Upon reaching Yang Yuanyuan's villa, her bodyguards immediately stopped Cheng Minglang and the other two following me.
"Apologies, Mr. Chen! Miss only wishes to see you. Your three friends are not included!"
Before I could speak, Shen Mengqing chimed in, "It's alright, little brother! Big sister will accompany you!"
With that, Shen Mengqing pushed the door open and stepped into the villa.
Seeing this, I turned around directly, gave Cheng Minglang a few instructions, and told him to wait for me in the car with Han Jinlun and Xianyu.
...
After following Shen Mengqing into the villa, the first thing that caught my eye was Yang Yuanyuan's beautiful face, which was almost comparable to Queen Bee Yu Shuang.
Unlike what I had imagined before entering, Yang Yuanyuan did not greet me with a cold expression.
On the contrary, upon seeing me, she smiled, stood up from her seat, and motioned for Shen Mengqing and me to sit down.
Without knowing how much of Yang Yuanyuan's smile was genuine and how much was fake, I remained vigilant, putting all my attention into the situation.
Seeing that Shen Mengqing and I had both taken our seats, Yang Yuanyuan got straight to the point, asking, "I'm very curious, what is the basis for your deduction that everything I experienced was because you exposed the 'fish-killing' setup?"
"Because when Kang Muru felt he had the upper hand, he once said something to me!"
"He said, no one has ever dared to challenge his setup on a gambling ship!" I quickly replied.
Upon hearing this, Yang Yuanyuan burst into laughter.
"Heh heh!"
"I am not a police officer, and you are not a criminal. Your words are not a confession!"
"This statement alone is not enough to convince me."
"Although I seemed to have fainted for no reason before you arrived, but..."
"What Kang Muru said was clearly directed at you, not me! So, unless you provide concrete evidence, it's hard for me to believe you!"
Hearing Yang Yuanyuan's words, I was stunned.
It was clear she had something more to say.
Although she was clever, I wasn't foolish.
I knew what Yang Yuanyuan meant by "evidence," which was to bring the culprit, Kang Muru, here. kanδん
While this would help clear my name, every action has its pros and cons.
The price of completely clearing my name with Yang Yuanyuan would be to thoroughly offend the gambling ship's management and Ying Baolin!
Such a move, like pulling the rug out from under oneself, held no meaning for me.
Because no matter what I chose to do or not do, there would always be an imbalance.
If I did it, it would be equivalent to making an enemy of Ying Baolin.
If I didn't, Yang Yuanyuan would misunderstand and resent me.
As I was contemplating in silence, Shen Mengqing suddenly spoke up to defend me.
"Xiao Yuan, after all my efforts to persuade you, you haven't listened at all!"
Hearing this, Yang Yuanyuan shook her head slightly and said with a light smile, "Xiao Qing, of course I believe your words! But..."
"Those words were all told to you by Chen Xiang. You want me to believe him... honestly, it's difficult!"
"After all, I've known him for less than a day!"
"If it weren't for you, he would be a complete stranger in my eyes!"
"Besides, this matter concerns my reputation. It's not wrong for me to be cautious, is it?"
Yang Yuanyuan's well-reasoned words instantly rendered the usually eloquent Shen Mengqing speechless.
Seeing that Shen Mengqing had fallen silent, Yang Yuanyuan suddenly stood up, walked towards me, and said with a solemn tone, "Chen Xiang, I know what I said earlier might seem unreasonable to you, but please understand me."
"After all, I am a woman!"
"To be in the same bed with a man I've known for less than a day, without knowing what's going on, no one would be able to accept it!"
"Therefore, if you want to prove your innocence, please provide strong evidence!"
After speaking, Yang Yuanyuan turned around and walked back to her seat.
The moment Yang Yuanyuan turned, a familiar, faint fragrance suddenly wafted through the air, making me feel inexplicably uneasy.
The moment this subtle fragrance lingered around my nose, my heart suddenly skipped a beat!
I clearly remembered that the night before, before I completely lost consciousness and fainted, I had smelled this fragrance outside the door of room A03!!!
And at that time, there was no one else in the corridor of zone A.
If Yang Yuanyuan had fainted before me, she should have been lying in bed then!
As long as she was truly lying in bed, the range of her perfume's scent would be extremely limited.
Imagine, how could a woman who had fainted in bed carry the scent of her perfume from the bed all the way to the door?
The answer... was obvious!
No wonder my clothes were stripped off, but hers were intact!
The one who drugged me was none other than Yang Yuanyuan, the one crying "stop thief"!
Originally, I thought Kang Muru didn't dare to act rashly because he feared her identity.
It turned out that everything that happened afterward was orchestrated by this woman!
Yang Yuanyuan must have known about the "fish-killing" setup from the very beginning!
That's right!
Before the "fish-killing" setup was exposed, everything was told to me by Yang Yuanyuan herself.
The truth and falsehood, the reality and illusion, were all dictated by her words!
Yang Yuanyuan's purpose in finding me was not solely to break the setup.
She, too, had played a "fish-killing" game!
And I was the butcher's knife in her hand!
Regardless of whether her earlier statement about finding a gambler to look at the setup was true or false, it was true that no gambler who had long been operating in the Wenzhou area dared to expose the "fish-killing" setup on Ying Baolin's gambling ship.
Only a new face like me, tempted by a high reward, would act rashly.
But in reality, I wasn't doing it for the reward, but for Shen Mengqing's verbal promise.
Last night, after I called Kang Muru to break the setup, Yang Yuanyuan was in a hurry to take him away because she wanted to negotiate with the gambling ship's management.
A major characteristic of women in business is that they will do everything in their power to utilize people or things that can be utilized to maximize their profits.
After using me as a knife to pierce the belly of the big fish, Kang Muru, Yang Yuanyuan naturally assumed that to appease the customers' anger and reduce the impact of the incident, the gambling ship's management would do their best to meet her demands.
But she never expected that they were in cahoots with Kang Muru!
After not getting what she wanted from the gambling ship's management, Yang Yuanyuan turned her target back to me.