The hotpot restaurant was bustling with noise and excitement.
Amidst the clamor of voices filling his ears, Tang Jin sat vividly before him.
Ji Jingchuan placed a slice of meat in her bowl, gazing at her: "Actually, you could tell me. I can help you."
Tang Jin replied dismissively, "You're still a student. Your primary task is to study hard."
Ji Jingchuan sighed. As an older high school student, there were indeed many matters he couldn't easily handle.
He paused, then asked, "What will ultimately happen to Tang Youyi?"
"He's the eldest grandson of the main branch of the Tang family, the General Manager at Tang Group headquarters." Tang Jin propped her chin on her hand. "Grandmother dotes on Tang Jiaquan the most. With her protection, no matter how angry Grandfather is, things will always be minimized in the end. However, even so, Tang Jiaquan won't be able to stay at Tang Group anymore."
Ji Jingchuan's eyelashes lowered slightly.
The two happily finished their hotpot, and he drove Tang Jin home.
Tang Jin fell asleep in the car. He carried her out gently, knocked on the Tang family door, and handed her over.
After leaving the Tang residence, Ji Jingchuan sat in his car and checked his social feed. Sure enough, he saw Tang Jiaquan once again rallying people for a gathering.
He opened the chat window with Tang Jiaquan: "Brother Jiaquan, where are you heading to play? Can you take me along?"
Seeing the message, Tang Jiaquan was instantly delighted.
He had been worrying about how to find a breakthrough, and now this kid was delivering himself to his doorstep.
Tang Jin at Tang Jewelry had used her position for personal gain, the evidence was solid. Yet, Grandfather had given Tang Jin three days to prove her innocence. Now, those three days were up, and Grandfather still hadn't announced any punishment. He figured it was probably out of consideration for the Ji family.
As long as he ruined the engagement between Tang Jin and Ji Jingchuan, Tang Jin would lose all her support.
Tang Jiaquan made a call: "Jingchuan, come to the Night Charm bar. Give my name at the door, and someone will bring you to the private room."
Ji Jingchuan drove to the bar.
This bar wasn't as quiet as the one Ji Zhouye had taken them to before. As soon as he entered, it was packed everywhere. Dancers in revealing outfits were performing hot dances right on the tables. The men's rowdy cheers mixed with deafening music, creating an unpleasant assault on the ears.
He crossed the main hall and arrived at a private room door.
An attendant opened the door for him.
Upon entering, he saw seven or eight scantily clad women sitting on the sofas. The young masters, wine glasses in their left hands and women in their right arms, looked utterly at ease.
Besides Tang Jiaquan, he recognized one other person: the second young master of the Si family, Si Lin.
Si Lin was the first to stand up: "Hey, Tang Jiaquan, why did you call Chuan here? A good kid like him doesn't belong in a place like this."
"You can come and enjoy yourself, so why can't Young Master Ji have a taste of the world?" Tang Jiaquan pushed Si Lin aside, stepped forward, and slung an arm around Ji Jingchuan's shoulders. "Jingchuan, you're part of our circle. You should learn to enjoy life. Waiter, bring four girls over. Chuan, pick any you like. It's on me."
Under the strobe lights, a blush spread across Ji Jingchuan's face. "Brother Jiaquan, that's not necessary. I'm fine just watching you all have fun."
Tang Jiaquan waved his hand grandly, and four women were ushered in, surrounding Ji Jingchuan. One offered him a drink, another fed him fruit, one massaged his shoulders, and another patted his legs...
Si Lin couldn't bear to watch. "I'm telling you, Chuan, you're still a high school student. Don't get into such wild stuff. Even Ji Zhouye never went this far. How about this, I'll call Aye and have him pick you up."
"Get lost, go away!" Tang Jiaquan kicked Si Lin aside. "Aren't you a student too? You have the nerve to say that."
Si Lin: "..."
He almost forgot, he was indeed a student.
He was a sophomore at a third-rate university. The school was so terrible he didn't want to attend, so he spent his days wandering around...
Tang Jiaquan picked up a glass of wine and handed it to Ji Jingchuan with a smile. "Here, drink this. After this, we're good brothers."
