Chapter 373: Who Should Really Be Afraid?

Chapter 373: Who Should Really Be Afraid?

Peng Wei was uneasy, and more than a little puzzled.

He couldn’t make sense of Zheng Shaoqing’s attitude. Ordinarily, a reaction like that would have told Peng Wei that Wu Chen was some young master from a family he couldn’t afford to cross. But Zheng Shaoqing had just said the family was ordinary.

The two things didn’t fit.

There were very few people Peng Wei truly couldn’t afford to offend. Never mind ordinary families; even among the illustrious ones, hardly any made that list. An Menglan’s family was impressive enough, wasn’t it? And even she didn’t qualify.

Put bluntly, only the children of genuinely powerful families could make Peng Wei think twice.

“Boss Zheng, hahahaha, what are you talking about? Wu Chen and I just had a little misunderstanding, that’s all. I was worried I might’ve offended somebody, so I figured I’d look into him first…” Peng Wei laughed heartily. He was quick on his feet, and he knew how to coax information out of people.

“A little misunderstanding? Good, good. Then a quick apology and it’s done,” Zheng Shaoqing said hurriedly, sounding relieved. “Mr. Wu isn’t the petty type. From what I hear, he’s actually pretty easy to talk to.”

Zheng Shaoqing really was relieved.

What he’d feared most was that Peng Wei meant to go to war with Wu Chen. Zheng hadn’t taken anyone’s side, exactly, but he had done his part. He had helped Peng Wei investigate Wu Chen.

That could easily drag him into it.

If word ever got out, how was he supposed to survive in Donghai?

The more Peng Wei listened, the less right it sounded.

Zheng Shaoqing was telling him to just apologize?

Who the hell was this Wu Chen?

“Hahaha, right, right. That’s what I was thinking too. Find a chance to clear things up with him.” Peng Wei played along, then asked in his heartiest voice, “Boss Zheng, give it to me straight. This Wu Chen… his family’s what, exactly? And don’t tell me they’re ordinary again. We’re brothers. No need to keep anything from me.”

“His family really is ordinary. I’m not pulling your leg, Boss Peng,” Zheng Shaoqing said quickly. “Maybe a little better off than your average salaried household. His parents run a small restaurant in a county town, and he’s got a younger sister still in high school… He only graduated from Donghai University this year!”

Peng Wei was surprised all over again.

What surprised him was how much detail Zheng Shaoqing had dug up in only a few hours.

He even knew the sister was in high school.

“So… he’s just a regular guy?” Peng Wei said, and even as the words left his mouth, he could tell something was off.

With a background like that, how could Wu Chen possibly know An Menglan? How could he be alone in a room with her first thing in the morning, eating breakfast? An Menglan had been in her nightgown, plainly just out of bed.

She would never receive someone dressed like that unless the two of them were very close indeed.

It was entirely possible Wu Chen had spent the night at her place.

“His family’s ordinary. But the man himself… isn’t.” Zheng Shaoqing paused. He was wavering again over how much to tell Peng Wei.

If the two of them really did clash and he got dragged in, what then?

“Boss Peng, nothing serious has happened between you two, right? It’s just a little misunderstanding, isn’t it…?” Zheng Shaoqing asked anxiously.

“Right, just a misunderstanding. A few words and it’s cleared up.” Peng Wei read his worry at once and added, “Relax, Boss Zheng. You did your brother a favor. I’m not about to sell you out. Heaven knows, earth knows, you know, and I know. That’s it.”

“Ah…” Zheng Shaoqing sighed. After a pause, he went on. “All right, then. The thing about this Mr. Wu… Boss Peng, you’ve heard of Li Ruobing, haven’t you?”

“Li Ruobing?” It took Peng Wei a moment. “Sure. Isn’t she the Li family’s eldest granddaughter? Her younger brother, Young Master Li Ruotai, is in Donghai too…”

To Peng Wei, Li Ruotai was the more famous of the two.

That was true for most people, in fact.

Anyone with even a little knowledge of the world had heard of Young Master Li of Donghai.

“Why? What’s this Wu Chen got to do with Li…?” Peng Wei pressed.

“Mr. Wu’s girlfriend is Miss Li Ruobing,” Zheng Shaoqing said.

Peng Wei froze.

His knowledge of people outside the entertainment industry was limited. Even so, he had heard of practically every scion of every major family. He was a paparazzo, after all. Information was his stock in trade.

But Li Ruobing he knew only by name.

“Li Ruobing’s boyfriend?” Peng Wei murmured.

Without realizing it, he had flipped Zheng Shaoqing’s word order. Zheng had said Li Ruobing was Wu Chen’s girlfriend, not that Wu Chen was Li Ruobing’s boyfriend. The facts were the same, but the emphasis was not. It changed who stood above whom.

