“What’s wrong? Go ahead, why aren’t you hitting me?”
Zhang Wenlong lit a cigar, crossing his legs and grinning as he stared at Zuo Si.
“Let’s go.” Zuo Si grabbed Ding Ruxiao’s hand, wanting to leave, but was blocked by others.
“Want to leave? Sure!” Zhang Wenlong snapped his fingers, and a man who looked like a bodyguard nodded, spreading his legs apart.
“Go on.” Zhang Wenlong pointed at Zuo Si and indicated the bodyguard: “Crawl through his legs.”
“Hey! Who made our President Zhang angry? Let me apologize on her behalf.” Before Zuo Si could speak, a middle-aged woman’s voice came from the doorway.
“Ha ha, Aunt Mei’s subordinates are getting more and more capable.” Zhang Wenlong smiled as he took a puff from his cigar, clearly looking down on Li Mei.
“Oh, President Zhang, what are you saying? It’s a misunderstanding, it must be a misunderstanding.” Li Mei forced a smile, then turned to Ding Ruxiao, her expression darkening as she said, “What are you standing there for? Apologize!?”
“President Zhang, I-I’m sorry…” Ding Ruxiao’s body trembled slightly.
“Humph~” Zhang Wenlong scoffed disdainfully, pulling out a stack of cash from a travel bag and slapping it on the table.
Then, with his cigar-clenching fingers, he pointed at Ding Ruxiao and cursed, “You cheap wh0re, I don’t even know how many men have been with you, and you dare act coy in front of me, thinking I’m broke?”
Suddenly, he stood up and threw the money in Ding Ruxiao and Zuo Si’s faces.
“Don’t you want money? I have plenty, ha ha ha…!”
Neither Zuo Si nor Ding Ruxiao spoke; they knew they couldn’t provoke the man in front of them. If they didn’t endure now, it would only lead to greater trouble.
At that moment, a tall young woman approached Zhang Wenlong, acting coyly, “President Zhang! You haven’t let me accompany you these past few times. Do you not like me anymore?”
This was clearly an attempt to help Ding Ruxiao.
“Ha ha ha, Xinxin, you’ve misunderstood your brother. I can’t forget you, no matter what.”
Zhang Wenlong hooked his finger under Li Xinxin’s chin, while his other hand wandered restlessly.
At this moment, Li Mei shot Ding Ruxiao a glance, signaling her to leave quickly.
Ding Ruxiao understood, gratefully glancing at Li Mei, and walked towards the door with Zuo Si.
“Wait!” Zhang Wenlong’s icy voice rang out.
Two bodyguards blocked their path.
Zhang Wenlong, cigar in mouth, swayed over with a beer bottle in hand.
“What do you want?” Zuo Si asked coldly.
Bang!
The beer bottle smashed heavily against Zuo Si’s forehead, shattering instantly.
Zuo Si felt darkness cloud his vision, nearly fainting.
“This is just a little lesson for you. Don’t ever show up in front of me again, or every time I see you, I’ll hit you. Now get lost!”
After cursing, Zhang Wenlong wrapped his arm around Li Xinxin and returned to the sofa to flirt.
The two bodyguards stepped aside.
Zuo Si supported Ding Ruxiao as they exited the private room, feeling a deep sense of helplessness and resentment.
Though he wanted to kick Zhang Wenlong in the face and fight him, reason told him not to do so, at least not here.
If it were just him getting into trouble, that would be one thing, but it would involve Ding Ruxiao.
“Are you okay? Do you need to go to the hospital?” Zuo Si looked at Ding Ruxiao’s pale face, feeling heartbroken.
“No need, I just need to rest for a bit…” Ding Ruxiao said somewhat shyly, “I’m sorry for dragging you into this.”
“Why say that? Aren’t we good friends?” Zuo Si smiled slightly, hoping to ease Ding Ruxiao’s tension.
The humiliation of today had silently motivated Zuo Si; he now desperately wanted to become stronger.
He clenched the Black Mobile Phone in his pocket, which had brought him not only difficulties and disasters but also an opportunity to lead a different life, opening up a new world for him.
Owning the haunted house was just the first step; he needed to earn enough money to get Ding Ruxiao out of there as soon as possible.
Just now, when he opened the private room door and saw Ding Ruxiao curled up in the corner, covering her face and crying helplessly, he wanted nothing more than to protect her…
*****
In the Grand Wealth Club, after resting for about half an hour, Ding Ruxiao’s complexion had improved significantly.
Seeing that she was no longer in serious trouble, Zuo Si sighed in relief.
“Take me home…” Ding Ruxiao’s legs were bruised, making it clear how much force Zhang Wenlong had used.
“Are you in a hurry? If not, I’d like to stay here a bit longer.”
“Alright, but let’s change places.” Ding Ruxiao was worried that Zhang Wenlong would see them again and cause more trouble.
“Sure, whatever you say.” Zuo Si understood Ding Ruxiao’s meaning.
He helped Ding Ruxiao out the door and pointed to a barbecue restaurant across the street, saying, “Let’s go eat something first.”
“No need…”
“I can’t just let you lend me money for free; at least I should treat you to a meal.” Zuo Si still had twenty thousand yuan left, which was the remainder after buying the haunted house. The task reward was one hundred thousand, and he had only spent eighty thousand.
Ding Ruxiao smiled and didn’t argue, following Zuo Si into the barbecue restaurant.
They found a window-side table, which allowed them to see the entrance of the Grand Wealth Club.
Zuo Si didn’t come here just to treat Ding Ruxiao to a meal.
Overnight grudges? Not a chance.
If there was a grudge, it had to be settled tonight; not for any other reason but to give Ding Ruxiao a sense of relief.
If he could fight, he would; if he couldn’t, he would still fight to the death. Tonight, no matter what, he had to beat up Zhang Wenlong.
Making himself feel better was secondary; the main thing was to help Ding Ruxiao vent her frustrations.
After ordering the barbecue, Zuo Si called Lu Tao.
“Didn’t we agree to cut ties? Why are you calling me?” Lu Tao’s tone was indifferent.
“Oh, I made some money today and wanted to treat you to a meal. We can talk about cutting ties in a few days.”
“Hey~ why didn’t you say so earlier? What cutting ties? We’re brothers, where are you? I’ll be there soon.”
“At the barbecue restaurant across from the Grand Wealth Club, hurry up, or the food will be gone!”
“Got it, bro.”
Zuo Si intentionally turned up the call volume so Ding Ruxiao could hear everything.
Pfft~
Ding Ruxiao covered her mouth and laughed, the gloom on her face disappearing in an instant.
Zuo Si put away his phone and said, “You look beautiful when you smile.”
Never hold back your compliments; no one dislikes hearing praise.
Especially women.
Ding Ruxiao smiled, tilting her head and nodding, noncommittal.
“Your relationship with your friend is quite interesting.”
“Of course, people like us, poor losers, are more likely to gain genuine friendship~”
The barbecue and cold dishes were already served on the table.
They chatted while eating.
About half an hour later, Lu Tao walked into the barbecue restaurant.
He scanned the surroundings, found Zuo Si’s table, and the first thing he said upon sitting down made Ding Ruxiao laugh.
5 more chapters added to the MML advance chapters pool at Patreon Support Tier (now 10 chaps). The Support Tier also has access to the advance chapters of My Dream Goddess (10 chaps) and Hedonist Prodigy (15 chaps). (for limited duration)