Chapter 30: Betrayal

Chapter 30: Betrayal

The delay meant it was already evening. After dinner with Shen Yuxuan, Yang Qi drove toward Qing University.

Thanks to his uncanny learning ability, Yang Qi had managed to get a good feel for his new car in just a few hours. In less than thirty minutes, he arrived back outside the campus.

Just as Yang Qi slowed down to enter the school gates, a somewhat familiar figure caught his eye under the dim streetlights nearby.

"Tang Xinjie?" Yang Qi’s expression shifted slightly. It was none other than Tang Xinjie, someone he had met once before.

She appeared to be in a sorry state, swaying unsteadily as she leaned against a street tree. Seeing this, Yang Qi pulled over. Clearly, she was drunk. For a beautiful woman to be intoxicated alone outside the university at night was incredibly dangerous.

As Yang Qi stepped out of the car, he saw two men approaching her. After a brief exchange, they began to drag her away. Such scenes were not unheard of at a university—Yang Qi had even helped a drunk Shen Peng before—but the direction these men were heading was not toward the campus.

"Stop! Who are you?" Yang Qi stepped forward and blocked their path, his voice cold.

"Listen, student, my friend is drunk. I’m just taking her to get some rest," one of the men said, eyeing Yang Qi warily.

"A friend? If you’re friends, do you even know her name?" Yang Qi sneered.

"That’s our business. You’re overstepping, kid," the other man said, his face darkening with a menacing glare.

"I’m sorry, but I’m her classmate, and I have no idea who you two are," Yang Qi replied with a cold smile.

The men’s expressions changed instantly.

"Listen, kid, don't meddle in business that doesn't concern you, or I’ll carve you up," the man threatened. They weren't about to let such a rare opportunity to take advantage of a drunken beauty slip away.

"I’m making this my business," Yang Qi declared. He realized these two were simply preying on an intoxicated woman. He couldn't just stand by and let it happen, especially since he knew her.

"Since you have a death wish, don't blame us!" One of the men grinned hideously and flicked his wrist, revealing a folding knife.

"You’re courting death!"

Seeing the blade, Yang Qi’s face turned grim. They were right outside a university, yet they were this bold. This completely infuriated him. If he didn't teach them a lesson, who knew how many other girls would fall victim to them?

With a swift movement, Yang Qi kicked out twice. Before the men could even react, they let out miserable screams, flew backward, and slammed hard into the ground.

"Consider this a lesson. If I ever see you near Qing University again, you’ll be spending the rest of your lives in a hospital bed," Yang Qi said coldly as he caught Tang Xinjie, ignoring the wails of the men behind him.

"Yes, yes, boss! We're leaving!" The pair scrambled to their feet, clutching their stomachs, and fled in a panic.

"Such a strong smell of alcohol." Holding Tang Xinjie, Yang Qi caught a pungent scent. She had clearly been drugged and forced to drink heavily.

"Tang Xinjie, are you okay?" Yang Qi asked urgently.

"You..." Tang Xinjie looked up at him and pointed a finger. "I know you... you’re... the pervert. No, wait, the heartbroken guy."

Yang Qi’s mouth twitched. So that was how she remembered him?

"Which dormitory is yours? I’ll take you back," Yang Qi said helplessly. There was no reasoning with a drunk person.

"Dormitory? Is that edible?" she asked, tilting her head in confusion.

"What about your friends? I'll call them to come get you," Yang Qi said, exasperated. A beautiful drunkard was just a drunkard, after all.

"Bastard!" Tang Xinjie growled. "Drugging my drink... Hou Lei, you’ll pay for this..."

Drugged?

Yang Qi’s expression tightened. He channeled his internal energy to scan her body and, sure enough, detected a sedative.

"No wonder she’s in such a state. She was drugged," Yang Qi thought. It made sense now; she wouldn't have been wandering the streets alone otherwise.

"Hou Lei..." Yang Qi narrowed his eyes. Hou Lei had recently hired thugs to deal with him, and if not for his own capabilities, he would have ended up in the hospital. He hadn't expected the man to go after Tang Xinjie with such despicable tactics.

"It must have been someone close to her who drugged the drink, which explains why she was alone."

Yang Qi realized she had probably fled after discovering she was drugged, only to be overtaken by the sedative and the alcohol once she reached the street. If he hadn't appeared, she would have escaped one trap only to fall into the hands of those thugs—out of the wolf's den and into the tiger's mouth.

He didn't dare call her friends, not knowing who was in on the betrayal. He couldn't risk sending her right back to Hou Lei.

"I guess I have no choice but to take you to my villa," Yang Qi sighed.

He carefully settled her into his car and drove toward the school.

"Please don't throw up in the car," he prayed, glancing at the unconscious woman in the backseat. "This is a brand-new car."

...

"Smack!"

Inside a private room, the sharp sound of a slap echoed.

"Useless trash! You couldn't even handle this? Didn't you say it was a sure thing?" Hou Lei glared at the gaudily dressed woman in front of him. Her name was Chen Xiaoyan, Tang Xinjie’s roommate and "best friend." He had paid her a fortune to drug Tang Xinjie’s drink so he could take advantage of her. He hadn't expected the plan to fail.

"Young Master Hou, I’m sorry. I didn't expect her to just leave like that," Chen Xiaoyan said, looking aggrieved. She had no idea where Tang Xinjie had gone; she wasn't answering her phone, and she was nowhere to be found.

"You didn't sound so unsure when you were taking my money," Hou Lei sneered. "If anything happens to Tang Xinjie, you’re dead."

Hou Lei considered Tang Xinjie his private property—one he hadn't even touched yet. If someone else got to her first, he would never be able to swallow that humiliation.

"Young Master Hou..." Chen Xiaoyan looked at him in terror. She didn't doubt his threat for a second; Hou Lei was far more dangerous than just a typical wealthy heir.