Ning Yan worked increasingly hard, taking on more and more responsibilities. She often had busy periods, such as business engagements. The man, in particular, would become resentful, starting with suspicion and distrust, and eventually escalating into unreasonable demands. He would search Ning Yan's belongings, trying to find some clue. If he couldn't find anything, he would fawn over her with sweet words. If he found something that aroused his suspicion, he would hurl insults, and sometimes even resort to violence!
I was stunned.
What the hell is this guy?!
But the truly outrageous part was yet to come… Ning Yan's parents had saved up a considerable sum of money to buy a house for their daughter, enough for the down payment. Logically, since they were married, buying a house shouldn't be solely the woman's responsibility. However, the man had almost squandered all his money. As a result, he made several demands that left me utterly speechless:
Firstly, Ning Yan would pay the down payment for the house, and the two of them would make the monthly mortgage payments together. Ning Yan was a stubborn person, and since she hadn't given up on that man at the time, she actually hesitated before agreeing.
The second request followed immediately: could the man's name be put on the property certificate? Apparently, the man felt that having Ning Yan's name on the certificate would hurt his "male pride," making him feel like he was marrying into the family. Ning Yan gritted her teeth and actually agreed… Honestly, hearing this, I was speechless… What was this woman thinking?
The third request was even more bizarre. After looking at several houses, he found one he liked, and his first reaction was to ask if he could leave one of the large south-facing rooms with a balcony for his parents... because apparently his parents were planning to move in...
Frankly speaking, it's right to be filial to one's parents... but to take the money given by one's father-in-law to buy a house and only think about one's own parents... are Ning Yan's parents not human beings? Do they deserve to stay in a small county town for the rest of their lives?
Damn it, he beats and curses his wife all the time, lives off her, and then uses the money his father-in-law gave him to buy a house to "support" his own parents... Is this even a "man"? And he dares to talk about "male self-respect"...
I haven't finished yet!
The fourth request was even stranger… The man had an older brother, who was also older. He had a school-aged boy. His fourth request was to bring the boy over as well, because Nanjing was a big city with a better educational environment… Of course, once the boy arrived, Ning Yan would have to help raise him…
What the hell is going on?
Helping your own siblings is understandable! But you can't even support yourself... You take your wife's money to support your own parents, neglecting hers. Then you buy a house, and your wife not only has to care for the elderly, but also a young child, taking care of all his needs, and in the end, the house is still registered in her name... And every now and then, you get a beating and verbal abuse...
Even child brides in the old society didn't suffer such miserable treatment, did they?
Damn it, I used to think my friends were the worst... but today I've finally met the real worst!
If a man like that still talks about "male pride," then all the men in the world should just slit their own throats and commit suicide!
"Sister Ning...you didn't agree to all these requests, did you?" I opened my mouth with difficulty and glanced at Ning Yan.
Ning Yan remained silent for a moment before finally speaking slowly, "No... When my parents found out, they objected fiercely. As a result, he had a huge fight with me and even hit me hard... After that, I truly saw him for who he was and was determined to divorce him." She sighed, her eyes showing a hint of weakness, "But he absolutely refuses and has been dragging this out for three years... on and off during those three years. I don't know how many times he's harassed me, and even after I've hired a lawyer and filed a lawsuit, it's all been useless."
I couldn't help but sigh, "Damn! Of course he won't divorce you! You're practically his personal maid! A long-term meal ticket! If he leaves you, who's going to support him?" But then I couldn't help but ask, "But divorce cases aren't that hard to win, are they? You can get a divorce after two years of legal separation."
Ning Yan's face showed a mixture of helplessness, anger, sorrow, and grievance: "It's not that simple... Chen Yang, you don't understand. So-called separation requires evidence... But obtaining and defining evidence of separation between husband and wife is quite difficult... And he often harasses me, even coming to my house at night to pester me relentlessly... More than a year ago, based on my lawyer's advice, I started preparing the separation procedures and evidence... But now, almost two years have passed, and he has recently become much more harassing."
I understand... The so-called separation mainly refers to determining whether the couple still has a sexual relationship! How can you prove something so extremely private? You say no, but they insist they do... It's a mess, impossible to explain clearly!
I was utterly speechless... Ning Yan seemed so capable and shrewd at work, but I never imagined her personal life at home was such a mess! And when it came to relationships, she was so soft and easily bullied!
If it were someone else... well, if it were Miss Qiao, she would have kicked that scumbag to death long ago. If she didn't beat him so badly that he couldn't take care of himself, it would be considered that Miss Qiao was too soft-hearted!
