Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

Ling Yun stood leisurely with a faint smile on his lips. He chose to ignore Xie Junyan's extended hand.

The situation suddenly became awkward. Xie Junyan was hoping he could burrow his head into the ground when a grin appeared on Ling Yun's face. He said quietly, “Xie Junyan, don't play games with me. I am here today to give you a warning.”

Xie Junyan and the rest of their gang were astonished.

Even the calm middle-aged man betrayed some emotion. Xie Junyan was the son of the Deputy Mayor of Qingshui City. Ling Yun didn't even respect that under such a “peaceful” setting.

That was not the end of it.

“Let me warn you, Xie Junyan. I will break your leg if I get any wind of you hara.s.sing my sister Lingyu! Do you understand?!” Ling Yun said as he took an arrogant step forward threateningly. Ling Yun would carry out what he said if Xie Junyan dared say anything against him.

It crossed neither Tang Meng nor Tie Xiaohu's minds that Ling Yun would launch such a direct and aggressive attack against Xie Junyan!

Everyone, including Gou Junfa, could only stare at each other blankly, not knowing what to do or say. The harmonious atmosphere was destroyed by Ling Yun in just one sentence.

Xie Junyan was in the most awkward position. His face had visible successive changes from white to green, then to red, and then to purple under the white spotlight. He could only retract his hand in a self-deprecating manner. He turned and walked away, pretending not to hear what Ling Yun said.

Ling Yun was truly c.o.c.ky!

He took Xie Junyan down a notch immediately with no regards for pretentious games, courtesies or respect for officialdom.

Ling Yun didn't give a sh*t to the deflated Xie Junyan. Tang Meng came over with a smile and said, “Big Brother Yun, let me introduce you. This is Mr. Song, the Vice President of our Qingshui City Antiques a.s.sociation, General Director of the Jewelry a.s.sociation and also the boss of Pearl Jade Court.”

Tang Meng brought Ling Yun to the middle-aged man and introduced him ceremoniously.

“Don't listen to that nonsense. I am Song Zhengyang.” Mr Song had yet to return to his seat. He gave his name and smiled simply while sizing Ling Yun up.

“I am Ling Yun. Pleasure to meet you, Uncle Song.” Ling Yun flashed his most innocent smile and offered his right hand.

Ling Yun knew instantly from Tang Meng's introduction that Song Zhengyang was definitely someone in Qingshui City. He had to be cordial.

Song Zhengyang clasped Ling Yun's right hand warmly and gave a light handshake. “Ling Yun, I know about your game tonight. I will be your witness tonight, if that is alright with you?” Song Zhengyang offered warmly.

At this juncture, Xie Junyan's face darkened, and he turned towards a glum Gou Junfa. They exchanged mutual feelings of hatred for Ling Yun sullenly.

They were the ones who had invited Song Zhengyang, but Song Zhengyang was now chatting away happily with Ling Yun as though they were old friends.

Ling Yun agreed readily without asking Tang Meng for his opinion. “I am more a.s.sured with Uncle Song as our witness!”

Song Zhengyang was very satisfied with Ling Yun's performance. He gestured for Ling Yun to have a seat after their hands parted.

“Big Brother Yun, do you remember me mentioning a banker in the stone gambling event at Yu Ding Xuan? That banker was Mr. Song. His family has great backing and unfathomable power!” Tang Meng filled Ling Yun in quickly in a whisper when they were seated.

Ling Yun did not betray any emotion, but he stared unconsciously at Song Zhengyang's hands.

Song Zhengyang's hands were very well maintained. His palms were pure white, and his fingers were long and powerful. His fingernails were trimmed neatly. His hand could have been mistaken for a woman's pair of hands if it wasn't for the size.

He wore a cat's eye ring made of green jade on his left ring finger. He also had a bracelet with six Buddhist beads made of unknown material on his left wrist. Every purplish black bead was s.h.i.+ny enough to reflect the ceiling lights.

A weak spiritual energy emitted from the ring and the bracelet. How could Ling Yun possibly underestimate Song Zhengyang's status and financial resources?

In the eyes of Ling Yun, the bracelet was worth infinitely more than the jade simply because it emitted a lot more spiritual energy than the jade ring!

“Everyone is here, right? Treat me as invisible and discuss to your heart's content.” Song Zhengyang set the tone with a smile.

Xie Junyan cleared his throat before addressing Song Zhengyang cordially. “Uncle Song, how can we treat you as invisible if we invited you here to be a witness?”

