"Xiao Xiao, you can ride back with Zhou Chenggong. I'll take Wang Hao."
Chen Lingxue looked at the drunken Wang Hao and softly told Zhang Xiaoxiao.
"Ah? Oh! Okay!"
Zhang Xiaoxiao's eyes flashed a hint of displeasure, but she agreed, especially since Zhou Chenggong's driver had also arrived.
He also gave a ride to Zhang Ming and another classmate.
"Wang Hao! Let's go! I'll take you."
Chen Lingxue looked at Wang Hao with a bright smile.
"It's too much trouble for you. Maybe I should just call a taxi!"
Wang Hao declined, as he wanted to go home quickly.
With only a few days left until doomsday, he didn't want any accidents now.
"Why call a taxi when I have a car? Besides, it's not easy to get one here. I didn't drink just so I could drive you."
Chen Lingxue feigned a playful pout. Wow! Who could resist that?
Wang Hao immediately agreed.
He sat once more in the passenger seat of the red Lamborghini.
He then realized that this car actually belonged to Chen Lingxue.
Wow! All along, he thought it was Zhang Xiaoxiao who had struck it rich.
"Alright! Stop pretending to be asleep. I know you're not drunk."
On the road, Chen Lingxue suddenly spoke.
"I'm drunk, really drunk. I drank too much. You know I can't hold my liquor."
Wang Hao pinched the bridge of his nose, his voice filled with fatigue.
"You can't hold your liquor? I didn't know that. A drunk person who can forcibly kiss someone else, detect danger, protect the other person, and be so gentle."
Chen Lingxue's tone was calm, without a hint of disturbance, as if she were discussing a very ordinary topic.
However, her slightly flushed cheeks revealed that she was not as calm as she appeared on the outside.
Wang Hao, on the other hand, was completely stunned and immediately sober.
She actually knew?
She actually knew!
Wang Hao was the kind of person who had pursuits.
Even though he knew he was out of Chen Lingxue's league.
She was the heiress of a Fortune 500 company, while he was just a young orphan from the countryside.
If their genders were switched, this scenario would be a popular trope in romance novels.
But in reality, it was nearly impossible.
He didn't even have the chance to be a live-in son-in-law.
But that didn't stop him from dreaming!
So, he meticulously set up a scheme that he had planned for a long time.
He could actually drink a lot, but he always pretended to have a low tolerance.
Then, after drinking once, he cornered the drunken Chen Lingxue and kissed her forcibly.
There was a nail in the wall at that time, which he keenly noticed. Fearing that Chen Lingxue would get hurt, he used his hand to protect the back of her head.
Although his hand hurt and bled, Wang Hao was very happy about it.
However, he didn't sleep with Chen Lingxue. He just wanted a kiss, to fulfill the obsession in his heart.
The next day, Chen Lingxue seemed to have forgotten about it.
Wang Hao fortunately didn't even have to play dumb.
But since he was acting, he kept pretending to have a low tolerance for alcohol afterward.
It even became a kind of instinct.
"You... weren't drunk?"
Wang Hao asked timidly.
"I was drunk, but not unconscious."
With that, Chen Lingxue gave Wang Hao a sidelong glance:
"Besides, my house has surveillance cameras."
"Uh, oh..."
Wang Hao was instantly dumbstruck.
He actually overlooked that part.
"Uh... why are you...?"
Wang Hao scratched his head awkwardly, relieved that they were in the car; otherwise, he would have wanted to disappear.
It was so awkward.
If he had known, he wouldn't have come to this reunion if it had killed him!
Chen Lingxue rolled her eyes again and said, not too kindly:
"What could I do? Slap you twice, then make it a big deal known to the entire world?
I don't want to hit the trending headlines. Anyway, you only kissed me and didn't do anything else, so there's no need to blow it out of proportion."
Wang Hao: ...
Alright!
All those times he felt so pleased with himself!
Thinking he was really something!
Turns out, in the end, he was the fool.
"No wonder you haven't seemed to drink since then, and you've busied yourself, not joining us for meals or outings."
Everything became clear.
Wang Hao used to think that Chen Lingxue was genuinely busy.
Now it seemed she was afraid he would try his tricks again, and possibly even go further!
Well then...
Could today's situation have been something Chen Lingxue set up to get back at him?
Seems highly likely!
After all, this reunion was organized by Zhang Xiaoxiao, and Zhang Xiaoxiao was Chen Lingxue's lackey.
Zhou Chenggong was also pursuing her.
"Tomorrow, you shouldn't sign that contract. This purchase of medicine you planned is likely a trap."
Just then, Chen Lingxue spoke up to warn him.
"Huh?"
Wang Hao was bewildered; wasn't this all her setup?
"Isn't your hometown ** Street, ** Village?"
Chen Lingxue asked.
"Yes, why?"
"As far as I know, Zhou Chenggong's family wants to build a major pesticide-free vegetable planting base in the large area of woodland behind your village. To transport the vegetables, they need to build a road, and the least disruptive and best route would demolish your house,"
Chen Lingxue said calmly.
"So that's it!"
Wang Hao immediately understood everything.
He definitely knew better than Chen Lingxue about his home's geography.
Their village had a vast stretch of woodland. The locals called it a mountain, but it was really just a hill, where the village's ancestral graves were located.
The area was indeed large enough.
If they were to build a road, it would make sense to just tear down his home and connect it to the main road.
It turned out this trap was laid to seize his property.
He had never attended previous reunions.
So Zhou Chenggong sought out Zhang Xiaoxiao, his ex-girlfriend.
She was used to set up this whole scheme.
Interesting!
It's possible Zhang Ming was just part of multiple plans, and he might have prepared several.
Except he didn't expect to fall into the first one.
"Don't blame Xiao Xiao. She's in a relationship with Zhou Chenggong, so it's understandable she helped him."
Seeing Wang Hao's silence, Chen Lingxue thought he was angry.
Zhang Xiaoxiao was her best friend, so she felt the need to defend her.
After all, if Wang Hao's mind wasn't right from anger and he did something irrational, it would be a big problem.
"Thanks!"
Wang Hao thanked her sincerely.
"No need to thank me. We knew each other after all. Your mind's not in the best place right now, so I'm worried about how you'll handle this. I know a psychologist in M Country, who's coming here soon for a seminar. I'll take you to see him, let him help you out."
Wang Hao: ...
So you also think I'm nuts, eh?
He turned to look at Chen Lingxue's exquisite profile and those red lips.
Wang Hao's thoughts turned mischievous again.
Since she thought he was crazy anyway.
If a "crazy" person kissed her, maybe she wouldn't mind?
If they slept together, perhaps she wouldn't call the police either?
Wang Hao's breathing became more and more labored.