Chapter 42

"Hey, what are you doing?" Tao Ruoxiang slapped Qin Lang's hand hard.

"Please, Aunt Tao, can't you cooperate a little?" Qin Lang said seriously, "Didn't you see? The boys and girls from the art school are all holding hands, linking arms, and even hugging each other as they walk in. If we walk in so 'innocently,' people will definitely suspect something. Come on, you claim to be a criminal investigation major, how could you miss these little details?"

Tao Ruoxiang inwardly seethed. She now knew that this guy was purely trying to take advantage, but the frustrating thing was that Qin Lang had a point. So she decisively grabbed his wrist and, to Qin Lang's surprise, strode towards the Circle Water Bar.

The water bar was crowded, but Qin Lang and Tao Ruoxiang's appearance still drew a lot of attention. To be precise, it was Tao Ruoxiang's appearance that caught the attention of many boys and men. Tao Ruoxiang's charm was undeniable, but it also made the heavily made-up art school girls quite jealous, casting hateful glances at her.

Tao Ruoxiang dragged Qin Lang directly to the second floor of the water bar. The second floor had elegant private booths, which naturally cost a bit more. But both Qin Lang and Tao Ruoxiang knew that if there was anything suspicious about this water bar, it would definitely be happening on the second floor.

The waiters at the water bar were also students from the art school, still quite young, around seventeen or eighteen years old. However, they all wore heavy smoky makeup and maid dresses, looking "cute" at first glance, but upon closer inspection, they had a bit of a rough edge.

"What would you like to drink, sir and madam?" a waiter asked Qin Lang and Tao Ruoxiang.

"Two cups of milk tea and some dried fruits," Qin Lang casually ordered, knowing that their purpose here wasn't to eat.

Tao Ruoxiang, of course, understood this. So when the milk tea arrived, she didn't take a single sip. But what made her gape in shock was that Qin Lang actually drank half of his milk tea in one gulp and started eating the dried fruits casually.

"Hey, Qin Lang, are you crazy!" Tao Ruoxiang whispered to Qin Lang, "Have you forgotten where we are?"

Qin Lang knew Tao Ruoxiang was concerned for him, but he knew that the two cups of milk tea and the dried fruits were fine. Even if there were toxins, they wouldn't be able to poison him. However, he joked with Tao Ruoxiang, "Don't worry, I'm a guy! If that club needs a handsome male student like me as a 'newbie,' then maybe I would be drugged."

Tao Ruoxiang was speechless at Qin Lang's antics and could only whisper, "Be careful and keep an eye on the abnormal behavior of these students around us."

It was peak business hours, and Qin Lang and Tao Ruoxiang carefully observed and soon noticed a problem: many of the art school students liked a special soda called "Seven-Color Bubbles." After drinking this soda, they all felt very high.

"Waitress, I'll have a Seven-Color Bubble soda," Qin Lang said, pretending to be curious. The soda cost fifty yuan.

"Let's take a sample back." When the soda arrived, Tao Ruoxiang took out a small test tube with a stopper and quietly took a sample.

Qin Lang sniffed it and then lightly licked a bit, shaking his head. "There's something wrong, but it's not what we're looking for. If I'm not mistaken, it just contains a small amount of a high-inducing drug."

"How do you know so much? Have you taken it before?" Tao Ruoxiang asked, staring at Qin Lang.

"Don't forget, I'm a traditional Chinese medicine practitioner, a very professional one," Qin Lang could only use this as an excuse. He realized that dealing with a smart woman was not easy. Under their "true eyes," his secrets would eventually be exposed.

The Seven-Color Bubble soda was clearly not what Qin Lang was looking for, but it was an unexpected discovery. Since this water bar had such things, the bar owner, "Sister Circle," was definitely not a good person. Staying here would definitely yield results.

The water bar was getting more and more crowded. At this moment, a group of girls wearing ethnic long skirts and school uniforms entered the water bar. They looked like they had just finished practicing dance and went straight to the second floor, sitting in a small booth diagonally opposite Qin Lang. The booths on the second floor were not fully enclosed, just symbolically separated, so Qin Lang could see the situation in the opposite booth clearly.

The girls from the art school were generally quite good-looking, with better figures and faces than the average student. However, one girl stood out in the crowd. Although she wasn't tall, her slender and delicate figure made her stand out like a crane among chickens, giving a refreshing impression. The other girls instantly became her green leaves.

For some reason, Qin Lang thought that the other girls looked nice in the ethnic-style dresses at first glance, but upon closer inspection, they seemed a bit out of place. But this girl in the ethnic-style dress looked perfectly fitting and complementary.

"Alright, you guys play here. I'll go back first; I still have evening classes tonight," the girl said to the other girls, apparently planning to leave.

"Jiang Xueqing, you're really not being nice. Although you're not from our school, we treat you like a classmate and sister. I, Fu Yingxiao, am inviting you for a drink, and you won't give me the respect?" another girl said. This woman looked a bit rough, and Qin Lang could sense the lingering effects of the high-inducing drug on her, so he paid extra attention.

Seeing Qin Lang so focused, Tao Ruoxiang inwardly sneered, "This guy is really a pervert! He's so captivated by a pretty girl!"

But then, Tao Ruoxiang felt strangely puzzled, "Why am I getting angry that this guy is staring at another girl?"

At this moment, the girl named Jiang Xueqing seemed to find it hard to refuse and reluctantly said, "Fu Yingxiao, how could I not give you respect? But after I drink some water, I have to go back to No. 7 High School for evening classes, you know."

"Alright, we know you love studying and want to get into a good university. Don't worry, I'll let you go after you drink some water," the girl named Fu Yingxiao smiled and gave a signal to the waitress, "Give us a few Seven-Color Bubbles, and just a glass of iced water for her, so as not to delay our high-achieving student's efforts to study."

"I'm not a high-achieving student," Jiang Xueqing said, a bit embarrassed.

Soon, the waitress brought the water and drinks for Jiang Xueqing and the group of girls.

Jiang Xueqing just wanted to get through the situation, so when she saw the waitress bring the iced water, she wanted to drink it all at once.

At this moment, Qin Lang suddenly darted out, taking the glass of iced water from the waitress's tray first and gulping down most of it, then said to the waitress, "Really, I ordered iced water, and it took so long to come!"

Without waiting for the waitress or the group of girls to react, he returned to his seat with the half-empty glass of iced water.