Chapter 28: Taking Advantage of the Situation

I was utterly at a loss to criticize Sister Yuan’s methods—after all, not everyone is as open-minded as she is. Ling Xuan’s fiery temperament means that if you tried to force her, she’d either beat you to death or hate you forever!

I replied, “This method won’t do; I’m not going to call you ‘Master’ anymore.”

“You’re just a little cowardly fellow with desires but no courage—no wonder you’re single! (Disdain) (Disdain) (Disdain),” Sister Yuan retorted bluntly.

“It’s not that I lack courage; it depends on who it is! If it were you, Sister, I’d dare to jump straight into bed!” I teased.

“Are you saying I’m easy? (Heartbroken) (Heartbroken) (Heartbroken),” she feigned offense.

“Uh, no! I just meant you’re closer to me.”

“That’s more like it! (Cute) (Cute) (Cute)”

After chatting for a while, Sister Yuan kept suggesting some wildly inappropriate tricks—really, no one else could come up with such schemes. Yet oddly enough, it sparked a fire within me. Sister Yuan was clearly at my mercy, yet I had no time to indulge myself—it was frustrating.

When we finished chatting, I messaged Qin Ruhua: “Huahua, which floor do you work on?”

No reply. Perhaps she was focused on her work.

Actually, during the day I could occasionally step away for a while. Generally, assassins wouldn’t strike in crowded office buildings during the day. The key time to protect Ling Xuan was at night.

After so much talking, I started feeling sleepy and stretched.

Huang Xiaohui passed by with a smile: “Mr. Chu.”

I waved her off: “I already told you not to call me Mr. Chu, and don’t tell others either. I just want to quietly be a handsome bodyguard. Just call me Chu Fan.”

She had seen me become a shareholder and naturally knew about it.

Huang Xiaohui giggled, looking at me with admiration.

Around five in the afternoon, Ling Xi messaged, saying she was out of school and asked me to pick her up at the school gate.

“President Ling, I’m going out for a bit. Call me if anything happens.”

“Okay,” Ling Xuan replied calmly.

Just as I was about to leave, she called me back: “Are you going to see Liu Xiaofeng?”

“Uh, no. Don’t worry! Besides, he should be in the hospital now. How could I find him?”

“Hmm.” Ling Xuan smiled faintly.

I sensed a subtle change in her attitude toward me. Perhaps it was because I had given 2 billion yuan, creating a huge debt of gratitude, and now I was a major shareholder, standing on equal footing with her.

Honestly, I didn’t care about such superficial status. What mattered more was how she felt about me. But I couldn’t figure out her thoughts. Just this afternoon, she had yelled at me, and we hadn’t exactly gotten along!

Ling Xi studied at Tianhe No. 3 Middle School. I didn’t know exactly where it was, so I set the navigation directly.

After about twenty minutes, I arrived at the school gate.

Ling Xi should have messaged me ahead of time. At this moment, a dense crowd of students was pouring out. It was clearly just dismissal time.

I didn’t get out of the car. I stopped in the open space at the gate, rolled down the window, and watched the flood of students.

There were walkers, cyclists, and electric scooter riders.

These were the future blossoms of the country, brimming with youthful vigor.

I recalled that once I was one of them—ambitious and hopeful. Now I had become an older man. My childhood dreams hadn’t come true, but somehow I’d reached another pinnacle.

Thinking of the past, I felt like smoking again. I lit a cigarette.

Passing students watched me curiously.

Three young men in their twenties, social delinquents, were squatting near the wall not far away, smoking. They glanced at the students leaving, then cast cold looks toward me, clearly disapproving of me showing off in a BMW.

Back in my student days, fights were frequent, and it was common for social delinquents to block students at school gates. If it were before, I’d have been scared and kept my distance. But now, I was the bane of such troublemakers.

One of the delinquents eyed my BMW a few times, then patted his two companions on the back. After a brief chat, the three swaggered toward me, cigarettes dangling from their mouths.

I glanced at them casually, leisurely smoking.

They soon stood crookedly in front of my car, examining it. One of them knocked on the door with a bang, sneering: “Isn’t this the car we scratched yesterday? Where’s that little bitch?”

I was slightly stunned. After searching high and low, they’d come to me on a platter?

“Which vocational school in Tianhe are you from?” I poked my head out, expressionless.

“Fuck, who the hell do you think you’re talking to!” another thug kicked the tire arrogantly. “You’re cocky, huh? You don’t even know our school!”

Another pulled out keys, fidgeting with them disdainfully. “I bet you want to leave more scratches!”

I exhaled smoke slowly, about to get out.

Suddenly, a schoolgirl in uniform with flowing long hair and delicate features ran over. She told the three thugs, “What are you doing here? That little bitch is about to come out. Keep an eye on her.”

