Chapter 093: A Chance Encounter with Xiaoya’s Husband

Seeing Old Nine’s astonishing skill, Liu Sheng and the others were utterly stunned.

"From now on, none of us are to provoke Old Nine. No one here can withstand his Shadowless Kick," Liu Sheng said to Ren Xia Dong and the others beside him. Then he looked toward Young Master Yang, who was trembling nearby.

He had intended to step forward and speak properly with Young Master Yang. If they could settle things, that would be best. It was not that Liu Sheng was afraid of him; he simply preferred to avoid unnecessary trouble. After all, college life was better when there was a little more happiness in it.

Liu Sheng had only taken a few steps when Old Nine somersaulted over to Young Master Yang, then used a sweeping kick to knock him flat to the ground.

Crouching before him, Old Nine said, "That little bit of skill of yours isn’t even enough to warm me up. With a puny frame like yours, you still dare come looking for trouble with us!"

"You dare hit me!" Young Master Yang said with a furrowed brow. Just as he was about to rise, Old Nine planted a foot on his head and continued, "Stay down! Move again and I’ll beat you to death!"

"Do you know who I am?!" Young Master Yang gritted out bitterly, wanting nothing more than to kill Old Nine on the spot.

Old Nine showed no intention of letting it rest. Seeing this, Liu Sheng no longer bothered to waste words with Young Master Yang. He grabbed Old Nine and left the school at once.

On the way, Old Nine kept talking nonstop, while Liu Sheng listened with a smile but said nothing.

"These few clowns? If this were me two years ago, they’d already be dead," Liu Sheng said.

Tang Xin had not come with them. When they parted, she had told Liu Sheng, "Go have your fun. A man ought to have his own social obligations."

Liu Sheng took Ren Xia Dong, Old Nine, and Xiao Jia to the most expensive restaurant in Chong City for dinner.

During the meal, Liu Sheng ordered many rare and expensive dishes, along with red wine.

"Old Nine’s kung fu is certainly impressive, but do you know who you hit?" Liu Sheng asked, looking at Old Nine, who had not stopped eating.

With his mouth full, Old Nine replied, "Who cares who he is? If he dares come again, I’ll dare hit him again!"

Ren Xia Dong was about to tell Old Nine that the one he had beaten was the heir to Yang’s Film and Television Company, but Liu Sheng stopped him and would not let him say it. Liu Sheng did not want Old Nine to be frightened. He was thinking that when there was no class the next day, he would personally pay a visit to Yang’s Film and Television Company and settle this matter, so that Yang Yu would not go looking for trouble with Old Nine over it.

After eating and drinking to their fill, Xiao Jia said, "I hear the girls down south are prettier than one another, but our major is no good, so we never get a chance to meet them."

Liu Sheng called the waiter over and paid the bill. Looking at the receipt in Liu Sheng’s hand, Old Nine asked with a hint of surprise, "You’re really this rich?"

"Money is money. If you hadn’t been there today, I’d probably have spent this money in a hospital already." Then Liu Sheng stood and said to Xiao Jia, "Come on, I’ll take you to see what southern girls are like."

The four of them hailed a taxi after leaving. Guided by Liu Sheng, the cab stopped at a rather flashy karaoke bar.

"Cut it out. This is my first time in a place like this. My mother sent me to Chong City to study, not to come out and fool around," Xiao Jia said, though his feet did not seem to obey him very well. No one was pulling him, no one was forcing him, and yet he walked in front of everyone.

They had only been seated in the private room for a few minutes when a group of beautiful girls walked in and lined up for the four of them to choose from.

"Go on, pick," Liu Sheng said.

Xiao Jia and Old Nine both lowered their heads, embarrassed, glancing at one another.

"Southern girls, raise your hands," Ren Xia Dong said from the side, one hand on his phone.

At that, six of the girls raised their hands. Ren Xia Dong did not even lift his head as he continued, "The ones who raised their hands, stay. The rest can go back to work."

