40: Chapter 40 At this moment, pure love shattered, and the bloodline of the top-tier rich second-generation could no longer be suppressed.

The taxi, shabby on the outside but retrofitted with bulletproof glass on the inside, pulled up steadily onto the curb right across from Jiangcheng Normal University.

Su Muyang sat in the back seat, his palms slick with sweat, his phone with the cracked screen creaking under his tight grip.

"Young Master, we're here." The man in the front seat wearing a baseball cap—Ghost Shadow—spoke in a low voice. Without turning his head, he rolled down the window just a sliver. "Target vehicle is at three o'clock, that white bmw 5 series that just pulled up."

Su Muyang didn't speak; he even forgot to breathe.

Through the gap in the window, he saw a figure at the school gate that was all too familiar.

Qian Li.

She had a full face of makeup on today. That face, which was always bare and complained that cosmetics were too expensive whenever she was with him, was now glowing with whiteness. Her lips were painted a bright red, and instead of the cheap, street-stall T-shirt he had bought her, she was wearing a form-fitting black slip dress.

She carried that black Chanel hobo bag in her hand, standing under the streetlamp like a proud black swan, looking around.

Su Muyang's heart gave a sharp tug.

That dress was too short.

In the past, when he said he wanted to see Qian Li wear a dress, she would always call him a pervert, saying that good girls don't dress so revealingly.

The passenger door of the bmw opened.

A man wearing a floral shirt with his hair slicked back poked his head out and let out a whistle.

It was Wang Hao.

That universally acknowledged scumbag of the school, a rich second generation who relied on his family's wealth to change girlfriends more often than he changed his clothes.

When Qian Li saw Wang Hao, the impatience on her face vanished instantly. She trotted over, laughing so hard she was shaking, and before even getting into the car, she leaned through the window and kissed Wang Hao on the face.

Smack.

The sound wasn't loud; it definitely couldn't be heard from dozens of meters away.

But Su Muyang felt a string in his brain snap with a loud pop.

Qian Li climbed into the car, the bmw revved its engine, and the exhaust pipe sprayed a face full of fumes onto a boy eating grilled cold noodles by the roadside as they sped away.

"Follow them."

Su Muyang squeezed the two words through his teeth, his voice as dry as if he had swallowed a mouthful of sand.

Ghost Shadow didn't waste any words. He shifted gears and stepped on the gas. The taxi, which looked like it was ready for the scrapyard, acted like a silent hunting dog, latching onto the bmw in front.

There was silence the whole way.

Twenty minutes later, the bmw stopped in front of a high-end charcoal barbecue restaurant called "Han Palace Feast."

The average cost per person here started at five hundred. Su Muyang had passed by many times but never dared to go in. He remembered Qian Li saying that the wagyu beef here was exceptionally tender, and if they were rich in the future, they would definitely come here to eat until their mouths were swollen.

At that time, he had promised solemnly that he would definitely bring her here in the future.

Now, she was here.

Carrying someone else's bag, sitting in someone else's car.

Ghost Shadow was very experienced; he parked the car in the shadows of the trees across the street. The position was extremely tricky, perfectly allowing them to see every move inside the barbecue restaurant through the huge floor-to-ceiling glass windows.

That window seat was practically prepared for an execution.

Su Muyang sat in the dark car, staring fixedly at that bright window.

The waiter brought out plate after plate of meat, and the charcoal fire burned bright red.

Qian Li took off her coat, revealing her fair shoulders. She didn't eat much; she was busy the whole time.

Busy grilling meat for Wang Hao, busy pouring wine for Wang Hao, busy laughing.

Wang Hao leaned back in his chair, enjoying himself like a lord. He had one arm draped over the back of Qian Li's chair, a cigarette in his other hand, and occasionally leaned over to whisper something in Qian Li's ear, making her laugh until she was swaying back and forth, almost pressing her entire body into his arms.

"Come on, Brother Hao, open your mouth, ah—"

Su Muyang saw Qian Li pick up a piece of grilled meat, blow on it, and carefully feed it to Wang Hao's lips.

Wang Hao didn't eat it immediately but said something with a wicked smile. Qian Li playfully punched him, then took the meat into her own mouth, bit off half, and leaned in to feed it to Wang Hao.

Mouth to mouth.

Boom!

Su Muyang felt as if someone had stabbed a knife into his chest and then twisted it hard.

It hurt.

It fucking hurt.

He remembered last week, when he bought Qian Li that eight-yuan portion of braised pork in the cafeteria, while he only got a two-yuan portion of vegetables for himself.

What did Qian Li say at the time?

She said: "Su Muyang, are you annoying or what? This meat is so fatty, how am I supposed to eat it? Do you want to make me fat to death?"

Then she threw that piece of meat into the trash can.

So, it turned out she didn't dislike meat.

She just didn't eat meat bought by a poor wretch.

Su Muyang's fingers dug fiercely into the leather seat, his nails almost breaking.

He thought he would charge in, flip the table, and smash that scalding hot grill onto Wang Hao's head.

But he didn't.

His feet felt like they were filled with lead; he couldn't move.

What would be the point of charging in?

To ask her why she betrayed him? To ask what those years of feelings meant?

It was too embarrassing.

They were drinking red wine costing thousands and eating wagyu beef costing hundreds per slice, while he barked outside like a stray dog, only serving to liven things up for this pair of scumbags.

"Young Master."

Ghost Shadow glanced at the rearview mirror. Su Muyang's face was deathly pale in the shadows, his eye sockets so red they looked like they were bleeding, but Ghost Shadow was familiar with that look of someone wanting to kill.

That was the look of an honest man pushed to the edge of a dead end.

"Do you need me to go in and handle it?" Ghost Shadow asked. "Just say the word, and that man won't be leaving this door tonight."

Su Muyang didn't answer.

He slowly loosened his hand from the seat and pulled that black metal card out of his pocket.

The cold touch made his feverish brain calm down a little.

One billion.

Just a moment ago, he still felt that this card was a humiliation, a tool his irresponsible father used to shame him.

He even thought about throwing this card back and telling Chen Fan loudly: I have hands and feet, I have love and dreams, I don't covet your stinking money.

Heh.

Su Muyang looked at the couple still flirting outside the window and suddenly laughed.

The laugh was very light, filled with self-mockery, despair, and also an unprecedented clarity.

Fuck love.

Fuck dreams.

In this man-eating world, without money, you can't even live securely as a dog.

What kind of thing is Wang Hao? He looks like a monkey, his grades are a total mess, and besides having a good father, in what way is he better than him?

Yet it was this "good father" who let him hold the woman he treasured as a gem in his arms, eating delicacies he didn't even dare to imagine.

Since sincerity is worthless.

Then let money do the talking.

Su Muyang lowered his head, looked at the black card in his hand, and rubbed his thumb hard against the raised name on it.

"No need to take action."

Su Muyang raised his head. In those bloodshot eyes, the former clarity and stupidity were fading away bit by bit, replaced by a chilling ruthlessness.

It was the precursor to the awakening of a top-tier predator's bloodline.

"Hitting people is illegal; it's too low-class."

Su Muyang tucked the black card back into his pocket and straightened his cheap, tens-of-yuan T-shirt. His voice was hoarse but carried a chilling, teeth-gritting intensity.

"Hey, you... Ghost Shadow, right?"

"Yes."

"Tell me..." Su Muyang pointed at the arrogant bmw 5 series not far away, then pointed at the smug-faced Wang Hao, and asked a question that made Ghost Shadow's back go cold.

"How much does it cost to slap these bastards' faces until they swell up—using money?"