Chapter 103: Tang Ye, Your Father Is Injured!

Tang Ye arrived at the agreed-upon restaurant.

Walking into the private room, the three of them stood up.

The man walked toward Tang Ye with an exaggerated expression, gripping Tang Ye's right hand tightly with both of his own.

"This must be Town Mayor Tang, right? Thank you so much, you are our lifesaver!"

Tang Ye said modestly, "Don't stand on ceremony with me. Sister Lin is my benefactor; if you really want to thank someone, you should thank her."

Cheng Lin smiled and introduced them to Tang Ye, "The handsome man is Liu Quan, and the beautiful woman is Song Mingyu. Song Mingyu was my college roommate; we slept in the same room for four years, so we are very close."

Song Mingyu wrapped her arms around Cheng Lin's neck, pressed her sweet lips against her fair, smooth cheek, and after kissing her, said with a smile.

"We used to talk about everything back then. Cheng Lin was the matchmaker for Liu Quan and me. Liu Quan sent a love letter to Cheng Lin back then, but I ended up picking it up. By some twist of fate, Liu Quan and I became a couple."

Liu Quan laughed awkwardly, "There wasn't any love letter. Cheng Lin found me back then and gave me a phone number. Every time I called, Song Mingyu would answer. Later on, we just started chatting. By the time we got married, I realized that I didn't seem to be aiming for her back then."

Song Mingyu angrily pinched Liu Quan's arm.

Liu Quan dodged exaggeratedly, "Look at that, she resorts to violence when she can't take a joke. If I had known back then that such a face was hidden beneath her beautiful skin, I definitely wouldn't have shifted my target."

Liu Quan's words made Tang Ye and Cheng Lin look at each other and smile, unable to hold back their laughter.

Song Mingyu's features might not be as exquisite as Cheng Lin's, but she was still a great beauty, especially with the charm of a young married woman in her every gesture.

Seeing the scene of her whispering secrets into Cheng Lin's ear, it was clear that the two of them really had a very good relationship.

After chatting for a dozen minutes, Liu Quan and Song Mingyu had figured out Tang Ye's personality; he was well-spoken and attentive to every detail.

It was no wonder that the cold and slow-to-warm-up Cheng Lin would speak so highly of this young man who was several years her junior.

Song Mingyu's chatterbox opened, and she talked non-stop, giggling and laughing, reminding one of Wang Xifeng from Dream of the Red Chamber; her little mouth never stopped for a moment as she held Cheng Lin's hand, reminiscing about old times from their college days.

When the topic turned to secrets, both best friends wore ambiguous smiles on their faces, occasionally whispering into each other's ears, occasionally nudging each other, and twisting together in a ball.

Tang Ye watched the smile plastered on Cheng Lin's face and also found it very interesting.

He was full of curiosity about Cheng Lin's past, so every time Song Mingyu started a story, he would listen very carefully, while simultaneously observing the changes in Cheng Lin's expression to guess her inner thoughts.

Although Cheng Lin and Song Mingyu seemed to be chatting very engrossedly, they were actually keeping an eye on Tang Ye's mood the whole time.

She was afraid that Tang Ye would feel left out, so she expressed her emotions very actively, using her own mood to ensure Tang Ye wouldn't feel constrained.

Liu Quan, however, had listened with great interest at first, but later on, when Cheng Lin mentioned her husband—who, despite being abroad, called her often and was very shrewd and excellent—his mood became somewhat low.

Tang Ye's gaze was extremely sharp; whenever Liu Quan's eyes landed on Cheng Lin, the corners of Song Mingyu's mouth would subconsciously rise, revealing a cold curve.

It was no surprise that Liu Quan had been aiming for Cheng Lin back then, but unfortunately, the falling flowers had the intention, while the flowing water had no heart; he was caught by Song Mingyu at the right moment and used by Liu Quan as a shadow of Cheng Lin to fill the void in his heart.

As time passed, Liu Quan still had lingering feelings for Cheng Lin.

Seeing that the atmosphere had warmed up and the timing was right, Song Mingyu gave Liu Quan a look.

Liu Quan realized, turned around, and picked up a rectangular gift box from the corner.

