Chapter 382: Are You Threatening Me?

Chapter 382: Are You Threatening Me?

Peng Wei had played his trump card.

His original plan had been to talk with Wu Chen first and feel him out. Ideally, he would coax Wu Chen into admitting to the kidnapping and unlawful detention, get it all on tape, and only show his hand once the moment was right.

But they had barely begun when his secret recording was exposed. He’d been forced to end the call, too, and his composure had finally cracked.

Still!

It didn’t matter.

Or so Peng Wei told himself. The outcome wouldn’t change either way. He couldn’t stay on the back foot like this. He had to seize the initiative.

A dozen-odd photographs lay scattered across the table.

Peng Wei crossed his arms without thinking, a faint smile flickering at the corners of his mouth. All at once he seemed far more confident and forceful, as though victory were already in hand.

Wu Chen looked over the photos.

All of them had been shot from the same angle. Zhuang Xiaodie with her arm through his, whispering in his ear, kissing his cheek, her smiling face as lovely as a flower in bloom, beautiful beyond words.

“Nice shots,” Wu Chen said, smiling at Peng Wei.

Credit where it was due: Peng Wei’s photography really was superb. Thoroughly professional.

The images were gorgeous, with an almost cinematic quality.

Because they had been shot in tight zoom, they didn’t even read as candid shots. They were practically art photography.

“Mr. Wu, you don’t need to act like you don’t care.” Peng Wei lifted his chin slightly and pushed up his glasses. “I’ll be frank with you. Yesterday, from the moment you set out for dinner, I was on your tail. I saw every move you made.”

As he spoke, he gestured, two fingers moving back and forth between his own eyes and Wu Chen’s.

His body language alone showed how far his state of mind had shifted.

“I don’t know exactly what this girl is to you, or to Miss Li Ruobing.” Peng Wei nodded toward the photos, his eyes never leaving Wu Chen. “But I’m sure whatever’s going on between the two of you can’t stand the light of day.”

“You can’t fool me, Mr. Wu! Last night I saw it with my own eyes. The moment Miss Li Ruobing appeared, this girl deliberately moved away from you and kept her distance…”

“She left in the same car as Miss Li Ruobing last night. I imagine they’re very close. Best friends? Or something else?”

“Even a rabbit won’t eat the grass by its own burrow! Mr. Wu, you’ve broken a cardinal rule!”

“Honestly, I can’t imagine what you were thinking. Miss Li Ruobing is outstanding in looks and talent alike, and as for her temper… I’m sure you know that better than I do.”

“For the Li family’s eldest granddaughter, is killing someone even a big deal?”

Peng Wei was a gifted talker, and the more he said, the more confident he became, his smile widening as he went. He was trying to rile Wu Chen while closing off any excuses before they could be made. He wasn’t going to give Wu Chen another chance to posture and keep him under his thumb.

“I know. I can guess. For you to wield this kind of power in Donghai, you must have help from the Li siblings. Grabbing my people, that was Young Master Li Ruotai’s doing, wasn’t it?”

“I hear Young Master Li is fiercely protective of his sister. If he’ll do things for you for Miss Li’s sake, he can just as easily make you disappear for Miss Li’s sake. Don’t you think?”

He had turned into a real chatterbox.

Peng Wei needed to let off steam.

He had been under so much pressure before, all because of Wu Chen. Now that he’d started, he laid everything out, making no effort to hide his aggression.

Even the way he referred to Li Ruobing and Li Ruotai showed that, in his mind, Wu Chen and the Li siblings were separate things.

Instinctively, he didn’t dare speak ill of either of them.

Even his forms of address were respectful.

Clap. Clap. Clap.

Applause.

Smiling, Wu Chen raised his hands and applauded.

“Bravo,” he said.

Peng Wei’s face darkened further.

Wu Chen’s manner got under his skin. It was infuriating. Peng Wei wasn’t normally a man who lost control of his temper, but from start to finish Wu Chen had carried himself as though Peng Wei were beneath his notice.

That fake smile.

Peng Wei wanted to see it crack. He wanted to puncture that affected pose.

“Mr. Wu, I have to remind you again!” Peng Wei went on. “If I lose contact today, you’ll be tomorrow’s front-page headline! And another thing! I have plenty of backups of these photos. I’ve already sent copies back to my office…”

For all his newfound confidence, Peng Wei was still afraid Wu Chen might resort to extreme measures.

