Chapter 51: True Feelings After Wine

Iron-Lump Wang marched over, brandishing his spiked club.

At the sight of the weapon, Dragon Proud Sky panicked instantly.

"I... I can't take it anymore... I really can't endure this... I... I... because of the Face-Shifting Art, I have almost no internal energy left. You can't do this—!"

"Playing tough, huh!? Acting like a hard guy, huh!? Haven't eaten today, huh!? Feels like a light scratch, huh..."

Another barrage of attacks rained down, leaving even Iron-Lump Wang panting heavily as he sat nearby.

Xu Xuejiao stepped forward again: "Mhm, mhm. Brother Chengwen, you say so? Mhm, mhm, got it. I'll pass it on to him."

Xu Xuejiao turned around and announced: "Our Brother Chengwen says he possesses an indestructible Vajra body, having been refined in Lord Taishang’s Eight-Trigrams Furnace for seven times seven, ninety-four days! He has eaten flat peaches, drunk imperial wine, stolen immortal pills, and consumed ginseng fruit! Your pathetic little stick is nothing more than an ear-pick to him!"

Iron-Lump Wang slammed his hand on the table: "Damn it! He really is a tough guy!"

His four subordinates raised their thumbs in unison: "Truly a tough guy!"

Leng Qingqiu suddenly let out a cold laugh.

Han Yue asked, "Director Leng, what are you laughing at?"

"How could seven times seven possibly be ninety-four?"

Han Yue was stunned: "Is that really what you're focusing on?"

After yet another round of beating, Iron-Lump Wang was exhausted.

He sat down, trembling all over: "Such a tough bone! No wonder he was bold enough to dare trick me!"

Xu Xuejiao crept up to the unconscious Dragon Proud Sky again, pretending to whisper: "Oh, oh, oh. Alright, alright. Understood, understood. I'll tell him."

Xu Xuejiao turned back to Iron-Lump Wang: "Our CEO Lu says you're a sissy, completely lacking in strength, and even asked if you have to take off your pants and sit on the toilet just to pee."

Not to mention the others, even Lu Chengwen, listening from the inner room, felt a chill run down his spine.

Lu Chengwen, Leng Qingqiu, Han Yue, and the others all thought to themselves: *Brutal!*

Xu Xuejiao was practically wishing for him to die!

This time, Iron-Lump Wang stood up and cast a glance over: "Miss Xu, are you certain Lu Chengwen said that?"

"Yes, of course. I never lie."

Iron-Lump Wang pointed at "Dragon Proud Sky": "Can he... still speak?"

Right. Could he still speak? Dragon Proud Sky had completely passed out, slumped motionless in the corner, and everyone suspected he had already kicked the bucket.

At this moment, Lu Chengwen carefully checked himself in the mirror inside before stepping out.

"Iron-Lump Wang."

Upon seeing "Dragon Proud Sky," Iron-Lump Wang immediately dropped to one knee: "Young Master."

"You finally showed some intelligence for once."

"Thanks to the military counselor's reminder, this subordinate realized I had fallen for this scoundrel's trick. Fortunately, I reflected on myself in time and sought to redeem my crimes through meritorious service."

"Very good. Han Yue, bring over the contract for the shantytown project and have him sign it."

Han Yue looked completely bewildered when she saw "Dragon Proud Sky."

What on earth was this plotline?!

Did this mean Leng Qingqiu and Dragon Proud Sky had teamed up to have Young Master Lu beaten to death?!

Wasn't this the equivalent of Pan Jinlian and Ximen Qing conspiring to murder the husband?!

This kind of plot—wait, what kind of contract did Dragon Proud Sky want her to bring? The shantytown contract?!

Everything had turned completely upside down!

Leng Qingqiu glanced at her: "What are you standing there daydreaming for? Do as Young President Dragon says."

"Oh, right. Yes, yes, yes."

Iron-Lump Wang signed the contract and transferred the funds without the slightest hesitation.

Before leaving, he repeatedly apologized to Lu Chengwen: "Mr. Dragon, it was all a misunderstanding earlier. I am truly sorry."

"Alright, alright. It's fine."

"If you ever have any more instructions in the future, just come directly to me. Let me give you my phone number."

"Understood, understood. Off you go now."

Iron-Lump Wang thought to himself: *Brilliant!*

Judging by the Young Master's attitude, he wasn't angry anymore.

As expected, the harder one beat Lu Chengwen, the happier the Young Master became.

