But such things cannot simply be endured at will. At last, under Yang Juehuan's assault, Huang Yan let out a moan of "Ah!"—and in a panic she hurried to mute the microphone on QQ.

"Lele, what's wrong?" Little Fox Spirit had still heard Huang Yan's cry just now, though she thought nothing of it, assuming Huang Yan had only cried out because of something in the game.

"What are you doing? I cried out and Little Fox Spirit heard me!" Huang Yan said angrily.

"Then don't cry out," Yang Ce said with a wicked grin.

"Nonsense! If you're doing that to me, how can I not cry out?" Huang Yan said, beside herself with rage.

"Then cry out first and play afterward," Yang Ce said with a chuckle, scooped Huang Yan up, and carried her straight to the bed.

Over there, the computer was left to rack up Huang Yan's points until game over. "Lele, what's wrong? What's going on, Lele?" Little Fox Spirit kept calling Huang Yan's name, puzzled. And on this side Huang Yan was still panting and gasping for a long while before she finally sat back down in front of the computer and turned the voice chat back on: "Little Fox Spirit, Little Fox Spirit, are you still there?"

"I'm here. Lele, what happened to you just now? Nothing's wrong, is there?" Little Fox Spirit asked with concern.

"N-no, nothing..." Of course Huang Yan could not say it was because Yang Ce was "doing" her, so in desperation she thought up an excuse: "I just saw a huge cockroach and got a fright."

"Oh, so that's it—you scared me to death!" Little Fox Spirit breathed a sigh of relief. "I thought something had happened to you. Then that last round doesn't count—let's start over."

"Sure, sure!" Huang Yan said guiltily.

The night before, Huang Yan and Little Fox Spirit had battled on until past one in the morning. After getting into bed, Yang Ce and Huang Yan were hardly about to fall asleep right away; by the time they finished what they wanted to do, it was already past two, so when they woke the next morning it was nearly noon.

Fortunately, the party at Huang Yan's house was in the evening, so there was no great rush. The two of them lazed about in bed for a long while before getting up, and Zhang Bin on his side had only just risen too—probably the same as Yan, having fought fiercely half the night.

The four of them grabbed a casual meal in the hotel restaurant, then each went back to their rooms to get ready for the evening party.

Zhang Bin and Wang Mei, afraid of making Huang Yan lose face, both dressed themselves up with care. Yang Ce, by contrast, was still in casual clothes—though Huang Yan was not dressed very formally either, in a pure-looking woolen suit that actually matched Yan rather well.

At four in the afternoon the four set out from the hotel on time, again in Huang Yan's Toyota business van. It turned out Huang Yan's family villa was also over on Coloane; it seemed many rich people liked to buy villas out that way.

Yang Ce was already quite familiar with the terrain here, having often been in this area in recent days. On the way, as they passed Liu Jihao's villa, Yang Ce deliberately stole a glance at the situation inside.

He did not know whether the police had discovered the bodies inside, but from the look of things they seemed not to have been found yet; those corpses still lay cold inside the villa. Because it was winter, the bodies were not rotting quickly, so there was no smell to speak of.

But then again, even if the bodies had rotted and given off some odor, it would have been hard to detect anything unusual from outside the villa. In other words, if no one ever went into Liu Jihao's villa, those corpses would lie there forever.

Yang Ce even wondered whether, the next time he came to Macau and passed this way again, he would see a few skeletons inside the villa.

At last Huang Yan drove the car into the courtyard of a villa. Two guards on duty stood at the villa entrance, but when they saw Huang Yan's car they did not stop it for inspection the way they did other vehicles.

It must have been because the car belonged to the Huang family—and even if they did not recognize the car, could they fail to recognize the eldest daughter of the Huang family sitting in the driver's seat?

The villa courtyard was already packed with cars, not a few of them expensive. It seemed the people who ordinarily associated with Huang Yan's family were either rich or noble.

To be continued

879. A Party of the Wealthy (Part Two)

879 A Party of the Wealthy, Part Two. Huang Yan did not park in the villa courtyard—this was her home, after all—so she naturally drove the car down into the underground garage.

After coming up from the garage, the four walked together toward the villa's main entrance. Nearly everyone who came here held an invitation in hand; the occasional guest without one entered the villa only on the recommendation of someone who had one.

Huang Yan, obviously, had no need of any of that. The security staff checking invitations at the door saw her and naturally greeted her with a smile: "Miss."

"These are my friends," Huang Yan said to the guards, indicating Yang Ce, Zhang Bin, and Wang Mei.

"Sir, madam, welcome," the guards said hurriedly to Yang Ce and the others.

Yang Shuoxuan found nothing strange in this. These people drew their wages from the Huang family, so it was only natural they were utterly respectful to Huang Yan; and their respect for the rest of them was entirely on Huang Yan's account. Yang Ce did not flatter himself that he radiated some air of majesty.

The villa's ground floor was vast—a single great hall, perfectly suited to dances, cocktail parties, and the like. By now quite a few people had already arrived, most of them young, standing about in little groups of three or five, chatting.

"Wait here a moment, all of you—I'm going to find my second brother," Huang Yan said to Yang Ce and Wang Mei and the others.

"All right, go on," Yang Shuyu said. Huang Yan surely had her own business to attend to now that she was home. So Yang Ce and the other two found seats in a corner of the hall and sat down.

Huang Yan, meanwhile, hurried quickly up the stairs.

"Lele!" Someone in the crowd spotted Huang Yan and immediately came over to greet her.

Huang Yan turned and saw a friend she knew well: "Li Yu, you came too."

"Mm, I came with my brother." Li Yu smiled. "My brother's been thinking about you nonstop."

At those words Huang Yan's expression instantly darkened. Li Yu's brother—she loathed him from the bottom of her heart. A typical spoiled rich boy.

"Don't joke about that," Huang Yan said perfunctorily.

"I'm not joking. Wait here, I'll call him over," Li Yu said.

"Maybe some other time—I still have to go upstairs to find my brother." Huang Yan hurried out a reply, then turned and quickly went up the stairs.

Li Yu shook her head. She knew well enough what sort of person her brother was, but no matter what, he was still her brother. That was why Li Yu had no choice but to put in a good word for him in front of Huang Yan.

"Xiaoyu, who were you talking to just now?" Li Yu was still thinking when a voice called to her from behind. She turned and saw her brother, Li Jialiang.

"Lele was just here, but she's gone upstairs." Li Yu pointed up the stairs.

"Oh—did you put in a word for your brother?" The moment Li Jialiang heard Huang Yan's name, his eyes lit up and gleamed with a silvery shine. "I did," Li Yu said, somewhat repulsed by her brother's look. "Brother, do you really like Huang Yan and want to marry her, or is it something else?"

"Well, of course first she'd be my girlfriend—it's a bit early to be thinking about marriage, isn't it?" Li Jialiang said, taken aback.

"Ugh." Li Yu sighed. She knew her brother would take that attitude—so careless about matters of the heart. That being the case, there was simply no way for her to help him. Li Yu and Huang Yan were on good terms; naturally she could never do her harm.