“So?” Wu Chen smiled at him, paused, then gestured toward the photos on the table. “Are you threatening me?”

“You could put it that way,” Peng Wei said, not bothering to hide it.

He had no qualms. He wasn’t even afraid of being recorded. Strictly from a legal standpoint, what he was doing wasn’t necessarily a crime, since he hadn’t asked Wu Chen for money or anything else.

And even if it were illegal, he wasn’t worried. He held lethal dirt on Wu Chen.

Besides, Wu Chen had already brought up things Peng Wei had done.

Peng Wei understood that Wu Chen knew quite a few of his shameful secrets.

So now each of them had dirt on the other.

It came down to whose dirt was bigger.

And who was more afraid.

Peng Wei believed it should be Wu Chen.

“Tell you what,” Wu Chen said, gesturing at the photos again. “Send these to Ruobing right now. And to A-Tai. Send them over and let them have a look. Go on. Send them.”

The smile vanished from Peng Wei’s face, and his expression shifted.

“Mr. Wu, you think I won’t?” He narrowed his eyes.

“It’s not about whether you will or won’t. Go ahead and send them.” Wu Chen smiled.

Peng Wei only looked at him and didn’t move.

The private room went quiet.

Peng Wei felt threatened.

He didn’t believe Wu Chen really wanted him to send the photos. Wu Chen was goading him, with that pig-headed refusal to back down that young men sometimes had.

It was very immature.

But if Peng Wei actually tried to send them right in front of him…

Peng Wei reckoned Wu Chen might pull a gun on the spot, or come straight at him.

The most frightening thing about young people was their immaturity.

They were impulsive.

And threatened or not, Peng Wei didn’t really want to send the photos.

That wasn’t the outcome he was after.

He didn’t want the talks to collapse.

He wanted Wu Chen to bow to the threat.

The silence stretched on.

The two men stared at each other.

Suddenly, Wu Chen reached inside his jacket.

Peng Wei’s face changed sharply. He shot to his feet, then froze. His leg knocked against the chair, and its creak sounded especially harsh in the quiet room.

He had thought Wu Chen was going for a gun, or something like it.

But Wu Chen only took out his phone.

“Why so jumpy?” Wu Chen asked, sounding amused and a little puzzled.

Phone in one hand, he picked up the photo of Zhuang Xiaodie kissing him with the other, moved it in front of himself, and set it back down.

He opened the camera and held the phone flat over the photograph.

Click.

He had taken a picture of it.

“You’re not sending it?” Wu Chen glanced up at Peng Wei. “Then I will.”

He opened Weixun and sent the photo to Li Ruobing.

Peng Wei was stunned.

Still on his feet, he could see everything Wu Chen was doing. He saw the profile picture of the person receiving it.

It really was Li Ruobing.

But he suspected it was fake.

Otherwise, had Wu Chen lost his mind?

“Sent.” Wu Chen even held up the phone and gave the screen a little waggle at him.

Peng Wei sat back down.

“Mr. Wu, there’s no need to put on a show for me. I know you didn’t send it to Miss Li. You can’t fool…”

Ring, ring…

Before Peng Wei could finish, Wu Chen’s phone rang.

It was already in his hand. He answered at once, switched on the speaker, and tossed the phone onto the table.

“Hey, Ruobing,” Wu Chen said.

“Darling? Did you send me that photo?” Li Ruobing’s voice came through the phone.

“Yeah. Pretty good shot, isn’t it?” Wu Chen said.

“It is pretty good. Why’d you send it to me… to get on my nerves?” Li Ruobing said irritably.

“No. Why would I want to get on your nerves?” Wu Chen laughed. “Peng Wei took it. The guy’s actually got a real gift for photography.”

“Peng Wei?” She was clearly taken aback, and her voice went noticeably colder. “That guy is so annoying! Did he come after you? Why don’t I handle it? I’ll make him shut up.”

“No need. I just… needed you to go through the motions for me. That’s all.” Wu Chen smiled.

It was an odd way to put it.

But Li Ruobing knew Wu Chen well enough to understand exactly what he was doing.

“All right. Get back to what you were doing,” she said.

The call ended.

Wu Chen set the phone down on the table and looked up at Peng Wei again.

Smiling.

The private room was silent.

Cold sweat had already broken out on Peng Wei’s forehead.