An appointment at the World Trade Center! Did this poor kid belong in such an upscale restaurant?

It was a weekend evening at the World Trade Center in Jinghai City.

As a landmark of Jinghai, the revolving restaurant atop the World Trade Center had always been a money pit for the city's rich and powerful.

Beyond the panoramic floor-to-ceiling windows lay the dazzling neon nightscape of the entire city.

Overhead hung expensive Czech crystal chandeliers, while a foreign pianist in a tailcoat played soothing piano music in a corner.

Dining here was about status. Even an ordinary bottle of wine started at several thousand.

The elevator doors opened with a ding.

Lin Bei strolled out with both hands in his pockets.

Today, he was still wearing a casual T-shirt washed pale, along with jeans and a pair of sneakers frayed around the edges.

Compared with the fashionably dressed men and women in suits, polished shoes, and floor-length evening gowns in the dining room, he looked like a country duck that had wandered into a flock of swans.

The young male host at the entrance gave him a flickering look, then stepped forward to stop him.

"Excuse me, sir. This is a members-only restaurant. Do you have a reservation?"

Lin Bei ignored his snobbery and simply gave him a table number.

The host checked his tablet, and his attitude changed immediately. He hurriedly bowed and ushered Lin Bei inside.

Passing through the corridor, Lin Bei immediately spotted Shen Ruoxi seated in a prime spot by the window.

His steps faltered despite himself.

Today, Shen Ruoxi was not wearing her usual stiff work outfit from school.

Instead, she had changed into a fitted black velvet evening gown.

Its plunging V-neck revealed a dazzling expanse of snowy skin and a deep cleavage.

A necklace set with small diamonds rested on her slender neck, glimmering beneath the lights.

The skirt had an extremely high side slit. She sat elegantly with her long legs, wrapped in sheer black stockings, crossed over each other, a pair of silver stilettos dangling from her toes.

Paired with her gentle, intellectual face, the look pushed that blend of innocence and sensuality to the limit.

Lin Bei keenly noticed men from at least seven or eight nearby tables glancing her way, some openly and others less so.

He walked over, pulled out a chair without hesitation, and sat down.

"Been waiting long?" Lin Bei greeted her casually.

At the sight of Lin Bei, Shen Ruoxi's face, which had grown somewhat uncomfortable under the surrounding stares, instantly blossomed into a radiant smile.

That smile bloomed with a hundred charms, and the sound of hearts breaking immediately rose all around them.

"No, I only just got here." Shen Ruoxi pushed the gold-embossed menu in front of her toward Lin Bei. "See what you'd like. It's my treat today, so don't hold back."

Lin Bei opened the menu and took a look.

Good grief, the whole damn thing was in French and English. Not even a picture.

Lin Bei did not put on airs. He simply pushed the menu back and leaned lazily against his chair.

"Counselor Shen, spare me. I don't understand a single one of these foreign squiggles. Just order whatever you think is good, as long as it's proper meat."

His frankness made Shen Ruoxi burst into laughter.

The men who usually surrounded her all tried desperately to play the gentleman and show off their knowledge.

This was the first time she had met someone like Lin Bei, who simply admitted he could not read it.

"All right, I'll order."

Shen Ruoxi called over a waiter and deftly ordered two beef Wellingtons, a serving of French foie gras, and several signature desserts.

While they waited for the food, the atmosphere between them inexplicably became a little delicate.

Shen Ruoxi cupped her glass in both hands, her fingertips unconsciously rubbing its surface. Just as she was about to bring up treating her menstrual cramps, she was interrupted.

An atmosphere-shattering, ducklike voice suddenly came from beside them.

"Ruoxi, what a coincidence. You're eating here too?"

Lin Bei frowned and turned to look.

Zhao Yutang sauntered over in a flashy bespoke suit.

He was dining here as well, and on his way to the restroom, he had spotted Shen Ruoxi sitting in the dining room.

The sight of her in that ink-black evening gown had made his eyes go wide.

Why hadn't I noticed how alluring this woman was back when we were married?

Zhao Yutang swallowed and hurried over.

Then his gaze shifted, and he saw Lin Bei sitting opposite Shen Ruoxi.

He froze for a moment before forcing out a mocking smile.

"Oh, look who it is. Isn't this the poor student who was in your office that day?"

