Chapter 21: Lu Ye, Don't Go Too Far

"Uncle, I’ve gotten myself into trouble!"

Lin Bei recounted exactly how he had challenged Zhang Yunjie and offended the owner of Cantonese Famous Restaurant, omitting only the part involving Lu Ye—someone so insignificant didn’t deserve to have his name mentioned in front of his second uncle. Now, he could only hope that Lin Zhongze would personally come and negotiate with Beauty Meng, minimizing the loss as much as possible.

On the other end of the line, Lin Zhongze couldn’t help but curse, "Are you out of your mind? Your father’s in a critical state, and you still have the energy to get into a contest of egos with Zhang Yunjie?"

"Uncle, I know I was wrong. Please, just come over," Lin Bei pleaded.

Lin Zhongze let out a heavy sigh. "Fine, I’ll be there in ten minutes."

After hanging up, Lin Bei turned to Beauty Meng. "Boss, my second uncle will be here soon."

Beauty Meng nodded dismissively, clearly unconcerned.

Lin Bei felt a sense of foreboding—this time, his bravado had run into a wall, and not even his second uncle might be able to save him.

About ten minutes later, Lin Zhongze hurried to the scene. He found Lin Bei and his father being tightly watched inside the Cantonese Famous Restaurant, while the burly man sitting on the bench by the door was clearly no ordinary character.

Lin Zhongze’s heart tightened. Just one look, and he could sense the domineering aura emanating from Beauty Meng—this was definitely someone who had been through real battles and seen blood.

Beauty Meng sized him up and laughed. "You must be Lin Zhongze?"

Unconsciously, Lin Zhongze lowered himself a bit. "Yes. The two inside are my cousin and my nephew. If they’ve offended you, boss, please forgive them."

Beauty Meng laughed loudly. "Let me be frank. Your nephew isn’t a three-year-old child anymore. You think you can just call his guardian over to apologize and be done with it?"

Lin Zhongze frowned in displeasure. This person was clearly immune to both coercion and persuasion, offering him no room to maneuver.

But to force Lin Bei to compromise and pay sixteen billion for the restaurant—that was simply outrageous. Just as Lin Zhongze was about to negotiate, Lin Zhongtang, in his wheelchair, suddenly coughed violently…

"Kh, kh, kh!"

Still unconscious, it was a reflexive response, his body struggling for breath.

Lin Zhongtang had been off the ICU ventilator for a long time; if they kept delaying rescue, he would surely die.

Lin Zhongze quickly asked, "Lin Bei, have you seen my friend? He’s called Lu Ye."

Lin Bei shook his head blankly. "No… Wait! Uncle, what did you say his name was?"

"He’s called Lu Ye."

Damn!

Lin Bei suddenly turned to the food stall across from the restaurant, pointing at Lu Ye’s table. "The Lu Ye you’re talking about… could it be him?"

Lin Zhongze followed his finger and nodded immediately. "That’s him. Why is he eating at the food stall over there?"

Trying to hold back a laugh, Beauty Meng said, "Our restaurant manager told me your nephew drove him out."

Smack!

Lin Zhongze’s fury exploded. He raised his hand and delivered a hard slap to Lin Bei’s face. "You animal!"

"I swallowed my pride and begged my friend to come save your father, and you drove him away?"

Lin Bei was completely stunned. He forgot to even cry out in pain, his mind full of questions. Wasn’t Lu Ye just a freeloading security guard? How had he become his second uncle’s sworn brother?

Without another word, Lin Zhongze twisted Lin Bei’s ear and dragged him over to the food stall, kicking him to his knees in front of Lu Ye.

"Brother, I—"

Lu Ye raised a hand. "Old Lin, let your nephew do the apologizing. Let’s not hurt our brotherhood over this."

Lin Zhongze thought Lu Ye was sparing his dignity and nodded gratefully. He rapped his nephew on the head. "Bow and apologize!"

Lin Bei’s face was twisted with resentment. In his heart, he swore he would never bow to this freeloader—this was his last shred of defiance!

"Do you want to save your father or not?" Lin Zhongze snapped.

Damn! He had nearly forgotten about his father—he still needed him to wake up and make a will.

For his inheritance, what did a few bows matter?

Bang, bang, bang!

Lin Bei knocked his forehead against Lu Ye’s shoes three times, humiliation burning in his voice. "I was wrong before, I didn’t recognize your worth. Please, I beg you, save my father!"

