Chapter 12: I Can Produce Ten Billion!
Everyone was dumbfounded.
The entire hall fell into a terrifying, pin-drop silence.
In their eyes, Xiao Zining's actions were pure suicide.
"Get—get him! Beat him to death for me!" Li Hongyan roared through the excruciating pain in his chest, and only then did the bodyguards snap back to their senses.
They all lunged forward baring fangs and brandishing claws!
"No—" Bai Xining's pretty face turned pale as paper.
"Don't you dare bully my daddy!" Doudou was so worried she burst into tears...
These bodyguards were well-trained and built like giants. How could Xiao Zining possibly be a match for them?
Yet, the next moment, the blank stares on their faces turned to sheer terror.
Xiao Zining stood unshaken, his solid frame rooted to the spot. With a single sweep of his arm, he sent the man charging at the front flying, knocking down two more bodyguards right behind him.
He took a stride forward and pressed down with a heavy palm.
The last bodyguard felt an immense, overwhelming pressure descending from above. With a loud thud, he was forced down onto his knees.
The entire process took less than five seconds!
"You, you—" Li Hongyan felt his scalp go numb. He never expected Xiao Zining to be such a formidable fighter.
"Phoenix," Xiao Zining said indifferently, "come in and drag them out."
"Yes, sir."
Xiao Feng, who had been quietly waiting by the door, strode in with a spirited and heroic poise.
"Wait!" Lin Yuemei trembled all over and said coldly, "Xiao Zining, have you lost your mind? You—how dare you treat Young Master Li like this? You've doomed us all!"
Her voice was filled with hatred and rage.
Xiao Feng said calmly, "Madam, please show some respect to our master."
"Respect?"
"Him?"
"Five years ago, he ruined my daughter! He ruined our entire family!"
"And now, five years later, he comes running back to destroy our last shred of hope..."
"You want me to respect him? What right does he have! What right! Who does he think he is?"
"Master?"
"He's not worthy!"
"He's nothing more than a stray dog... Xiao Zining, do you even know that you've ruined our family?!"
After her tirade, Lin Yuemei squatted on the ground, completely broken, and wept loudly...
A sharp pain stabbed through Xiao Zining's heart.
"Mom, scum like this deserves a beating. I simply can't stand how he treats Xining—"
"Get out! Get out of here right now! If you ever set foot in my Bai family again, I'll kill you—"
Lin Yuemei's eyes were bloodshot. This time, with Li Hongyan beaten up, the marriage between the two families was undoubtedly off!
What were they going to do about the massive debts they owed? Those ruthless thugs weren't playing games! She could already foresee her family's miserable end...
It wasn't like she wanted to sell her daughter, either!
But what choice did they have?
If Bai Xining didn't marry Li Hongyan, their fate would be a hundred times more wretched...
Bai Xining's heart fluttered. At the very moment Xiao Zining stepped in to protect her, she was truly touched! In all her life, no one had ever protected her like that!
That grounded, warm feeling... gave her such a strong sense of security!
Yet right now!
Xiao Zining had deeply offended Li Hongyan, and Li Hongyan would never let him off the hook!
What should she do?
She slowly clenched her delicate fists.
"Xiao Zining, leave. My affairs are none of your business. Get as far away as you can," Bai Xining said coldly. "Young Master Li is not someone you can afford to cross."
"You need to face reality. You are no longer the young master of the Xiao family you used to be!"
Her words were harsh.
However, it was all to warn Xiao Zining not to pit himself against Li Hongyan.
"Xining, I—" Xiao Zining started to speak, then stopped himself. "Why would I ever fear him?"
Bai Xining reproached him angrily, utterly disappointed. "Enough! Xiao Zining, will you stop living in fantasies? In this society, fists alone won't keep you alive!"
"People have power and influence; they can crush you with a single hand, understand?"
"You're too naive!"
"I am so, so disappointed in you..."
Bai Xining's heart was exhausted.
Li Hongyan climbed up from the floor, gnashing his teeth. "Fine, very good! The Bai family, Xiao Zining—I'll remember this account today."
"Bai Xining, tonight! Tonight, you're going to... obediently crawl into my bed!"
His eyes were filled with lust and violence.
A flash of killing intent crossed Xiao Zining's eyes as he walked toward him. "It seems you really want to die?"
"Let Young Master Li go." Bai Xining closed her eyes in agony. "Xiao Zining, I'm begging you, please don't let me down like this anymore..."
Hearing Bai Xining's painful voice, Xiao Zining paused. Swallowing the killing intent in his heart, he let out a furious roar: "Get lost—!"
Li Hongyan and his cronies fled in disarray.
