How much charm did this woman possess that she was able to start a feud between Zong Jinghao and his uncle?
“Mr. Gu, what do you plan to do?” Number Four asked.
Number Four was Gu Bei’s subordinate, second only to the assistant manager, who had been his right-hand man. Now that the assistant manager was in jail, Number Four was next in line to be Gu Bei’s right-hand man.
Gu Bei knew that he had been taken advantage of by Zong Jinghao and his cronies, and had nearly been arrested as a result. Thus, he had ordered Number Four to investigate and keep tabs on Zong Jinghao.
Although he still didn’t know why Zong Jinghao and Wen Qing held a grudge against each other, Number Four’s investigations had alerted him to Lin Xinyan’s existence.
“I was sincere about working together with him, but Zong Jinghao cheated me and used me. He nearly caused me to be arrested, and I got scolded by my grandfather for being a complete loser.” As he spoke, Gu Bei removed his suit jacket and shot a look at Number Four. “I’d like to meet Zong Jinghao’s woman. I want to see how beautiful she is that she managed to cause a rift between Zong Jinghao and his own uncle.”
Number Four bowed his head. “What would you like to do?”
A menacing smile spread across Gu Bei’s face. “Let’s say there’s a damsel in distress. Shouldn’t I play the role of the valiant knight, then?”
Number Four understood him immediately. If he couldn’t read Gu Bei’s mind so well, he would never have risen up the ranks so easily.
After running through the plan in his mind, Number Four hopped off the car and walked to stand right next to Lin Xinyan.
He was standing way too close to her. Instinctively, Lin Xinyan shuffled away from him, but Number Four got even closer to her. When she wasn’t looking, he suddenly grabbed her arm and said leeringly, “Hey, Miss, where are you going? Do you want me to send you there?”
Lin Xinyan was so frightened that her face grew white as a sheet. Struggling to free herself from his grip, she hollered, “Let go of me!”
“Don’t be so scared! Why don’t I accompany you since you’re alone?” Number Four smiled before trying to throw his arms around her.
Lin Xinyan moved away from him and managed to avoid his piggish hands. She forced herself to remain calm. She was pregnant now, and it wouldn’t do for her to fight him physically. After all, he was bound to be much stronger than her. If she moved too violently, she might hurt her unborn child. “Let go of me right now, or I’m going to shout for help!”
“It’s your honor to have gotten my attention at all! Come on, come with me…” Just as Number Four was about to drag her away, Gu Bei suddenly appeared and delivered a kick to his shin. In order to make his act seem real, Gu Bei had kicked him with all his might.
Number Four flew through the air and landed on the ground a few feet away. Looking extremely self-righteous, Gu Bei gazed at Number Four with contempt and pulled him up from the ground. Throwing another punch across his face, Gu Bei yelled, “It’s because of people like you that our city has become so disgraceful!”
Gu Bei’s punch was real. Number Four was in so much pain that he could barely speak, but he managed to yell, “Do you know who I am? How dare you stick your nose into my business?”
“I don’t care who you are! I won’t let you off for trying to harm this poor girl in front of me!” As he spoke, he punched Number Four across the face again. However, this time, he didn’t use as much force.
Gu Bei shot him a look. Hit me back.
He had to get injured too so that Lin Xinyan would feel sorry for him. If he managed to make her feel thankful towards him, he would be able to get closer to her easily.
Zong Jinghao’s woman?
Gu Bei was determined to see what sort of male-bewitching charms this woman had. How had she managed to take down that poker-faced man?
If he succeeded in sleeping with Zong Jinghao’s woman, Gu Bei thought, that would be even better.
After all, he had never slept with a pregnant woman before.
However, Number Four hesitated, afraid to punch Gu Bei across the face.
Gu Bei shot him a look to hurry him up. Stop wasting time! his eyes seemed to say. Number Four swallowed nervously before shutting his eyes and throwing a punch at Gu Bei’s face.
Gu Bei stumbled backwards at the impact of his fist. Number Four turned around to escape, thinking that the plot had thickened enough for Gu Bei to engage Lin Xinyan in conversation. If they continued with the fight, they would blow the situation way out of proportion and get themselves into a hot mess.
As soon as he turned around, however, someone aimed a kick at his chest. Number Four flew backwards and landed on the ground on his bottom, dazed.
Shao Yun took off his sunglasses and said angrily, “Young man, do you have a death wish?”
Number Four could only gawk at him in confusion. His chest still hurt from the kick, and he gritted his teeth in pain, unable to reply.
Gu Bei was stunned. He didn’t expect someone else to butt in halfway and spoil his plans.
“Send them to the police station,” said Lin Xinyan.
