This Pretty Boy Must Have Fooled My Sister

Welcome to Trapped in the Same Day for a Thousand Years, exclusively produced by Feilu Novel Network, written by Sang Ze and narrated by Wang Xiaomo and Lao He.

The look Li Ruodai gave Wu Chen turned searching, then faintly hostile. She could not see anything special about him. He was good-looking, but hardly breathtakingly handsome. He was of average height, neither tall nor short, and he looked far too young.

Most people considered youth an advantage, but some did not.

To them, youth meant a lack of ability and experience.

As the saying went, a green youngster could hardly be trusted to get things done. In the eyes of successful and powerful people, youth rarely went hand in hand with competence.

Li Ruotai knew his older sister. He would not have been surprised if she had found herself a man in his forties or fifties. She was forceful and domineering, and she had never pitied the weak or incompetent. To her, they were trash.

She admired capable men. She would not spare a glance for a scion with connections reaching to the heavens, even if his family background surpassed hers.

But she would treat a self-made success with courtesy, even if he was not especially rich and had used less-than-clean methods to make his fortune.

That was why Li Ruotai could not understand what his sister saw in a man barely in his twenties. It made no sense.

He was beginning to think his formidable sister had been fooled by a pretty boy.

For all her maturity, decisiveness, and strong opinions, his sister had never actually been in love. She was a complete novice at romance. Perhaps this pretty boy had swept her off her feet with sweet talk.

Love made people blind. It could wipe all their good sense away. Yes, that had to be it.

The more Li Ruotai thought about it, the more certain he became. He resolved to rescue his sister and expose this pretty boy for what he really was.

"A Tai, what are you looking at?"

Li Ruobing frowned and waved a hand in front of him.

Li Ruotai had been staring at Wu Chen for quite a while. Anyone else would probably have grown uncomfortable by now.

Wu Chen, however, seemed not to notice. He kept smiling.

"Ah, nothing. Just looking at my brother-in-law."

Li Ruotai gave a false smile and casually asked,

"Brother-in-law, you look pretty young."

Wu Chen smiled.

"I'm only twenty-two. I just graduated from university."

Li Ruotai asked,

"You graduated this year?"

"Just graduated?"

"When did you meet my sister?"

"Three months ago, when your sister went to the university to recruit interns in person."

Wu Chen answered without missing a beat.

Li Ruobing glanced at Wu Chen. She really had gone to Donghai University three months earlier, but she had never told him.

"So you've only known each other three months."

Li Ruotai smiled with polished ease and glanced at his sister. "And you're already talking about marriage?"

"Sis, didn't you say you'd never marry?"

"I didn't come here to chat."

Li Ruobing glared at Li Ruotai.

"Come on, let's talk." Li Ruotai was determined to push his luck today. He would go against Li Ruobing even if it earned him a beating. He had to expose this pretty boy.

"Oh, right, brother-in-law. The guys seem to have had a misunderstanding with you yesterday. I'll apologize on their behalf."

Li Ruotai sounded sincere.

"It's fine. We're all family."

Wu Chen replied.

Brother-in-law, my ass, Li Ruotai fumed.

"Hey, those guys said you were at Huahe Bar with a young girl yesterday."

"Who was she?"

"Your little sister?"

There was a pointed edge to Li Ruotai's question.

"A young girl?"

Li Ruobing shot Wu Chen a sidelong glance, reacting instantly. In truth, she knew nothing about what had happened yesterday. She neither cared nor minded if Wu Chen had dealings with other women.

Their relationship was fake, after all. But in front of her brother, she had to act as though she cared and show a little jealousy.

"She isn't my sister. She's Mu Qianqian."

Wu Chen continued,

"She's the daughter of Mu Sihai, owner of Donghai Mu Biomedical Group."

"Come to think of it, you should thank me. If I hadn't stopped Liu Huzi from laying a hand on her yesterday, even you might not have been able to smooth things over."

Li Ruotai's expression shifted.

Donghai Mu Biomedical Group was a local company and a leader in Donghai City's biomedical industry.