I sighed: "Sister Ning...you're too easy to bully...I really didn't expect you to be such a soft-hearted person...Where's that tough attitude you usually have when you're signing contracts and running around for the company? If you showed even a tenth of that, you wouldn't be bullied like this, would you?"
While wiping away her tears, Ning Yan whispered, "He comes to make trouble for me almost every month around these days, taking the opportunity to act like a scoundrel. He probably knows that I get paid on these days every month, so he comes to me to extort some money from me."
"Alright!" I slammed my hand on the steering wheel, but then suddenly honked the horn and yelled, "Next time this guy comes looking for you, you better tell me! Damn it, I hit him a few times earlier, and I was a little embarrassed at first, but now I really want to go back and beat him up right now!"
We chatted all the way, and Ning Yan wiped away her tears. She didn't even notice me and drove straight back to the company. When we got to the parking lot, I comforted her for a bit and told her to go back to the company first. Ning Yan's mental state wasn't very good right now. We were supposed to pick up a client from the airport, but she didn't seem to be able to go to see the client now, so I told her to go upstairs to the company.
However, no matter what, I've already decided that I must help Ning Yan.
I'm a very simple person. If someone treats me well, I'll treat them even better! When I first took office, Ning Yan was very helpful to me, and now that she's in trouble, I'll do anything to help her!
Perhaps this approach isn't suitable for a workplace like a company! But I'm not just anyone! I'm Xiao Wu! I'm the Xiao Wu who would fight someone with a bottle for a female waitress in a nightclub! Not to mention Ning Yan helped me out! Even if she didn't do anything, at least I'm her boss now!
They're bullying Xiao Wu's men!
Two words: They're asking for it!
Let's leave that aside for now, but there was an incident that happened later that I have to mention.
Aze overheard me telling him about Ning Yan's heartbreaking past. When I told him about this woman who bought a house for her family, supported her scoundrel husband, and even agreed to give half of the house to support his parents and underage nephew, and how the house was registered under his name, and how she was constantly being beaten and verbally abused, yet she remained uncomplaining and devoted...
Aze was almost dumbfounded. His first thought was: Where is this woman? Damn it, even if she's ugly, I'll still marry her! This is practically every man's dream wife!!
As for dealing with that utter scumbag, Miss Qiao slammed her fist on the table in fury, her almond-shaped eyes widening as she scolded in a delicate voice, "Damn! Is there such a scumbag? I'll beat him up, take him to Thailand, castrate him, and then send him to a gay brothel so he can sell his ass for the rest of his life!"
Book One: A Man in the Martial World, Forced by His Own Circumstances, Chapter Seventy-Seven: The New "Bastard"
After I left the company, I drove all the way to Lukou Airport.
Today I was going to pick up two domestic car dealership clients. Their company holds the domestic agency rights for several European car brands. Their flight was originally scheduled to arrive at 2 PM, but I arrived at the airport at noon, which was when I was starving. I figured that since the clients arrived at 2 PM, they must have had lunch on the plane, so I simply found a fast food restaurant in the airport terminal and had a quick lunch.
I wolfed down a pork chop rice bowl, wiped my mouth, and was about to take out my wallet when someone suddenly slapped me hard from behind. I turned around and saw a beautiful, melancholic face silently watching me from behind...
It's Qiaoqiao!
"Damn, what a coincidence!" I exclaimed in surprise. "What are you doing at the airport?"
Miss Qiao was as beautiful as ever, wearing a light purple-red turtleneck sweater, the kind that's very tight-fitting, with light makeup on her face. Surprisingly, she didn't wear a short skirt today, but instead wore a pair of youthful jeans and boots, which further accentuated her slender waist and long legs.
Judging from her expression, Miss Qiao seemed to be in a very bad mood. After giving me a hard slap, she walked around to sit in front of me, took my cup without saying a word, gulped down my drink, then let out a long sigh and looked at me sideways: "What are you doing here?"
"Picking up a client," I replied briefly, then looked her up and down. "And you? Are you going out? Or are you here to pick someone up? Why do you look like a widow? Who bothered you? Or was your house set on fire last night?"
"Tch! I'd rather our house were set on fire! That would be a minor issue!" Qiao Qiao slammed the glass down on the table. Looking annoyed, she pulled a pack of cigarettes from her purse, but then, remembering that smoking was prohibited in the airport, she reluctantly put it back. Then, she slumped onto the table and sighed, "It's all over... my good days are finally over... after so many years of revolution, we still can't escape falling! No matter how much we hide, we can't escape this day!"
