Chapter Sixty-Eight: Pick Me, Foreign Goods

The young policeman was startled and instinctively tried to twist Yang Jiekai’s arm. But no matter how much strength or technique he used, it had no effect at all. In his panic, he shouted, “What are you doing? Let go!”

Only then did Yang Jiekai realize he was overreacting. He quickly released his grip and forced a smile. “Sorry, I got a little excited, haha…”

The young policeman saw that Yang Jiekai meant no harm and finally breathed a sigh of relief, though he still asked with a hint of annoyance, “Officer Wang is getting married, why are you so excited?”

Yang Jiekai brushed it off with a laugh. “Well, it’s normal to be excited when you hear a beauty is getting married. By the way, do you know who the groom is? Someone who can marry Wang Ying must be very impressive.”

“How should I know? I’m annoyed enough myself!” The policeman grumbled, then realizing he’d spoken too bluntly, quickly added, “But I think anyone Officer Wang would entrust her life to must be an exceptional person. As her colleague, I’m happy for her.”

Yang Jiekai didn’t argue with this illogical explanation; he just smiled wryly and said nothing more. Still, his heart was burning with discomfort. Was it because of Wang Ying?

Maybe it was just anxiety about Gongsun’s situation, he told himself.

The pressing matter at hand was still Gongsun’s case. Theft wasn’t the most serious crime, but if Gongsun ended up serving a few years, that would be a real shame. And although Yang Jiekai knew perfectly well that Gongsun was not exactly innocent, he still worried.

Lin Sha’s abilities were truly formidable. Before Gongsun even regained consciousness, she had already persuaded the owner of the gold shop to come forward and explain to the police that it was all a misunderstanding, and the shop wouldn’t press charges. Meanwhile, the lawyer was also working on Gongsun’s behalf.

With all this effort, and since the surveillance footage provided no clear evidence of the theft, as soon as Gongsun woke up and after a brief investigation, he was released on bail in less than a day.

Normally, Lin Sha never hesitated to deal harshly with subordinates who broke company rules. This time, she acted surprisingly out of character. After bailing Gongsun out, not only did she never mention the incident again, she even granted him two days off so he could recover from his injuries before returning to work.

“Thank you, Assistant Lin!” Yang Jiekai said with a smile.

Lin Sha glanced at him. “Why are you thanking me? You’re the head of security. We’ll settle this later!”

“Haha, of course, we have to settle the score!” Yang Jiekai pounded his chest, secretly admiring Lin Sha. She was not only beautiful, but also a management elite. What a pity such an outstanding woman was already a mother.

He remembered seeing her picking up her child at kindergarten the other day, and couldn’t help but feel a wave of disappointment. Looking at her tall, perfect figure, imagining that body beneath another man, Yang Jiekai felt as if he’d lost his wallet.

“Assistant Lin, how about we have dinner together later?” he asked, still a little dejected.

Without looking back, Lin Sha replied, “No need, you go ahead. I have to pick up my child from kindergarten.”

“Oh… alright then…”

Men are creatures of possessiveness, wanting all the beautiful women in the world to belong to themselves. Perhaps in this world, there is no man who can sincerely wish a beautiful woman happiness when she marries someone else.

Gongsun’s injuries weren’t serious. The bandages around his head looked alarming, but they were only superficial wounds. When he heard he wouldn’t have to pay for the meal, he immediately insisted on coming along. To prove he was fine, he even slapped his bandaged head a couple of times.

At the dinner, Gongsun acted perfectly normal—as stingy as ever, devouring his food as if afraid of missing a bite.

“Were you reincarnated as a starving ghost or something? Aren’t you afraid you’ll choke?” Qin Feng, who was footing the bill, started to panic as he watched Gongsun’s voracious appetite. Even though it was just a street-side food stall, at this rate, Gongsun would eat him into poverty.

“Better a full ghost than a starving one!” Gongsun replied, not even looking up, and called the waiter for two more meat dishes—the pricier the better—making Qin Feng’s heart ache all over again.

“Hey, your confession plan fell through,” Qin Feng tried to change the subject.

“I know!” Gongsun replied bluntly. “So I’ll definitely be heartbroken later. Since I’ve already decided to be sad, I’d better eat my fill first. Otherwise, where would I get the strength to be sad?”

“Screw you and your twisted logic—”

Bang!

Before Qin Feng could finish, a beer bottle suddenly flew over and smashed onto their table, shattering instantly and spraying glass shards everywhere.

