Chapter 91: Mother’s Closest Friend

I do not oppose your provoking the authority of the great Beijing families. But if you insist on going your own way, then do not blame us for playing dirty behind your back, Chen Liang said.

Playing dirty?

Lu Ye raised an eyebrow, then grinned. "The last person who tried that with me has grass growing over his grave as tall as a man."

Chen Liang let out a cold laugh. "Fine. Let me see whether your real ability is as sharp as your tongue."

"Then we shall see."

Chen Liang left. Staying here and trading insults would only get him crushed by that married pair.

But Bai Wen could not help worrying. "Can we really outmaneuver them?"

Lu Ye said, "What they are doing is already unreasonable, carving up land so openly and squeezing out their competitors. If they truly want to make things difficult for you, then we may as well make this matter blow up."

"The barefoot are not afraid of the shod. What is there to fear?"

"Even if the company goes bankrupt, you can always come work for my old lady's Yiren Group."

Lu Ye's words were blunt, but they were indeed the truth.

If Bai Wen wanted her project to continue, conflict with those great families was unavoidable.

Her company had already reached the end of the road. Only by gambling everything and getting this development built could she hope to turn things around.

After dinner, Bai Wen took them to the hotel and opened two rooms.

She still wanted to stay behind and exchange a few whispered confidences with Su Qianqian, so she lingered in the room and would not leave.

Su Qianqian did not feel it was proper to leave Lu Ye and Scarlet alone together, so she dragged Scarlet over as well and taught her how to play a card game.

The three women chatted as they played.

Only Lu Ye was chased into the room opposite, left to browse the internet alone in boredom.

Perfect. He could use the chance to look into the backgrounds of these Beijing families.

"You have a new message!"

Queen: "You really are something. You just arrived in Beijing and managed to offend every family there."

You Are Also a Social Butterfly: "I only finished this meal and you already got the news?"

Queen: "Our people are also in the Beijing family circles. Chen Liang has already spread the word that your wife insists on doing business on their turf. I am afraid this deal will not be easy."

You Are Also a Social Butterfly: "Then give me some advice?"

Queen: "I will have the Y6 members in Beijing at your disposal. As for the rest, figure it out yourself."

Queen: "One more thing. The head of the Ye family in Beijing was once your mother's closest confidant. For your mother's sake, he may be willing to lend you a hand."

What the hell?

The head of the Ye family was an intimate friend of my mother?

Even I did not know that. Queen really does have eyes and ears everywhere.

You Are Also a Social Butterfly: "How do you know my mother's background so thoroughly?"

He was about to ask further, but Queen replied, "Heh. I am logging off first."

Fine...

He found the Ye family’s records on the internal network.

Holy hell.

The Ye family was actually one of the first-rate great families. Though they ranked near the bottom among the first-rate houses, they were still several tiers above the second-rate ones.

The current patriarch of the Ye family was named Ye Liancheng, and several of the companies under his name were Fortune Global 500 enterprises.

His mother actually had such an astonishing old friend?

Dwelling on it here would be useless. Lu Ye decided to meet this Ye family head in person.

He lightly knocked on the old lady's door.

"Who is it?"

"Me. I need to borrow your best friend's car for a bit. I'm going out."

Bai Wen then passed her car key through the crack in the door.

Ye Liancheng liked peace and quiet, so he had built his home on a mountain in the suburbs.

It took Lu Ye quite some searching, and over an hour of driving, before he finally reached the gate of the Ye family's hillside villa.

Just then, a young man was hurrying out from inside the house. He looked to be only seventeen or eighteen, as though he were about to head out.

Lu Ye stopped him and asked, "Hello. Is this Ye Liancheng's home?"

The young man blinked. "Yes."

"Can you take me to see him?"

The young man said, "My father is ill. I was just about to go out and find a doctor for him."

So this was Ye Liancheng's son.

Lu Ye smiled. "What a coincidence. I happen to be a doctor."

The young man asked in confusion, "What is your name? I'll go ask my father first; he may not know you."

That was understandable. After all, Ye Liancheng was the wealthy head of the Ye family. Not just any stray passerby could get an audience with such a man.

The boy's attitude was already very respectful.

Lu Ye said with a smile, "Tell him that the son of Cheng Qimeng has come to see him."

"All right, please wait here for a moment."

The young man turned and went back inside.

A few minutes later, out came a middle-aged man, and he was running.