"What's wrong?" I asked, puzzled. Who is Miss Qiao? She's always been fearless and uninhibited, with an attitude of "I'm a female hooligan, who cares?"... Why does she look so wilted today?
"I've come to pick someone up." Qiaoqiao sighed, "My dad..."
"Oh, it's just picking up your dad, why are you looking like you've swallowed a bitter pill?"
Qiaoqiao snorted and said lazily, "My dad has another one with him! A young and talented man, a Singaporean Chinese. A wealthy businessman from Southeast Asia, from a prominent family. This one is different from that glass guy named Gu Long last time... This time, my old man personally arranged the marriage! My old man and the other family are old friends, and he and that bastard's father and my old man drank blood wine together when they were young! We used that dirty trick a couple of days ago to scare that glass guy Gu Long away... I was wondering why my old man wasn't angry at all when he found out afterwards! It turns out he already had someone else in mind! Gu Long was the person my mother arranged, and my old man never liked him! Even without our help, my old man had already planned to persuade my mother to reject the Gu family. Now look what happened. We've been busy, and my old man is happy. This time in Singapore, he brought that bastard back with him!"
Listening to Qiaoqiao hurling insults like "bastard" at every turn... I actually felt quite sorry for that man. We hadn't even met him, so we didn't know if he was good or bad, good or bad... Maybe he was a truly excellent man, both academically and morally?
But it didn't matter to Qiaoqiao. In her eyes, any man who wanted to marry her was a bastard!
"Oh, this!" I said, suppressing a laugh. "Qiaoqiao, why don't you take a good look at the candidates this time? If you think they're okay, just go for it. Anyway, you'll be like this sooner or later... Our country probably won't legislate to recognize same-sex marriage for decades to come, so just give up on that idea."
"Fuck!" Qiao Qiao cursed without restraint, glaring at me coldly, "It's easy for you to talk! Try finding a man to marry!" Then she grabbed me and changed to a pleading tone, "Whatever, if it really doesn't work, let's do it the same way as last time and fool this Singaporean kid away. Let's hide for as long as we can."
I suppressed a laugh: "I have no problem doing it again... You should discuss this with Aze and the others."
Qiaoqiao immediately perked up, puffed out her little chest, and said with a haughty laugh, "Alright, alright, let's use some ruthless tricks this time and scare that Singaporean kid to death!"
It's said that the prince consort that Qiaoqiao's father has taken a liking to is surnamed Li, and his full name is Li Wenjing. It's a very artistic name. Qiaoqiao has seen his picture. He's a super handsome guy, born into a wealthy family, well-educated, and highly educated. He has two master's degrees from Nanyang Technological University and is a young talent with a very high IQ. Moreover, it's rumored that he's also proficient in music and sports. He plays the piano very well, plays tennis very well, and has even won a tennis championship in Singapore. He also has the status of a registered professional player!
Wow, he's truly a master of both literature and martial arts!
Qiaoqiao's father's flight was at 1:30 pm. We sat for a while, and then I accompanied her to the airport's exit to wait. Soon, the crowd inside surged. Qiaoqiao and I stood in front of a group of people waiting to pick up passengers. We were surrounded by men, women, and children holding signs to welcome people. We craned our necks to search through the crowd.
"There! There!" Qiao Qiao looked for a while, then suddenly her eyes lit up, and she shouted loudly, "Old Qiao! Old Qiao! Here! Here!"
From afar, a middle-aged man with sharp features emerged, carrying a briefcase and wearing a dark gray suit. Sure enough, Qiaoqiao's father was a handsome middle-aged man, though showing signs of aging. Judging from his features, he must have been a heartthrob in his youth, a real heartthrob with well-defined facial features, a prominent nose, a full forehead, and bright, piercing eyes—clearly the energetic tycoon type.
Even though he clearly saw Qiaoqiao, Old Man Qiao's face remained completely unchanged. He calmly walked over, stopped, and waited until Qiaoqiao was in front of him before saying in a steady voice, "Still acting like a madman, not a bit proper!" Only then did he reach out and hug his daughter, before his gaze fell on me. A hint of inquiry flashed in his eyes at just the right moment.
I immediately introduced myself: "Hello, Uncle, I'm Qiaoqiao's friend. I happen to be at the airport picking someone up today, and I just ran into her outside."
