096 The Yang Family Descendants

In the capital city, Zhuque Avenue runs north to south. The eastern street is prestigious, the western street wealthy, and within the third ring road, everyone is either noble or rich. All the various government offices and courtyards are concentrated here.

This year’s New Year’s Eve dinner at the Yang family was still lively, but everyone who gathered for the reunion meal tacitly avoided mentioning Yang Ying.

Even the usually hands-on boss’s wife unusually only drank a single glass of wine before leaving.

Dugu Wenxian called her natal family, where the atmosphere was heavy with gloom. Handling the aftermath of Dugu Sheng and the fifty key members of the “Yunzhong Society” was a matter of utmost importance.

Now, fifty families had come to Dugu Wucheng seeking explanation, which later turned into them demanding answers from Dugu Ruyuan. After all, when they found Dugu Wucheng, they also discovered his son Dugu Sheng had died.

Such is the way of the martial world—until one truly renounces the sword, sudden deaths are common and no one harbors real resentment.

The key issue was the compensation.

Dugu Sheng had promised twenty thousand as hardship pay for each person once the task was completed.

Now, the terms had changed: not a penny less than the hardship pay was acceptable, plus additional compensation for settling the family, and the life insurance of “Shengle Real Estate” employees had to be executed. This was a matter for the insurance company alone, unrelated to “Shengle Real Estate” or “Yunzhong Group.”

In short, the families of the deceased had no interest in revenge but were very eager to squeeze money from the Yang family.

After speaking with her daughter on the phone, Dugu Ruyuan said tensions were high and everyone demanded answers.

In reality, she was preparing her daughter psychologically to negotiate with her husband’s family and accept that some money would have to be paid.

Though a grandson had died, Dugu Ruyuan felt little. She never liked Dugu Sheng’s arrogant and brash ways; he was bound to die sooner or later—whether in Jianye, Youzhou, Bohai, or some obscure corner.

It wasn’t impossible that he might one day be stabbed to death by a yellow-haired punk while drinking beer and eating barbecue.

Compared to that, extorting sixty or seventy million from her son-in-law’s family was far better than seeking vengeance.

After finishing the reunion dinner, Yang Renshou gathered his trusted lieutenants for a meeting, also inviting his wife, Dugu Wenxian.

“The Jianye police say it was a gang fight, so that’s the official ruling. How do you all see it?”

“Big brother, that’s where I’ll stop. Unless we use standard-issue weapons, killing this Li Xie will be very difficult,” said Yang Shiren, Yang Renshou’s younger brother. He was close in age to Yang Renshou’s sons and thus always well cared for by him.

But Yang Shiren was no simpleton. Unlike Yang Ying, who was just a spoiled second-generation bully, Yang Shiren had expanded business in Central Asia and the Anxi frontier. The Central Asian tourism projects and hotel industry under the “Kaihuang Group” were all developed under his leadership.

He also pioneered the small-language copyright agency operations for cultural works in Central Asia. Later, Yang Ying’s business in Sanjiang Province was just a poor imitation of this, turning out a disastrous failure.

“Sigh...” Yang Renshou sighed. “To be honest, I was ready to negotiate with ‘Creative Ability,’ whether joint venture or investment. Offending an orphan with neither parents nor children seems pointless. But I didn’t expect your sister-in-law to…”

“Big sister-in-law cared for the second brother as any parent would. If we were to eliminate Li Xie, it wouldn’t be difficult. But we didn’t anticipate how fierce he was. If not for video analysis confirming he wasn’t wearing a powered exoskeleton, I would have thought he had military-grade armor on,” Yang Shiren said.

Hearing this, Dugu Wenxian looked at him gratefully and nodded slightly.

The current generation of the Yang family was indeed stronger than the next.

Compared to Yang Ying, Dugu Wenxian didn’t even know what to say—her situation was filled with regret.

