Chapter 1104: The Growing Years, Chapter 1100: One Year

Yang Ming didn't choose Tavern Heaven on Earth, the Nightless Club, or the likes of his own territory to celebrate his birthday. Instead, he chose the Ju Yuan Chun Restaurant, the place where he celebrated his birthday a year ago.

Although Yang Ming was no longer the same, he still missed the years before a year ago: the intense and relaxed life of Grade 12, arguing with Chen Mengyan every day, and fooling around freely with Zhang Bing.

When Yang Ming rushed to the Ju Yuan Chun Restaurant, Zhang Bing was standing in the restaurant lobby and talking to the boss there. Because he was a friend of Zhang Jiefang, he was naturally more familiar with Zhang Bing. Zhang Bing often came here with Zhang Jiefang, but after he went to college, he did not come over for a while because he founded his own company, and he was later injured.

"Bro! You are here!" When Yang Ming walked into the restaurant, Zhang Bing quickly greeted him, just like how he waited for Yang Ming at the school gate a year ago.

"I am not late, right?" Yang Ming saw Zhang Bing and smiled at him. "I made you wait for me again this year."

"I booked this place, so of course, I have to come early. The sisters-in-law haven't come yet, and Sisi and the others are still at the company. They can only come over in a while," said Zhang Bing.

"Why? Is there business today?" Yang Ming said with surprise. The jewelry exhibition had been over for a while, but he didn't expect the jewelry company's business to be so hot.

"Yes, February 14th is Valentine's Day, and March 14th is called White Day [1]!" Zhang Bing said, "So, today's store business is also very popular. Sisi and they have to look after it."

"White Day? What is that?" Yang Ming heard inexplicably. It turned out that he just knew about Valentine's Day, but he didn't know there was a White Day!

"I didn't know either. If it weren't for the company doing promotions, and an employee proposed such a plan, I wouldn't have known what White Day is!" Zhang Bing explained, "This White Day is actually a day for the girl or boy to return the favor by giving presents to his or her loved one!"

"Return the favor?" Yang Ming became interested. He didn't expect his birthday would meet such a celebration! Yang Ming learned this for the first time.

"In fact, 'Valentine's Day' and 'White Day' originated in Rome in the third century." Zhang Bing applied what he learned immediately. He came upon this knowledge from the employee's promotion plan in the company. "On February 14th, the Roman emperor saved a pair of lovers who had to be executed because of their violation of the marriage ban. The Roman emperor set up Valentine's Day to commemorate the day. On March 14th, one month later, the pair of lovers who were rescued swore to love each other until they died. To commemorate this day, he set this day as White Day. Then, this festival spread from Europe to other parts of the world."

"What does this have to do with returning the favor?" Yang Ming listened inexplicably.

"Bro, let me finish talking!" Zhang Bing said with a bitter smile, "It is said that if a man or a woman receives a Valentine's Day gift from the opposite sex on February 14th, and the target also has the same affection for the other party, he or she will return a gift on March 14th. That means they are already in love with each other. This is the origin of the festival!"

"It turned out to be like this! D*mn. If I receive a bunch of birthday presents later, how should it count? Does it count as a White Day present or a birthday present?" Yang Ming smiled after listening to Zhang Bing's words.

" Hah , that's a matter between you and the sisters-in-law; it has nothing to do with me. I just told you what I know!" Zhang Bing said quickly. He didn't want to meddle in Yang Ming's family affairs. After all, it was not a year ago.

It's really fun to think about it. A year ago, my bro and I were still talking about Chen Mengyan. Now Chen Mengyan has become my sister-in-law... So Zhang Bing merely dared not to comment again.

As Yang Ming and Zhang Bing were talking, suddenly the door of the restaurant was pushed open with a loud bang. Four young people wearing black leather jackets with cigarettes in their mouths walked in. The young man with sunglasses who was the leader shouted unscrupulously, "Who is the boss here?"

"I am..." The middle-aged man next to Zhang Bing became anxious and greeted him with a smile. "May I ask what you want?"

