’s role. Ye Chen lamented, “Did I really travel all this way back just to cook for you?”
“Hehe, you got it right!” Li Ruo giggled, “You came back to cook for us, of course!”
“Ah, what a hard life,” Ye Chen complained verbally but felt sweet inside. Cooking for his loved ones was, after all, a kind of enjoyment, a form of happiness. Ye Chen took off his coat and donned a chef’s apron, declaring, “Alright, cooking it is. They say to win a woman’s heart, one must first win her stomach!”
“Haha…” The three girls stood aside, watching Ye Chen with amusement.
Ye Chen personally took to the kitchen, pouring oil with a grand gesture. Immediately, he was flustered: “Oh no, too much oil!”
“Can you manage like this?” Li Ruo giggled, “Ladies, I think we better leave, or he’ll lose all focus on cooking while we’re here!”
The three girls vanished in an instant, leaving Ye Chen to grimly continue cooking alone in the kitchen. Not long after, Little Yezi scurried in, circling Ye Chen, clearly wanting something. Ye Chen grinned, lit a cigarette for Little Yezi, then squatted down to smoke alongside him, utterly ignoring the oil boiling over in the pot.
…
The night of the Lantern Festival is also a night of reunion.
At villa No. 1, lights shone brightly. Even the maids felt the master’s festive spirit and hung up red lanterns at the door, blending into the joyful ambiance of the neighborhood. In the community, children played with sparklers while adults chatted at home, eating their reunion dinner.
Inside villa No. 1, the food was finally served. However, one dish stood out with a glaring problem, a dish of red pepper eggs was astonishingly burnt to a crisp. Dian Ling curiously asked, “Oh my, what dish is this?”
“This dish is called Black Whirlwind Li Kui!” Ye Chen casually replied. Just moments ago, he had been smoking with Little Yezi and lost track of the oil in the pot. When he added the broken eggs, a cloud of black smoke immediately erupted. Rushed and flustered, the dish never cooked and ended up burnt. Dian Ling poked it with her chopsticks and chuckled, “Pfft… this dish… it’s really unique, huh?”
“Unique how?” Li Ruo asked, coming over from the couch where she was watching TV.
“Sister Xiao Ruo, come and see!” Dian Ling laughed heartily, “Come look at this dish Ye Chen made, he’s calling it Black Whirlwind Li Kui. I’d say it’s more like Black Whirlwind Li Ghost! Haha…”
Li Ruo took one look at the charred dish and burst out laughing. The dish was nothing but scorched bits, as black as coal. After her laughter subsided, she remarked, “Ye Chen, you’ve really made me underestimate you. Is this the dish you cooked? It’s like something a novice would make!”
“Though, the other dishes seem pretty good?” Zhang Yantong noted, pointing to the rest of the meal. Those were truly pleasant in color, smell, and taste, making the peculiar Black Whirlwind Li Kui all the more bizarre. Zhang Yantong chuckled, “Ye Chen, how did you manage to cook this dish? It doesn’t seem up to your usual standards!”
“A mistake, a mistake!” Ye Chen waved his hands hastily.
“Yeah right, I don’t believe it!” Li Ruo snorted lightly from the side, “If you ask me, except for that Black Whirlwind, I’d say the rest of the dishes were made by the kitchen staff!”
“Ye Chen, shouldn’t you give an explanation?” Dian Ling smiled from the side.
“Explanation?” Ye Chen was taken aback, then he held a cigarette in his mouth, looked deeply at the three of them, and said, “Those who understand me need no explanation. Those who don’t, no explanation would suffice.”
This rather pretentious statement left the trio quite surprised. They looked at Ye Chen with grins and said, “So, why don’t you tell us, are we the ones who understand you, or not?”
“Well… shouldn’t you ask yourselves that?” Ye Chen replied with a laugh.
“Alright, you jerk!” The three of them immediately pounced on Ye Chen. Ye Chen, holding them on the couch, was having a great time. Who would mind having a few more women around, especially such stunningly beautiful ones? Ye Chen was busy holding them close, kissing this one then that one, thoroughly enjoying himself.
