Chapter 226: Please Step Into the Trap

"What?" Jiang Muye was stunned. Then he noticed Leng Ruoli frantically rummaging through her bag.

"My ring is gone!" Leng Ruoli was on the verge of tears. "I still can't find it."

Jiang Muye's brows knitted tightly. He tried his best to calm her down. "Think carefully. When was the last time you saw the ring?"

Leng Ruoli thought for a moment, then said, "I think it was in the club's cooking classroom. I was going to cook, so I took it off and put it in my bag. But it's still not there."

Jiang Muye helped her search through the bag again. The ring really wasn't there.

So Jiang Muye went with Leng Ruoli to the club's cooking classroom.

【Congratulations, Host, on a successful Check-in at the cooking classroom. You have earned 500 Grit Points.】

Jiang Muye accepted the reward, then instinctively helped Leng Ruoli search for the ring around the stove, checking to see if it had been left somewhere.

But after searching high and low, the ring was nowhere to be found.

Leng Ruoli blamed herself deeply. "I shouldn't have left the ring lying around. Did I take it out again afterward and drop it somewhere?"

"Beep beep." A notification sounded on Jiang Muye's phone.

He saw it was a WeChat friend request.

After reading the attached note, Jiang Muye's eyes turned dark and deep.

He immediately pulled up Leng Ruoli, who was bent over searching for the ring in the corner, and said, "Stop looking. I know who took the ring."

…

Inside the Western Restaurant at the school gate, the decor was comfortable and pleasant. Every table had been carefully arranged, with exquisite vases placed on white-patterned tablecloths, roses resting inside the vases.

Soon, the rose petals were being toyed with by a pair of fair, beautiful hands.

The girl before him had her black hair loose and wore light makeup, looking perfectly exquisite and beautiful. Her eyes were brimming with anticipation, and she was even more gorgeous than the flowers. Whatever she was thinking about, she gave a shy, delicate smile.

She was none other than Xia Xiran, her eyes full of longing.

It was Yu Xi who had sent someone to take the ring and deliver it to her.

She had used Yu Xi's alt account to add Jiang Muye on WeChat, noted that the ring was with her, and informed Jiang Muye that if he wanted it back, he had to come find her at the Western Restaurant.

As long as she and Jiang Muye had a meal together and spent the night together, Jiang Muye would definitely come around to her.

There would be no room left for Leng Ruoli to interfere.

With that thought, Xia Xiran's face lit up with joy.

"Miss, your Champagne is here." The waiter brought a bottle of Champagne to Xia Xiran and opened it.

Xia Xiran nodded. After the waiter left, she took out a packet of powder and furtively poured it in.

This was what Yu Xi had given her.

As long as Jiang Muye drank it, he would lose control and definitely become especially forward with her.

Then whatever she wanted to do next would follow naturally.

At this thought, Xia Xiran's little face turned pink. She shook the bottle of Champagne, and the powder dissolved into it.

The corners of Xia Xiran's mouth curved upward.

Now it was time to Please Step Into the Jar.

"Tap tap tap." The sound of footsteps came.

Xia Xiran saw the tall youth walking in through the door. Her eyes lit up, and she waved, calling out, "Muye, over here."

However, her smile didn't last long.

She saw Leng Ruoli walking in beside Jiang Muye, her hand held in his.

The two of them were a perfect match, walking side by side.

Jiang Muye fixed his wild, untamed gaze on Leng Ruoli, his face full of coldness and aloofness.

Xia Xiran couldn't believe it. The moment Jiang Muye and Leng Ruoli appeared, she began questioning him. "Why did you bring her?"

Jiang Muye replied icily, "You said to come. You didn't say I couldn't bring anyone."

He extended his hand toward Xia Xiran and demanded, "The ring."

Xia Xiran bit her lower lip, a bitter refusal to accept what was happening.

She had finally managed to set things up and get Jiang Muye to show up. How could she let this ruin everything?

"Sit down first. Promise to have a proper meal with me before we talk about it." Xia Xiran was unwilling to let all her efforts go to waste. "I'll give you the ring, of course."