"It's all your fault! All your fault!" Lin Yuemei grabbed a broom and lashed out at Xiao Zining, her face full of despair. "Young Master Li is gone, what are we going to do now..."
Xiao Zining caught the broom, his voice firm. "Mom, you don't need to worry about the money."
"Forget one million; even if it's ten billion, I can produce it for you."
The moment those words left his mouth, Xiao Zining regretted them, because the expressions on the faces of the Bai family members turned predictably scornful and disdainful...
"Fine, wonderful!" Lin Yuemei sneered. "As long as you bring us one million by the end of the day, I'll agree to let you be with Xining."
"Otherwise, never show your face in front of us again! Do you dare to bet?"
Lin Yuemei said coldly.
Xiao Zining couldn't even scrape together a single penny right now. If he actually dared to take this bet... he would definitely lose.
Chapter 13: The Debt Collectors Come Knocking!
Yet, upon hearing this, Xiao Zining's face lit up with joy.
"Deal!"
A million was a mere trifle to him.
Bai Xining said coldly, "I won't take your money. In your eyes, am I the kind of woman who can be bought with cash?"
If not for fear of her parents and children coming to harm, she wouldn't even have considered meeting Li Hongyan. After all, that was a colossal debt of one million...
To their current circumstances, it was an astronomical sum.
Who could have foreseen that Li Hongyan would turn out to be such scum?
"I—" Xiao Zining began, "I didn't mean that."
It seemed that if he simply handed one million over to the Bai family, Bai Xining would never accept it. He knew this woman possessed a fierce pride.
Otherwise, purely for Haohao and Doudou's sake, she would have long since become the young mistress of the Xiao family.
"And stop making reckless promises to others. Can you actually produce one million right now?"
Bai Xining's tone grew even colder.
"Get out—" Lin Yuemei issued an outright eviction notice. "Don't set foot in our Bai family gates until you've scraped together that one million."
Xiao Zining nodded. Looking at Bai Xining, he said, "I'm not doing this because I think you're a woman who can be bought with money. I simply can't bear to watch you suffer. All these years, I've failed you and the children..."
"From now on, I will spend the rest of my life protecting you!"
Bai Xining's heart trembled.
Just then, a hurried, chaotic sound of footsteps suddenly burst in from outside the door, mixed with several crude curses.
Hearing these sounds, the faces of the Bai family members all turned pale.
"Quick, lock the door!" Lin Yuemei cried out in terror, and Bai Hao immediately rushed forward to slam the door shut...
However, it was too late!
The door was kicked wide open!
Bai Hao was sent sprawling to the floor.
A group of bare-chested men armed with knives and clubs swarmed in with fierce and menacing expressions.
"Mom, I'm scared—" The two children grabbed tightly onto the corners of Bai Xining's clothes.
"Miss Bai, when are you going to pay back the money you owe us?" the leading man asked with a sneer.
He held a steel saber and brought it down hard, hacking straight into the tabletop!
The Bai family jumped in fright.
"If you don't pay up now, we're going to get rough, and don't blame us for being ruthless when we do. Those two kids are pretty cute, too; they ought to be worth a fair bit, right? And Miss Bai, you're one of the three great beauties of Fengcheng, which makes you even more valuable. Hehe..."
"The money I owe you, I will definitely pay back..." Bai Xining said through clenched teeth. "Twenty thousand in principal plus one million in interest—as long as you don't harm my family, every single cent will be returned to you."
Twenty thousand in principal?
Plus a million in interest?
Xiao Zining suddenly understood why the Bai family was so desperate for cash.
This was usurious loan sharking!
"No, it's one million one hundred thousand now," the thug sneered.
"Isn't that a bit excessive?" Xiao Zining said in a cold tone. "We'll return your twenty thousand in principal, and from now on, you are not to harass the Bai family ever again."
"What the hell do you think you are? Telling me, Da Kui, how to do my job?"
The big man cursed, raised his palm, and moved to strike!
"Crack." Xiao Zining raised his hand and casually crushed the man's wrist!
"Ah—" Da Kui let out a miserable scream. "Damn it? They still dare to fight back? Kill them! Beat all the males to death! Grab all the females! Once we've had our fun, sell them to the brothels!"
"You're out of your mind... These, these people are genuinely ruthless killers..."
"Xiao Zining, you jinx!"
"You have a death wish, but I want to live! Are you insane? How dare you pick a fight with them!"
The members of the Bai family were utterly terrified.
"Attack!" The gang of thugs roared as well, raising their knives and clubs to smash forward.
The wind whistled sharply, carrying such a terrifying momentum that it felt as though they were truly going to hack everyone to death!
Chapter 14: Investigating Their Background!
