Chapter 92: Peppa Pig Tattooed on the Skin

The next day.

It was a rare event: Lu Ye personally went to wake up Su Qianqian.

The three women had played cards until four or five in the morning, and in the end, simply squeezed together on one bed to sleep…

Bang, bang, bang!

“Get up, old lady!”

Bang, bang, bang!

“If you don’t get up, I’m kicking down the door!”

Bang, bang, bang!

Swish!

The door suddenly swung open.

Su Qianqian stood there in her pajamas, yawning, her hair in disarray cascading over her shoulders.

This innocent, bare-faced look was Lu Ye’s favorite version of her.

Unable to restrain himself, he leaned in and gave her a light peck on the lips.

Su Qianqian woke up halfway instantly and grumbled, “What are you doing?”

“Couldn’t help myself, hehe.”

After dawdling for over half an hour, the three women finally finished washing up and getting dressed.

They had a complimentary breakfast at the hotel, and then Bai Wen drove them straight to the construction site.

Coincidentally, the Yiren Group’s construction team arrived that day, bringing both manpower and equipment.

Bai Wen’s real estate project was no small affair: over a dozen high-rise apartment buildings, with the street-facing side reserved for what could become a large shopping mall.

The main structures were nearly topped out, but there remained a massive amount of interior work.

Currently, progress had stalled, and quite a few buyers who’d paid deposits had already come to protest with banners.

When they saw the Yiren Group’s convoy roll in, unloading equipment and resuming work, they finally felt reassured and began to leave.

But unexpectedly, several black vans suddenly arrived, barging onto the site and blocking the workers without explanation.

A group of thugs poured out of the vans, led by a man with a bowl-cut.

A blue dragon tattoo coiled down his left arm, a white tiger prowled along his right, and a cigar dangled from his lips.

He probably thought he looked tough, straight out of an ‘80s Hong Kong gangster film.

But Lu Ye and Su Qianqian only stared at him as if they were watching a clown.

The bowl-cut strode over, barking, “Who said you could start construction?”

As he spoke, he rolled up his sleeves, eager to show off his tattoos.

Lu Ye also rolled up his own sleeves, drawing a surprised glance from Su Qianqian.

He revealed, bold as brass, a Peppa Pig sketched in ballpoint pen on his forearm.

Lu Ye whispered, “I was bored last night and drew it myself. What do you think?”

Su Qianqian nodded, “Not bad! If we lose, at least we lose with style!”

Seeing himself ignored, bowl-cut shouted even louder, “I’m talking to you! What are you two whispering about? Who gave you permission to work?”

Lu Ye shot back, “And who says we’re not allowed to work?”

“The Chen family!” bowl-cut declared.

“Oh?” Lu Ye pressed, “And you’re the Chen family’s dog?”

Bowl-cut paused, “No!”

“Then if you’re not their dog, what business is it of yours whether we work or not?”

Bowl-cut roared, “Damn you, I’m not a dog! I’m the Chen family’s man!”

“Oh, the Chen family’s man, eh? So, what brings you here?”

“Obviously, I’m here to stop you from working! The lot of you, get out of this construction site right now!”

“Doesn’t that make you their guard dog?” Lu Ye said, grinning.

Su Qianqian and Bai Wen stifled their laughter.

Bowl-cut was tongue-tied, “You… you little pretty boy, I’m going to rip that mouth of yours apart!”

If he couldn’t out-talk him, surely he could beat him, right?

Little did he know Lu Ye was goading him into a fight—he was set on putting on a show in front of his “old lady” today.

“Come on, let’s see what you’ve got!” Lu Ye planted his feet in a martial pose, ready for action.

Bowl-cut raised his fists too…

“Enough! All of you, stop!”

Both Lu Ye and bowl-cut turned, stunned.

A tall, slender young man strode up to Lu Ye and called out directly, “Boss!”

Lu Ye was baffled, murmuring, “Who are you calling boss?”

He’d never seen this guy before.

The young man leaned in and whispered, “Special Envoy Lu, I was sent by the Queen. My name is Zhou Hong.”

“Oh, I see now!” Lu Ye exclaimed with dawning realization.

But then, bowl-cut, now trembling, also called out to Zhou Hong, “Boss!”

