Chapter 517: The Thrill of Reading People’s Minds!

Chapter 517: The Thrill of Reading People’s Minds!

Su Qingying clearly had no way to stop him. Although she could imagine that Wu Chen must have sufficient reasons for doing this, she couldn’t accept him taking such a risk.

He was gambling with his life!

She knew she couldn’t stop Wu Chen, but perhaps Li Ruobing could. Whether she wanted to admit it or not, she understood that Li Ruobing’s relationship with Wu Chen ran deeper. If the women around Wu Chen had to be ranked, Li Ruobing would undoubtedly come first.

In fact, at that moment, she was rather grateful for it.

Thank goodness she wasn’t the one in first place, because she truly had no idea what she could do to make Wu Chen give up.

Li Ruobing was different. Her forceful personality wasn’t limited to business; she was the same in her personal life. When something offended her principles, she fought it to the bitter end. She wasn’t afraid to fall out with her entire family, and she didn’t care who objected. Su Qingying couldn’t do any of those things.

So, with that personality, and as Wu Chen’s most important woman, Li Ruobing ought to have some way to stop him… shouldn’t she?

“Going to tell on me?” Wu Chen laughed, teasing her. “Since when did you learn to do that?”

“Because I’m worried about you.” Su Qingying actually pouted a little, then gave him a mildly stern look. “I don’t care. If you’re still going to do that, I’m telling Ruobing.”

At that moment, there was a touch of a girlfriend’s playful willfulness about her.

Compared with Li Ruobing, Su Qingying was much better at acting spoiled.

“Then go ahead and tell her,” Wu Chen said with a smile.

“Then… then I’m really going to tell her?” Instead of going immediately, Su Qingying hesitated. She wasn’t the sort of person who secretly reported on others, which was why she’d told Wu Chen her intentions outright.

She also didn’t know whether Wu Chen wanted Li Ruobing to know about this.

In truth, if Wu Chen told her not to say anything, she certainly wouldn’t tell Li Ruobing. At least, she wouldn’t tell her now. Perhaps only at the very last moment before it happened would her overwhelming worry make her unable to hold back.

“Go ahead. It’s fine. I was going to tell Ruobing about this anyway,” Wu Chen said.

That was the truth.

He really did intend to tell Li Ruobing, and Li Ruotai as well. They needed to know that Meng Junhao was cooperating with him this time. Otherwise, even if Wu Chen came through unharmed, an assassination attempt would still have occurred, and Li Ruobing and Li Ruotai would investigate it to the very end.

If they discovered afterward that Meng Junhao was responsible, he didn’t want them accidentally hurting one of their own.

“Then I’m really going to tell her?” Su Qingying repeated.

“Go on. Look how worried you are.” Smiling, Wu Chen reached over and gently squeezed her slender hand.

“Then I’ll tell her right now!” Su Qingying made up her mind.

She got up and headed straight out without even putting on her slippers. The room was clean enough that going barefoot didn’t matter.

She left the bedroom and walked directly toward the other end of the hallway.

At the second-floor guest bedroom, she knocked.

Knock, knock, knock.

“Ruobing? Ruobing, are you asleep?”

Li Ruobing was still awake.

It was already past ten at night, though, and she was lying in bed looking at her phone. Hearing the voice outside, she raised her head. “Not yet. The door’s unlocked.”

Su Qingying pushed the door open and entered.

“What’s wrong?” Li Ruobing could tell at a glance that something was off about Su Qingying’s expression, and that she seemed unhappy. She also noticed her bare feet and frowned slightly. “Did you two have a fight?”

Li Ruobing argued with Wu Chen all the time. If their little verbal sparring matches counted, there were far too many to list. But she didn’t know whether Su Qingying had ever argued with him.

“No.” Su Qingying shook her head and walked toward her. “He just got a phone call. I heard…”

Su Qingying hadn’t caught much of the earlier conversation, but she’d heard the last part of Wu Chen’s call with Meng Junhao. Meng’s voice had grown louder, and she’d been listening carefully.

She could explain the general situation.

In short: Ding Ruilong wanted Wu Chen dead and had hired someone to kill him. That person was actually working for Wu Chen and had reported everything to him. Wu Chen’s attitude was… let them come and try!

A few minutes later.

Su Qingying had given Li Ruobing a rough account, including whatever fragments of the earlier conversation she could remember.

“…He just said it would be fine, that he was confident in his plan, that there was no danger…” Toward the end, Su Qingying grew a little emotional. Her eyes were beginning to redden.

Li Ruobing was the kind of person whose eyes rarely reddened, no matter what happened. Su Qingying was different. She was far more sensitive.

…

The second-floor master bedroom.

