Chapter Seventeen: Saving the Day

Chen Tianming and Zhou Qingyue soon arrived at the entrance of the KTV club. He didn't expect to find a smartly-dressed Jiang Bei waiting there with a big bouquet of roses. 

When he saw Zhou Qingyue alighting from Chen Tianming's car, he was momentarily shocked, and the smile on his face froze.

But before Chen Tianming could say anything, Jiang Bei approached Zhou Qingyue with a stiff smile. "Yueyue, I was worried about you, so I asked Tianming to pick you up."

"Tianming, how is my car? Doesn't it run smoothly?" Jiang Bei kept winking at Chen Tianming, hinting at him to go along with his performance.

Jiang Bei was making himself look good and trying to get all the credit.

The Chen Tianming from before would have let it slide. He would also feel that it was his duty as a good friend to be Jiang Bei's wingman and happily cooperate with him.

But now, Chen Tianming only felt like sneering.

It wasn't hard to tell from Zhou Qingyue's look of tolerance and disdain that she had already realized Jiang Bei was being pretentious, but it wouldn't be appropriate for her to expose him.

Chen Tianming didn't say anything and just smiled.

"Embarrass Jiang Bei by exposing his act and gain Jiang Bei's jealousy +10."

"Don't discredit Jiang Bei, and his act succeeds. Reward: 2.5 million yuan for being a wimp."

'There were only two options this time, but what's up with the wimp tag?'

'System, don't take me for a fool. 2.5 million for my dignity is extremely insulting.'

Chen Tianming smiled and said, "I don't remember giving my new car to you, so what do you mean?"

The cheer on Jiang Bei's face disappeared as soon as he heard that. He then smiled awkwardly as he pushed Zhou Qingyue inside. "My pal here likes to embarrass me sometimes."

Zhou Qingyue inconspicuously avoided his wandering hands and said with a frown, "I can walk on my own."

Jiang Bei turned around and glared at Chen Tianming. When Chen Tianming looked toward him, he put on a grimacing smile.

Chen Tianming waved indifferently before he stuffed his hands in his pockets and followed behind them.

Soon, they arrived at the KTV room. Chen Tianming took the opportunity to sit beside Zhou Qingyue. Jiang Bei paused before asking the person on the other side of Zhou Qingyue to change seats.

Chen Tianming raised his eyebrows at Jiang Bei. The others were also starting to catch on and began to observe the three of them.

Jiang Bei gave Chen Tianming a heavy gaze before he took out his phone and started typing. Soon enough, Chen Tianming's phone vibrated.

Chen Tianming calmly read the message with a smile: "Tianming, what are you doing? Why are you making me look bad today?"

'Haha, you'll have to wait and see. It's not just tonight; I will give you a hard time every day from now on.'

Chen Tianming looked at his phone and messaged Zhou Qingyue, "Be careful; don't consume anything suspicious." 

He returned to Jiang Bei's chat page and slowly replied, "I'm not in a good mood today."

Jiang Bei was too busy looking at his phone to notice Zhou Qingyue. However, he nearly popped a vein when he read Chen Tianming's answer.

'That's his reason for embarrassing me in front of Zhou Qingyue?!'

Jiang Bei glowered at the phone screen, not knowing what to say. Jealousy began to fester within him. Chen Tianming was just a good-for-nothing, but he had everything. He could get any car he wanted; his pocket money seemed limitless, and his family indulged his every whim!

'Why do I have to rely on Chen Tianming to survive? If only I had what he has…'

Jiang Bei suddenly had a ridiculous idea; 'If only I could take everything from Chen Tianming.'

"Target mission detected. Jiang Bei's Corruption Level has reached 75%. Reward: 200 million in venture capital."

Chen Tianming was baffled. He was just minding his own business, and money came raining down from the sky.

'How did Jiang Bei's Corruption Level reach 75%? Why would the system reward me when Jiang Bei's Corruption Level reached certain milestones?'

'If that's the case, I'll go wild with this. Two hundred million is a large sum!'

Chen Tianming looked at Jiang Bei heatedly; he was no longer simply his enemy. He was his ATM!

Jiang Bei shivered under Chen Tianming's fixed gaze. He shrank back, wondering, 'What's gotten into Tianming?'

However, now wasn't the time to argue with Chen Tianming. Jiang Bei turned his head and signaled one of his underlings with his eyes.

The lackey quickly ran off and soon returned with a cart full of drinks. He laughed and said, "It's our pal Bei's birthday, and we even have his lovely wife here. So let's have fun and get smashed tonight!"

Chen Tianming frowned when he heard the underling directly refer to Zhou Qingyue as Jiang Bei's wife.

Zhou Qingyue's face darkened instantly. She was already a cold beauty, but now, her icy demeanor was enough to freeze the atmosphere.

"Tell your friend to stop talking nonsense, or I'll leave immediately," Zhou Qingyue said with a voice that dripped ice.

Jiang Bei turned around and glowered at his underling. It may seem like he was reprimanding the lackey, but Chen Tianming knew this was just his usual ploy. Jiang Bei was using his underlings to test Zhou Qingyue's bottom line.

However, Zhou Qingyue didn't hesitate when she said those harsh words.

"Alright, ok. Yueyue, don't take him seriously," Jiang Bei laughingly placated and took several glasses from the cart, placing them on the table.

"It's my birthday, so please, have a drink and party tonight." Since Jiang Bei requested so nicely, no one could reject him.

Jiang Bei's seemingly innocent and normal comments caused Chen Tianming to pay extreme attention to his surroundings.

After all, Chen Tianming didn't know when Jiang Bei would make his move. Generally, it was easiest to tamper with the drinks, so Chen Tianming secretly observed Jiang Bei's actions.

Jiang Bei removed an unopened bottle from the beer bucket and then added ice cubes to everyone's glasses. He put more ice into Zhou Qingyue's cup than the others, but this could be seen as being sweet to a girl, and the ice all came from the same ice bucket, so Chen Tianming couldn't say anything.

Then, Jiang Bei opened the bottle in front of everyone and filled the cups.

'Everything seems fine so far.' Chen Tianming frowned, 'So how will he make his move?'

Zhou Qingyue was naturally vigilant; she wasn't a dumb blond. However, seeing nothing unusual with Jiang Bei's actions, she even suspected she'd misjudged him.

Jiang Bei raised his cup with a smile and gazed at Zhou Qingyue soulfully as he said, "Yueyue, here's a toast to you."

Zhou Qingyue hesitated shortly, then picked up the glass in front of her, clinked it with Jiang Bei's, and uttered, "Happy birthday to you."