How A Ride-Hailing Driver Comes To Dominate The World? [EN]: Chapter 395

The Mastermind

Soon, Yang Chen arrived at the hospital.

Huang Ming’s body had already been sent to the morgue, and the scene had been cleaned up.

Huang Yu, with red eyes, handed the key and wooden box to Yang Chen and asked, “Brother Yang, what did my dad say to you yesterday?”

Yang Chen didn’t answer, quickly opening the wooden box.

Inside was an old Nokia button phone, clearly showing its age.

Besides the phone, there was also a will.

The gist of it was that he felt very guilty for what he had done and decided to atone for his sins with death.

He didn’t expect Yang Chen to forgive him, only hoping to redeem himself to some extent.

He also warned his son to help him atone for his sins, and that Huang Yu should complete any request from Yang Chen, even at the cost of his life.

Finally, Huang Ming left the contact information for Chen Junpeng, the person he had connected with back then.

After reading the will, Huang Yu felt terrible.

He stood motionless like a statue, not knowing what to say to Yang Chen.

Yang Chen gently locked the wooden box, wondering whether to implicate Huang Yu and his mother.

At this moment, Huang Yu suddenly said, “Brother Yang, I told you before that my life is yours. As long as you say the word, I can end myself like my dad. However, before I die, I hope to help you find Chen Junpeng. I want to repay you for saving my life twice with this matter and my life. I don’t want to leave with debts of gratitude. After I die, I hope you can be lenient with my mom. She doesn’t know anything and she’s already old. Is that okay?”

Yang Chen whispered into Huang Yu’s ear, “I don’t care if you and your mom knew about it or not. You are Huang Ming’s son, and she is Huang Ming’s wife, so you can only blame yourselves for being unlucky. I don’t need you to find him; I will send someone to find him. After I’ve asked all the questions, you take action and kill him. If you live well and don’t get caught by the police, I will let you and your mom go. If you get caught, you will pay with your life, and I will take care of your mom, ensuring she enjoys her later years.”

Huang Yu looked at Yang Chen seriously. After a few seconds, he nodded and replied, “Okay! Thank you. With your medical skills, I know you are definitely not an ordinary taxi driver. I am very grateful that you can give us a chance.”

Yang Chen hugged the wooden box and turned to leave.

Huang Yu breathed a sigh of relief. He was in no mood to recuperate in the hospital. He had to be discharged quickly to handle his father’s funeral and then go to Chen Junpeng’s house to scout the area and prepare to take action.

This matter concerned the irreconcilable hatred for his parents, and someone had to pay with their life.

For safety’s sake, Yang Chen still wanted to ensure he wasn’t involved.

Yang Chen called Qiu Hongqiang and arranged to meet him in person.

More than an hour later, the two met.

Since there was no one around, Qiu Hongqiang guessed that Yang Chen must have something important to say.

Still for safety reasons, Qiu Hongqiang invited Yang Chen to talk in his car.

Qiu Hongqiang’s car was checked every day to ensure there were no listening devices or anything like that.

Yang Chen handed the wooden box and key to Qiu Hongqiang and said, “Open it and see what’s inside.”

Qiu Hongqiang quickly did as he was told. After reading Huang Ming’s will, Qiu Hongqiang immediately said, “Mr. Yang, just give the word. Do you want a complete annihilation or a targeted elimination? I’ll take care of the rest, so you don’t have to show your face.”

Yang Chen: “Do you know why I came to live in the capital?”

Qiu Hongqiang: “I’ve looked into it. So, you don’t want things to get too big, and you just want the relevant responsible people to pay the price, so as not to be targeted by the higher-ups, is that the idea?”

Yang Chen nodded and said, “Yes, that’s what I’m thinking. First, find Chen Junpeng and get the whole story from him.”

Qiu Hongqiang: “Understood! I will report to you immediately when I have news. You don’t have to interfere.”

Yang Chen nodded, opened the door, and got out of the car. After returning to his car, he immediately drove away.

Qiu Hongqiang quickly went back to find someone to open the old-fashioned mobile phone left by Huang Ming. The text message communication revealed several key pieces of information.

First, Huang Ming used to like treasure hunting in Panjiayuan [a famous antique market in Beijing] and other places, sometimes making money and sometimes losing it. The last time he misjudged and bought a fake, losing all his money and owing more than 3 million yuan [approximately $420,000 USD]. The creditor was Chen Junpeng.

Second, Chen Junpeng used this debt of more than 3 million yuan to lure Huang Ming into causing a traffic accident to kill Yang Qingshan and his wife.

Third, after the accident, Chen Junpeng took advantage of the chaos to set Yang Qingshan’s car on fire.