Yang Jiekai and Old Stick both dodged effortlessly, but poor Qin Feng, who had just changed into clean white casual clothes, was instantly covered in beer foam and bits of glass.

“Damn it, who the hell threw that?” Qin Feng, never one to swallow his anger, leapt up from his chair. “Who did it? Show yourself!”

“I did.” A voice called out nearby.

Yang Jiekai looked over and saw a group of hooligans with brightly dyed hair approaching, each wielding baseball bats or steel pipes—clearly up to no good. When Yang Jiekai recognized the leader, a playful smile curled at his lips.

“Do you all remember me?” the leader asked, twirling a beer bottle as he approached, his voice cold.

Qin Feng noticed the man’s head was wrapped in more bandages than Gongsun’s, with a bruised mouth. He looked familiar, but Qin Feng couldn’t place him.

“I’m Wu Caiyue’s man!” the guy shouted before Qin Feng could remember, “You punks, did you enjoy beating up your uncle last time?”

Suddenly it clicked for Qin Feng—this was Wu Caiyue’s scoundrel husband, here for revenge.

“What, haven’t had enough?” Qin Feng was uneasy at the sight of so many adversaries, but he showed no hint of fear.

The scoundrel sneered. “Don’t you think you’re acting tough right now?” He glanced meaningfully at his crew.

“So what do you want?” Qin Feng stepped forward.

Seeing Qin Feng’s apparent submission, the scoundrel burst out laughing. “I don’t want to make a big scene. Give me a hundred thousand yuan now, and each of you kneel and kowtow three times, call me daddy, and we’ll call it even.”

“And if I refuse?” Qin Feng’s hand drifted casually to his waist as he spoke.

“Then I’ll cripple you all!” the scoundrel snarled, raising his voice.

“Oh, is that so?” Qin Feng muttered, as if considering something. After a moment, he looked up and said, “A hundred thousand? No problem!”

The scoundrel’s heart leapt with joy. Usually just a petty thug, he’d tailed Qin Feng and his friends today not only for revenge, but mostly to extort money. The sum was just a figure he tossed out, but he hadn’t expected Qin Feng to agree so easily.

“I’ll pay right now. I don’t have cash, but will a bank card do?” Qin Feng asked.

“Of course!” the scoundrel grinned slyly. “But I’ll need to withdraw the cash before I let you go.”

Qin Feng nodded. “No problem.” He started patting himself down as if looking for something.

After a moment, his hand stopped and he exclaimed loudly, “Ha, found it!”

Before the scoundrel could react, Qin Feng’s hand shot out from his waistband—not with a bank card, but with a belt, its surface studded with metal rivets!

“Screw you!” Qin Feng shouted, swinging the belt with all his might at the scoundrel’s head.

Smack—

Completely unprepared, the scoundrel took the blow full on the forehead, where his bandages were, leaving a dark, bloody welt from brow to nose.

Whack, whack—

Qin Feng, emboldened by his success, didn’t stop but swung the belt again and again at the thugs, shouting, “Why are you all just standing there? Run!”

The hooligans recovered quickly, raising their bats and pipes to rain blows on Qin Feng. But he was fast, grabbing both ends of the belt and looping it around the neck of the first attacker, bringing him crashing to the ground. Even as he fell, Qin Feng shouted again to his friends, “Hurry, call the police!”

In fact, Qin Feng had planned the whole thing from the start. Seeing the odds, he knew a direct fight was hopeless, so he schemed to distract them, launch a surprise attack, and hold off the gang so Yang Jiekai and the others could escape.

But Yang Jiekai knew Qin Feng’s intentions at a glance. Warmed by this, he grabbed a nearby chair and hurled it at the thugs.

Crash—

The chair broke over one of them, and Yang Jiekai, snatching up a chair leg in mid-air, swung it fiercely. He wasn’t afraid of these punks, but with Qin Feng and the others present, he had to end the fight quickly to protect them from harm.

In less than ten seconds, the ground was covered with groaning, injured thugs.

Yang Jiekai’s skills were impressive, but to defeat so many so quickly wasn’t possible alone. It had clearly been a group effort.

Old Stick, meanwhile, calmly wiped the blood from his hands with a napkin, hunched over like an old farmer, and pulled out an unfiltered cigarette.

Yang Jiekai smiled at him, took out a foreign cigarette, and flicked it with a snap of his wrist—it shot toward Old Stick like an arrow.

“Try mine, it’s imported,” Yang Jiekai said with a grin.

Old Stick caught the flying cigarette between his fingers with ease, lit it slowly, took a deep drag, and said, “Nothing beats a Chinese smoke.”