Chapter 267: A Deal Is A Deal
Translator: Oneshotwonder Editor: Hitesh_
It had occurred to Wang Tong that it was the time for him to make an effort in winning Ma Xiaoru back, and the lack of family background should not be his excuse.
Li Ruoer would never understand the strong bond between Wang Tong and Ma Xiaoru.
“If your father is going to marry you off to someone you dislike, tell me, what would you do?”
“That’s easy… I’ll kill you.” Li Ruoer answered with a sharp edge in her voice.
“You see my point now?” Wang Tong shrugged.
“Dream on. I would never choose you as my lover. Ew.”
“That makes two of us.”
“Whatever. I’m hungry, let’s go to the cafeteria.”
“Maybe somewhere else? I will…pay?” Wang Tong scowled and said unwillingly. Someone in the cafeteria would eventually recognize Li Ruoer, and Wang Tong didn’t want any rumors to spread.
“Did I really hear you say that you will buy me lunch? Why am I not feeling honored? Well, I only want some cafeteria food, and yes, you are still paying for it. Let’s go!”
Wang Tong gritted his teeth and followed Li Ruoer to the cafeteria.
As soon as the two stepped into the cafeteria, silence fell into the hall. The rumor was true; the heir of House Li, Li Ruoer was here. Upon entering the lobby, Li Ruoer quickly plastered a poised and aloof expression onto her face and switched her identity from a crazy little prick to a cold and distant goddess, whose appearance would make any young man smile.
Wang Tong rolled his eyes as he tried to improvised a plan to play along with Li Ruoer’s trick.
“We will see who is laughing in the end.” Wang Tong thought to himself.
Wang Tong led Li Ruoer directly to Karl’s table. “Give us some space. This is Li Ruoer; I think she won’t need an introduction. She was our OPPONENT during the tournament at Capth. ” Wang Tong put extra emphasis on the word “opponent.”
Li Ruoer had seen through Wang Tong’s plan, so she said polity to everyone, “It was a good fight, and it is nice to meet you all again.”
“Please sit.”
In a blink, an ample space appeared at the table.
Wang Tong cursed at his classmates in his mind. He wanted them to refuse to give her a place at the table by reminding them about the feud between Ayrlarng and Capth.
No matter what kind of hint Wang Tong dropped, no one except for Zhou Sisi would be able to pick up the cue, as they were unaware of what had happened between Wang Tong and this seemingly doe-eyed girl.
“Be our guest! What would you like to eat? Meat? Vegetable? Salty or sweet?” Hu Yangxuan puffed out his chest to make himself look manlier in front of the beautiful young lady.
“Yea, let us know. Ayrlarng’s cafeteria is pretty well known for its… “
Seeing his friends were no help, Wang Tong interrupted the conversation, “She will eat anything, right?”
“I’m not a piggy. A little bit of vegetable will do. I have a body to keep.” As soon as Li Ruoer finished her words, she was greeted with more praises for her beauty, most of which came from Hu Yangxuan.
As Wang Tong lamented over the ineffectiveness of his improvised plan, Zhou Sisi came and sat down at the table. As she looked at Li Ruoer, she didn’t seem to be surprised. Instead, the two girls held each other’s knowing gaze for a fraction of seconds before they looked away. Wang Tong was puzzled by this detail, so he dragged Zhou Sisi to a corner and asked, “What the hell is going on?” Wang Tong lowered his voice but not the urgency in his tone.
“Don’t you worry about it. Everything is under control. I will explain later.” Zhou Sisi patted Wang Tong’s shoulder and said.
Zhou Sisi’ calm and assuring tone somehow made Wang Tong feel even more unnerved. He worried that Li Ruoer had cast a spell of the Enchantress on the innocent girl.
Wang Tong conceded that his only option seemed to be playing along. Also, Wang Tong found that Zhou Sisi’s pronunciation of words was clear, unlike the hypnotized slur that one uttered when under mind control spells.
Everyone, expect for Wang Tong, had enjoyed the lunch. Wang Tong constantly worried about his friends’ lives as they chatted with the seemingly benevolent princess from House of Li.
After the lunch, Li Ruoer continued with her plan as she clutched Wang Tong’s arm and dragged him out of the cafeteria.
“Please! Can you smile just once? Am I really that bad of a person?” Li Ruoer’s face lit up with glee. Thanks to Zhou Sisi’s idea, she finally found a way to torture Wang Tong by embarrassing him and stressing him out.
Wang Tong didn’t want to carry out any unnecessary conversation, so he asked, “What’s next?”
“Hold your horses. If you behave well today and make me happy, I can let you see Ma Xiaoru as early as tonight. However, if you dare piss me off again… “
“All right, all right! Enough threats.”