The past grievances were wiped clean. It was well worth it that he had used his ultimate techniques to treat that punk Lu Chengwen like a punching bag.

Heh!

Though the beginning was a bit rough, everything was back on track now.

Why was he so damn smart?!

Iron-Lump Wang led his men out, passing Leng Qingqiu: "Mr. Dragon is truly a divine being!"

Leng Qingqiu forced a smile and nodded.

Passing Xu Xuejiao: "Young Master Dragon is a picture of grace and elegance!"

"Ah, yes, got it, got it."

Passing Han Yue: "It is an absolute honor to cooperate with him."

Han Yue smiled awkwardly.

Iron-Lump Wang reached the door: "No need to see me out. Goodbye."

Just as Lu Chengwen was about to speak, a graceful figure shattered the window, scooped up Dragon Proud Sky in her arms, and vaulted right back out through the opening, frightening the girls into shrieking.

Lu Chengwen rushed over to look and saw a thin steel wire hanging from the windowsill. Without asking, he knew that shadow belonged to Hua Xuening.

Lu Chengwen smiled bitterly.

Protagonists, after all, always turn misfortune into blessing and escape death.

Leng Qingqiu asked in astonishment, "Brother Chengwen, your face..."

"What about it?"

"It's back to normal!"

Lu Chengwen pulled out his phone and took a look. Sure enough, his face had recovered.

"So, as long as you beat him half to death, this weird technique wears off quickly. It's still my own face that feels the most comfortable to look at."

Xu Xuejiao said excitedly, "Hehe, you become more and more interesting by the day, even changing your face back and forth. You know, I was actually quite worried that was really you earlier? I leaned in to check multiple times, and seeing how calm Leng Qingqiu was, I decided to use reverse psychology on purpose."

Lu Chengwen sighed.

*Heh, fantastic. Now I've really blown things out of proportion.*

*A favored child of heaven like Dragon Proud Sky definitely won't die. But since I caused him to receive such a brutal beating and scammed him out of five billion, I'm bound to die if anyone survives.*

*This kind of con game can't go on forever. Sooner or later, it's going to be exposed.*

Lu Chengwen looked utterly depressed: "Alright, as for the days ahead, you ladies better look out for yourselves. I'm exhausted, I'm going home."

"Hey, don't leave yet! We won a sweeping victory today, let's celebrate properly!"

"Sorry, Xuejiao, I'm not in the mood."

"Don't be like that. My gut tells me that even though Dragon Proud Sky has a powerful background, I think you're way more handsome than him."

Lu Chengwen gave a bitter smile: "Handsome is worth jack shit. Being handsome is just the baseline set for characters whose sole purpose is to foil the protagonist and give readers a quick thrill."

"Why is it that sometimes I have no idea what you're talking about?"

"It's good that you don't understand. I'm off."

Lu Chengwen called Zhao Gang: "Zhao Gang, I'm at Qianfeng, come pick me up."

Sitting in the back seat of the sedan, Lu Chengwen couldn't muster a single shred of joy.

To save Leng Qingqiu just once, he had not only completely alienated the grand protagonist Dragon Proud Sky, but also caused him to suffer multiple fractures at the hands of Iron-Lump Wang.

Now, Leng Qingqiu and Xu Xuejiao were thoroughly clinging to him. Whether they clung to him wasn't even the point—the important thing was that both of them now loathed Dragon Proud Sky with a white-hot passion.

Lu Chengwen truly surrendered to Dragon Proud Sky.

You idiot! You are seriously so fucking stupid!

You couldn't even handle a simple task like this, resorting to disguise magic to trick girls! And you got caught! And you still failed!

Good grief!

Was there an even more idiotic male protagonist than this?

Yet, on second thought, had it not been for him, every single event would have played out according to the original plot.

When it came down to it, it was his continuous use of system-provided items and the special insider knowledge of this world—things unknown to anyone else—that repeatedly drove Dragon Proud Sky into brick walls.

As long as he stayed alive, he had to alter the course of the story just to scrape by until the end.

But the moment he altered the course of the story, the protagonist would hate him, the girls would despise the protagonist and grow fond of him, leaving him with no way to reach the end.

It was an insoluble riddle!

There was simply no solution to this!

Lu Chengwen sighed: "Zhao Gang, stop daydreaming and drive."

At that moment, the car door was yanked open, and Xu Xuejiao squeezed right in.

"What is it this time?"

"Leng Qingqiu said you took a mixed-gender bath with her. Is that true?"

"Yeah, I did. What about it?"

