The proprietress never expected Zhou Ziwei to resort to such a tactic of fighting fire with fire. She had assumed that no matter how powerful Zhou Ziwei was, he was just a nobody who could handle some petty thugs, but he wouldn't dare to do anything to her, a respectable local business owner. That's why she mustered up the courage to try and extort a few things from him. But to her surprise, Zhou Ziwei didn't take the bait at all and instead called over the two people she feared most to deal with her.
Now she was filled with regret, realizing she shouldn't have been so greedy, trying to extort money from everyone. Helpless, she could only hurriedly say, "No need... no need... actually... actually, I didn't suffer much loss. The overturned container wasn't damaged; it can just be put back up. As for the goods... they were mostly still in their packaging. Even if they got dirty, a quick wipe would fix it. It would only waste a little labor; it's not a large sum of money. I won't trouble you two to compensate me..."
"Damn it...you fucking messed with us..." The two thugs acted like grandsons when facing Zhou Ziwei, but they were all arrogant in front of the proprietress. They immediately slapped her across the face.
At the same time, he grinned and said, "You think you can just demand compensation and then refuse? That would make us brothers lose face! You have to give me a price today, or else... hmph..."
The proprietress was slapped, and half of her face immediately swelled up. She quickly said with a mournful face, "Three thousand...three thousand, okay?"
"Holy shit...you fucking asked for three thousand...you really dare to take that."
Upon hearing this, another thug raised his hand to strike again, but the proprietress hurriedly said, "I mean... I'll give each of you three thousand yuan... as compensation for the medical expenses you two incurred today when you slipped and fell in my little shop. Please, gentlemen, let me off the hook, okay?"
While the three were "negotiating" compensation in a corner of the clothing store, Zhou Ziwei had already pulled Luan Yuqing outside. However, the two thugs spoke very loudly to make Zhou Ziwei feel their "sincerity," so the two outside the door could hear it clearly, especially the sound of the proprietress being slapped hard.
Luan Yuqing turned around and saw the proprietress being pulled by the hair, crying pitifully. She felt a pang of pity and couldn't help but glance at Zhou Ziwei, wanting to say a few words of advice, but she didn't dare to speak.
"What... you've softened your heart?"
Zhou Ziwei noticed Luan Yuqing's reaction, smiled slightly, and said, "You think it's a bit unfair of me to treat an innocent clothing store owner like this, right? Hmph... That's right... She is indeed innocent in the matter that just happened, and can even be considered a victim. But don't forget how she treated you just now. She said she wanted you to compensate her at least 30,000 yuan, but now that those two scumbags have opened their mouths, she wants to compensate each of them 3,000 yuan. Doesn't she have a cousin who's a criminal police officer? Why isn't she using that to scare those two scumbags now? Why didn't she let her cousin uphold justice when those two scumbags were arresting you? Hmph... Bullying the weak and fearing the strong, this kind of despicable person deserves this kind of punishment."
Luan Yuqing knew that Zhou Ziwei was right, but as a woman herself, she couldn't help but feel sorry for the proprietress being bullied.
However, she knew she couldn't change Zhou Ziwei's mind, so she could only sigh helplessly and follow closely behind him like a wronged wife, without saying a word.
This was a fairly bustling commercial street, and there were quite a few clothing stores like the one we had just seen. Zhou Ziwei led Luan Yuqing a short distance ahead and saw a women's clothing store called "Women's Boutique." Looking through the window, the clothes sold inside seemed to be of a higher quality, so Zhou Ziwei stopped and beckoned Luan Yuqing to go inside. He pointed to the dazzling array of clothes hanging inside and said, "Go and choose for yourself! Once you've chosen yours, just put it on. And don't forget to pick out an outfit for my friend too. I'll pay for everything, so don't worry about it."
Luan Yuqing bit her lip and nodded, without saying anything more like thank you, and quietly started choosing on her own.
Shopping with a woman can be a very tiring experience, something Zhou Ziwei knew all too well in his previous life. Back then, to support Xiaoya and her younger sister through university, Zhou Ziwei had to work part-time almost every day. When he had a break, it was inevitable that he would accompany Xiaoya shopping.
