Chapter 138: Drugged

Hearing this, Lu Tiantian looked like a pheasant adorned with colorful feathers that had suddenly flown up to a high branch. She looked at Zhang Xilu with utter contempt and said, "Old woman, apologize to me right now, and maybe I'll forgive you. But it's too late now—I've changed my mind."

"Ha, so I suppose I should thank you for your boundless magnanimity?" Zhang Xilu sneered.

Completely missing the sarcasm, Lu Tiantian nodded smugly. "That's right. Unlike you, I'm not petty. Since you ruined my career, I won't make you kneel—just pour me a cup of tea."

With that, Lu Tiantian turned to Lin Yiming. "Lin Yiming, hurry up and get some tea ready for your good sister."

Lin Yiming's face flushed with anger. He pointed at Lu Tiantian, about to retort, when Zhang Xilu shook her head to stop him, offering a reassuring smile to tell him not to be impatient.

Having spent so much time around Zhou Yao, Lu Tiantian had failed to pick up even a fraction of Zhou Yao's petty tricks. She wore her brainlessness right on her forehead. How could someone as astute as Li Minglei ever take a fancy to Lu Tiantian?

"Is your so-called important matter just having your boyfriend come to settle scores with me?" Zhang Xilu decided to figure out what was going on first. A man like Li Minglei never did anything that didn't benefit him.

There had to be something he wanted from Lu Tiantian.

"Of course not. Your good days are coming to an end—Yaoyao is coming back." The moment Zhou Yao was mentioned, the smugness on Lu Tiantian's face deepened. "Your good days are numbered. She told me to let you know that whatever you did to her, she is going to return to you tenfold."

Caught completely off guard, Zhang Xilu was momentarily dazed by the news of Zhou Yao's return. Zhou Yao had vanished for over three years, and now she was coming back to exact revenge?

A headache immediately began to throb behind her temples. It seemed she had gained yet another person coming to cause trouble for her.

Ever since her rebirth, she felt as though she had acquired a special constitution: anyone connected in any way to Li Mingye held an innate hostility toward her, impossible to avoid no matter how hard she tried.

"I've received your message." Zhang Xilu kept her expression blank and glanced at Li Minglei. "Xiaoming, I'll pay for their tab. From now on, neither of these two is to be served here ever again."

Lin Yiming was stunned for a second before clapping in approval. "Got it, sis. Time to show our guests out right now."

"What do you mean by that?!" Lu Tiantian's face turned green instantly. "Lin Yiming, have you lost your mind? He is the young master of the Li family! How dare you chase us out!"

"Even if you were the Emperor of Heaven himself, out you go. This is my shop, and I refuse to do business with you. If you don't want to become the laughingstock of everyone here, you'd better leave right now." Having held his temper for a long time, Lin Yiming finally seized the chance and waved his hand to drive them away.

Li Minglei's face darkened, his gaze growing increasingly vicious. "You're quite something, aren't you? My dear cousin is busy preparing to marry the eldest daughter of the Mu family—do you really think he's still going to protect you? Aren't you afraid of courting disaster?"

"I divorced Li Mingye more than three years ago. He is him, and I am me. It would be far too easy for you to deal with a defenseless woman like me. Xiaoming, if anything happens to me, it was this Mr. Li who did it. Make sure you call the police for me when the time comes." Zhang Xilu had no energy to waste bickering with Li Minglei. Just as she had said, dealing with her was entirely too easy.

"I understand, sis. I'll consult my classmate who studies law and then go file a record at the police station."

Zhang Xilu nodded and walked outside without looking back. Behind her, Lu Tiantian was screaming at the top of her lungs, but Zhang Xilu merely gave a cold smirk and ignored her.

Just as she returned to her shop, Lin Yiming sent her a message saying that the two of them had refused to leave, and it was only after Lin Yiming threatened to call the police that Lu Tiantian finally dragged Li Minglei away.

Before leaving, Li Minglei had dropped a threat declaring that he would make sure Lin Yiming had no peace and would ruin his café.

