Around four in the afternoon, Song Jianhao returned to the ancestral hall with Sixi and Sanpang, and called Yang Jian aside.
"Brother Hao, how is Jianmin?"
"He's seriously injured. It will take at least half a year to fully recover."
"Which hospital and which ward? I'll go see him after class."
"People's Hospital. You can go the day after tomorrow. He's had surgery and is in the ICU. The doctors estimate he'll be moved to a regular ward the day after tomorrow."
"Then I'll go the day after tomorrow. Brother Hao, do you know who did this?"
Song Jianhao sighed, "Alas, who else could it be? It must be Baoguo and Hongxing. Jianmin is usually low-key and never offends anyone. He hasn't made any enemies. They're retaliating for yesterday's incident."
Hearing the tone in Song Jianhao's voice, Yang Jian felt a bit uneasy. It was clear he was being blamed.
In Song Jianhao's mind, after detaining Erping yesterday, Yang Jian should have released him, especially since Wu Wangchun had agreed not to take the hundred thousand yuan. It was even worse that he had injured Erping in front of Hu Zhenghua and Baoguo. Otherwise, today's incident wouldn't have happened.
Seeing Yang Jian remain silent, Song Jianhao also felt a bit awkward. "Xiao Yang, don't misunderstand. I'm not saying you did the wrong thing. I just feel that our foundation is too shallow now, and there's no need to clash with them head-on for the time being. Your personality is too impulsive, and you should restrain yourself a bit. When we get to Hancheng, the underworld there is even deeper. Being too sharp will easily lead to trouble."
"Does Brother Hao mean we should let Jianmin's incident go?"
"Let it go. I don't want to stir up more trouble. It's good enough that this place can continue to operate. With the current situation, operating for another ten days is equivalent to my income for the entire last year. Nothing else can go wrong. Jianmin also needs medical expenses."
"Alright then, you call the shots. If Brother Hao feels I'm inconvenient here, I can also withdraw."
Yang Jian was self-aware. Since there was a rift between them, continuing to cooperate was meaningless. It was better to withdraw proactively.
Song Jianhao was stunned for a moment. "Xiao Yang, you've misunderstood me. I'm truly not blaming you. This place still needs you to be in charge. I'll be personally leading people to guard the hospital during this period to prevent them from finishing him off. This place will be entirely handed over to you to manage. Jianmin's medical expenses still depend on the casino."
"Alright then."
Given Song Jianmin's safety and expenses, Yang Jian couldn't say much more. Although he had opinions about Song Jianhao, Song Jianmin was his good friend of many years. He couldn't let him be beaten and then have no income.
If Song Jianhao hadn't wanted to avoid trouble, Yang Jian would have definitely retaliated against Hongxing and Baoguo.
At five-thirty, the opera house closed its performance, and the casino also finished for the day. Lu Yao and Wei Xia came to the ancestral hall, preparing to return to Chengguan with Yang Jian.
After deducting all expenses, the casino's net income for the day reached one hundred thousand yuan. Yang Jian received ten thousand yuan as his share, plus tips, totaling thirteen thousand yuan.
Yu Feng did not come. After settling her accounts, Yang Jian handed her share of thirty thousand yuan to a young man named Yu Jiangang. He was Yu Feng's cousin, only eighteen or nineteen years old, and had come in to deal cards for Yu Feng.
"Brother Jian, this is the bonus for Sister-in-law."
As Yang Jian led Lu Yao and Wei Xia out of the ancestral hall, Yu Jiangang handed him five thousand yuan.
"Sister-in-law? Which sister-in-law?"
Yang Jian was somewhat bewildered.
Yu Jiangang glanced at Lu Yao. "Brother Jian, I just called Sister Feng to report on the situation here. She knew you brought your girlfriend, so she told me to give you this money."
"What nonsense are you talking about? I'm not his girlfriend."
Lu Yao heard it clearly. The other person mistook her for Yang Jian's girlfriend again and even called her sister-in-law to her face. She immediately got angry.
Yu Jiangang dared not respond. He shoved the money at Yang Jian and ran off.
Liu Chao and Sanpang behind them burst into laughter, and Wei Xia couldn't help but chuckle.
Only Yang Jian felt extremely awkward. "Yaoyao, I'm sorry. It's all a misunderstanding. You should take this money."
"I don't want it. If I take this money, won't I be admitting I'm your girlfriend? You wish."
"Geez, Yaoyao, I didn't expect you to be so narcissistic, thinking I'm chasing you? You're overthinking it. I can at most consider you a sister. I have absolutely no other intentions."
"Yang Jian, you want to die?"
Lu Yao's confidence was instantly shattered. She raised her foot and kicked Yang Jian in the butt.
Seeing Lu Yao about to kick again, Yang Jian had to run forward a few steps and then divide the five thousand yuan into two portions.
"Yaoyao, stop messing around. Can you and Doctor Wei split this money equally? It's casino rules; we can't return the bonus money once it's given out."
"That works too. If it's free, why not take it?"
Lu Yao snatched the money and gave half to Wei Xia.
Wei Xia felt a little embarrassed. "Xiao Yang, thank you. I'm sorry to have made you spend money by coming out with you today."
"Ahem, this money isn't from me. Take it with peace of mind. The casino is like this; money doesn't feel like money inside, but it's real cash when you come out."
"Brother Jian, by the sound of it, you're planning to give us some bonus money too?"
Lu Yao seized on Yang Jian's slip of the tongue and took the opportunity to extort him.
Yang Jian was taken aback. He had misspoke. Seeing Lu Yao's mischievous look, he had no choice but to count out two thousand yuan, giving them a thousand each.
"Haha, we're rich! We're so rich today! I'll treat you tonight, take you for a big meal, and then go singing."
Lu Yao danced with joy, holding the money.
"Let's skip the meal and singing. We need to go back early."
Yang Jian didn't dare to linger in Chengguan at night, especially in entertainment venues. Baoguo and Hongxing's men might be watching him. Yesterday, he had severely embarrassed them. Not only did the casino not collapse, but he had also been beaten and lost a hundred thousand yuan.
Any hot-blooded boss would not let such humiliation go unanswered. Beating Song Jianmin today already showed that they had begun their retaliation.
But Sanpang really wanted to eat and sing with the beauties. "Brother Jian, why go back so early? It's rare to have beauties inviting us. Let's just go through the motions."
"If you want to end up in the hospital like Jianmin, then go ahead."
"Then, then let's forget it."
Sanpang immediately understood Yang Jian's meaning. They really couldn't run around carelessly these days.
Lu Yao, however, didn't understand. "What's wrong, Brother Jian? I'm just inviting you for a meal. Why would you end up in the hospital?"
"Yaoyao, we made an enemy yesterday. Song Jianmin's beating was their retaliation, and their primary target was me. So, I can't show my face in Chengguan for a while. You should also be careful. After all, you've been too close to me today. If they mistake you for my girlfriend, you'll be in great danger."
"Ah, how could this happen? Then I won't go out anymore. I'll just stick to the route between school and home."
Lu Yao was clearly scared. She had been harassed by Wu Laizi before and felt disgusted and fearful of these thugs from the bottom of her heart.