Only, his face was somewhat haggard, and he was clutching his chest in visible pain.

The young man chased after him, calling, "Dad, slow down!"

So this was Ye Liancheng?

Ye Liancheng dashed all the way to the gate and nearly could not keep his footing, and Lu Ye had to reach out and steady him.

Ye Liancheng asked in disbelief, "You really are Qimeng's son?"

Lu Ye was somewhat surprised. Even if they were old friends, he should not be this astonished simply because he had heard Lu Ye had come.

He nodded. "Uncle Ye, my name is Lu Ye."

Ye Liancheng held his face in both hands and studied him for a long while. "Yes, you do resemble her. Mother and son truly do look alike."

"Let's not talk about that for now. I heard you've had some trouble with your health. Since I'm here, let me take a look."

"Good, ha ha ha."

As Ye Liancheng led Lu Ye inside, he also introduced his son.

Ye Qiu, eighteen years old.

Naturally brilliant, he had skipped several grades during school and was already a master's degree candidate.

Ye Qiu greeted him shyly. "Brother Lu, sorry to keep you waiting outside for so long."

"No problem. I understand."

Ye Liancheng seemed to be a rather low-profile man. The decor of his house was not ostentatious or lavish; instead it was simple yet tasteful, with depth beneath its restraint. The moment Lu Ye stepped inside, he felt unexpectedly at ease.

Ye Liancheng sat in the living room rocking chair and said, "This heart condition of mine flares up from time to time. It's not really a major issue, but it has never been cured."

Lu Ye placed the gift he had brought on the coffee table and nodded. "Do you have a stent?"

"No."

Good. That made things easier.

Lu Ye drove a fist straight into his chest, startling Ye Qiu beside them.

Ye Liancheng smiled and waved him down. "Don't panic. Your Brother Lu is using his lifesaving and healing fist to treat me."

Bang, bang, bang, bang!

One set of lifesaving and healing fists was enough.

A few seconds later, Ye Liancheng's complexion visibly improved at a remarkable speed.

Lu Ye withdrew his fist and exhaled. "Uncle Ye, I'm sorry to say this, but you'll have to say goodbye to your old friend, heart disease."

Ye Liancheng froze for a moment, then burst out laughing. "Little Lu, you didn't come all this way just to see me, did you?"

Lu Ye admitted, "There is indeed something I wanted to mention. My wife's best friend is developing real estate inside the Fourth Ring Road, but she is not from one of the great families. Chen Liang of the Chen family is using that as an excuse to make things difficult for her, hoping to force that girl to marry him."

Ye Liancheng said, "I heard about it. First Ring households are first-rate, Second Ring households are second-rate. The rule itself is downright absurd."

"Still, the current business circles in Beijing are basically run by the younger generation of the great families. We old relics do not interfere much anymore."

Having said that, he looked at Ye Qiu. "Xiaoqiu, you know what to do, right?"

Ye Qiu nodded and looked at Lu Ye. "Brother Lu, if you run into trouble in Beijing, you can contact me. If there's anything I can help with, I will."

Lu Ye smiled. "Good."

Then Ye Liancheng chatted with Lu Ye about the past.

He and Cheng Qimeng were sworn siblings, and he had kept her in his heart all these years. No wonder he had been so out of sorts upon hearing that his little sister's son had come to visit.

This trip had gone even more smoothly than Lu Ye had imagined.

Not only did Ye Liancheng trust him deeply, but Ye Qiu also seemed to take to him at once.

As they talked, they had even dropped the formalities, and Ye Qiu began calling him Brother.

Despite being young and somewhat shy, Ye Liancheng said this son had already taken complete control of the family business.

Several companies under the Ye name, under his management, were all showing a steady and rapid upward trend.

They talked with great relish, and before anyone noticed, it was already two in the morning.

Lu Ye took his leave of his own accord. "Uncle Ye, I'll head back now."

Ye Liancheng was already yawning nonstop, yet still tried to keep him. "Why rush off? Let's talk a little longer, old man and young man!"

Lu Ye laughed it off. "Another time. My wife has quite the temper, ha ha ha."

"All right, all right. Xiaoqiu, see your brother out."

Ye Qiu nodded. "You got it!"

When he returned to the hotel, the old lady's room was still intermittently echoing with calls of "Pair of aces!" "Can't beat that!" and "Rocket!"

Sigh. Looks like tonight he'd have the empty bed to himself.