Scheming Bitch

"Young man, could I have a word in private?"

The old man forced down the anger in his heart as he looked at Bai Yang and spoke.

"No."

Those two words from Bai Yang nearly choked the old man into internal injury, then he followed up with a combo attack, pointing at the surveillance camera and saying, "If you've got something to say, just say it here. I'm afraid if we go somewhere else, you'll try to frame me..."

The old man trembled with rage, almost cursing out loud. Why were young people these days so damn infuriating?

"Young man, I am Liu Qingshan..."

"What exactly are you trying to say? I'm busy," Bai Yang waved his hand to cut him off. Were you Liu Qingshan or Liu Blackshan? What did that have to do with him?

Liu Qingshan frowned, took a deep breath, and said, "Young man, your name is Bai Yang, right? I happened to learn that you have a certain kind of wine..."

"Stop, stop, hey, hold on..." Bai Yang raised his hand again to interrupt him.

Under Liu Qingshan's displeased gaze, Bai Yang squinted at him and said slowly, word by word, "I don't care who you are, but what I want to say is—did you investigate me?"

Liu Qingshan was stunned, suddenly realizing he had crossed a line!

He had indeed asked someone to look into Bai Yang. With certain people's resources, they had traced the source directly, finding that the Hundred Fruit Brew Bai Yang had given his mother for testing originated from him!

The test data for the Hundred Fruit Brew was astonishing. It was a hundred or even a thousand times more effective than any health wine, a genuine treasure capable of replenishing blood and improving constitution. That kind of wine was far too important to Liu Qingshan. Upon learning of it by chance, he had lost his composure and made the offensive move of having Bai Yang investigated.

"Bai Yang, listen to me. Investigating you was unavoidable. I was just tracing the origin of that wine, and it led me to you..."

Bai Yang didn't care about Liu Qingshan's explanation. He smiled casually, waved his hand to cut him off, and said, "You went through all that trouble just to get your hands on that wine in the end, right?"

Since the other party had already come knocking, avoidance wasn't an option. Why not lay the cards on the table and talk straight?

Bai Yang hated trouble. When trouble came, dealing with it immediately was always better than dragging it out and inviting a series of follow-up problems.

At this point, dwelling on useless details was pointless. In the end, it would all come back to the Hundred Fruit Brew anyway. Those unnecessary specifics could be ignored.

Liu Qingshan was caught off guard by Bai Yang's unconventional approach. He nodded and said, "I do want that wine. It's very important to me. To be honest, I've been practicing martial arts since I was young. Now that I'm older, my blood and energy have declined severely. That wine can replenish blood and nourish the bones and tendons. For me, it's practically a priceless treasure that can extend life..."

Good. Bai Yang's eyes lit up. This old man couldn't hide anything!

"I don't care what you want that wine for. You want it, and I happen to have it, so we can make a deal. I'm not giving it away for free since we're strangers. Two conditions. First, that wine costs one million per hundred milliliters. Don't haggle with me, because you can't get it anywhere else. Even if I priced it at ten million, you'd have to swallow it. Aren't you grateful I'm only charging you one million out of the kindness of my heart? Second, I don't want anyone else coming after me or my family because of this wine ever again. What do you think, old man?"

Bai Yang looked at the other party and held up two fingers.

Liu Qingshan lowered his head in silence, then sighed and said, "I can agree to the second condition right now. From now on, no one will come to you because of this wine. But I can't meet the first condition. I don't have the money."

"If you don't have money, why didn't you say so earlier? Wasting my time. Seriously, at your age, don't you know time is life? No sense of punctuality at all. Then there's nothing to talk about. Excuse me, don't block the way."

Bai Yang turned and walked away, then stopped after passing behind the old man and said, "Maybe your status and connections are impressive, maybe you can pull strings everywhere. You say you're a martial artist—I wouldn't doubt it if you could leap over roofs and walk on walls. But the conditions are set. If you can't meet them, don't bother me again."

With those words, Bai Yang entered the villa gate, closed the door, and didn't look back.

Liu Qingshan watched Bai Yang's retreating figure, fell silent for a moment, sighed, and turned to leave. He felt that Bai Yang didn't really care about the wine itself, but rather about being investigated behind his back. That was why he was deliberately making things difficult!

He couldn't bring himself to resort to underhanded tactics, so he could only go back and figure something out.

