After five bigwigs in Beijing's elite circle fell into their trap, I fled.

Chapter 97 Unaware of the Bitterness of Love
Rental rooms in Xinghua Lane.

When Jiang Shu returned with the three men, Li Yubai was reading documents under the light in the room.

He seemed to have just taken a shower; his hair was slightly damp, his lips were slightly damp, and his thin nightgown was slightly damp...

Jiang Shu stared for several seconds before forcing herself to look away. Then, under the subtle glances of the others, she gently waved her hand to disperse the suddenly hot wind.

"Come here, everyone, I have something to tell you all." She moved a stool and sat down in the corner.

Several men looked over.

Jiang Shu cleared her throat: "After Yan Yu's birthday banquet, my mom and all the uncles and aunts in the village are going to throw me a big birthday party..."

Yan Yu's eyes were bright, and her smile was radiant with a hint of shyness: "Is my sister planning to introduce us to her parents?"

Jiang Shu paused for a moment: "No, the people in my village haven't seen much of the world. Let alone someone of your rank, even if I brought the town mayor back, it would still make them terrified..."

Feng Li thought of the terrifying night he experienced during his last visit to Xinghua Village.

The R country's assassins were all killed cleanly and efficiently, and there was also the future mother-in-law's withered yet sophisticated lifelike skin disguise...

Then think about that seemingly ordinary yet incredibly luxurious feast...

Is this what you call being unsophisticated?
However, Feng Li didn't expose her, only giving Jiang Shu a lazy glance: "So?"

"I don't know the specifics of how it will work, but either I'm going back to the village, or my mom and the others will be coming to Jiangcheng..."

Jiang Shu glanced at the group and probed, "Imagine me, a beautiful 19-year-old girl, sharing a room with five men every night... If my mom knew about this kind of unconventional behavior, she would break my legs! So, in the days after Yan Yu's birthday, you should all be busy with your careers. If you want to cause trouble, go ahead and cause trouble, but don't hang around me."

The men exchanged glances and fell silent.

Jiang Shu's tone was a mix of deception and coaxing: "There are so many people around on my birthday, and many in my village have very sharp eyes! Even if I kept myself in animal form all day, it wouldn't be enough... Don't worry, I'll only disappear for a few days—being together all the time will eventually get boring, and a short separation will allow me to experience the pain of longing, and I'll definitely cherish you all more afterward..."

"Having suffered the pain of unrequited love?" Ning Yunzhan chuckled. "My patron, do you even know what unrequited love feels like?"

"Look at what you're saying! I'm nineteen! I've watched hundreds of romance dramas with characters dying for each other, and read thousands of heart-wrenching love stories on various websites!"

Ning Yunzhan said "Oh": "So the benefactor is determined to separate from us for a while?"

"It's only been a few days." Jiang Shu thought for a moment. "It's not about completely avoiding each other. If we accidentally bump into each other and there are people from my village around, we can just pretend we don't know each other."

Li Yubai's head started to ache: "Our benefactor really knows how to play the game. But have you forgotten that Assistant Yang visited your home? So, even if we're together, it's perfectly reasonable for Madam Jiang to treat us as friends, right?"

Jiang Shu paused for a moment: "That makes sense—so, if we go back to the village, will you come with me? And let Assistant Yang drive, he knows the way."

Li Yubai glanced casually at the other men with dark faces and gave a soft "hmm".

Yan Yu's eyes were already slightly red: "So, I'm destined to be the one who gets abandoned?"

Feng Li's voice was cold and detached: "Please do as you please, my patron. The outside world is so wonderful. If I get carried away and don't want to come back, just don't cry, my patron."

Ning Yunzhan was quite open-minded: "I'm actually going to Europe to check out a project..."

Jiang Shu deliberately avoided looking at Yan Yu and Feng Li, and nodded: "Then it's settled—by the way, who should inform Rong Jingchen?"

A border area in China.

Rong Jingchen, his expression icy, watched the police cars drive away, his mood flaring with unease. Inside the police cars were more than a dozen telecom fraud suspects he had personally apprehended, as well as three harmless veteran fishmongers.

The subordinate was filled with grief and indignation: "My lord, my most respected lord! Look at the miserable life you've been living since you came to China! That despicable Nie Zheng, you only said you would grant him the right to use the Extreme Sky Mercenary Base for a year without compensation, you didn't say that you would be included in the use of the base!"

Rong Jingchen wiped the stun gun in his hand expressionlessly, not wanting to say a word.

The subordinate's gaze fell on the stun gun, his heart pounding with rage: "Waaah! That damned Nie Zheng! Master, you've dealt with internationally renowned villains, using top-of-the-line sniper rifles and bombers... and in just three short months, Nie Zheng has assigned you to arrest fraudsters, human traffickers, fishmongers, and even drug addicts and gamblers... and he's still not satisfied, he actually uses this cheap, common stun gun to insult you..."

Rong Jingchen frowned slightly, his mood becoming even more irritable after being told off by his subordinate!

Just then, Feng Li tagged him in the pet camp group:
The smug cat: [@Paradise, you lazy bum who's always out fooling around and doesn't uphold marital virtues, your sugar daddy told you not to come back and get in her way for the next few days!]

Bliss: [...]

Boss: […Rong Jingchen, don't listen to Ali's nonsense, let me explain!]

A minute later, Jiang Shu, with an extremely strong will to survive, repeated to Rong Jingchen in the private chat window all the things she had said to Feng Li and the others.

However, just as Rong Jingchen felt a little better, Li Yubai suddenly sent a few more pictures to the pet camp group!

The Queen's loyal dog: [Image.jpg][Image.jpg][Image.jpg][Image.jpg]

The Queen's Loyal Dog: [My sir, which of these four outfits should I wear to meet your parents?]

Even though no one tagged Rong Jingchen, he sensed a deep sense of provocation...

Come to think of it, he'd felt more than once that Feng Li and Li Yubai always seemed to have a tacit understanding in their attitudes towards him, like one taking the stage after the other's...

Rong Jingchen took a deep breath and asked his subordinate, "Who is more handsome, me, Feng Li, or Li Yubai?"

The subordinate answered without hesitation: "One is sick, the other is cold; neither can match even a tenth of my lord's dashing and heroic bearing!"

Rong Jingchen sighed softly: "But why do I just feel... in Xinghua Lane, I am the least loved person?"

The subordinate was at a loss for words and didn't know how to answer.

However, Rong Jingchen did not have much time to grieve.

Nie Zheng's video call popped up:
"There's a traffic accident 80 miles south of your current location. Go and assist."

Rong Jingchen: "..."

His deep blue eyes were as dark as the night: "Nie Zheng, let's make a deal..."

"Discussing arrangements to repatriate you to Country F earlier?"

Rong Jingchen: "...Could you please give me the phone number of the traffic police over there?"

Beside him, his subordinate covered his face and sighed as if he had no will to live.

When Rong Jingchen finished dealing with these troublesome tasks and returned to the capital, the much-anticipated Yan Yu's birthday banquet finally began...

(End of this chapter)