Put away your magical powers now!.

Chapter 199 [Taking an Urgent Order] (Happy Dragon Boat Festival!)

Chapter 193 [Accepting an Urgent Order] (Happy Dragon Boat Festival!)

After hanging up Chu Keqing's call, Chen Yan didn't really think much of it—Luo Qing's matter was just a minor episode to him.

For Chen Yan, the clues he obtained from Lu Xiuting were the core of his efforts these past few days.

The issue is……

It seems like there's been some gain, but it also seems like there's been no gain at all.

Lu Xiuting's past secrets, the voice in that jade stone, whether it's a magical artifact or some kind of demon, all matter.

That thing has already disappeared.

Lu Xiuting achieved a life-changing turnaround thanks to that thing—but it was just a story of a country girl's struggle to marry into a wealthy family.

The question that Chen Yan was most concerned about regarding Lu Sisi did not seem to have been resolved.

Of course, there are still many doubts about this matter.

For example, Chen Yan went to see that so-called "ancient tomb," and it turned out to be nothing more than a tomb for burying people, but rather some kind of suppression formation.

The voice inside that jade artifact, which is what Lu Xiuting referred to as the jade embryo, should be the thing that was suppressed inside, which Lu Xiuting's father dug out and brought out.

However, there were no clues that directly connected these events with the strange occurrences involving Lu Sisi.

·
Ding!
Chen Yan picked up his phone and glanced at the WeChat message notification.

The sender's ID is "Toad".

Yes, it's that divorce expert, the toad spirit.

The message from this guy was simple: "Reporting to the Celestial Official, I have successfully joined the matchmaking platform."

Attached below is a photo ID card of an employee of a dating platform.

Chen Yan casually replied with a "Go for it!" emoji and prepared to throw his phone away and leave it alone.

Hopefully, this toad spirit will work hard and accumulate more merit and spiritual cultivation.

Just as I was about to throw away my phone, I received another message from WeChat.

This message was sent by General Manager Zhao Shanhe.

"Chen Yan, are you free? Let's go out for a drink."

Chen Yan smiled. He wasn't indifferent to this only friend he had made during his four years of university, and quickly replied, "Time and place."

Soon, Xiao Zhao sent an address.

·
Lao Wang Barbecue.

This is a barbecue restaurant located on a food street outside the west gate of Chen Yan's alma mater in the University Town.

The owner, Liang Kouqi, came to Jinling Prefecture from the neighboring Anhui Province to do business. He is an expert at grilling meat, especially cartilage, which is crispy, tender, and juicy. Every time Chen Yan and Xiao Zhao go to eat there, they order dozens of skewers at a time.

The proprietress is very good at business. She is shrewd and knows how to handle people. She can make customers smile with just a few words, so she has many repeat customers.

When Chen Yan arrived at Lao Wang's BBQ, it was a little after nine o'clock in the evening, which was the busiest time for the business.

The barbecue restaurant was already full, and the owner had set up a few tables and plastic stools on the roadside to do business.

Chen Yan walked over, greeted the owner who was grilling meat skewers behind the barbecue grill, and then spotted Zhao Shanhe sitting at a table by the roadside.

Mr. Zhao was wearing a dirty T-shirt, with a box of Snow Beer beer at his feet and a pile of barbecue skewers on the table in front of him.

However, Chen Yan noticed that this guy seemed a bit off, chugging his drink alone, his expression...

To put it simply, if a man has this kind of expression on his face, he's either unemployed or heartbroken.

Given that Mr. Zhao is a well-known workaholic among students, unemployment is highly unlikely for him.

So, you've been dumped?
Chen Yan walked over and sat down in front of Zhao Shanhe. He grabbed a bottle of beer, popped the cap off with his thumb, took a couple of sips, and then patted Zhao Shanhe on the shoulder: "What's wrong with you?"

"Chen Yan, you're here." Zhao Shanhe seemed to only notice Chen Yan now. He had a helpless smile on his face, picked up the bottle and clinked it with Chen Yan's, then tilted his head back and gulped down a few mouthfuls. However, he drank too fast, and beer foam dripped from the corners of his mouth, spraying everywhere.