“Pfft!” The three gave me the middle finger, then turned their attention to the students coming out.

Other students avoided the three delinquents by keeping their distance.

That long-haired girl glanced at me curiously, a trace of envy in her eyes. Then she looked away, proud and arrogant, clearly enjoying the respect and fear she commanded.

Are students nowadays really this brazen? How should I deal with them?

I took another drag and stepped out of the car.

Just then, the long-haired girl pointed: “There’s that little bitch—stop her!”

I followed her finger and froze.

She was pointing at Ling Xi!

At this moment, Ling Xi cautiously lowered her head and hurried toward me. But upon seeing the girl and the three thugs nearby, she hesitated.

“Stop right there, little bitch.” The girl and the three delinquents immediately quickened their pace toward Ling Xi.

“Isn’t that the little bitch from yesterday?” one thug said, seeming to realize the target was Ling Xi.

Ling Xi stopped in fright, called out to me from afar, “Uncle.”

The girl and the thugs stopped, turned, and looked at me. The three glared fiercely.

“I know, this punk is the helper the little bitch called!” one thug sneered.

“Pfft, helper my ass. Worthless. Scared shitless, can’t even speak.”

“Let’s scratch his car all over later!”

I flicked away my cigarette, expressionless as I walked toward them.

Ling Xi took the chance while they were talking to circle around and reached my side. She gently grabbed my arm and pointed at the four opposite us.

“Uncle, they want to beat me up. Please teach them a lesson. Also, those three are the ones who scratched my car yesterday.”

Now by my side, Ling Xi relaxed, her face filled with anger and triumph, no trace of fear.

I stopped and patted her head. “How did you get mixed up with these guys? Didn’t do anything bad, right?”

I wasn’t in a hurry to punish the thugs; I didn’t even take them seriously. I wanted to understand Ling Xi’s situation. If she had gone astray, I wouldn’t hesitate to discipline her at home.

“I didn’t do anything bad!” Ling Xi pouted, lifting her small face. “That girl bullied me.”

Looking at her cute face, I couldn’t help but smile. “Where’s your car?”

“They let the air out of my tires. So mean! Uncle, you have to help me teach them a lesson!”

“Get in the car.”

“No, I want to watch you teach them!”

“Teach us a lesson?” The three thugs gritted their teeth and approached with a smile. “You’re so cocky! Driving a BMW makes you something special? We’ll see how you get your car scratched.”

Nearby students overheard and stopped going home, retreating to watch from a distance.

The three thugs stood arrogantly before me, sneering as they sized me up. “Just you alone? You think you’re Bruce Lee or something?”

The long-haired girl stood aside, looking at Ling Xi with disgust and pride.

Ling Xi grew nervous, clutching my arm tightly and snorted at the girl.

“Kneel!” one thug suddenly barked, pointing at me.

In a flash, I grabbed his outstretched hand with my free left hand and twisted it hard.

Crack!

His wrist bones shattered.

“Who the hell do you think you’re telling to kneel?” I shouted fiercely and swept my foot against his knees. They buckled uncontrollably, and he collapsed.

The nearby students screamed in shock.

The other two thugs froze, unsure whether to fight or flee.

They had no time to think. I broke free of Ling Xi’s grip, extending both hands like iron claws, grabbing their hands and twisting hard.

Crack! Crack!

Their wrists snapped instantly, accompanied by pig-like screams.

“Still wanna scratch my car?” I said as I kicked out twice more, forcing them to their knees.

The long-haired girl screamed and suddenly turned to run. I charged forward, grabbed her clothes, yanked her back, and seized her chest with a firm grip.

Yes, I did it on purpose—and I certainly caught something tangible!

The girl’s face went pale with terror.

I leaned close, my eyes icy as lightning, staring into hers. I whispered a threat: “Are you scared if I say I’ve raped people before?”

She shuddered, staring at me in horror, speechless.

I continued, “If you dare cause trouble for Ling Xi again, I’ll take you, strip you naked, and hang you at the school gate. Believe it or not!”

“I... I won’t anymore...” she whimpered, teeth chattering.

I acted deliberately because student delinquents often fought and sought revenge. Being hurt one day meant recruiting more friends for retaliation the next. Since most school fights rarely caused serious injury, they shrugged off pain easily. To truly deter them, they had to feel genuine fear, sense their lives were threatened, and realize they were utterly untouchable.

I was worried she’d trouble Ling Xi again, so I went all out. Actually, I had done similar things before—to my company’s chairwoman, Ling Xuan.

Of course, to avoid scarring her young soul, I added, “As long as you don’t bother Ling Xi anymore, I won’t come after you.”

“I... I won’t...” the girl shook her head desperately, tears welling up.

I squeezed my fingers once more, grabbed her, then reluctantly let go.