Chapter 168: Thunderbolt Speed

uently, it was rare to see him at headquarters unless there were major meetings. Getting a chance to interact closely with him and leaving a good impression was naturally very beneficial.Moreover, sin...Chapter 168: Racing Swiftly

The weather was clear and fine, a rare beautiful day in Huancheng. (Welcome)

Su Can usually goes for an early morning run at around seven o'clock. Today, however, he couldn't sleep any longer after five o'clock as his heart felt inexplicably excited. He dragged the half-asleep Li Pengyu to jog outside before dawn. Since they ran near Secretary Tian's house, it woke up Miss Tian from her room upstairs who rudely cursed them, "You guys are crazy! Did you take drugs You're an idiot!"

As usual, she was a little naughty without any sense of propriety despite their familiarity.

Su Can naturally glared at her with impatience. Unlike before when he might argue back, today his mind wasn't on it. Seeing him glare and run away, Miss Tian was helpless but frustrated.

At dawn, Su Can jogged back to sit on the sofa and made several phone calls to arrange the itinerary. Li Pengyu tidied up in Su Can's room, sorting out socks and magazines neatly as he would for an inspection. The bed was always neatly folded like a tofu block.

Zeng Ke was making soy milk; the aroma filled the rooms, spreading throughout the house as sunlight streamed through the windows. There were sounds of hot water boiling from the electric kettle in the kitchen, followed by Zeng Ke's nagging: "Will you be home in the afternoon or evening You should eat at home today. It's neither clean nor convenient to eat out, and it's dangerous to go out at night."

Zeng Ke then poured the soy milk into two bowls for Li Pengyu and Su Can each, but she would probably need more bowls after that as things were getting lively. Yet inexplicably, Zeng Ke felt a great sense of joy. She walked out with a bowl of soy milk to hand over to Su Can on the sofa saying, "There's an empty room upstairs; you don't have to go to the hotel and can stay here comfortably. Or I could tidy up your room for you and let you sleep on the sofa—is that okay"

Su Can was at a loss as to whether to laugh or cry: “You're shoving your son onto the couch before anyone else even arrives, Mom. You can't be so biased.” Hearing Zeng Ke's laughter triggered by his words, Su Can couldn’t calm down all day long, like his heart was filled with rough grass, causing unease in his mind. Half-closing his eyes, he looked at the sunlight pouring into this duplex villa and paid particular attention to the staircase leading upstairs.

He imagined if there were two pairs of slender white legs stepping up and down the stairs in these little slippers making "tapping" sounds, how chaotic it would make his heart.

Su Can finally admitted that this lewdness had deeply permeated his soul.

The electric kettle made intermittent beeping noises again as Su Can prepared to take a hot shower. At this moment, the home phone rang; on the other end was Zhang Xi, the daughter of Huancheng's Small and Medium Enterprise Bureau chief, with her soft voice asking if everyone would go for an outdoor barbecue at the dam reservoir. "Really Will you come along I'm waiting outside your door in ten minutes."

Then another female voice on the phone said, "Zhang Xi, that's not fair! Tian Yu didn't even invite Xu Dong; how can you get special treatment...

Some people say, "Why didn’t you invite him We have so many things to do and need more men to help move stuff; if we only have girls, they won't be able to handle it. If Xu Dong were here, there would be no need for us to look elsewhere, but inviting them might upset Xu Dong and Wang Jie..."

The voice was faint on the other end of the phone.

If not mistaken, Su Can had already rejected their invitation last night. Zhang Xi’s group said they were going camping by a lake near the landslide dam, bringing all sorts of equipment, off-road vehicles, and tents. However, since Xu Dong and his friends went to Chengdu for fun, they needed more people and wanted gender balance. Naturally, Su Can refused them, saying, "I really can't come this time, enjoy yourselves."

"But I've already prepaid your share; are you really not coming" Zhang Xi’s voice sounded a little pleading as if she remembered something else: "Oh, there's Li Pengyu at your place. That's fine then! I'll cover his share too!"

"No..." Su Can was slightly frustrated and rubbed his forehead. He felt he needed to make it clear to her that "The issue now is that you're not my girlfriend, and I'm not yours. You really don't need to do these things for me. Please stop making decisions on your own from now on. Today, I genuinely can’t come, alright"

Not long after hanging up, the phone rang again. After the hot water heater made its third sound, Su Can was quite exasperated as he picked up the phone and wondered if it would ever let him take a proper shower.