Wu Chen lay on his back with his hands behind his head, gazing at the ceiling.

He was waiting for Li Ruobing to come see him, and meanwhile he considered a few things he needed to do tomorrow. As for Meng Junhao, Wu Chen couldn’t be bothered to think about him. In his view, Ding Ruilong was practically handing him an opportunity to bring down the entire Ding family faster and more effectively.

As for any danger, there genuinely wasn’t any.

At last, footsteps sounded in the hallway.

“My dear Mr. Wu, how many times does this make?” Li Ruobing strode into the master bedroom in her pajamas.

She was furious!

She was more than upset—she was angry.

She simply wasn’t showing it openly. Su Qingying had come with her, and whenever a third person was present, whoever that person might be, Li Ruobing always made sure Wu Chen kept his dignity.

“How many times what? When have I ever come to harm?” Wu Chen sat up as he spoke, turned toward Li Ruobing, and smiled.

“What exactly is going on?” Li Ruobing didn’t immediately object. She wanted to hear the details first.

She also wanted to understand what new trouble Ding Ruilong was stirring up.

Su Qingying’s retelling might not have been entirely accurate.

“It’s those photographs. After Ding Ruilong saw them, he thought I’d made a cuckold of him, so he…” Wu Chen gave a brief explanation.

Su Qingying, who had entered with Li Ruobing, listened from the side.

She didn’t really know what “those photographs” were, but guessed they might show Wu Chen being intimate with Li Ruobing, provoking Ding Ruilong.

Her guess was wrong, though not entirely off the mark. That wasn’t the important part.

The important thing was Ding Ruilong’s reaction and his arrangements.

Wu Chen kept his explanation brief. The matter wasn’t especially complicated, but he did mention the crucial person’s name: Meng Junhao!

“Meng Junhao?” Li Ruobing repeated in surprise.

“Yes. He’s actually one of my people.” Wu Chen nodded.

Li Ruobing thought about the man. She’d never met Meng Junhao, but knew there was such a person in Donghai: a businessman with a fair amount of local influence, operating somewhere between legitimate business and the underworld. Li Ruotai knew more about him, and had previously known that Meng Junhao was connected to Wu Chen, but hadn’t discussed it with his sister.

“…I had Meng Junhao send those photos to Ding Ruilong. Ding Ruilong then offered him money to go after me…”

Within two minutes, Wu Chen had explained every key point.

“That’s the situation. If the plan goes ahead, even if Meng Junhao fails, he’ll earn even more of Ding Ruilong’s trust,” Wu Chen concluded.

“Once it’s done?” Li Ruobing raised an eyebrow, her voice rising. “And what if you’re the one who fails? You’ve taken big risks before, but even if things didn’t work out, you had room to recover. What about this time? You’re gambling with your life, do you realize that? If you fail, you’re dead!”

“Ruobing, you understand me better than Qingying does. How can you also… Surely it isn’t that serious?” Wu Chen replied.

As he spoke, his gaze shifted from Li Ruobing to Su Qingying, then back to Li Ruobing.

Finally, he reached out and touched Li Ruobing in a perfectly natural gesture.

Li Ruobing’s expression froze for a moment.

Then she felt another wave of exasperation. How infuriating! How exhausting! Angry as she was, she still had to play along with Wu Chen.

“I… I just don’t want you taking risks. I know you’re capable, but this time… there is still some danger. Unless you let me and Atai participate in the entire operation, to make sure you’re never in danger, then no. Absolutely not!”

This time, Li Ruobing drew a hard line. Her words were uncompromising.

In reality, though, she didn’t mean them.

Li Ruobing would never seriously issue Wu Chen an ultimatum like that. She couldn’t actually stop him from doing anything.

She was speaking so forcefully now because she was cooperating with him. Wu Chen had just given her a signal, and she was playing along to ease Su Qingying’s worries.

Su Qingying’s eyes were still red.

“Of course. The plan needs your cooperation anyway,” Wu Chen replied with a smile. He really did adore Li Ruobing. A glance, a tiny gesture, and she understood what he meant.

That kind of unspoken understanding was extraordinarily rare.

Many people thought Li Ruobing wouldn’t make a good wife. She was too strong-willed, too domineering. In truth, people with that kind of personality, whether men or women, were generally considered unsuitable partners.

Wu Chen saw her in precisely the opposite way.

Others saw only her cold, forceful, domineering side. Wu Chen understood her personality in all its subtleties.

Li Ruobing had many qualities. For example, once someone became the person she truly loved, someone she believed worthy of her devotion, she would accept all of that person’s flaws and give everything she had in return, even her life.

The harder it was for a woman to develop feelings, the harder it was to open her heart, the more completely the person who finally won that heart would occupy it, becoming the most important person in her life, unchanged forever.

