Chapter 100: An Unexpected Incident

"Are you Ye Fei?" Xing Gang narrowed his eyes, studying him intently, and realized he had indeed identified him correctly.

Xing Gang had been pursuing Xiaoyue for quite some time. Ever since he bumped into her at her company two years ago, he had been instantly captivated and had launched a relentless pursuit. Unfortunately, Xiaoyue had never accepted his advances, insisting that she already had a boyfriend named Ye Fei.

At first, Xing Gang had been discouraged, but as this supposed boyfriend never appeared, he began to investigate. He discovered that there was indeed a person named Ye Fei—a boy from the orphanage where Xiaoyue’s grandfather had been the director. However, that little Ye Fei had been adopted over a decade ago, and all traces of him had vanished.

"Oh? Brother Xing Gang seems to know who I am?" Ye Fei asked with a look of feigned surprise.

"No, no, I've just heard Xiaoyue mention you," Xing Gang chuckled, quickly covering his tracks, fearful that Xiaoyue might find out he had been investigating her.

"Is that so? If Xiaoyue has mentioned me, that’s great—no need for further introductions. Xiaoyue, why don't you come and join us? Brother Xing Gang, our group is already quite large, so I'm afraid I can't invite you along," Ye Fei said with a grin. *Trying to play games with me? You’re still a bit too green.*

Effortlessly, Ye Fei brushed Xing Gang aside. Having already claimed their group was too full to accommodate him, he took Xiaoyue and walked away, leaving Xing Gang behind, grinding his teeth in frustration.

A volcano of rage was erupting within Xing Gang. Regardless of whether Ye Fei was truly Xiaoyue’s boyfriend, the mere fact that he was so intimate with her was enough to earn him a death sentence in Xing Gang's eyes.

"You brat, the women around you aren't bad at all. Just wait—I’ll take them all back with interest," Xing Gang muttered bitterly. Just then, a subordinate called him about an urgent matter, and he had to return to the hotel.

Ye Fei led the young women to the picnic area, taking the opportunity to ask about Xiaoyue’s situation.

"Let me introduce you all. This is Xiaoyue. I grew up in an orphanage, and she is the granddaughter of our orphanage’s director," Ye Fei explained to the girls, who were filled with curiosity.

"Xiaoyue, let me introduce you: this is Zhang Xiaoxiao, daughter of Zhang Linsheng. I’m currently working as her study companion at the Yingde Private School."

"This is Liu Yiyi, daughter of the head of the Liu Group, and also our classmate."

"This is Zhong Yuhan. Her family runs a porridge shop. I happened to help her out when some troublemakers showed up. She’s the goddess of the school’s journalism department."

"And this is Liu Zixuan, Zhong Yuhan’s roommate and best friend..."

Ye Fei continued with the introductions. Aside from Zhong Yuhan, who came from an ordinary single-parent family, the other girls were from prominent backgrounds—children of officials or wealthy families. Zhang Xiaoxiao and Liu Yiyi, in particular, belonged to massive multinational conglomerates. Being the only daughters of such families, they were like pampered princesses from ancient times.

"Nice to meet you, nice to meet you..." Xiaoyue greeted them, secretly amazed that all the girls surrounding Ye Fei came from such privileged families.

Liu Zixuan, who was bold and outspoken, knew of her best friend's feelings for Ye Fei and couldn't help but ask, "Sister Xiaoyue, is Ye Fei really your boyfriend?"

Ye Fei had no intention of clarifying. He wasn't afraid of the misunderstanding; in fact, he hoped the girls would dislike him because of it. That way, when he left the school after completing his mission, he would feel less guilty and wouldn't have to worry about leaving anyone behind with regrets.

However, Xiaoyue was thin-skinned. Despite the fact that she had dared to initiate a kiss with Ye Fei earlier to hint at her feelings, that had been in private. With so many people around now, she shyly explained, "That was just something I said to reject Xing Gang. Ye Fei was adopted years ago, and we hadn't seen each other for over a decade. We only reconnected a few days ago after he returned to Shenhai."

She looked at Ye Fei; if he dared to accept her, she would have the courage to acknowledge it.

But Ye Fei was already entangled with enough women, one of whom was even pregnant. Although he had feelings for Xiaoyue, he didn't want to drag her into the mess, so he pretended not to notice her gaze.

"Xiaoyue, who exactly is this Xing Gang?" Ye Fei asked, shifting the conversation to break the awkward tension.

"Xing Gang is the heir to the 'Liuxiang Group.' It’s a massive multinational corporation with assets worth hundreds of billions, primarily involved in finance, mining, and luxury jewelry. The group holds significant power, with most of its influence in the East Province. Two years ago, when I first joined my current company, I happened to run into him, and he has been pestering me ever since," Xiaoyue said with a sigh of resignation.