Zhao Yutang brazenly pulled out an empty chair beside them and sat down, looking at Shen Ruoxi with mockery all over his face.

"Ruoxi, what's happened to your taste? It's fallen straight off a cliff."

He pointed at Lin Bei's faded T-shirt, his tone full of undisguised contempt.

"Does the World Trade Center let every stray cat and dog through its doors now? You actually brought out a country bumpkin who doesn't even know how to hold a knife and fork, just to make a spectacle of yourself?"

At that, Zhao Yutang suddenly gave a sneering, insinuating laugh.

"Or is there something shady going on between you two? This kid has such soft, delicate skin. Don't tell me you're using your salary to keep yourself a young male model on the side?"

At those words, diners at several surrounding tables turned to look, their expressions eager for a show.

Shen Ruoxi trembled all over with anger.

"Zhao Yutang, watch your filthy mouth! Who I have dinner with is none of your business! Please leave immediately. You aren't welcome here!"

Not only did Zhao Yutang refuse to leave, he leaned back in his chair and laughed even more brazenly.

"What? Did I hit a sore spot, and now you're lashing out in humiliation?"

He swirled the red wine in his glass and shot Lin Bei a contemptuous glance, adopting a lofty, lecturing tone.

"Kid, let me give you some advice. If you want to latch onto a rich woman and take a shortcut in life, you'd better see whether you've got the luck for it. The waters run deep with this woman. With that scrawny body of yours, she might suck you dry one day before you even know what killed you."

Before the last word had left his mouth, something happened.

Lin Bei suddenly moved.

He did not slam the table or fly into a rage.

He merely picked up the lemon water in front of him at a leisurely pace and took a sip.

Then he raised his eyes and looked Zhao Yutang up and down.

With his Qi Refining Second Layer cultivation and the ancient Chinese medical legacy that came with the [Taiyi Divine Needle], he had remarkable insight.

At that moment, Lin Bei's eyes were sharper than a hospital's MRI scanner.

To him, Zhao Yutang's body, hollowed out by booze and lust, was practically a transparent sieve.

His complexion was dull, the bags under his eyes were dark and puffy, and an abnormal purplish-red ring faintly bordered his lips.

Looking at the hand holding the wineglass, Lin Bei saw nails covered in vertical ridges and somewhat unnaturally stiff finger joints.

Most importantly, several coin-sized, copper-red patches marked the side of his neck.

The corner of Lin Bei's mouth twitched.

"Section Chief Zhao, right?"

"Instead of worrying about other people's private lives, you should worry more about your own health."

Zhao Yutang froze, then sneered. "What are you getting at? I'm in excellent health! I get excellent results in the bureau's physical every year!"

"Excellent health?"

Lin Bei leaned back in his chair, his hands clasped in front of him.

"Frequent urination at night, an aching lower back, weak legs, and cold sweats after the slightest exertion. Every morning when you wake up, doesn't your lower back hurt like it's being stabbed with needles? Even climbing a flight of stairs leaves you holding your back and panting for ages, doesn't it?"

Zhao Yutang's expression shifted slightly.

Every word was right.

But how could he possibly admit that in front of a poor student? He brazened it out and cursed, "Bullshit! I-"

"Don't be so quick to deny it." Lin Bei cut him off, his gaze locking directly onto Zhao Yutang's neck.

"Besides extreme kidney deficiency, haven't all your joints been aching these past few days? Especially at night, so badly you can't sleep. And you've developed red patches that neither hurt nor itch, particularly on your neck and back, while your hair's been falling out by the handful?"

This time, Zhao Yutang panicked completely.

He instinctively reached up to cover the collar at his neck.

How did this kid know?!

Seeing Zhao Yutang's guilty reaction, the surrounding diners immediately began whispering.

"Could he really have some kind of disease?"

"Red patches? And oozing yellow fluid? Why does that sound so much like that kind of disease..."

Shen Ruoxi froze too, her beautiful eyes looking at Lin Bei in surprise.

Lin Bei looked at Zhao Yutang's face, now alternating between ashen and flushed, with no intention of leaving him a shred of dignity.

He leaned forward slightly, stared into Zhao Yutang's eyes, and spoke one word at a time.

"Secondary syphilis, plus extreme kidney deficiency."

"Section Chief Zhao, if you keep putting off treating that filthy disease, that thing of yours will rot clean through. You might as well enter the palace and spend the rest of your life as a eunuch."