Chapter 48: A Surging Undercurrent

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Chapter 48: A Surging Undercurrent

That same evening, Zhang Ya took Chen Yuhe to Zhang Shan’s home.

Inside the Zheng Family villa, Zhang Shan and her son were already waiting in the living room. The expressions on their faces were just as grim and livid as those of Zhang Ya and her son.

“Big Sister, that little bastard is absolutely detestable! Not only did he have rats steal your jewelry, but he even made off with the photos I had hidden away. What do we do now? With him holding those photos, we’ve lost our leverage over him. We certainly can’t just let those assets, which are practically within our grasp, slip into his hands, can we? Those assets are worth several billion in total! That’s nearly half the Chen Family’s wealth!”

Zhang Ya began complaining and cursing Mu Yanxiao the moment she sat down on the sofa. It was hard to blame her for losing her composure. After all, faced with such immense wealth, few people could remain calm.

Zhang Shan’s expression darkened further upon hearing her third sister’s words. After all, compared to Zhang Ya, who had merely lost a stack of old photos and suffered the minor indignity of having her wardrobe rummaged through, the jewelry and clothing destroyed or carried off by those rats were worth over a hundred million!

The magnitude of the loss had left her unable to sleep properly for the past three days. The moment she closed her eyes, she would think of those priceless pieces of jewelry. It was absolutely heart-wrenching.

“Sister, say something! Don’t just sit there. It’s driving me crazy with anxiety!”

Zhang Shan shot her third sister a fierce glare and said coldly, “What good does fretting do? The most important thing was stolen while it was in your hands, wasn’t it? What did I tell you back then? I told you to hand it over to me for safekeeping, but you stubbornly refused, insisting that your hiding place was the safest. And now look what happened. I’m too tired to even lecture you anymore.”

Although Zhang Ya was deeply resentful at being scolded by her eldest sister, she ultimately held her tongue. After all, Zhang Shan was stating the facts. The item had been stolen while it was in her possession, so she bore the primary responsibility. But responsibility aside, wasn’t the most important thing now figuring out how to get those assets tomorrow? That was the real priority.

“Sister, I know I was wrong, okay? But don’t just keep scolding me. Have A’hu think of a solution. He’s the smartest one among us. He can definitely come up with a good plan, right?!”

Zhang Shan finally fell silent and, like Zhang Ya, turned to look at her son. In truth, she thought the same way Zhang Ya did. No matter what happened, no matter how dire the situation was, her son would always be able to think of a way to solve the problem. There was nothing he couldn’t handle.

Zheng Yuhu looked at the three people in the room all staring at him and rubbed his temples helplessly. Aside from his mother, who could at least hold her own, it would be a blessing if the other two didn’t drag him down. If this had been something unrelated to him, Zheng Yuhu certainly wouldn’t have involved himself in the affairs of Zhang Ya and her son. The problem was that they were all in the same boat now, so he had no choice but to get involved.

After thinking it over, Zheng Yuhu said in a low voice, “I’ve already made other arrangements for this matter, so you don’t need to worry about it. But regardless, because of Auntie’s mistake, we’ve lost a huge bargaining chip. From now on, any important matters should be left to my mother!”

Although Zhang Ya was somewhat displeased to hear this, she knew her own limitations. In the end, she reluctantly nodded, then immediately broke into a smile.

“I knew it! Our A’hu really is the smartest! No matter how much that little bastard Mu Yanxiao struggles, he won’t be able to escape our grasp! We’ll split those assets equally when the time comes. Then our two families can get together for a meal and strengthen our relationship.”

After saying this, Zhang Ya excitedly began speculating with her son about what Mu Yanxiao’s expression would look like the next day. She completely failed to notice that, on the sofa nearby, her sister and nephew were looking at her with utter disdain. Chen Yuhe was growing impatient with his mother’s rambling, so he glanced toward his eldest cousin. He froze for a moment, then quickly looked away.

“A’he? A’he? Why are you spacing out again? Did you hear what I just said? Tomorrow, we absolutely have to bring a small video camera. Mu Yanxiao’s expression is going to be priceless. Hahaha!”

Hearing this, Chen Yuhe could no longer stand it and abruptly rose to his feet. Under the surprised gazes of the three people in the room, he paused for a moment before saying, “I didn’t eat dinner tonight, and I’m hungry. I’m going out to get something to eat. Auntie, Cousin, I’ll be leaving first.”

Zhang Shan nodded with a smile, while Zheng Yuhu raised an eyebrow slightly. He seemed to sense that something was a little off about his third cousin. Regardless, this kid wasn’t someone capable of shouldering any major responsibility. He wasn’t worth worrying about.

……

At exactly noon the next day, Mu Yanxiao arrived at the Wirth Hotel with his little lynx, Mu One, and Mu Two.