“…If you don’t know how, don’t try to show off.” Chen Yan sighed, patted his good friend on the back to help him catch his breath, and asked, “What happened? Were you scammed out of your money, or were you seduced?”

"I'm so damn unwilling!" Zhao Shanhe looked up at the sky and sighed, appearing as if a hero had lost his will to live.

“If you want to talk, then speak like a normal person.” Chen Yan shook his head: “Stop acting like a drama queen and just tell me what happened.”

"I..." Zhao Shanhe glanced pitifully at Chen Yan, "I watched as the girl I liked fell into someone else's arms..."

"Stop! Don't give me that cheesy romance drama nonsense. Have you been reading too many female-oriented novels lately?" Chen Yan looked at Zhao Shanhe: "Tell me, what exactly happened?"

"Well, well... I like a girl, but she doesn't like me."

"Well, then what?"

"And then she fell for a jerk... I, I hate it!!!"

Alright, Chen Yan understood. This guy was drunk and couldn't even speak properly. He was just making a scene and trying to move himself.

Chen Yan stopped asking the guy—since he wanted to drink, he could let him drink as much as he wanted.

Afterwards, Chen Yan and the boss ordered another fifty skewers of grilled cartilage, and while eating them, they also poured alcohol for the guy.

After a few bottles of beer, Zhao Shanhe immediately vomited. Chen Yan grabbed him by the collar and dragged him into a nearby alley, where he leaned against the wall and vomited violently.

After paying the bill, Chen Yan helped the guy away, found a small hotel near the school, booked a standard room, threw Xiao Zhao onto one bed, and lay down on the other bed, taking out his phone to watch short videos.

In the middle of the night, Xiao Zhao woke up and suddenly sat up in bed.

He seemed to roll his eyes, then suddenly sprang to his feet, jumped off the bed and rushed to the toilet. After vomiting for a while, he staggered out.

Chen Yan had already handed him an opened bottle of mineral water. The guy took it, gulped down a few mouthfuls, and then lay back down on the bed.

This time I slept soundly until dawn.

In the morning, Zhao Shanhe woke up again and turned his head to see Chen Yan on the next bed happily munching on a bag of meat buns.

Zhao Shanhe immediately stood up, went over and reached out his claws to snatch the meat bun.

"Godfather! Give me one!"

Chen Yan sighed, letting the guy snatch the steamed bun, and even kindly offered him a bag of soy milk.

Seeing that Zhao Shanhe had finished two steamed buns and drunk a bag of soy milk, Chen Yan threw the cigarette pack over from the bedside table—the cigarettes were taken from Zhao Shanhe's pocket last night.

“You’ve drunk it, you’ve vomited it, you’re awake now, so you can talk about it now—stop with the dramatic nonsense, just tell me what happened.” Chen Yan’s tone was very calm.

Zhao Shanhe lit a cigarette, took a few melancholy puffs, and said, "Brother, tell me... why are some women so foolish..."

After finishing a few cigarettes, Chen Yan finally understood what had happened to Zhao Shanhe.

It's actually very simple, just two words: woman.

·
Although Zhao Shanhe is a very good person and knows how to handle things, his weakness lies in romantic relationships.

Zhao Shanhe, a senior in college, will be graduating soon.

He didn't look for any internships; he just planned to coast through until graduation, then return to his hometown and inherit his parents' business.

It's basically about going to Hengdian World Studios to be a group leader.

Zhao Shanhe's parents were in this business. They worked as group leaders in Hengdian World Studios for many years, running a husband-and-wife business and also operating an entertainment company. Over the years, they had built up a considerable business.

This family fortune isn't enough for Zhao Shanhe to be a second-generation rich kid, but it's still considered a wealthy family.

Zhao Shanhe originally planned to go back to his hometown after receiving his graduation certificate and degree certificate in a month, but in his last year before graduation, he suddenly felt that he had missed out because he hadn't had a relationship during his four years of college.

So, he transformed into a love-struck teenager, wanting to have a passionate romance before graduation so as not to leave any regrets.

He set his sights on a "junior female student".

The girl from the same school had also appeared a few times in Zhao Shanhe's circle of students who worked part-time, doing several odd jobs to earn some money to supplement their living expenses.

