C62 I will Make Things Difficult for You

Matumoto Yuan observed his bewildered face and inquired, "What's the matter, has your dad been dethroned? Caught up in corruption?"

Lee Baolai regained his composure and retorted, "I'll make another call. This can't be right..."

"Call my ass!"

He was cut off mid-sentence by a sharp slap from a suit-clad thug.

"I've had it with you for too long! Still trying to act tough around us?!"

Immediately after, the thug sent Lee Baolai flying with a kick, toppling several tables in the process!

Then, the other suited goons joined in, unleashing a barrage of kicks to Lee Baolai's head and body!

"Stop, please! My dad is Lee Degui, the Deputy..."

"Cut the crap! Deputy, my foot!"

The thugs wouldn't let Lee Baolai get a word in edgewise; they were fed up with his charade.

After several phone calls, anyone would realize what was happening.

The onlookers, his classmates, were all dumbstruck, yet none intervened.

Lee Baolai's arrogance was too much, even for those who knew him from way back.

Some couldn't help but mutter through clenched teeth, "He had it coming!"

Before long, Lee Baolai was a bloody mess, his face swollen grotesquely, a sight to behold.

Terrified, Lee Baolai fell to his knees, pleading, "Please, no more. I'm begging you!"

"You want us to stop? Your damn attitude is infuriating!"

With that, one thug grabbed a sake bottle and crashed it onto his head.

He then rallied the others, "Keep going! Beat him until he's helpless!"

Lee Baolai was beyond consolation, on the verge of tears.

Guo Zipeng was petrified, too scared to utter a single word.

Bottles and chairs rained down on Lee Baolai.

Fear gripped everyone there; some of the girls even screamed, while others were reduced to tears.

At that point, Lin Xuan intervened, "Enough, stop it now."

But the suit-wearing brutes were seeing red and didn't register Lin Xuan's command.

That's when Matumoto Yuan bellowed, "I said stop! Stop right now!"

It wasn't until Matumoto Yuan raised his voice that the crowd finally ceased their assault.

"Damn it, that's for showing off!" one of them spat out, still unsatisfied as he landed another kick on Lee Baolai.

Lee Baolai yelped like a dog, a sound that was chilling to the bone.

Matumoto Yuan approached the crumpled figure of Lee Baolai, looked down at him, and said, "You owe Mr. Lin your thanks. Without his word, you'd be leaving here horizontally today."

"Now, go ahead and thank Mr. Lin for sparing your life!"

Lee Baolai, fully aware that any dissent could mean his end, suppressed his agony, crawled up, and with tears streaming down his face, knelt before Lin Xuan. "Mr. Lin, I can't thank you enough for saving my life."

"Get him out of here!" Matumoto Yuan commanded with a look of revulsion.

Two suit-clad enforcers promptly dragged Lee Baolai away as if he were no more than a lifeless carcass.

Matumoto Yuan then turned to Lin Xuan, bowed deeply with utmost respect, and said, "Mr. Lin, I will make amends by paying double for the damages to your friend's shop."

At this, Guo Zipeng's face transformed from fear to a grin.

Impressed by Lin Xuan's influence, Matumoto Yuan was even offering to double the compensation!

Guo Zipeng's mind raced with thoughts of inflating the damage costs for a hefty profit.

But his scheming was short-lived.

Lin Xuan chuckled and said, "Mr. Matsumoto, there's no need for formalities with me."

"The owner here isn't my friend; he's the same man who couldn't recognize art."

"Double compensation would only displease me."

"Oh, is that so?" Matumoto Yuan acknowledged, nodding. "Then, I shall withhold compensation."

Lin Xuan gave a nod of approval. "Exactly, that's the right approach."

Stunned, Guo Zipeng scrambled over and protested, "You can't just not pay! Even if it's not double, you should settle the bill for the broken furniture."

Matumoto Yuan, with a smile, inquired, "And how is that our concern? If you're looking for payment, seek out that portly fellow."

Guo Zipeng watched as the man Matumoto Yuan pointed to, Lee Baolai, was hauled out the door and dumped beside a trash can, awaiting further instructions from Matumoto Yuan.

He was completely taken aback. Lee Baolai was now unconscious, and yet he was being sought after? Clearly, there was no intention to make amends!

It was at this point that Guo Zipeng fully grasped the gravity of his mistake in crossing Lin Xuan, a man he should have never antagonized. Regret was futile at this juncture.

Given another chance, he would have latched onto Lin Xuan's coattails with a death grip, even if it meant clinging to the hairs on his legs.

But that opportunity was now a ship that had sailed.

In that moment, the crowd's gaze upon Lin Xuan shifted to one of awe.

Before their eyes, the man once dismissed as a worthless son-in-law had transformed into a figure of admiration.

Suddenly, many were eager to ingratiate themselves with Lin Xuan, offering toasts and flirtatious glances from some of the female classmates, all of which Lin Xuan tactfully ignored.

Matumoto Yuan departed contentedly with the Ukiyoe, lavishing Lin Xuan with gratitude and vowing to be at his beck and call should the need arise.

Meanwhile, Guo Zipeng slumped in a corner, his heart sinking as the waiter tallied his losses. The day that was meant to herald good fortune had instead brought him a valuable Ukiyoe gone and an 80,000 yuan deficit in his new shop.

Lee Baolai, in a gesture of humanity, was taken to the hospital by Matumoto Yuan's orders.

Reportedly, he remained comatose for a considerable time and, even after receiving medical attention, was left in a semi-imbecilic state, worse off than Lin Xuan ever was.

His father, Lee Degui, was not only dismissed from his position at Customs but also found to have a dossier full of abuses of power, sycophancy, and bribery. The legal system eventually caught up with him, leading to his arrest and imprisonment.

Lee Baolai's family, it seemed, had met their downfall.

In a stark display of fair-weather friendship, not a single person who had once fawned over them came to offer support, not even a token visit out of a sense of human decency.

It was clear just how disliked the father and son were for them to have ended up in such a predicament.

While everyone was busy ingratiating themselves with Lin Xuan and offering him toasts, a male classmate sidled up to him, lifting his glass in both hands. "Mr. Lin, I hold you in high regard. I'll drink this one to you."

Lin Xuan regarded the male student, who had a certain scholarly appearance and spoke with a touch of elegance.

"Alright." Lin Xuan was about to reciprocate when Pei Qiuyu murmured from beside him, "Easy on the drinks. Don't get carried away just because everyone's toasting you."

Lin Xuan chuckled. "My dear, I'm fine."

Pei Qiuyu then turned to the male student, "Sun Jianguo, you should slow down too. Your face is as red as can be."

"Like a monkey's backside, hahaha!" someone quipped, prompting laughter from the crowd.

Then, Sun Jianguo spoke up, "Mr. Lin, after this drink, I'd like to ask a favor of you."

Lin Xuan inquired, "What's on your mind?"