Chapter 170 — The New King of Assassins

"Is that so?" Hearing Yang Juehuan's words, old Zha Ce was immediately somewhat moved. He did not care about the training fees—anyone in this line of work was never short of money. But Yang Ce's original training methods—those he was very interested in. However, old Zha Ce knew he could not simply compromise. He wanted a deeper cooperation.

"What, is Uncle Zha Ce dissatisfied?" Yang Ce had not expected that even with such favorable terms, old Zha Ce would still hesitate.

"No. A cooperation like this is not enough." Old Zha Ce shook his head. "I believe we can go further and engage in a deeper cooperation."

"What do you mean?" Yang Ce asked, startled.

"Very simple. I think we should cooperate on something more. A cooperation like this is meaningless—it fails to interest me." Old Zha Ce said.

"Then what kind of cooperation would interest you, Uncle Zha Ce?" Yang Mo was somewhat puzzled. So old Zha Ce was not unwilling to cooperate—he merely had doubts about Yang Ce's cooperation plan, and moreover, he wanted an even deeper cooperation.

"I believe you are already clear about my current situation." Old Zha Ce sighed. "My son, young Zha Ce—that fellow simply does not like the family's assassin business. All he wants is to race cars. Ah, no matter how I try to persuade him, he won't listen. In the end, it was he who talked me around."

At this point, Old Cha Ce gave a somewhat self-mocking smile.

"Everyone's ideals and pursuits are different. I actually admire Cha Ce—he was willing to fall out with you for the sake of his own ideals and pursuits." Yang Ce shook his head and said, "And Cha Ce has achieved something too. He's quite famous in the racing world now."

"That's true. If he hadn't accomplished anything, I wouldn't have let him keep at it." Old Cha Ce nodded and said, "But the thing is, I'm getting older and older. It's impossible for me to have another son, but what about my family business—who's going to inherit it?"

"That—" Yang Shuo was at a loss for words. This was, after all, the private affair of the Cha Ce family. What could Yang Ce say? Yang Ce had initially wanted to say, Isn't it simple? Just pick any relative and hand it over to them. But that remark was rather asking for a beating, so Yang Ce simply kept silent.

"What I'm saying may be a bit premature, but this really is my most urgent matter right now." Seeing that Yang Yongjin had spoken, Old Cha Ce sighed and said, "The situation now is that the assassin group under the Cha Ce family has no leader, and without one there's no future development. At this rate, it will inevitably decline."

"So you mean—" Yang Ce had a vague guess at Old Cha Ce's intention, and his eyebrow couldn't help twitching.

"I wonder if Mr. Yang would be interested in managing an assassin group?" Old Cha Ce said.

"Managing an assassin group—you mean, you want me to manage the Cha Ce family's assassin group for you?" Yang Yanchuan said.

"Yes." Old Cha Ce nodded. "That's what I was thinking. What do you say?"

"Uncle Cha Ce, you can't be joking, right?" Yang Ce said, stunned for a moment. He had only been guessing before; now it was confirmed, and he was utterly baffled.

"Do I look like I'm joking?" Old Cha Ce shrugged and laughed. "Actually, I was already considering this question before you arrived. I never expected you to be the first to propose cooperation with us. Since that's the case, I'm naturally happy to go along with it."

Only then did Yang Cenbin understand that Old Cha Ce wasn't merely joking—he was discussing this matter with him quite formally. Frowning, Yang Ce said, "Uncle Cha Ce, how do you want us to cooperate? You're not going to make me work for you for free just because you helped me train a few people, are you? Managing an assassin group is far more difficult than training a few people."

"That's true. I naturally understand that." Old Cha Ce laughed. "Cooperation is mutually beneficial. If I made such a demand, you wouldn't agree to it either."

"Heh." Yang Hengye laughed. Indeed, if Old Cha Ce really had made such a demand, he certainly couldn't have agreed.

"I can put my assassin group in as my stake. Just give me a portion of the equity—I don't want anything else. I only want a guaranteed annual return, with the equity share no lower than the average value of these past years." Old Cha Ce said.

"Just that? You won't be involved in anything else from now on?" Yang Xutang was startled by Old Cha Ce's words. How was this any different from giving him his assassin organization outright? He was just retreating behind the scenes to collect equity dividends.

"I'm tired too. I've worked hard my whole life; it's time to let go." Old Cha Ce said.

"Uncle Cha Ce, since you've already decided, then I think there's no problem on my end. It's just that the details will need to be carefully finalized. I'll need to discuss this with Yanyan." Yang Yuting nodded, which counted as preliminary agreement to Old Cha Ce's proposal.

"Mm, good. Of course you need to discuss it—I understand that." Old Cha Ce nodded and said, "How about this: after you've talked it over, contact me and give me some peace of mind, all right?"

"Of course, no problem." Yang Yuting nodded. "I've already said there's no problem on my end. What Yanyan and I will be discussing are just the details."

"That's good then." Old Cha Ce smiled and said, "By the way, when will you bring your partner to visit me?"

"As soon as possible. I still have some matters to finish up." Yang Yanzhou said, "Oh, right—there's something I need your help with."

"Whatever it is, just say it." Old Cha Ce said.

"It's like this—do you think you could keep my identity confidential? I haven't told Yanyan about these things." Yang Yanzhou said, "Also, Old Man Fang doesn't allow me to speak of it casually either."

"Oh? Your partner doesn't know?" Old Cha Ce was stunned. Then how did the two of them get together? He couldn't help asking in confusion, "Then what does Wang Yanqiu's family do? Do you know?"

"I haven't asked about that either. She doesn't want to say, and I don't want to pry." Yang Ce shook his head and said.

"All right, all right, I'll keep it secret for you." Old Cha Ce nearly burst out laughing—and this was truly the funniest joke he thought he'd heard.

Wang Yanqiu ran away from home to escape an arranged marriage, and as luck would have it, she ran into the disciple of the king of assassins; the two of them ended up together, and neither knew the other's identity. It was simply too incredible.

But since both Yang Ce and Wang Yanqiu knew now, Old Cha Ce didn't want to be a busybody and expose them. Let them keep tying themselves in knots—when the day of truth came, ha, just thinking about it was amusing.

"Mm, then thank you, Uncle Cha Ce. Oh, right, Uncle Cha Ce, what's with that expression?" Yang Mo looked at Old Cha Ce's smile with some puzzlement. Why was he smiling so strangely?

"Nothing, nothing. It's just that today I've finally resolved a major worry of mine. I'm absolutely delighted." Old Cha Ce said.

Yang Ce shook his head and didn't ask further. "All right, then can I take Uncle Zhou with me now?"

"You can. I'll call him right now." Old Cha Ce nodded and said. This time he was entirely willing, because Yang Ce had agreed to his cooperation plan, which put him in great spirits. As for the matter of Zhou Tianxiang, that was all trivial now.

"Oh, right, Uncle Cha Ce—regarding Uncle Zhou, please keep it confidential for me too. Don't reveal my true identity, all right?" Yang Ce requested.

"Of course that's fine. How you explain it to him is your business." Old Cha Ce smiled, picked up the phone, and dialed the internal line to Zhou Tianxiang's room.