"Are you sure?" Jiang Muye asked.

"Yes." Xia Xiran didn't want to miss even the slightest chance to win him back.

"Pfft."

Jiang Muye let out a low laugh, catching Xia Xiran off guard.

She had expected him to either smile and fawn over her, or fly into a furious rage.

But he did neither.

Jiang Muye's face was full of mockery as he faced her. "Fine. I'll dine with you. But I hope this won't become the decision you regret most."

He was cold-hearted at his core. How could he possibly not understand what Xia Xiran meant?

Suddenly, he found it rather ironic.

A girl who had once been so bright and full of life was now letting herself sink. This was a girl he had once deeply liked, someone who had once occupied the softest place in his heart. Naturally, he hoped she would turn back from the wrong path.

However, despite his repeated advice, she chose to turn her blade on them. Then he wouldn't be soft-hearted either, indulging her blindly.

Xia Xiran was startled, a sudden bad premonition rising in her heart.

What did that mean?

Before Xia Xiran could fully understand the meaning behind Jiang Muye's words, he went ahead and sat down with Leng Ruoli.

He handed Leng Ruoli her knife and fork, then helped her tuck in her napkin—attentive in every little way.

"Thank you, hubby~" In front of Jiang Muye, Leng Ruoli was incredibly soft and sweet, her voice honeyed.

Gone was the aloof campus belle she was in public.

Jiang Muye gave Leng Ruoli a doting smile. "Wife, you thank me with just words? Aren't you going to take some actual action?"

Leng Ruoli immediately understood what he meant. She leaned in and kissed him on the cheek. "Love you, mwah~"

The sweetness was off the charts.

It was even sweeter than any scene Xia Xiran had ever witnessed!

Even though Xia Xiran was sitting right across from them, she felt as if she had become an invisible presence.

Sitting on pins and needles, thorns at her back, a fishbone stuck in her throat.

Every kind of discomfort imaginable.

Tonight was supposed to be her date with Jiang Muye, but Leng Ruoli had shown up and ruined everything, leaving Xia Xiran utterly at a loss.

Jiang Muye glanced at the menu and began ordering. "Give me a Kobe Wagyu ribeye cheese steak."

Xia Xiran gasped.

Kobe Wagyu ribeye cheese steak? That was the most expensive signature steak in the restaurant.

One portion cost nearly five thousand yuan—that was a really high tab.

Xia Xiran considered her own family background to be decent. Both her parents were university professors, and she had been born into a scholarly family. But she still wasn't in a position to casually order a five-thousand-yuan steak.

Of course, what she usually ate was still a fairly good grade of sirloin steak.

Xia Xiran had assumed that after Jiang Muye ordered such an expensive steak, he would stop. But no—Jiang Muye showed no signs of slowing down.

"Another Lobster Bisque, a nine-inch Louis XIII pizza, a seafood curry, and some caviar…"

Xia Xiran's eyes went wide.

She knew the price of the steak, but she didn't know the prices of these dishes. Still, just from the names, they sounded far from cheap.

It seemed that Jiang Muye, now the Chen family heir, had jumped up several tiers in spending.

In fact, Jiang Muye used to eat at street stalls. When had he ever been this extravagant?

Jiang Muye looked at Leng Ruoli and asked, "What do you want?"

"Get me a Wagyu tomahawk steak, a wild mushroom black truffle soup, beef rolls with Champagne sauce, Irish stew, Baked Shrimp and Crab Rice, and a Mont Blanc chestnut cake." Leng Ruoli smiled sweetly.

The waiter quickly noted it all down.

Jiang Muye slammed the heavy menu shut and said to Xia Xiran with a fake smile, "Thanks for treating us. This time you'll have to foot the bill."

His words hit Xia Xiran like a heavy hammer.

Xia Xiran couldn't believe it. "I'm paying?"

"Aren't you the one who wanted to treat us?" Jiang Muye looked down at Xia Xiran, chin raised.