Zhang Xilu offered him a few words of comfort. Since Li Minglei held no real authority within the family and had always harbored bitter resentment toward Li Mingye, his meddling today was undoubtedly tied to Li Mingye.

She instructed Lin Yiming to find a way to let Li Mingye know about today's events, including the news of Zhou Yao's return. These were troubles brought about by Li Mingye, and since she was just an innocent bystander catching stray bullets, she was determined to make Li Mingye step up and resolve the mess.

It was past eight o'clock by the time Zhang Xilu finally left the ancient street, where Xiao Zhao was already waiting for her in the parking lot.

Not long after Zhang Xilu got into the car, traffic ahead came to a complete standstill. Xiao Zhao looked puzzled. "Strange, it never jams here."

At that moment, Zhang Xilu received a call from her mother urging her to hurry home. "Mom, I'm on my way, traffic is just a bit heavy. Xiao Zhao is driving me, so don't worry."

"Luoluo, I've been feeling so restless today, my eyelid keeps twitching. Hurry back."

"Stop overthinking it, I'm almost home. I haven't eaten yet—I want a bowl of the egg noodles you make." Zhang Xilu kept her tone light. "Wait for me, okay?"

"All right." Still uneasy, Mrs. Zhang repeated her instructions for Zhang Xilu to be careful before finally hanging up.

After waiting for more than ten minutes, the congestion ahead finally cleared. Just as Xiao Zhao started the engine, four men stepped out from the vehicle in front of them.

Wearing black baseball caps and face masks, and wielding baseball bats, they began smashing Zhang Xilu's car indiscriminately. Reflexively, Zhang Xilu covered her head and ducked down to protect herself.

A car door was violently wrenched open, and a pair of hands grabbed her arm, dragging her forcibly out of the vehicle.

"Let her go!" Xiao Zhao roared, throwing open his door and chasing after them, only to be intercepted by two of the men and beaten severely.

With her mouth muffled, Zhang Xilu was dragged into the car ahead, leaving her with no chance to struggle or escape.

"Who are you?" Zhang Xilu's eyes were blindfolded, and her hands were bound tightly behind her back. "Let me go—mph!"

Someone pinched her jaw, forcing her to swallow some liquid. She shook her head in resistance, causing the liquid to spill everywhere and completely soaking the front of her blouse.

"Old woman, are you scared?" Lu Tiantian's voice drifted from the front. Zhang Xilu's heart sank—they had acted far too quickly!

"Lu Tiantian, have you lost your mind? Do you even know what you're doing?"

"You're the one who's crazy! When I asked you to apologize, you refused, and you even had Lin Yiming throw us out. I'm going to settle all our old and new scores together today! Stuff her mouth, we'll take it off when we get there."

With her mouth blocked, Zhang Xilu could not speak. Forcing herself to stay calm, she rapidly searched her mind for a way to save herself.

It seemed that the bond between mother and daughter was real after all; Mrs. Zhang had been overcome with anxious premonitions because she was the one about to be plotted against by Lu Tiantian!

As a member of the Li family, was Li Minglei really willing to completely burn bridges with the Zhang family?

All of this just for Lu Tiantian?

After jolting along in the car for a while, she was hauled back out. By this time, a strange sensation was beginning to spread through her body. Deep inside, it felt as though a feather was tickling her; her body grew increasingly feverish, and a fierce, burning desire bloomed deep in her lower abdomen...

What the hell!

Lu Tiantian had drugged her with an aphrodisiac!

Even as these thoughts raced through her mind, Zhang Xilu was dragged into a room and dumped onto a hard wooden bed. At the same time, the chaotic sound of footsteps echoed around the room.

"Old woman, you're getting off too easy. We should have just found a few vagrants to give you a proper taste of suffering," Lu Tiantian snarled viciously. "I still don't understand what Brother Lei was thinking, insisting on bringing him into this!"

"Who? Who are you talking about?"