London’s Chinatown is located in one of the busiest parts of the city, not far from Hyde Park, which means Tang Guo’s home was already very close to the foothold Yang Yi and his group had abandoned.
When Yang Yi was brought to the area of Chinatown, he felt quite anxious in his heart, worried about how to rescue Tang Guo from her brother’s clutches.
However, if one were in Tang Jianguo’s shoes, his concern would be how to extract his sister from the clutches of Yang Yi.
The meeting place was inside a Chinese restaurant. As Xiao Ran pushed Yang Yi’s wheelchair through the front door, a man dressed as a waiter led them to a private room in the back.
There were three Huaxia men in the private room, one sitting down and two standing behind him.
Tang Jianguo appeared to be in his forties, slightly portly, giving off the air of a business elite rather than a mob boss.
Upon seeing Yang Yi being wheeled in, Tang Jianguo did not rise, but merely extended his hand, gesturing for Yang Yi to sit down.
Zhang Yong silently dragged a chair to one side while Xiao Ran pushed Yang Yi in front of the round table.
Tang Jianguo’s expression was very stern. He pointed at his own chest and spoke in a deep voice, "Tang Jianguo."
Yang Yi nodded and smiled, "Yang Yi. I’m very glad to meet you and I’m immensely grateful for your assistance. Thank you very much."
Tang Jianguo immediately raised his right hand, extended his index finger, and shook it vigorously, saying, "No, no, we’re not on the same side. Don’t bother with those formalities. You wanted to meet, and I wanted to see you too. So let’s have a good talk. I just have one question."
Yang Yi smiled, "Please, go ahead."
"My sister is young and naive. I don’t care how she got involved with you guys, but can we not have any relationship in the future? Can you do that?"
Yang Yi smiled, "May I see Tang Guo?"
Yang Yi was silent for a moment, then he smiled, "You may have misunderstood. I have no intention of forcing Tang Guo to do anything. If she wants to back out, that’s no problem at all."
Tang Jianguo pursed his lips, and his gaze was unfriendly.
One of the men behind Tang Jianguo stepped forward, pointed at Yang Yi and said loudly, "Are you looking for death?"
Tang Jianguo raised a hand to stop his subordinate’s shouting, then he said in a deep voice, "I helped you out so you would stop bothering my sister. It seems you don’t plan to appreciate my gesture."
Yang Yi quickly said, "It’s a misunderstanding, a real misunderstanding. I have no intentions of coercing Tang Guo, and I appreciate your help. In fact, I just wanted Tang Guo to come so we can clear things up. Nothing more. Even if we sever ties with Tang Guo in the future, we’re still friends. Saying goodbye isn’t too much to ask, right?"
One of the men behind Tang Jianguo silently pulled out a gun, but before he could aim it at Yang Yi, Xiao Ran and Zhang Yong had already drawn their guns and pointed them at Tang Jianguo’s head.
The atmosphere suddenly became tense.
Zhang Yong said slowly, "Dude, calm down. Can’t we talk this over nicely? Don’t draw guns. You’re really not our match if you do. Keep cool, please."
Yang Yi spoke in irritation, "What are you doing? What are you doing? Put the guns away! Let people talk, will you? We’re all friends. Why resort to knives and guns? Can’t we have a proper conversation?"
Yang Yi was addressing Xiao Ran and Zhang Yong, but his words were also meant for Tang Jianguo to hear.
However, Tang Jianguo seemed completely unfazed by the guns pointed at him and slowly said, "If you want to turn your back, just be prepared for the consequences. I’ll say it again, killing me is fine, but if you try anything with my sister, you’re signing your own death warrant!"
Yang Yi exhaled and waved his hands at Zhang Yong and Xiao Ran, "Put the guns away, put them away."
Xiao Ran and Zhang Yong put their guns away, and the man who had drawn first also looked at Tang Jianguo and then put his own gun back in his waistband.
Yang Yi said earnestly, "We’re all friends here. Even if you don’t want to acknowledge me as a friend, that’s okay, I understand. But we’ve shared some goodwill, and I’m absolutely not willing to ruin that. Brother Tang, I have no bad intentions. You’ve helped me a lot, and I would never repay kindness with enmity. Honestly, I don’t mean anything else, I just want to have a talk with Tang Guo. I understand where you’re coming from, and trust me, I’ll persuade her."
Tang Jianguo’s expression changed several times before he finally waved his hand to someone beside him and whispered, "Bring Guo Guo over."
When Tang Jianguo said to bring her over instead of calling her over, there was a deeper meaning behind it.
Sure enough, it wasn’t long before Tang Guo arrived, but as soon as she entered the private room, she charged at Tang Jianguo.
"Making me locked up! Making me locked up!"
Tang Guo was crying and shouting, striking at Tang Jianguo’s shoulder with her hand.
Tang Jianguo was in a sorry plight, apparently not expecting Tang Guo’s reaction to be so intense. Even though Tang Guo’s beating was almost like tickling, it was embarrassing for him.
Tang Jianguo caught hold of Tang Guo’s hand and angrily said, "What are you doing! Rebelling! Sit down and be quiet!"
Tang Guo tried to pull her hand away but couldn’t, so she burst into tears, crying out.
"You bully me... Ah, you bully me! I’m going to tell Mom..."
This crying made things awkward.
Tang Jianguo, flustered, held Tang Guo’s hand and whispered, "Stop crying, stop making a scene. If you weren’t making a scene, would I have locked you up? Why are you so unreasonable? There are outsiders here, so please stop crying!"
No matter how Tang Jianguo tried to console her, Tang Guo just cried, the kind with tears and sobs.
Finally, Yang Yi couldn’t stand it any longer. He cleared his throat twice and said, "Tang Guo, stop crying, just calm down, calm down."
Tang Guo actually stopped crying, forcefully pulled her hand away, and then walked over to Yang Yi.
Tang Jianguo’s expression turned even uglier.
Yang Yi was a bit taken aback and whispered, "This is getting..."
Tang Jianguo took a long breath and then gritted his teeth, "If you dare run outside again, I’ll break your legs!"
"You hit me! You just try and hit me!"
Yang Yi understood why Tang Guo shouldn’t argue with people; she was angry and was shouting, but somehow it sounded like she was cooing.
Awkward, truly awkward.
It was the first time Zhang Yong had seen Tang Guo, and he couldn’t help but turn his face away, then actually burst into laughter.
Quickly turning his face back, Zhang Yong made a pained expression and said, "I’m sorry, really sorry, I couldn’t help it."
In fact, among the three women in the Organization of Water, Tang Guo was the oldest, but she seemed the youngest, and usually, it was Kate and Xiao Ran who would indulge her. Now, Yang Yi finally understood what was going on; Tang Guo had been spoiled by her family.
Ultimately, Yang Yi couldn’t help himself; he called her name in a low voice, and Tang Guo immediately looked at him.
"Don’t make a scene. Your brother is doing this for your own good. Let it go, go somewhere else and cool off. We’ll talk after you’ve calmed down."
Tang Guo sobbed, "He locked me up in a room for over ten days, not letting me out..."
Xiao Ran tugged at Tang Guo and whispered, "Enough, stop crying. Let’s go to the side and talk, tell me what happened..."
Xiao Ran took Tang Guo away. Tang Jianguo remained silent the entire time, but his face had darkened as if it were the bottom of a pot.