Its owner, Mu Sihai, was worth over a billion yuan. He was a deputy to the local people's congress and had deep connections and roots in Donghai.

The Mu family's company could not compare with the Li Family, of course. The two families were on different levels.

But as the saying went, even a mighty dragon struggled against a snake in its own territory. The Mu family's company was firmly established in Donghai, while Li Ruotai was an outsider. The biomedical industry was full of hidden complexities; without the right connections, no one could even get in.

Wu Chen was right. If anything had happened to Mu Qianqian yesterday, even Young Master Li would have had trouble settling it. Mu Sihai had only one daughter and doted on her beyond measure.

Li Ruotai was not afraid of Mu Sihai, but if they clashed here in Donghai, he would pay a heavy price even if he won.

"Then I really must thank you, brother-in-law."

Li Ruotai's expression looked decidedly uneasy.

"Enough of that, A Tai. I came to see you today because something urgent has come up."

Li Ruobing said,

"Go ahead, sis."

Li Ruotai answered at once.

The matter of Mu Qianqian had been brushed aside.

Li Ruotai did not press him further. From what Wu Chen had said, it sounded as if he knew Mu Sihai. Wu Chen had deliberately left them with that impression. He knew of Mu Sihai, but Mu Sihai did not know him. Still, making his acquaintance would be easy enough.

"Let your brother-in-law explain."

Li Ruobing gestured toward Wu Chen.

Li Ruotai frowned slightly. That pretty boy really has my sister wrapped around his finger.

Li Ruobing's previous fake boyfriends had all been timid around her, barely daring to breathe. Li Ruotai had seen it for himself.

This time, though, Wu Chen paid no attention to what Li Ruotai might be thinking. He briefly laid out the situation.

"The authorities are going after Crown Club?"

"That's impossible."

"How do you know?"

Li Ruotai narrowed his eyes at Wu Chen, unconvinced.

He knew Crown Club attracted attention, but he had always kept everything well managed. Besides, everyone knew he was the Li Family's eldest grandson. Who would dare make trouble while his grandfather was still alive?

"You shouldn't have secretly filmed those videos to blackmail people. And you should have cut off your business dealings with Xie Hu long ago."

Wu Chen said,

"You..." Li Ruotai grew visibly uneasy and glanced at his sister. Xie Hu was a member of the Northern Xie Family. Even his sister knew nothing about their dealings. How had Wu Chen found out?

"You're still in contact with that Xie?"

Li Ruobing reacted sharply. She shot to her feet and pointed at her brother. "How many times have I told you? He's no good! Did everything I said go in one ear and out the other?" "Sis, calm down. Think of your health. Sit down."

Li Ruotai shrank back, afraid his sister might suddenly slap him.

"Your sister's right. That Xie is no good."

Wu Chen went on. "He's the one who sold you out this time. He got into trouble first, then shifted all the blame onto you and claimed it was your idea."

Li Ruotai's face darkened. He slowly clenched his fists. He still only half believed Wu Chen, but Xie Hu had indeed been acting strangely these past few months. He had not brought in any new customers for quite some time.

"How do you know all this?"

"How am I supposed to believe you?"

"Who told you?"

Li Ruotai suddenly fixed his gaze on Wu Chen. He was beginning to suspect there was something very wrong with Wu Chen's identity.

"There are things I don't need to explain to you in detail. I'm here because of Ruobing."

Wu Chen glanced at Li Ruobing, then said to Li Ruotai, "You're Ruobing's brother. If something happened to you, she'd be upset. That's why I came."

"Quit acting mysterious, you little punk. I'm telling you, if you don't explain yourself today, you won't walk out of here alive."

Li Ruotai slapped the table and stood up.

Wu Chen smiled. They really were siblings.

Li Ruotai had just said the same thing Li Ruobing had said earlier. "A Tai, what are you doing?"

Li Ruobing was furious too. "Sis, I'm telling you, he's a fraud! He must be after something. You can't trust him!"

Li Ruotai pointed at Wu Chen and shouted.

"A Tai, calm down. Let your brother-in-law finish," Li Ruobing said. "Sis, I don't care how he fooled you. I'm not believing him."