“Good. Now, show me a smile, will you? You should feel honored to be my boyfriend, even if we are just pretending.”
Wang Tong rolled his eyes at her outrageous comment.
In the cafeteria, the S club sat in a circle.
“Sisi, how was our acting?”
“Very good!” Zhou Sisi gave everyone a thumb up.
“How dare she underestimate us! She thought we were all under her spell.”
“We will let Wang Tong handle the rest.” Zhou Sisi nodded.
“I think my acting skill is the best among all of you. I can tell that she was charmed by my looks.”
“You can only charm yourself with that face of yours!”
“None of you had acted as calm as I did in front her seduction. I would never let lust affect me, unlike you guys!” Karl announced.
The rest of the students rolled their eyes at the two narcissists.
It turned out that Zhou Sisi had orchestrated the entire event. She had registered that only Li Ruoer would be able to help Wang Tong, but their grudge held against each other had made things more complicated. Based on the information Zhou Sisi had gathered about the two’s confrontations, Zhou Sisi wagered that Li Ruoer’s intention wasn’t to harm Wang Tong but to humiliate him. Zhou Sisi reasoned that if she could help Li Ruoer reach her goal safely, she might be able to strike a deal with her to help Wang Tong.
To put her plan into action, Zhou Sisi also enlisted help from Hu Yangxuan and other friends of Wang Tong to put on a show for the enchantress in the cafeteria. That being said, Hu Yangxuan would be lying to say that he was merely acting and was not attracted by Li Ruoer at all. After all, Li Ruoer’s beauty was irresistible to any young man.
After the show was over, the curtain fell and the stage was cleaned. Zhou Sisi conceded that it was all she could do for Wang Tong, and the rest was up to him.
Wang Tong soon realized that he had to fight an entirely different battle this time. Li Ruoer didn’t scream or yell for his death. Instead, she smiled satisfyingly every time she squeezed a few credits out from his half-empty pocket.
Although Wang Tong felt sad to see his hard-earned money being wasted on useless trinkets, he understood that he had to keep the show going. He also learned that a bit exaggeration of his painful expression might help him to end her spending spree sooner. So, Wang Tong played on.
After an entire afternoon of splurging using Wang Tong’s money, Li Ruoer seemed to be finally satisfied. Wang Tong was surprised by how quickly her anger had been pacified, since he was expecting more outrageous orders from her after she had used up his money.
The two hopped onto a luxurious limousine that Li Ruoer had arranged. Wang Tong sat in the backseat with a solemn face. A feeling rose inside of him that was a mixture of anticipation and anxiousness.
Li Ruoer’s expression became calm and placid as soon as she stepped into the car. “Ma Xiaoru had gotten injured twice, and you were involved in both cases. To put it simply, you didn’t really leave a good impression on her dad. If you really want to see her, we have to do secretly.”
Hearing that she had finally started to talk about what he wanted to hear, Wang Tong heaved a sigh of relief. “How is she doing right now?”
“You two were both lucky. The nuke didn’t harm her, but she was in no better shape than you. Her soul energy was also depleted thanks to the overuse of super METAL.”
Li Ruoer gave Wang Tong a side-glance as she marveled at Wang Tong’s miraculous recovery. Even right then, she could feel his fresh and vigorous soul energy pumping through his body. She conceded that it would only be a matter of time before Wang Tong’s sea of consciousness was fully charged with higher grade soul energies.
“My family had dispatched our best therapist to help her. However, the progress has been slow. My father had also requested Uncle Ma’s permission to marry Ma Xiaoru to my brother. ” Li Ruoer said indifferently. She knew that it was more of a blackmail than a request.
“Why do you want to tell me this?”
“Because you intrigue me. I had never thought you would have a chance with Ma Xiaoru, but then I realized that I was wrong. I had made sure that Ma Xiaoru returned Capth, and I had also made sure that you survived in the hospital. The reason I want to help you is because I believe you are the only person that would pose any real threat to my brother.” Li Ruoer laughed alluringly.
Wang Tong kept silent. What he had heard so far didn’t bode well. He realized that he had unknowingly gotten involved in a family feud. However, one valuable information he had gained from Li Ruoer was that the Ma didn’t seem very cooperative in dealing with the Li.
Li Ruoer studied the severe expression on Wang Tong’s face, attempting to guess his thoughts.
“Aren’t you afraid of your family eventually figuring out your intention?”
“Ha-ha. You mean you would tell them that? Well, think again!”
Wang Tong marveled at Li Ruoer’s enormous ambition held inside her petite body, and wondered if she believed that everything in the world could be reduced to just a game between her and her brother.