Xie Junyan then turned his attention to Ling Yun and said, “Ling Yun, let's not beat around the bush. Master Gou and I want to bet with you. The gamble will be on whether or not you can get into Yanjing University. Make a bet if you are keen. We'll draw up the terms of this bet in front of Mr. Song and have him safeguard the cash we both put up. The bet will be over when we get the admission notice and scores. Whoever wins will head to Mr. Song's for the money. Fair enough?”

As expected of someone determined to enter politics! Even though Xie Junyan was only eighteen years old, he had fully recovered from the personal shaming from Ling Yun as though nothing had happened.

Of course, his true thoughts would only be known by himself.

Ling Yun sneaked a peek at Gou Junfa after Xie Junyan's proposal, only to find Gou Junfa haughtily looking at him with a stiff smile on his face.

Ling Yun was acquainted with four of the people across from him: Gou Junfa, Xie Junyan, Pi Hezhi, and Li Lei. The other two, Lu Chengtian and Huang Mao, were complete strangers to Ling Yun.

“Indeed, that's fair. What are the stakes?” Ling Yun answered decisively.

Xie Junyan looked on with a deliberate ridicule. “We have money. We can afford any amount you offer!”

It was the time to fight for money. Both Xie Junyan and Gou Junfa were rich and powerful. Only Tang Meng was somewhat comparable to them.

Ling Yun gave Xie Junyan a strange look and smiled calmly. “How much cash are you putting up?”

Xie Junyan looked at Song Zhengyang proudly and turned back towards Ling Yun. “Just some pocket change. I'm coming out with twenty million yuan. Master Gou is adding another twenty million. That is a total of forty million!”

Ling Yun snickered. “Forty million? Is this what you meant by big stakes? What a joke!”

“Er…”

“Ah…”

The smile on Xie Junyan's face froze. He felt completely stunned in that moment!

He hadn't foreseen this outcome. They had been dead sure that they could pressure Ling Yun with thirty million, though they had prepared another ten million just in case. Now, not only did it not have that effect, they were instead snubbed by him.

Gou Junfa was appalled. The forty million had been his to begin with. He had been with Xie Junyan over the last three days to learn about Ling Yun. Though the information was not complete, he had believed that he had a good overall understanding of Ling Yun's current situation.

As the saying went, know thyself and thy enemy, and you will never be defeated. Xie Junyan and Gou Junfa might have been nouveau riche, but they were the intelligent kind.

Gou Junfa had determined that Ling Yun was the culprit behind turning his father into a eunuch through Luo Zhong, the Director of the Public Security Bureau.

That had been a fresh cause of hatred. Even before that, they had already had some scuffles.

Gou Junfa and Xie Junyan had been planning this revenge down to the minute details. This gamble was just the first step.

How could Gou Junfa keep his cool otherwise?

Ling Yun being admitted into Yanjing University? Receive the admission notice? Gou Junfa had planned to kill Ling Yun several times over before he could receive the admission notice!

How could a dead person attend the college entrance examinations? Similarly, how could a dead person receive the admission notice? They had been fearless in this bet.

Gou Junfa had obtained fifty million in advance from his father Gou Liancheng to deal with Ling Yun!

However, he never had thought that he would be snubbed by Ling Yun from the very first step of the plan!

Song Zhengyang sat still with his eyes narrowed as though he was looking at everyone and no one at the same time. Out of habit, he took off his bracelet and counted off the beads with his right hand.

Ling Yun pointed his thumb at Tang Meng and announced proudly, “Tang Meng has thirty three million from me. I have more than ten million on me. This is just how much cash I have on hand. Aren't you being too petty with just forty million? It's not worth my time!”

That was the truth. He had given Tang Meng thirteen million, and Xue Meining had given Tang Meng another twenty million. He also had the ten million from Lin Menghan that he hadn't touched!

Xie Junyan was embarra.s.sed. He looked at Gou Junfa for direction, and Gou Junfa nodded. Xie Junyan asked, “How much do you want to bet then?”

Ling Yun raised a single finger as he chuckled. “I don't want to make things difficult for you. I'd be too embarra.s.sed to bully you too much. How about just a hundred million? If you want to bet, bring a hundred million immediately. If not, we will leave!”

Song Zhengyang's right hand stopped its motion. His eyelids lifted slightly as he stared at Ling Yun with a half-smile.