Chapter 42: The Feast at Swan Goose Gate

Amid the clinking of glasses, the atmosphere of the banquet grew increasingly warm and cordial. Everyone laughed and joked away, with only Ye Fan and old Luan remaining calm at heart. Old Luan, acting as a bodyguard, did not touch alcohol, but Ye Fan had other things on his mind. He constantly felt that matters were not as simple as they seemed. Huang Dalei had built his company entirely through his own efforts; how could he possibly hand over supreme authority to Chen Shuting so easily? Could it be that he intended to retire from the underworld? That was highly unlikely!

Taking advantage of the moment Chen Shuting rose to visit the restroom, Ye Fan also slipped out and covertly pulled her into a deserted corner.

"Sister Chen, I have a feeling something is fishy about this!"

"What could possibly be fishy?" Chen Shuting's cheeks were flushed, clearly having consumed quite a bit of alcohol.

"When Huang Dalei was following Lin Zhenjie, he never offered to hand over the company's finances and personnel. Why on earth is he suddenly giving them to us?"

Chen Shuting cast a sideways glance at him with her captivating eyes and chuckled, "Little brother, are you feeling jealous? Don't worry, I won't let that fellow called White be your bodyguard!" As she spoke, she leaned closer to Ye Fan, gently breathing onto his face, "I'll only let you be my close personal guard!"

"Uh..." Ye Fan was speechless. "Sister Chen, you're drunk! I'm not jealous at all, I just sense there's a problem!"

"Oh, what problem could there be? Won't we know by watching Huang Dalei's behavior from now on?" Patting Ye Fan's chest, she turned and left.

Upon returning to the private dining room, old Luan had somehow also been toasted by Huang Dalei, and was currently chatting happily with Lanlan. This made Ye Fan even more vigilant.

Just then, Huang Dalei walked over to Ye Fan with a smiling face and a wine glass in hand. "Brother Ye, I was blind and failed to recognize a true expert earlier, please don't take it to heart! I'll down this cup, feel free to drink as you please!"

Watching the man gulp down a full cup of fiery liquor in one go, Ye Fan frowned and had no choice but to follow suit with a drink of his own.

The moment the liquor hit his stomach, the surrounding environment seemed to instantly brighten, yet his consciousness grew somewhat hazy and his limbs felt entirely devoid of strength...

Could he have been drugged again?

Recalling the incident when Huang Dalei had tried to drug Chen Shuting last time, Ye Fan instantly grew alert. He hurriedly pinched and pressed several acupuncture points on his body—a technique taught to him by Li Yaoyao that could rapidly dispel alcohol, though he had no idea if it would work against a powerful sedative.

At that exact moment, he noticed Huang Dalei walking over to Chen Shuting once more, eyeing her with a frivolous gaze as if trying to look right through her from top to bottom.

Lifting his glass again, Huang Dalei said, "Sister Chen, I was just thinking that our cooperation isn't quite close enough yet!"

"Oh?" Chen Shuting's red lips parted slightly. "How else would you like us to cooperate?"

"We need to deepen it even further!" As Huang Dalei spoke, he moved closer to Chen Shuting. "Why don't you marry me, and we can become husband and wife?"

"What did you say?" Chen Shuting was terribly startled and stepped back by half a pace. Huang Dalei slammed his glass onto the floor, the shattering of glass ringing sharply throughout the private room! Immediately, a dozen burly men swarmed into the room.

"There really is something fishy going on!"

Ye Fan accelerated the stimulation of his acupuncture points and finally managed to regain some clarity of mind, while his previously sluggish limbs recovered their strength once more.

Old Luan on the other side was not nearly as fortunate! Seeing the crowd pour in, he immediately stood up to intervene, only to be struck by a wave of dizziness and complete muscular weakness, causing him to collapse back onto the floor!

Ye Fan's heart sank. Old Luan was by far the strongest combatant among the three of them; if he fell, what were they going to do?

Fight it out they must, even without a choice! Ye Fan immediately rushed toward Chen Shuting, intending to protect her, but his path was suddenly blocked by a tall, imposing figure.

"Little Chinese physician, your opponent is me!"

White licked his lips. "I've always loved college boys with delicate skin like yours! Tonight, let me give you a thorough physical examination~"

"You're the college boy! Your entire family are college boys!" Ye Fan launched a fierce kick straight toward White's crotch, only for the man to easily deflect it with a casual block.

"Full of spirit! You dared to aim for my family jewels, so tonight I'm definitely going to break you!" White lunged forward with a large grab, his face overflowing with excitement!

On the other side, Huang Dalei was closing in on Chen Shuting as well.