"Loan sharking has reached all the way to my wife? You really have some unmitigated gall." Xiao Zining made his move. Thud, thud, thud—dull, heavy thuds echoed out as the men at the very front were all blasted flying backward.
Meanwhile, he snatched a steel pipe from one of their hands and advanced step by step.
"Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!"
The steel pipe whistled through the air. Xiao Zining moved as if walking through an empty courtyard, and a chorus of miserable shrieks rang out as the thugs all crashed to the ground.
Some had their arms broken, others had their legs snapped directly, and worse still, noses and teeth were smashed to pieces.
The scene was utterly wretched.
"High-interest loans? You really are arrogant. Is this all the skill you have?"
"Brat, don't you be arrogant. We'll finish you off sooner or later," Da Kui said, refusing to submit. "Do you even know who's backing us..."
"Bang—" Xiao Zining directly broke his leg, the excruciating pain causing him to pass out cold. His cold gaze swept over the remaining thugs. "Who is behind you?"
"L-Lord Long," they stammered out.
"Lord Long? It's him again?" Ling Xiao's tone was ice-cold. "Tell him to crawl over to my wife and apologize within three days."
"Otherwise, I'll wipe him off the face of the earth! Remember to pass the message along. Did you hear that?"
"Yes, yes, yes." The group of thugs didn't dare speak out, though deep down they were filled with utter contempt.
What kind of figure was Lord Long? Just this punk alone dared to make Lord Long kneel?
If they dared touch them, Lord Long's wrath would descend, and this entire family would be finished!
"Get lost," Xiao Zining barked, and they scrambled away on all fours in a panic.
"We're finished, we're done for..."
Lin Yuemei collapsed limply to the ground. "Xiao Zining, this time you've brought a catastrophic disaster down upon us!"
"Do you know who that Lord Long is? He has hundreds of thugs under him, he's a tyrant in the East District, and he has blood on his hands!" Bai Shan roared as well. "If we offend him, our whole family won't have a moment of peace, and our very lives will be in danger..."
He cursed Xiao Zining, looking completely exasperated!
"Fight, fight, fight! You useless piece of trash, is violence all you know? You chased Young Master Li away! Our Bai family's hope is gone... And now you've gone and provoked Lord Long for us. How are we supposed to live now..."
Bai Xining let out a long sigh as well. "Can't you ever stay calm when you do things?"
She knew Xiao Zining was trying to protect them, but... this kind of reckless approach only brought them greater trouble.
"Don't worry, it'll be fine," Xiao Zining said indifferently. "There's no need to fear them."
He took Bai Xining's phone, entered his own number into it, and said earnestly, "If you run into any trouble, call my number directly. No matter where I am, I'll rush to your side right away."
A warmth bloomed in Bai Xining's chest.
"Daddy is so amazing." Doudou and Haohao both looked at Xiao Zining with faces full of adoration.
Although they didn't understand what had happened, they knew Xiao Zining had protected them! Daddy was their big hero!
Xiao Zining ruffled their little heads and said, "With Daddy here, you don't have to be afraid of anything. Daddy will protect you."
"Now, can you tell me how you ended up owing this twenty thousand?"
According to his understanding of Bai Xining, she wasn't the type to resort to borrowing loan shark money.
Bai Hao's face turned a sickly mix of green and white as he gritted his teeth and said, "It's my fault. The money... actually, I borrowed it to open a restaurant, but it was under my sister's name."
"At the time, Bai Hao wanted to start a business and didn't have enough capital, so Bai Ting introduced us to this Lord Long. Who would have known they set a trap in the contract..."
The moment Xiao Zining heard that, he knew someone had colluded to set a trap. This Bai Ting—was he also a member of the Bai family? He silently filed the name away in his memory.
"Why are you meddling so much!" Lin Yuemei directly issued an eviction order. "Get out of my sight immediately! Don't even think about seeing my daughter again without five million! Otherwise, I'll break your dog legs!"
"Granny, stop being mean to Daddy, okay? Daddy protected us..." Haohao piped up weakly.
"He's not your daddy! He doesn't deserve to be!" Lin Yuemei said coldly.
Over the past five years, had this fellow ever fulfilled his responsibilities as a father?
No!
Seeing how deeply the Bai family members rejected him, Xiao Zining had no choice but to give them time to slowly accept him!
"Since it's like this, I'll take my leave first. Xining, remember to call me if anything comes up."
Bai Xining didn't reply.
"When is Daddy coming to see us again?" The two children broke free from Bai Xining's hands and lunged straight at him, clinging to him with utmost dependency...
A look of deep doting crossed Xiao Zining's face as he picked them up, one in each arm. "Daddy will come visit often from now on, alright? Give Daddy a kiss."