Generally speaking, college students who choose to take part-time jobs to supplement their living expenses are not from well-off families. In today's society, college students no longer care about working and studying to improve themselves. Those from slightly better-off families who have living expenses provided by their families are rarely willing to go out and endure hardship.

Why be a beast of burden before graduation? You can still find plenty of work to do after graduation!

The student work circle that Zhao Shanhe formed consisted mostly of students whose income hovered around the poverty line.

This "junior sister" is one of them.

His family background is said to be quite ordinary.

Specifically, it means:

An alcoholic father, a gambling mother, a younger brother in school, and a broken woman.

Zhao Shanhe told Chen Yan that this girl was very innocent, beautiful, and also very strong.

Despite her humble origins and difficult family background, this girl did not give up on herself. She was very hardworking and eager to learn, and at the same time, she was gentle.

She is not good with words, but kind-hearted...

In short, Zhao Shanhe used only beautiful words to describe Chen Yan.

Zhao Shanhe had actually developed feelings for this junior sister a long time ago, so when she was working, he would secretly take care of her and try to arrange for her to do some easy but well-paid odd jobs.

The girl was grateful to Zhao Shanhe and treated him to a meal at the school cafeteria, paying with her meal card.

Well, how should I put it, the girl cooked herself two steamed buns and a soup, and cooked four dishes and a soup for Zhao Shanhe: braised pork, braised duck, braised eggplant, and spicy shredded potatoes.

This one meal alone cost Zhao Shanhe his entire fortune.

"She really had it so tough..." Zhao Shanhe said, his fingers trembling as he spoke.

Chen Yan forced a smile, trying hard not to laugh out loud.

As a result, Zhao Shanhe's heroic spirit was overwhelmed. He took the girl's steamed bun, pushed the four dishes and soup in front of her, and even snatched her meal card to top up two thousand yuan at the counter.

Later, the girl had an accident while working. She went out to hand out flyers and disappeared.

Zhao Shanhe made phone calls all afternoon but couldn't reach her. Finally, he got anxious and rode a shared bicycle for several blocks before finally finding his junior sister by the roadside at the entrance of a residential area.

At that moment, the girl was sitting by the river next to the residential area with tears in her eyes, next to her a stack of flyers that hadn't been handed out yet—most of the flyers were floating on the river.

The girl, with tears in her eyes and looking pitiful, told Zhao Shanhe that she had accidentally tripped and fallen, dropping all the flyers into the river and not finishing her work. Then she started blaming herself, saying she was so useless.

Zhao Shanhe asked the girl why she wasn't answering her phone.

The girl took out her old, secondhand phone and told Zhao Shanhe that it was broken.

That old phone was probably a model from at least five or six years ago—nowadays, its specifications would be equivalent to a basic old-fashioned phone.

Zhao Shanhe felt as if something had stabbed his heart—these were his exact words to Chen Yan.

Chen Yan remained silent, but in his heart he felt that it wasn't his heart that had been stabbed, but his brain.

Zhao Shanhe took the junior student back, apologized to the employer who handed out the flyers on her behalf, and even paid compensation.

Then I took the girl to the mall and bought her a new phone.

Naturally, Zhao Shanhe fell in love with this junior.

Perhaps it's the heroic sentiments of young men at play, the kind of scenario that many young people love to fantasize about: a hero rescuing a damsel in distress.

Zhao Shanhe took extra care of this junior student—of course, he also hoped that they could naturally have a pure and passionate campus romance.

"I also told her that after graduation, she should come to Hengdian to find me. She can work at my family's company, and I'll take her to Hengdian to become an actress and work on film sets. Actually, if you do well in this industry, you can make a lot of money. I plan to..."

"Hmm, you're planning to go back and inherit your parents' entertainment company, and you've also decided that you'll be the boss and she'll be the boss's wife, right?" Chen Yan said with a smile.

"..." Zhao Shanhe looked at Chen Yan expectantly: "I...Is what I think wrong?"

"It's alright, continue," Chen Yan waved his hand.

"For a while, she was quite nice to me, although we never really confessed our feelings to each other—you know, I get shy around girls and can't even speak properly. And she, she's very innocent and timid."

So we never made it official, but our classmates all thought we were probably going to get together soon.