"Hmm." The old man from the Qiao family nodded, his face amiable. "Are you Chen Yang? Or Aze? Or that Mu... um, Dr. Mu?"
God is my witness, I bet old man Joe originally intended to say "wooden head," but then probably thought it was too vulgar and changed his mind. I, however, felt flattered... I never imagined our three infamous reputations would reach old man Joe's ears.
"I am Chen Yang."
"Oh, hello." The old man shook hands with me, then stepped aside and led someone out from behind him.
This person was none other than that bastard Li Wenjing, who was planning to marry Qiaoqiao.
Actually, I saw him a while ago, but I was so busy greeting my elders that I only had time to take a closer look at him now...
Looking at it this way, I couldn't help but feel... I felt that calling him a bastard was something I couldn't accept myself.
This person was already quite impressive from afar, but even more so up close! He was easily over 1.85 meters tall. A perfect clothes hanger physique, broad shoulders, narrow waist. Long legs, a well-proportioned and muscular build—clearly an athletic type. His features were handsome and refined, his eyes bright as stars, his eyebrows arched like rainbows, and he wore a calm and kind smile, making it difficult to feel any ill will towards him…
After shaking hands with him, he said slowly in a pleasant voice, "Hello, I am Li Wenjing." His palms were large and dry, and his handshake was firm, which made him quite likable.
It's really hard for me to associate such a person with the word "bastard".
And I instinctively saw a glimmer of wisdom in his eyes! His smile carried a calm and composed air, as if he were unfazed by praise or criticism, seemingly indifferent to everything, and very elegant.
This guy is definitely not simple!
That was my first reaction, because he didn't even react to Qiaoqiao's deliberately cold and indifferent gaze. Qiaoqiao's murderous gaze seemed to pierce the air.
Li Wenjing shook hands with Qiao Qiao, his eyes filled with a smile. Especially the smile on his face…
Well, looking at Qiao Qiao's deliberately provocative gaze, Li Wenjing's smile remained unchanged... It wasn't a fake smile, but a genuine one...
Well, to give an example, if you see a child sulking at you, would you care? Would you take it to heart?
Of course not!
And that's exactly how Li Wenjing's smile is now. He looks at Qiao Qiao as if she were a little brat throwing a tantrum at him, calm and composed, completely unconcerned... just like a lion looking at a small, snarling dog, showing no interest whatsoever, almost yawning in boredom.
Qiaoqiao's dad exchanged a few pleasantries with me, then said, "You're busy, come over for dinner sometime." Then he and Qiaoqiao left.
Li Wenjing lagged behind, and this time his gaze held a different meaning. He suddenly whispered, "Mr. Chen Yang, I know some interesting things about you. I've heard so much about you!" Then he smiled at me, placed a newspaper in my hand, and pulled his suitcase out.
From afar, I could see Qiaoqiao frantically winking and gesturing at me. It meant to contact me by phone.
I looked at the newspaper Li Wenjing had left me with a blank expression, and I was stunned when I opened the first page!
It was a newspaper! They must have been on a Jiangsu Eastern Airlines flight! This was clearly an in-flight newspaper, and in-flight newspapers are usually a day behind.
On this page, there were several pictures, accompanied by some text descriptions.
The most eye-catching picture is of Qiao Qiao wearing a set of thermal underwear from a certain brand, striking a cool pose on a T-shaped stage with a charming smile. The picture below shows a row of girls wearing underwear bowing together.
I'm very familiar with this news headline; I've seen it before...
"Is this a performance, or something indecent?!"
Holy crap!
I frowned, recalling the newspaper Li Wenjing handed me before leaving, and the meaningful smile he gave me...
It's obvious that this "bastard" is probably much harder to deal with than the previous "bastards"!
With that feeling in mind, I waited a while longer before receiving this client.
This is a man and a woman from Shenzhen. The man is a manager at a well-known car dealership, probably a vice president, and is around forty years old. The woman next to him looks much younger, probably around my age.
After the introduction, I learned that she was the boss's secretary, but she had a fox-like face, a pair of almond-shaped eyes, and was dressed in an expensive and exquisite ELLE brand women's clothing, carrying a small Prada handbag.
She was a very flirtatious woman. And she didn't even try to hide it, linking arms with the CEO.
I just sighed inwardly. The boss had a protruding belly, his waist was probably over three feet around, and he was probably old enough to be a secretary's father. Although he was dressed very smartly and trying his best to put on the air of a successful person... unfortunately, no matter how you looked at it, he was far, far inferior to Qiaoqiao's father's natural and imposing aura.