Chapter 167 - A Match Made In Heaven
A yacht stopped at the dock and Shentu Yi and Konrad disembarked. A suit-clad young man followed them off the yacht. He was tall, suave and good-looking - definitely the cream of the crop based on his looks and bearing.
“Tian-Feng, that woman is also on the island. You’ll definitely meet her later. Be polite when you meet her and don’t mention yesterday’s incident,” said Shentu Yi.
This young man was Shentu Yi’s son, Shentu Tian-Feng.
“Dad, she’s obviously not sparing your dignity by making you leave when she let an outsider stay. You’re her own Second Uncle! That’s like half her father - how can she treat you like this? And you’re speaking up for her too,” said Shentu Tian-Feng.
“Why are you being so impulsive? Don’t let the little things bother you when you’re working on something big. What’s a bit of her anger? In 700-476BC, during the Spring and Autumn Period, King Gou Jian of Yue suffered patiently while firmly resolved on revenge and ultimately defeated the Wu state. Our current situation is not like that; you know well what our goal is. Our goal is bigger than my dignity and I can take her slights - you must bear it too!” said Shentu Yi.
Shentu Tian-Feng nodded.
“What are you talking about?” asked Konrad in German.
Shentu Tian-Feng replied in German, “It’s nothing, just some family matters. Mr Konrad, I’m now in charge of this wind power project. You have to help me solve the problem.”
“Of course. This is my job,” said Konrad.
A smile appeared on Shentu Tian-Feng’s face. He was actually the interpreter for Shentu Yi and Konrad last night. He had gained the internal support of the Shentu clan, especially from Grandfather Shentu Wei-Ye, and become the person in charge of the wind power project after Ren Wen-Qiang had been kicked out of Vientaine Group. His aim was simple - do this project well and show the Shentu clan that he was capable. He wanted to let the Shentu clan know that he was better than Shentu Tian-Yin and should be the one at the head of Vientaine Group!
The trio walked from the dock to the power plant.
The wind power plant floor was abuzz with activity. Some workers were assembling the components of the wind turbines and a few engineers were on site, discussing how undersea cables should be laid. This island had good wind all year round because of its unique geographical location and was the ideal place to build a wind power plant but it had its drawbacks. If one wanted to transfer the generated power from the wind power plant, it had to be transferred via undersea cables.
Shentu Tian-Feng hired Konrad from Germany to solve this problem. Laying undersea cables seemed easy enough but it was very difficult to actually do it because of the currents and the sea floor. The few local experts had already withdrawn due to the great difficulty. Shentu Tian-Feng had hired Konrad to put up a nice fight and establish an image for himself to gain recognition.
The trio entered the power plant and just so happened to see Shentu Tian-Yin and Xia Lei descend from the hilltop villa in the trolley bus, with Fu Ming-Mei at the wheel.
Shentu Yi lowered his voice, “That punk’s named Xia Lei, chairman of Thunder Horse Manufacturing. He built his business from scratch. He’s an impressive guy. Be wary - I hear he caused Huang Yi-Hu’s death.”
“Thunder Horse Manufacturing?” Shentu Tian-Feng wrinkled his brows. “Why haven’t I heard of it?”
“It’s a small civilian company so it’s normal that you don’t know of it. I’d only heard of it last night myself,” said Shentu Yi.
“A peasant company trying to edge its way in? What a joke.” Shentu Tian-Feng sneered disdainfully.
“We’ll just think of some way to chase him away and that’s that. Use your grandfather to pressure Tian-Yin if she resists. Your grandfather will definitely support you in this,” said Shentu Yi.
“Mm, yes, I got it. Let’s go over,” said Shentu Tian-Feng.
The trolley bus came to a stop and Shentu Tian-Yin and Xia Lei alighted. They both spotted father and son, Shentu Yi and Shentu Tian-Feng, and the electrical engineer from Germany, Konrad.
Shentu Tian-Yin held onto Xia Lei’s arm without a word when she saw those three.
Xia Lei’s arm was suddenly pressed to the softest part of her body and he could smell the mysterious fragrance of a woman from her. He got nervous right away.
Shentu Tian-Yin seemed to sense his nervousness. She lowered her voice and said, “Remember the dialogue we rehearsed and my signals. Don’t be nervous. It’s going to be all right.”
Xia Lei took in a slow breath. “Don’t worry.”
He was a little nervous at first but was fine after he got used to it.
They held hands and appeared intimate to the father and son duo, who stared at them with wide, disbelieving eyes.
“That punk…” Shentu Yi sputtered after half a beat of silence, “Why is Tian-Yin holding that punk’s hand?”
Shentu Tian-Feng also said, “Tian-Yin is an arrogant woman. It looks like she would be very displeased even if a man so much as touches her hand. Why would she hold that punk’s hand? Unless…”
Unless the two were in love - this was that Shentu Tian-Feng left unsaid.
“That’s impossible!” Shentu Yi’s face darkened. “She was still saying that she wanted to get this punk surnamed Xia to help solve the problem at the power plant last night - I didn’t see her acting so intimately with this Xia punk yesterday. How did they become so close overnight?”
“Huh!” Shentu Tian-Feng snorted. “Dad, she chased you away for that punk - that’s proof. She pulled the wool over our eyes; she’s actually been dating this punk for a while.”
