Chapter 29: Gathering
On his way to the Huang Company, Chen Dong called Li Huiran and told her to go back to the Li Family first.
After all, Elder Li was a True Qi expert.
In the courtyard of the Li Family Manor, Li Qinghe and Xia Yi waited anxiously.
A silver Ferrari screeched to a halt in the courtyard.
Li Huiran got out of the car, her face a little pale.
Xia Yi asked with a worried expression, "Huiran, are you okay? You called and said someone was trying to kill you. You scared Mom to death!"
Seeing that Chen Dong wasn't there, Li Qinghe quickly asked, "Where's Xiaodong?"
"When we split up, he went to chase the attacker. Later, he called and told me to come back here first. I don't know what happened after that," Li Huiran said bluntly.
Li Qinghe became very anxious. "Quick, call him and ask! What will we do if something happened to him?"
Li Huiran immediately called Chen Dong, but she soon hung up, her expression turning grim.
"He said he's already taken care of the attacker and has gone back to the office."
Li Qinghe sighed in relief. "As long as he's okay! For Xiaodong to be able to handle the attacker all by himself... he truly is a disciple of the Celestial Master."
Li Huiran nodded repeatedly. "I had no idea he was so skilled. If it weren't for him, I would've been bludgeoned to death with a steel pipe."
Just then, a Mercedes-Benz drove in, and Li Jianwen got out.
His face was also filled with worry. "As long as you're alright, Huiran. I just received news from the company. The Huang Family is paying out seven hundred million in compensation for the workers who died today, and they specifically noted it's one hundred million per person."
The Li Family was shocked and utterly bewildered.
The Huang Family had done plenty of dirty deeds, but this was the first time anyone had seen them offer compensation voluntarily—and at the astronomical price of one hundred million per person, no less.
Besides, by offering such a generous sum, weren't they practically admitting to the Li Family that they were behind today's incident?
Unable to make sense of it, Elder Li eventually speculated that among the seven victims, there must have been someone backed by a powerful figure whom the Huang Family could not afford to offend. The Huangs must have killed this person by mistake and were now forced to proactively compensate them.
Thus, Elder Li ordered that the seven hundred million must be delivered into the hands of the seven victims' families. At the same time, he sent people to investigate this powerful figure, hoping to befriend them if the opportunity arose.
Meanwhile, Chen Dong returned to the office and immediately went back to playing his game.
He was just getting deeper and deeper into the pay-to-win rabbit hole.
As soon as he got back, he'd already dropped ten thousand yuan on it.
His combat power had already reached second place on the server. The top spot was still held by that warrior, 'JoylessLife'.
Just as Chen Dong failed another challenge and was being thoroughly mocked by 'JoylessLife'...
Xu Qing walked over. "Brother Dong, you should just play these browser games casually. Don't spend so much money on them."
Chen Dong pointed at the warrior on the screen and said, "This guy is so obnoxious. I absolutely have to beat him!"
Xu Qing shook her head. "You'll never beat him. He's obviously a plant. Wang Hao spent millions, and there was always one top player who managed to stay just ahead of him. He eventually realized they're all just plants hired by the game company to get people to spend money."
Seeing Chen Dong's obsessed expression, she sighed. 'I never should have taught him to play browser games in the first place.'
Thinking of the gathering that evening, Xu Qing mustered her courage and asked Chen Dong, "Brother Dong, there's a get-together tonight. Would you go with me?"
"Huh? I don't know. Hold on, I'll see if I'm free," Chen Dong answered offhandedly.
He then picked up his phone and called Li Huiran. "Hey! Did that compensation money from the Huang Family come through?"
Li Huiran replied from the other end, "It did."
"How much?"
"Seven hundred million."
"Okay, good. I have something to do tonight, so you can head home on your own."
After getting a satisfactory answer, Chen Dong finally turned to Xu Qing and said, "I'm free."
After hanging up, Li Huiran was baffled. 'How did Chen Dong know the Huang Family was paying compensation?'
After work, Chen Dong went with Xu Qing to the designated Starbucks.
They each ordered a coffee. Chen Dong much preferred tea.
Chen Dong then realized Wang Hao and the others hadn't come. 'Don't they all usually hang out together?'
Before Chen Dong could ask, Xu Qing explained with a blush, "This is a get-together for a few of my good friends from college... and they're all bringing their boyfriends, so..."