“Alright, alright, it’s time to eat!” Li Ruo tidied up her wrinkled clothes. The group sat down at the dining table to enjoy a reunion meal.
During New Year’s Eve, when Dian Ling, Zhang Yantong, and Ye Chen gathered, it counted as a gathering. But Li Ruo hadn’t been able to join. This time, it was a true reunion for Li Ruo; during the New Year, she was just a corpse. Now she was finally recovered. Zhang Yantong and Dian Ling both breathed a sigh of relief.
During dinner, Zhang Yantong suddenly asked Li Ruo, “Li Ruo, how is the Tianya Group now? Have you noticed anyone secretly targeting the Tianya Group?”
“Yes!” Li Ruo nodded and said, “But I don’t know exactly who. Ah, the Tianya Group has grown big, so it’s inevitable that some peers or hidden enemies will try to deal with us.”
“What’s going on?” Ye Chen, who was eating, was somewhat surprised to hear them talking about such matters. The Tianya Group is so big now, would anyone really have such wild ambitions as to think they can shake this mountain? Ye Chen looked at Li Ruo curiously and asked, “What’s the matter?”
“Here’s the thing…” Li Ruo explained the recent situation to Ye Chen. Ye Chen was quite astonished and said, “Is there really such a thing? I think the Tianya Group’s insider must be those shareholders whose stocks you bought off. They know the details of the Tianya Group inside out, so it’s more likely that they’ve colluded with others to deal with the Tianya Group.”
“I think so too!” Zhang Yantong nodded.
“Hmph, no matter what they want, the Tianya Group won’t be afraid!” Li Ruo smiled calmly and said, “They can come from all sides; I’ll just focus on one. Any plots will be exposed in the daylight!”
“Xiao Ruo, that’s not going to work!” Ye Chen waved his hand and said, “To deal with vile people, you have to use even more insidious methods; to deal with gentlemen, you should use even more fair and open methods. Understand?”
“But I don’t even know who’s causing trouble behind the scenes!” Li Ruo shook her head helplessly.
“Then leave it to me!” Ye Chen readily took on the job.
Ye Chen wanting to help the Tianya Group was just expected. To figure out who’s behind causing issues for the Tianya Group might not be easy for others, but for Ye Chen, it’s a breeze.
On a night after the Lantern Festival, Ye Chen went directly to the headquarters of the Heavenly Reversal Gang in Jianghuai City and found several people, including King Guangmu.
“Brother Chen, you’re back!” The guys jumped up excitedly. Ever since the last battle in Japan, these guys went to Canada but came back for the New Year. They hadn’t gone to Canada Ottawa since. This time, seeing Ye Chen come to find them, they thought they were about to set off again.
“Yes, I have something to discuss with you guys!” Ye Chen immediately beckoned them over. The Three Kings quickly gathered around, and after Ye Chen spoke to them for a while, their eyes gleamed, and they said, “Brother Chen, really?”
“Of course it’s true!” Ye Chen grinned and said, “Let’s go and catch that guy, and we can naturally extract information about the people behind the scenes from him!”
“Okay!” The three of them immediately got ready.
“Damn, why the hell are you bringing a gun?” King Guangmu looked at Lord Zengzhang.
“Uh, having this thing is more impactful!” Lord Zengzhang grinned, showing off his gun in front of King Guangmu, and said, “With this thing, I don’t believe that bastard would dare to keep quiet!”
“Fine, bring it along then!” Ye Chen glanced at the two, holding a cigarette and squinting.
“Alright!” Lord Zengzhang nodded, then he put the gun into his pocket and followed Ye Chen out. Outside, Ye Chen’s Infiniti was parked at the door. The four of them squeezed into the car, and the Infiniti headed towards a bar in the city of Jianghuai. The bar was located in the Southern District of Jianghuai City, an economically less developed area of Jianghuai City.