She felt guilty for causing the death of her fifth brother Dugu Wucheng’s son and angry that the Yang family was about to lose money.

She understood exactly what her natal family was planning.

“What about the ‘Yunzhong Society’? With fifty-one dead, things are very tense; they want an explanation from the Yang family. I have two options: first, send the second brother to Anbei and let ‘Yunzhong Society’ handle it; second…”

“The first option isn’t worth considering. Big brother, what are you saying? The second brother may have been a scoundrel, but everyone knows that. Normally, he didn’t cause big trouble. Recently, it was just a payment dispute and his poor handling of ‘Creative Ability.’ The risk got out of control, but there’s no need to send him away to settle this.”

“That’s right, big brother. If it can be settled with money, then it’s no problem. The ‘Yunzhong Society’ just wants money. Sending eighty to a hundred million won’t hurt. But we should give the money with a public notice, both online and offline, so that the Li Xie in Sanjiang Province knows exactly who’s stepping on him,” said Yang Renshou’s third younger brother, Yang Hengsheng.

Yang Shiren took over, also opposing Yang Renshou’s plan. After sipping his tea, he continued, “I think we should reconcile with Li Xie quickly. Have the Huating branch visit the ‘Red Star Welfare Institute’ in Pingjiang and stock up on New Year’s goods—practical gifts. Then donate a sum, starting with ten million, and see how he bargains.”

Clearly, Yang Shiren felt no pressure to make peace. “Li Xie has a company called ‘Creative Ability.’ It will grow strong someday. I’m not afraid of him growing, but scared if he becomes satisfied and complacent. If he goes abroad, doing business in Korea or Japan, he might use tactics here that we can’t, and then we’ll have no leverage.”

“A gentleman’s revenge is never too late, big sister-in-law. Even if we cherish the child, we can endure, wait until this difficulty passes, and then make plans,” Yang Hengsheng said.

“I’ll listen to you all,” said Dugu Wenxian, usually strong-willed but now unusually compliant, feeling deeply grateful to her husband’s brothers.

No one blamed her for the huge loss to the Yang family; instead, they focused on damage control.

The Yang family was truly far stronger than her natal family.

Thinking of her father’s subtle hint that her husband should pay, Dugu Wenxian felt a sharp sting inside, though she said nothing.

Previously, when her husband called her father Dugu Ruyuan, it had been agreed that fifth brother Dugu Wucheng would handle the matter, because during the New Year “Shengle Real Estate” was on collective holiday with little business, so their men could earn some extra money.

Business director Dugu Sheng personally led the team, and Dugu Wenxian had already given twelve million. It wasn’t that no money was given.

Now, to squeeze another sum from the Yang family was unbearable.

The worst was she couldn’t even speak up, especially as her husband and his brothers showed no hesitation, giving her no chance to intervene.

They preserved face and upheld the big sister-in-law’s dignity.

“The ‘Yunzhong Society’ is demanding fifty million. If no one objects, I’ll add thirty million to make eighty million total and transfer it over.”

“No objections from me.”

“None from me.”

“None here either.”

“I agree.”

The entire generation of uncles, brothers, nephews, and cousins in the Yang family consented to Yang Renshou’s decision.

So, at eleven o’clock on New Year’s Eve, all official media accounts of the “Kaihuang Group” posted an announcement thanking the “Yunzhong Group” for their ongoing support, and offering eighty million as a token of gratitude.

When reposting, Yang Shiren even tagged Li Xie, clearly to ensure he saw it.

Meanwhile, Li Xie, playing “King of Glory” late at night with his “ten-year haters” group, heard “Brother Guo” say in voice chat, “Brother Crab, Yang Ying’s uncle Yang Shiren tagged you on Weibo. Is he causing trouble? Go take a look.”

“Oh?” Li Xie’s interest was piqued, and he went to see what was happening.

Word count progress: 39,400/200,000!

Ranked seventh on the new book monthly ticket chart!

(The chapter ends here.)