Chapter 215: Is “Noodle Shop” the Code Name for Some Organization?

Chapter 215: Is “Noodle Shop” the Code Name for Some Organization?

“What do you mean, ‘be polite’? With you involved, how could I be anything else?” Gu Ruibo replied.

“No… I mean… just be polite. Don’t provoke him…” Li Ruotai said hurriedly.

The way he phrased it sounded very strange.

Gu Ruibo was momentarily stunned.

His first assumption had been that Li Ruotai meant, Show him some respect for my sake.

After all, Wu Chen was Li Ruobing’s boyfriend, and Li Ruotai was already calling him brother-in-law.

Li Ruotai and Gu Ruibo were close friends.

It would have been perfectly normal for Li Ruotai to ask Gu to be courteous and give Wu Chen some face for his sake.

That was simply what Gu had assumed.

But now he could tell that something was wrong.

Li Ruotai’s tone and attitude were wrong.

“A-Tai…” Gu Ruibo began cautiously.

As he spoke, he turned and walked back out of the office.

His bodyguards followed.

They even pulled the office door shut behind him.

“What’s going on?” Gu Ruibo asked into the phone. “Your brother-in-law… why do I get the feeling you’re actually a little afraid of him?”

The two men knew each other too well.

From Li Ruotai’s tone alone, Gu Ruibo could clearly tell that something was off.

“Afraid… I wouldn’t exactly call it afraid. There’s the connection with my sister, you know.” Li Ruotai tried to save face, then continued, “Just be polite to him, Brother Gu. Don’t blame me for not warning you…”

Li Ruotai clearly wanted to say more.

But he stopped himself.

“A-Tai, what’s going on?” Gu Ruibo asked directly. “Don’t hide it from me. I’m not stupid. I can hear it in your voice. Is there something about this brother-in-law of yours? Is he…?”

Gu Ruibo had heard of Wu Chen before.

Some of it came from rumors among the scions of major families.

Some had come directly from Li Ruotai.

Li Ruotai had not visited Modu recently, but the two of them had spoken frequently on the phone because of certain matters.

Even so, whenever Li Ruotai had mentioned Wu Chen before, he had only said that this time his sister was serious.

That Wu Chen truly was her boyfriend.

He had also said that his brother-in-law was “quite capable.”

Coming from a man of Li Ruotai’s status, those two words carried considerable weight.

But that was the full extent of Gu Ruibo’s understanding of Wu Chen.

Now, however…

Something was clearly very wrong.

“Brother Gu… mm…” Li Ruotai hesitated, then asked, “Is anyone near you?”

Gu Ruibo understood what he meant.

“Hold on.”

He waved toward the people standing near the entrance to the corridor.

Not only were Gu Ruibo’s bodyguards present.

A group of Mao Rusong’s men were in the corridor as well.

Seeing Gu Ruibo gesture, they all understood and walked toward the far end of the hall.

They moved well out of earshot.

“No one’s here now. Go ahead,” Gu Ruibo said into the phone, his brows slightly furrowed. “What is this that you’re so afraid of someone overhearing?”

“It’s not really…” Li Ruotai hesitated again.

He was considering what he could tell Gu Ruibo and what he could not.

“What is it? Why are you hemming and hawing?” Gu Ruibo urged.

They were close, so they spoke casually with each other.

“You know about my situation, right?” Li Ruotai asked.

“Of course I do. I’m taking care of it for you. Don’t worry—I’ll definitely handle my part properly,” Gu Ruibo replied.

He was referring to the trouble Li Ruotai was facing.

The Wei family was behind it.

Li Ruotai had already arranged nearly everything.

All that remained was to set fire to Crown Entertainment Club.

As part of the larger scheme, Li Ruotai had called in favors from every direction to deal with the “small problems” he could resolve himself.

The larger problems would be handled by the Li family afterward.

The reason Li Ruotai had been speaking with Gu Ruibo so often lately was precisely because he needed Gu’s help resolving one of those smaller problems.

So Gu Ruibo knew the situation.

He knew it in great detail.

“What? Does this have something to do with your brother-in-law?” Gu Ruibo asked.

“…He was the one who told me everything,” Li Ruotai said.

“Hm?” Gu Ruibo did not understand. “What do you mean, he told you everything?”

“Everything. All of it. Everything about the people investigating me!” Li Ruotai said.

Gu Ruibo fell completely silent.

First stunned.

Then bewildered.

