Partners in crime

"All right, this is the girls' dorm. Get some rest." Li Yichen handed her the long wooden case he had been carrying on his back.

"Oh." Tang Ling'er took it, then turned and ran into the dorm building.

"Not even a goodbye? After all that running around I did for her..." Li Yichen rubbed his nose with a wry smile. He had just turned away when he heard Tang Ling'er call, "Hey, handsome! What's your name?"

"Li Yichen." He turned back in delighted surprise, then asked with a smile, "What's yours?"

"Tang Ling'er." She giggled, then turned and went upstairs.

Just as Li Yichen turned and headed back, secretly thrilled...

He failed to notice a girl behind a third-floor window, glaring at him through gritted teeth. "You jerk! You big pervert! Flirting with another girl already."

"Xuanxuan, what are you looking at? What big pervert?" A roommate happened to come through the door and asked curiously.

"Nothing." Ouyang Xuanxuan blushed. Seeing the shopping bags in her hands, she quickly changed the subject. "Xiao Lu, why did you buy so much stuff?"

"Military training starts in a couple of days, so I bought some sun protection," Xiao Lu said, pulling a sun hat, sunscreen, and other things out of the bags. "Otherwise, after half a month out there, my face will be ruined!"

"Oh, right!" Ouyang Xuanxuan immediately caught on. At the thought of spending the next half month exposed to the elements, she could no longer sit still. She grabbed Xiao Lu and said, "Xiao Lu, come out with me again. I need to buy some too."

"Hey, stop pulling!" Xiao Lu pushed her hand away and said with a smile, "Once the other roommates arrive, I'll go with all of you."

"Great, great!" Ouyang Xuanxuan beamed, instantly forgetting all about Li Yichen.

In a ward in the infirmary, Han Wenqi sat in a wheelchair, his face frighteningly dark and his eyes bloodshot.

Just then, Song Yi cautiously pushed the door open, stepped inside, and slowly closed it behind him.

He froze for a moment at the sight of Han Wenqi in a wheelchair. The corners of his mouth lifted, but he quickly put on a distressed expression and asked, "Wenqi, is your leg beyond saving?"

Han Wenqi glanced up at him and said coldly, "Would you be happy if I lost my leg?"

"Of course not!" Song Yi hurriedly replied. "The Student Union can't do without you."

Han Wenqi curled his lip in disgust. "The doctor said I need to rest for half a month." Then he asked, "How did the investigation I asked you to do go?"

"As long as you're all right. Just think of it as a two-week break." Song Yi breathed a sigh of relief, then lowered his voice. "I only managed to find information on three of the four people you asked me to investigate. One of them isn't from our university. He probably just came along to help someone register."

A cold gleam flashed in Han Wenqi's eyes. "Fine. Tell me what you found."

"Sure." Song Yi agreed, then continued, "The girl we saw today is from Bashu. Her name is Tang Ling'er, and she's majoring in archaeology. It's just..."

"Just what?" Han Wenqi frowned. "Why are you hemming and hawing?"

"It's just that that's all we could find. We couldn't get any other information," Song Yi said helplessly.

"Useless! You can't even handle something this simple!" Han Wenqi flew into a rage. If he had been able to move his leg, he would have kicked Song Yi.

After calming down a little, he said, "If we can't find anything, it means her information was deliberately concealed. She probably has connections."

"That's exactly what I thought too," Song Yi hurriedly said. "After all, a few students with special connections enroll here every year. We can't afford to mess with them."

"Hmm." Han Wenqi suppressed his anger, then asked, "Forget about her for now. What about the other two? Don't tell me their information was hidden too. I wouldn't believe that for a second."

"No, it wasn't." Song Yi quickly shook his head. "But..."

"But what now?" Han Wenqi stared at him. "You'd better give me a reasonable explanation, or you know what'll happen."

"One of the two girls from yesterday is called Ouyang Xuanxuan. She's majoring in journalism and communication. She's from the Ouyang Family in Magic City."

Han Wenqi's hand trembled. "The Ouyang Family that owns the biggest jewelry group in Magic City? Are you sure you haven't made a mistake?"

"That's the one." Song Yi nodded.

"Fuck!" Han Wenqi slapped his wheelchair and cursed. "Each one has more powerful connections than the last!"

Han Wenqi was furious. His own family had a little influence, but compared to a giant like that, they were no more than ants. If he wanted to go up against them, he would not even qualify as an opponent.

And he truly regretted it. If he had managed to win over the Ouyang Family's daughter, wouldn't he have been set for life?

Han Wenqi took a deep breath and forced himself to calm down. "What about the guy? Don't tell me he has connections too."

"No, he doesn't," Song Yi said confidently. "His name is Li Yichen. He's a second-year mechanical design student from rural Hebei. He has no connections whatsoever."

"Good." Han Wenqi smiled coldly. "We can't touch those two girls, so we'll have to make Li Yichen our target."

Then he turned to Song Yi. "Do you have any good ideas? I want to make it impossible for him to stay here."

"Well..." Song Yi looked troubled. "Unless we catch him doing something we can use against him, it'll be hard to go after him openly."

"Then find someone to beat him up," Han Wenqi said through gritted teeth. "Whatever it takes, I want him crawling back home."

Song Yi considered it for a moment, then said, "Maybe we could spend some money and get people from outside the university to break his leg first. Then we can figure out the rest."

"Fine. That's what we'll do," Han Wenqi decided after a moment's thought.

"It's just that hiring people costs money. I'm, heh... a little short right now. So..." Song Yi said with a hollow smile.

Han Wenqi glanced at him. "Didn't you get over ten thousand in kickbacks when you helped replace the college's air conditioners last time? You've spent it all already?"

"Heh." Song Yi pulled a long face. "I've had a lot of expenses lately, meals and things like that. I've only got a little over a thousand left. It's nowhere near enough."

Han Wenqi snorted. Song Yi was definitely pocketing money, but he was doing the same himself. Neither had any right to criticize the other.

After a moment's thought, he said, "The university happens to be replacing a batch of computers. Work something out. But I'm warning you, keep it clean. Don't leave anything they can use against us."

"Don't worry, Wenqi!" Song Yi immediately brightened. "I'll go find someone right now. Just wait and see."

"Hmm." Han Wenqi nodded. "Go on. Keep it clean. If anything goes wrong, I don't know you."

"Just wait and see, Wenqi." Song Yi patted his chest in assurance. "It's not our first time doing this. I know what I'm doing."

There were only two people in a private dining room at a hotel outside the university.

A young man with dyed yellow hair glanced at Song Yi and asked casually, "What did you ask me here for today? We don't exactly know each other, do we?"

"Heh." Song Yi hurriedly stood and filled the glass in front of him, smiling obsequiously. "Yellow Hair, you're the top dog around Jinling University. Who else would I turn to?"

"Here, let me drink to you." Song Yi raised his glass with a fawning expression.

"Heh, you've got a way with words." Little Yellow Hair grinned and drained his glass.

Song Yi's words pleased him immensely. As a mere thug, he rarely received such flattery, and it immediately went to his head.

"I asked you here today because I'd like you to find a few people to deal with a student," Song Yi said, sliding an envelope over. "Just break one of his legs."

"Oh?" Little Yellow Hair glanced at the envelope, then picked it up and felt its thickness. He grinned. "You know how things work."

"Then I'll be waiting for your good news, Yellow Hair." Seeing him accept the money, Song Yi beamed and raised his glass. "Let me drink to you again."