"You are the boss?" The sunglasses man spit the cigarette in his mouth on the carpet, and then ground it with his foot. A black mark appeared on the red carpet immediately.

The Ju Yuan Chun Restaurant's boss also knew that these four people weren't kind. Listening to their tone, he knew that they were here to stir up trouble, so he didn't dare to be angry. He said carefully, "I am..."

"Well, since you are the boss, I will not say much!" The sunglasses man snorted. "Do you know what I am here for?"

"I don't know... May ask this little brother is..." The Ju Yuan Chun Restaurant's boss asked quickly.

"Brother your *ss; who is your brother?" The sunglasses man grabbed the neck collar of Ju Yuan Chun's boss and pushed him so hard that he stumbled. Then he said, "I am from the Ming Yang Company. You should have heard of it."

"Ming Yang Company... yes, I have heard of it..." Ju Yuan Chun's boss nodded quickly. Ming Yang Company started to prosper this year. How could he not know? For those who ran a restaurant business, who didn't know the name of Ming Yang, and Brother Bao?

"That's great. Then, I don't have to explain what we are doing." The sunglasses man snorted. "My boss asked you to prepare fifty thousand yuan as a protection fee! You pay this amount every month!"

" Ah ..." Ju Yuan Chun's boss was stunned and said, "Fifty thousand yuan is too much. I can only earn a few fifty thousand yuan in a month..."

"I don't f*cking care how much you earn. If my boss asks you to pay fifty thousand yuan, then you have to give me fifty thousand yuan!" The sunglasses men obviously didn't want to talk much with Ju Yuan Chun's boss, as he waved his hand and spoke.

"May I ask who your boss is..." Ju Yuan Chun's boss saw that the sunglasses man was stubborn, so he had to ask. In fact, he also had some security guards and strong waiters in his restaurant. He could drive these four guys out, but he couldn't afford to offend the backer of these guys. Who dared to provoke the Ming Yang Company? Therefore, Ju Yuan Chun's boss was angry, but he didn't dare to act rashly.

"Motherf*cker, my boss is Bao Sanli, Brother Bao. You don't know?" The sunglasses man glared.

Yang Ming thought it was a little punk who had seen a lot of movies, but he didn't expect that these people could directly say the name of Bao Sanli! Not many people knew the name of Bao Sanli. Everyone knew that he was called Brother Bao, but no one knew he was Bao Sanli! The people who knew the name of Bao Sanli were very rare. Except for the staff of Ming Yang's regular business companies, the underworld people hardly knew about it.

So, when Yang Ming heard the sunglasses man mentioning the name of Bao Sanli, he frowned and didn't know what identity this person had.

When Ju Yuan Chun's boss heard the name of Bao Sanli, he was astounded abruptly. He certainly knew of Brother Bao, so he quickly said, "It turns out to be Brother Bao..."

"It's good that you know it. I thought you didn't know. If you don't know, I will beat you until you know it!" The sunglasses man snorted and said, "Tomorrow, give me fifty thousand yuan. I will come and receive it personally. Otherwise, don't even think about running this restaurant!"

After that, the sunglasses man did not care about what Ju Yuan Chun's boss thought. He directly waved his hand and took his three underlings out of the Ju Yuan Chun Restaurant.

Yang Ming pretended to take out his mobile phone to text when the sunglasses man spoke, but he was actually taking a picture of the four people with the camera function of the mobile phone. Then he sent it to Bao Sanli via MMS and used SMS to ask him if he knew these people.

Zhang Bing naturally knew Bao Sanli and also vaguely knew the relationship between Bao Sanli and Yang Ming. However, since Yang Ming did not speak at the moment, Zhang Bing did not dare to do anything. He stood by the side with Yang Ming, watching the incident quietly.

" Ai ." After the four people left, Ju Yuan Chun's boss sighed and said, "This business is getting harder and harder. I thought that after Song Jiang's underworld is unified, I wouldn't have to pay black money like protection fees every month. However, I did not expect that I have to pay more!"

"Could it be that they are impersonating?" Yang Ming said suddenly.