"How about it, Sister Chen? Your husband has gone missing, so you must be feeling rather lonely, right? Why not divorce him and marry me? From now on, my company will be entirely yours!"

As he spoke, he reached out to grab Chen Shuting. Enraged, Chen Shuting snatched a bottle of wine from nearby and hurled it straight at Huang Dalei!

"Bang!"

The bottle missed Huang Dalei, instead smashing against the back of the chair beside him. Shards of glass flew in all directions, startling Huang Dalei into taking several steps back.

"Huang Dalei, I am currently representing the Lin family. If you don't want to die, you'd better behave yourself!"

"The Lin family?" Huang Dalei burst into loud laughter. "Once I sleep with you tonight, let's see if you still dare to go back to the Lin family!" With a wave of his hand, several burly men immediately surrounded Chen Shuting!

"Young Miss!"

At that very moment of extreme peril, the subdued old Luan suddenly burst into action! Veins bulged on his forehead as he spread his arms, hurling his heavy body forward like a cannonball and knocking down all the men surrounding Chen Shuting in one go.

"Run, Young Miss!"

Old Luan had consumed less alcohol and was not as heavily poisoned. After taking a brief moment to recover while collapsed on the floor, he had finally regained some physical strength. Though he couldn't manage a proper fight, he could still use sheer brute force to bowl the men over, buying a precious sliver of survival for Chen Shuting.

Chen Shuting immediately seized the opportunity to bolt toward the doorway.

"Where do you think you're going!"

White, who had just cornered Ye Fan against the wall, suddenly turned around and lunged to block Chen Shuting's escape.

"Your opponent is me!"

Following closely behind, Ye Fan executed a move from the Three-Yang Mysterious Needle technique, hooking his foot out to cleverly trip White and send him crashing to the floor. Right after, Chen Shuting brought her high-heeled shoe down ruthlessly onto White's groin, her figure vanishing swiftly through the doorway.

"See? You still ended up getting hit there, didn't you?" Ye Fan taunted, glancing briefly at old Luan who was now grappling with a group of thugs, before picking up an intact wine bottle and smashing it toward the fallen White.

"Bang!"

The bottle struck White squarely on the forehead, knocking him unconscious. Clutching the jagged remains of the bottle, Ye Fan rushed over to assist old Luan.

"Old Luan! I've come to rescue you!" Waving the broken bottle to keep the attackers at bay, Ye Fan grabbed old Luan and urged him forward.

"Leave? Where do you think you can run to?"

Standing to one side with his arms crossed, Huang Dalei watched the scene like a spectator enjoying a play. "Security, operations, and the waitstaff are all my people. Where on earth can you possibly run?!"

"Qianqian!" he shouted.

A young woman who had been hiding aside immediately stepped forward. "What are your orders, Boss?"

"Bring me my phone! I need to notify Mr. Jiang and have him contact the reporters! Tonight's good show is only just beginning!"

"Yes, sir!" Qianqian picked up the phone and handed it over with both hands.

Elsewhere, Ye Fan was dragging old Luan's heavy frame with great difficulty toward the elevators, only to find Chen Shuting anxiously pressing the elevator button over and over.

"What's wrong?" Ye Fan let go of old Luan and ran over, catching sight of Chen Shuting's terrified expression as she turned around. "The elevators have been locked down."

"What?!" Ye Fan's heart jolted with shock, and he shouted, "Take the stairs!"

Supporting old Luan once more, he rushed toward the stairwell alongside Chen Shuting. Along the way, Ye Fan finally realized what had felt so wrong all along.

The entire eighty-seventh floor was completely deserted!

No wonder he had felt a bad premonition upon arrival; this evening had been a trap from the start, meticulously arranged by the enemy well in advance!

Sure enough, when the three of them reached the stairwell, the heavy door there was firmly bolted shut as well.

"Ye Fan, what should we do?" Panic was completely unmasked in Chen Shuting's eyes. "I never imagined Huang Dalei would be willing to smash the jade rather than keep it intact!"

From her perspective, Huang Dalei was merely a tiny ant compared to the Lin family. Since she represented the Lin family, for Huang Dalei to touch her meant making an absolute enemy of them. Even if he succeeded tonight, the Lin family would never let him off the hook afterward just to save face.

Ye Fan was equally baffled, unable to fathom Huang Dalei's true intentions. But regardless of the reason, a brutal fight tonight was completely unavoidable!

"Looks like we're in for a vicious battle tonight," Ye Fan sighed. Beside him, old Luan struggled to steady himself, a look of grim determination to fight to the death flashing in his eyes. "I'll cover the rear in a moment, Ye Fan—you must make sure you protect the Young Miss!"

"That won't do!" Ye Fan patted old Luan's shoulder. "Come on, let me clear the poison from your system!"