Chapter 160: Where There's a Hidden Dragon, There's a Phoenix Cub
Room 404.
Lu Chengcheng was so upset she hid in the bathroom crying.
Outside the bathroom, Ye Zhen and the others exchanged glances, unsure how to comfort the poor girl.
"You gotta admit, there are still plenty of jerks in this world."
Qiao Xin couldn't help but press her forehead.
She even started to worry about her own father.
After all, he'd recently become obsessed with watching female streamers—the kind who lip-sync to subtitles while singing old love songs—and had even become their top donor.
The once respectable little old man now grinned like an idiot at his phone screen daily, even calling out "baby" in his broken Mandarin.
Qiao Xin felt deeply troubled.
"What should I do? I really want to confiscate my dad's phone." Wang Xiaoya was fretting over the same problem.
Her dad's taste was seriously questionable—he genuinely liked those young girls who deliberately acted old-fashioned.
What if he got scammed and pulled a stunt like that on her? How would that look?
As they talked, their eyes fell on Ye Zhen.
The most dangerous target? An innocent, adorable loli roommate!
Who knows if that kind of flirtatious creature might be into both genders?
Ye Zhen cleared her throat lightly and said, "Don't look at me like that. I don't like that sort of thing."
Qiao Xin beamed with an auntie-like smile: "Zhenzhen, so you really do like girls, huh?"
If such an adorable little loli openly admitted she liked girls, wouldn't everyone in the dorm have a golden opportunity?
At least, Qiao Xin had some ulterior motives.
As for Wang Xiaoya, she just smiled meaningfully.
"Um, well… hehehe, who doesn't like sweet-smelling girls?" Ye Zhen suddenly felt a bit uneasy. What was going on?
"Alright, don't be nervous."
Qiao Xin patted her shoulder gently.
"We'll protect you, sis. Even if that bitch targets you, we'll be the ones charging into battle for you~"
Ye Zhen: "…"
Well, that might not be necessary.
She had Miss Mengde by her side—what was there to fear?
Any flashy, cheap tricks are utterly insignificant under absolute violent suppression. Utterly insignificant.
……
…
A few days later.
The week-long routine gathering in the South City business district commenced.
The invitees included not only major figures from the South City business circle but also some heavyweights from the circle where the Ye Group operated.
Among them, the Bai family naturally took the lead.
The Bai family had been struggling within that circle. Over the past six months, they had been reaching out to influential figures outside their circle, desperately trying to turn their fortunes around.
Upon learning that his grandson, Bai Ruoting, had secretly returned to the country, the patriarch of the Bai family was furious, yet he could do nothing about it.
Sending him back out now was hardly a realistic option.
That kid, Bai Ruoting, had no inclination to settle down. Whatever you asked him to do, he refused to do.
What you forbid him to do, he pursues with more fervor than anyone else.
Send him away today, and tomorrow he'd sneak back by any means necessary!
"To regain our former glory, taking down the Ye Group is essential," Old Master Bai said patiently. "Bai Ruoting, you've already suffered losses because of women. From now on, you must stay away from them. Do you understand?"
On the other end of the line, Bai Ruoting listened with obvious impatience.
Still, he couldn't openly defy his grandfather's wishes, so he nodded in agreement.
"Fine, I got it!"
Seeing his expression, Old Master Bai knew he hadn't truly taken it to heart. His face turned ashen with anger. "Furthermore, I warn you again—don't go provoking that Ye family heiress, Ye Fuli!"
Mentioning Ye Fuli's name was a mistake. The moment it crossed his lips, Bai Ruoting felt a sudden chill between his legs.
The injury that had healed began to throb again.
His face contorted in pain as he sucked in a sharp breath. "Grandfather, please stop. I truly understand. I won't provoke her."
"Very well."
After hanging up, Bai Ruoting grabbed a handful of darts and hurled them with all his might at Ye Fuli's ID photo pinned to the wall.
Not provoke her?
Of course he wouldn't provoke her!
What he wanted was for her to die—to die in agony!
This woman had robbed him of his manhood, forever barring him from enjoying the company of women. Such hatred—who could bear it?
