Lan Tianyu paused and turned around.
Tian Xin stood a few steps away, her hands unconsciously clasped in front of her abdomen. On her stunning face was a trace of nervousness that was difficult to notice.
"What is it?"
he asked, raising an eyebrow.
Tian Xin took a deep breath, as if she had made up her mind. She lifted her eyes and looked straight at Lan Tianyu.
"To thank you for helping me earlier, I'd like to treat you to dinner. Do you have time tonight?"
Her voice was soft, yet it carried a kind of courage that felt like burning one's bridges.
This was the first time in her life she had invited a man to dinner on her own initiative.
"Huh?"
Lan Tianyu was stunned for a moment. He hadn't expected Tian Xin to invite him out for dinner.
To be honest, if a stunning beauty like her extended such an invitation, no man would normally refuse.
But in truth, he would rather go home and cultivate, pushing his combat power index toward 30,000 or even higher as quickly as possible.
"Sorry, I—"
The words of rejection almost slipped out.
Yet when his gaze met Tian Xin's bright eyes, filled with expectation and even a trace of nervous anticipation—
He suddenly found himself unable to say it.
Forget it.
It was just a dinner.
At most it would waste an hour or two.
He might as well go.
He could treat it as an opportunity to raise her favorability.
If it increased even a little, it would be absolutely worth it.
These thoughts flashed through his mind in an instant.
A warm smile appeared on his face again as he walked back toward Tian Xin, his voice lowering slightly.
"Of course I have time. Have you chosen a restaurant yet?"
Hearing his answer, Tian Xin's tense body instantly relaxed.
A relieved smile blossomed across her face, and the pounding of her heart gradually calmed.
After all, this was her first time doing something like this.
Of course she had been nervous.
Fortunately, Lan Tianyu had accepted the invitation. Otherwise, she wouldn't have known how to save face.
"What do you want to eat? Chinese, Western, or Japanese cuisine?"
"I'm not picky."
Lan Tianyu shrugged.
"And you're the host. I'll follow your arrangement."
"There's a buffet-style Western restaurant nearby with a good reputation. The ingredients are fresh and the environment is nice. How about we eat there?"
Tian Xin thought for a moment and made a suggestion.
"Sure."
Lan Tianyu agreed readily.
For him, as long as he could eat his fill, the location didn't matter.
"By the way, did you drive here?" he asked.
"I never had time to get a driver's license. Normally I just walk or take a taxi."
Tian Xin shook her head with a slightly embarrassed smile.
"Then ride with me."
Lan Tianyu flipped the car key in his hand and pressed the remote toward the depths of the parking lot.
Beep! Beep!
The crisp sound echoed throughout the empty parking structure.
Moments later—
A sleek bright red Ferrari sports car lit up its headlights in the distance.
"A Ferrari?"
Seeing the emblem, Tian Xin's beautiful eyes widened with unconcealed surprise.
This was an extremely expensive luxury car.
What exactly was Teacher Lan's background?
How could someone who drove a Ferrari come to a high school to teach P.E.?
"Don't just stand there. Get in."
Lan Tianyu opened the passenger door. Seeing Tian Xin still frozen in place, he waved a hand in front of her eyes.
"Oh—right."
Tian Xin snapped back to reality and quickly sat in the passenger seat, moving carefully as if afraid of damaging anything.
Lan Tianyu walked around to the driver's side and got in.
Then he leaned toward the passenger seat.
This movement brought him closer to Tian Xin.
A faint and elegant fragrance drifted into his nose.
It didn't seem like perfume.
More like a natural body scent—
Fresh and subtle, like gardenias after the rain.
Lan Tianyu remained calm.
Without hesitation, he pulled the seatbelt across and buckled it for her.
For a beauty like Tian Xin to have a pleasant natural scent was completely normal. There was nothing surprising about it.
"Thank you."
Tian Xin thanked him softly, subconsciously pulling her long legs closer together.
Her high-waisted pencil skirt forced her to maintain a careful posture.
If she wasn't cautious, she might accidentally reveal too much.
Although she wore safety shorts underneath, her naturally conservative personality made her unable to accept embarrassing situations in front of a man who wasn't her boyfriend.
Even though—
She had never had a boyfriend before.
Lan Tianyu simply smiled.
After fastening his own seatbelt, he started the Ferrari and drove out of the parking lot.
Outside the school gate.
Inside a dark alley.
A massive crowd filled the narrow space.
The atmosphere was so oppressive it was almost suffocating.
At the center of the crowd—
Wang Arthur stood with bloodshot eyes, his chest rising and falling violently.
Grief and fury nearly shattered his rationality.
Just moments ago, he had received a phone call.
One of his subordinates told him that his father had been shot ten minutes earlier.
He could not believe that someone would dare attempt to assassinate the leader of the Earth Dragon Gang in broad daylight.
Enraged, his combat power index erupted.
[2236… 4569… 6984… 9059]
Ahead of him stood a middle-aged man with a strange black dot tattooed in the center of his nose.
The man smoked casually, swaying his legs with an arrogant grin on his face.
His name was Black Dog, the leader of a certain gang.
"Young Master Arthur,"
Black Dog blew out a ring of smoke, his voice dripping with mockery.
"Looks like you still don't understand the situation."
"I know you can fight, so I specially brought a few extra brothers to play with you."
He waved his hand.
Behind him, dozens of thugs holding sticks stepped forward with vicious grins, tightening the encirclement.
At the same moment—
A Ferrari happened to drive past the entrance of the alley.
Lan Tianyu glanced casually at the tense standoff inside.
His expression remained calm.
He had no intention of stopping.
In this chaotic era, gang conflicts and revenge were extremely common.
Such things happened everywhere every day.
They were hardly interesting enough to make him stop.
More importantly—
He had grown tired of it.
When the Lan Group had gone public years ago, hooligans and gangsters had caused trouble almost every day.
Those petty criminals were easy to deal with.
Even well-trained security guards could handle them.
The real threat came from those fighters with combat power indexes, who wanted to seize control of the Lan Group and devour its wealth.
When facing such people, the upper management usually stepped in.
Only when they encountered enemies they truly couldn't handle—
Would it finally be Lan Tianyu's turn to act.
Over more than a decade, he had fought well over a hundred battles.
After seeing so much of it—
It had all become rather boring.
patreon.comPh4nt0mTL