Old-school martial artists almost all believed in cultivating virtue before martial arts. Without proper virtue, the heart was crooked, and with an unsettled mind, one would only fall into evil ways. In today's environment, people like that would be taken down in no time...

In ancient times, martial artists could defy the law with force, but nowadays, no matter how high one's martial arts were, it was useless. Even though Liu Qingshan was a martial artist, he didn't dare act recklessly. Faced with a gun, he'd still have to kneel.

Back in the same large villa, Liu Qingshan arrived with a furrowed brow. The old man from before was still brewing tea.

"You met him?" the tea-brewing old man asked without looking up.

Liu Qingshan sat down, picked up a cup of fragrant tea, and said, "I did. Guotao, this time, I think we've thoroughly offended Bai Yang."

The tea-brewing old man was named Song Guotao. He used to appear frequently on Z Province television. Hearing Liu Qingshan's words, he paused his movements and smiled, "Oh? Tell me the details."

Song Guotao had seen all kinds of storms and could remain unruffled by anything.

Liu Qingshan glanced at him and recounted the entire encounter with Bai Yang.

After listening to Liu Qingshan's account, Song Guotao pointed at him and burst out laughing, thoroughly amused.

"What are you laughing at?" Liu Qingshan asked, confused.

"What am I laughing at? Isn't it funny? Look at you, at your age, being toyed with by a young kid. You're really regressing. I'm embarrassed for you," Song Guotao said, still laughing.

Liu Qingshan looked at him in bewilderment.

Song Guotao shook his head in exasperation and said, "He already knew you'd come looking for him again. The first thing he said to you was about you trying to frame him. That was him telling you, 'I remember you.' Got it? So the question is, why did you show up in front of him again? It's not like he's a beauty you'd be eager to see. Unless you're an idiot, anyone would know your appearance had a reason. Then he squeezed the truth out of you in just two sentences..."

"I still don't understand."

"I'm sure you've trained your brain into mush with all that martial arts. When he said you were trying to frame him, he was telling you to get to the point and stop wasting time. When he found out you needed that wine, he brought up money, waiting for you to hand it over. He put up a valuable ginseng for auction because he needs cash. Do you think he actually cares about that wine? It's not some miracle cure that brings the dead back to life, so why would he hoard it? You didn't even need to investigate him—just a little asking around would have led you to him. The reason he emphasized that you investigated him was to make it clear: 'I'm drawing a line with you. Don't think you can pull rank and ask for a discount.' Finally, he used you as a shield to block unnecessary trouble. Got it? And of course, he did give you a little benefit in the end," Song Guotao explained in a rapid-fire manner.

Liu Qingshan was almost dumbfounded. After struggling to process it, he said helplessly, "You people, why so many twists and turns? Are all young people these days as sharp as monkeys?"

Liu Qingshan grew angrier as he spoke, but the gloom in his eyes had vanished.

"You're the one who's dumb. Don't blame others," Song Guotao shrugged.

"You said he gave me some benefit? What benefit?"

"You're hopeless. He asked you to block trouble for him, which means he's giving you first dibs on the good stuff. Isn't that a good thing?" Song Guotao pointed at his nose and said.

"But I don't have the money..." Liu Qingshan said, deeply frustrated.

"You don't, but I do," Song Guotao said, grinning like an old fox.

"What do you want?" Liu Qing asked warily. This old man was definitely up to no good.

"I want half."

"You could actually just buy it from him yourself."

"Then he wouldn't sell it to me, and he wouldn't sell it to you either. You promised to help him keep the trouble away."

"In that case, why should I give you half?"

"Because you don't have any money!"

"...Fine."

Back at the villa, Bai Yang's stern expression vanished in an instant. He hummed a little tune as he took a shower—this damn weather was hot enough to kill a person.

What? You think he's still angry about being investigated? Don't be ridiculous. He's not some celebrity afraid of paparazzi digging up dirt. He hasn't committed any crimes either, so why would he fear an investigation? If you came to him openly and asked, he'd cooperate fully...

"I wonder when that old man will send the money over..."

Muttering to himself, he turned on the air conditioner, wrapped himself in a blanket, and settled in for a nap. He had no doubt whatsoever about how badly that old man craved the Hundred Fruit Brew...

(Plea for recommendation tickets and collection support)