Demonic King of the Metropolis - Chapter 76 - The Mysterious Vehicle

“Stop right there!”

Sure enough, he hadn’t taken more than two steps when Chen Shuran called out to him from behind.

Tang Jie sighed internally, turned around with both hands raised, and despite the rumbling in his stomach, he innocently asked, “Miss Chen, I admit I’m wrong. You can punish me however you want, but can we do it after I finish my meal?”

Seeing Tang Jie’s overly pitiful expression, Chen Shuran couldn’t help but smile even more. Before Tang Jie could process what was happening, she gave him a firm push: “Turn around.”

Tang Jie looked at Chen Shuran, unsure of her intentions, then glanced at Xiao Ran standing nearby, who seemed to be grinning mischievously. He wanted to seek help with his eyes, but Xiao Ran simply turned her back and ignored him.

With a helpless sigh, Tang Jie thought to himself that women were indeed hard to please and even harder to deal with. As he muttered this in his mind, he turned around. A soft, boneless little hand reached out from behind, slowly moving up his back until it stopped at his neck, gently rubbing it. Tang Jie was suddenly startled; his heart raced, and certain inappropriate images began to flash in his mind.

Miss Chen, could she really be trying to do this to him in a public place…?

In his imagination, that little hand tenderly pulled off his clothes, sliding inside his shirt to touch his warm, firm chest, while another pair of soft, warm lips pressed against his bare back, murmuring sweet nothings…

“Alright! Let’s go.”

Chen Shuran brushed off the leaves that had stuck to Tang Jie’s back, and with Xiao Ran, she marched confidently toward the entrance, leaving Tang Jie standing there in a daze. It took him a moment to snap out of it and hurry after them.

Once outside, Chen Shuran and Xiao Ran were chatting and laughing, as if Tang Jie didn’t even exist. As he followed the two chattering women, he reflected on the fantasies that had just crossed his mind. It was hard to reconcile what he had imagined with the beauty of Miss Chen before him. He realized that women’s hearts were as unpredictable as a needle in the ocean, and their mood could change in an instant!

However, during dinner, Chen Shuran deliberately chose a restaurant Tang Jie liked and took the initiative to order a whole table of dishes he loved.

Watching the table filled with food that suited his taste, Tang Jie felt that Chen Shuran truly cared about him.

After all the dishes were served, Tang Jie didn’t hold back. He was exhausted from helping Wang Qianya and dealing with Chen Feng these past few days. Without waiting for Chen Shuran and Xiao Ran to pick up their chopsticks, he started eating heartily.

Xiao Ran watched Tang Jie devour the food and laughed, “What a true foodie!”

Upon hearing Xiao Ran’s comment, Tang Jie didn’t pause in his movements, but his chopsticks changed direction, reaching for the dishes in front of Xiao Ran. Chen Shuran noticed Tang Jie’s intent and initially wanted to scold Xiao Ran, but seeing Tang Jie act this way, she couldn’t help but stifle a laugh.

Xiao Ran didn’t realize Tang Jie’s real motive; she thought he was just extremely hungry. However, when she finally understood, she looked at her plate, which had turned into a messy disaster from Tang Jie’s actions.

Xiao Ran widened her eyes, staring at Chen Shuran, who was obviously trying to suppress her laughter. Then she glanced at Tang Jie, who wiped his mouth and leaned back in his chair, pretending to be oblivious. The plates in front of him and Chen Shuran hardly showed any signs of being touched, and it dawned on her.

“Tang Jie, you are really…”

“What am I?”

Tang Jie grinned mischievously at Xiao Ran. Seeing his carefree demeanor, she was so mad that she couldn’t find a suitable reply and just sat angrily in her chair.

“Alright, tell me what you want to eat, and I’ll get it for you. Don’t be angry; let’s eat,” Chen Shuran quickly intervened to smooth things over. Although Xiao Ran was still upset, she couldn’t do anything but reluctantly pick up her chopsticks and eat from the dishes in front of Tang Jie.

Watching her stand up occasionally to reach for the dishes, Tang Jie smiled brightly. This was his opportunity to teach her a lesson about talking behind his back.

Suddenly, he noticed that Chen Shuran hadn’t touched her food, which puzzled him.

“Why aren’t you eating?”

“I’m not hungry. Tang Jie, you’ve been gone for so long. What happened?”

Chen Shuran looked at Tang Jie with barely concealed concern in her eyes. Upon closer examination, it even seemed like she was demanding an explanation, as if Tang Jie belonged to her.

Tang Jie met Chen Shuran’s gaze, thought for a moment, and casually made up a lie. He couldn’t tell her about his dealings with Wang Qianya, not because he was afraid of her misunderstanding, but because she would definitely misinterpret it.

In any case, he couldn’t explain it clearly, so it was better to stay silent.

“You mentioned you were going to a distant relative’s house. So what’s your relative’s name? What do they do?”

