A Wager

The smile on Zhao Ritian's face instantly froze, and his outstretched hand hung awkwardly in midair.

His expression gradually darkened, his eyes filling with venomous resentment.

The reason he had swallowed his pride and come to help today was to put on a good show before graduation and try to win Su Nianhe over.

But he had never expected that the moment Su Nianhe saw Lin Yun, she would act as though he did not exist!

That piece of trash!

Why?

Why did Su Nianhe only have eyes for that useless trash with 2 points of blood vitality?!

Su Nianhe ran all the way up to Lin Yun. Having rushed over too quickly, she was breathing lightly, a faint blush coloring her cheeks.

"Lin Yun, why are you here?" She tilted her head up at him, her eyes sparkling as though they held a sky full of stars.

Lin Yun awkwardly rubbed his nose and took a step back. "I came to move equipment."

At those words, Su Nianhe's delicate brows furrowed slightly, and concern for Lin Yun visibly rose in her eyes.

"You only have 2 points of blood vitality. How can you move something this heavy? Are you out of money?"

As she spoke, she seemed to remember something. Her expression abruptly changed, and fury flared across her face.

"I couldn't find you yesterday. They said Wang Erhu had taken you away. Did he steal your brother's death benefit? That bastard! I'll call the Wang Family right now and make them spit it back tenfold!"

As she spoke, she pulled out her phone and was about to make the call.

"Don't!"

Lin Yun hurriedly reached out to stop her. "It's not like that. Wang Erhu didn't take my money."

"Then why are you doing this kind of work?" Su Nianhe bit her lip, her gaze full of confusion and heartache.

"I just want to earn some money myself," Lin Yun said calmly.

"Earn money?" Su Nianhe said anxiously. "If you're short on money, just tell me. It's not as if you don't know I'm rich."

With that, she pulled a black bank card from her pocket and stuffed it into Lin Yun's hand.

"There's two million in it. It's what I had left over from buying equipment. Use it for now."

Lin Yun looked at the black card in his hand and sighed helplessly.

In the summer when he was eight years old, he was walking home from school when, in a secluded alley, he saw three vicious-looking human traffickers dragging a sobbing little girl toward a van.

Without hesitation, he rushed forward, knocked one of the traffickers unconscious with a brick, then grabbed the little girl's hand and ran wildly through three streets before finally shaking off the other two traffickers.

That little girl had been Su Nianhe.

From then on, Su Nianhe transferred to his school.

No matter where he went, she always appeared there by the strangest coincidence.

When he went to the library, she sat across from him reading; when he went to the track to run, she waited beside him with water; when he went to the cafeteria to eat, she carried her tray over and sat next to him.

For a full ten years, she had clung to him relentlessly, her feelings never changing.

Everyone knew that the little princess of the Su family liked a useless good-for-nothing with poor aptitude.

Yet Lin Yun had always kept her at arm's length.

He understood all too well how cruel this world was.

In this era of spiritual energy resurgence, without strength, one had nothing.

He was merely an ordinary person with poor aptitude. He could not even protect himself, much less protect Su Nianhe.

His brother had told him more than once, "Xiaoyun, before you have enough strength, do not easily fall in love with anyone. It will only harm her—and harm yourself."

That was why, all these years, he had deliberately avoided Su Nianhe.

Even when she showed him affection time and again, he always responded with cold words.

It was not that he felt nothing for her.

He simply did not want to make promises lightly.

Lin Yun pushed the black card back into Su Nianhe's hand, his tone firm. "Nianhe, thank you, but I can earn money on my own."

"Lin Yun!" Su Nianhe's eyes reddened with anxiety. "I know you have your pride, but do we really need to draw such a clear line between us? If it hadn't been for you back then, I would've been abducted by those traffickers long ago! What does this little bit of money count for? Even if I gave you all my money, I'd be willing!"

"I know." Lin Yun looked at her, and his gaze softened somewhat. "But even if the person being abducted back then hadn't been you, I still would have saved her. So don't feel like you owe me anything."

"But..."

