Chapter 73: Offering Advice

As usual, a triple request! Votes, recommendations, and favorites, please!

Second floor of the restaurant.

Wu Hao and Hua, seeing Yang Tang arrive, hurried to greet him.

"Brother Tang!" "Brother Yi!"

Yang Tang nodded slightly to them, sat down across, and smiled, "How did you two meet?"

Wu Hao, eager to show off, said, "Brother Hua isn’t good at much, but his three-pointers are really impressive!"

"Is that so?" Yang Tang glanced meaningfully at Hua, "We should have a match someday."

Hua quickly waved his hands, "Brother Yi, Wu has told me all about your skills on the court. I’m no match for you!"

Yang Tang’s smile was more sardonic than genuine. "Is that so? The path I pointed out for you—did it bring in money?"

Hua jolted to his feet, "Brother Yi, it’s all thanks to your guidance. I’m endlessly grateful!"

Wu Hao, not understanding, asked, "What money-making path is this?"

Hua’s face instantly clouded; saying anything or nothing was equally awkward.

"Enough, stop playing the fool," Yang Tang waved Hua off and stood, heading toward the hallway. "Hao, come with me."

Wu Hao hurried after him.

At the corner where no one could see, Yang Tang said, "Hao, you know Hua better than I do. Don’t get too close to him."

Wu Hao replied noncommittally, "I understand. My dad knows about this."

Yang Tang was equally noncommittal, not surprised at all. "As long as Uncle Wu knows. By the way, is he finished with his work?"

"Almost," Wu Hao replied shrewdly. "But he still needs to keep an eye on things at the bureau every day. After all, every one of Zhang Jun’s men has a murder case. The credit is huge, and if he doesn't watch it, someone else might snatch away the cooked duck."

"Alright, when I have time, I’ll go to the bureau with you to see Uncle Wu."

"Why see my dad?" Wu Hao asked, puzzled.

Yang Tang’s face turned serious. "Did you forget what you said? I told you, without Uncle Wu’s approval, no one can cover that matter."

Wu Hao grew excited, "Right, right, brother, you have a way?"

"It’s not about me having a way—it depends on you," Yang Tang replied. "Do you want the people who beat you to be injured? Disabled? Ruined? Dead?"

Wu Hao clenched his teeth. "I wish they were all dead!"

Yang Tang raised an eyebrow. "You really want them dead?"

Wu Hao nodded vigorously, remembering his father Wu Lie’s advice about Yang Tang: either stay far away from him or obey him in everything—never wrong.

Perhaps it was due to having killed too many people; Yang Tang didn’t find Wu Hao’s murderous intent disturbing. He rubbed his chin, "Foreigners are not easy to handle."

"Brother, are you afraid of foreigners?" Wu Hao tried to provoke him.

"Not afraid. Foreigners to me are like pebbles by the river."

"What do you mean?" Wu Hao didn’t understand.

Yang Tang asked, "If a pebble is kicked, thrown into the river, or smashed with a hammer, would you feel anything?"

"Of course not!"

"It’s the same for me."

Wu Hao paused, finally understanding Yang Tang’s meaning. "But brother, if you don’t care about the foreigners, why not ask Hua to send some people to deal with them directly?"

"It’s not as simple as you think," Yang Tang glared. "If it were so easy, Uncle Wu would have avenged you already. Would it be left to you?"

"So what do you suggest?" Wu Hao was growing impatient.

"First, Hua can’t know about this, or it’ll become leverage against you."

Wu Hao hesitated, nodding. "Without Hua’s help, it’ll be difficult."

Yang Tang said, "I didn’t say he can’t help—he just can’t know the whole story. You understand?"

"I get it. But how exactly?"

Yang Tang didn’t answer. He took a slip of paper from his pocket, unfolded it, and handed it to Wu Hao.

Wu Hao reached for it, but Yang Tang slapped his hand away. "Don’t touch it, just look."

"Okay!" Wu Hao obeyed, his mouth unconsciously reading aloud, "Find some spicy girls, they must carry—"

Yang Tang covered Wu Hao’s mouth. "Shh, remember it and don’t speak."

Wu Hao nodded, continuing to read. The more he read, the more his heart raced.

"Finished?"

Wu Hao, his mouth still covered, nodded vigorously. Yang Tang released him, took out a lighter, burned the slip to ashes, and blew them out the window. "If the contents leak, I’ll never admit I wrote it."

Wu Hao nodded feverishly.

"If you follow the plan on the slip, those foreigners who beat you will wish they were dead, even if they survive."

Wu Hao nodded even harder.

"But, aside from Uncle Wu, you can’t let anyone know about the girls’ backgrounds, or you’ll be in deep trouble. Understand?"

