Lance Le glared at Evan Lin, his eyes cold and predatory, his face frosted over—clearly out for trouble.
Rena Luo subtly shifted her stance, making room for Lance Le. She looked at Evan Lin, smiling, and said, "This is Lance Le, our classmate and the organizer of this reunion."
"Actually, the room you're staying in at the Changbai Mountain Resort Hotel—Lance paid for it."
As Rena Luo spoke, she glanced at Evan Lin, her tone calm and neutral.
But anyone could sense the growing chill radiating from Lance Le, making more and more people look at Evan Lin with a hint of sympathy.
"He's just my classmate. An ordinary classmate."
Once Rena Luo finished speaking, Queenie Tong quickly added, turning to study Evan Lin's face, worried he might look even slightly unhappy: "I paid for your room too. It wasn't Lance's money, and it's not part of the reunion expenses."
Queenie Tong's voice was loud and clear.
She knew a thing or two about Evan Lin's real identity—she'd seen him enter Medicine King Valley with her own eyes, riding a water dragon. So, naturally, she wasn't worried he'd be scared of Lance Le.
But right now, Queenie was even more afraid Evan Lin might misunderstand their relationship.
But as soon as those words left her mouth, Queenie Tong regretted it.
Sure enough.
The crowd behind Lance Le was already starting to make snide comments.
“You look pretty fair-skinned and delicate—I can see why Queenie might like you. But bro, we’re all out here hustling. If you can manage to live off Queenie like this, you must have some serious skills, huh? How about you teach me a trick or two sometime?” A short guy grinned, showing his teeth.
“Yeah, for looks and class, Lance here is way ahead of you. But even so, Queenie’s never once held his hand. You, though—you’ve got some nerve. Mind telling us your name and where you’re from? Just wandering around Changbai Mountain, huh? The snow here isn’t light, and there are plenty of wild animals in those mountains. If you’re not careful, you might not even make it out alive!” A woman chimed in, her words dripping with jealousy and disdain as she eyed Evan Lin.
It was only then that Queenie Tong realized her words had made everyone misunderstand her relationship with Evan Lin—now they thought it was some rich-girl-falls-for-poor-boy drama.
Queenie looked nervous, about to speak up and explain.
But Lance Le, face darkening, raised a hand to stop her. He fixed his gaze on Evan Lin, his words icy: "Bro, you sure know how to live off a girl. Back in the day, I blew over a million swapping out every school LED billboard for confessions to Queenie, and another fifty grand on roses to carpet the playground. She still wouldn’t give me a second look."
He made a point of emphasizing the numbers, then paused, watching Evan Lin’s expression.
He’d hoped those big numbers would make Evan Lin back off, but Evan just looked calm, as if money meant nothing to him. That only made Lance Le even more frustrated inside.
"I’m really curious—what tricks did you use to get so close to Queenie? Tell you what, we’re all civilized people here. Just teach me a few moves for scamming girls, and I’ll pay you a million on the spot. Deal?"
"Consider it tuition from Lance Le."
Lance Le’s face was cold, his tone controlled. Seeing Queenie Tong standing her ground for Evan Lin only stoked his anger.
If he weren’t worried that starting a fight would make Queenie think even less of him, Lance would’ve already called someone over.
And there was a deeper meaning behind his words.
He’d deliberately steered the conversation toward Evan Lin conning girls, hoping Evan would take the bait. If he did, Lance was sure he could humiliate Evan in front of Queenie with just a few words.
"Just a few words and you pocket a million, bro—that’s easy money!" someone shouted.
"Yeah, and Lance never skimps on cash. If he says a million, it’s a million! You don’t have to worry—just talk!" another nodded enthusiastically.
"I want to learn too. Who knows, maybe I’ll run into some clueless rich girl who’ll keep me in style. Wouldn’t that be sweet?"
The crowd egged him on.
Aside from the two BMW guys who’d seen Evan Lin beat up Gavin Luo with their own eyes, most people here didn’t think Evan was dangerous at all.
No matter how dangerous, could he really be more dangerous than Lance Le?
Rena Luo’s lips curled into a faint smile. All she had to do now was sit back and watch the show.
Her goal was simple: pit Evan Lin and Lance Le against each other, let them fight it out while she watched from the sidelines—partly for revenge, partly just for fun.
"You guys are way out of line! He’s not some freeloader, and he’s definitely not just a pretty face! He’s never tried to scam me, not once!"
Queenie Tong’s face flushed red with anger.
She was usually a bit spoiled, but this time, in front of Evan Lin, she held herself back.
Now, hearing Lance Le and the others get more and more out of line, she couldn’t hold back her displeasure.
She reached out and grabbed Evan Lin’s wrist.
"We’re done here. Let’s go eat somewhere else!"
Queenie Tong was furious.
"Come on, Queenie, it’s not every day we all get together. Don’t ruin the mood over some guy, okay? Men are like clothes—easy to change. But we’ve been classmates for years!" A flashy woman blocked Queenie’s path.
Her makeup was thick, her smile hollow. As she spoke, a layer of white powder flaked off her face. She turned to Evan Lin, mockery in her eyes: "Lance here is worth tens of millions. His dad’s a big name in Changbai Mountain."
"Just the wild ginseng he handles every day is worth at least a million!"
"Not only that, Lance went overseas for grad school—he’s got a master’s degree."
"Plus, he’s a black belt in taekwondo—can break a board half an inch thick with one punch! Back in school, he once took down more than ten thugs by himself!"
"My advice? You’d better answer Lance’s question. It’s fine to have a bit of a temper when you’re young, but you should know your place—know what you should and shouldn’t do."
"How long do you think you can keep living off a woman like this?"
"So, just tell Lance straight—how did you pull this off? What tricks did you use to fool Queenie? If you walk out that door now, you might not see the sun tomorrow!"