"No buts. Your brother needs money. Whether or not you go to court, getting him treated is what matters most," Xu Peng said.

"Xu Peng, what's going on here?" Yang Ce asked, taken aback by the scene before him.

"Brother Yang, you're here!" Xu Peng was pleasantly surprised to see Yang Ce and hurried to welcome him. "Xiaoying, quick, pour Brother Yang a cup of hot water—it's cold enough out today!"

"No need to fuss. We just ate, we're not cold." Yang Ce said, "Xu Peng, why stand on ceremony with me?"

Xu Peng said nothing, but his wife Xiaoying's heart stirred. The last time Yang Ce had come, the power he displayed had been formidable—even the street thugs had been frightened off. He was certainly no ordinary man. After a moment's hesitation, she said to Xu Peng, "Dapeng, do you think we could ask Brother Yang to think of something for Xiaoju's problem?"

Xu Peng glanced at Xiaoying and sighed. "Fine, then. Tell him." Turning to Yang Ce with an apologetic air, he added, "Brother Yang, I'm really sorry—you've barely arrived and here we are dumping trouble on you."

"Xu Peng, what kind of talk is that? You and I were buddies long before this. What trouble? Whatever it is, just say it." Yang Ce had caught the rough outline earlier, but not the particulars.

"Xiaoju, hurry up and tell Brother Yang what happened to you," Xiaoying urged. "Brother Yang is very capable."

"Ah—" Xiaoju had not expected the situation to turn around so suddenly, as though a way out had opened. She still had no idea who this man before her really was, but if Sister Xiaoying said he could help, she had to seize the chance at once. "It's like this..."

With tears in her eyes, Xiaoju recounted what had befallen her family. Her full name was Wang Xiaoju. Her elder brother was Wang Dajun, who had gone to work in Songjiang; last year he had hired on as a laborer with a construction company here. He had worked a full year, and with the New Year almost upon them, the boss was still withholding their wages, so Wang Dajun and several of his fellow workers had gone together to demand their pay.

But not only did they fail to get their wages—the boss brought in a gang of thugs and beat them savagely. Wang Dajun had a fiery temper. He climbed up onto the scaffolding and threatened to jump if he wasn't paid that very day.

The boss, however, would not be cowed in the least. He simply ordered his thugs up after him, and they shoved Wang Dajun clean off. He fell and broke all four limbs. Seeing how ruthless the boss was, the other workers daring to demand their wages no longer dared make a fuss, and they scattered one by one.

Later, the boss came to Wang Dajun's home and gave the family two choices: take a hundred thousand yuan and settle it privately, or wait for the whole family to be wiped out.

Seeing how the boss rode roughshod over everyone, Wang Dajun's family dared not openly defy him, and so they chose to settle. They took the hundred thousand yuan and signed a private settlement agreement.

They had assumed a hundred thousand would be enough to cover the medical costs, but they never imagined that Wang Dajun had fractures in multiple places, and the surgery fees alone came to a hundred thousand—not counting the other hospital expenses.

The Wang family had no money to begin with, and now they were utterly at a loss. In desperation, Wang Xiaoju had no choice but to seek out Sister Xiaoying from her village. She had heard Xiaoying had found herself a city boyfriend, and wanted to ask whether they might have any connections.

Yang Xutang finished listening to Wang Xiaoju's account, sighed, then turned and asked Wang Yanqiu in a low voice, "If you ran into something like this, what would you do?"

"Kill him outright." Wang Yanqiu shot Yang Puqi a glare—this fellow was playing dumb on purpose.

Of course, the two of them spoke so softly that no one else could hear.

"Wang Xiaoju, is it?" Yang Minlan nodded at Wang Xiaoju, then asked, "First, tell me—what's your purpose in wanting to sue this boss of yours?"

"To make him... to make him get the punishment he deserves," Wang Xiaoju said, head lowered.

"Just punishment?" Yang Ce looked at Wang Xiaoju's somewhat flustered expression and smiled. "Is it that you feel the hundred thousand he paid isn't enough, or do you truly want to see him behind bars?"

Wang Xiaoju hesitated a moment before saying, "It's that the money isn't enough. The medical bills have already come to a hundred thousand, and my brother still hasn't been discharged."

She had gone back to the boss afterward to demand medical expenses, but the boss said she wouldn't get a single cent. Wang Xiaoju hadn't wanted to stir up trouble, but her brother urgently needed money now—otherwise he risked paralysis—and the boss still refused to pay, so only then had she decided to sue.

"What company is it?" Yang Yu nodded and asked. Cases like this—withholding workers' wages and then hiring thugs to beat the workers who came to demand them—were far too common; Yang Shuoxuan couldn't handle them all. But since this Wang Xiaoju had come to him through Xu Peng's connections, Yang Shuoxuan decided to help her.

As for actually going to court, Yang Ce had neither the leisure nor the patience, and he wasn't familiar with the procedures anyway—he was no lawyer, after all. But shaking a million or so out of that company was a piece of cake.

"It's called Dekang Real Estate. My brother works for Dekang Construction Engineering Co., Ltd., a subsidiary of Dekang Real Estate." Hearing Yang Cenbin speak this way, Wang Xiaoju felt there was hope.

"What? Dekang Real Estate?" Yang Ce was instantly stunned. No way—Dekang Real Estate again. Wei Dekang, you old bastard, I've been racking my brains for an excuse to take you on, and now here it is.

Seeing Yang Ce freeze, Wang Xiaoju thought he must be well acquainted with someone at Dekang Real Estate, and her heart sank—it seemed there was no hope after all. Then she heard Yang Yanzhou say, "Dekang Real Estate—that's just perfect!"

"P-perfect? What's perfect?" Wang Xiaoju was utterly baffled by Yang Juehuan's words.

Xu Peng and Xiaoying wore equally strange expressions.

"I'll take on your case," Yang Yanzhou said. "How much more do you need?"

At Yang Juehuan's words, Wang Xiaoju's heart surged with emotion. Was it really resolved just like that? She had pleaded with that boss for so long to no avail—could this "Brother Yang" before her truly help her settle it?

"The doctor says that for him to recover, we'll need at least another fifty thousand," Wang Xiaoju said.

"Fifty thousand, is it? All right." Yang Yu nodded, then took out his phone and dialed Bao Lin's number.

"Brother Yang, good morning! What can I do for you?" Bao Lin's voice was brisk—he had clearly rested well the night before.

"You have Wei Dekang's phone number, don't you? Look it up and tell me." Yang Yanzhou said.

"Sure." Bao Lin pulled out his address book and flipped through it, found the number for Wei Dekang of Dekang Real Estate, and read it out to Yang Ce: "Brother Yang, his number is 139..."

"All right, got it." Yang Ce noted down Wei Dekang's number.

"Brother Yang, is that old bastard Wei Dekang still holding a grudge? Want me to bring some men?" Bao Lin had some idea of what had happened the day before, and knew that Zhang Penbai's people had beaten up Zhou Xiaoming, one of Wei Dekang's men.

"Not for now. I'll call you when I need you," Yang Yanzhou said.

After hanging up on Bao Lin, Yang Ce called Wei Dekang directly. The phone rang three times before Wei Dekang picked up. "Hello?"

"Wei Dekang? This is Yang Ce." Yang Ce came straight to the point.

There was a moment of silence on Wei Dekang's end, then his voice came through, tinged with fury: "You're the one who beat up my son?"