As soon as they entered the hotel, a waiter approached them. “Mr. Mu, Mr. Zheng and the others are already waiting in the top-floor VIP room. Please follow me.”

Mu Yanxiao nodded and, holding his little lynx, followed the waiter with a calm expression. Meanwhile, Lin You was draped over his blind master’s shoulder, quietly giving him directions. Shortly after they approached the elevator, however, a dispute broke out at the hotel entrance.

“Why won’t you let my cat inside?! I just saw someone carry in a cat even bigger than mine, and none of you stopped him! Why are you stopping me? Do you think I can’t afford it? Or do pets have to pay a separate head fee? Just say the word and I’ll pay it right now!” A burly middle-aged man with a finger-thick gold chain around his neck shouted loudly, wearing an expression so menacing it practically said, If you don’t explain yourself, I’m going to smash your face with a brick.

The waiters were completely helpless against his unreasonable pestering and finally had no choice but to explain, “One of this hotel’s investors is that gentleman’s eldest cousin. And according to the latest information we’ve received, he’s already bought out his eldest cousin’s shares. In other words, the person who just walked in carrying that big cat is none other than our boss. So, in that case, who among us would dare stop him and make him put his pet down?”

Having said this, the waiter was determined to uphold the hotel’s rule against allowing pets inside. Even if the wealthy patron continued arguing, he would stand his ground!

To everyone’s surprise, however, the wealthy patron paused after hearing the explanation, then turned around and walked away with his little cat in his arms. As he left, he even waved understandingly. “Oh, if you’d just said that was your boss earlier! I can understand that kind of special treatment. After all, it’s his own restaurant! No big deal. If we can’t eat giant lobster, we’ll just go have spicy crayfish instead. They’re both shrimp anyway. There’s not much difference.”

Waiters, “…”

We really want to know what a five-star hotel’s finest giant lobster and the spicy crayfish sold at a roadside stall have in common… (╯°□°)╯︵ ┻━┻ If they’re really the same, how are we supposed to stay in business? We might as well all go set up roadside stalls!!

Meanwhile, in the top-floor VIP room of the Wirth Hotel, Mu Yanxiao, accompanied by Mu One, Mu Two, and his little lynx, sat across from Zheng Yuhu, Zhang Shan, and the others. The two sides were sitting stiffly, preparing for a hard battle where either they would be unhappy or the other side would be the unlucky one.

“Mu Yanxiao! Tell me! Was it you who…” Zhang Ya couldn’t contain herself when she saw Mu Yanxiao. She slammed her hand on the table and was about to question him, but Zhang Shan stopped her.

“Yanxiao, did you bring the contract we asked for? Hand it over and let me take a look. If I’m satisfied, I’ll give you your parents’ keepsakes.” Zhang Shan took over and calmly told this lie without even blinking. Her expression was so natural that it was almost as though she truly would hand over the keepsakes as soon as Mu Yanxiao met her demands.

Before Mu Yanxiao could even speak, Young Master Lin You threw his head back and laughed three times. Pointing a chubby little paw at Zhang Shan, he said without mercy, “Keep pretending! Go on, keep pretending! Damn it, don’t you know that showing off like that gets you struck by lightning?! Just because it’s sunny today doesn’t mean you can’t get struck by five thunderbolts from heaven, okay?! You lie without even preparing your script. Does your son know about this?”

Zhang Shan’s expression darkened abruptly.

Zheng Yuhu reached out to restrain his mother, then gave Young Master Lin You a deep look before turning to Mu Yanxiao. “Looks like you really were behind the burglaries at my family’s home and my third aunt’s place. Since that’s the case, forget about the keepsakes. Let’s talk about something else.”

Mu Yanxiao shook his head. “You can eat whatever you want, but you can’t just say whatever you want. Burglaries at my eldest and youngest aunts’ homes? This is the first I’ve heard of it, so don’t slander me. We can talk, but if we don’t clear this up first, I won’t feel at ease. Who knows if you’re recording this conversation?”

Zheng Yuhu gave a cold snort. Knowing he wouldn’t be able to trick Mu Yanxiao into letting anything slip, he didn’t pursue it. Instead, he tossed a file over to Mu Yanxiao and smiled faintly. “I’d like to use the contents of this file to exchange for the half of the Zheng and Chen Family assets that you’ve gotten your hands on. What do you think?”

Mu Yanxiao raised an eyebrow. “Just an ordinary document? You’re being a little too fanciful.”

Zheng Yuhu continued smiling. “Whether this is an ordinary document or I’m being fanciful, you’ll know once you look at it. Ah, I forgot you can’t see right now. Have Mu One read it to you. I’m sure you’ll be willing to make the exchange.”

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