Chapter 449: The Big Net

The drawing on the paper was incredibly lifelike, showing a man asleep at his desk and a pretty young woman beside him.

However, the young woman’s face was a bit blurry, not drawn with much clarity.

Chen Erbao stretched, then casually wrapped an arm around Lin Rui’s shoulder and said softly,

“Let’s go get something to eat!”

“Okay.”

The two gathered their belongings and headed toward the Binhai University cafeteria.

“Brother Er Bao, the braised chicken at the East Cafeteria is delicious… They also have sticky rice balls, but only in the morning. I’ll take you to try them next time.”

Lin Rui chattered away the whole time, pointing out every blade of grass and every tree on campus to Chen Erbao.

They soon arrived at the cafeteria. There were many students eating, but they were all queuing up in an orderly fashion, so it wasn’t too noisy.

At one point, a few female students in black stockings walked by, and Chen Erbao’s gaze inevitably fell upon them.

Lin Rui noticed this, licked the corner of her lips, and said playfully,

“Brother Er Bao, you like black stockings?”

Chen Erbao rubbed his nose and averted his gaze.

“Um… they’re alright.”

“Then I’ll wear them for you next time…”

“…”

Chen Erbao felt his self-control slipping. A simple sentence from Lin Rui was enough to get his heart racing.

Sensing the “giant dragon” beneath his waist stirring again, Chen Erbao quickly focused his attention on the food.

As expected of a century-old university, the food was excellent. Chen Erbao wolfed down his meal, then polished off the leftovers on Lin Rui’s plate that she couldn’t finish. Only then did he pat his stomach in satisfaction and get up to leave with her.

As they were passing the cafeteria entrance, they happened to run into Zhou Chongming.

He was laughing and chatting with a few other students, but when he suddenly saw Lin Rui and Chen Erbao, his expression changed slightly, and he looked a bit uncomfortable.

Especially when he saw Lin Rui take the initiative to link arms with Chen Erbao, his mouth twitched, and the flames of jealousy in his heart burned even hotter.

‘Fuck, and I thought you were some pure student. The moment you see this guy, you look like you can’t wait to strip naked for him… Sooner or later, I’m going to pin you down beneath me…’

Chen Erbao noticed Zhou Chongming as well, but to him, the guy was just a small fry, not worth his attention at all. So, he just glanced at him before walking away.

While they were eating, Chen Erbao had received a text from Huang Sanlang, inviting him to a coffee shop in the afternoon for a chat.

‘Looks like Huang Sanlang has already found out what Huang Baiwen has been up to these past few days. He’s fast. Doesn’t seem like he’s been suppressed as badly as it appears on the surface…’

Chen Erbao mused to himself, put his phone down, and said to Lin Rui,

“Xiaorui, I have something to do this afternoon. You should head back to class.”

Lin Rui’s face fell when she heard this.

“Brother Er Bao, I don’t have class this afternoon… Can’t you let me stay with you!”

She pleaded, hugging Chen Erbao’s arm and shaking it.

Chen Erbao sighed and said seriously,

“What I have to do is a little dangerous. I can’t take you with me. Be good. Next time I come, I promise I’ll spend the whole time with you and make sure you have fun!”

Hearing him say that, Lin Rui could only pout and didn’t press the issue further.

Chen Erbao leaned down and gave Lin Rui a light kiss on her red lips, saying with a smile,

“Go on, head back. I’m leaving now!”

“Mm.”

After watching Chen Erbao leave campus, Lin Rui’s usual cool and detached expression returned, and she turned and walked toward her dorm.

…

At two in the afternoon, Chen Erbao arrived at a private coffee shop.

He handed his car keys to the valet at the entrance and took out his phone to call Huang Sanlang.

Huang Sanlang answered the call and hurried down to greet him, leading Chen Erbao to a private, enclosed room.

Uncle Xu waited outside the door, leaving just Chen Erbao and Huang Sanlang in the room.

“Mr. Chen, would you like some coffee?”

“Anything’s fine.”

Although he wasn’t much of a coffee drinker, Chen Erbao wasn’t picky, so he answered casually.

Huang Sanlang skillfully brewed the coffee and personally brought a cup to Chen Erbao.

“Mr. Chen, I had my men investigate. My older brother has indeed been hosting a group of mysterious guests recently. What’s more, several of his trusted subordinates went missing the day before yesterday…”

Huang Sanlang returned to his seat and stirred his coffee with a spoon. Billows of steam rose, obscuring his expression.

Chen Erbao nodded.

“Three of them. But they were just second-rate masters, nothing worth mentioning.”

Huang Sanlang’s eyes lit up for a moment, but he quickly composed himself and chuckled softly.

“Those three weren’t part of the family’s forces; they were confidants my older brother cultivated himself. To think they would fall at your hands, Mr. Chen. It seems what you said last night wasn’t an exaggeration. You truly have a grudge against my brother.”

“I wonder, what is your relationship, Mr. Chen, with the two women being hunted by the Celestial God Sect?”

Huang Sanlang continued to ask.

Chen Erbao glanced at him.

“Young Master Huang, there’s no need to keep testing me. If I were really your brother’s man, I would have made my move long ago. And if your brother knew you had traitorous thoughts, he wouldn’t have let you live this long.”

Huang Sanlang was still trying to sound out Chen Erbao’s background, but the power he commanded was clearly not insignificant. He had managed to quickly find out that the Celestial God Sect was hunting two women.

Huang Sanlang nodded, showing he understood.

“Mr. Chen, in that case, we can begin our cooperation. Our goals are aligned. I hope we can succeed.”

He raised his cup in a toast to Chen Erbao.

But Chen Erbao didn’t raise his cup in return. Instead, he stared into Huang Sanlang’s eyes and asked seriously,

“Do you know about the Giant Whale Gang?”

The key reason he was going against Huang Baiwen from the very beginning was the Giant Whale Gang. Their actions had completely crossed his bottom line. Whether it was a case of righting a wrong he’d witnessed or simply his sense of justice acting up, Chen Erbao had already decided that the Giant Whale Gang and its vile activities had to disappear completely.

Huang Sanlang’s expression froze. He thought hard for a good while before saying uncertainly,

“I think that’s an underground gang my older brother used to support. Has the Giant Whale Gang offended you, Mr. Chen?”

“Do you know what the Giant Whale Gang does for your brother?”

Huang Sanlang frowned slightly. After a moment of thought, he looked up at Chen Erbao, a strange expression on his face.

“Are you referring to those girls from the mountains, Mr. Chen?”

“You knew!”

Chen Erbao’s gaze suddenly sharpened, like daggers shooting toward Huang Sanlang.

‘If Huang Sanlang would also engage in such a dark business after taking over, then what’s the point of me taking down Huang Baiwen?’

Huang Sanlang was nervous inside, but his face remained perfectly calm.

“Mr. Chen, you’ve misunderstood…”

He briefly explained why Huang Baiwen was doing this.

It turned out that in order to increase his influence, Huang Baiwen had used vast amounts of money and beautiful women to win over leaders in all sectors of Binhai City. This was especially true within the Governor’s Mansion, where an unknown number of people had accepted his bribes. It was precisely by these means that he had rapidly gained the trust of the Huang Family’s old master and became a candidate for Patriarch.

And under his command, the gangs responsible for these dirty dealings weren’t limited to just the Giant Whale Gang. In fact, the Giant Whale Gang was just a minor player. The vast network belonging to Huang Baiwen covered almost the entire Yangtze River Delta region.