Chapter 359: Your Stuff?

"The temperature in Jiangnan Province has dropped suddenly, about six to eight degrees lower than in previous years. A new cold front is approaching. All citizens are advised to prepare for the cold..."

The car radio was broadcasting the weather forecast.

Bai Xiaoqing opened the front passenger window and felt the cold wind from outside. She couldn't help but shiver and quickly closed it again.

She was wearing a white sweater and a light blue skirt. Because it was so cold, she also had stockings on her legs.

Chen Erbao, on the other hand, was dressed like it was still summer in a short-sleeved shirt and thin pants, showing no regard for the change in weather.

Seeing Bai Xiaoqing rubbing her hands together, Chen Erbao smiled and turned on the car's music.

"Around this time in previous years, this was usually the most comfortable season. Eighteen or nineteen degrees... it couldn't be more pleasant!"

Bai Xiaoqing gazed out the window.

"I grew up in the south. It's like spring all year round back home. Even at its coldest, it's only about ten degrees..."

After that brief exchange, they both fell silent. Chen Erbao felt the atmosphere in the car turn a little strange.

He let out a dry cough, his eyes happening to fall on Bai Xiaoqing's fair, smooth thighs.

"Aren't your legs cold, being bare like that?"

he asked curiously.

Hearing this, Bai Xiaoqing gave him a rare eye-roll and said mockingly,

"With all your girlfriends, President Chen, don't tell me you've never heard of bare-leg illusion leggings?"

"Ahem..."

Chen Erbao touched his nose, so taken aback he was speechless.

'No wonder,' he thought. 'Her thighs looked a little different today. So she's wearing flesh-colored leggings.'

"Those leggings are so thin. You must still be cold, right?"

"They're fleece-lined!"

Bai Xiaoqing retorted.

Chen Erbao thought, 'I'd love to feel them and see just how thick they are,' but he didn't have the nerve to say it out loud.

'Anyway, there'll be plenty of opportunities on this trip!'

'He was dying to find out if fleece-lined leggings were easy to rip!'

Traffic on the highway was heavy. Chen Erbao lost focus for a moment as another car cut in front of him. He slammed on the brakes, nearly rear-ending it.

"Fuck! Are you in a hurry to get reincarnated?!"

Chen Erbao cursed, reaching for the gear shift near the center console.

But his hand slipped, and he accidentally touched something smooth...

He looked down and saw his hand grabbing Bai Xiaoqing's thigh, feeling those silky, delicate "bare-leg illusion leggings"...

Bai Xiaoqing's face flushed slightly as her beautiful eyes glared at him.

"Would you believe me if I said that wasn't on purpose?"

"Pfft! You're such a scumbag!"

Chen Erbao reluctantly removed his hand, shifted gears, and accelerated.

"I'll say it again, I'm not a scumbag. Those were all accidents..."

"Heh... was Zhiqing an accident? Or was Yiyi an accident? I know of two already. How many more are there that I don't know about?"

Bai Xiaoqing didn't believe his bullshit for a second.

'I'm really not a scumbag!' Chen Erbao felt deeply wronged.

But it was true that he had a lot of women. He couldn't deny that.

Seeing Chen Erbao go quiet, Bai Xiaoqing stopped talking to him as well. She pulled out her phone and started tapping furiously on the screen, as if taking her anger at him out on the device.

"By the way, you were the one who gave Yiyi that bizarre hypothetical question last time, weren't you?"

Chen Erbao suddenly asked.

"What question?"

"The one where Yiyi is in a coma, and the only way to wake her up is to kiss her best friend!"

The moment she heard this, Bai Xiaoqing understood. She looked at Chen Erbao with a sneer.

"That's right, I'm the one who sent that to Yiyi. If you had answered honestly, she would've seen your true colors!"

Chen Erbao tightened his grip on the steering wheel and turned to look at her.

"Isn't Yiyi's best friend you?"

"..."

Bai Xiaoqing froze for a second, then grew indignant.

"That's not the point! The point is that you're a scumbag by nature!"

"..."

Chen Erbao decided it was impossible to reason with women, so he shut his mouth.

...

Jiangnan Province had a total of thirteen cities. The ten factories Zhao Feng had given to Chen Erbao happened to be located in the ten most developed ones.

The addresses were all in Chen Erbao's phone.

Hongyuan City was in the far north, so for his first stop, Chen Erbao naturally chose the closest city, Mianyang.

Mianyang was very close to Hongyuan, only a three or four-hour drive to the city proper.

Around noon, Chen Erbao and Bai Xiaoqing had a quick meal at a service station before continuing on their way.

After arriving in Mianyang, the two got off the highway. They had to pass through a small town on the outskirts of Mianyang to reach the main urban area.

The small town was called Baishan Town. It wasn't very large, but it was well-located and relatively prosperous.

The local economy was primarily based on agriculture. The roads weren't wide, with only two lanes.

Before Chen Erbao even entered Baishan Town, while passing a village, he suddenly slammed on the brakes.

The immense inertia sent Bai Xiaoqing lurching forward, her head nearly hitting the glove compartment.

"What's wrong?"

she asked, startled, looking at Chen Erbao in surprise.

Chen Erbao stared at the middle of the road, his brow furrowed slightly.

"There's something on the road."

He pushed the car door open and got out.

Hearing this, Bai Xiaoqing looked closely and saw several glints of white light flashing in the middle of the road, apparently reflections from something.

She followed Chen Erbao out of the car. As she got closer, she saw that they were a dozen or so gleaming, pyramid-shaped iron spikes.

Their sharp points faced upward, littering the road.

"Who would be so inconsiderate?"

Bai Xiaoqing complained.

If Chen Erbao hadn't seen them and had driven straight over them, both front tires would have been shredded!

Chen Erbao silently picked up one of the caltrops, examined it carefully, and then scanned his surroundings.

On both sides of the road were cornfields, the dense stalks obscuring his view.

His gaze settled on some rustling leaves on the corn stalks, and a cold glint flashed in his eyes.

"It's not that simple. Get back in the car first."

Chen Erbao had a good idea of who was behind this.

Bai Xiaoqing was slightly taken aback by his words and felt a little scared. "What's going on?"

"It's fine. Just get back inside."

"Oh..."

Bai Xiaoqing didn't dare hesitate and quickly ran back to the car.

Just as she shut the door, about twenty men burst out from the cornfields on both sides of the road, surrounding Chen Erbao with hostile expressions.

Seeing this, Bai Xiaoqing let out a frightened gasp. Fortunately, she didn't lose her head and immediately pulled out her phone to call the police.

From a distance, Chen Erbao waved his hand at her.

Bai Xiaoqing sat stunned in the passenger seat, unsure of what he meant.

"Hey, buddy, why are you taking our stuff? That's stealing, you know!"

The twenty-odd men stood on either side of Chen Erbao, glaring at him menacingly.

The brawny man in the lead gave a sinister smile and gestured toward the caltrop in Chen Erbao's hand.

Chen Erbao chuckled and glanced at the man.

"Your stuff?"

"That's right. I dropped it. I was just about to pick it up when I saw you steal it!"

The brawny man grinned, spouting a blatant lie.

Chen Erbao nodded. He had pretty much figured out their game and wasn't about to waste his breath arguing.

"Well now, that's quite the misunderstanding... What do you propose we do about it?"