Chapter 289: Big Brother, Will You Teach Me Kung Fu?

Chapter 289: Big Brother, Will You Teach Me Kung Fu?

Wu Chen and Li Ruobing woke at the same moment again. Wu Chen reached over and picked up the phone.

Caller ID: Gu Ruibo.

Li Ruobing glanced at the screen, then at Wu Chen. Of course she knew Gu Ruibo. Wu Chen had already told her about his trip to Modu, where he had brought Gu Ruibo and Wu Yurong together to hunt the Ding family’s peripheral assets.

So why would Gu Ruibo suddenly call at this hour?

Wu Chen answered.

“Hello, Boss Gu.”

“Mr. Wu, I hope I haven’t disturbed your rest?”

It was a rather odd thing to say. It was already past nine in the morning, and yet Gu Ruibo was asking whether he had disturbed Wu Chen’s rest. Which meant Gu Ruibo knew he had gone to bed very late and might still be asleep.

Which meant Li Ruotai had obviously called him.

Gu Ruibo was practically a local power in Modu. Within their circles, Brother Gu of Modu was known to virtually everyone, and he and Li Ruotai were very close friends.

So with the Tang family and Tang Xinbao involved, it made perfect sense for Li Ruotai to brief Gu Ruibo and ask him to help smooth things over, or at least sound out how the Tang family was reacting internally.

“No. I was just about to get up.” Wu Chen smiled, then added, “A-Tai called you?”

“Mr. Wu, you…” Gu Ruibo sounded startled for a moment, then paused and laughed. “Did A-Tai tell you?”

“No. I guessed.” Wu Chen laughed.

“Mr. Wu, you really are…” Words seemed to fail him.

There was nothing unreasonable about Wu Chen saying he had guessed.

But Gu Ruibo’s impression of Wu Chen already carried a faintly mystical quality. His mind always drifted toward the notion that Wu Chen could somehow foreknow events, so it went that way on instinct. Wu Chen seemed very nearly supernatural to him.

“A-Tai told me everything. Mr. Wu, you saved Tang Xinbao yesterday, didn’t you? And the men who beat him… they were A-Tai’s people?”

“More or less.” Wu Chen smiled. “Though they don’t exactly count as A-Tai’s men. If he chooses not to protect them, he can distance himself from the whole thing.”

“That’s true, but A-Tai has spent so many years building his position in Donghai. If he… ah!” Gu Ruibo trailed off with a sigh.

Wu Chen understood him.

He had only been making a casual point.

It was true that if Li Ruotai did not want to protect anyone, he could extricate himself. At most, responsibility would be traced back to Crooked Zhao. But if he refused to protect the man and simply watched Crooked Zhao go to prison, the consequences would run far beyond damage to the face of Donghai’s Young Master Li.

More importantly, the reputation, standing, and authority Li Ruotai had built in Donghai over the years would all take a blow.

It would shake the very foundations of everything he had established there.

And someone might seize the opening to make trouble. Word of this would certainly spread, and every major family would hear of it. The Wei family was already working against Li Ruotai. There was no chance they would sit still when the time came.

But since Tang Xinbao had ultimately come to no serious harm, the consequences could be enormous or quite minor.

It all came down to how the matter was handled.

“I’ll arrange everything. It’ll be fine,” Wu Chen said.

“With you saying that, Mr. Wu, then it’ll be fine.” Gu Ruibo laughed at once, then sighed with feeling. “A-Tai really is lucky to have a brother-in-law like you…”

There was a distinctly flattering note in everything Gu Ruibo said to Wu Chen.

And it was not only because of the impression Wu Chen had made on him.

Wu Chen was also his God of Wealth.

“This isn’t really all that troublesome,” Wu Chen said with a laugh.

“Then is there anything I can do to help, Mr. Wu? How about… I come to Donghai?” Gu Ruibo asked after a moment’s thought.

“If you have the time, coming over to bolster A-Tai’s position wouldn’t hurt.” Wu Chen smiled. “If you’re busy, forget it. No need to make special arrangements. Work out the details with A-Tai.”

“All right. I’ll see how my schedule looks…”

They talked a few moments longer, then hung up.

A short conversation.

Nothing of substance had been discussed. On the surface it amounted to idle talk.