Inside the gift box was actually a blue and white porcelain vase; he placed it in front of Tang Ye, "Town Mayor Tang, last time when we withdrew our shares from the bar, we earned a little because of your help; this gift is for you."

Tang Ye smiled and held the vase in his hand to study it for a moment, "I don't know much about porcelain. This vase looks very exquisite and must be expensive; I am unworthy of such a gift."

Liu Quan was stunned for a moment, then said with a smile, "Please, you must accept it."

Song Mingyu signaled to Cheng Lin.

Cheng Lin's expression became serious, "Hurry up and put that away. Otherwise, I'm going to get angry!"

The atmosphere in the room instantly froze.

Tang Ye smiled, loosened his hand, and the porcelain fell to the ground, shattering into pieces with a crisp crack.

Cheng Lin covered her mouth.

Song Mingyu gasped.

Liu Quan's face turned deathly pale.

A look of heartache appeared on Tang Ye's face, "Oh my, I was too careless and actually broke such a good vase. Brother Liu, I'm sorry; how much is the vase? I will compensate you."

Liu Quan waved his hands hurriedly, "It was meant for you in the first place, please don't mention money."

Song Mingyu looked at Tang Ye, a hint of admiration appearing in her eyes.

Cheng Lin had also come back to her senses at this moment.

There is a lot of knowledge in the art of gift-giving; the more elementary methods are giving cards, women, or gold.

Slightly more high-end methods involve giving shares or antiques.

As an artwork, porcelain has room for a "premium"; if Tang Ye wanted to cash it in, he could trade it at an antique shop, and the other party in the transaction would be Liu Quan—as for how much he wanted, it would all depend on Tang Ye's needs.

Tang Ye must have seen that the actual value of the porcelain was not high, which is why he feigned a slip and broke it.

So, with the porcelain shattered, for Liu Quan, it was only a cost of two hundred yuan.

Tang Ye picked up his wine glass and said sincerely, "Brother Liu, if you have any needs, just tell me. If I can be of help, I will definitely do my best. But please don't do things like this again, otherwise, I might start avoiding you."

Liu Quan and Song Mingyu looked at each other, their eyes full of surprise.

Tang Ye had long guessed that tonight's meal was not as simple as just a thank-you.

Song Mingyu picked up her red wine glass and said with a smile, "Then we won't beat around the bush either. We really do have a favor to ask by hosting this dinner today. We have a sum of money on hand right now and want to find a reliable project."

Tang Ye smiled.

He clinked glasses with her and drank it all in one gulp.

"You must already have a project in mind, right?"

Liu Quan also drank a glass in return and nodded, "We have our eyes on a beauty project and want to join the beauty chain clubs under the Haihua Group. We asked before, and the threshold is quite high; the key is that it requires a referral."

Tang Ye smiled, "I'll give my sister-in-law a call and help you ask around."

Seeing Tang Ye was willing to help, Liu Quan and Song Mingyu let out a sigh of relief.

Cheng Lin hadn't expected Tang Ye to be so enthusiastic, and her heart was filled with mixed feelings.

Tang Ye was only helping Liu Quan and Song Mingyu time and again for her sake!

Liu Quan and Song Mingyu were also a bit excessive; fearing she would stop them, they hadn't revealed a single thing to her beforehand.

As for Tang Ye, he seemed to have guessed long ago that things would develop in this direction.

Tang Ye walked out of the private room.

He dialed Zhu Junting's phone number.

Upon hearing the purpose of the call, Zhu Junting decisively laughed, "Since it is a friend introduced by Town Mayor Tang, I will give the best franchise policy."

Tang Ye laughed, "Many thanks, sister-in-law."

Zhu Junting smiled amusedly, "Why be so polite!"

The franchise store project was only one or two million.

After the New Year, the five-star hotel in Pinghu would involve hundreds of millions, so when Tang Ye asked for help, Zhu Junting not only did not find it troublesome, she even felt secretly pleased...

They were full of food and drink.

Liu Quan and Song Mingyu had achieved their wishes and suggested finding a place to sing.

At this moment, Tang Ye's cell phone rang.

Qin Lan's urgent voice came from the other side of the phone.

"Xiao Ye, your dad is injured..."