Zhou Bin had finally let off some steam. After he finished, he turned around and realized that Wu Hao had also knocked another group of people to the ground.
"Brother Hao!" Zhou Bin called out. Wu Hao glanced left and right, delivered one final kick, and said, "Let's go."
The two left the restaurant and headed back to the martial arts hall. Inside the restaurant, Li Chenglong, Wang Wen, and the others, who had been soundly beaten, finally climbed to their feet.
"Brother Long, they went too far—absolutely too far! They didn't even show you any respect!" Wang Wen hobbled over, his voice trembling with indignation.
Li Chenglong’s face was livid with rage. He let out a curse and stormed out of the restaurant. Before long, he returned to the Beidou Martial Arts Hall. In the courtyard, students and inner-circle disciples were practicing their punches. Seeing Li Chenglong’s furious expression, they froze in their tracks, unsure of what had happened.
Li Chenglong bypassed the main hall and went to the back courtyard. There, a two-meter-tall man with bare shoulders and bulging muscles was punching a wooden post.
"Senior Brother! Senior Brother!" Li Chenglong approached, his face full of resentment as he began to complain. "That guy named Zhou is completely out of line. Look at what he did to me, Senior Brother!"
Li Kailong, who was busy striking the post, shot a glance at him, stopped, and scolded, "Useless!"
"It’s not that I’m useless, Senior Brother—that guy named Zhou has actually gotten stronger!" Li Chenglong followed him as he sat down and hurriedly poured him a glass of water. "I don’t know where he hired a coach, but the guy seems pretty capable. Zhou even boasted that they’re going to take the championship at the upcoming Wulinfeng tournament!"
Li Kailong’s thick eyebrows furrowed. "They really said that?"
"Yes, they really did!"
"Hmph!" Li Kailong gave a disdainful laugh. "Well, that makes me look forward to it."
He looked up at Li Chenglong. "Don’t worry, I’ll avenge you."
"Thank you, Senior Brother! The gold belt for this Wulinfeng tournament will definitely be yours!"
Li Kailong smiled. "That goes without saying."
Meanwhile, Wang Wen, having been beaten, looked disheveled as he sought out Deng Haiyang. Deng was in his office, feeling quite excited, when Wang Wen burst in. "Brother Haiyang!"
Seeing Wang Wen’s bruised face, Deng Haiyang’s expression shifted instantly. "What happened to your face?"
"Brother Haiyang, it was all that Wu Hao!"
"That Wu guy laid a hand on you?" Deng Haiyang gritted his teeth.
Wang Wen recounted the events from start to finish, concluding indignantly, "Brother, this guy doesn't even hold you in any regard!"
"Forget it, just let it go," Deng Haiyang said, waving his hand. "As you said, he also beat up Li Chenglong from the Beidou Martial Arts Hall. We’ll just wait for the Wulinfeng tournament. When the time comes, Li Kailong from Beidou will surely teach them a lesson for us. I have more important things to worry about right now."
"What kind of things?"
Deng Haiyang replied, "Our new product is about to hit the market. We’ve secured investment from the Xu Group, so this product has to dominate the market. The head of the Xu Group just called to ask if I’m confident about it."
"Brother Haiyang, with your youthful success, you’ll definitely be able to pull it off!"
"Get out now, I have work to do."
***
That evening, Wu Hao returned home to find that Liu Yafei had already returned and prepared dinner.
During the meal, Wu Hao learned that thanks to her efforts, Liu Yafei’s venture had taken a successful first step, and she was about to move on to the next phase: producing the new product.
"Honey, you said you’d give me a secret formula—what exactly is it?" Liu Yafei asked while eating.
Wu Hao took a piece of paper from his room and wrote down several traditional Chinese medicinal herbs. "If you produce beauty products according to this formula, I guarantee we can become the industry leader."
Liu Yafei looked surprised. She picked up the paper, studied it, and asked, "Is this for real? Is this herbal formula really that miraculous?"
The Liu Group had originally made its fortune in cosmetics. She had seen various herbal beauty products before, but she found it hard to believe that a single formula could make them the market leader.
"Don't you believe your husband?"
"No, no, that’s not it!" Seeing Wu Hao’s absolute confidence, Liu Yafei immediately said, "Fine, let’s give it a try!"
"Daddy, Daddy, we’re having a parent-teacher meeting at school tomorrow morning!" Liu Chenghao said while shoveling rice into his mouth.
"A parent-teacher meeting? All right, Daddy will go with you tomorrow, okay?"
"Great!"
The next day, after breakfast, Wu Hao took his son to school. Since the bankruptcy of the Liu Group, Liu Yafei had placed great importance on their child’s education. Whether it was kindergarten or his current primary school, they were both top-tier institutions. Liu Chenghao, now in the second grade, was very diligent and scored 100 on every exam.
Wu Hao was riding his scooter with his son when they stopped at a red light. Just as he came to a halt, there was a loud *clatter*—someone had crashed into them from behind.
"Waaaah!" Liu Chenghao started crying. Wu Hao turned his head, comforted his son for a moment, and then shouted at the person who had come up in such a rush, "Hey! How are you riding that thing?"
"Oh, oh, I'm sorry! I’m so sorry!"
Wu Hao realized it was a young woman. After apologizing, she prepared to ride off. Wu Hao wasn't about to let her leave just like that after hitting someone, so he grabbed her arm.
"You hit someone, and you think you can just say 'sorry' and leave?"
The girl seemed to be in a real hurry. "I already apologized, didn't I? Besides, your son is fine, isn't he?"
"What do you mean he’s fine? What kind of attitude is that? And another thing, why aren't you wearing a helmet while riding?"
The girl had a hot temper. "Whether I wear a helmet or not is none of your business! What do you want, money? Fine, fine, I’ll pay you, is that enough?"
If she hadn’t said that, it might have been one thing, but that comment really angered Wu Hao. What did she mean, "I'll pay you"? Did she think he was short of her money?
Just then, a traffic police officer walked over, and Wu Hao immediately explained what had happened.
The officer listened, turned to the girl, and said, "Miss, you were riding without a helmet. That’s a fifty-yuan fine. Please wait a moment while I write you a ticket."
"But officer, I... I have an emergency!"
"You can’t ride like that even if you have an emergency. Calm down."
Wu Hao gave a cold snort, cast a glance at the girl, and rode off with his son.
"Son, remember what Daddy said: from now on, whenever you’re riding a bike or an electric scooter, you must wear a helmet. Do you understand?"
"I understand, Daddy!"
"Good boy."