C3 The Author Venomous Bee Was Punished

"What's the problem with me living here? Aren't you supposed to be in class today?" Ye Tian glanced at Xiao Heng, clearly uninterested in engaging further.

"It's Sunday, isn't it? My dad sent me to check out the size of this property. He's planning for me to take charge of the project to buy it out and build a new skyscraper," Xiao Heng boasted.

"Oh, well, keep looking then. I've got other things to handle," Ye Tian said with a sneer. Having an impressive dad doesn't make you special. What an act.

"Come on, Ye Tian, since you live here, why not fill me in on the area? I'll throw in a two-thousand-yuan reward for your trouble," Xiao Heng said, feigning generosity as he clung to Ye Tian.

Ye Tian just smirked. Where was this courtesy when he was being ridiculed in school?

"I'm busy, so I'll leave you to it. I won't be joining you," Ye Tian said, and walked away.

Xiao Heng fumed with anger. No one had ever shown him such disrespect. Back in school, Ye Tian was under his thumb, and now he had the audacity to talk back?

Fuming, Xiao Heng called out, "Ye Tian, I see you slumming it here, struggling to make ends meet with your school and work. I'm trying to do you a favor, and you can't even appreciate it. You're just a peripheral member of the Reader Alliance, earning peanuts each month!"

"And that's your business because...?" Ye Tian shot back, giving Xiao Heng a cold look.

"You..."

"What about me? Looking for a fight? Bring it on. We can settle all our scores at once."

"Fine, but don't say I didn't warn you. I'm a Taekwondo black belt, and I'll go easy on you—I'll only use one hand," Xiao Heng taunted.

Ye Tian scoffed dismissively.

Under his breath, he muttered, "Empower me, as a Master of Martial Arts."

With a thunderous "Thud!" Ye Tian's kick sent Xiao Heng tumbling to the ground, coughing up blood, his face ashen. That would land him in the hospital for a good month.

"Worthless," Ye Tian spat contemptuously on the ground.

He slipped away to a secluded corner of the road, out of sight: "Tool mode, sports car, Ferrari."

"Yes, Master." Meiniu instantly dissolved into a stream of data codes, materializing into a fiery red Ferrari.

Ye Tian climbed in and commanded, "Autopilot, head to Venomous Bee's place."

"Understood, Master." With that, Meiniu, now the Ferrari, reversed with a stylish drift before speeding away from the old district.

"Ferrari..." Xiao Heng gaped at the fiery red sports car, his face a mask of astonishment, particularly because Ye Tian was the one behind the wheel, leaving him utterly dumbfounded.

A guy who left school to work was driving a Ferrari? It felt surreal to him.

"So Ye Tian's actually an understated tycoon. I can't believe I messed with someone like that. What was I thinking?" Xiao Heng was filled with remorse, shivering at the thought of his past mistreatment of Ye Tian and dreading the possibility of a vengeful visit.

The Ferrari, a creation of Meiniu, roared down the street without a license plate, effortlessly inhaling air for power, eschewing fuel yet remaining fiercely potent.

Ye Tian sat contentedly in the car. Aside from lacking the functions of a real woman, Meiniu was nearly perfect in every other way—truly an unbeatable force.

Venomous Bee, the author, was based in South City. At a clip of 200 miles per hour, the Ferrari could make the trip in just 40 minutes. Once Ye Tian switched Meiniu back to phone mode, he approached a modest apartment building.

He knocked softly on the door of apartment 2-2-2. Soon, a man with an eye-catching appearance answered.

"Who are you? What do you want?" the man inquired, eyeing Ye Tian.

"Venomous Bee, the author?" Ye Tian probed.

"That's me. What about it?"

"Reader Alliance, Ye Tian, I—"

"Thud!"

"Realizing your mistakes now, are you? Still trying to shut me out?" Ye Tian kicked Venomous Bee to the floor and stepped inside, swiftly closing the door behind him.

"Don't mess around; what you're doing is illegal," Venomous Bee protested weakly from the floor, too scared to stand.

"Breaking the law? Haven't you heard of the International Readers Alliance? Are you aware that your book has led to someone's death?" Ye Tian glared at Venomous Bee, his voice thundering with rage. "You're capable of writing with elegance and purity, yet you have the audacity to claim moral integrity? And to write about gifting your wife—whom are you trying to harm? Tell me, who's the target of your poison?"

"It's not toxic, is it? Each book tells a different story, after all."

"Still talking back, I see." Ye Tian gave Venomous Bee a thrashing until he was meekly compliant, then sat back in his chair, legs crossed, and began to methodically lecture the scoundrel.

"Your perspective in your writing is all wrong, causing serious harm to society and to individuals' psyches. You say it's not toxic, yet you write about a protagonist with animals? You call that non-toxic?"

Ye Tian's anger flared as he spoke, and he delivered another beating to quell his fury.

"Mr. Tian, I admit my mistake, please, no more hitting," Venomous Bee pleaded on his knees.

"Have you recognized your error? And how will you write from now on?"

"I'll foster positive energy. No toxicity, no cruelty, no sadness. The hero will be unbeatable, second to none. The heroine will be pure as ice and jade, beautiful as a flower, faithful to her man..."

"Good, you understand. Pay the fine, scrap the book, and start anew. Become an author that readers can admire."

"What? There's a fine to pay too?"

"Enough with the nonsense. Get on with it. Do you still want to make it in this business? Do you still want to write a bestseller?"

"Yes, I do," Venomous Bee nodded earnestly.