Chen Shuran looked at Tang Jie, immediately sensing that he was dodging her questions. Wang Qianya hadn’t returned to school, and she had left at the same time as Tang Jie. Her intuition told her that Tang Jie’s prolonged absence surely had something to do with Wang Qianya.

With this thought, a hint of jealousy crossed Chen Shuran’s face. Tang Jie rubbed his nose, seemingly detecting the sourness in the air.

“I told you, you wouldn’t know them anyway. Let’s just head back to the classroom for a bit of rest; we have afternoon classes,” Tang Jie said, fearing that Chen Shuran might keep questioning him about Wang Qianya and that he wouldn’t be able to handle it. He quickly stood up and headed for the door.

Xiao Ran, who had been focused on her meal, frowned when she heard that Tang Jie was leaving. She hadn’t finished eating yet, and now Tang Jie was leaving. Wasn’t he deliberately trying to make her not eat enough? What a bad guy!

Though Chen Shuran looked a bit disappointed, she didn’t stop Tang Jie. Instead, she urged Xiao Ran to eat faster. Xiao Ran didn’t want to argue further, so she hastily took a few more bites and reluctantly set her chopsticks down.

As the three of them returned to school and were about to enter through the gates, Tang Jie suddenly noticed a group of people standing nearby. They appeared to be high school students-about seven or eight of them-conversing and occasionally glancing in his and Chen Shuran’s direction.

It was lunchtime, and since classes hadn’t started yet, Tang Jie suspected that these might be some troublemakers plotting a fight. With a frown, he lost interest and turned his gaze away, following Chen Shuran and Xiao Ran through the gate.

Just as he was about to enter, one of the high schoolers spotted him and quickly approached.

“Hey, are you Tang Jie?”

Tang Jie turned at the sound of his name. The speaker had a buzz cut, wore a different school’s uniform instead of that from No. 2 High School, and gave off a hoodlum vibe.

“Yeah, that’s me. Is there something you need?” Tang Jie replied nonchalantly, noticing the guard in the guardroom watching him. He didn’t want to get entangled with strangers; he just wanted to figure out a way to get inside.

The buzz-cut student, seeing that Tang Jie didn’t deny his identity, sized him up with a look of disdain.

“Our boss wants to see you. Eight o’clock tonight at the city center stadium. Are you brave enough to come?”

Tang Jie was tempted to say that he didn’t know their boss and had no interest in meeting him, but he couldn’t help but scoff inwardly at the challenge behind those words.

Tang Jie looked at the buzz-cut student, who regarded him with obvious disdain. His eyes gradually turned icy as he began to suspect that this so-called boss was probably not someone very formidable. Glancing over at the other buzz-cut students standing a distance away, he estimated that they were most likely students from another school. After considering it for a moment, he decided not to engage with this group of high school students who were hardly worthy opponents.

“I don’t have time; I still need to go home and do my homework,” he said.

“Ha!”

Hearing this, the buzz-cut student laughed mockingly, eyeing Tang Jie with contempt. “I thought you were something special. If I hadn’t known there was a guy named Tang Jie around here, I would have thought I had the wrong person.”

Tang Jie studied the buzz-cut student, thinking to himself that if he kicked him, it might just launch him into the air for free. However, he kept his thoughts to himself and replied with a grin, “It’s not up to me to decide if I’m impressive; it’s up to others to say.”

The buzz-cut student stared at Tang Jie, taking a moment to comprehend his words. After realizing the meaning behind them, he observed Tang Jie’s harmless smile, and the amusement on his face faded, replaced by a look of wariness.

“Hey! Which school are you from? Get out of here!”

The old security guard, known as Security Uncle, poked his head out from the window, shouting at the buzz-cut student next to Tang Jie. The buzz-cut student turned serious, looking at Tang Jie. “Our boss called for you; you have to show up. Remember, eight o’clock tonight at the stadium!”

With that, the buzz-cut student ignored Tang Jie and turned to walk back to his friends. Tang Jie found the encounter boring and was about to leave when he noticed a black SUV pulling up beside the group of young men. One by one, they got into the vehicle, which sped away in a flash.

Tang Jie caught a glimpse of the driver, a young and pretty girl. He stared at the speeding car and confirmed it-she was no older than a high school student.

What’s wrong with today’s kids? They’re absolutely insane at such a young age!

Watching the luxurious SUV disappear, Tang Jie noticed the eye-catching license plate number, XX888. He mentally noted it when he heard someone calling his name from the school campus.

“Tang Jie! What are you doing over there? Shuran-Jie is waiting for you! Hurry back!”

Turning around, he saw Xiao Ran standing by the entrance of the teaching building, waving at him with a mysterious smile on her face. Tang Jie tidied his hair and, under the sharp gaze of the old security guard, quickly made his way back to the teaching building.