"Get lost," Wang Yanqiu said, her face reddening. She had never imagined Yang Ce would make such a shameless request.

"Well, since you won't do it, let me help you then," Yang Ce said, his desire stirred by her words, continuing shamelessly.

"Yang Ce, how would you like to die?" Wang Yanqiu rolled her eyes at Yang Puqi and flung off the hand on her shoulder.

"I'd like to be squeezed to death by you," Yang Ce replied.

Wang Yanqiu didn't quite understand. She froze for a moment, then asked, "What do you mean, squeezed to death? How squeezed to death?"

"Just like last night—squeeze me to death, haha," Yang Ce explained.

"..." Wang Yanqiu was truly speechless. Still, after all this fooling around with Yan, her heart felt much lighter, and the things weighing on her mind—family interests and the like—gradually blurred.

That afternoon, after leaving Wang Yanqiu's place, Yang Ce headed straight for Fang Tian. Something as important as joining the Black Widow Assassins' Group had to be told to Fang Tian, and he could get Fang Tian's advice on it while he was at it.

Thinking back on Wang Yanqiu's wildness earlier, Yang Ce found it rather funny. This girl really did seem to want to squeeze him to death. Female assassins were no simple matter. Near the shantytown, yesterday's demolition propaganda tents had already been taken down. Wei Dekang, with both of his top men in the hospital and his son suffering from a concussion, had no choice but to shelve the demolition for the time being.

He no longer had the heart to bother with the demolition; Yang Ce had enraged him thoroughly. He hadn't even settled accounts with the boy yet, and the brat actually dared to call him first, sticking up for a worker and demanding three million from him—did the boy think so little of him?

Originally, Wei Dekang had only meant to give Yang Puqi a small lesson, but now he couldn't hold back any longer. This Yang Ce was going too far, treating him like a pushover. Beating his son, and then daring to demand money from him?

At that thought, Wei Dekang dialed Zheng Laoliu's number again.

"President Wei, is there something else?" Zheng Laoliu was preparing some things for the operation and was about to turn off his phone and wait for the chance to act, but he hadn't expected President Wei to call once more before he shut it off.

"You haven't made your move yet, have you?" Wei Dekang asked.

"Not yet. What's wrong, has the plan changed?" Zheng Laoliu asked.

"Yes, a slight change. While you set fire to that brat Yang Ce's company, also find out where their warehouse is, and blow it up with explosives," Wei Dekang said viciously. "I want his company bankrupt outright."

"Blow up the warehouse? Isn't that making things a bit too big?" Zheng Laoliu asked with some concern.

"If he's going to humiliate me, then I'm going to finish him." Wei Dekang spoke with venom. "That brat is far too full of himself. If I don't teach him a lesson he won't forget, he'll never learn that there's always a bigger fish, always a higher sky. Well? Do you dare do it?"

"It's no skin off my nose, only I'd hate for it to come back on you, Boss." Zheng Laoliu was telling the truth.

"Since you dare, that's all I need. I'll take care of smoothing over everything else." Wei Dekang gave his instructions: "Now switch off your phone. The two of us shouldn't talk again. Get yourself ready and move as soon as you can."

"Understood, Boss Wei." Zheng Laoliu agreed. Even before his stint in the labor camp, he had been a man who lived with a death wish, and so he felt not the slightest tension doing this sort of work. He hung up, shut off his phone, and went to prepare the explosives.

As for the warehouse of Liu Yan Jewelry, that ought to be easy enough to find out; Zheng Laoliu did not give it a second thought.

After giving Zheng Laoliu his orders, Wei Dekang still could not quell his hatred. He thought: You little bastard, you actually dared to extort money from me. You think having a father named Yang Cheyan makes you a big shot? Let me tell you—you're nothing. And that goes for Yang Cheyan too.

Wei Dekang dug out the Songjiang Chamber of Commerce directory. As vice chairman of the chamber, he naturally commanded considerable influence within it.

Following the order of the companies listed in the chamber directory, Wei Dekang dialed the numbers one by one.

"Hello, is this President Niu?" The first call Wei Dekang made was to a construction company in Songjiang. When his own company could not handle all the work on his projects, he would bring them in to build alongside him, so their ties were solid.

"Speaking. Who is this?" President Niu was in the middle of lunch. He answered without glancing at the caller ID.

"This is Wei Dekang," Wei Dekang said.

"Boss Wei! Hello, hello. What's this—some good fortune you're bringing your old brother's way?" President Niu's heart surged. Word had already gotten around the trade that Dekang Real Estate was about to develop the shantytown plots and put up luxury villas; it was no secret. So when Wei Dekang called at this moment, the first thing President Niu thought was: could Wei Dekang be inviting his construction company to build the luxury villas in the shantytown together with him?

Everyone knew what a fat contract that was. If he could get his hands on it, he would rake in profits until his coffers overflowed. President Niu's tone turned deferential at once.

"Good fortune there certainly is." Wei Dekang knew that if he wanted President Niu's help, his title as vice chairman of the Songjiang Chamber of Commerce alone would not be enough. Business was business, and businessmen cared about profit. So Wei Dekang began to dangle the bait: "The shantytown development—my own construction company definitely won't be able to handle it all. When the time comes, I'll invite President Niu to build alongside me. I hope you won't refuse."

Only a fool would refuse, President Niu thought. But he also knew Wei Dekang was not so kindhearted as to hand him such a huge slice of cake for no reason. So he said, "Boss Wei, I'd be overjoyed—how could I refuse? If you have something to say, just say it straight."

"Good, straightforward!" Wei Dekang praised him, then went on: "Actually, it's just a small matter, nothing much—a piece of cake for someone like President Niu. But this favor can only be done by you, President Niu."

"Oh? There's something even Boss Wei can't handle?" President Niu was taken aback. He knew Wei Dekang's abilities. What he himself could do, Wei Dekang could do; what he could not do, Wei Dekang could still do. Winning the development rights to the shantytown plots was proof enough of that.

"Naturally—only you can do this, President Niu," Wei Dekang said. "Though it's no great matter."

"Then by all means, Boss Wei, let's hear it. If old Niu can do it, I'll help for certain," President Niu said.

"It's like this—your company is the one handling the renovation of Mingyang Heavy Industry's old factory buildings, aren't you?" Wei Dekang said. "Right now, the second phase of their old factory project isn't finished yet, is it?"

"That's right. What about it?" President Niu did not quite follow. Could Boss Wei have his eye on this project? But it was only a small job, with no profit to be skimmed—how could Boss Wei possibly think it worth his while?

Mingyang Heavy Industry's current factory buildings were the old Songjiang Bus Factory. But because the bus factory's buildings had gone unused for so long, two of them were so dilapidated they could no longer be used for production. A while back, they had commissioned President Niu's company to renovate them.

Since the project was not large to begin with, Yang Cheyan and Yang Dashan had discussed it and decided to contract it out, planning to use their own construction company once the new factory buildings were under construction.