When we went out to run queuing jobs at bubble tea shops, she would bring me breakfast. Back in the dorm at night, we'd chat on WeChat for a long time…”

"Well, if nothing unexpected happens, a scumbag rich second-generation should be making his appearance next, right?" Chen Yan asked calmly.

"Huh? How did you know?"

"..." Chen Yan glanced at the guy with a hint of exasperation: "It's okay, go on."

"We were almost a couple! But then, that guy He Kang suddenly came and messed things up!" Zhao Shanhe said angrily, gritting his teeth.

He Kang, a student at the same school, was in the same year as that junior, but in a different department. He was a local from Jinling Prefecture, and his family owned a car, a house, and a factory.

He owns more than one car, more than one house, and more than one factory.

He is tall and handsome, a typical child from a wealthy urban family, with refined manners and a good sense of style.

She plays basketball very well and likes to sing and dance...

Well, thankfully I don't like wearing overalls.

He's the kind of guy that young girls really like.

It's said that this guy was a player in school; by his junior year, he had already had at least five girlfriends.

He Kang, also known as He Haiwang, met his junior schoolmate at a hot pot restaurant.

At that time, He Haiwang was eating hot pot with some classmates, and the junior school girl was working odd jobs as a waitress there.

A junior high school girl placed the wrong order, and the customer wanted to complain. He Haiwang fell in love with the junior high school girl at first sight, so he stepped in to plead for her and even paid compensation to avoid the customer's complaint.

That's how the two met.

He Haiwang's family is richer than Zhao Shanhe's family. Most importantly, he is a local native, a child who grew up in the city, and owns a house, a car, and a factory.

Although Mr. Zhao's family home is the ancient Hengdian Kingdom, which spans thousands of years of history, in terms of appearance, temperament, and clothing, it cannot compare to He Haiwang.

After taking a liking to the junior schoolgirl, He Haiwang launched a fierce offensive. And it was an unbridled offensive, showing no respect whatsoever to Zhao Shanhe.

A female student went to a bubble tea shop to queue up and make up the numbers. He Haiwang directly bought ninety-nine cups of bubble tea in her name and then gave one to each person in line.

When the junior went to hand out flyers, He Haiwang drove over, snatched the flyers from her hand, threw them in the trash, paid compensation to the flyer vendor, then took the junior to his M6 and went to his factory, where he arranged for her to work as an office assistant clerk who didn't have to do any work.

In the days that followed, Zhao Shanhe noticed more and more changes in this junior student.

In just one week, the junior student replaced all her old clothes with brand new trendy outfits.

He replaced the phone he had given himself with the latest Apple model.

Even the female students rarely eat at the school cafeteria anymore.

He Haiwang would order takeout for his female classmates and deliver it to their dorm every few days.

They would give away Holiland chocolate cakes and cheese desserts to an entire dorm room at a time.

"Stop, let's pause for a moment."

Chen Yan couldn't help but interrupt Zhao Shanhe's furious rant, laughing, "From what I've heard, this He Haiwang didn't do anything wrong. He's well-off, rich, and he pursued the girl he liked intensely. Whether it was giving her clothes, a phone, helping her find a job, or sending her all sorts of desserts... he didn't break the law."

Since you haven't officially defined your relationship with that girl, you're not boyfriend and girlfriend, so there's nothing wrong with her pursuing you.

"But, but he's a jerk! He's had so many girlfriends before..."

“What happened before is history. Maybe he’ll turn over a new leaf and genuinely fall for this junior, becoming devoted and loyal to her from then on,” Chen Yan said with a smirk.

"..." Zhao Shanhe looked at Chen Yan with a mournful face: "Brother, are you here to comfort me or to upset me?"

"I'm just stating the facts," Chen Yan said with a smile.

"But he had ulterior motives!" Zhao Shanhe gritted his teeth: "While he was doing all this, he was also flirting with other girls! I saw it with my own eyes!"

"Oh?"

"Last week, I took a classmate to work at a KTV, and I saw him with my own eyes as he walked out of the private room with his arm around a girl!"

"Well, what else?"

"I've also heard that he's been involved in two relationships simultaneously, seamlessly switching between them—he's done things like that before!"

"anything else?"

"I have a classmate who knows his roommate. I heard that he often stays out all night and has a girlfriend at another school!"