Her loyalty to that person would be unparalleled, and she would understand him more deeply.

Li Ruobing was exactly that kind of woman.

And Wu Chen was the man in her heart now.

Wu Chen naturally had flaws of his own. For instance, Li Ruobing wasn’t his only woman. That, too, was something she had accepted.

“If Atai and I are involved… that’s more like it.” Li Ruobing seemed satisfied, though still a little irritated. She glanced at Su Qingying and added, “Look how badly you’ve frightened Qingying. Couldn’t you have explained things to her properly?”

Wu Chen held out a hand to Su Qingying.

She turned and sat in his arms.

“Your eyes are all red, and you went to tell on me. Why are you acting like a child?” Wu Chen asked softly with a smile, giving her cheek a gentle pinch.

In fact, Su Qingying was a few months older than Li Ruobing. But when it came to matters of the heart, calling her childish wasn’t entirely wrong.

Wu Chen was only teasing her to make her feel better.

Su Qingying finally understood.

She breathed an enormous sigh of relief, and her worries suddenly faded. Li Ruobing’s cooperation and her words had been extremely effective.

If Wu Chen had been on his own, Su Qingying would have worried no matter what he said or promised, unless he revealed his secret ability to reset time.

But with Li Ruobing backing him, things were different.

Li Ruobing also acted as though Wu Chen would be fine, as though she believed he could succeed. She knew Wu Chen better, and Su Qingying had no doubts about how important he was to her. So… surely everything would be all right.

Besides, Li Ruobing had mentioned Li Ruotai.

Everyone knew how much power Li Ruotai commanded in Donghai. Having him involved in the arrangements was genuinely reassuring.

“I’m just worried about my hubby,” Su Qingying murmured in an impossibly soft voice, snuggling farther into Wu Chen’s arms.

“Feel better now?” Wu Chen asked with a smile, though he was looking at Li Ruobing as he spoke.

Su Qingying’s head was lowered, so she couldn’t see that Li Ruobing was glaring at Wu Chen.

Wu Chen was genuinely risking his life this time, in the most literal sense. Yet Li Ruobing not only had to swallow her objections for now, she had to help him comfort Su Qingying.

She was absolutely furious!

“Actually, Qingying, as far as Ding Ruilong is concerned, I think getting involved would only bring you trouble. There’s no need…” Wu Chen began as he held her. He meant it sincerely.

He didn’t want Su Qingying involved too deeply in these matters. It would only bring her needless anxiety and worry. In a way, he was protecting her.

He didn’t finish speaking.

Just then—

Ring, ring…

A phone rang.

The sound came from outside. More precisely, it came from another bedroom on the second floor.

The guest bedroom door hadn’t been closed, and neither had the master bedroom door, so the ringing could be heard faintly. It was naturally Li Ruobing’s phone, which she’d casually put down earlier and hadn’t brought with her.

Li Ruobing turned and went out.

Wu Chen lowered his head and finished what he’d been saying to Su Qingying. Under his current plan, he didn’t intend to involve her in anything concerning the Ding family.

That included the plan to carve up the Ding family’s assets.

Even after Wu Chen had completely won over Su Ruiwen, the one who would participate would be Su Ruiwen himself. He was steadier and had greater decision-making authority. After all, he was still alive, and he was the one who called the shots in the Su family.

As for Su Qingying, Wu Chen believed what she should focus on now was running Jinfu Group well. That mattered greatly to her. The better she performed now, the less turmoil Jinfu Group would face after Su Ruiwen passed away.

And whatever money Su Ruiwen earned by taking part in the hunt would be his, which meant it would ultimately belong to Su Qingying.

Footsteps sounded again.

Along with them came the increasingly clear ring of a phone.

Li Ruobing was returning with the still-ringing phone in her hand.

Wu Chen looked up as she entered. “Ding Ruilong?” he asked with a smile.

“Yes!” Li Ruobing nodded. Her expression had changed since she went out.

She’d been furious when she left, and her face had shown it. But now… she had someone to take it out on!

There was even a subtle smile on her face.

She knew why Ding Ruilong was suddenly calling. He wanted to tell on Wu Chen, expose his relationship with He Shiqin, and make Li Ruobing see his true colors. She’d already prepared what she would say.

Wu Chen had told her in advance. He’d predicted Ding Ruilong would call her tonight, though tomorrow morning was also possible.

Hearing the name “Ding Ruilong,” Su Qingying immediately sat upright in Wu Chen’s arms, looking from Li Ruobing’s phone to Wu Chen.

“Come here.” Wu Chen held Su Qingying and shifted her around to his other side, toward the inside of the bed.

