Chapter 342

Li Ye finished his late-night snack with Pei Wencong and returned to the hotel for the school Lianyi by car at eight p. .

The joint activities of several schools had not ended yet and were even more lively than at the start.

Li Ye was just about to sneak over unobtrusively when Wu Jinyuan, her face dark with anger, caught him red-handed.

"Li Ye, did you go out to admire the night view of Lijia Po? If you like night views, I can take you somewhere later—I'm a great tour guide, you know!"

Li Ye raised an eyebrow but said nothing; at this hour, a boy traveling alone had to learn to protect himself.

Seeing Li Ye "back down," Wu Jinyuan gave a light "hmm," then turned and smiled at Pei Wencong.

"Mr. Pei, you came to Lijia Po for the literary exchange—why didn't you tell me? After all, I'm the sponsor of this event. Are you afraid I, as the local host, won't treat you well?"

Li Ye understood why Wu Jinyuan was so pissed.

Because Pei Wencong had come with Wen Rui'an, who was the flagship figure of this "Youth Cultural Exchange,"

and also the core focus Wu Jinyuan planned to use to "break into the mainland"—yet now Pei Wencong had inserted himself. Was he trying to steal the show?

And Li Ye, of course, was suspected of tipping off Pei Wencong—no wonder Wu Jinyuan wasn't giving him a decent look.

"Ms. Wu, I think you've misunderstood."

Before Pei Wencong could speak, Li Ye explained: "Mr. Pei has long collaborated with the Blue Sea Publishing House on a 'Ten Thousand Miles to Find Family' initiative,

and these past days I've met many enthusiastic compatriots from the mainland who came to Southeast Asia, so I faxed some materials to Mr. Pei,

and he values these overseas compatriots who still care about their homeland so much that he came personally to learn the situation and see if a similar project could be launched here in Southeast Asia."

Wu Jinyuan glanced at Li Ye, then turned a skeptical eye toward Pei Wencong.

Pei Wencong smiled and spread his hands, as if to say: yes, that's exactly it—you're being paranoid and petty.

"If this is about finding family in Southeast Asia, our Wu Cultural Communication Group must lend a hand."

Wu Jinyuan reacted quickly, immediately telling Pei Wencong: "Mr. Pei, our Wu Group wants to join your 'Ten Thousand Miles to Find Family' project—would you consider it?"

"That would be ideal. If Ms. Wu can help, I'm certain we can help more overseas children find their relatives and ease their longing—I must thank you for your generosity."

Pei Wencong readily agreed and began chatting warmly with Wu Jinyuan, who, surprisingly, seemed genuinely interested in this good deed—the two were getting along well.

Li Ye didn't want to get involved, so he headed toward his own classmates.

But as soon as he approached, He Qiusheng from Hong Kong University called out: "Hey, Li, where'd you disappear to? Everyone's been looking for you to drink."

Looking for me to drink? Who's trying to pick a fight?

Li Ye chuckled and declared boldly: "Who wants to drink with me? Come on over!"

"We all want to drink with you!"

"We all want to drink with you!"

Hearing the chorus of at least seven or eight voices around him, Li Ye glanced toward Wen Rui'an nearby.

That night, Li Ye had taken down two full tables of drinkers—Wen Rui'an was clearly his "drinking defeat"—so was this a case of using others to settle scores?

But these students' drinking capacity was nowhere near that of the drunk writers, and they'd already consumed plenty—how could they possibly match Li Ye, a freak like him?

In less than twenty minutes, over a dozen students were done.

They all set down their glasses and surrounded Li Ye.

"Li Ye, we have to give you a gift—you're the best debater of this contest, so you must accept it."

"A gift?"

Li Ye put down his glass and smiled: "If it's a real gift, I'm happy to accept. But if it's a prank—"

"It's a prank, Li Ye! Go take a bath!"

Suddenly, over a dozen students burst into laughter and lunged at Li Ye— even Qin Yongsheng from Beijing University and others joined in the chaos.

Just behind Li Ye, not far away, was the hotel's swimming pool.

Their malicious intent was obvious.

But Li Ye wasn't one to enjoy being abused—drench me to amuse yourselves?