Wu Hao kept nodding.

Yang Tang patted Wu Hao’s shoulder. "Of course, the plan is vicious—better not use it if possible. It’ll shorten your life." He paused. "Diplomatic staff only serve a few years. You can always wait till your enemies return home to carry out the plan." With that, he strolled back toward the restaurant.

Wu Hao, drenched in cold sweat, froze in place, his heart screaming, Brother Tang, my dear brother, the plan on that slip is truly lacking in virtue—do you realize that? But why is it that the more I fear it, the more I want to carry it out?

By the time Wu Hao returned to the restaurant, most of the dishes had already been served.

"Better to arrive by chance than early, Young Wu, sit at the head of the table and join us!"

Wu Hao didn’t even glance at the eager Hua, but bowed servilely to Yang Tang, "Brother!"

Yang Tang shot him a sidelong glance. "What’s with you? Sit down and eat."

"Yes!" Wu Hao sat down, scooped rice into a small bowl, and respectfully placed it before Yang Tang. "Brother, eat this bowl!"

Yang Tang accepted without hesitation, eating heartily as he spoke, "Alright, you eat too, hurry up."

"Yes!" Wu Hao replied again, served himself a bowl, and ate in silence, treating Hua as if he were air.

Fortunately, Yang Tang hadn’t forgotten Hua. Seeing him awkwardly standing, he called out, "Old Hua, what are you waiting for? Sit down and eat!"

"Ah? Oh, oh!" Hua sat, immediately asking, "Brother Yi, will you two have some wine?"

"No need."

After the meal, having eaten several bowls, Yang Tang finally paused, picking his teeth and pondering the plan he’d handed to Wu Hao, wondering if Celestial Sound Purification could deal with those messy viruses—what a sin! At the same time, he thought about his mana recovery.

After using Celestial Sound Purification on the puppy that day, Yang Tang had noted that seventy-two points of mana took nearly half an hour to fully recover. If standing or walking, it was about one point per minute; sitting, one point every three minutes—painfully slow!

At this moment, noise erupted downstairs.

"Hey, hey, who are you? What are you doing?"

"We’re police!"

"So what? This is private property."

"We—"

"Officer, a bunch of brothers gathering to eat and drink isn’t illegal, is it?"

The chaotic voices drowned out the police inquiry.

Finally, one of the officers, impulsive, rushed up the stairs.

"Hey, you haven’t shown a search warrant—why are you going upstairs?"

"Officer, you’re disturbing the peace—"

Footsteps thundered up to the second floor.

Hua’s brow furrowed deeply.

Leading the charge into the restaurant were three police officers: one woman, two men.

The female officer, with one stripe and two stars, had a decent face and a hint of heroism in her brows. If graded, she’d barely reach eighty, but her figure was flatter than an airport runway; even the allure of uniform couldn’t save her score—seventy-something at best. She held little interest for Yang Tang, though he knew such looks could qualify as "Police Beauty" in the force.

She likewise had no interest in Yang Tang, glanced at him, then at Wu Hao, and glared at Hua, "You’re Kong Hua, right?"

Hua ignored her, digging at his ear. "Officer, this is my friend’s private restaurant. If you don’t have a search warrant, please leave immediately. Otherwise, what’s the city bureau’s complaint hotline again?"

"Don’t threaten me, Kong Hua. I’m Lu Yin. If you have the guts, file a complaint!" Officer Lu Yin was clearly not someone to be pushed around. "Anyway, if you don’t give an explanation for the car smashing incident outside the school gate a few days ago, I’ll come every day. Let’s see if you can still do business!"

Hua’s face changed slightly, but he resisted Lu Yin’s threat, exclaiming, "Oh, I’m so scared, Officer!"

Yang Tang hadn’t intended to meddle in Hua’s affairs, but hearing it was about the school gate car smashing, he couldn’t ignore it. "Officer Lu, is it? The car was smashed, and compensation is all that’s needed. What’s your badge number? Why not tell me, so I can file a complaint for unlawful entry?"

At this, not only Lu Yin but her two colleagues also changed expressions.

Fortunately, Lu Yin was seasoned, not fazed by Yang Tang’s words. She asked coldly, "Who are you? Kong Hua’s crony?"

Hua saw she wouldn’t give her badge number, and smirked, "Officer Lu, who he is doesn’t matter. You want to talk about compensating for the car? Then show your police ID first."

Lu Yin’s expression changed again; she froze.

"I just want to see your badge number," Hua said frankly. "Then I’ll complain to your bureau about unlawful entry."

Hearing this, the crowd—Heipin and others—began to cheer, "Badge number, badge number, badge number."

...