"Ye Fuli, just wait. I'll find you a stepmother who'll teach you a lesson."
Bai Ruoting gasped for breath, his face twisted into a sinister, twisted grin.
"If I can't live in peace, neither will you! I'll make sure your household is thrown into chaos, and you'll be tormented beyond endurance!"
Thump, thump, thump—
The knocking on the door snapped Bai Ruoting back to reality from his torment.
"Come in."
The door swung open.
Jiang Nini walked in holding a million-dollar diamond necklace, holding it up to her neck. "How about it? Does it look good on me?"
In front of Bai Ruoting, she still carried a hint of a young woman's coyness.
After all, to her, Bai Ruoting was still someone she cared about. Though he had a terrible temper and liked to humiliate people with money, at least he wasn't like those older men who constantly invited her to hotels.
This touched Jiang Nini to some extent.
But how could she possibly know that this guy had already forfeited his right to be called a man?
Bai Ruoting remained utterly indifferent to her flirtatious advances.
"Whatever. Whatever."
"Oh, come on, that's so dismissive."
Jiang Nini snorted, put on the necklace herself, and walked out of the room.
As she reached the staircase, she turned back and added, "It's getting late, Young Master Bai. Better hurry up."
The venue for the regular gathering was located on the commercial street near Mondstadt Academy.
Bai Ruoting didn't appear with Jiang Nini. Instead, he dressed inconspicuously and blended into the party crowd.
He stayed out of the spotlight, his dark gaze sweeping over every glamorous man and woman on the dance floor.
Jiang Nini was chatting and laughing with several middle-aged men in suits. Within moments, she had their contact information.
Watching the stack of business cards in her hand, Bai Ruoting snorted heavily.
He enjoyed using this useful pawn, yet found her utterly repulsive!
…
At the other entrance.
Ye Zhen and her roommates arrived late.
They had all accompanied Lu Chengcheng, aiming to catch Jiang Nini red-handed so Lu Chengcheng's father could see this woman's true colors.
But what none of them expected was that after witnessing Jiang Nini's smooth-talking antics, Lu Chengcheng's father actually said, "Your Aunt Jiang is just helping Dad with his social obligations. Stop looking at her with such biased eyes."
Lu Chengcheng was so furious she nearly cried, exclaiming that her father must have grease in his brain to utter such idiotic nonsense.
"This is truly bizarre."
Ye Zhen suddenly sensed something was amiss.
She hurriedly asked the system if Jiang Nini possessed any special aura.
[This Jiang Nini character does possess significantly higher charm than the average person! After all, she was the best friend of the original plot's main heroine, Ye Fuli.]
But was that charm alone enough to deceive Ye Fuli?
In her previous life, Ye Fuli might have been a Mary Sue-style female lead, but she wasn't some brainless airhead.
Anyone who could fool her must possess something special.
"Now that she's using that aura—meant to charm the main heroine—to charm nameless extras, it comes naturally to her."
Ye Zhen thought this, unable to suppress a sigh.
She wanted to do something for Lu Chengcheng.
After all, they were roommates, and they'd gotten along well all this time… Plus, she owed her dozens of meals and hadn't found a chance to repay them.
But what could she possibly do?
"Hey, dog system, can you tone down Jiang Nini's ridiculously high charm to a normal level?"
[What are you thinking, dog host? Of course that's impossible! (*￣rǒ￣)]
Ye Zhen couldn't help but slap her forehead.
Yeah, of course not!
Otherwise, she should have forced the Dog System to take back Ye Fuli's main heroine aura from the very beginning!
Then their story would have unfolded completely differently…
[But lowering someone's charm isn't hard at all! Just make her ugly—ugly enough to be unrecognizable. Problem solved!]
"Right."
This remark successfully reminded Ye Zhen.
She couldn't help but recall the large quantity of low-value grass she had cultivated earlier.
Among them was a type of feed that could make animals gain weight…
This stuff had no side effects; instead, it improved animals' appetites and helped them sleep soundly.
She had once mixed this feed into the animals' rations, plumping them up nicely. Since each batch required only a small amount and lasted a long time, Ye Zhen still had quite a bit left over.
So she decided to add a small pinch to Jiang Nini's cake.