“Right!” Now that he’d started, Zheng Shaoqing stopped holding back. “Young Master Li has to call him brother-in-law. Boss Peng, you’re not based in Donghai, so you wouldn’t know. These days, anyone around here who hasn’t heard of Mr. Wu just isn’t anybody.”

“There are all kinds of rumors about Mr. Wu going around Donghai now. I’ve even heard Young Master Li is a little afraid of him. Plenty of big names here treat him like a brother. Boss Lu Guangnian of Juli has even put it out there that anyone who crosses Mr. Wu crosses him…”

Zheng Shaoqing rambled on, his fear of being implicated getting the better of him.

Even so, he didn’t tell Peng Wei everything he knew.

The truth was, when Peng Wei had first called and asked him to look into “Wu Chen,” the name had struck him as familiar, though he couldn’t place it right away.

He’d had someone check, but they hadn’t investigated very far.

There’d been no need.

Zheng Shaoqing had realized almost at once that the Wu Chen Peng Wei wanted investigated was none other than the “Mr. Wu” everyone in Donghai was talking about.

Once he knew that, there was nothing left to investigate.

Long before Peng Wei came asking, countless people in Donghai had already looked into Wu Chen, all of them wanting to know where he’d come from. His personal details were no secret anymore. They’d spread everywhere.

Zheng Shaoqing knew exactly how dangerous it was to cross Wu Chen. Some of the stories circulating about him were enough to make your scalp prickle, and there was no telling which were hearsay blown out of proportion and which were true.

Either way, the answer was simple.

Don’t provoke him.

And there were things Zheng Shaoqing didn’t feel comfortable sharing with Peng Wei.

For one, Zheng had ties to Donghai’s underworld, and lately the whole underworld had been buzzing with the story of how Crooked Zhao had offended the Tang family of Modu and very nearly beaten the Tang family’s young master to death.

It had nearly cost Crooked Zhao his own life. He’d mortgaged a great many of his assets and cashed out just to grease the right palms.

And over the past two days, Zheng Shaoqing had heard that it was “Mr. Wu” who had smoothed the whole thing over.

Then there was Ding Ruilong’s recent trip to Donghai. It was no secret that Ding Ruilong had been chasing Li Ruobing. He had come to Donghai… and slunk away with his tail between his legs. Rumor had it he’d even been hurt.

Zheng Shaoqing didn’t know the details.

But he understood this much: even Ding Ruilong, the Ding family’s young master and a man notorious for his viciousness, hadn’t managed to lay a finger on Wu Chen.

Zheng told Peng Wei none of it.

He saw no need.

It was enough for Peng Wei to know that Wu Chen was not someone to mess with.

The fact that Li Ruobing was his girlfriend should have been reason enough for Peng Wei to apologize. However powerful Peng Wei’s backers might be, no one would cross a family as powerful as the Lis on account of Peng Wei alone.

Peng Wei had listened the whole time, his expression shifting in subtle ways.

When Zheng Shaoqing finally finished, Peng Wei said, “All right! Thank you, Boss Zheng. I get it now! Hahahaha, sorry to put you to the trouble!”

“No trouble at all. Boss Peng, if we’re in the wrong, we own up to it. A real man knows when to bend and when to stand tall. There’s no shame in it,” Zheng Shaoqing said, still loyally looking out for him.

“I understand, I understand,” Peng Wei said quickly.

They traded a few more empty pleasantries and hung up.

Peng Wei’s expression stayed peculiar. He set down the phone and looked out the window, and the corners of his mouth climbed higher still.

Apologize?

Not a chance.

If he and Wu Chen had fallen out over anything else, Peng Wei might well have chosen to apologize. He couldn’t afford to offend the Li family.

But.

This was different.

What Peng Wei had caught was Wu Chen and An Menglan alone together at the crack of dawn, sharing breakfast. And he had the photos to prove it.

As Peng Wei saw it, Wu Chen’s ties to the Li family ran through Li Ruobing. He was formidable only because Li Ruobing was his girlfriend.

So…

What would happen if those photos landed in front of Li Ruobing?

Li Ruobing’s domineering temper was famous. If she found out her boyfriend was cheating on her, then Wu Chen…

Who should really be afraid here?

Judging from that earlier phone call, when Wu Chen said he didn’t want to make the headlines, what he seemed to fear most was Li Ruobing finding out.

Peng Wei felt he’d found Wu Chen’s Achilles’ heel.

With that thought, he turned, picked up the desk phone, and hit a speed-dial key.

The call connected almost at once.

“Get the cars ready. We’re going to Donghai!” Peng Wei said.

He was going to Donghai.

Right now.