Fourth, Chen Junpeng is Xu Hu’s brother-in-law, that is, Xu Qiang’s uncle. So Huang Ming suspected that this matter was related to Xu Hu, and he had specifically tested Chen Junpeng. Chen Junpeng’s answer was that Tang Qing asked him to do it, but he didn’t know why.

The subsequent text message content was of no value. The main content above was related to Yang Chen’s parents.

The text messages did not mention Yang Chen’s uncle-in-law. It was temporarily impossible to determine whether the uncle-in-law’s death was really an accident caused by drunkenness, or whether someone took advantage of his drunkenness to create an accident.

Yang Chen was even more confused. What caused Tang Qing and Xu Hu to kill his parents?

Now it was almost certain that his parents’ death was related to Tang Qing and Xu Hu, and Yang Chen naturally became suspicious of Tang Xuexu.

So, that night, he made an excuse not to pick her up from work or go to her house.

Tang Xuexu didn’t know about these things. She was going to see her grandfather tomorrow, and she thought Yang Chen was afraid of avoiding it, so she called him after dinner.

Tang Xuexu went straight to the point and asked Yang Chen what he was thinking now and whether he didn’t want to see her grandfather tomorrow.

Yang Chen explained, “Don’t worry, I will definitely go. I just have something to do tonight, and I will pick you up tomorrow morning.”

Tang Xuexu: “Okay! Then come earlier tomorrow, so I can decide what to wear based on your clothes.”

Yang Chen: “Okay.”

At more than one o’clock in the morning, Qiu Hongqiang met Yang Chen again.

Qiu Hongqiang handed over all the information he got from Chen Junpeng to Yang Chen.

Chen Junpeng confessed that Tang Qing was the mastermind, Xu Hu was an accomplice, he was responsible for the operation, and finally, he found Huang Ming to do it.

After the car accident, Yang Chen’s parents did not die and were still struggling in the car. Chen Junpeng set the car on fire and burned them to death.

Later, Yang Chen’s uncle-in-law took over Yang Chen’s company and seemed to have discovered some secrets. Chen Junpeng found a chance to get him drunk and then pushed him into the pond and drowned him when he was passing by the pond on his way home.

The purpose of their doing this was to hide the secret of a night-shining pearl. Chen Junpeng guessed that the night-shining pearl was very likely the one from the Old Buddha back then.

Yang Chen frowned and turned to ask, “Are you sure that’s what he said? Wasn’t the Old Buddha’s night-shining pearl whereabouts unknown? How could it suddenly appear again? How could people of my parents’ level have access to such secrets?”

Qiu Hongqiang: “I don’t think he should be lying. As long as our Shield Security Group wants to know the secrets, no one can keep them. The night-shining pearl must exist, but it is not easy to determine whether it is the one from the Old Buddha. He is also guessing, without concrete evidence. What you said also makes sense. If it is really the one from the Old Buddha, it is impossible for your parents to have access to it given their status back then. But it is undeniable that shortly after your parents had an accident, the Tang family and the Xu family developed rapidly as if they had divine help.”

Yang Chen nodded and thought quietly.

Qiu Hongqiang’s guess might be right. There should indeed be a night-shining pearl, but it must not be the one from the Old Buddha.

If it were that night-shining pearl, the Tang family and the Xu family would have been destroyed long ago.

After a while, Qiu Hongqiang tentatively asked, “Then how do you want to deal with those people?”

Yang Chen: “Continue to control Chen Junpeng and stabilize his family; don’t let them realize he is missing. Wait for my news, and release him when I tell you to.”

Qiu Hongqiang was a little confused. Chen Junpeng was the murderer who directly burned Yang Chen’s parents to death. Why would he let him go?

However, whatever Yang Chen said was what he would do. Even if Qiu Hongqiang didn’t understand why, he didn’t dare to ask more questions.

Yang Chen returned to his car and drove home to sleep.

The next morning, Yang Chen put on a suit and came to Tang Xuexu’s house.

Tang Xuexu quickly chose a dress to change into based on Yang Chen’s attire.

Afterward, the two rushed to Tang Xuexu’s uncle Tang Jianjun’s house.

Because it was Tang Qing’s turn to be taken care of by his eldest son Tang Jianjun, and according to tradition, if the old man didn’t have his own residence, the birthday celebration would definitely be held at the eldest son’s house.

There were many people inside and outside Tang Jianjun’s villa, and it seemed that many guests had come today.

Tang Xuexu happily took Yang Chen to her grandfather.

“Grandpa, happy birthday. I wish you good fortune as immense as the Eastern Sea and longevity as great as the Southern Mountain,” Tang Xuexu said happily, hugging her grandfather.

