Chapter 9

"Damn you, how dare you ignore me, Chen Haoxuan! Looks like you really don't want your hands anymore!"

With that, the furious man strode right up to Xia Wenbin and Lin Yanran.

"Lin Yanran, you bitch! How dare you reject me and secretly rendezvous with this piece of trash in the cafeteria!" the man pointed viciously at Lin Yanran and cursed.

Xia Wenbin had never seen a guy act so arrogant!

And to point right at Lin Yanran and start cursing her—especially when the person being cursed was the campus belle who had just been laughing and chatting with him, and who was his newly bound auxiliary Bound Tool.

Mild-tempered though Xia Wenbin might be, he could not stand by and watch someone berate his campus belle Bound Tool right to his face.

So the next second, a blazing fury ignited in his chest.

Stepping directly across the dining table, Xia Wenbin reached out, grabbed the arm the man was using to point at Lin Yanran, forced it violently downward, and locked it behind the man's back in a single-handed submission hold.

With a sharp crunch, the arrogant man let out a yelp of agony.

"Ouch, ouch, stop! You piece of trash, I told you to let go!"

Ignoring whether it hurt or not, Xia Wenbin kept a tight grip on the man's arm and said fiercely, "I don't care who you are, but talking to our campus belle like that deserves a beating! Since your family didn't teach you proper manners, I'll teach you what respect means on their behalf! Apologize to Lin Yanran right now."

With that, Xia Wenbin dragged him right over in front of Lin Yanran.

"Kid, do you even know who you've offended? This is Chen Haoxuan from Jiangzhou University, Young Master Chen! You must have a death wish, let go of our boss right now!" Several lackey-looking guys ran over and shouted at Xia Wenbin.

Still furious, Xia Wenbin paid no attention to what they were saying. Seeing that the man refused to yield, he applied a bit more force to his grip.

"I don't care if you're Young Master Chen or Young Master Dog, I only know that when you do something wrong, you apologize! Don't waste my time, or don't blame me if your arm snaps in a second."

Unable to move an inch from the pain, and realizing Xia Wenbin really would break his arm if he didn't apologize, the man called Chen Haoxuan panicked and hurriedly shouted to Lin Yanran, "Don't snap it! I was wrong, it's my fault! Yanran, I'm sorry! I shouldn't have cursed you, I know I was wrong, please forgive me! Tell your classmate to let go, my arm is really going to break!"

In fact, ever since Xia Wenbin had offered a handshake earlier to show goodwill, Lin Yanran had been in a daze.

In her wildest dreams, she never expected that Chen Haoxuan would chase her all the way to the cafeteria.

And just as she came to her senses and wanted to urge Xia Wenbin to leave quickly—Yet Xia Wenbin had already taken her by the hand, and before she knew it, she had inexplicably fallen right into his embrace, immediately followed by the sound of a tray crashing to the floor behind them! Then came Chen Haoxuan, rushing over with an angry expression to rain abuse down upon her. What she never expected, however, was that Xia Wenbin would step forward without a second thought to defend her honor! Seeing Chen Haoxuan—one of the infamous Four Young Masters of Jiangzhou University, who usually acted so arrogant and domineering on campus—now squatting right before her and begging for her forgiveness. Lin Yanran could hardly believe that things would take such a dramatic turn. She raised her eyes to look at the figure standing shield-like before her, and in that instant, she suddenly felt like a princess being protected by a prince. It was this very ordinary-looking young man right before her who had extended a helping hand when she was most helpless. And when she was subjected to injustice and insults, he had stepped forward without hesitation. —This man is truly so good to me! An indescribable warmth welled up in Lin Yanran's heart, the warmth of being cared for by someone. "Alright, I forgive you! But I won't hold this against you this time, Chen Haoxuan, though I must ask you to remember that this is a school, not the Chen Group that your family runs." "Furthermore, the Chen Group isn't the only dominant power in Jiangzhou City." With a look of utter disgust, Lin Yanran spoke these words to Chen Haoxuan.Seeing that Chen Haoxuan had conceded and Lin Yanran had accepted the apology, Xia Wenbin simply let go of Chen Haoxuan's arm.

Free from Xia Wenbin's grip, Chen Haoxuan hurriedly retreated several steps, as if maintaining that distance from Xia Wenbin was the only way to feel safe.

"Young Master Chen, are you alright? That brat had you cornered just now, and the guys didn't jump in because we were afraid of hurting you."

At that moment, a henchman hurried forward to massage Chen Haoxuan's arm, making excuses for himself.

"Easy on the fucking pressure, do you want to break my arm?"

Chen Haoxuan had been glaring viciously at Xia Wenbin and Lin Yanran the whole time, and when the lackey's massage suddenly hit a painful spot on his arm, he turned around and kicked the man straight to the ground.

Right at that moment, a woman dressed in sexy attire and with an alluring figure walked up behind Chen Haoxuan.

She hugged his arm, gently massaging it with her hand while occasionally brushing her full breasts against his back.

Then, the woman leaned close to Chen Haoxuan's ear and whispered, "Young Master Chen, this brat must just be some poor student eating in the cafeteria. Don't we have plenty of ways to deal with poor punks? We can do this... and then this..."