Chen Dong slapped a hand to his forehead. "So you're asking me to be your fake boyfriend? Why not ask Wang Hao and the guys?"
"You're more handsome than they are."
Chen Dong was very satisfied with this answer and grudgingly agreed to go along with it just this once.
Soon, a group of fashionably dressed young men and women appeared at the entrance and waved to Xu Qing.
Men and women, five couples, ten people in all.
A sweet-looking girl came over and immediately hugged Xu Qing. "Qingqing, is this your boyfriend?"
Xu Qing blushed as she made the introduction. "This is Chen Dong. We're still just friends!"
The table was too small for everyone, so they didn't order anything and just discussed where to go next while introducing Chen Dong.
However, Chen Dong seemed somewhat out of place among this group of beautiful people.
The most striking of the men, a tall and handsome youth, extended his right hand toward Chen Dong. "Hello, my name is Yang Chao." His eyes, however, were filled with disdain.
Chen Dong gave his hand a brief, limp shake before letting go. "Chen Dong," he said coolly.
Beside them, Zhou Wu's eyebrows shot up as he jeered, "Well now, you're pretty cocky, aren't you? Showing such disrespect to Young Master Chao. What, you think you're too good to shake his hand?"
The other guys' expressions immediately soured, looking like they were ready to teach Chen Dong a lesson.
But Yang Chao just smiled and mediated, "Forget it, forget it. We're all friends here!"
In reality, this was all prearranged. Their goal was to put Chen Dong down a peg.
This group of young men and women, including Xu Qing, were all college seniors.
Before she started working for the Li Clan, Xu Qing had also been a well-behaved girl. But after joining the cesspool that was the General Affairs Department, she had adopted a wild punk-rock aesthetic—maybe it was to fit in, or maybe it was a form of self-preservation.
And Yang Chao was the "devoted man" who had been pursuing Xu Qing for three years to no avail, all while juggling at least three other girlfriends at the same time.
So, when they learned that Xu Qing was bringing a man today, they had plotted how to confront him head-on.
Without any input from Chen Dong, they quickly decided to go for karaoke first and then dinner.
There were twelve of them, including Chen Dong, but only three cars. The best of the lot was Yang Chao's Mercedes G-Wagon, worth around two million.
You could tell from the car alone that Yang Chao came from a powerful background.
They quickly sorted out the seating arrangements, deliberately leaving only Chen Dong behind.
Once everyone was in the cars, he feigned a sudden realization. "Oh, sorry, man! We forgot about you!"
His words were polite, but his face was filled with contempt and provocation.
"But our cars are all full! Why don't you just grab a taxi? We'll wait for you at Silver Glow KTV."
At these words, the group burst into laughter.
Xu Qing instantly jumped out of the car, her brows furrowed. "Yang Chao, what is the meaning of this?"
Before Yang Chao could answer, Zhou Wei, the girl who had greeted Xu Qing at the start, tried to smooth things over. "It's fine, we can just squeeze together a bit."
At this moment, Xu Qing was starting to regret asking Chen Dong to come. 'We're about to graduate,' she thought, 'and everyone's busy with internships, so there are fewer chances to meet. I just thought we should get together when we could. Who knew Yang Chao and the others would target Chen Dong like this?'
Xu Qing kept shooting apologetic looks at Chen Dong.
This only made Yang Chao even more jealous. 'I'll definitely teach this brat a lesson later,' he decided. 'I'll make him understand that Xu Qing is my girl, and no one else is allowed to touch her.'
After they rearranged the seating, Yang Chao shot Chen Dong a vicious glare before taking the lead and speeding off.
Silver Glow KTV was one of the most expensive entertainment venues in Jiangzhou.
By the time Chen Dong's group arrived, the place was a blaze of lights, and the music was deafening.
Upon entering the lobby, they were met by a line of scantily clad hostesses who bowed and greeted them.
Upon seeing the group, the lobby manager hurried over to greet them. "Young Master Yang, it's been a while."
It was clear at a glance that Yang Chao frequented establishments like this.
"I'm here with some classmates today. Set us up in the Imperial Suite."
The manager smiled apologetically. "I'm very sorry, Young Master Yang, but Brother Hu is hosting some friends today, and he's taken the Imperial Suite. How about I arrange the Luxury Suite for you instead?"