Liu Sheng arranged for the six girls to sit around Old Nine and Xiao Jia, while he and Ren Xia Dong sat beside them. The reason Liu Sheng did this was because he did not want to let anyone down. Since he had chosen to keep Tang Xin by his side, then he had to draw a clear line with other women. Whether they were friends or women obtained through money, Liu Sheng did not want to cross that line again.

Ren Xia Dong had once been the one who loved to play the most, but now his heart was occupied only by Tian Yun, leaving no room at all for any other woman.

What was almost laughable was that Xiao Jia had been the one insisting on coming. Yet once he arrived, he leaned back on the sofa, phone in hand, scrolling endlessly. No one knew what he was looking at; he simply wanted to hold his phone. He was not indifferent to the beautiful girls sitting beside him, only too shy to even speak to them.

Old Nine was completely different. Though he did not get grabby, he chatted nonstop with the girls, talking about his studies up north and then boasting about his one-against-five fight that day, clearly proud of himself.

Liu Sheng turned off the music in the room and asked Old Nine, "What kind of martial arts do you actually practice? I heard you saying on the field today that it was taekwondo, and also grappling."

Old Nine casually draped an arm over the shoulder of the girl beside him and slowly explained.

Old Nine’s grandfather had practiced martial arts from a young age and was a well-known martial artist in their region. Since Old Nine’s father disliked martial arts and cared only about starting factories and making money, Old Nine’s grandfather placed all his hopes on Old Nine. Because of that, Old Nine began learning traditional martial arts with his grandfather when he was very young.

Driven by his admiration for martial arts since childhood, he later studied taekwondo, but found it of little use in actual combat. After that, he learned sanda, fighting, and various grappling techniques.

Ren Xia Dong suddenly said, "No matter how high your skill is, one brick and you’re done."

Old Nine straightened up and looked at Ren Xia Dong, then said, "How about we try it? I’ll let you hold one brick in each hand."

Ren Xia Dong realized he had said something wrong. He had witnessed Old Nine’s strength firsthand, and quickly corrected himself. "That’s not what I meant. I just suddenly thought of the saying and said it to make everyone laugh."

Old Nine did not bother arguing with him. He continued boasting to the girls at the table, while Xiao Jia only grew more and more embarrassed under their teasing. The girls thought he was honest, and kept deliberately and playfully tugging at his clothes, making his face burn red.

"Hold on, hold on," Xiao Jia said, clutching at his own shirt. "I heard people say southern girls are all especially shy. Now that I’m here, why does it seem so different from what I was told?"

The girls answered just as directly, "We also heard that northern men are all bold and carefree. So why are you so timid? And those two over there don’t drink, don’t play, don’t join in anything. As for the one beside you, other than boasting, he doesn’t seem to do much either. We thought you northern men were different from the rest, too."

At first, Ren Xia Dong was fine, but after hearing the girls say this, he could not sit still anymore. He flung his phone aside and was about to stand up when Liu Sheng pointed at the phone and asked quietly, "What about Tian Yun?"

"She’s asleep," Ren Xia Dong said. He first stepped out of the private room, then came back a moment later with two servers behind him. One of them was carrying a shopping basket filled with all kinds of liquor.

Once the servers had set the bottles on the table, Ren Xia Dong said, "I’ll show you what real northern men are like. We’re going to play a game. Whoever loses has to accept the punishment, even if that means taking off your clothes. You’ll do it without complaint!"

"That won’t do. How can you make people take off their clothes in public?" Xiao Jia said to Ren Xia Dong.

Ren Xia Dong was a little surprised that Xiao Jia would say something like that. He had assumed stripping the girls was something everyone would want to see, and replied, "Why are you turning against your own side? Haven’t you heard the saying? A man’s lewdness is part of a hero’s nature!"

As soon as he finished, the girls responded in unison, "A woman’s boldness leads the fashion!"