Ji Jingchuan took it, took only a small sip, and frowned. "It tastes a bit awful."
"Hahaha, you're just not used to the taste of alcohol yet." Tang Jiaquan laughed heartily. "This wine costs tens of thousands a glass. Drink it slowly, don't waste it."
Ji Jingchuan nodded obediently. "Thank you, Brother Jiaquan."
He wiped his mouth with a tissue, discreetly spitting the sip of wine into it.
The room was dimly lit and crowded, with glasses scattered all over the coffee table. He stood up and subtly switched the position of his glass.
Soon, the glass he had sipped from ended up in Tang Jiaquan's hand. Tang Jiaquan threw his head back and drained it in one go, not leaving a single drop.
Ji Jingchuan stood up at the right moment. "Brother Jiaquan, I'm feeling dizzy. I should head out."
"I've arranged a hotel room. You can just rest here for the night." Tang Jiaquan stood up unsteadily. "That guy... forget it. I'm feeling a bit dizzy too. I'll personally take Chuan to rest. The rest of you, have fun. Eat, drink, don't hold back on my account."
He supported Ji Jingchuan as they walked out.
Exiting through the bar's back door led directly to a five-star hotel. As soon as they entered the elevator, Ji Jingchuan seemed to lose consciousness.
Tang Jiaquan sneered coldly.
He had drugged that glass of wine. Not a sedative, but an aphrodisiac... If he got a video of Ji Jingchuan fooling around with a woman and showed it to the old man, the old man would be furious and would definitely cancel the engagement between Tang Jin and the Ji family.
Then, Tang Jin would have no backing left.
He would kick Tang Jin out of Tang Group.
He made a call. "Arrange a few women... actually, one is enough."
Arranging too many women would constitute a group activity, which could easily lead to police involvement. If the police started investigating and it traced back to him, that would be troublesome.
Entering the room, Tang Jiaquan's head spun even more.
He didn't think he had drunk that much, so why did his head feel like mush? Walking felt like treading on cotton. He stumbled and fell to the floor, wanting to get up but unable to.
An inexplicable heat surged in his lower abdomen, a wave of restless desire sweeping through his entire body.
It was unbearable, truly unbearable.
He couldn't help but undo his belt and pull down his pants.
Just then, a woman walked through the door. That smoldering heat ignited, instantly blazing into an inferno. He eagerly pounced on her.
"What's the rush, Young Master Tang?" The woman was an old acquaintance of his. She giggled coyly, "I'm not quite ready yet..."
The two entangled and tumbled onto the large bed.
Ji Jingchuan stood quietly behind the curtains, listening to the sounds from the room. He pressed the shutter button, then silently left the suite.
As soon as he appeared in the hallway, Si Lin spotted him and hurried over. "I just stepped out to use the restroom, and you were gone. I heard they said Tang Jiaquan brought you to stay at this hotel. This place isn't clean. Let me take you back."
Ji Jingchuan looked at him, pausing before asking, "What do you mean, not clean?"
"It's just..." Si Lin scratched his head. "Ah, it's hard to explain. Anyway, you shouldn't hang out with Tang Jiaquan anymore. He plays too rough. Don't let him corrupt you."
Ji Jingchuan knew that Aye and Si Lin were close, very good friends.
He asked, "Since you know Tang Jiaquan isn't a good person, why do you still run with him?"
Si Lin smiled wryly. "Maybe because Tang Jiaquan and I are the same kind of people?"
Ji Jingchuan said nothing.
Tang Jiaquan is a truly despicable man. He cheated on his wife during their marriage, kept a mistress, meddled in the Tang Group's affairs, and is nothing but a cancerous tumor to the Tang family. That man is beyond redemption.
But Si Lin... he had seen some news about Si Lin. He was known for dating celebrities and models, changing partners every three months at most, or even within a week. Yet, after breaking up, not a single one of those stars or models ever accused him of having a chaotic private life.
Ji Jingchuan shook his head: "Thank you for your concern, but I haven't been drinking. I can drive myself back."
He got into the car and sent all the photos and videos he had just taken to Tang Youyi.