Li Ruotai continued, "He can't even say where his information came from. Someone might have sent him to get close to you, and now he's trying to take me down."

Li Ruotai's strong reaction was not just because Wu Chen refused to reveal his source. It was also due to preconceived bias.

In psychology, a stereotype was a fixed, generalized view people formed of someone or something.

Li Ruotai had decided Wu Chen was a pretty boy who had fooled his sister. He was hostile toward him, so he would put the worst possible interpretation on anything Wu Chen said.

"A Tai, you need to do something about that temper."

Wu Chen spoke calmly to Li Ruotai.

"Don't lecture me!"

Li Ruotai grabbed the coat he had set aside and pulled out a gun. He was just about to aim it at Wu Chen.

Smack!

A resounding slap left Li Ruotai stunned.

"Have you lost your mind? Give me that gun!"

Li Ruobing was furious. She snatched the gun from Li Ruotai's hand.

"Sis, you hit me for an outsider?"

Holding his cheek, Li Ruotai stared at her in disbelief.

"I'm trying to keep you from dying in prison."

Li Ruobing spoke through gritted teeth and raised her hand again. Li Ruotai flinched away.

"Sit down!"

Li Ruobing pointed at the sofa, her tone leaving no room for argument.

Li Ruotai sat down despite his dark expression. He would not look at his sister. Instead, he glared at the unruffled Wu Chen as if he wanted to eat him alive.

Li Ruobing returned to her seat beside Wu Chen. She dropped the gun onto the coffee table, rested a hand against her forehead, and looked as though she had a headache.

"Calm down. There's no need for this. You're brother and sister; don't let it damage your relationship."

Wu Chen tried to comfort Li Ruobing.

"Quit pretending to be the good guy. My sister and I are fine. We don't need you worrying about us."

Li Ruotai snapped back.

Then he turned to Li Ruobing. "Sis, you really believe this fraud who can't even explain himself?"

Li Ruobing looked at her brother without expression.

Did she trust Wu Chen?

In truth, she did not trust him all that much. But Wu Chen had said he was an intelligence broker, and he had already proved himself by accurately identifying a traitor close to her.

So regardless of whether Wu Chen was reliable in general, Li Ruobing trusted his information. She did not know what schemes Wu Chen might have in store for her.

But even if Wu Chen was plotting something major, he was clearly still at the stage of earning her trust. He would provide valuable intelligence, so she believed his warning that her brother was in danger.

Her concern for her brother outweighed her doubts. Li Ruobing did not want anything to happen to him, so she was willing to go along with Wu Chen for now.

She knew that if she had not been there to restrain him, her brother might already have shot Wu Chen. She had had to slap him to make him calm down.

Li Ruobing did not answer her brother's accusation that Wu Chen was a fraud. Instead, she gestured to Wu Chen and said, "Go on." Only a handful of people in Donghai's entire law enforcement and judicial system knew the authorities planned to move against Crown Entertainment Club.

Liao Bo, who had been transferred to Donghai Police Department as deputy chief four months ago, had come specifically to handle the Crown Entertainment Club case.

Municipal Party Secretary Wei knew about it too. Though he had ties to the Li Family, the matter was too serious, and he had chosen to stay out of it.

They were still gathering evidence.

Wu Chen continued, "Some investigators have gone undercover as customers. Others have infiltrated the club itself and collected a great deal of evidence."

Wu Chen turned to Li Ruobing. "Do you have a pen and paper?"

As a businesswoman, Li Ruobing carried a notebook and fountain pen. She took them from her bag and handed them to Wu Chen.

Wu Chen quickly wrote down several names and their jobs at Crown Entertainment Club: photographer, cleaner, chef, and bar attendant.

Their roles varied widely, but they all had one thing in common: every one of them had joined Crown Entertainment Club within the past four months.

Because Li Ruotai kept such tight control over Crown Club's internal operations, no one had managed to get close to him. They could only reach its outer circles, which had slowed the collection of evidence. Otherwise, the authorities would have acted long ago.

When Wu Chen finished, he tossed the notebook to Li Ruotai.

