Chapter 073: Only a Bastard Passes Up a Freebie

Chapter 073: Only a Bastard Passes Up a Freebie

Su Qingying called sooner than Wu Chen had expected.

He had figured it would take a few days—he couldn’t have said exactly how many, but soon. What he hadn’t expected was Su Qingying calling him after only a single day, without even a text first. That told him how badly she wanted the matter settled.

One day was also plenty of time for her to dig up everything there was to know about him.

Back when Li Ruobing had looked into Wu Chen, it had taken one phone call. Inside an hour, his file was sitting on her desk. Su Qingying could do the same. One call would get her his records—but only the basics.

His age. His schooling. The general shape of his family.

Beyond those basics, there was nothing remarkable about Wu Chen at all. Before July 7, 2020, he had been very, very ordinary. Ordinary enough that twenty-two years of living had produced almost nothing worth mentioning.

Then July 7 had finally passed, and his life had turned spectacular overnight.

Even so, today was only July 10.

Three days!

A great deal had happened in those days, but it was all recent, and only a handful of people were involved. That made it easier to trace, not harder.

The fact that Su Qingying had called meant she already knew he was Li Ruobing’s boyfriend, that he’d clashed with Lu Guangnian, things of that sort.

Which meant she was probably more frightened today than she had been yesterday.

Because she had discovered that Wu Chen was not an ordinary man. He had been too ordinary before, and then, suddenly, not ordinary at all.

That amounted to telling her it would be very hard to shut his mouth with a payoff, or with threats, or with any other combination of stick and carrot. Wu Chen was a man even the Su family would find difficult to touch directly.

“Do we really need to meet?” Wu Chen said with a faint smile. “I already told you. Don’t worry about your matter. I won’t tell anyone.”

“No. Mr. Wu, I think it is absolutely necessary that we meet.” Su Qingying’s voice was as calm and cold as before. “Some things are better made clear face-to-face. I don’t know where you got your information, but I believe you may have misunderstood.”

“You really don’t trust me…” Wu Chen sighed, still smiling. “Fine, then.”

“Nine tomorrow morning. Tangsha Private Club. Call me when you arrive.” She named the time and place without preamble.

“Sure,” Wu Chen said.

The line went dead at once.

He had barely slipped the phone into his pocket when a slightly tipsy voice came from beside him. “Who was that? Sounded like a woman.”

Li Ruobing was walking arm in arm with him under the shade of the trees. She had caught enough to guess it was a woman, though not enough to make out the words.

From Wu Chen’s side of it, though, she could work out that he knew something about the caller, and the caller didn’t trust him.

Which fit his identity as an information broker perfectly.

“What? Women aren’t allowed to call me?” Wu Chen tilted his head and smiled. “Jealous?”

“Didn’t I lose to you? Doesn’t that mean I’m not allowed to be jealous?” Li Ruobing said, smiling back. Tipsy, her smile had a particular flavor to it.

“Then why do you care whether it was a woman?”

“Can’t I ask? Call it small talk. So—business came knocking? Someone wants you to keep a secret?”

“Not business, exactly. But yes, there’s a secret involved.” Wu Chen smiled.

“Tell me about it.”

“You’re not usually this curious. Doesn’t sound like you. Since when do you want to know other people’s secrets?” His tone was teasing.

“Who says I’m not curious?” she shot back. She tugged his arm, turned to face him, and pressed a finger into his chest, speaking very slowly. “Right now… I’m very curious… about you.”

Alcohol really did make Li Ruobing a different woman.

“You want to understand me that badly?” Wu Chen asked, smiling.

“Why shouldn’t I? Am I not allowed? There really is something about you that I find… fascinating.” She said it without hedging at…