Su Nianhe still wanted to say something, but Zhao Ritian behind them had already reached the end of his patience. He clenched his fists, forced a twisted smile onto his face, and reminded Lin Yun in a strange, mocking tone, "Lin Yun, don't think our wager doesn't count just because Nianhe is here. Hurry up and begin!"

He had already worked it all out in his mind. So what if Su Nianhe liked Lin Yun?

As long as Lin Yun could not lift the equipment, he could make Lin Yun kneel before everyone, kowtow, and call him Grandpa, grinding Lin Yun's face into the dirt for good.

Then Su Nianhe would surely see that this piece of trash was completely unworthy of her!

"A wager? What wager?"

Su Nianhe abruptly turned to Zhao Ritian, her brows instantly knotting together.

She knew Zhao Ritian's character too well. Without even thinking, she knew he had to be up to something.

Zhao Ritian immediately put on a wronged expression and spread his hands. "Nianhe, don't misunderstand. I kindly advised Lin Yun that this wasn't work he could handle and told him to leave, but he refused to accept it. He insisted he could move a 900-kilogram machine and demanded to make a wager with me!"

He deliberately raised his voice, afraid that anyone might fail to hear him.

"What could I do? I couldn't exactly embarrass him, could I? I said that if he could move it upstairs, I'd pay everyone double wages and apologize to these three workers. But if he couldn't move it, he'd kneel down, kowtow, call me Grandpa, and then get the hell out himself. Look, haven't I already given him plenty of leeway?"

"Bullshit!"

The man in gray could not help speaking up.

"You were clearly the one who insulted this young man first, then threatened us with our livelihoods. That's why he made the wager with you!"

"That's right! You even said this young man was a useless trash living off the money his brother earned by risking his life!"

The bald man shouted as well.

Zhao Ritian's expression darkened. "The three of you, stop spouting nonsense here!"

"Zhao Ritian!"

Su Nianhe shot him a cold glare. The chill in her eyes made Zhao Ritian shut his mouth at once.

She turned and grabbed Lin Yun's arm, her voice pleading. "Lin Yun, don't bet with him. He's deliberately provoking you."

"If it really comes down to it, I'll have my dad arrange an easy job for you. It's better than doing manual labor here."

Lin Yun's gaze was resolute. "Nianhe, this has nothing to do with money. This is a wager between him and me. I have to settle it myself."

"Don't worry. I know what I'm doing."

His eyes were clear and unwavering, carrying a strength that made him impossible to refuse.

Su Nianhe looked into his eyes, and the words of persuasion on the tip of her tongue slipped back down her throat.

She bit her lip and turned to glare viciously at Zhao Ritian.

"Zhao Ritian, I'm warning you. If anything happens to Lin Yun today, I will never let you off!"

Her voice was icy, without the slightest trace of a joke.

Zhao Ritian's heart skipped a beat, and he hurriedly put on a smile. "Nianhe, don't worry. How could I possibly let anything happen to him? I'm just fooling around with him."

Though he said that aloud, he sneered inwardly. Fooling around? Once Lin Yun cripples himself, let's see if you'll still like him!

Lin Yun ignored them both and walked straight toward the silver-gray virtual combat pod in the center of the training room.

The heavy metal pod gleamed coldly beneath the lights, its base firmly suctioned to the floor. Just looking at it made it seem immensely heavy.

The three laborers all held their breaths, their palms slick with sweat.

They had been trying to persuade Lin Yun moments ago, yet now they inexplicably hoped that this principled young man could create a miracle.

Zhao Ritian stood to one side with his arms crossed, a cruel smile curling at the corner of his mouth.

He could hardly wait to see Lin Yun's face turn red from strain, see him use every ounce of strength he had and still fail to lift it, before finally collapsing to the ground in humiliation.

Yet Lin Yun remained calm. He took a deep breath, bent down, and firmly gripped the base of the virtual combat pod with both hands.

"Up!"

With a low shout, he forcibly lifted the 900-kilogram metal pod into the air.

The entire room fell instantly silent.