Tian Qiu’s voice came through on the other end, sounding indignant, "What did you say to Zhang Xi She seems unhappy. I’ve never seen her like this before. She invited you with good intentions; can’t you speak nicely What unfinished business do you have that you won't come Your dad is here and wants you to be his assistant mayor; do you really need to stay an assistant mayor forever You might not care how you act usually, but don't try to act big in front of us. Do you think we're all star-struck by you" Tian Qiu was clearly angry because she let out harsh words. She knew that most people at the government office tended to keep their distance from her due to her angelic appearance.

"Is picking up my wife considered unfinished business Do I need to report every time I pick someone up Are you guys the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection" Su Can was extremely annoyed, thinking that today had been a particularly unlucky day. He got a cold shoulder from her when he went out running and now couldn’t take a hot shower.

There was an abrupt silence on the other end of the phone, seemingly stunned by his words. Then came laughter—Tian Qiu’s hearty laugh with a hint of boldness. Su Can felt bewildered and asked irritably, "What's so funny"

"Find a better excuse next time! You've almost worn out the term 'wife.' Not coming is your loss; goodbye."

Tian Qiu hung up with malice aforethought. Chen Yining, her close friend beside her, smiled slightly and said, "The great Tian beauty even called him personally but he didn't show up—what a big ego."

"I’ll give it to them tomorrow morning!" Tian Qiu spat angrily, then thought of Su Can’s irritated rant earlier, making her unable to stop smiling.

Chen Yining spoke from the side. When Tian Qiu was momentarily stunned, she said, "What I meant is that between you and Xu Dong, there shouldn't be any issues, right Don’t forget, it's not long now—this year or next—we'll be attending your wedding."

Tian Qiu was taken aback for a moment before getting up and saying, "I don't want to talk about this; I have no idea what you're talking about."

Gui Bi Chen Yining watched Tian Shi's back figure and murmured, "I just don't want you to get more deeply involved."

...

At noon, Tang Wu invited the two of them for a meal at her place. The two girls brought along their change of clothes while Lin Luoran left most of her luggage behind in Tang Wu's house. Wang Ming from Dunhuang had called ahead and arranged a meeting point with Tang Wu; he sent his assistant to drive over a new Mercedes-Benz S-Class that he recently purchased. Since Lin Luoran could drive, the assistant dropped off the car and took a cab back home. It was their first time driving alone together on such a trip, so they were somewhat nervous. Thankfully, after getting her driver’s license right after high school, Lin Luoran didn’t put it to waste; she occasionally practiced driving, so there shouldn't be any problems making the long journey to Huancheng.

Driving along the ring road and entering Ronghuang Highway, they encountered a convoy of Mercedes-Benzes and Ferraris. One of them was a BMW M3 that drove alongside Tang Wu's and Lin Luoran’s car for a while before speeding up again when it didn’t receive any response from Lin Luoran.

Actually, Lin Luoran was very careful while driving; she had sweat on her hands the whole time. She did not dare to be reckless in the slightest; even after getting onto the highway, she only maintained a speed of ten kilometers per hour above the minimum limit, like an obedient student.

When they stopped at a gas station, they noticed that the convoy had parked there as well. A few men and women were smoking outside the station; when they saw Tang Wu and Lin Luoran stretch out lazily from the Mercedes-Benz, those guys’ eyes nearly popped out of their heads.

Seeing one of them who seemed to be the driver of the BMW M3 that had previously challenged her, Lin Luoran glared at him. Miss Lin was full of killing intent throughout the journey; Tang Wu, however, ignored all the prying looks as if they were nothing but a cold mountain.

One of those guys, probably seeing such an indifferent girl for the first time in his life, rudely said to them, "You two heading to Huancheng Why don’t you travel together with us Our Xiong and Wang will make sure that anything you want done in Huancheng can be easily taken care of."

These guys were from Xu Dong’s group; they usually had no filter when talking, so they weren't unfamiliar with girls who initially gave them cold looks but eventually threw themselves into their arms. They simply couldn’t miss the chance to meet such beautiful girls like Tang Wu and Lin Luoran.