He moved inward too, then leaned back.

Li Ruobing reached the bedside, turned, and sat down next to him. Then she lay back naturally, resting her head on his arm and shifting a little to make herself more comfortable.

The two women lay on either side of Wu Chen.

Li Ruobing looked at the ringing phone, suddenly turned, and kissed Wu Chen on the cheek. Then she looked back at the screen and deliberately cleared her throat.

Everything was ready.

But the ringing abruptly stopped.

Li Ruobing had taken so long to answer that the call had disconnected automatically.

It didn’t matter.

Given Ding Ruilong’s personality, now that he’d started calling, he’d keep calling frantically. Even if she blocked him, he’d use another number!

Sure enough.

Only a few seconds passed before her phone rang again.

This time, Li Ruobing waited another few seconds. Her face suddenly turned cold. She drew a deep breath, answered, and launched straight into a tirade.

“What the fuck is wrong with you? Your hand’s ruined, and now your brain’s ruined too? Why didn’t the explosion kill you? Do you know what time it is? Are you going to let anyone sleep? If your head isn’t right, get yourself to a hospital and have a doctor cut it open to see whether it’s full of garbage! Fuck off!”

Li Ruobing let loose in one breath. In her entire life, she’d probably sworn less at everyone else combined than she had at Ding Ruilong.

After shouting “Fuck off!” she hung up immediately. Ding Ruilong would call again anyway, so there was no harm in hanging up.

She could act this way precisely because she already knew what Ding Ruilong wanted to say.

Let him stew!

Su Qingying, on Wu Chen’s other side, stared wide-eyed. Not only had she never seen Li Ruobing curse anyone like that, the fury in her clenched teeth wasn’t an act. And Su Qingying herself simply didn’t know how to swear.

Before meeting Wu Chen, Su Qingying’s upbringing had been excessively strict. Her mother’s control over her had become almost pathological. Looking back, it was a period of her life she didn’t want to remember.

A few seconds later.

Ring, ring.

Li Ruobing’s phone rang again.

“…Are you trying to get yourself fucking killed?” Li Ruobing answered with another furious outburst, her teeth clenched. Inside, though, she was thoroughly enjoying herself.

She’d cursed Ding Ruilong on every previous occasion, too. But this time was different. Because Wu Chen had briefed her beforehand, she could read Ding Ruilong’s mind and knew what he was thinking. Cursing him while knowing he was frantic with impatience felt incredibly satisfying!

“Ruobing…” Ding Ruilong barely managed to begin.

“Ruobing, my ass! I’ve told you ten thousand fucking times not to call me Ruobing!” Li Ruobing snapped.

She hung up.

Let him choke on his frustration!

Silence.

This time, the silence lasted more than ten seconds. Ding Ruilong actually didn’t call again.

Had he given up?

Li Ruobing couldn’t help looking at Wu Chen.

“He smashed his phone and he’s having a fit right now,” Wu Chen said with a calm smile. “I’d guess he’ll either put his SIM card in a new phone or borrow someone else’s. He’ll call again.”

Li Ruobing understood.

A minute later.

Sure enough, her phone rang again.

The caller ID showed an unfamiliar number, but the number was registered in Nanguang.

Ding Ruilong was probably so impatient that, after his tantrum, he’d immediately borrowed a bodyguard’s phone. He couldn’t wait to transfer his SIM card to a new one.

Naturally, Ding Ruilong knew Li Ruobing’s number by heart.

This time, too—

Li Ruobing waited a few seconds, looked at Wu Chen again, and kissed his cheek once more. There was no other reason. Wu Chen had been right again. He could read Ding Ruilong’s mind and, by telling her what to expect, had allowed her to do the same.

The feeling was wonderful. Thrilling, even!

“You fucking—I’m…” Li Ruobing began cursing the instant she answered, sounding beside herself with rage.

“Are you going to listen to what I have to say about Wu Chen or not?!” Ding Ruilong shouted at the very moment the call connected, talking over her.

He hated having to use Li Ruobing’s concern for Wu Chen to keep her from hanging up. It almost felt as though he were making himself a cuckold. But her repeated hang-ups were driving him out of his mind.

Li Ruobing immediately fell silent and exchanged a glance with Wu Chen.

She had to make it look as though she cared deeply about Wu Chen.

Let that bastard choke on his own rage!

Li Ruobing pretended to breathe heavily, making sure Ding Ruilong could hear her apparently struggling to suppress her anger. Only after five or six seconds did she grit her teeth and say, “Then spit it out!”

“Wu Chen has other women. Did you know that?” Ding Ruilong said immediately.

“What?!” Li Ruobing’s voice suddenly sharpened.

She was getting into character!