"anything else?"

“And…” Zhao Shanhe suddenly realized, “No, brother! Aren’t all these things enough?”

"I wanted to ask you, so what?" Chen Yan's smile faded, and he looked at Zhao Shanhe seriously: "Your junior is willing?"

These words immediately extinguished all of Zhao Shanhe's anger.

Zhao Shanhe gritted his teeth and whispered, "I... I told her! I told her everything I knew about He Kang, but... but she didn't believe me!"

After a pause, Zhao Shanhe grabbed his hair and said, "She said what I said was all unfounded, that she believed He Kang wasn't that kind of person, and she even recounted how she met He Kang. She thought He Kang was a compassionate and kind-hearted person..."

"Let me guess, I'll just make a wild guess," Chen Yan said with a smile, "Is it because she started keeping her distance from you after she met He Kang?"

"Uh……"

"Did you stop bringing me breakfast from before? And stop chatting with me on WeChat in the evenings?" Chen Yan asked.

“…Yes!” Zhao Shanhe gritted his teeth: “I even had a fight with her. She didn’t believe what I said about He Kang. She even told me not to talk badly about people behind their backs! She said that what I told her, talking about others behind their backs, and spreading rumors about them, made her feel worse about me. She was very disappointed in me…”

Chen Yan laughed: "So, you feel powerless, wondering why she's so naive and innocent. You clearly wanted to protect her from harm, but she didn't trust you and instead trusted that playboy?"

Zhao Shanhe immediately became excited: "Yes! Yes! Brother, you're right! That's exactly how I feel!"
I'm really angry. Why did she trust me so much before, but now she doesn't believe anything I say?

How could she be so foolish, so naive…

Chen Yan thought for a moment: "How long has this been going on? I mean, how long has it been since He Kang started pursuing this junior school girl so intensely?"

“It’s been almost two months,” Zhao Shanhe said, his eyes reddening. “I can’t stand by and watch this continue! I can’t stand by and watch her be deceived; I’m worried she’ll get hurt…”

Chen Yan sighed and patted Zhao Shanhe on the shoulder: "Brother, please accept my condolences."

"What do you mean?"

"Given He Kang's level of womanizing, and this junior sister... well, okay, I won't mention her."

Anyway, you don't need to fantasize. Just look at He Kang's level—it'll be over in two months!

Your junior sister has already been stuffed until she's as big as a cream puff.

Zhao Shanhe froze, his face suddenly turning pale, his voice trembling: "No, no way, she, she's so innocent and self-respecting! Before, before, she'd never been in a relationship. Boys pursued her in college, but she rejected them all. And, and... she, she wore old clothes, used a worn-out secondhand phone. She even told me that her mother taught her that girls should respect themselves..."

Chen Yan laughed: "Do you really believe that a mother who marries a drunkard and gambler can teach her daughter to love herself?"

"Brother, I, I..."

Seeing Zhao Shanhe trembling uncontrollably, Chen Yan sighed.

Although he hated sycophants, Zhao Shanhe was, after all, his good friend—and, without exaggeration, his only friend during his four years of university.

He might even be the only friend he has ever had in his life.

Moreover, they had a life-or-death bond.

"You're just confused and trying to deceive yourself, immersing yourself in your own fantasy. You think she's a pure and innocent girl, and He Kang is a big bad wolf, and you want to be the tragic hero who saves the damsel in distress."

Chen Yan said slowly and without any politeness, "Fine, then I'll let you have your way."

After saying that, he took out his phone, quickly opened WeChat, and found the WeChat friend "Toad".

"Get to Jinling Prefecture as quickly as possible. There's an urgent order I need you to handle."

A few seconds later, the toad spirit replied, "Yes, sir! I'll book the earliest high-speed rail ticket; it'll arrive this afternoon!"

·
I'm taking leave for the Dragon Boat Festival. I'm taking the kids on a trip out of town during the long weekend, so I'll be taking leave from updating at midnight tonight.

Updates will resume tomorrow night at midnight!
Happy Dragon Boat Festival to all readers!

Yes, just wishing you a happy Dragon Boat Festival. I won't say "peace and health," since we have a three-day holiday, aren't we happy?

·
(End of this chapter)