Chapter 9 There’s Trouble

“Is this Young Master Fan?” The low voice of a middle-aged man came from the other end of the line. Ye Fan smiled and replied lightly: “If I am not mistaken, you must be Li Er. The servant who was expelled from the Chu family ten years ago.” “Haha~” The other party laughed. “So you knew already. Back then, when I committed the mistake and offended the Third Young Master, I was nearly beaten to death. Young Master Fan was the one who saved my life. I will never forget this favor.” The Chu family had many scions and, if they were ranked according to their age, Ye Fan was the eldest. “Since Mister Han has already told me you are in Yunzhou, I will do my best to be a good host. I would like to invite Young Master Fan to a meal. After all, the Chu family did take me under their wing. And not only do I owe my current position in Yunzhou to them, but I also owe my life to you. I should thank you in person. Please grant me the honor of your presence.” From the other end of the line came Li Er’s servile entreaty. Ye Fan shook his head and laughed. “You may invite me to a meal. But before that, let me see your sincerity. And I dislike being called ‘Young Master’. I am not an accessory of the Chu family.” Li Er stayed silent for a while, and then he replied: “Alright then. From today onwards, I shall address you as ‘Mister Chu’. Mister Chu, please do not worry. I will show you my sincerity.” “Okay, I shall look forward to that. I hope you will not disappoint me.” Ye Fan smiled lightly and ended the call. Yunzhou city. A luxurious villa in the city center. Li Er had also hung up. The look in his eyes was deep and unfathomable. “This young master of the Chu family. He may be young but he’s a deep one. It will take some effort to please him.” Li Er’s words caused some confusion in his elderly servant, who was standing nearby. “Master Er, this Ye Fan is just some kid who was expelled from the Chu family. Why do you have to try so hard to please him?” “Just some kid who was expelled?” Li Er laughed. “You are short-sighted. Do you know who is running the Chu family after the Master’s retirement?” “Is it the Young Master’s...” The servant’s pupils contracted as realization hit him. “Yes, it’s his father. Otherwise, why would I suck up to him? I cleared out Haiyuan Pavillion and offended all those VIPs just so I could give him a proper welcome. Why? Because the man who came to see the Young Master is the head of the Chu family. The Chu family who once struck fear throughout the world.” Li Er sipped his tea and stared out of the window, but he was unable to calm the turmoil in his heart. “As far as I know, the family head only has the one son. And more importantly, this Ye Fan, is the only scion of the Tian (Heaven) character generation of the Chu family. His real name is Chu Tian-Fan!” The Chu family of Great China. Outsiders did not know the naming convention used by the Chu family, but Li Er knew. After all, he was a servant of the family. It was a terrifying family. Now, the Chu family was like a coiling dragon hidden in the darkness and few people knew about them. But when the dragon awakes, the world will know its true terror. Li Er himself was just a formerly expelled servant of the Chu family but, within a few years, he had managed to rise to power with the help of someone from the Chu family. He had always assumed his success was due to the help of the Chu family but, in truth, his real benefactor was Ye Fan. Yes, Li Er was part of Ye Fan’s Operation Spark. “Eh? The Tian character generation? Are they special?” The more the servant heard, the more confused he got. Li Er stood by the window with his hands folded behind his back. As he looked at the skyscrapers looming outside, the cars in the streets streamed continuously and a soft humming noise rang in the air. “You don’t understand the Chu family. You don’t know what that name represents.” “You only have to know this. As long as I can latch on to that person, power and wealth will keep flowing to the Li family of Yunzhou!” After Li Er’s speech, the old servant stood rooted to the spot with a stunned look in his eyes. He simply could not imagine, how this Chu family could have so much power. So much power that they could make Li Er, the king of Yunzhou city, say such words. Outside, the wind blew, the clouds billowed and the leaves rustled in the trees. Yunzhou city. Liuyuan Residential District. “Come wait for me at my office. We are going to grandfather’s house tonight.” In his room, Ye Fan’s phone vibrated momentarily. It was a text message from Qiu Mu-Cheng. Ye Fan was overjoyed. The sun had risen from the west! To think that this woman would take the initiative to look for him. Ye Fan left the house right after he had received the message. At the entrance to the residential district, Ye Fan picked up a shared bike and rode towards the direction of Qiu Mu-Cheng’s office. The Qiu family was in the logistics business. Qiu Mu-Cheng had started working in the family business right after graduation and she had remained there to this very day. At this time, she had already punched out and was waiting for Ye Fan outside the office. In so many years, this was the first time Qiu Mu-Cheng asked Ye Fan to pick her up. But as she was waiting for Ye Fan, a yellow-haired youth standing beside a sports car had his eyes on her. “Whoa, what a beauty!” “Ten times prettier than that gold-digger, Qiu Mu-Ying.” “You have a pretty face and a good figure. If only I could strip you naked and put you on my bed...” Lust swelled up within the young man and he stepped forward to accost her. “Get lost. If you touch me again, I will call the police!” Qiu Mu-Cheng growled threateningly. But the