Finally, he asked, “Everything? Then… how did he know? What kind of background does he have? Do you know?”

“His family runs a noodle shop,” Li Ruotai replied.

“A noodle shop… is that the code name for some organization?”

“No. I mean it literally. A noodle shop in a small county town. An ordinary family.”

“You… You seriously believe that?”

“Of course I don’t. My dad doesn’t either. But we can’t find anything else at all. His family background really is that simple. If he does have some other background, and even our Li family can’t uncover it…”

Gu Ruibo fell silent again.

He needed a moment to process all that.

“He’s even had a private talk with my dad because of my sister,” Li Ruotai continued.

“And then?” Gu Ruibo asked at once.

“Then… he and my dad seemed to reach some kind of agreement. I don’t know what it was. My dad won’t even tell me or my sister…

“But I get the feeling that because of him, my dad’s attitude toward the Ding family has changed.

“I spoke to my dad again this morning. He still wouldn’t explain everything. All he really said was… that I should listen to my brother-in-law.

“There are some things I can’t tell you. They involve my sister and Ding Ruilong. A lot has happened in Donghai recently. It’s complicated…”

Li Ruotai found it difficult to convey everything he felt to Gu Ruibo.

But Gu still understood plenty.

This young man named Wu Chen had held a private conversation with Li Maoren?

And whatever they discussed was so sensitive that Li Maoren would not even tell his own son and daughter?

Gu Ruibo could scarcely imagine what had happened.

But the meaning behind Li Ruotai’s words was clear enough.

His tone and attitude made Gu realize that Li Ruotai genuinely was, to some extent, afraid of his brother-in-law.

Li Ruotai was afraid of a young man four years his junior, a man with no background whatsoever?

What ordinary family?

What fucking noodle shop?

“Brother Gu, do you believe someone can know things before they happen?” Li Ruotai suddenly asked.

“Hm? What?” Gu Ruibo seemed not to have heard him clearly.

Then, catching the shift in his tone, he asked, “You mean your brother-in-law…?”

“It’s just… I can’t really explain it either. Anyway… ah, forget it. Just don’t provoke him. Be polite. Once you’ve dealt with him longer, you’ll understand.

“As for what you told me earlier, I asked him. It was a misunderstanding. Don’t worry. Nothing’s wrong…”

Li Ruotai had thoroughly unsettled Gu Ruibo.

Everything he had said before was alarming enough.

By the end, it was beginning to sound almost supernatural.

“You two talk. Nothing’s wrong. With me involved, nothing will happen—as long as you don’t deliberately offend him…

“Go ahead and talk. Let me know if anything comes up…”

Li Ruotai sounded as though he was about to hang up.

“Wait, A-Tai,” Gu Ruibo said hurriedly. “One more question.”

“What?”

“Your brother-in-law… has he trained? The report I received said his marksmanship was terrifying…” Gu Ruibo asked.

This time, Li Ruotai was the one who fell silent.

Then he said, “You know Zhou Huan, the one by my sister’s side?”

“I do,” Gu Ruibo replied.

Every major family had exceptionally capable bodyguards.

They were usually known for their all-around competence and extraordinary fighting ability.

Most were top elites retired from ace special-forces units.

The Li family had several men at that level.

One of them stayed at Li Ruobing’s side.

Zhou Huan.

“According to Zhou Huan, my brother-in-law… isn’t human,” Li Ruotai said.

“I asked Zhou Huan this: if he personally went up against him and brought backup, how many men would he need to win?

“He wouldn’t say.

“He couldn’t guarantee a victory.

“You understand what I’m saying?”

“I… I understand.” Gu Ruibo concealed his shock very well.

His tone remained fairly normal.

“Then let’s leave it there. You two talk.”

“All right.”

The call ended.

Gu Ruibo’s expression looked distinctly wrong.

He took a moment to compose himself.

Then he drew a deep breath and smoothed back his slicked hair with one hand.

He turned and gestured to his bodyguards.

This time, however, he was telling them not to follow.

Gu Ruibo pushed open the office door and went in alone.

“Hahahaha! Mr. Wu! Hahahaha! I’ve heard so much about you! A-Tai talks about you all the time! Hahahahaha…”

Gu Ruibo entered with booming laughter.

After only a few steps, he held out his hand to Wu Chen.

Mao Rusong stared at him in utter confusion.

What the hell was going on?

You aren’t even this enthusiastic with your own father.