Chapter 2433 — The Winter Trip Begins

"Good, then the casino is yours, Master Wen. I wish you a booming business..." The Gambler Brother was inwardly overjoyed.

"I'll send someone to hand things over to you shortly, but to ensure the Fire Wolf Gang's smooth takeover, you mustn't announce to the outside world that the casino has been sold. Just say you've handed it over to your subordinates to manage." An Liwen feared that a sudden change of owner would cost him a portion of his clientele — after all, many people came to play on the strength of the Gambler Brother's reputation built up over the years. With a new owner, the regulars would be unfamiliar, uncertain whether the casino would still be safe in the future, so An Liwen decided to keep the news under wraps.

"That... no problem." The Gambler Brother gave a bitter smile. He had wanted to say that if the change of hands wasn't made loudly and publicly, the Hidden Zhao family might just come after him — but on second thought, he kept his mouth shut.

Had it been anyone else, the Gambler Brother would have dropped a hint of warning. But as for An Liwen — this creature who had kidnapped his daughter and extorted twenty million from him — he would be happiest if the man fought the Hidden Zhao family to the bitter death!

Besides, he was about to flee far away. What did he care whether An Liwen landed in trouble? Trouble would be best!

This played right into a grand trap Wei Zhao had laid. Wei Zhao had been busy of late — cultivation, the winter trip, and a trial at the Xuandan Sect — with no time to oppose the Hidden Zhao family and the Fire Wolf Gang.

With his current strength, it wasn't that Wei Zhao could not defeat them, but dealing with just the Hidden Zhao family would already be a strain, let alone fighting on two fronts. Most importantly, he did not yet know whether someone else stood behind the Hidden Zhao family and the Fire Wolf Gang. Better to use a little scheme and let the two of them tear into each other first.

Things were developing exactly as Wei Zhao had predicted. Little Pure and Innocent accepted the Gambler Brother's holdings with ease. Clutching his sixty million in deposits, the Gambler Brother gave a few instructions to the casino's lobby manager — telling him to report directly to Little Pure and Innocent from then on — and then, overjoyed, fled with his daughter in a flash, leaving Donghai City.

That money, together with his previous holdings, was enough to let him and his daughter live out the rest of their lives in comfort. Once they assumed false names and went into hiding, who would know he had once been the Gambler Brother?

Once Little Pure and Innocent took over the Gambler Brother's casino, it began turning a profit — and a decent one at that. Little Pure and Innocent was delighted and reported the progress to An Liwen.

An Liwen was pleased as well. He reflected that the Gambler Brother had at least shown a bit of sense in letting the casino go. The profits weren't enormous, but it was at least a long-term, stable income investment — even while An Liwen rested, the casino kept earning. Having gotten a taste of the sweetness, An Liwen decided to shift his gaze toward fixed assets.

A business with no capital outlay brought in money fast, but such ventures were hard to find and couldn't be done anytime and anywhere. So this sort of steady money-making enterprise came into An Liwen's sights...

In the blink of an eye, Saturday arrived — the day of the Biology Department's winter trip at Donghai Engineering University.

Wei Zhao looked at his classmates with their bundles and bags and could not help smiling faintly. It seemed that after this spell of campus life, though he had gradually blended into this comfortable existence, there were still differences in the details.

Every other student in the class had a backpack stuffed with snacks, fruit, and drinks, while Wei Zhao carried nothing at all — utterly unencumbered.

There were exceptions, though. Han Jingyi hadn't carried much either — just a small shoulder bag with a bottle of mineral water and, apart from that, the tablet computer she never let out of her sight.

Even Wang Xinyan had a small knapsack. But that was only natural — Han Jingyi was the odd one out, while Wang Xinyan was a normal girl, and there was nothing strange about bringing some snacks and fruit on an outing.

"Is that backpack heavy? Want me to carry it?" Wei Zhao stood with Wang Xinyan and Han Jingyi and asked with a smile.

Wang Xinyan felt uneasy, her eyes drifting from time to time toward Kang Jinglong and You Panhu not far away. By rights she ought to be standing with Kang Jinglong, yet here she was beside Wei Zhao. Whether this boded fortune or disaster, Wang Xinyan herself could not say.

She wanted to keep some distance from Wei Zhao so as not to cause him trouble, yet with him right beside her she had no way to tell him to leave. Anxious and restless, she hadn't caught what Wei Zhao said and could only let out a "Huh?"

"I said your backpack — let me carry it for you?" Wei Zhao asked.

"N-no need, it's not heavy..." Wang Xinyan's heart skipped, and her face flushed slightly. She had been about to hand the backpack to Wei Zhao out of pure reflex when she suddenly thought of Kang Jinglong and hurriedly declined his kindness.

Wei Zhao did not mind. After all, Wang Xinyan's backpack wasn't large, and there surely wasn't much inside.

A while later, at ten o'clock, several coaches rolled slowly into the campus and stopped in front of the Biology Department's teaching building. The pharmacy program had few people, so there were plenty of empty seats after boarding, but the other programs were comparatively crowded. Even so, many students would rather stand or squeeze in beside others than board another program's coach.

After all, with no familiar faces on board, the whole journey would be dreary.

There were exceptions, though. As they boarded, Wei Zhao spotted Bai Weituo and Zhao Shengji emerging from somewhere, each leading a girl by the hand — who else but He Meiyue and Chai Xiaoling?

In Wang Xinyan's dorm, only Lan Xiaoru hadn't come. Wei Zhao hadn't had much contact with this Lan Xiaoru; ordinarily she didn't hang around with Wang Xinyan, He Meiyue, and Chai Xiaoling either.

Since Han Jingyi was along on this trip, Wei Zhao couldn't share a seat with Wang Xinyan as he had during military training. He had no choice but to head for the last row of the coach, where the three of them sat together.

Kang Jinglong, You Panhu, Yellow Hair, and Purple Hair had also intended to sit in the back row after boarding, but Wei Zhao had claimed three of those seats, leaving only two — so they had to pick elsewhere.

He Meiyue, however, sat down beside Wang Xinyan, and Bai Weituo sat on He Meiyue's other side.

"Wei Zhao, why didn't you and Han Jingyi bring anything?" He Meiyue looked at the two of them with some curiosity. The people in their dorm had brought relatively little, since Bai Weituo and Zhao Shengji had also said they'd bring plenty of snacks and fruit — so there was no need for the girls to bring too much.