Chapter 150 What man are you bringing?

"Yes, she made a last-minute decision too."

Xiang Kui explained with a touch of embarrassment, "She's friends with Lu Bai, and they haven't seen each other in a long time. They might catch up after the concert..."

Hearing this, Ruan Mianmian needed no further explanation.

Xiang Kui must have thrown all caution to the wind the moment she heard there might be a chance to share a meal with Lu Bai.

Actually, Ruan Mianmian didn't mind at all. It was just that Jiang Yao was, after all, a rising young starlet—was it really wise for her to appear in public in such a carefree manner?

However, since Ruan Mianmian wasn't the person involved, she kept these thoughts to herself.

So, she replied, "Alright, whatever works."

"That's wonderful! I knew you wouldn't mind!"

Xiang Kui was so excited she practically wanted to crawl through the phone screen to give Ruan Mianmian a massive hug and a kiss.

Ruan Mianmian smiled and replied, "It's nothing. Besides, the more the merrier."

After exchanging a few more casual remarks, they hung up.

Ruan Mianmian opened WeChat again and sent a message to Le Chen.

[Le Chen, I'm so sorry, but another person is joining my friends. We might need one more ticket.]

After sending the message, there was no reply for a long time.

Ruan Mianmian set her phone aside and went to wash up.

When she came out of the bathroom, she saw that two replies had arrived on her phone.

[Le Chen: Sure. I was practicing dance earlier and just saw the message. But do you want me to prepare two more just in case?]

[Le Chen: Our team captain is here too. I'll have a word with him and ask the assistant to let you in early.]

Ruan Mianmian's eyes lit up as she read the messages.

This treatment was incredible!

Besides, for a nationwide sensation like the pretty-boy idol group OS, concert tickets almost always sold out in split seconds, packing every venue to maximum capacity. How could they possibly have so many spare tickets?

[Ruan Mianmian: How many can you get?]

[Le Chen: Huh? What's wrong? Don't tell me you're thinking of scalping tickets? Hahaha...]

[Ruan Mianmian: Oh? That's not entirely out of the question!]

[Le Chen: You really are a clever little thing! But I can probably only manage four or five. After all, available seats are limited!]

[Ruan Mianmian: I know you guys are hugely popular! I was just kidding, but thank you anyway.]

Ruan Mianmian walked out of the bathroom with a light smile, and Jiang Ce instantly raised his head to look at her.

He saw her holding her phone, smiling with a peachy, radiant expression.

Jiang Ce suddenly said in a cold voice, "Smiling so happily, are you planning to cheat on me?"

Ruan Mianmian hurriedly looked up at the sound, looking visibly startled.

Stopping in her tracks, she stood where she was and asked, "You're back already?"

"How far did I even go?"

Jiang Ce impatiently tossed the document in his hand aside, then strode over to Ruan Mianmian on his long legs and asked, "What are you looking at?"

With that, his gaze darted toward Ruan Mianmian's phone screen.

Without trying to hide it, Ruan Mianmian shoved the phone straight into Jiang Ce's arms and smiled, "Look for yourself."

Just as the corners of Jiang Ce's lips curved upward into a brief, blissful arc, the next second that bliss plunged straight into the mud.

His expression stiffened as he asked, "Who is this Le Chen?"

"He's a member of the sizzling hot idol boy group OS, Le Chen! The dance lead of the group, and currently a very popular all-rounder variety show prince."

After Ruan Mianmian gave a brief introduction, Jiang Ce's expression grew even gloomier.

Jiang Ce: "You've been preparing for this concert for days just to go see him?"

"Yeah."

"He's giving you VIP seats, and even preparing extra just in case?"

"Yeah."

"So, why? Did something unspeakable happen between the two of you?"

"Because I'm cute."

Ruan Mianmian blinked playfully at Jiang Ce with a smile, then took her phone back from his hands.

