SES Chapter 67 Part 2

Cao Yanhua shouted, “Hey! My little Brother Luo is here!”

Luo Ren shot him a look. “Why are you yelling?”

He sat down across from Pingting.

Cao Yanhua walked over with a sympathetic expression and handed him a cup of coffee. “Little Brother Luo, I saw that message in the group. Sorry for your loss.”

Way to bring up the worst possible thing.

Luo Ren ignored him, but Cao Yanhua didn’t leave.

Luo Ren frowned. “You got something else to say?”

Cao Yanhua beamed. “Look closely at me. Notice anything different today?”

…Did he?

Cao Yanhua puffed out his chest, sucked in his belly, and tucked his chin in—creating three folds of neck fat.

Luo Ren burst out laughing. “Fatty Cao, are you having a mental breakdown?”

Before he could finish the sentence, someone came up behind him and covered his eyes.

They were fast—he hadn’t even sensed them approaching. His body tensed, left elbow ready to jab back hard… but suddenly he stopped himself and relaxed.

A smile slowly spread across his lips.

Mu Dai’s voice came from behind him: “Guess who?”

Luo Ren didn’t answer. The sunlight felt warm against his skin.

After a moment, he reached up, gently pulled her hands down, and said, “Miss, we don’t know each other that well. A little respect, please.”

Mu Dai laughed.

At the bar, Yan Hongsha called out, “Can I come out now? Can I?”

Yiwansan’s annoyed voice followed: “Get out already. You’re cramping up the space.”

They’d all come back earlier—and had planned this prank together.

Luo Ren ignored Mu Dai for the moment and looked over at Yan Hongsha, who was crawling out from under the bar hatch. “Why’d you come back with her?”

“To invest, of course! Isn’t the restaurant opening soon?” She crunched on a bag of chips. “Grandpa told me if I’m gonna do this, I’d better take it seriously. No fooling around. I heard Fatty Cao say the location’s already picked?”

Luo Ren nodded. “Not far from here.”

Then he suddenly remembered something and turned to Yiwansan. “You’ve been around here a while. Ever heard of a shop called Lian Yan?”

Yiwansan said, “Yeah, the owner’s gorgeous, but she never makes eye contact.”

Mu Dai chimed in, “Exactly. She ignores me every time I go.”

Luo Ren looked at her. “She ignores you and you still go?”

“Of course! That’s the point.” Mu Dai grinned. “She categorizes customers. I’m not worth her time. So I go just to mess with her—look at everything, buy nothing.”

Luo Ren was half amused, half exasperated. Do all girls think this way?

Yiwansan asked, “What? She treats you nicely?”

“Kind of,” Luo Ren replied, unsure.

Cao Yanhua gasped. “Whoa, sharp eyes—she must’ve sensed that my little Brother Luo is a big spender. My little master-sister and Brother San-San have already been dismissed. Hongsha, let’s go see how she ranks us!”

He was practically bouncing with excitement.

Yan Hongsha said, “Let’s go!”

And just like that, the two of them headed off, clearly with nothing better to do.

The shop quieted down.

Mu Dai leaned against Luo Ren’s arm and asked, “You okay?”

He immediately pulled her hand off. “Personal space. Please.”

Mu Dai laughed, then leaned in again, wrapping her arms around his waist and burying her face into his chest. Luo Ren tried to act stern at first, but in the end, he couldn’t bring himself to push her away. After a moment, he gently hugged her back and whispered, “Pingting’s watching.”

Not that Pingting cared—she was still nose-flipping her book, totally absorbed.

Mu Dai sat up and began telling him about the trip to the Yan family.

How Yan Hongsha had been bold enough to cover up Yan Jiuxiao’s death… how the old man was so pleased with her work as a bodyguard that he wired her the full 20,000 yuan… and even asked if she wanted to join him on a treasure hunt…

Luo Ren’s heart skipped a beat. “Treasure hunt?”

Mu Dai hadn’t meant to bring that up so soon—she’d let it slip. She hesitated. “I mentioned it before… Red Sand’s family has been treasure hunters for generations.”

“I know that,” Luo Ren said. “But what do you mean by going with them?”

In this line of work, “finders keepers” was the rule. The more people involved, the smaller the share. Most families—especially ones like the Yan clan—never invited outsiders. If Yan Jiuxiao hadn’t “disappeared,” the old man probably wouldn’t have considered Mu Dai either. Which meant… this trip was practically guaranteed to be a success.

The treasure well had been discovered years ago by Old Yan during a joint expedition. The aura was so rich that he kept the location secret, memorizing it without telling anyone else. In treasure hunting, the final dig was considered crucial—botch it, and it was bad luck. So they usually saved one major site as the perfect finale.

Luo Ren asked, “Where is it?”

“He only said Yunnan. No specifics—it’s a rule in their trade.”

No specifics… meaning he couldn’t go with her?

Luo Ren gave a quiet laugh. “So you’ve already made up your mind?”

Mu Dai faltered under his smile but replied seriously, “I believe I can make my own decisions. But I’ll listen to your opinion—if it makes sense.”

The conversation turned serious. Even Pingting noticed and peeked at them, nose still pressed to the page.

Luo Ren thought for a moment. “I won’t stop you from doing your own thing. But I have one condition—you need to tell me where you’re going and where you are at all times.”

“I trust Red Sand, but not the old man. And not the place you’re headed. If something happens and I don’t even know where you are—can’t get to you—that terrifies me.”

Mu Dai lowered her eyes, quietly taking in his words.

“I get it. He doesn’t want the location leaked—he’s worried people might try to steal his loot. You can tell him this: I don’t give a damn about his rocks.”

Finally, he gently pinched Mu Dai’s chin. “If you want my opinion, with the way things are now, I’m against it. But it’s your call. Even if I say no, you can still go.”