Chapter 147 — The Long-Awaited...

Watching Zou Ruoguang's performance, Yang Ce nearly died laughing. Wrong room—he could even get that wrong? Wei Jin really was a piece of work, to have found a simpleton like Zou Ruoguang to play along with his little drama.

Of course, apart from Yang Shuyu, no one present had any idea what was really going on. The rest all stared at Zou Ruoguang in astonishment, unable to fathom what on earth he was doing.

"Liu Ting, that's Liu Baoqiang's room! What was that man just now? How did he get in there?" Wei Jin pointed in feigned surprise at the door Zou Ruoguang had opened.

"What? That's Liu Baoqiang's room?" Liu Ting was taken aback, then said anxiously, "Then let's hurry in and have a look."

"That's just what I was thinking." Wei Jin nodded, and he and Liu Ting rushed into the room together.

"What's going on with them?" Chen Shutang, too, seemed to sense that something was off. Of all these classmates, she was the only one who genuinely cared about Liu Ting and Liu Baoqiang, and so she had spotted something amiss. "That man who just charged in—why did he look a little familiar?"

The others, however, were mostly Wei Jin's toadies, fawning and opportunistic, and were watching the whole thing purely for the spectacle. It would never have occurred to them that Zou Ruoguang's appearance was part of a scheme.

"Familiar? Of course he's familiar," Yang Hengye said. "You had a blazing row with me over him, remember?"

"Ah?" Chen Shutang was startled, and then it came back to her who the man who had just gone in was. "It's Zou Ruoguang!"

"That's right, it's him." Yang Yu nodded. "The fellow's a relative of Wei Jin's. Are you starting to piece it together now?"

At Yang Cenbin's words, Chen Shutang dimly sensed something too, though she had not thought it through as far as Yang Ce had. It was only a suspicion—she could not be certain.

The two of them followed the crowd into the room, where they found Zou Ruoguang standing dumbly in the middle, glancing this way and that, sweating profusely with anxiety, while Zhao Xiaoyan sat on the bed, her face a picture of helpless resignation.

"What's going on here? Where's that man? Where's the adulterer?" Though there was no sign of Liu Baoqiang, the show still had to go on, and Zou Ruoguang pointed at Zhao Xiaoyan and roared.

"I'm sorry, I couldn't finish the job," Zhao Xiaoyan said, equally helpless. There was nothing for it but to come clean. "I teased that man a bit, and he bolted like a rabbit straight into the bathroom and locked himself in. I won't be getting the rest of the money either. I'm leaving."

By now Zhao Xiaoyan had finished dressing, and she rose and walked straight out of the room.

"This—" Zou Ruoguang had not expected Zhao Xiaoyan's mission to fail, and he stood there dumbfounded, not knowing what to say.

Seeing that Zhao Xiaoyan had not only failed the job but blurted out his scheme on the spot, Wei Jin was furious and mortified. "Fuck you, what are you saying? What the hell are you talking about? What money? Have you lost your mind? Quick, admit it—you're that bastard Liu Baoqiang's mistress!"

"I'm sorry, Young Master Wei, I don't want the rest of the money." Zhao Xiaoyan, perfectly collected, walked out of the room.

Wei Jin was shaking with rage. He had never imagined that the scheme he had plotted so long, the plan he had thought so flawless, would collapse just like that.

And by now, even if Liu Ting had understood nothing before, she had a fair idea of what had happened: this Wei Jin had paid a woman to frame Liu Baoqiang, but Liu Baoqiang had held firm, resisted the temptation, and hidden himself away in the bathroom.

Crack—Liu Ting, seething, slapped Wei Jin across the face and spat: "Wei Jin, you despicable bastard!"

Wei Jin had already been nursing a bellyful of fury, and being struck by Liu Ting now sent his wrath soaring to the heavens. Since there was no hope left of winning her, he might as well tear off all pretenses. His face hardened, a vicious glint came into his eyes, and he swung his arm to strike Liu Ting—but before the blow could land, someone seized him from behind, and he was pinned fast, unable to move.

Yang Puqi had been watching Wei Jin closely. When he saw him getting ready to make his move on Liu Ting, he was about to step in and stop him—but then he caught sight of a figure out of the corner of his eye, and Yang Ce smiled. Looked like he wouldn't have to lift a finger after all.

Liu Baoqiang, soaked from head to toe, had thrown his arms around Wei Jin from behind, looking ready to fight to the death. His eyes were bloodshot as he shouted in a hoarse voice, "Wei Jin, you motherfucking set me up!"

Seeing Liu Baoqiang go berserk actually calmed Wei Jin down. A despicable smirk spread across his face. "So what if I set you up? I was just testing you on Liu Ting's behalf. What are you going to do about it?"

Liu Baoqiang had been beside himself with rage. He'd overheard the truth in the restroom and nearly exploded on the spot. If not for his own self-control, he'd have fallen right into Wei Jin's trap.

So in a fit of fury he'd charged out and grabbed Wei Jin, ready to fight to the death. But when he heard Wei Jin's "What are you going to do about it?" Liu Baoqiang calmed down too.

That was right—what could he do to Wei Jin? In terms of family background, he was hopelessly outmatched. If he let his temper get the better of him and actually did something to Wei Jin today, all that awaited him was either prison or Wei Jin's frenzied revenge against his family's restaurant.

Liu Baoqiang wasn't stupid. With the Wei family's connections, they could round up some street thugs to cause trouble at his hotpot place whenever they liked, and there was not a thing he could do about it.

At that thought, Liu Baoqiang's arms went limp and he let go of Wei Jin. Liu Ting seemed to sense his predicament too; she gave him an understanding smile and said, "Let's go."

"Let's get out of here too. There's nothing to be gained from hanging around idiots like this." Yang Ce tugged at Chen Shutang and cursed Wei Jin without restraint.

Wei Jin was still somewhat wary of Heng. When he'd seen Long-ge and Yan chatting so easily earlier, Wei Jin had understood: Yang Juehuan's background was surely no simple thing. If even his own cousin couldn't afford to cross the man, then he himself probably couldn't either.

So when Yang Ce wanted to leave, he didn't dare stand in his way—there was no point in making an enemy of someone like that. But if Liu Baoqiang and Liu Ting thought they could just walk out, that was another matter entirely.

"You think you can slap me and just walk away? You think it's that easy?" Wei Jin sneered.

Yang Jiyan shot Wei Jin a cold glance. "No one keeps my friends here while I'm standing in front of them. Let's go."

With that, Yang Yanzhou took Chen Shutang by the hand, and Chen Shutang took Liu Ting, and together they headed for the door of the room.

"Yang Ce, who the hell do you think you are? I gave you some face and you threw it back at me. Fine—since you want to play the hero, then today you're not leaving either. You're going to explain this whole thing to me right here!" The reason Wei Jin hadn't wanted to provoke Yang Ce was that there was no real grudge between them, and making an enemy for nothing was pointless. But now things were different. Now Yang Ce was sticking his neck out for Liu Baoqiang and Liu Ting, which meant Wei Jin had no choice but to turn on him.

In truth, deep down Wei Jin wasn't really afraid of Yang Ce. After all, his own family ranked among the top households in Songjiang.

"You're sure you want to keep me here?" Yang Ce turned back, his face full of sunshine. "What you've done today might bring disaster down on your entire family."

"Hahahaha!" Wei Jin threw his head back and laughed wildly at Yang Juehuan's words. When he'd finished, he said with contempt, "You're bullshitting, right?"