Zhou Hong spun around and slapped him hard across the face. “Are you blind? Who gave you the guts to make trouble on my sister-in-law’s construction site?”

Bowl-cut was dumbstruck. How could this pretty boy outrank his own boss?

Zhou Hong’s public persona was that of a gang leader. Bowl-cut’s real name was Guo Kun, a small-time enforcer under Zhou Hong.

Guo Kun had always assumed Zhou Hong was the top dog—never imagining there was someone above him.

“Sorry, Boss! Sorry!” Guo Kun quickly backed down.

But now Lu Ye was annoyed—he’d missed his chance for a good fight!

Damn it, Zhou Hong, could you not have shown up two minutes later?

Lu Ye snapped, “You’re not here causing trouble on Zhou’s orders, are you? How much did the Chen family slip you on the side?”

Guo Kun timidly raised a finger.

“Ten thousand?” Lu Ye guessed.

Guo Kun shook his head.

“A hundred thousand?”

He shook his head again. “A thousand yuan.”

“Seriously? You sold yourself out as a guard dog for a thousand yuan?”

Guo Kun looked miserable, “Boss, you don’t know how broke I am. My sister is waiting on tuition money.”

He looked fierce, but with no education or skills, all he could do was run errands for gangs. These days, with the crackdown on organized crime, even that paid next to nothing.

Back home, Guo Kun had a sister just starting college and fretting over tuition. When Chen Liang asked him to stir up trouble at the site, he’d taken the job.

Zhou Hong confirmed he was telling the truth—Guo Kun was a bit slow, but hadn’t really committed any crimes.

Lu Ye sighed and told Su Qianqian to hand him two thousand in cash. “Here, go pay your sister’s tuition.”

Guo Kun was overwhelmed with gratitude. “Thank you, Boss! Thank you, Ma’am!”

Such a simple soul—two thousand yuan, and his loyalty was bought.

Lu Ye looked at him in disdain. “Later, scrub those arms clean for me. Be a decent man from now on. Anyone can see those tattoos are drawn on—the ink’s already fading. Who are you trying to fool?”

“Yes, yes!” Guo Kun replied, shuffling away with his men.

After Guo Kun left, Zhou Hong leaned in and whispered, “Special Envoy Lu, our base is at 66 Bar. You can find me there anytime.”

“Alright, you go on.”

Zhou Hong departed as well.

At this point, the onlooking homeowners all crowded forward.

They pointed accusingly at Bai Wen. “Did your company offend the Chen family?”

“Why else would they send people to stop construction?”

“Sure, that idiot left today, but who knows who the Chens might send tomorrow? When will we ever get our homes?”

“We don’t want the apartments anymore—give us our money back!”

Bai Wen was at a loss, not knowing how to explain.

Lu Ye, however, stepped forward and addressed the crowd boldly. “You people panic over a single apartment? Don’t you feel embarrassed?”

His words immediately sparked outrage. “You greedy developers! You’ve stolen our hard-earned money and you dare say that?”

Lu Ye shrugged. “Who said I’m a developer? I’m an owner—just like you all!”

The crowd was taken aback. “You’re an owner?”

“Of course. I bought fifty units in one go to rent out one day. If I’m not worried, why should you be?”

Bai Wen quickly chimed in, “That’s right, Mr. Lu is our biggest client.”

One homeowner exclaimed, “No wonder he just chased off the troublemakers—he’s an owner too!”

“Looks like we misunderstood. Sorry, Mr. Lu!”

Lu Ye waved it off with a laugh. “Don’t worry about it. With my fifty apartments, I’ll be keeping watch here myself. Even if it costs me my life, I won’t let anyone disrupt construction.”

“Go on, get back to work or shopping—don’t worry about a thing!”

Thinking back to how the gang boss had to call Lu Ye “boss,” and hearing his promise to personally guard the site, the homeowners were immediately reassured.

“We really are counting on you, Mr. Lu!”

Lu Ye laughed heartily, “No need to be so formal!”

“When we all move into our new homes, we’ll be neighbors. Of course, neighbors help each other out.”

“Right, right! Mr. Lu is absolutely right!”

His words filled the owners with hope, and they began to look forward to their new homes.

“We’ll do as Mr. Lu says—everyone, let’s go!”

“Thank you, Mr. Lu!”