"You get me. Then let’s play!" Ren Xia Dong said with a wicked grin, pointing a finger at each of the girls in turn.

"Liu Sheng, are you in?" Ren Xia Dong asked, turning to him.

Liu Sheng shook his head. "You play. I’m not at my best with alcohol today. I’m tired."

After Ren Xia Dong explained the rules, the group began playing noisily and merrily.

Two hours later, they had all drunk quite a lot. Under the influence of alcohol, Xiao Jia was no longer as shy as when he first arrived, but he still did not dare touch the girls beside him. He kept wanting to put his arm around them, only to withdraw his hand timidly each time he lifted it. One of the girls beside him had clearly had too much to drink and hugged Xiao Jia, planting a kiss on his face.

After that, Xiao Jia’s face grew redder and redder. No one knew whether it was from the alcohol or from the kiss. Then he began flailing his arms about, speaking incoherently, his expression filled with boundless excitement.

Old Nine was far more open than Xiao Jia. By then he was already wrapped up with the girl beside him, playing and boasting at the same time.

Ren Xia Dong, by contrast, sat across from them and did not touch any of the girls. Whether he had simply grown tired of playing, or whether Tian Yun had truly taken up all the room in his heart, he no longer seemed to have the slightest interest in any other girl.

Liu Sheng lit a cigarette, stood up, and left the private room to go to the restroom. In the corridor of the karaoke bar, he saw a man and a woman. The man was obviously drunk and had pressed the woman against the wall, trying to force a kiss on her. The woman was resisting, though only halfheartedly; she did not want his kiss, but she could not openly shove him away. From the way they were dressed, the man was a guest and the woman was there to drink with clients.

Liu Sheng deliberately kept his eyes lowered, trying not to disturb them as he passed. But as he drew closer, he still caught a glimpse out of the corner of his eye. He noticed nothing unusual at first, yet after he had walked past them, he suddenly stopped.

Then he turned back behind the man, wrapped an arm around his neck, and dragged him into an empty private room nearby.

Once inside, Liu Sheng slammed the man hard onto the sofa.

"Damn your mother, who the hell has the guts to mess with me!" the man cursed in a thick Chong City accent. But when he sat up and saw Liu Sheng, he looked at him in surprise and asked, "Liu Sheng, what are you doing here?"

Liu Sheng dropped the cigarette butt from his hand and stared at the man. "Isn’t Sister Xiao Ya good to you? And here you are, making out with another woman!"

The man was Xiao Ya’s husband, Yang He.

Yang He hurriedly explained, "It’s not what you think. We’re here for a company gathering today."

Seeing Yang He like this made Liu Sheng’s heart ache for Xiao Ya. He had no idea how she had endured these past two years.

Liu Sheng thought, Could Xiao Ya not know? No, that’s not right. Last time I saw her, she was angry about this too. Has she already gotten used to it?

At the thought, Liu Sheng felt unsure of what to do. At that moment, his phone lit up at his feet. It had slipped out of Yang He’s pocket when Liu Sheng dragged him inside.

Liu Sheng picked up the phone and saw that the contact name was "Wife," so he knew it was Xiao Ya calling. He handed it to Yang He, but Yang He did not answer.

When the screen went dark again, Liu Sheng snatched the phone back and checked it. There were twenty-three missed calls from Xiao Ya.

He could no longer bear it. He hurled the phone straight into Yang He’s face. Struck by his own phone, Yang He jumped to his feet and shouted at Liu Sheng, "I’m only being polite because of Xiao Ya. Don’t push your luck! Who do you think you are? Xiao Ya is my woman. I’ll do whatever the hell I want. What does it have to do with you?"

"What exactly do you take Xiao Ya for?" Liu Sheng said through gritted teeth, his voice trembling with anger. He sprang onto the table, intending to give Yang He a severe beating.

But just then, Yang He’s so-called colleagues pushed open the door and shouted at Liu Sheng, "What do you think you’re doing?"