Listening to the woman's suggestion in his ear, a sinister and malicious smile crept up the corner of Chen Haoxuan's mouth.Meanwhile, he brazenly pulled the girl into his arms, fondling her body wantonly before speaking to Xia Wenbin and Lin Yanran with a leisurely sneer: "Yanran! It's not that I want to lecture you, but how could you keep Uncle Lin in the dark and date this kind of trash?" "You should know that we are from matching family backgrounds! Yet you rejected me not long ago, which is why I'm so furious today." With that, Chen Haoxuan glanced at Xia Wenbin with utter disdain. That's right, other than knowing how to throw a punch, what about this guy could possibly compare to him? Seeing that Chen Haoxuan had just finished insulting her and was now turning his abuse toward Xia Wenbin, Lin Yanran instantly flared up with anger and snapped at him: "What kind of guy I like to hang out with is none of your business, Chen Haoxuan! Besides, I just despise you, and I think you're disgusting! Xia Wenbin is better than you in every single way, and you're the real piece of trash here." At that moment, Xia Wenbin realized for the very first time just how highly Lin Yanran actually thought of him! —Not bad at all! As expected of his Bound Tool, she was truly standing up for him in every possible way. Thinking to himself, he used the System to check Lin Yanran's status panel. "Lin Yanran's favorability: 38" Goodness gracious! Lin Yanran's favorability had actually jumped to 38 points. It had only been 18 points before dinner! How on earth had it surged by 20 points in just this short amount of time? Next, Xia Wenbin checked the status panel of his rival, Chen Haoxuan, only to find something even more astonishing. Name: Chen Haoxuan Age: 22 Height: 179 cm Weight: 60 kg Constitution: 5 (Weak-Kidney Young Master) Appearance: 7.0 Favorability: -80 What the hell—his favorability was straight-up -80? You've got to be kidding me! I didn't even know you before today, so why do you hate me this much? Xia Wenbin was simply left speechless by these stats. And what was up with Chen Haoxuan's abysmal constitution? Barely past adulthood and already a weak-kidney young master—wasn't he worried about kicking the bucket early in life? Seeing that Lin Yanran, usually so poised and elegant, was actually stepping up to defend a poor student and tearing into him, Chen Haoxuan's suppressed fury flared right back up. Beside himself with rage, he shoved the girl away from him, glared at Lin Yanran, and bellowed: "Lin Yanran, you're actually comparing a broke loser to me? I'll have you know I'm the young master of the Chen Group! Every casual gift I give away costs at least hundreds of thousands, if not a million." "Do you honestly think a poor college student like him could afford to buy you anything? His allowance for a whole year probably wouldn't even cover one of my shoes! Hahaha..." Bursting into wild laughter, Chen Haoxuan turned his head and flaunted the hundreds-of-thousands-of-dollars limited-edition sneakers on his feet right in front of Xia Wenbin. Seeing Chen Haoxuan mocking Xia Wenbin, his gang of flunkies quickly joined in, and a wave of mocking laughter instantly echoed through the cafeteria. "Wenbin, don't pay any attention to him. He's completely out of his mind. Let's go! We still have evening study hall!" With that, Lin Yanran grabbed Xia Wenbin by the hand and started pulling him toward the cafeteria exit. Knowing that Chen Haoxuan couldn't beat Xia Wenbin in a fight, she figured he was trying to use his status and wealth to crush the other guy's self-esteem. That was why, in her panic, she wanted to get Xia Wenbin away from here immediately. In Lin Yanran's eyes, Xia Wenbin's clothes and general appearance were the most ordinary among the students, and his shoes even looked a bit worn out. That's why she assumed his living conditions must be rather poor. At the same time, she was terrified that if Xia Wenbin stayed in the cafeteria too long, his self-esteem would be crushed by Chen Haoxuan. For Lin Yanran knew all too well how important self-esteem was to a young man; once it was lost, he would never recover and would remain utterly defeated for the rest of his life. And this was the kind of petty cruelty Chen Haoxuan had often pulled in the past, simply because he had the status and background of a Chen Group heir. But would Xia Wenbin be afraid of getting slapped in the face by Chen Haoxuan? Not a chance! Perhaps if it were the old days, Xia Wenbin would have been completely helpless, but now he was a changed man. With the System backing him, he was a God-tier Tycoon, and when it came to money, he wasn't flustered in the slightest. So, rather than having any intention of leaving, Xia Wenbin pulled Lin Yanran back to his side, looked gently into her eyes, and said in a soft voice: "Yanran, Chen Haoxuan is right! I really haven't bought you any gifts! But it's not because I couldn't afford them, nor is it because I didn't want to—it's simply because we only met today!" "Sigh, I might as well come clean. Don't let my loser-looking outfit fool you; I'm actually a bona fide billionaire tycoon! I'm not intimidated by Chen Haoxuan at all!" With that, ignoring Lin Yanran's utterly bewildered expression, Xia Wenbin turned back to face the arrogant Chen Haoxuan and spoke up: "Oh, so Young Master Chen is the young master of the Chen Group! No wonder you're so rich, giving away gifts that start at a million bucks. Impressive, truly impressive!" As he spoke, Xia Wenbin even gave Chen Haoxuan a thumbs-up. Yet the very next second, that upright thumb flipped 180 degrees downward! "But so what? Is being rich such a big deal? If having money meant you could be made to call someone Daddy, I reckon I could have you calling me 'Daddy' for the rest of your life!" "What? Don't believe me? How about we have a little contest to see if I'm bluffing?" With a look of utter disdain, Xia Wenbin crooked his finger and beckoned to Chen Haoxuan.