Chapter One Hundred Sixteen: Ready
The one-and-third page
“Mr. Zhou, I still think this is too risky! Jian Yanzhi is no easy man to deal with. If we provoke him, we may not be able to clean up the mess.” Cao Hua’s face was full of worry. One woman was nothing, but if things blew up, the one who would suffer and take the blame would be him.
“We can’t worry about that now. I’ll enjoy myself first. Is anyone else in this lounge?”
Zhou Kai did not care in the least. He could hardly wait to take his fill.
“I don’t think so.” Cao Hua looked troubled. “This lounge was originally prepared specifically for people from Stellar. I just saw Zhou Ming from Stellar chatting with someone in the lobby.”
“Then why are bodyguards still standing at the door?”
Zhou Kai leaned out to glance across the way. Seeing the bodyguards by the door, he immediately lost some of his enthusiasm.
“Th-that... I don’t know either.” Cao Hua looked embarrassed.
“You go find someone and get them out of the way.”
Zhou Kai ordered Cao Hua, as though he could not bear to wait even a moment longer.
Just then, Cao Hua suddenly remembered that when he had brushed past Ruan Mianmian earlier, there had been a man beside her.
He had no idea whether that man was still inside now.
Seeing Cao Hua hesitate, Zhou Kai snapped impatiently, “What are you standing there for? Hurry up and go!”
Cao Hua said, “When I saw them just now, there was also a man accompanying that woman. I don’t know whether he’s still inside now...”
“Why didn’t you say so sooner?”
Zhou Kai shot him an angry glare and asked in exasperation, “Did you get a good look? Who is he? Where does he come from?”
Cao Hua thought back. The man had sharp brows and bright eyes, with a wild, seductive air about him. He was certainly handsome, but Cao Hua had never seen him before.
“He probably isn’t anyone important. I know all the young elites with names in Jincheng, but I really haven’t seen that man.”
Hearing this, Zhou Kai relaxed at once.
“Good, that makes things easy. Go find out who he is. If he’s nobody important, move at once. I’ll wait in the room.”
Satisfied, Zhou Kai turned to leave.
Cao Hua was dumbfounded and asked, “Boss, tonight is your wedding night. Are you sure you want to do this tonight?”
“What’s wrong with a wedding night?”
A lecherous look spread across Zhou Kai’s face as he said darkly, “Whose wedding night isn’t it?”
“...”
Cao Hua was stunned on the spot.
Although he had helped Zhou Kai with plenty of such things before, with so many distinguished guests present tonight, he still did not dare to act too openly.
Besides, every time Zhou Kai was the one enjoying himself behind the scenes, while Cao Hua had to do all these filthy errands and then shoulder the blame if anything went wrong.
Cao Hua glanced helplessly at the lounge across from them, then turned and left.
Though unwilling, he still had to prepare the things they would need later.
Not long after Cao Hua left in a hurry, a tall, refined, and frosty figure stepped out from the fire escape behind them.
“Interesting.”
A cold smile curved on Zhong Yu’s lips, and then he turned off the recording on his phone.
Just like that, the complete recording from earlier was saved on his phone.
Page 2 of 3
Zhong Yu suddenly cast a glance at the lounge across the way, a ruthless look surfacing in his eyes, wholly unlike his usual gentle bearing.
Knock, knock.
A measured knock sounded. Inside the room, Ruan Mianmian and Jiang Ce both froze.
“Who is it?” Ruan Mianmian looked at Jiang Ce, thinking he must have called someone else over again.
Unexpectedly, Jiang Ce also looked puzzled.
He rose to open the door.
The lounge door swung open, and the bodyguards outside stood on either side.
Zhong Yu was leaning against the wall by the door, elegant in posture, a somewhat roguish smile playing on his face.
“Did I disturb the two of you?”
With a pointed look, Zhong Yu glanced into the room twice, then winked playfully at Ruan Mianmian, who was sitting on the sofa looking blank.
“Something you need?”
Jiang Ce blocked his line of sight, expressionless.
