Chapter 52: The Courteous Zhou Teng

Lin Bai originally thought Chen Zhe would chase after her. To his surprise, Chen Zhe didn't move, just staring straight at him.

"Brother Bai, say something."

Lin Bai patted Chen Zhe on the shoulder and gestured with his chin toward the departing Fu Rao.

"Chase her back. I promise you, not only will we not have to swallow this insult, but I'll also make Zhou Teng come over in person to apologize!"

Chen Zhe hesitated, and Lin Bai urged, "Go on!"

Only then did Chen Zhe pick up his tray and stand up. "Alright, I trust you, Brother Bai."

With that, Chen Zhe broke into a quick jog to catch up with Fu Rao.

Qin Ruowei witnessed the entire process and chuckled lightly. "You have quite the personal charm. Chen Zhe is so loyal to you."

Lin Bai was speechless. Remembering something, he changed the subject and said, "Ruowei, I have some things to do tonight. Eat by yourself and get some rest early."

"What are you going to do?"

"Going out for a bit. I'll tell you the details after I'm done, okay?"

Qin Ruowei bit her lip. "Alright then."

...

In the afternoon, after classes ended, Lin Bai handed his backpack to his roommate to take back to the dorm.

As he left the classroom, Lin Bai subconsciously glanced at Li Ruonan and, as coincidence would have it, saw Wang Peichuan talking to her.

Lin Bai didn't think much of it. He left the classroom, headed to the East Campus cafeteria, and then drove to the South Gate.

With school just letting out, there were many student vehicles. By the time Lin Bai arrived at the meeting point with Li Ruonan, it was already almost six-thirty.

He parked the car, looked around, and didn't find Li Ruonan. Not thinking too much of it, he waited in the car by himself.

Time ticked away minute by minute. When the clock struck six-fifty, Lin Bai finally sensed something was amiss. He took out his phone, found Li Ruonan's number, and dialed.

"Hello, Lin Bai? I'm sorry, I'll be right there, I..."

The call connected, and Li Ruonan's voice came through, laden with obvious anxiety.

However, before Li Ruonan could finish, another familiar voice broke in.

"She's here, Ruonan. Hang up first."

"Hey, no, give me back my ph—beep beep beep..."

Looking at the hung-up phone, a hint of hostility flashed in the depths of Lin Bai's eyes.

It was Wang Peichuan again!

Lin Bai's grip on his phone tightened unconsciously.

This Wang Peichuan didn't have much ability, but he was always getting in the way and acting as a nuisance! Lin Bai knew he hadn't taught him a harsh enough lesson previously.

Therefore, Lin Bai dialed again, but this time the call was directly hung up by the other side.

Lin Bai knew it must have been Wang Peichuan who hung up. Holding his phone and pondering for a moment, he found Cao Ying's number and called her.

"Hello, spit it out if you have something to say."

The call went through, and Cao Ying's tone was very poor, clearly still holding a grudge against Lin Bai over the incident with Li Ruonan.

"Do you know where Wang Peichuan went?"

Lin Bai didn't have time to explain and asked directly.

Cao Ying fell silent on the other end for a moment. "Why ask this?"

"Answer what I ask! Cut the crap!"

Fire was burning in Lin Bai's heart, and his tone involuntarily grew heavier.

Cao Ying was silent for another moment. "During class this afternoon, I heard him mention Little Liu's Barbecue on the phone. I don't know..."

Lin Bai didn't listen to the rest. He hung up, set his GPS for Little Liu's Barbecue, made a quick U-turn, and merged into the traffic.

...

Meanwhile, inside a private dining room on the second floor of Little Liu's Barbecue.

Zhou Teng, dressed in a suit and leather shoes, sat in the host's seat, Wang Peichuan sat in the accompanying seat, and Li Ruonan sat opposite them.

"Give me my phone back!"

Li Ruonan reached out her hand, her pretty face masked with anger.

Wang Peichuan glared at Li Ruonan. "Ruonan, try to be sensible. Do you know who this is? He's our external college student union president, President Zhou! Why aren't you toasting President Zhou quickly?"

