Zhong Yun’s phone suddenly blared, making him blink his eyes open.

He answered without turning on the video.

“Hello?” “Zhong Yun, get out here.

Now.” Hanging up on the dead line, Zhong Yun scratched his head.

He recognized that voice—it belonged to Liu Yunqi’s second elder brother, Yang Yunrong, and his tone suggested he was in a foul mood.

Trouble.

Zhong Yun sighed inwardly, yet he knew he couldn’t refuse.

“What’s wrong?” Tianhai asked, pulling his eyes away from the computer screen.

“Nothing, someone’s looking for me.

I’ll step out for a minute.” Zhong Yun left his seat, murmured an explanation to the class monitor, and slipped out the classroom door.

“Who’s looking for him?” Tianhai turned to ask Chen Wen.

“I don’t know,” Chen Wen shook his head, his gaze drifting toward Liu Yunqi, who was watching the doorway from the corner… Outside the classroom door, Zhong Yun was scanning his surroundings when he spotted the man who had picked him up at Mingzhou Airport the day before yesterday.

“This way, please,” the man gestured politely.

“I still don’t know your name,” Zhong Yun asked as they walked.

“My name is Li Pingze,” the man replied quietly, his eyes fixed straight ahead.

Li Pingze led him to a small grove of trees behind the school.

After spotting Yang Yunrong’s silhouette, Li Pingze excused himself and departed.

Seeing Yang Yunrong standing with his back to him, dressed casually in light blue, Zhong Yun tried to guess the purpose of this summons while saying, “I’m here.” Yang Yunrong turned around.

His face was expressionless, his gaze somewhat sinister.

“Where were you last night?” The tone was unmistakably an accusation.

Zhong Yun’s heart lurched.

He had feared his activities from the previous night had been discovered, but he managed a calm reply.

“Last night, I was at Mingzhu Tower the whole time…” “With a flight attendant, right?” Yang Yunrong cut him off, his voice suddenly sharpening.

“You actually went running off with another woman?” Zhong Yun was instantly stunned.

He hadn't expected the confrontation to be about this, nor for the man to look so aggressive, like he was here to demand an accounting.

“You bastard! After how well my sister treats you, you dare go spend the night with those sorts of disreputable women.” Yang Yunrong was trembling with rage, his finger nearly jabbing Zhong Yun’s nose.

“You had better clean up your language.” Even a clay figurine has a bit of temper.

Zhong Yun was being cursed out over nothing, and Qin Qun was dragged into it.

Though he had merely used the beautiful flight attendant and held no affection for her, it was hardly anyone else’s place to make such pronouncements.

“You dare talk back?” Yang Yunrong laughed in his fury, a look of disdain flickering across his face.

“Do you believe I could make you vanish from the face of the earth by tomorrow?” Zhong Yun’s eyes instantly turned cold, like the razor wind whipping across the North Pole.

“I call you Second Young Master Yang because you are Yunqi’s brother.

Don’t assume I’m afraid of your Yang family.” He was genuinely enraged.

No one could threaten him, not even Yunqi’s own brother.

He was no longer the middle school student who needed to watch his step and keep a low profile.

He possessed a super starship far exceeding this nation’s technology.

He had the ultimate spy machine—Bee Bug No.

1; he had the stealth suit, a piece of equipment undetectable by this country’s surveillance; and he possessed the nation's most powerful light escort gear—the protective vest… With such epoch-defining weaponry, why would he fear a mere Yang family? Yang Yunrong stared at him as if he had just heard the greatest joke in the world, his expression odd.

“On what basis?” He then burst into roaring laughter, a look of utter contempt plastered on his face.

Zhong Yun simply stared back, impassive.

When Yang Yunrong finished laughing, his face darkened.

He pointed his index finger at Zhong Yun’s chest.

“It’s your blessing that my sister favors you.

Don’t push your luck, damn it.

If I ever catch you messing around with those sleazy women again, I won’t spare you, even if Yunqi hates me for it.” His voice was thick with menace.

“Let me warn you one more time,” Zhong Yun pushed his hand away, his eyebrow lifting slightly as he gently shook his own index finger.

“No one threatens me.” The eyes of Zhong Yun and Yang Yunrong locked, neither yielding an inch.

Just as the two men stood poised for conflict, their hostility evaporating the moment a voice cut through the tension.

“Second Brother, what are you doing here?” Liu Yunqi entered gracefully.

Her gaze swept over her brother’s face, then landed on Zhong Yun, her eyes blinking softly.

“You two…?” The two men exchanged a glance and simultaneously pasted on smiles, though both found the other’s expression painfully false.

“We were discussing business,” Zhong Yun recovered the quickest.

“Discussing business?” Liu Yunqi looked at her brother with suspicion.

She knew her Second Brother best; why would he seek out Zhong Yun for business? “Yes, business,” Yang Yunrong said with a strained laugh.

He had no choice but to cover for Zhong Yun now, unless he wanted to reveal Zhong Yun’s dalliances.

His entire intention for coming here was to teach the young brat a lesson, but he absolutely did not want his sister to find out.

Who knew how she would react if she knew? Poor him, the conscientious older brother, terrified of his sister suffering even the slightest harm, which was precisely why he hated Zhong Yun so much.

“Oh?” Liu Yunqi’s eyes sparkled with interest as she leaned in.

“What kind of business are you discussing? Perhaps I could listen in?” “Of course… no problem,” Zhong Yun smiled, speaking before Yang Yunrong could.

“I recently developed a small invention—an energy converter.

Your second brother found it very interesting, so he called me here today to discuss setting up a joint factory.” Yang Yunrong glared at him.

You’re making this lie bigger and bigger! Does she seem that easy to fool? Zhong Yun shot him a look, signaling calm—Leave it to me.

Seemingly oblivious to their silent exchange, Liu Yunqi suddenly clapped her hands, smiling sweetly.

“That’s perfect! I’d love to see Zhong Yun’s invention too.

You don’t mind if I tag along, do you?” At a high-end beverage shop near the school, Zhong Yun, Liu Yunqi, Yang Yunrong, and Li Pingze sat clustered around one table.

The four sipped their drinks, no one speaking, the atmosphere thick with an odd silence.

Liu Yunqi set down her cup, breaking the quiet first.

“Zhong Yun, I remember you mentioning before that you invented a small machine and filed a patent for it.” Zhong Yun smiled faintly.

The groundwork he laid over a month ago had actually paid off.

He said, “Yes.

When I was in Wolford City the day before yesterday, I mentioned it to Second Brother, and he seemed very interested.” Hearing this, Liu Yunqi turned her questioning gaze toward her brother.

Yang Yunrong was already annoyed by Zhong Yun’s use of “Second Brother”—Who gave you the right to call me that? But seeing his sister look at him, he could only agree, “Yes, yes,” though he was internally seething.

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