Zhong Yu withdrew his gaze, lowered his head with a soft laugh, and lifted his phone. “I think Young Master Jiang will be very interested in this.”
As he spoke, he gave Jiang Ce a subtle look, indicating that this had something to do with Ruan Mianmian.
Jiang Ce’s brow furrowed slightly as he stared at Zhong Yu’s phone and thought in silence for two seconds.
Then he closed the door, cutting Ruan Mianmian off from everything outside.
Ruan Mianmian: ???
Jiang Ce leaned against the door, his gaze light and cool as he looked at Zhong Yu. “What do you mean?”
Zhong Yu handed over the phone, smiling. “Have a listen yourself.”
The screen was already lit, and Jiang Ce could easily see that it was a recording.
He took the phone, switched it on, and brought it to his ear.
“Are you sure she’s the girl who hit me that night...”
The conversation, accompanied by faint bursts of static, flowed clearly into Jiang Ce’s ear.
His face darkened bit by bit, and his eyes seemed to churn with a storm, cold enough to be frightening.
By the end, the fingertips gripping the phone had already turned faintly white.
Zhong Yu lifted his lips in an easy, careless smile. “Who it is, I don’t need to say, right?”
“Thank you.”
Jiang Ce looked at Zhong Yu, his eyes deep and his lips pressed into a line so tight it betrayed just how terrible his mood was.
“Want to exchange contact info? I’ll send you the full version.”
“Fine.”
The two exchanged contact details.
“All right, handle the rest yourself. I’m leaving.”
Zhong Yu waved a hand casually and turned to go.
“Wait!”
Page 3 of 3
Jiang Ce stopped him, gratitude on his face.
But Zhong Yu beat him to it, raising a finger and wagging it lightly.
“Miss Ruan is so adorable. I can’t stand seeing her schemed against and bullied.”
With that single sentence, he succeeded in freezing Jiang Ce’s expression to the coldest extreme.
Thud.
The door shut heavily. Jiang Ce lowered his eyes to the phone resting quietly in his palm, a flash of coldness passing through his gaze.
Ruan Mianmian jumped at the sound of the door. She looked at Jiang Ce in confusion.
“What’s wrong?”
“Nothing.”
“You’re lying!”
Ruan Mianmian was certain of it. She had clearly seen how terrifying Jiang Ce’s eyes had been just now.
She could not even put it into words; she had simply been startled, and her mind had begun to spin with wild guesses.
“Let’s go.”
Jiang Ce gave no explanation. He simply picked up the high heels lying nearby, then crouched down and patiently put them on for her.
“Leave now?”
Ruan Mianmian was surprised. She had no idea why Jiang Ce had come back changed into an entirely different person.
“Yes.”
Jiang Ce took her hand directly, pulled her up from the sofa, and without another word led her toward the door.
When the door opened, Ruan Mianmian was immediately shocked by the scene outside.
Seven or eight bodyguards in black stood neatly gathered at the lounge entrance.
Jiang Ce let go of her hand, leaving her a little at a loss.
The next second, a suit jacket with lingering warmth was dropped over Ruan Mianmian’s head.
“Jiang Ce, why are you wrapping me up?”
Jiang Ce said nothing. His face still dark, he simply lifted her into his arms and left brazenly under everyone’s escort.
When they reached the underground garage of Wanzaoli, Jiang Ce put Ruan Mianmian into the back seat.
Standing outside the car, he instructed one of the men in black, “Take her back to Haixing Bay.”
“Yes!”
Ruan Mianmian panicked. She grabbed Jiang Ce’s sleeve and asked, “What are you going to do?”
At that moment, Jiang Ce turned back to look at her, his eyes icy cold, almost frightening.
Akuan somehow appeared from nowhere, his face equally dark as he nodded at Jiang Ce.
“Boss, everything’s ready.”
Jiang Ce turned his face slightly and said coldly to Akuan, “Take her back.”
As soon as he finished speaking, Jiang Ce did not hesitate for a moment. With long strides, he headed into the gloom, the other bodyguards following close behind.
Akuan closed the car door, got into the front passenger seat, and said in a cold voice, “Let’s go.”