"Impersonating? How can that be?" Ju Yuan Chun's boss shook his head and said, "Who dared merely to impersonate? If Brother Bao knew about it, wouldn't they be dead? I think this was definitely instructed by Brother Bao. Ai! Okay, don't think about this first. You are a friend of Zhang Bing; you are having a birthday today, so don't be bothered by this trouble!"

Although the amount of fifty thousand yuan a month was a big number, Ju Yuan Chun's boss could still afford it. The size of this restaurant wasn't small. He could earn at least one hundred thousand yuan a month. If he paid fifty thousand yuan, he still had around thirty thousand yuan to fifty thousand yuan. It was considered giving him some leeway.

Soon, Yang Ming's mobile phone received a text message from Bao Sanli. "Brother Yang, I don't know these four people. What's the situation?"

Yang Ming saw Bao Sanli's text message and frowned. As expected, they are just impersonating, but aren't they quite bold? They actually dare use the banner of the Ming Yang Company and Bao Sanli to swindle!

Yang Ming replied, describing what exactly happened just now to Bao Sanli. He ordered him to strictly check these people who swindled in the name of Ming Yang! If there were more of these incidents, wouldn't Ming Yang's reputation be ruined by these people?

Bao Sanli replied, saying that he would definitely send someone to check the matter thoroughly, but he also noted that it was his first time encountering such an incident. He had never heard of similar things happening before.

Looking at Bao Sanli's text message, Yang Ming felt something was off in this matter, but he couldn't tell what was wrong. Yang Ming shook his head. Over there, Zhang Bing had already talked to Ju Yuan Chun's boss about other things and left the unpleasantness behind.

By listening to the conversation between Ju Yuan Chun's boss and Zhang Bing, Yang Ming learned that Ju Yuan Chun's boss had made a lot of money in recent years, and he was ready to withdraw from the catering industry. After that, he would go abroad to find his son who was studying abroad.

However, Yang Ming also guessed that the withdrawal of Ju Yuan Chun's boss must have a lot to do with today's events. Perhaps he had the intention to retire a long time ago, but today's incident made him more determined.

As they were talking, Zhao Ying walked gracefully into the restaurant. She also carried a small gift box in her hand. When he saw Yang Ming and Zhang Bing, she smiled and nodded at them.

"Teacher Zhao..." Although Zhang Bing also faintly knew that there seemed to be some flirting between Yang Ming and Zhao Ying, he didn't know about the details. He didn't have much contact with her usually. At this time, when he saw Zhao Ying suddenly appear here, he became somewhat cautious. After all, Zhao Ying was his former teacher. He couldn't adapt to it for a while.

" Hehe , Zhang Bing, you are also here." Zhao Ying said with a smile. "You don't have to call me Teacher Zhao. I am in the same school as you. Now, we are alumni. You and Yang Ming can call me Sister Ying or senior."

Yang Ming had some doubts. Is this Zhao Ying? A few days ago on QQ, Zhao Ying was still crying. How come she acts so natural today? It seems like nothing happened?

"Sister Ying, that... that day..." Yang Ming scratched his head. There was something he couldn't say when Zhang Bing was still beside him.

Zhang Bing also realized that he was being a third wheel, so he quickly went to the side to continue to talk with Ju Yuan Chun's boss. After Yang Ming paused, he found it hard to continue.

"What that day?" Zhao Ying smiled slightly and handed the gift in her hand to Yang Ming without any anger. "This is for you. Happy birthday."

"Thank you!" Since Zhao Ying was being so normal, Yang Ming couldn't say anything more. He took the gift from Zhao Ying's hand and said, "Is this a birthday gift or a Valentine's Day return gift?"

"What Valentine's Day return gift? When did you send me a gift for Valentine's Day?" As Zhao Ying spoke up to here, she suddenly realized that she had made a slip of the tongue. She complained with a red face, "Don't talk nonsense. Do you want it? I will take it back if you don't."