While putting food into Su Qianqian’s bowl, Lu Ye replied, "Young Master Lin, I don’t feel your sincerity."

"I’m kneeling and kowtowing already. What more do you want?" Lin Bei gritted out.

Lu Ye put down his chopsticks and said blandly, "Return the shares of Su’s Group."

"Those shares were legally bought by me for five hundred million. Why should I give them back? At most, you can buy them back at the original price."

"You’re in no position to bargain with me," Lu Ye replied.

But then he grinned. "Still, I’m broad-minded. The original price is fine. Just deduct five hundred million from the money you’re using to buy the restaurant—give the owner eleven billion, and it’s settled."

Lin Bei was stunned. "What’s your relationship with the restaurant owner?"

Beauty Meng came over, pointed at Lu Ye, and laughed. "He’s my boss!"

Damn, damn, damn!

Lin Bei felt as if he’d been trampled by ten thousand wild horses. How was it that everything, no matter how he turned, was connected to Lu Ye?

"You buy the restaurant, I save your father. Simple as that. Take it or leave it."

Lin Bei weighed his options for a long time before finally nodding with great reluctance. Once he inherited everything from the Lin family, his returns would far exceed eleven billion—compromising now was better than letting his sister take half later.

"Fine, I agree!"

Fighting back waves of pain, Lin Bei instructed the bank to transfer eleven billion into Beauty Meng’s account—nearly draining all the Lin family’s current liquid assets. The pain was excruciating!

Beauty Meng, seeing his balance jump by several digits, grinned from ear to ear. "Congratulations, Young Master Lin, the restaurant is now yours."

Lin Bei’s face darkened. "Now can we go save my father?"

"Of course."

After a leisurely meal, Lu Ye patted his stomach and stood up, flashing Su Qianqian and Zhang Yunjie a smile. "Didn’t I say? He’d have to buy the restaurant before begging me to come back."

Su Qianqian rolled her eyes. "Just look at you, so pleased with yourself!"

Zhang Yunjie slapped the table with laughter. "Brother Lu, you’re incredible! I’m impressed!"

He was immensely grateful to have escaped disaster. Though Lu Ye had taught him a lesson before, it was only a beating. If he’d been on the receiving end of today’s ruthless tactics, he wouldn’t even know where to cry.

With Lin Bei’s downfall as a warning, Zhang Yunjie had already decided to keep Lu Ye on his good side from now on.

"Brother Lu, I’ve decided! I’m turning over a new leaf and following you from now on!" Zhang Yunjie declared, trailing behind Lu Ye with a fawning grin.

Lu Ye smiled faintly. "You’re a clever one, aren’t you?"

Back at Cantonese Famous Restaurant, Lu Ye wasted no time. He hoisted Lin Zhongtang onto a long table, arranging him in a cross-legged posture.

He then held his breath, focused, and struck the crown of Lin Zhongtang’s head with his palm. Next, his hands alternated between fists and open palms, pounding rhythmically from the back of the head, down the sides of the neck, across the chest and back.

Thud, thud, thud!

Lin Zhongtang’s body swayed wildly like a tumbler toy, as if it might fall apart at any moment.

Everyone stared in shock. Was this a healing ritual or a murder?

Several minutes later, Lu Ye abruptly finished, exhaled, and said, "All done."

Coughing lightly, Lin Zhongtang slowly opened his eyes. "Where am I?"

"Father, you had a stroke, don’t move!" Lin Bei rushed forward to help, but Lin Zhongtang brushed him aside. Not only could he get up and walk on his own, he even gave a little bounce—steady as a rock.

"Dammit, you brat, you scared me half to death! I’m perfectly fine, aren’t I?"

"Hey, my back doesn’t ache anymore, and my legs aren’t cramping. I feel like I could run up five flights of stairs without stopping!"

Standing barefoot, he tried a set of stretches and found his limbs more flexible than in his youth, so he performed a round of tai chi on the spot.

In that instant, everyone present was wide-eyed with astonishment.

Well, I’ll be damned—it’s a miracle!

After the excitement, Lin Zhongtang fixed his fiery gaze on Lu Ye. "Young man, you cured me, didn’t you? Haha, I won’t say thank you—just name your price!"

Lu Ye chuckled. "Then I’ll take a lucky number. Eight million, eight hundred eighty-eight thousand."

"No problem! You brat, transfer the money to this miracle doctor right now!"

Lin Bei growled, "Lu Ye, don’t push it. Sixteen billion wasn’t enough for you?"