Lu Chengwen deliberately played along.

"Oh," Xu Xuejiao said. "The two of you teamed up to piss me off on purpose, didn't you?"

"What on earth do you want?"

"Hey! Why are you always acting so fierce toward me?"

"I like to, it's just my temper. Hurry up and get out of the car to go home, stop running around outside when you have nothing to do."

"Hey! I've been helping you out at every turn these past few days. You want me to cooperate whenever you need me, and tell me to get lost the second you don't! Do you know that hurts my feelings?"

"Oh? Your feelings get hurt?" Lu Chengwen clapped his hands mockingly: "Then hurry on home and let your feelings get hurt and sad to your heart's content."

Lu Chengwen pushed open the car door: "Get out."

Xu Xuejiao remained seated in the passenger chair, crossing her arms and crossing her legs: "I'm not getting out."

Irritated, Lu Chengwen snapped: "Get out of the car!"

"I won't! I've decided you're a total psycho, blowing hot and cold all the time. Are you just toying with me on purpose?"

"Do you understand that I'm about to die? I've completely blocked off my own escape route just for Leng Qingqiu! Consider it me begging you, okay? If you keep clinging to me every single day, I really won't survive! Get out of the car, big sister!"

Xu Xuejiao glared at Lu Chengwen: "Fine! How dare you treat me like this!"

"Heh. And?"

Xu Xuejiao sat back down by the door, crossed her legs, and shouted at the top of her lungs: "Assault! Rape! Help, assault! Rape! Lu Chengwen is assaulting me! Rape!"

Gritting his teeth, Lu Chengwen hastily pulled the car door shut: "Big sister, how can you be a person like this? You... you just spew words like that without a second thought?"

"Yeah! I'm very rebellious, didn't you know?"

Sweat beaded on Lu Chengwen's forehead: "You... you're a young lady, can you not keep saying such wild and scandalous things? When you were framing Dragon Proud Sky, you casually blurted out lines about peeing while sitting down—could you please pay attention to your influence?"

Xu Xuejiao suddenly put on a pitiful expression: "Do you really hate me that much?"

Depressed, Lu Chengwen replied: "It's not like that. But the two of us haven't been in touch for years, and while you used to find me annoying, surely you can't just latch onto me because these past couple of days... I did one tiny good deed? That makes zero logic, big sister!"

Xu Xuejiao smiled again: "Fine! Here's the deal: you keep me company and drink with me until I'm completely drunk. After today, I'll never pester you again."

"You've seriously lost your mind!"

Xu Xuejiao rolled down the car window: "Assault! Rape! Help, assault..."

Lu Chengwen hurriedly rolled the window back up: "Fine, we'll drink, we'll go, I'll risk it all!"

The two of them sneaked back home, where Lu Chengwen prepared some snacks on his small balcony and had Zhao Gang deliver some fine liquor. They raised their glasses to a toast.

Lu Chengwen said: "We agreed on this: if I outdrink you, leave me alone from now on!"

"A gentleman's word is hard to take back, even for a team of four horses."

"Cheers!"

Three hours later.

Lu Chengwen was cackling incessantly. Xu Xuejiao was sitting on his lap, one arm draped around his neck while the other clutched a wine bottle: "...My mom and dad both think I'm a good, obedient girl, hahaha! Actually, they have no idea—I have a tattoo!"

"No way? I don't see it!"

"Of course you can't see it! It's tattooed in a very private spot!"

"Hahaha, how private is it?"

"Want to see?"

"Yeah."

"Not showing you! Haha!"

Lu Chengwen held his glass: "That Dragon Proud Sky guy, what the hell does he even have? If he weren't the protagonist, I'd finish him off in a minute flat!"

"You're way more handsome than him."

"Of course, I'm the villain! Villains are always big handsome guys, meant to satisfy everyone's urge for revenge against wealthy hunks!"

"Hahaha, cheers, cheers! If you can outdrink me, I'll show you my tattoo, yo!"

"Oh?" Lu Chengwen's face was flushed red as he smiled lewdly: "It's a deal!"

...

Early the next morning.

Lu Chengwen felt a splitting headache.

Rubbing his temples, he sat up and immediately felt that something was terribly wrong. He glanced over at the side of the bed and instantly wished he were dead.

Xu Xuejiao lay sprawled out in her full, alluring nakedness, her shapely legs sandwiching a velvet blanket in a deeply seductive posture.

*Damn it! Not again?! Just how much did I drink?!*