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 all.

“Are you in love with me?” Wu Chen asked, blunt as ever, still smiling.

“Not quite.” She denied it first, then added, “I just think I have to admit that you fit my requirements for a partner rather well.”

“Wow. That doesn’t sound like good news.” His smile went strange.

“You’re belittling me on purpose again.” Her eyes narrowed.

“I’m not. I only—” He didn’t finish.

Because Li Ruobing looped both arms around his neck and kissed him.

It was even more sudden than that night at the mouth of the alley, but this time she wasn’t fierce about it. She was careful, slow, her breathing heavy.

She truly did not know how to kiss.

Wu Chen guided her, and answered her.

And so, beside a plaza with people coming and going, under the shade of the trees, the two of them held each other and slowly tasted each other.

Li Ruobing’s bodyguards stopped at a distance and came no closer, keeping watch on the surroundings instead.

Some of the passersby noticed. A fair number of them were young couples, who gestured toward the trees, exchanged glances, and laughed quietly together.

The breeze drifted by.

No one disturbed the moment.

And no one noticed that far off, at the edge of the road, the rear window of a black off-road vehicle stood open. A man with binoculars had seen the scene beneath the trees. He lowered the binoculars at once, picked up a telephoto camera the size of a cannon barrel, raised it, worked the focus fast, pulled the frame in tight, and shot the whole thing.

It went on for a dozen seconds. Perhaps longer.

At last Li Ruobing lowered her head slightly, drew back, then raised her eyes to him. She pressed the corner of her mouth and smiled. “Why didn’t you push me away?”

“Why would I push you away?” he asked instead.

“You keep acting like you don’t like me, like you’ll never fall for me. You even belittle me on purpose. Shouldn’t you have pushed me away?” She smiled, teasing. “Don’t you have someone prettier and richer than me?”

“That’s not the same thing, is it?” Wu Chen smiled.

“Isn’t it? Then explain it. If you clearly can’t stand me, why didn’t you push me away?”

“Is that so hard to explain?”

“If it’s not hard, then say it.”

“Well… you offered yourself up. And only a bastard passes up a freebie.”

Li Ruobing nearly choked again.

For reasons she couldn’t name, whenever Wu Chen said something like that, it made her furious.

“Forget it. Keep talking tough.” She was displeased now, and she let it show all over her face. She hooked her arm back through his and set off with long strides. “Come on. Time to get back to the company.”

They went back.

By the time the two of them reached Huancai Fashion it was past four in the afternoon, and by the time they pulled into the underground parking lot, Li Ruobing had more or less sobered up. She hadn’t been that drunk to begin with.

She had to work late. The spokesperson had been swapped out, which meant a great many arrangements had to be reworked, so the two of them wouldn’t be having dinner together.

Wu Chen didn’t even go upstairs. There was nothing left for him to do. He got out of Li Ruobing’s car, collected his own Lamborghini, and drove home.

Back to Villa No. 36 in Donghai Huafu.

He went down to the basement to work out again. The gym held the full set of equipment Li Ruotai had bought—the place was practically a fitness center.

Yesterday he had trained his muscles, and this morning he’d woken up in so much pain he felt half-dead. Only a massage had made it bearable.

So today he decided to go easy. No anaerobic work. Aerobic instead… the sandbag. Just the sandbag. Muscle memory, that sort of thing.

He’d probably still ache all over tomorrow, but as long as he could move, it was fine.

A little after ten that night, worn to the bone, Wu Chen dropped into a deep sleep.

…

A new day. July 11, 2020.

Wu Chen woke early, read the news for a while, spoke with Li Ruobing on the phone once, then made his unhurried way downstairs for breakfast.

A little after eight, he took the Lamborghini out onto the road.

Just before nine, he arrived on time outside Tangsha Private Club, where he had agreed to meet Su Qingying.

He dialed her number and got straight to it. “I’m here.”