Chapter One Hundred and Ten: If You Do Not Believe It, Try It Yourself

Chapter 110: Don’t Believe Me? Try It Yourself!

After Tang Zhong finished making the police report, Bai Su asked doubtfully, “Will the police actually come? They must have connections everywhere to dare run a casino in this place—”

“They will come,” Tang Zhong said with a smile. “Their casino is set up inside this rundown restaurant. The environment is terrible, and the scale isn’t even that big. This shows either they lack funds or they don’t have strong backing. If they truly had powerful connections, they’d open the casino in a five-star hotel instead. They wouldn’t need to hide like this, always on guard against police raids.”

“Besides, if I only report gambling, they might not take it seriously. But if I report illegal possession of firearms, drug trafficking, and money laundering—any police chief who receives such a report will definitely pay attention.”

“Drug trafficking and money laundering? Aren’t you just slapping those labels on them randomly?” Bai Su fixed Tang Zhong with a sharp gaze. She knew this guy always assumed the worst about people and didn’t hesitate to use tricks against those he disliked.

“True or false, who can really tell?” Tang Zhong didn’t deny it. “If just reporting gambling and illegal firearms would get a police response, I wouldn’t need to go this far.”

He glanced around and said, “We should leave this area now. Your identity is sensitive; it wouldn’t be good if someone saw you.”

“You guys go ahead slowly. I’ll go get the car,” Uncle De said, hurrying ahead.

“Uncle De used to be the driver at our orphanage. Later, the orphanage was demolished, and nobody knows where the compensation money went. The orphanage was never rebuilt. By chance, we found out he was driving an unlicensed taxi, so we hired him under the company’s name. Anyway, we needed a reliable driver. Sister Li used to cook at the orphanage. Back then, I thought her cooking was the best in the world.”

“Of course, I still think so now. Eating her food always reminds me of those days at the orphanage. It’s because I’ve never forgotten the hardships and despair of that time that I’ve always wanted to repay my foster parents no matter what,” Bai Su briefly introduced Uncle De and the quietly diligent housekeeper at Purple Garden to Tang Zhong.

Before, everyone thought Uncle De and Sister Li were from Bai Su’s hometown. Today, Tang Zhong finally understood that “hometown” referred to the orphanage.

After this incident, their relationship grew closer. Bai Su’s most significant background had been revealed to Tang Zhong, so there was no need to hide anything else.

Uncle De drove the car over. Tang Zhong and Bai Su got in, and they stopped at the intersection just across the street from the restaurant.

Only when several police cars sped toward them with sirens blaring did Tang Zhong say to Uncle De, “Let’s go back.”

“Not waiting to see the outcome?” Bai Su asked.

“No need,” Tang Zhong shook his head.

“Why?”

“If I’m right, someone must have tipped off the guy with the mustache. By the time the police rush in, the gamblers inside will have fled. The police will probably only manage to seal off an empty place and arrest a few inconsequential people.”

“If you knew this, then why report it at all?” Bai Su questioned.

“Do you believe me if I say I did it to save your cheap foster dad?” Tang Zhong smiled.

“No way.” Bai Su shook her head. She knew Tang Zhong loathed his foster father deeply. His resolute pulling her away just proved it. Now that he said it was to save him, no matter what, she wouldn’t believe it.

“I don’t believe it either,” Tang Zhong said, looking toward the restaurant entrance from afar, where someone was rushing out quickly. He knew the casino must have gotten advance notice and was evacuating the gamblers. “He saw my face.”

Bai Su was stunned, staring at Tang Zhong in surprise.

This should have been her job, but because of the foster father issue, her sensitivity had dulled considerably.

Yet, in such a hostile environment, he not only played cards with the mustached man but also tried to distract him to snatch his gun.

Is that the reaction and behavior expected of a university freshman?

“He saw my face and saw us together—I’m worried he’ll make some connections,” Tang Zhong said. “Since that’s the case, I’ll keep him busy. So busy he won’t have time to think.”

“That was my oversight,” Bai Su apologized.

“Indeed,” Tang Zhong nodded. “But anyone would get irritable with such an awful father.”

“Sigh. If he didn’t gamble, he’d be a good man. Back then, my foster mother kept persuading him, but he wouldn’t listen. After she passed away from illness, he only got worse. Besides a small house, he’s sold almost everything else in the family.”

“Those must have been hard times for you,” Tang Zhong said, looking at Bai Su’s bright face with pain.