Li Ruotai picked it up with a dark look, glanced at it, then looked at Wu Chen. "You expect me to take your word that they're all undercover?" "They should still have intelligence they haven't had time to send out. Search their things and you'll know."

Wu Chen spread his hands.

Li Ruotai stared at Wu Chen in silence. After a moment, he took out his phone and made a call, giving orders to the housekeeping, food and beverage, and operations departments.

He listed off several departments and told them to assemble in the second-floor lobby. Then he made another call. "Old Wu, go to the second-floor lobby and give them a talk."

After the two calls, Li Ruotai stood up.

"Everyone's been called away. What now?"

"Search the rooms of the people on that list, of course."

Li Ruotai did not go himself. Instead, he summoned a trusted bodyguard from outside and sent him with a team.

His trusted bodyguards had come with him from the Li Family. Many were retired Special Forces Soldiers or scouts. They were professionals.

After everything was arranged, Li Ruotai sat in the room, staring Wu Chen down.

"I'm waiting for you to apologize to me."

Wu Chen smiled at Li Ruotai. Li Ruotai gave him a cold smile in return.

Li Ruobing suddenly leaned over, slipped her arm through Wu Chen's, and whispered in his ear, "What should we have for lunch?"

"French food? Don't you like foie gras?"

"But I'm not feeling very well today."

"Then something lighter. How about Japanese food?"

"A new place opened on Wutong Street. It's pretty good. Or we could go home, and I'll cook for you."

Under the circumstances, Li Ruobing should have been too worried about Li Ruotai to think about lunch. Their act seemed off.

But looked at another way, the fact that Li Ruobing could still whisper to Wu Chen about lunch at a time like this made her seem like a woman deeply in love.

Across from them, Li Ruotai tore at a strip of paper while glaring at Wu Chen. He genuinely cared about his older sister. Had Ding Ruilong forced her into this? How else could she have ended up with a guy like him?

Li Ruotai had plenty of people working for him, so the search was quick. A little over twenty minutes later, someone knocked on the door.

"Come in."

Li Ruotai spoke.

A bodyguard entered carrying a tray piled with assorted items: a laptop, a phone, a recording device, a video camera, a diary, and a listening device.

"Boss." The bodyguard set down the tray, then whispered something to Li Ruotai.

As Li Ruotai listened, his expression changed again and again.

When the bodyguard finished, Li Ruotai immediately picked up the diary and flipped through it. Page after page listed guests' names, along with meeting times and phone numbers.

He picked up the video camera next. It contained covert footage and an enormous number of photographs, all showing the Clubhouse's facilities, staff, and business operations.

Then he checked the contents of the laptop, phone, video camera, and memory card.

The laptop and phone were locked, but the hackers working for Li Ruotai had already cracked them.

The more Li Ruotai saw, the faster he breathed. His face grew vicious, and veins bulged across his forehead.

No one would have taken all those pictures for no reason. He even found secretly photographed pages from the account books on the laptop.

Wu Chen had been telling the truth. "Grab every last person on that list! Now! They dared try to set me up!"

Li Ruotai shot to his feet and roared. "Don't arrest them!"

"If even one person disappears, the people above might make their move early."

"They already have some evidence. They've only held off because they still lack the crucial evidence about the casino."

Wu Chen spoke suddenly, his voice calm.

The bodyguard slowed and looked back at Li Ruotai. "Do you want to walk out of here and into prison, or get through this safely?"

Wu Chen looked at Li Ruotai as he asked.

Li Ruotai's rage vanished at once. Cold sweat soaked his back. "Put everything back exactly where it was."

Wu Chen turned to the bodyguard.

The bodyguard hesitated. When Li Ruotai raised no objection, he picked up the tray and left.

Li Ruotai sat down, his eyes still wide and restless.

He thought of all the terrible consequences.

"Want to stay out of prison?"

Wu Chen asked Li Ruotai.

Li Ruotai snapped his head up. "What should I do?"

"Apologize to me, and I'll tell you."

Wu Chen's face was expressionless as he spoke to Li Ruotai.