Li Ruonan's chest heaved violently. She stood up abruptly and walked right up to Wang Peichuan.

"I said, give me my phone!"

Wang Peichuan hid the phone behind his back. "Ruonan, it's not good to keep playing on your phone in this setting. It's impolite to the guest. Surely you understand even that much?"

Li Ruonan wanted to say more, but Zhou Teng, sitting nearby, spoke up.

"Give it to her. It's fine."

Since Zhou Teng had spoken, Wang Peichuan naturally wouldn't say anything more and returned the phone to Li Ruonan.

"Sorry, Brother Teng, this..."

Zhou Teng raised a hand to cut Wang Peichuan off, looking at Li Ruonan with a gentle smile on his face.

"I'm sorry, Junior Li Ruonan. If you want to blame someone, blame me. I was the one who asked him to bring you here. The method might have displeased you, and I apologize for that."

You had to hand it to Zhou Teng; the guy really had some skills. With just these few words, Li Ruonan, who had been boiling with anger, suddenly found it hard to stay angry.

Li Ruonan didn't speak. She hurriedly took out her phone to reply to Lin Bai, taking the opportunity to send him her current location.

Wang Peichuan witnessed the whole process, an expression of indescribable worry on his face as he looked at Zhou Teng.

"Brother Teng, this Lin Bai might... ruin things."

Zhou Teng waved his hand with a nonchalant expression. "It's fine. Let's order the food first. The junior looks like she has things to do, so the sooner we finish talking, the sooner she can leave."

Zhou Teng's tactic of retreating in order to advance was indeed effective. Li Ruonan, who had originally wanted to turn around and leave, now felt too embarrassed to go and had no choice but to sit down.

How could a pure college freshman like Li Ruonan, who had just stepped into university, possibly match an old fox like Zhou Teng in social maneuvering?

Wang Peichuan nodded with a smile and trotted out of the room to order the food.

"Why did you look for me?"

Li Ruonan cut straight to the point, her expression displeased.

Zhou Teng smiled faintly, his expression gentle.

"Speaking of which, you won't laugh, junior, but today is—no, to be precise, this is the eighth time I've seen you."

Li Ruonan raised her delicate eyebrows. "What do you mean?"

"I saw you on registration day. To say it was love at first sight wouldn't be an exaggeration at all. You probably didn't notice me in the car back then."

"Later, when you were moving your things and during military training, I went over several times, just watching you from afar."

"During all this time, I've been agonizing over how to have a formal introduction with you. I just didn't expect it would still end up startling you. I am truly sorry."

With these words, Zhou Teng displayed his polished manners and gentlemanly demeanor to the absolute limit.

Even though Li Ruonan's heart was entirely occupied by Lin Bai, she couldn't summon even a shred of disgust toward the young man in front of her.

At that moment, the private room door opened, and Wang Peichuan walked in with a beaming smile.

Zhou Teng frowned in a way that was almost imperceptible.

Wang Peichuan returned to his seat and was about to pour a drink for Zhou Teng when Zhou Teng stopped him.

"We aren't drinking today. I have to drive later."

Wang Peichuan was stunned, but upon meeting Zhou Teng's gaze, he instantly understood. He stood up and said, "I suddenly remembered I have something to take care of. I'll step out and let you two talk."

"Oh, right, Ruonan, Brother Teng has already received an offer from Zunhe Industries. He has a boundless future ahead, so you should definitely seize this opportunity."

With that, Wang Peichuan winked at Zhou Teng and left the private room.

Only Zhou Teng and Li Ruonan were left in the room. Li Ruonan lowered her head to glance at her phone; not receiving a reply from Lin Bai made her somewhat absent-minded.

She had just sent a message apologizing to Lin Bai, sending him her exact location so he could come pick her up.

Outside the private room, Wang Peichuan pulled a cigarette from his pocket, lit it, took a deep drag, and a smile like an old fox's spread across his face.