Just out of the orphanage, thinking she could finally live with family warmth and hot meals. But her foster mother died young, and her foster father was a gambling addict—this was indeed very difficult for a young girl.

“Poor kids grow up fast,” Bai Su smiled faintly. “I still remember riding a Phoenix brand bike with a big box tied behind, stuffed with cotton, going to buy iceboxes wholesale from an ice cream factory to sell in villages dozens of miles away—I earned over seven yuan on my first day. The icebox factory owner said that was more than many adults made.”

“Things that seemed hard before become beautiful memories once you succeed,” Tang Zhong smiled. “Is that how you feel?”

“Almost.” Bai Su said. Tang Zhong sat opposite her, his gaze often drifting to her chest, making her uneasy and shy. She held her bosom, wishing she could press down the overly ample curves.

“Although I’m not exactly successful now, I have everything I want. I’m not a greedy woman.”

“Have you been to an orphanage? Do you know how the kids there live? Of course, when guests come, it’s the kids’ brightest moment—clean, in new clothes, with hot meals and meticulous care. But normally, the orphanage is gloomy and eerie. No matter how hot the summer, it feels cold inside. The image I remember most is a group of healthy or disabled kids lying side by side in the yard under the sun, wearing ragged clothes. We were so little, our faces dirty, snot running into our mouths, eyes vacant, expressionless. We knew nothing and wanted nothing, like little zombies. So now, I’m easily satisfied. Compared to that time, my life now is like heaven.”

Silence.

Tang Zhong hadn’t expected such a beautiful and outstanding Bai Su to have such a tragic childhood. Compared to her experience, being treated harshly by the head of the family was a blessing.

“Tell me, who are your biological parents? Could it be like in the movies—years later, a pair of returning overseas Chinese or wealthy Chinese tycoons come looking for you?”

Bai Su laughed at Tang Zhong’s absurd guess, all her worries melting away as she chuckled. “Why not? Maybe a pair of workers or farmers already with a daughter wanted a son. When their second child was still a girl, they heartlessly abandoned her because she’d be a burden. Stories of overseas Chinese or tycoon parents searching for their children only happen in movies and novels—that’s not real life.”

“People always want to think positively,” Tang Zhong comforted her. “Maybe they lost you by accident.”

“Hopefully,” Bai Su sighed softly. “Thinking that makes the pain easier to bear.”

“Have you ever thought about finding them?” Tang Zhong asked.

“Finding them? Why?” Bai Su retorted. “They abandoned me and now expect me to look for them? That’s too unfair.”

“True. Let them come looking for you instead. That’ll make you feel better,” Tang Zhong smiled. “And if they come, just ignore them. If they offer you a check, tear it up and throw it in their faces, crying out that you want their love, not their money. That after all these years of abandonment, they think they can buy you off with money? Then, when they write a second check or transfer all their assets to your name, reluctantly accept it. Pretend to be moved by a meal they cooked or a piece of clothing they bought, hug them, and weep, saying how much you missed them and where they’ve been all these years—”

Tang Zhong wiped his eyes and said, “You’re making me want to cry.”

Bai Su laughed so hard she leaned back, forgetting to cover her chest.

After a long while, she shot Tang Zhong a fierce glare and scolded, “You’re a big mouth.”

Pausing, Bai Su added, “Tang Zhong, how do you know so much? You’re so extraordinary, you make me feel like all these years I’ve wasted my life. Before meeting you, I thought I was quite outstanding. Extremely so.”

“You haven’t wasted your life,” Tang Zhong glanced again at her chest, thinking that without all those years of growth, it wouldn’t be so ample.

“Where are you looking?” Bai Su blushed and scolded him. This guy was getting more and more outrageous.

“Is what he said true?” Tang Zhong asked.

“What?” Bai Su asked, puzzled. The question seemed utterly random.

“He said just judging from your skills, you could make all kinds of poses—I don’t think that’s possible,” Tang Zhong asked curiously.

Bai Su wished she could sink into the ground.

But she knew if she showed weakness or shyness now, he would completely overpower her.

Counterattack!

Must counterattack!

“It’s true,” she spread her legs forcefully and purred, “Don’t believe me? Try it yourself.”

“———”

(P.S.: Casting a red vote can accumulate good karma. It’s true. Old Liu loudly shouted across the department: Don’t believe me? Try it yourself.)