While Gu Bei and Number Four were engaged in a tussle with each other, she had called Shao Yun on the phone and told him to call the police.
Number Four struggled up from the floor and hurried over to Gu Bei. Their plan seemed to have gone astray. Where did this man come from? Also, why were the police suddenly involved?
In a flash, Shao Yun came up to him and kicked him again in a fury. Number Four was in so much pain that he lay on the floor and couldn’t get up. Shao Yun was evidently much stronger than Gu Bei, who had grown up in an overly sheltered environment.
Gu Bei didn’t beg for mercy on his behalf. It was no big deal for one of his henchmen to go into jail, anyway. At most, Number Four would simply spend some time being re-educated in prison, and Gu Bei would go and get him out later.
He had to keep up this charade, or risk foiling his own plans completely.
Gu Bei walked up to Lin Xinyan and asked obsequiously, “Are you alright, Miss?”
Lin Xinyan bowed slightly. “Thanks for your help just now.”
“Trash like him don’t deserve to live.” Gu Bei tried to smile, but he felt pain shoot through a cut on the corner of his lip and winced.
Concerned, Lin Xinyan asked, “Are you alright?”
Gu Bei shook his head and touched his lip gingerly. “I’m fine. It’s no big deal.”
At that moment, a white police car pulled up to them. Two policemen jumped out from the car and walked up to them to investigate the situation. “What’s going on? Who called the police?”
Shao Yun stepped forward. “That would be me.”
It was up to him to resolve matters like this. Lin Xinyan wasn’t familiar with the city, but Shao Yun had lived in C City for a long time, and he had many contacts here. Pointing at Number Four, who was lying perfectly still on the floor, he announced to the police, “This person tried to commit daylight robbery.”
Hearing this, Number Four was speechless.
Since when had he tried to rob anyone?
“That’s rubbish! I never tried to rob anyone. What did I steal from you?” Number Four wondered if there was anyone on earth who was more shameless than this man.
Shao Yun had kicked him numerous times and put him in so much pain. Was he going to accuse him wrongfully, too?
Shao Yun ignored him. Pulling the two policemen aside, he whispered something into their ears. The two policemen nodded.
Number Four got up silently. Seeing that the others were distracted, he turned around and tried to flee the scene. However, the two policemen noticed him immediately, and darted over to stop him before he could escape. “You committed daylight robbery, and now you’re trying to run away? We already have the evidence, so don’t try to argue your way out of this. Come back with us to the station first.”
Number Four was aghast.
“But I really didn’t try to rob anyone!”
“Come back with us to the station first.”
The two policemen stuffed him roughly into the car. “You can defend yourself when we get back.”
Gu Bei shot a look at Shao Yun. Although he couldn’t hear his conversation with the policemen, it was evident that Shao Yun had important connections in the city. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have been able to clear up the situation so quickly.
Shao Yun walked over to Lin Xinyan and asked her if she was injured. She shook her head. “Nope.”
However, her heart was still racing with fear.
“There are all kinds of people on the streets these days,” Gu Bei said airily.
Shao Yun looked at him and disliked him immediately. He turned to Lin Xinyan said, “Let’s go. I’ll send you home.”
Lin Xinyan agreed immediately. She was too afraid to venture anywhere in the city by herself now.
Gu Bei was speechless.
He had just saved her from an attack. Was she just going to thank him and go on her merry way?
Besides, he was so handsome. Shouldn’t she consider him, at the very least?
“I…” He wanted to stop Lin Xinyan and ask if she felt anything towards him at all.
After all, he had just saved her!
Shao Yun turned around and looked at him. “How can I help you?”
Gu Bei smiled awkwardly. “Oh, nothing! It’s just that I…”
Before Gu Bei could finish speaking, Shao Yun took out his wallet and fished out a few red-colored bills. Handing them to a shell-shocked Gu Bei, he said, “Thanks for helping my friend out just now. Please take this money as a gesture of our appreciation.”
Gu Bei looked at him, outraged.
He didn’t lack for money!
Did he look like someone who did?
This man was crazy for trying to get rid of him using money!
Gu Bei gritted his teeth in anger.
Where did this man come from? He had spoiled his plans completely.
Unfortunately, he couldn’t lash out at Shao Yun right now. Forcing down his rising anger, he said, “When there’s injustice in this world, nobody will stand by idly and let it happen.”
As he spoke, he shot a glance at Lin Xinyan, trying to get her attention.
Lin Xinyan didn’t say anything. She had already thanked him before. Besides, as he said, everyone was bound to stand up for victims of injustice anyway.
She didn’t have much to say in response.