In fact they had been touching base. If Gu Ruibo’s help was truly needed later, they could call on him. And the call was Gu Ruibo’s way of maintaining contact and drawing closer to Wu Chen.

Wu Chen set his phone back down. When he turned his head, he found Li Ruobing looking at him strangely again.

She was staring straight at him without blinking.

“What is it?” Wu Chen asked with a smile.

She kept staring and did not answer.

She had simply caught Gu Ruibo’s attitude toward Wu Chen. The man had been flattering him so openly that anyone who did not know better might have thought he was speaking to someone even more powerful than the Gu family itself.

Li Ruobing’s feelings were extremely complicated.

She knew how formidable and how frightening Wu Chen could be. She understood that whoever they were, the more contact someone had with Wu Chen, the more their understanding of him—and their attitude toward him—would change.

But understanding a thing and feeling it directly were two different matters.

Li Ruobing had felt it twice already today.

It left her with a strange sensation: How can my man be this incredible?

“Has a flower bloomed on my face?” Wu Chen asked, smiling again at her silence.

She came back to herself. The corners of her mouth curved slightly. She blinked and said, “It’s nothing.”

Then she leaned over and kissed his cheek, wrapped her arms around him, and nestled against him with an unusual touch of clinginess.

“Are we going back to sleep?”

“Are you still sleepy?”

“No.”

“Then let’s get up.” He kissed her forehead.

They got up.

They washed properly in the bathroom, and since Li Ruobing still had her makeup to do, Wu Chen finished dressing first and went downstairs.

Ten in the morning. No one was in the first-floor living room.

Wu Chen sat down on the sofa, switched on the television, and watched the news.

A little over ten minutes later.

Ding.

The elevator doors beside the first-floor staircase opened. The car had come up from the basement. Zhuang Xiaodie stepped out in a blue dress, carrying two large shopping bags.

She had been out for groceries and had just returned.

Wu Chen turned, then got up and walked over. He took the bags from her hands and asked with a smile, “What time did you get up?”

“Nine.” She gave him a sweet, closed-lip smile.

“That early? Did you sleep enough?”

“I’m fine. I’m not sleepy.”

They talked as they walked into the kitchen together. Wu Chen set the bags down. Zhuang Xiaodie put on an apron and began preparing lunch.

Having set everything down, Wu Chen stood watching her.

She did not notice his gaze.

He watched for quite a while before he finally said, “You know, you don’t have to do this.”

“Hm?” She had just taken a large soup bone out of one of the bags. She turned toward him. “What do you mean, Mr. Wu?”

“I said you don’t have to do this.” He smiled at her. “You’re not a housekeeper.”

“It’s… it’s fine. Anyway… I don’t really have anything else to do.” Her face turned faintly uncomfortable.

“You…” Wu Chen sighed with a smile, and let the thought go unfinished.

He understood. Zhuang Xiaodie wanted to make a good impression. That was why she had gone out for groceries before she had even slept enough, then come straight back to cook lunch for everyone.

It came from the inferiority she carried inside.

She felt she could not compare with any of them. Not Li Ruobing, not Wu Yurong, not Su Qingying or Mu Qianqian.

She was under a great deal of pressure.

A state of mind like that plainly could not be changed with words. Wu Chen knew that nothing he said would make much difference.

Still, there was no need to worry too much.

Once she became a major star, with money enough and social standing high enough, she would probably feel better.

Tap, tap…

Footsteps outside the kitchen.

Someone was coming downstairs.

“Keep going. Ruobing will be down soon.” Wu Chen gestured lightly, then turned and left the kitchen.

In the first-floor living room.

The one who had come down was Tang Xinbao, his face still swollen and bruised, abrasions everywhere, though none of it interfered with his movement.

“Morning, Big Brother.” He greeted Wu Chen enthusiastically as he reached the sofa and saw him coming out of the kitchen.

“Morning.” Wu Chen smiled, and as he walked over he asked, “Feeling dizzy?”

“Not at all. I’m great.” Tang Xinbao even struck a pose to show how strong he was.

They sat. After only a few moments of casual talk, Tang Xinbao stood up again.

“Big Brother, will you teach me kung fu? Can I take you as my master?” He stared at Wu Chen, eyes eager.