Unmoved

Inside the Martial Arts Building, Wang Tianyu had just finished training.

"Wang Tianyu, come with me for a moment. I have something to tell you."

Wang Tianyu was quite surprised as he looked at Xie Hongmei before him.

Xie Hongmei was well-known in Second High's martial arts class. Only three girls in total had been selected for the class.

Xie Hongmei had performed exceptionally in the punching-force test, so Wang Tianyu had some impression of her.

Xie Hongmei was fairly pretty, and her martial arts training had given her a tall, slender figure.

Because of her excellent looks, Xie Hongmei had quite a few admirers in the martial arts class.

However, Wang Tianyu was not among them.

Wang Tianyu had no interest in Xie Hongmei whatsoever. His entire mind was focused on martial arts training, leaving him no thought for anything else.

"Go ahead. What is it?"

Wang Tianyu followed Xie Hongmei to a corner of the building.

"It's like this. I'd like to invite you to dinner tonight."

Xie Hongmei blushed as she spoke. Her lowered voice and flushed cheeks made her meaning obvious to any man.

"I don't have time. I have something to do tonight."

Without a second thought, Wang Tianyu rejected Xie Hongmei's invitation.

Wang Tianyu's reasons for rejecting Xie Hongmei were simple.

First, Wang Tianyu had no interest in Xie Hongmei and did not want to get too entangled with her.

His thinking was simple: since he was not interested, he should not have too much contact with her, lest it cause trouble later.

Second, Wang Tianyu really did have something to do that night. He planned to find an opportunity to check on Huang Lei and observe him carefully if he could.

So how could Wang Tianyu possibly have time to go have dinner with Xie Hongmei?

"Huh?"

Wang Tianyu's direct refusal left Xie Hongmei at a loss. She had never expected him to reject her so decisively.

She had never considered such an outcome, and she did not know how to continue.

"It's like this. Today is my birthday. I want you to celebrate it with me. You're the only person I invited."

Xie Hongmei still refused to give up. She knew her own charm and did not believe Wang Tianyu could ignore it.

Xie Hongmei would rather believe that Wang Tianyu was a block of wood, so this time, she made her hint even more obvious.

"I don't have time. If there's nothing else, I'll be leaving."

Who would have thought that Wang Tianyu would not fall for that at all? He still rejected Xie Hongmei cleanly and decisively.

"This..."

Xie Hongmei finally understood. Either Wang Tianyu had absolutely no interest in her at all—

Or Wang Tianyu simply did not understand anything between men and women.

"Wait!"

Seeing Wang Tianyu preparing to turn and leave, Xie Hongmei hurriedly called out to stop him.

"What else is it?"

Wang Tianyu stopped and looked at Xie Hongmei with an impatient expression.

"I know some things about Zhang Wenchao."

Seeing that she could not attract Wang Tianyu with her looks, Xie Hongmei began using her second plan.

This was something Wang Tianyu could not refuse. Xie Hongmei believed he would definitely change his attitude.

"What did you say? What do you know? Tell me quickly."

Sure enough, Wang Tianyu was immediately drawn in upon hearing that.

Wang Tianyu took several excited steps closer. He was now very close to Xie Hongmei; to anyone nearby, they looked like a couple.

Wang Tianyu had been investigating the person behind Zhang Wenchao.

However, the resources at his disposal were limited.

So Wang Tianyu could only investigate according to his own guesses.

That method was terribly inefficient, but Wang Tianyu had no better ideas.

Now that he heard Xie Hongmei had information about Zhang Wenchao, how could Wang Tianyu not be excited?

"Eight tonight, A Liao's Bar."

Xie Hongmei smiled. Ignoring Wang Tianyu's urgency, she gave him a time and place before turning and leaving first.

"Something's not right."

Watching Xie Hongmei's retreating back, a faint suspicion rose in Wang Tianyu's heart.

Wang Tianyu and Xie Hongmei had never had any dealings before. Her initiative in approaching him was far too unusual.

Wang Tianyu did not believe Xie Hongmei had taken a fancy to him. If that were the case, why had she not approached him before?

Even if Xie Hongmei liked him somewhat, how could she know about Zhang Wenchao?

There was clearly something here that Wang Tianyu did not know.

Wang Tianyu frowned, quietly keeping his guard up.

That night, inside a private room at A Liao's Bar.

Xie Hongmei wore a stylish, well-fitting outfit and light makeup, making her charm stand out even more.

"Can you talk now? What will it take for you to tell me?"

Wang Tianyu sat on a sofa beside Xie Hongmei. He merely glanced at her before withdrawing his gaze.

In Wang Tianyu's eyes, the matter of Zhang Wenchao was what truly attracted him.

"Don't be in such a hurry. Here, let's have a drink first, then we can talk."