Dream on!

Li Ye spun away and sprinted around the pool to the opposite side.

The dozen students actually knew tactics—they split into two groups to flank and encircle him; seeing Li Ye seemingly trapped, they all burst into laughter.

But they didn't notice Li Ye was smiling too.

"Plop~"

Someone fell in.

"Plop~"

Another fell in.

"Plop~ plop~"

Something's wrong!

By the time the students realized it, more than half of them had already been shoved into the pool by Li Ye.

Who was Li Ye? The kind of guy who could kick a dog to death—his stance was solid, his waist and legs rooted like iron—how could a bunch of half-drunk kids stand against him?

While the remaining ones stood stunned, Li Ye charged back and tossed every last one of them into the pool.

One minute—just one minute—and the poolside was left with only Li Ye.

Riding the alcohol, Li Ye shouted the iconic line: "Who else?!"

Pei Wencong froze. Wu Jinyuan was dumbfounded.

Li Ye had told Pei Wencong he was "better at fighting than Li Dayong," but Pei Wencong never believed it—after all, the bear-like Li Dayong was, in his eyes, a legendary powerhouse.

Wu Jinyuan was even more incredulous—Li Ye looked thin, clearly just a handsome young man—how could he possibly be a muscle-bound superhero?

"Young man, hurry and help them up! Don't let them drown."

Wen Rui'an's words jolted Li Ye sober.

Even though the pool water only reached their waists, shallow water could still drown someone.

So Wen Rui'an, Pei Wencong, and Li Ye worked together to pull up the dozen soaked students.

"Pfft~"

"Hahahahaha~"

"Damn, he really knows martial arts!"

"Hahahahaha~"

Someone started laughing, and soon all the young students were roaring with laughter, none of them upset about being drenched.

Wen Rui'an had hotel staff bring towels to dry the students, then smiled and bowed to Li Ye: "Young man, which school or sect are you from?"

Seeing Wen Rui'an's posture, Li Ye quickly replied humbly: "I have no school, no sect—just country-style tricks."

Wen Rui'an was a martial arts enthusiast who'd studied many fist styles; Li Ye could fight, but in terms of martial lineage, he was a "wild path" outsider.

"That's definitely not country-style tricks," Wen Rui'an said seriously. "I've trained in national martial arts and combat for years—I think I've done well,

but compared to what you just did, I'm far behind. If you're a wild path practitioner, then I'm humiliated."

Indeed, experts could tell at a glance.

Traditional martial arts and modern combat differ in training, toughness, and real-fight experience.

Old masters always talk about yielding to strike later, but in real fights, opponents won't cooperate by playing out your forms—timing becomes nearly impossible to grasp.

So on the ring, chances to land beautiful moves are extremely rare.

Li Ye had fought since childhood, so he had some experience, but his body, due to his transmigration, was a glitch—so when he took down those dozen students, his movements were stunningly precise.

Seeing Wen Rui'an's expression, Li Ye could only smile and say: "My grandfather learned the great spear when he was young, then switched to bayonet training after joining the army, so I learned some basic fist and footwork since childhood."

Wen Rui'an suddenly understood: "The great spear! No wonder your novel 'North Wind Soaring' praises the great spear so much! I must see it in action tonight."

The protagonist of 'North Wind Soaring,' Li Tianlang, excelled with the horse spear—which is a type of long spear.

Li Ye had always practiced flower spear techniques, and when writing, he naturally slipped in some personal touches, making it even more thrilling.

"But how can we demonstrate here? There's no long spear."

Wu Jinyuan walked over, her eyes gleaming: "If you want one, where wouldn't there be?"

Half an hour later, someone actually brought a red-plumed spear.

Li Ye had no choice but to perform a flower spear routine, leaving everyone watching in awe and applause.

Laymen watch the spectacle; experts watch the technique.

When Li Ye, fueled by alcohol, used the spear tip to pluck several leaves from potted plants, Wen Rui'an was stunned.

He just shook his head, as if mentally working out half a manual.

Wu Jinyuan, watching Li Ye move like a coiling dragon, also stared with a dazed expression—no one knew what she was thinking.