Tang Qing smiled happily, but the next second his smile froze because he saw Yang Chen and vaguely felt that he looked familiar.

Yang Chen walked forward with a smile and said, “Grandpa, happy birthday. This is for you.”

Tang Xuexu quickly opened the wooden box and showed the large ginseng inside to her grandfather.

“Wow…” The people around exclaimed.

“Such a big ginseng! This is the first time I’ve seen it.”

“It must be several hundred years old, maybe even thousands of years old.”

“Xuexu, where did you get it? It’s so practical.”

…

Hearing the praise from relatives and friends, Tang Xuexu proudly took Yang Chen’s arm and replied, “This ginseng is from Yang Chen’s family. He specially brought it to give to Grandpa, hoping it will be good for Grandpa’s health.”

Everyone praised Yang Chen; not only was he handsome, but he was also very generous, and he was definitely in love with Tang Xuexu.

Tang Xuexu was usually very aloof, but at this time, she was like a shy little girl.

It was mentioned earlier that Tang Xuexu showed strong management skills, so Tang Jianguo and his wife simply handed over the company to her to manage.

Tang Xuexu performed so well, and relatives and friends definitely praised her.

In contrast, her cousin Tang Xuejian seemed very ordinary.

At every family banquet, Tang Xuexu always received everyone’s praise, but Tang Xuejian, as her cousin, was always neglected. Over time, Tang Xuejian would naturally become psychologically unbalanced.

There was no chance to compete in work ability, so Tang Xuejian always wanted to find a chance to beat her cousin in other aspects.

Tang Xuejian hurriedly asked, “Xuexu, your boyfriend is so handsome. What does he do?”

In fact, Tang Jianjun’s family already knew that Yang Chen was Tang Xuexu’s driver. Tang Xuejian was preparing to praise her husband by putting down Yang Chen.

Tang Xuexu didn’t think much and replied directly, “He is my driver.”

Tang Xuejian chuckled and said, “He’s your driver! How much do you pay him? Can he afford to give away such a big ginseng?”

Tang Xuexu’s face immediately darkened, and then she sneered and said, “The earrings on my ears cost more than 600,000 yuan [approximately $84,000 USD], and he still bought them for me. It has nothing to do with how much he earns; it mainly depends on whether he loves me or not. As long as Grandpa needs it, we are willing to give it away.”

Tang Xuejian nodded and said, “That’s true. We can’t buy such a big ginseng, but we bought Mr. Jinghu’s painting that Grandpa has always wanted. Grandpa, look, this is the ‘Lonely Angler on a Snowy River’ that you have always been thinking about.”

After speaking, Tang Xuejian winked at her husband, Li Junlong.

Li Junlong quickly opened “Lonely Angler on a Snowy River.”

“Wow, it really is Mr. Jinghu’s painting. I saw it at an auction in Haicheng before.”

“As expected of the most popular painter in the past two years; the level of this painting is really amazing.”

“It really uses a painting to depict this poem.”

“Xuejian, you are so thoughtful. This painting is not cheap.”

Tang Xuejian said with a smug look, “Actually, it’s not very expensive, only 25 million yuan [approximately $3.5 million USD]. I think Xuexu is right; as long as Grandpa needs it, we are willing to give it away.”

This ginseng looked good, but it definitely couldn’t sell for 25 million yuan.

That’s right, Tang Xuejian felt that she had overwhelmed her cousin.

Tang Qing really liked Mr. Jinghu’s paintings. If Yang Chen hadn’t appeared, he would definitely have happily gotten up and taken the painting to appreciate it.

It’s just that he was not in the mood to appreciate this painting at all and just smiled perfunctorily and said that he liked it very much.

Tang Xuejian was a little confused. What was going on?

Didn’t Grandpa like Mr. Jinghu’s “Lonely Angler on a Snowy River” very much?

Why couldn’t he see that he was a little bit happy?

Did he buy loneliness for 25 million yuan?

Yang Chen said with a smile, “I also like Mr. Jinghu’s words very much; can I take a look?”

Li Junlong looked down on Yang Chen as a driver, but he still showed it to him out of courtesy.

Tang Xuejian hurriedly reminded, “Be careful; it’s 25 million yuan, don’t break it. Relying on you as Xuexu’s driver, how many years will it take you to afford this painting?”

Yang Chen carefully looked at the details on the fishing rod and then said with a smile, “I can still afford this kind of fake.”

A fake?

Everyone was shocked.

Tang Xuejian gave a fake to Grandpa?

Tang Xuejian was extremely agitated and pointed at Yang Chen and said, “I warn you not to talk nonsense! We bought this painting from an old friend for 25 million yuan; it can’t be a fake. What do you know as a stinky driver? Do you know who Mr. Jinghu is?”