Jiang Ce stared at her in silence for a moment before quietly muttering, "How about I go with you?"

"No way!"

Ruan Mianmian flatly refused, saying, "It's a girls' gathering, why bring a man? You are not allowed to go."

"..."

Jiang Ce stared at Ruan Mianmian with a dismal expression that clearly read, 'If I don't go, I'm going to get cuckolded.'

Unfortunately, certain someone's heart was as steadfast as a rock and completely unmoved.

At ten o'clock in the evening, the investigation Jiang Ce had commissioned finally bore fruit.

A call came in.

"Master Jiang, the information you requested has been sent to your email."

"Alright, got it."

After hanging up, Jiang Ce sat on the sofa, pulled a laptop into his lap, and intently opened his email.

Hearing the commotion, Ruan Mianmian sidled over, casually sat down beside Jiang Ce, and asked, "Did you send people to investigate Fang Xiaoyan?"

"Mhm."

Very good, very cold and detached.

Ruan Mianmian shot Jiang Ce a beaming, sideways glance, then eagerly leaned in close to his field of vision with an impatient look on her face.

Once the email was opened, it contained numerous photos full of everyday life flavor, though the image quality was atrocious—obviously not captured by a normal camera.

They were likely stills extracted from surveillance footage.

Though somewhat blurry, Fang Xiaoyan's entire face remained clearly distinguishable.

The files covered the jobs Fang Xiaoyan had held in recent years, along with various traces of her daily life—virtually every aspect was accounted for.

Ruan Mianmian couldn't help clicking her tongue in amazement, "This detailed?"

Jiang Ce glanced at her as if he had just heard a completely useless remark.

The pictures were accompanied by descriptive text, briefly outlining Fang Xiaoyan's places of residence and occupations over the years.

Every detail was displayed with extreme clarity, all serving to prove just how normal of a person Fang Xiaoyan used to be.

Yet now, why had she become like this? Was her encounter with Jiang Ce intentional or accidental?

Ruan Mianmian believed there had to be a major problem hidden beneath the surface.

Jiang Ce fell silent. Although his expression remained cold and haughty, he was far calmer than he had been back at the hospital, showing that he had mentally prepared himself long beforehand.

Ruan Mianmian couldn't help asking, "What are your plans for the future?"

"Wait and watch."

Jiang Ce closed the email and shut his laptop.

Then, looking at Ruan Mianmian, he said, "This matter is not as simple as it seems."

He had a premonition that a much deeper conspiracy was concealed behind this incident.

That night, Ruan Mianmian did not sleep well, her mind racing with all sorts of chaotic thoughts.

Initially, she had altered the plot driven by the desire to change a tragic ending, and everything seemed to be progressing in a normal direction.

However, to her surprise, the plot was growing increasingly bizarre, straying even further from the original narrative in the book.

Just like this Fang Xiaoyan who had materialized out of thin air.

Ruan Mianmian didn't actually know much about Jiang Ce's childhood trauma, as the book mentioned very little about it.

She only knew that Jiang Ce's father had gone astray in his youth, offending numerous underworld figures. Although he later wanted to wash his hands of it all, his former enemies hunted him down one by one.

To keep Jiang Ce safe, his father had sent him to the countryside to stay with his grandfather, hoping he could live in peace.

Unexpectedly, those enemies still tracked him down, orchestrated a kidnapping, and killed Jiang Ce's grandfather in the process.

To everyone's surprise, the person tied up in the kidnapping wasn't Jiang Ce, but the son of a neighboring family who had run into the situation by sheer coincidence, serving as a scapegoat.

In a single night, Jiang Ce's family was destroyed, and another innocent family was dragged into the tragedy.

Ruan Mianmian didn't know what kind of friendship existed between her grandfather and Jiang Ce's grandfather, but eventually, her grandfather tracked Jiang Ce down and brought him home.

That was how Ruan Mianmian came to know Jiang Ce when they were children.