"I want... Of course, I want it." Yang Ming smiled and thought, Zhao Ying seems to know about the White Day! Listening to what she said in her words, she seems to be complaining about me for not giving her a Valentine's Day gift.

I'm really wronged. Of course, I want to give one, but I'm afraid that the gift will be rejected after I give it!

"Sister Ying, let's go upstairs. I will take you to the private room upstairs." Yang Ming saw Zhao Ying was a little embarrassed and understood that her face was relatively thin. Zhao Ying's temper was like this. If he were going overboard, he would make her back down. Yang Ming must handle it appropriately.

"I won't go. Chen Mengyan, and Zhao Sisi, they will come in a while. I was your teacher, after all, so it will be awkward to talk if I am here." Zhao Ying shook her head and said, "I am just here to give you a gift. I will leave first."

" Ah ? Don't, Sister Ying. Aren't you familiar with Mengyan? It will be fine if you are here..." Yang Ming was astounded after listening to Zhao Ying's words, and he immediately invited her.

"But, I'm not familiar with Zhao Sisi. I am the teacher of Zhang Bing and Zhao Sisi. They must not be used to it; you look at Zhang Bing. He isn't used to it now!" Zhao Ying said with a smile. "Okay, I will go first. I wish you all a good time!"

"This..." Yang Ming was really inexplicable about Zhao Ying's behavior today. What is going on? She just came here to give me a present and leave?

However, seeing Zhao Ying insisting on leaving, Yang Ming had no choice but to walk her to the door, and then he waved goodbye to Zhao Ying. Yang Ming initially wanted to take the opportunity to apologize for what he did that day, but when he saw Zhao Ying's happy face, Yang Ming really couldn't speak!

This is simply too strange! Did Zhao Ying forget the unhappy matter of that day? But if she really forgot the unhappy matter of that day, why didn't she stay and eat together?

A woman's mind... especially Zhao Ying's mind, Yang Ming really couldn't figure out. This is really troublesome! Yang Ming hated his own timidity. If he forcibly kissed Zhao Ying that night, and if he even touched her forcibly, and then did something that was more than friendship, then their relationship would probably be settled.

"Bro, where did Teacher Zhao go?" Zhang Bing saw Yang Ming send Zhao Ying away, so he asked, baffled.

"She was afraid that you and Sisi were not used to it, so she left first." Yang Ming shrugged and replied.

"I? And Sisi are not used to it? No way, right?" Zhang Bing suddenly said with a bitter face after listening. "Bro, how can you blame me? I even become a sinner now..."

"It's okay. In fact, Sister Ying has something to do in school..." Yang Ming saw Zhang Bing blaming himself, so he quickly comforted, "I'm just making a joke..."

Although Yang Ming did not know why Zhao Ying insisted on going, he probably guessed the reason. It should still be related to him on that day. Yang Ming would not be stupid enough to think that Zhao Ying had forgotten the matter on that day. Zhao Ying didn't mention it, because she didn't want to make the both of them awkward, right?

" Ai , you really scared me!" Zhang Bing broke into a sweat and said, "Bro, you really scared me to death. I almost became a sinner..."

"Don't talk nonsense. I don't have anything to do with Sister Ying. It's not the kind of relationship you think." Yang Ming was afraid that Zhang Bing had a loose tongue and exposed something to Chen Mengyan; then it would mess up the matter, so he quickly instructed.

" Oh , I understand; I totally understand!" Zhang Bing acted like he knew everything, and smiled evilly and nodded.

"D*mn" Yang Ming was furious. "You know my *ss. You don't know anything!"

The restaurant door was pushed open again as they were joking; four girls came in. One of them wore a black professional suit; she was, as expected, Zhang Bing's wife, Zhao Sisi, but what surprised Yang Ming were the other three girls!

Today, Chen Mengyan, Lin Zhiyun, and Zhou Jiajia were wearing the same style of jackets. Not only that, but their hairstyles, scarves, gloves, and boots were exactly the same. They were like triplets.

Yang Ming looked at the three beautiful people in front of him. He was so surprised that he dropped his jaws and was speechless...