Tang Xuexu immediately retorted, “Sister, please be polite. We express our filial piety, and you express your filial piety. Why do you have to step on us?”

Tang Xuejian: “Who stepped on you? Don’t talk nonsense.”

Tang Qing saw that the two granddaughters were arguing and immediately knocked on the floor with his crutches and said, “Today is my birthday; what are you two doing? If I hold a formal birthday banquet next year, if you two quarrel like this, how embarrassing will our Tang family be?”

Tang Jianjun and Tang Jianguo quickly apologized to their father and ordered their daughters to apologize to the old man.

At this time, Yang Chen said loudly, “That painting is fake; can’t you let people say it?”

Tang Xuejian’s younger brother, Tang Xuelong, was furious and said, “Don’t go too far! I’ve already saved you face; don’t be shameless!”

Today was to make trouble, and Yang Chen would definitely not give up easily.

If it is finally determined that Tang Qing is indeed the mastermind, everyone in the Tang family will have to pay with their lives!

Just as Yang Chen was about to speak, Xu Hu and his son Xu Qiang came.

Tang Xuexu rolled her eyes at her cousin and pulled Yang Chen aside.

The Tang family and the Xu family were old friends. Although Tang Qing didn’t hold a big celebration today, Xu Hu and his son Xu Qiang still had to come.

Xu Hu: “Uncle Qing, I wish you have today every year and today every year [a common birthday greeting].”

Xu Qiang: “Grandpa Tang, I wish you good fortune as immense as the Eastern Sea and longevity as great as the Southern Mountain.”

Tang Qing was still not happy but just smiled reluctantly to deal with it.

Xu Hu and Xu Qiang presented their gifts and then went to greet Tang Jianjun and Tang Jianguo and others.

At this time, Qingfeng Lay [a Taoist name] Zhao Jingzhong came.

Zhao Jingzhong greeted Tang Qing with a smile and then presented the gift he brought.

“I know that Brother Tang has always wanted Mr. Jinghu’s ‘Lonely Angler on a Snowy River,’ so I got it for you. Today, I will wish you a happy birthday as your younger brother, and I will give you this painting,” Zhao Jingzhong said with a smile.

But his smile was not important; everyone else was stunned.

Hadn’t Tang Xuejian and his wife given “Lonely Angler on a Snowy River” just now?

Why did Qingfeng Lay send another one?

How many “Lonely Angler on a Snowy River” did Mr. Jinghu paint?

Was this directly printed and mass-produced?

Tang Xuexu looked at Yang Chen in surprise and then asked in a low voice, “What’s the situation? Is the painting that my cousin gave really a fake?”

Yang Chen: “Of course. Can I talk nonsense in front of so many people? I could tell at a glance that the painting she gave was fake.”

Tang Xuexu: “Ah? Don’t tell me you also know about calligraphy and painting!”

Yang Chen: “What’s wrong, can’t I?”

Tang Xuexu: “Brother, you are just a taxi driver. You can tell fortunes, you have medical skills, and you also know about calligraphy and painting. Do you think it’s reasonable?”

Yang Chen: “What’s unreasonable? Driving is life, and other things are hobbies. Can’t I?”

Tang Xuexu was speechless.

Zhao Jingzhong hadn’t noticed that everyone’s expressions were a little wrong and happily took the painting out of the painting tube.

Tang Xuejian couldn’t help it and quickly stepped forward and asked, “Uncle Zhao, you’re not mistaken, are you? How could yours be ‘Lonely Angler on a Snowy River’? We just bought ‘Lonely Angler on a Snowy River’ to give to Grandpa.”

Saying that, Tang Xuejian and Li Junlong quickly opened the painting they bought and showed it to Zhao Jingzhong.

Zhao Jingzhong looked puzzled and quickly put on his glasses to take a closer look.

After a few seconds, Zhao Jingzhong chuckled and said, “This painting of yours is fake; you have been cheated.”

“Ah…” Everyone exclaimed.

Tang Xuexu mocked, “Just now Yang Chen said that your painting was a fake, and you two were still quibbling. Now Uncle Zhao, this expert, also said that your painting is fake; what else do you have to say?”

Yang Chen?

Zhao Jingzhong’s eyes lit up, and he quickly looked over.

“Haha… So it’s Mr. Jinghu himself! No wonder, no wonder. It’s reasonable for Mr. Jinghu himself to see that your painting is fake,” Zhao Jingzhong said with a smile and then quickly stepped forward to shake hands with Yang Chen.

Everyone was shocked again.

What?

Mr. Jinghu himself?

Yang Chen is Mr. Jinghu?