As he watched Gu Bei’s futile attempts to get Lin Xinyan’s attention, Shao Yun stepped in front of her to block her from his view. Looking Gu Bei up and down, he said coldly, “If you don’t want the money, I’ll retract my offer.”
Gu Bei had the sudden urge to snatch those bills from him and throw it right back at Shao Yun’s face.
He had ruined everything for him!
Shao Yun pretended not to see the furious expression on his face. Tucking the bills back into his wallet, he escorted Lin Xinyan back to his car and opened the door for her. “Get in.”
Lin Xinyan got into the car quickly. When Shao Yun got into the car himself, she asked him, “You didn’t like that guy, did you?”
If he did, Shao Yun wouldn’t have tried to get rid of him with money.
He would have thanked him humbly to show his sincerity.
Shao Yun didn’t try to hide his dislike at all. “No, I didn’t. Did you see the way he was dressed?”
Lin Xinyan shook her head. She had been scared of out her wits. How would she have noticed what he was wearing?
Shao Yun turned around and looked at her. “He was dressed in brand-name clothing from head to toe. The whole ensemble must have cost tens of thousands. The watch on his wrist alone already cost more than five million! Do you think he was a normal passerby?”
Lin Xinyan hadn’t noticed any of that. However, she didn’t believe that rich people were all bad.
“You have great observational skills,” she told Shao Yun, slightly amused.
“He didn’t have good intentions,” Shao Yun insisted. “Didn’t you see him trying to get all chummy with you?”
Lin Xinyan looked at him, speechless.
“You’re over-thinking this.” Who would want to get close to a pregnant woman like her? If Gu Bei were really as rich as Shao Yun said, he would have seen all sorts of beauties before.
“You’re just too naïve! Listen to me, the richer those guys are, the more sexually deviant they are. Oftentimes, they like to pretend to come to a beautiful girl’s rescue in order to get close to her and get into her bed…”
Lin Xinyan forced herself to keep a straight face. Shao Yun’s imagination was running wild.
Besides, why did he keep insisting that Gu Bei was putting on an act and coming to a beautiful girl’s rescue?
Lin Xinyan wasn’t a narcissist, and she had never once thought that she was beautiful. She lowered her head and touched her stomach gently. In a few months, she would become a mother to her third child.
“Hey, I’m being serious, alright? You need to be more careful in the future. If not, I’m going to hire a bodyguard and make him follow you around so you won’t get yourself into this kind of trouble again.” Shao Yun said with a solemn expression on his face.
Lin Xinyan mirrored his serious expression. Knowing that Shao Yun was just being concerned about her, she promised, “I’ll be more careful.”
“I know all the rich people in C City, but I’ve never met that guy before. I wonder which nouveau riche family he hails from,” Shao Yun said thoughtfully.
“Isn’t he a local?” Lin Xinyan frowned, her expression suddenly stern. This had happened to her right after she received those pictures. Was it really a coincidence?
If Shao Yun hadn’t told her that Gu Bei wasn’t from C City, she wouldn’t have thought so much about the incident. However, when she heard that he wasn’t a local, Lin Xinyan started wondering if there was more to the situation than it met the eye.
Did Gu Bei harbor a grudge against Zong Jinghao? Had he discovered my existence and arrived in C City to stir up trouble for me?
Shao Yun replied, “I’m not sure about that, but I’m certain I know everyone of importance in this city. Do you think I’ve been fooling around during my time here? JK Group is a huge company, and as far as I’m concerned, I’m still its official CEO. I know who holds the wealth and power here.”
Lin Xinyan was in no mood to joke around with him. After seeing those video clips, she kept fearing that Zong Jinghao had met with some sort of trouble. Besides, her two young children were still with him.
She turned to Shao Yun. “Uncle, I need you to help me with something.”
“If you need anything, just let me know. There’s nothing I can’t help you with! Why else would you need your me for?” Shao Yun pretended to get mad. He didn’t like the idea of Lin Xinyan being too polite with him. She had already refused to join JK Group or spend a single cent of the company’s money. It was evident that she held a grudge against Wen Xian and Zhuang Ziyi.
Actually, Lin Xinyan had no grudge against them at all. She simply wanted to rely on herself in this new city.
She had grown up tough, and she found it extremely difficult to depend on others for help. No matter how difficult things got for her, she had to fight it out by herself.
Besides, her situation now was way better than it had been back then.
She turned to Shao Yun and said, “Yanxi and Yanchen’s father is in B City. You must have heard of Wanyue Group before.”
Shao Yun’s face brightened at the sound of the familiar name. Immediately, he replied, “Yes, I’ve heard of it. Just let me know what you want me to help you with.”
