Chapter 2450 — Kang Jinglong's Invitation

Wei Zhao had never intended to take advantage of Wang Xinyan in the first place—if he really wanted to, there was no shortage of opportunities; it did not have to be during skiing. He simply followed behind Wang Xinyan and Han Jingyi out of worry that the two of them might fall the way Kang Jinglong had.

The afternoon passed quickly. Kang Jinglong and Right Panhu had returned long ago, though neither had gone back out to ski; instead they sat in a drinks stall nearby, sipping hot tea. His talk of confronting the ski board seller had been nothing but an excuse—in truth, he had no grounds to go after the shop owner at all.

He had bought those skis of his own accord. The owner and Wei Zhao alike had warned him not to, and he had refused to listen. Who else was there to blame? Only his own poor eye—he had failed to spot that the brand was a knockoff.

That evening the group would rest at a villa on another mountain, reachable only by cable car or helicopter.

Helicopters, of course, were too expensive; ordinarily only the wealthy chose that route. The school had arranged cable cars for the students as a group, and Kang Jinglong and Right Panhu had already found this out in advance.

Each cable car could hold only two people—and when the time came, that would be Kang Jinglong's golden opportunity with Wang Xinyan.

The medical students were the smallest group, so Bai Lingtou had them line up last. That way, the medical students would also get to play a little longer at the ski resort, and naturally no one objected.

"Xinyan, ride the cable car with me in a bit?" Kang Jinglong came over to invite her. The pair of "Pleaser" brand skis was long since nowhere to be found. "Your mother called earlier and asked me to look after you."

Wang Xinyan wanted to refuse, but the second half of his sentence left her caught. Those words had plucked at her most anxious nerve without question. They reminded her that, at this very moment, too much contact with Wei Zhao would do him no good at all.

The Xuandan Sect was, to the Wei Zhao of this moment, an insurmountable presence. If she appeared too close to him, it would bring Wei Zhao a great deal of unnecessary trouble.

Thinking back on how Kang Jinglong had been fawning over her the entire way, Wang Xinyan sighed. She could not understand why the Kang family, now that they had latched onto such a powerful patron, still wanted this marriage alliance with her family. Could it really be for the sake of some baseless notion of face?

Then again, sometimes people lived for nothing but face—especially the great clans. What difference was there between the Xiao family, which had become one of the great clans, and the Xiao family that had not? Without the real strength to back it, what use was a title fought for and won?

And yet the Xiao family never tired of striving to secure their place among the great clans, and the Kang family was no different. In the eyes of these great families, face surely outweighed everything else. She was Kang Jinglong's fiancée; if she were to be with Wei Zhao—especially since Wei Zhao was the Kang family's enemy—that would amount to a slap in the face, would it not?

She glanced at Kang Jinglong, covered in injuries from head to toe, and hesitated. Riding in the same cable car with him should be fine. He was hurt all over; surely he would not try anything indecent.

"All right. But we are still students now. Even with an engagement, some things will have to wait until we graduate from university." Wang Xinyan said this to Kang Jinglong after a moment's hesitation. Her meaning was plain enough, and she was sure he could read it.

Sure enough, a flicker of annoyance crossed Kang Jinglong's eyes. Though he had only recently transferred in, with Right Panhu around he had picked up more than a few rumors about Wei Zhao and Wang Xinyan.

During military training, Wei Zhao had lodged with her, and in the car the two of them had been utterly ambiguous; Wang Xinyan had even seemed to help Wei Zhao with that... All of it gave Kang Jinglong the feeling that he had been cuckolded.

He was not entirely certain, though. Judging by his years of professional medical training, Wang Xinyan should still be a virgin. So he suppressed the anger in his heart and said, "Of course. Your mother said as much—that we should respect each other."

Kang Jinglong thought to himself that there was no need to rush matters of the heart with Wang Xinyan during a single cable car ride. Once the emergency he had arranged unfolded, she would surely come to depend on him.

"All right." After hearing his words, Wang Xinyan raised no further objection.

Wei Zhao frowned. He did not much like the idea of Wang Xinyan riding in a cable car with Kang Jinglong, but each car really did hold only two people, and this was her own decision. Wei Zhao would not interfere.

What she had said, though, gave Wei Zhao some food for thought. After university graduation? Wang Xinyan clearly did not like Kang Jinglong—otherwise, with him, Wei Zhao, she could be intimate enough, and yet when it came to Kang Jinglong, it became a matter of mutual respect.

What Wei Zhao could not figure out was what Wang Xinyan was actually thinking. She did not like Kang Jinglong, yet she still upheld the engagement—could there be some secret she could not speak of? Much as Wei Zhao wanted to know it, asking her outright would surely get him nowhere; he could only observe slowly from the sidelines.

The other students had already left by cable car for the resort on the mountain opposite, and his own classmates had all boarded under the staff's direction. Only the four of them remained—Wei Zhao, Han Jingyi, Kang Jinglong, and Wang Xinyan.

The last to ride before them had been Right Panhu's two lackeys, Yellow Hair and Purple Hair.

"We're off, classmate Wei Zhao. You can bring up the rear." Kang Jinglong gestured gallantly toward Wang Xinyan, motioning her into the cable car.

Seeing that he was genuinely well behaved and made no move to get handsy, Wang Xinyan gave a small nod and stepped inside.

The two seats in the car faced each other, one to a side, so there was little fear of sitting too close. After Wang Xinyan got in, Kang Jinglong followed and took his seat.

Once the cable car carrying Wang Xinyan and Kang Jinglong had drawn away, Wei Zhao and Han Jingyi boarded the one behind.

"Xinyan, you seem a little nervous. Are you afraid of heights?" Kang Jinglong asked with a smile, looking across at the somewhat tense Wang Xinyan.

It was not heights that Wang Xinyan feared, but the discomfort of sharing a cable car with Kang Jinglong.