Xie Hongmei smiled and rose to open a bottle of liquor.

Taking two empty glasses from the table, Xie Hongmei poured a little liquor into each of them.

She handed one glass to Wang Tianyu and picked up the other herself.

"Come on, cheers!"

With that, Xie Hongmei drained the liquor in her hand in one gulp.

Wang Tianyu set his glass on the table and said flatly, "I don't drink. Just tell me. If you have any conditions, you might as well state them directly."

Wang Tianyu was suspicious, so naturally, he would not drink the liquor Xie Hongmei had handed him.

"You drank quite a bit at the dinner gathering that night. Why can't you even give me this much face? Have a drink first, then we'll discuss Zhang Wenchao."

Xie Hongmei smiled as she exposed Wang Tianyu's clumsy lie.

Seeing his lie exposed, Wang Tianyu helplessly picked up the glass, preparing to bring it to his mouth.

Xie Hongmei did not keep staring at Wang Tianyu's movements. She poured herself another drink.

"Cheers!"

Xie Hongmei raised her glass in a gesture.

Clatter!

Rather than drink the liquor in his glass, Wang Tianyu threw it to the floor.

The instant he discarded the glass, Wang Tianyu accelerated and charged toward Xie Hongmei.

Before Xie Hongmei could react, one of Wang Tianyu's hands had already seized her by the throat.

With a burst of force from his arm, Wang Tianyu lifted Xie Hongmei into the air with one hand.

"How do you know about Zhang Wenchao? And why were you so determined to make me drink? Is there something in the liquor?"

Wang Tianyu showed no tenderness toward her. Holding Xie Hongmei up with one hand, he began demanding answers.

"Urgh! Urgh!"

With her neck gripped by Wang Tianyu, Xie Hongmei could not make a complete sound.

Her body struggled continuously as both hands desperately clawed at Wang Tianyu's right hand.

Wang Tianyu's strength had improved tremendously during this period, and Xie Hongmei had already fallen far behind him.

Therefore, no matter how hard Xie Hongmei struggled, it was completely useless.

Only when Xie Hongmei's struggles grew weaker and weaker, and an unnatural flush appeared on her face, did Wang Tianyu finally put her down.

Once she landed, Xie Hongmei collapsed to her knees on the floor, opening her mouth greedily to gulp down air.

"Can you talk now? Tell me everything you know."

Looking at Xie Hongmei's disheveled state, Wang Tianyu's expression did not change in the slightest.

"Cough! Cough!"

After coughing weakly twice, Xie Hongmei rose from the floor.

Instead of answering Wang Tianyu after getting to her feet, Xie Hongmei took out a small remote control.

Xie Hongmei pressed the remote hard in her hand. Less than ten seconds later, the private room's previously closed door was opened from outside.

As the door opened, four people rushed in from outside.

Three of them wore dark suits, with close-cropped hair and Bluetooth earpieces. At a glance, they looked like bodyguards.

The other also wore a suit, but with his center-parted hair and unsteady steps, he looked more like a lackey.

"Beat him to death! Beat him to death for me!"

Seeing the four people rush in from outside, Xie Hongmei's tone was somewhat frenzied.

"This isn't how the plan was supposed to go."

Seeing the scene in the private room, the center-parted man was somewhat surprised.

The center-parted man was named Wang Xun. Wang Xun was Deng Rensheng's personal assistant and usually helped Deng Rensheng handle trivial matters in daily life.

Wang Tianyu had enraged Deng Rensheng. Not only had he made Deng Rensheng lose face, he had also put Deng Rensheng in the hospital for several days.

Deng Rensheng's true nature was nothing like what he showed on the surface.

The deeply calculating Deng Rensheng had pretended not to care about the matter and had even reconciled with Wang Tianyu over drinks.

Yet in secret, he had ordered Wang Xun to find someone to cripple Wang Tianyu. Zhang Wenchao was the thug Wang Xun had found.

"Grab him."

Although things differed somewhat from what they had imagined, they had reached this point, and Wang Xun could only bite the bullet and press forward.

Xie Hongmei's invitation was part of a trap Deng Rensheng had laid.

Xie Hongmei's father worked for Deng Rensheng's family company, while Xie Hongmei herself was Deng Rensheng's woman.

It was only because Deng Rensheng had his own considerations that their relationship remained unknown.

Deng Rensheng had prepared two plans for Wang Tianyu.

One was that if Wang Tianyu was drawn in by Xie Hongmei's beauty, then Xie Hongmei would become Wang Tianyu's girlfriend.

With Xie Hongmei as an insider, it would be much easier for Deng Rensheng to deal with Wang Tianyu afterward.

The other plan was that if Wang Tianyu was not particularly interested in Xie Hongmei—

Then they would have him drink the drugged liquor.

Once he drank it, this matter would likewise become very easy to handle.