"It’s alright, I’ll protect you," Ye Fei reassured her.

The male students watched with jealousy, noting that Ye Fei had gone for a stroll and returned with another stunning beauty.

"What kind of luck does this Ye Fei have? How did he hook up with so many beauties?" Liu Lei and the others thought, filled with envy and spite.

"Ye Fei, who is this?" asked Lei Jiahao and the others, their eyes darting toward the girls.

Ye Fei rolled his eyes dismissively and replied with an arrogant tone, "She’s not from our school, so there’s no need to explain anything to you."

With that, he pulled the girls to one side. Their group set up their own barbecue grill. They had brought their own supplies, and Ye Fei had even caught a few fish from the sea and some birds in the woods, adding fresh ingredients to their spread.

Seeing this, the other boys tried to catch fish and birds as well, but they lacked Ye Fei's skills. After struggling for a long time, only a few were lucky enough to catch some fish; most returned soaking wet, and not a single one managed to catch a bird.

"Giggle..."

"Hee hee hee..."

Seeing the boys return looking disheveled and covered in dirt, Zhang Xiaoxiao and the others couldn't help but burst into laughter. The boys felt humiliated, but they consoled themselves, thinking, *Well, at least bringing a smile to the beauties' faces made the effort worthwhile.*

The enticing aroma of the barbecue soon filled the air, and everyone’s attention returned to the joy of cooking, momentarily forgetting their petty rivalries.

...

"Shanshan, what’s wrong?"

"Xiaoqing, Xiaoqing..."

Just as everyone was enjoying themselves, a cry of alarm rose from one of the groups. Everyone turned to look.

"Let’s go see what’s happening," Ye Fei said, and the students gathered around.

Ye Fei couldn't get through the crowd, so he peered through a gap and frowned. "They’ve been poisoned."

Poisoned—

They were only students, and the word sent a jolt of fear through them. The classmates grouped with Shanshan and Xiaoqing panicked and called out to Ye Fei, "Ye Fei, can you save them? Please, take a look at them!"

"Alright, everyone, make some room," Ye Fei said, walking through the path they cleared.

After carefully examining the two girls' symptoms, Ye Fei frowned and shook his head. "They are indeed poisoned, but I can't be certain of the cause. I suggest we get them to the hospital for emergency treatment immediately. Don't let this drag on."

After the girls' friends rushed them away, Ye Fei asked the remaining boy in their group, "I just checked them; it looks like they ate something toxic. What did they have?"

"Ate something toxic?" The boy looked stunned and hesitated.

"So that's it, it must be that," the boy muttered to himself.

"What was it?" Ye Fei asked.

The boy replied, "All the barbecue ingredients were provided by the hotel; they couldn't be poisonous, or everyone would be sick. If Shanshan and Xiaoqing were poisoned by something they ate, it must have been those two skewers of wild mushrooms."

The boy paused, looking embarrassed. "We saw Ye Fei catch fish and birds and were excited to try it ourselves, but we couldn't catch anything. Then, we three boys found some wild mushrooms in the woods. Everyone knows wild mushrooms are nutritious and delicious, so we picked some. But there weren't many, so we only made two skewers and gave them to Shanshan and Xiaoqing."

Everyone understood immediately: because Shanshan and Xiaoqing were the prettiest girls in their group, the boys had given the mushrooms to them to curry favor.

That was why only they had been poisoned.

"Don't you know some wild mushrooms are toxic? How could you just eat them randomly?" Ye Fei said, displeased.

"But those mushrooms didn't look poisonous! They say only brightly colored mushrooms are toxic, right? The ones we picked weren't bright at all," the boy replied quietly.

"Sigh, forget it. Remember this for next time: don't just eat random things," Ye Fei said.

Just then, another incident occurred.

Several students in the crowd began to hallucinate, acting as if they were in a trance. There were both boys and girls among them.

They were from a different group. *Sigh, I wonder what special thing they ate.*

Having learned from the previous experience, everyone turned to Ye Fei for help. "Ye Fei, could you please take a look at them?"

With a single glance, Ye Fei could see that these students were behaving exactly as if they were under the influence of drugs.

"Where is their barbecue spot? I want to see what they ate," Ye Fei said in a deep voice.

A student pointed out their location.

Everyone helped the students walk over, and they followed Ye Fei to the spot.

On their grill were various ingredients, no different from what everyone else was eating—all provided by the hotel. However, there was a pot of soup next to their grill.

Ye Fei crouched by the pot, examining it carefully. These students had a peculiar idea: they had used the vegetables meant for the barbecue to make soup. But as Ye Fei rummaged through the vegetables, he fished out something peculiar.

"Hemp," Ye Fei said grimly.