“Do you have a friend named Lan Jingling?”
Hearing his friend’s name, Wang Che showed a trace of concern.
“Lan Jingling? Will something happen to him?”
Seeing that rare expression of worry on his face, Gu Cheng immediately understood that he valued this brother deeply and trusted him completely—which also meant he could be betrayed.
“He won’t die,” she said, “but you need to be careful around him.”
Wang Che leaned closer, narrowing the distance between them, and asked in a voice only the two of them could hear:
“What did your dream show?”
Seeing that the atmosphere had reached this point, Gu Cheng cautiously looked around—front, back, left, and right—to make sure no one was listening. Then she leaned close to his ear.
“In my dream, this person wasn’t with us in the early stage. Later, we met again at the base and joined the same team, but in the end, he betrayed you.”
The warm breath by his ear barely registered in Wang Che’s mind. The content of her words hit him hard.
Lan Jingling was indeed one of the two people who had gone back home to accompany their parents. It was true he wouldn’t have stayed with him.
Aside from Fu Zhe, Gu Cheng had no way of knowing anyone else. Yet she had directly named Lan Jingling.
This made Wang Che’s thoughts waver for the first time.
Would a good brother really betray him?
“Why?” he asked.
“How would I know that clearly?” Gu Cheng replied immediately. “Anyway, just keep an eye on him yourself. And you better protect yourself too. If you die, what am I supposed to do—oh no, I mean what is Xinxin supposed to do? She’ll definitely get bullied. You have to protect us.”
Her tone was completely shameless as she sought protection.
Wang Che had already seen through her intentions. Telling him everything was clearly just a way to cling to him for survival.
“Depends on your performance,” he said calmly.
But Gu Cheng underestimated his coldness. She leaned even closer and threatened him.
“You should think carefully. I know so many things, and I even have Storage Space. Plenty of people would want to protect me. Choosing you is your luck!”
Wang Che looked at her without a ripple of emotion.
“Since you know what happens later and still chose me, that means I am your optimal choice. And now you’ve taken so many of my supplies. If you ever have other thoughts, I’d rather kill you than let someone else benefit.”
Gu Cheng gritted her teeth in fury, eyes wide with anger.
Yet she had no rebuttal—because he was right. Aside from him, she truly couldn’t survive, nor could she escape.
She really wanted to bite this damned man to death.
Wang Che turned his head, seemingly amused, watching her puff up like an angry pufferfish.
One looked, one glared. Neither noticed how close they already were.
When he turned his head, Gu Cheng’s lips brushed against his ear, cheek, and lips. Their noses lightly touched, eyes meeting at close range.
Gu Cheng froze instantly, holding her breath, afraid even the slightest movement would trigger him to kill her on the spot.
At the same time, Wang Che’s mind went completely blank.
All he could feel was the soft, unfamiliar warmth from her ear, cheek, and lips.
Unlike Gu Cheng, who didn’t dare breathe, his heart suddenly pounded violently.
But outwardly, he remained perfectly calm.
He straightened immediately, pretending nothing had happened, and continued operating his phone.
Gu Cheng: ???
Nothing? Not even a reaction? As expected—there really is something wrong with him.
She also stiffly sat upright, eyes looking straight ahead as if reading a novel very seriously.
The atmosphere shifted between awkward and not awkward at all.
Inside, however, Gu Cheng felt oddly proud.
She had just stolen the Big Boss’s first kiss.
Pretty impressive. Not bad at all.
This trip to the US wasn’t wasted.
After landing back in Hai City, Wang Che quickly took her to a car. Outside, the temperature had already climbed close to 40°C.
He brought her to another warehouse—three massive warehouses full of supplies again.
Gu Cheng felt like nothing more than a ruthless storage tool.
Then they went to a garage.
Thirty modified off-road vehicles, ten RVs, fifty motorcycles, fifty bicycles—snow vehicles, water vehicles…
She was completely numb.
If she had known he could prepare all of this, why had she and Wang Xin struggled so hard?
With a brother like this, she should have just completely given up.
After finishing the collection, she finally asked:
“Hey… wait. Why are there no flying vehicles?”
“You can drive them?” Wang Che asked flatly.
That single question shut her up completely.
She gave up entirely and just wanted to go home and rest. Even though she had slept and eaten all through the flight, it still wasn’t as good as lying in her own bed.
“I miss Xinxin. Hurry and take me to see her. I need something beautiful in my life.”
The car drove straight into the campus and stopped downstairs at the dormitory building.
Gu Cheng snorted in dissatisfaction, then immediately ran out to find her cute best friend. She needed to complain—these past three days with this ice-cold man had been unbearable.
But as soon as she got out of the car, she saw an extremely eye-burning scene.
Jiang Li was hugging and kissing a man.
Gu Cheng quickly covered her eyes and tried to walk around them.
“Gu Cheng,” Jiang Li’s voice rang out loudly. “You took a week off. I thought you were sick. I didn’t expect you to come back riding in a man’s car.”
It was clearly said loud enough for others to misunderstand.
“What nonsense are you spouting?” Gu Cheng shot back immediately. “Why are you so nosy at such a young age? So what if I got out of a man’s car? I just got off a plane too. He took me to the United States to shop—shopping, understand? Has anyone taken you shopping in the US? Oh right, you’re here sucking face—wow, you’re really hungry, huh? Anything goes for you.”
She usually didn’t bother with trouble, but she wasn’t afraid of it either.
The weak-looking man beside Jiang Li clearly wasn’t even worth her time—definitely no match for Wang Che.
“How shameless do you have to be to say you’re being kept by a rich man so proudly?” Jiang Li snapped back.
“Your mind is really dirty,” Gu Cheng retorted. “He’s young, handsome, and rich. Who wouldn’t like that? Why can’t I say it proudly? You call a normal relationship ‘being kept’—that says more about your rotten thinking. Don’t come near me. Stay away. I can smell your sour jealousy from this distance. Get lost.”
Without wasting another second, she turned and ran straight back to the dormitory.
Jiang Li stood there with a dark expression, humiliated in front of the crowd.
She was furious.
When had Gu Cheng become so sharp-tongued?
Meanwhile, Wang Che had not left.
Wang Xin had already been picked up by Shi Qiao.
Originally, he had planned to provoke Gu Cheng a bit so she would come chasing after him—he liked watching her get angry like a pufferfish. It was amusing.
But after seeing her arguing with someone, he worried she might become even more defiant if provoked again.
So he decided to wait downstairs.
Leaning casually against the car, he waited.
Sure enough, less than a minute later, his phone rang. He picked it up with a faint curve of his lips.
“Xinxin is missing. Her phone isn’t reachable. We’ve been gone three days—could something have happened?!”
There was no expected panic or shouting—only urgent worry for Wang Xin.
This girl was reliable.
“Don’t worry,” he said calmly. “I already called. She’s been picked up by a friend and brought home. Pack your things and come with me. I’m downstairs.”
When Jiang Li saw the man getting out of the car earlier, her eyes had locked on him.
So handsome. So rich.
And he was connected to Gu Cheng?
Why did all the good things happen to her?
No.
She couldn’t let Gu Cheng have an easy time.
Jiang Li pushed away the man she had just been kissing passionately and walked straight toward Wang Che.
“Hello,” she asked, “what is your relationship with Gu Cheng?”
Wang Che glanced at her once, then looked back toward the dorm building, completely ignoring her.