Chapter 331 — The Flying Knife Contest

Yang Ce wolfed down most of the food on the table, then said to Ren Jianren, "Thanks for the hospitality. As for the specifics, you draw them up. If I drew them up, they might work against you—I trust you to be fairly impartial."

"All right... then I'll draw them up. Don't worry, I'll make sure the rules are fair." Ren Jianren was rather surprised that Yang Ce would hand him the authority to set the rules. He had genuinely feared that Yang Ce would come up with rules designed to put him at a disadvantage.

Yang Ce turned and walked out of the restaurant, leaving Ren Jianren behind to pay the bill. Though Ren Jianren regretted not getting to pound Yang Puqi on stage, the outcome was about as good as he could have hoped for.

If it came to a real, no-holds-barred fight, Ren Jianren wasn't afraid—he was confident he could beat Yang Puqi. But Yang Cenbin was always playing crooked tricks, and he dreaded the thought of what bizarre stunt Yang Cenbin might pull next time.

So it was better to choose this safer option of knife-throwing. He'd have Li Jiasheng practice hard beforehand, and there should be no problem. After all, taekwondo also trains bodily coordination, so throwing knives wasn't anything difficult—and besides, Li Jiasheng already had a foundation in this area.

in this area.

After finishing his meal, Yang Ce checked the time. It was nearly eight o'clock—less than ten minutes until classes let out. There was no need for him to go back and sit through the rest of the lesson.

Yang Ce parked the car beside the business school's teaching building and waited for Lin Zhiyun to finish class, so he could pick her up and drive her home. Chen Shutang had long since gone back; Zhou Yanning was staying with Xiao Qing that night; and Wang Yanqiu was leaving with Zhao Ying. So Yang Ce only needed to wait for Lin Zhiyun alone.

Downstairs from the business school, Yang Ce didn't see Xu Qianxing's Leopard jeep. He must not have come back for class—Yang Ce had no idea how Xu Qianxing and Ren Jianren had gotten in touch.

After a while, a stream of people poured out of the business school building as classes ended. A slender figure in white caught Yang Juehuan's eye. Yang Ce pushed open the car door, got out, and waved to the figure. "Zhiyun, over here!"

Spotting Yang Ce, Lin Zhiyun quickened her pace and jogged over in a few steps. Yang Ce opened the passenger door and let her in, then got in himself and started the car.

"Your class let out this early?" Lin Zhiyun looked at Yang Ce, a little puzzled. By rights, Yang Ce's class should have ended at the same time as hers, at eight o'clock sharp. It would have taken him some time to drive over after class, yet she had seen him standing there the moment she came out—which meant he had been waiting for her long before.

"No. I sat through half the class before Ren Jianren called me out," Yang Yanzhou said.

"Ren Jianren? Which one is that?" Lin Zhiyun was briefly taken aback, then recalled who Ren Jianren was. "Oh, I remember now. Isn't he the president of the Taekwondo Club—the one who fought you last semester?"

"Yes, that's him." Yang Yuting nodded and smiled. "I didn't expect you to remember him."

"Mm, I have some impression of him. He promoted his Taekwondo Club afterward, but my classmates all felt that if he couldn't even beat a freshman, then taekwondo was nothing special." Lin Zhiyun smiled too. "You're quite famous in our class, you know!"

"So were they envious of you?" Yang Xutang asked with a smile.

"Envious of what?" Lin Zhiyun's face flushed, and she fidgeted a little.

"Envious of you, of course—envious that you found such a formidable boyfriend," Yang Ce said. "Don't girls all like boys who make them feel secure?"

"They don't know you're my boyfriend. Why would I go around saying that? Everyone knows Mengyan is your girlfriend. If I got involved, people would gossip about me." Lin Zhiyun shook her head.

"I've put you in an unfair position..." Yang Juehuan's voice carried a note of shame. He reached out and took Lin Zhiyun's delicate little hand. But there was nothing to be done—this was school, where people talked, and Yang Ce couldn't publicly acknowledge his relationships with other girls. If he did, there would surely be no end of jealous people, and the ugly things they said would end up hurting Chen Shutang and the others.

He himself didn't care, but Chen Shutang, Lin Zhiyun, and Zhou Yanning were all girls—how could they be expected to be so shameless? Even if Yang Ce didn't care for his own sake, he had to consider theirs.

He could use force to silence some people, but once word spread, it would be beyond even Yang Ce's power to control.

So although Yang Ce and Lin Zhiyun were very close at school, Lin Zhiyun had never told anyone that she was Yang Juehuan's girlfriend. Only a handful of people knew—Ge Xinyao, Jing Yu, and a few others.

"Unfair how?" Lin Zhiyun broke into a smile. "I think this is just fine. As long as I can be with you, that's enough. Why should I tell anyone? Whether they know or not—I couldn't care less."

Yang Ce looked at Lin Zhiyun. Her expression was firm, not as though she were joking, and he knew she meant every word. She was that kind of girl—soft yet strong-willed, and once she set her mind to something, she would see it through and never change.

"Zhiyun, as long as you're happy, I'm at ease." Yang Yuting nodded.

"I figure he wants to settle the score from last semester," Yang Yanzhou said, "and this business has probably—

"So... did you refuse?" Lin Zhiyun had suspected from the start that Ren Jianren's approach to Yang Ce couldn't mean anything good, and hearing this confirmed it. She was rather resentful toward Xu Qianxing for brokering it. "How could Xu Qianxing do that?"

"He pursued you and failed, and I won you instead—so naturally he's furious. It just so happened that Ren Jianren, that troublemaker, wanted to settle a score too. I'd guess the two of them hit it off and came up with this idea of sharing the stage." Yang Yanzhou said, "But why would I refuse? Why should I turn him down? I agreed on the spot."

"You agreed?" Lin Zhiyun was startled. "Why did you agree?"

"I didn't know what to perform anyway, and with him joining in, it just so happens the two of us can share the stage." Yang Hengye said, "You wanted to perform together with me, didn't you? This works out perfectly."

"Huh? Me too? Wasn't he looking to pick a fight with you?" Lin Zhiyun asked in surprise.