With that, he kissed both children on the cheek, coaxing peals of giggles out of them. Seeing this display, the Bai family members couldn't quite bring themselves to interrupt...
Bai Xining's heart grew even more conflicted.
Once outside, Xiao Zining's expression turned cold. "Phoenix, send a few skilled operatives to keep watch nearby. Don't let those thugs come back and harass them."
"Yes," Xiao Feng nodded.Back in the car, Xiao Yi asked, "Brother, you were up there for so long. How did things go with my sister-in-law and the others?"
Xiao Zining offered a wry, bitter smile and shook his head.
"Take it slow. I'll make them see my sincerity."
"Also! Phoenix, check immediately—find out the backgrounds of Li Hongyan from Longyue Group and this Lord Long! I want their information right now!"
Chapter 15: A Big Figure Has Arrived
A short while later, Phoenix spoke up, "This Lord Long is merely a local tyrant who keeps a few hundred thugs and has some local influence, enough to make quite a few people wary of him."
"However, this Longyue Group is rather interesting. It's a business under Jiang Haosheng's name. In recent years, this fellow Jiang Haosheng has developed at breakneck speed in Fengcheng and is now one of Fengcheng's major commercial magnates!"
"Jiang Haosheng? So it was him... Give him a call and tell him I want to see him," Xiao Zining said indifferently. "And also! By the way, summon Li Hongyan and his father over as well!"
Longyue Group.
Li Hongyan sat there, bruised and swollen, facing a middle-aged man in a suit.
He wept as he complained, "Dad, you absolutely must get justice for me..."
Hearing this account, Li Yue slammed the hand on the table and stood up angrily. "Preposterous!"
"This Bai Xining is truly a loose woman, acting all high and mighty just because she has a few looks? She's nothing more than a used piece of goods!"
"Don't worry, Dad will definitely get you justice and make them pay the price."
"I want that bitch Bai Xining to crawl into my bed and serve me tonight!"
"Alright, I'll make a phone call myself."
Li Yue immediately dialed Lin Yuemei. "I am Li Yue. I heard my son went to see your daughter and was actually humiliated by you people? Splendid! Wonderful! You lot really think you're something special!"
He laughed in furious mockery.
Lin Yuemei hurried to explain, "It's not like that, President Li, we..."
"No need to explain!" Li Yue interrupted her coldly. "Tonight, have your daughter come over to warm the bed. Otherwise, if we go over there ourselves, it won't be settled quite so easily!"
He hung up the phone abruptly.
"This, this..." Lin Yuemei broke out in a cold sweat. She knew Li Yue's capabilities; if he really wanted to crush them, it would take no more than a single sentence!
"It's all Xiao Zining's fault!"
"Now the sky has fallen!"
"What are we going to do..."
Her face was etched with despair.
"What is it?" The other family members looked at her one after another, asking with deep anxiety.
Lin Yuemei said with a bitter taste in her mouth, "President Li just called. He said we've offended them, and told... told Xining to go over and keep Young Master Li company."
"Xining, for the sake of our whole family, why don't you just agree? After all, Young Master Li's family background isn't bad; he can help support our family in the future..."
"Besides, if we really fight them to the death, there won't be a place for us to stay anywhere in Fengcheng... We can't afford to fight him!"
Seeing Lin Yuemei's desperate and helpless expression, Bai Xining felt a deep ache in her heart.
Yet now Xiao Zining was back... The heart that had grown cold for so long finally regained a trace of warmth.
"Mom, I'll figure something out about the million."
"I will never, ever marry Li Hongyi." She stated firmly.
"A million!"
"Our whole family doesn't even have ten thousand right now!"
"Where are we supposed to find that kind of capital? This is driving us straight into a dead end—!!"
As she spoke, Lin Yuemei burst into tears as well.
Bai Hao abruptly stood up. "Sis, I'm the one who failed you. The trouble I stirred up, I'll bear the consequences of alone. I can't let you all suffer grievances on my account anymore."
"That million, I'll take responsibility for it..."
He gritted his teeth.
"If anyone dares to come harass us again, I'll fight them to the death..."
Longyue Group.
Li Yue and his son hurried toward the company entrance, and Li Yue instructed, "The boss has given orders. I hear a big figure is arriving today, so let's hurry up and go receive them."
"Oh, right."
"The boss also told me to have you tag along with me later. Remember to be sharp and put on a good performance; our chance to soar to prosperity has arrived."
Li Hongyan was ecstatic.
What kind of person could warrant the boss himself coming out to receive them?
If they could attach themselves to such a person, they would rise straight to the skies!
Chapter 16: You Dare Drive Away My Honored Guest?
At the entrance of Longyue Group, nearly a thousand people stood in a dense, dark mass.