Xu Dong and his friends took the opportunity to approach them. Seeing Lin Luoran, he subconsciously compared her with his fiancée Tian Qi; however, the girl before him was much taller—by at least half a head—and had an even more perfect figure than Tian Qi’s. Her looks were also extraordinary; as for Tian Qi, she could only be described as somewhat resembling this girl. Even Tian Qi made him lose his resistance to her charms, let alone Lin Luoran.

Standing close by them, the wind blew and ruffled Lin Luoran's black hair almost brushing against Xu Dong’s face; he reached out and ran a hand through her silky tresses before bringing it up to his nose to smell. He then put on an elegant air and said, "They say women are made of water, but you must be made from the most expensive perfume in the world as even your hair smells so good."

Lin Luoran suddenly became flirtatious and asked him, "Do you like it"

The guys immediately perked up; Xu Dong’s heart pounded fiercely at the thought of having a chance. He hurriedly nodded his head and said, “If I could keep smelling this for the rest of my life, that would be every man's ultimate dream.” Though his words were somewhat cheesy, he was trying to use all his charm and charisma in that moment.

"Go smell your own armpit!" Lin Luoran suddenly turned around and kicked Xu Dong hard on the leg. Even though she was wearing sneakers, her footwork wasn’t something to be underestimated; this kick hit him right above the shin with immense force before she promptly got into the car with Tang Wu and started the engine.

The crowd of Xu Dong and his friends erupted in a flurry of commotion. They all hurriedly rushed back to their cars, one after another, honking as they sped off.

..., a reception hotel by the landslide lake, where villas are scattered like stars. One of them has a front courtyard covered in lush green grass and a back yard overlooking the water. A few white marble European tea tables are placed facing the lake. Having tea and meeting friends here during leisure time is indeed a pleasant experience.

Today, this lakeside reception area has been booked by some big figure. Even the owner of the hotel had rushed back from another city just to meet this person but was still kept out.

Geng Luoxiang was currently sitting on the lakeshore with a fishing rod beside him, and Su Cen sat next to him also with his own fishing rod. They spent an afternoon fishing here; however, Geng Luoxiang clearly had good luck, catching at least seven fish in a bucket by his side—mostly large-sized ones weighing around three or four catties. In contrast, Su Cen only hooked onto three small finger-sized fish and already considered himself quite fortunate.

"Fishing is about leisure and fun. You have to be as carefree as a countryman with no thoughts to achieve anything. Your heart isn't at peace; you've barely caught these few fish, which was lucky."

When the two of them agreed to go fishing here, Su Cen wasn't in the mood for it. Tang Wu and Lin Luoran were on their way to Phoenix City right now, and with Lin Luoran driving, they wouldn't arrive until around 6 or 7 pm at the earliest.

During this period, Su Cen had to accompany Geng Luoxiang in fishing while remaining calm, which was very challenging for him. He felt restless and uneasy.

Fishing with a rod and chatting with Geng Luoxiang both couldn't get him into the right state of mind. Therefore, whenever Geng Luoxiang tried to ask important questions, he couldn't delve too deeply.

The reddish sunlight slanted over the opposite side of the landslide lake, half the sky turning red while two slender poles stood by the lakeside with their shadows stretching out; Su Cen grew increasingly anxious. He picked up his phone and made a call but received no answer. He had called three times in total without any response.

Su Cen couldn't hold back any longer, getting up from his seat and putting on the coat he left on the chair. To Geng Luoxiang, he said, "Uncle Geng, I'm going to pick up two people, you wait here..." He put on a jacket and called Li Pengyu over, then turned around and added, "... or maybe there's no need for waiting."

Geng Luoxiang waved his hand and laughed at him, "When have you ever sat still properly this afternoon Let’s go!"

Exiting the clubhouse, Li Pengyu drove them down the mountain towards the highway. Su Cen then made another phone call; it rang for a long time until finally connecting to what sounded like tires rushing over and an engine's high-pitched whirring coming from all directions.

Tang Wu's voice came through, somewhat urgent: "Su Cen, come quickly..."

That was a voice that desperately needed him. Songqi; you can call him Brother." Then to the other side, "This is my cousin brother, Su Can.""Nice to meet you," Di Songqi quickly extended his hand in a rather bookish manner and shook hands with...