“Despicable! How can that punk be a match?” Shentu Yi’s face darkened further.
Shentu Tian-Feng fixed his gaze on Xia Lei, his eyes full of hatred and loathing.
The thing they were most opposed to was Shentu Tian-Yin in love. They had always felt like Shentu Tian-Yin was not difficult to handle since she was just a woman but if she fell in love and her boyfriend was someone powerful, it’d affect their plans!
Shentu Tian-Feng and Shentu Yi were not looking forward to something like this happening, no matter what. However, it had still happened and was happening right before their eyes! Shentu Tian-Yin walked over, arm-in-arm with Xia Lei. A blissful smile lit up her face; she looked very happy.
The distance between them shortened and the three Shentus and outsider Xia were face to face.
Shentu Tian-Yin smiled. “You’re here, Second Uncle, Big Brother Tian-Feng."
“Tian-Yin.” Shentu Yi went cut straight to the chase. “You two?”
Shentu Tian-Feng forced a smile on face. “Tian-Yin, this isn’t true, is it?”
“What ‘true’ or ‘false’ are you talking about?” Shentu Tian-Yin was the picture of a woman in love and her voice had also become gentle. “Lei, let me introduce you. This is my Second Uncle’s son, my Big Brother, Shentu Tian-Feng. Oh, you’ve met my Second Uncle yesterday so I don’t need to introduce you to him.”
Xia Lei smiled. “Hello, Big Brother Tian-Feng.” He held out a hand.
A look of disgust flashed in Shentu Tian-Feng’s eyes. He hesitated, but still shook hands with Xia Lei.
“Morning, Second Uncle.” Xia Lei extended a hand to Shentu Yi.
“What did you call me?” Shentu Yi’s face darkened. “Who’s your Second Uncle?”
Xia Lei sheepishly retracted his hand and didn’t say anything.
Shentu Tian-Yin frowned. “Second Uncle, do you have something against Xia Lei? You were also targeting him last night at the banquet. What is going on?”
“I wasn’t targeting him intentionally. It’s for your own good. There are so many scammers these days, especially those who go after women. They are well-dressed and handsome but are secretly scum. People like these are not sincere; they’re after your money,” said Shentu Yi.
He did not mention Xia Lei’s name but even a deaf person could tell that Shentu Yi was implying that Xia Lei was the toad who wanted to eat swan meat.
“Xia Lei is not the type of person you’re talking about. Do you still remember the bombing attempt on my life? The one who saved me was Xia Lei. I’d be long dead if it were not for him. We actually started dating at that time - we just didn’t make our relationship public,” said Shentu Tian-Yin.
Shentu Yi and Shentu Tian-Feng couldn’t help looking at each other when they heard that.
Xia Lei took note of their reaction and quietly invoked the power of his eye. His eye twitched and focused on Shentu Tian-Feng and Shentu Yi. His vision worked like a surgeon’s scalpel and opened up their bodies right away - he saw their hearts and their hearts were beating abnormally.
Would their hearts be beating so nervously if the female assassin wasn’t linked to them?
An increased heartbeat was, of course, not enough evidence to prove anything but Xia Lei had a feeling that the assassination attempt had something to do with this father-and-son duo.
Shentu Tian-Yin’s explanation made sense. It was a case of hero saving the beauty and there were countless stories like this in the history of mankind. Many such stories were made into movies and put on-screen. What was so unreasonable about her, Shentu Tian-Yin, falling in love with the man who saved her - a man who was handsome and capable on top of that?
Shentu Tian-Yin added more details to the story. “What’s so wrong with Xia Lei calling you ‘Second Uncle’? We’ve already discussed it and decided on a spring wedding. Are you unhappy with him calling you ‘Second Uncle’ ahead of time?”
“Huh? You two are getting married in spring?” Shentu Yi’s expressions were spectacular; he looked like a rhinoceros had just stomped all over his feet.
Shentu Tian-Feng’s reaction was unmuted. His gaze cut at Xia Lei like a knife.
Xia Lei was actually surprised too. From what he’d heard so far, he was supposedly going to marry Shentu Tian-Yin next year during the Mid-Autumn Festival but she just said that they were planning to get married this spring. That was half a year earlier! Wasn’t it moving too quickly?
He believed in Shentu Tian-Yin’s judgement. She must’ve had her reasons for saying that since she always thought things through. That was why he was surprised but still managed to maintain a happy smile and not say anything contrary. Sure, a spring wedding, whatever she said - it wasn’t true anyway.
“Uh, congratulations.” Shentu Tian-Feng squeezed out a forced smile.
“Thank you, Big Brother Tian-Feng.” Shentu Tian-Yin then turned affectionate eyes to Xia Lei. “Let’s take a look around, Honey.”
Xia Lei pursed his lips in a line of a smile. “Okay, Honey.”
They walked off hand-in-hand.
Shentu Yi and Shentu Tian-Feng were still rooted to the spot, watching Shentu Tian-Yin and Xia Lei with cold eyes.
They had to admit that Shentu Tian-Yin and Xia Lei were a match made in heaven. She was an outstanding beauty while he was handsome; they were a good-looking pair.
The more they matched, the more Shentu Yi and Shentu Tian-Feng resented them!