young man laughed coldly and said: “Go ahead. Call the police. We shall see if the police will arrest me.” “You ungrateful bitch. I asked you nicely to have a drink with me but, not only did you not express your gratitude, you dared to reject me. Let me tell you. Whether you want to or not, you will have a drink with me.” “I am an experienced player, you know. I haven’t been rejected by a woman before!” The yellow-haired youth laughed sinisterly and stretched out a hand to caress her face. Qiu Mu-Cheng was about to scream for help when, suddenly, a gust of wind swept towards her. Immediately after, Ye Fan’s fist landed on the youth’s face with a pong sound. The punch was swiftly followed by a kick and the yellow-haired young man was sent flying back. “Screw you!” “How dare you touch my woman?” “I am going to beat the crap out of you!” When he had just arrived at the office, he saw his wife getting harassed so, naturally, he flew into a rage and proceeded to give the molester a beating. “Shit!” “How dare you hit me?” “Do you know who I am?” “I am Shen~~” pong~ Before the young man could finish speaking, Ye Fan gave him another kick and the young man rolled about on the ground like a dog. “Young Master Shen!” “Shit, Ye Fan. What the hell are you doing?” “Are you crazy? How dare you hit Young Master Shen?” At this time, Qiu Mu-Ying was just walking out of the office in her high heels and heavy make-up. When she saw the fight unfolding in the street, her heavily made-up face twisted in terror. Ta-ta-ta-ta. Her high heels clip-clopped on the ground as she ran towards the yellow-haired youth to help him up. “Shit. Ye Fan, you piece of trash. What are you standing around for? Get down on your knees and apologize to Young Master Shen right away.” “You useless piece of trash! You keep causing trouble for our family!” Qiu Mu-Ying screamed in rage. She was truly frightened by what had just happened. Shen Fei was her friend and she had called him over to the office for a meeting. But he was unexpectedly beaten up by Ye Fan. This made her furious. But, surprisingly, Ye Fan did not abide by her wish this time. He replied coldly: “Apologize? He should be the one doing the apologizing!” “He dared to harass my wife in broad daylight. Doesn’t he deserve a beating?” “Shut your trap. He’s my friend. You are just a lowly live-in son-in-law. Who gave you the right to criticize him? Moreover, Young Master Shen is a distinguished person. It’s an honor to be able to talk to him. But instead of showing gratitude, you hit him instead? Apologize to him right now!” Qiu Mu-Ying commanded. “Qiu Mu-Ying, it’s fine if you criticize me. But Qiu Mu-Cheng is your cousin. How could you say that about her?” Ye Fan clenched his hands in anger. “You bastard. So you are just a live-in son-in-law of the Qiu family. You are just a piece of trash. How dare you hit me?” “Wait, I...” pong~ Shen Fei had just gotten up but, before he could finish speaking, the enraged Ye Fan kicked him again. “Ah~” “You bastard. You are finished. I hereby declare. You are finished!” “Not just you. But that ungrateful bitch of a wife of yours as well. And the Qiu family. You are all finished.” “This is what happens when you offend me. I will make you all suffer a fate worse than death~” Shen Fei howled as he clutched his stomach in pain. “Young Master Shen, listen to me. It has nothing to do with me. It has nothing to do with the Qiu family. It’s all Ye Fan’s and his wife’s fault~” “Get lost!” Of course, Shen Fei was unwilling to listen to Qiu Mu-Ying’s explanation. He pushed her away, staggered into his car and drove away. Back at the scene, a pale-faced Qiu Mu-Ying was left behind with the husband-and-wife duo. “Qiu Mu-Cheng, look at what that useless husband of yours has done!” “You just wait. When Shen Fei goes after your family, the Qiu family will do nothing to help.” Qiu Mu-Ying said viciously before leaving in her car. After Qiu Mu-Ying’s departure, Ye Fan looked at his wife and asked: “Erm, did I cause trouble for you?” Qiu Mu-Cheng did not answer his question, but said quietly: “Let’s go to my grandfather’s place.” “And these are the clothes I’ve bought for you. Find some place to change into them.” As she said this, she handed over the box with the brand new suit to Ye Fan. Qiushui Logistics was the company founded by Master Qiu, the head of the family. It could be said that the Qiu family owed their current success entirely to him. That was why Master Qiu’s had unshakeable authority within the family. That was also why Qiu Mu-Cheng had married Ye Fan so readily when Master Qiu gave her the order. Right now, at Master Qiu’s villa, several of his children had already gathered. According to family tradition, after a wedding celebration, Master Qiu would throw a feast for the new son-in-law. Of course, this tradition only started when Qiu Mu-Hong had gotten married to Jiang Yang. Ye Fan, the useless live-in son-in-law, had been left out of this tradition. “Okay, everyone is already here. Is everyone seated?” It was already dinner time so Master Qiu asked everyone to take their seats. “Dad, Mu-Cheng is not here yet.” Qiu Mu-Cheng’s father, Qiu Lei, reminded softly. But Master Qiu pretended not to hear and continued: “Start serving the food.” “Grandfather, sorry we are late. We were held up earlier.” At this moment, hurried footsteps could be heard coming from the entrance. Qiu Mu-Cheng and the now well-dressed Ye Fan had arrived late to the feast. “Oh, you are wearing a suit now?” “A dog dressed up in human clothes is still going to act like a dog. And a useless son-in-law in a suit is still a useless son-in-law.” When the Qiu family members saw Ye Fan in a suit, they greeted him with jeers.