Limited by their financial situation, the two of them naturally didn't have much spare money to buy new clothes. However, loving beauty is a woman's nature. When Xiaoya went to the Zhongdu Fashion Department Store, she would often spend the whole day there, trying on one piece of clothing after another. Even though she couldn't afford to buy them, she still wanted to indulge herself.
When Zhou Ziwei saw Xiaoya trying on those clothes that cost thousands of yuan each and looking so reluctant to part with them, he felt very uncomfortable and useless.
However, he believes that with his own efforts, everything will be alright.
Bread will come... everything will come. He will change everything with his own hands... but what he didn't expect was that before his efforts could bear fruit, everything was already over... If it weren't for the miraculous six-syllable mantra that preserved his soul, he would have had to leave this world with an eternal regret.
Just as Zhou Ziwei was lost in thought, Luan Yuqing came out of the fitting room wearing a brand new outfit.
The clothes she chose weren't cheap, but they weren't very expensive either. This clothing store wasn't low-end; the cheapest item cost four or five hundred yuan. She changed into a whole outfit, which cost her about three thousand yuan.
Luan Yuqing knew that Zhou Ziwei wouldn't care about this amount of money, so she didn't intend to save him any.
So he picked out a set he liked and grabbed it casually without even looking at the price. As a result, the process was much faster than Zhou Ziwei had expected.
"Oh...this outfit seems pretty good...I'll take this one! Waiter, could you please cut off the tag on this shirt? I won't take it off."
Luan Yuqing looked in the mirror and felt the effect was acceptable, so she immediately made her decision. As for her original outfit, she could just throw it in the trash.
"Oh... this lady has excellent taste... this outfit looks absolutely perfect on you..." The saleswoman, seeing Luan Yuqing so readily choose an outfit costing several thousand yuan, immediately knew she'd encountered a wealthy person. However, judging from the dirty clothes Luan Yuqing had just worn, she knew this wealthy person wasn't Luan Yuqing, but rather the indifferent Zhou Ziwei. She quickly and deliberately spoke loudly, "Look... your boyfriend is so lucky to walk down the street with such a beautiful girlfriend like you... ah... if you were wearing a pair of genuine Italian designer boots, people might even think your boyfriend was carrying a movie star from Hong Kong..."
Luan Yuqing pursed her lips and said, "You flatter me too much... I'm not that gentleman's girlfriend, but I still want to thank you for your compliment... Um... Where are those boots you mentioned? I also need to help that gentleman's girlfriend choose an outfit. If the boots you mentioned are really beautiful, I think that gentleman won't mind spending a little more money."
"Oh... well... wait a moment... I'll go get it right away..."
The sales assistant couldn't quite figure out the complicated relationship between them, but when she heard that Luan Yuqing wanted to buy another outfit, she immediately perked up and brought out the most expensive clothes in the store, as well as underwear and leather boots.
Although Luan Yuqing didn't intend to save Zhou Ziwei money, she wasn't the kind of sucker who would be taken advantage of. With her very discerning eye, she browsed around and selected a pair of mesh leather boots and a scarf from the clothing that was considered luxury items in the store. She then dismissed the items recommended by the sales assistant. After wandering around the store again, she selected a dress and a casual denim outfit for Liu Xiaofei based on Zhou Ziwei's description.
Finally, when it came to choosing underwear, she had to go to Zhou Ziwei again to ask for his opinion: "Well... everything else is fine, but this... bra is really something I can't skimp on. How big are your friend's breasts? What cup size should I buy for her? You have to tell me, right?"
"Ah...this one!"
Zhou Ziwei really didn't know much about women's bra sizes. Although he had just been fascinated by Liu Xiaofei's snow-white breasts and had been playing with them for a long time, he had no idea what size bra she should wear.
Left with no other option, Zhou Ziwei picked up his phone and called Liu Xiaofei, only to find that Liu Xiaofei's phone was already switched off.
He originally wanted to call Gu Dongfeng's landline again, but then he remembered that Liu Xiaofei was still lying naked in bed. How could she get up to answer the phone under such circumstances? Zhou Ziwei couldn't have someone else relay this information, so after thinking about it, he could only give up asking Liu Xiaofei.
Should we buy one of each size of bra and let Liu Xiaofei choose? Hmm... that's one way, but what about the rest? Liu Xiaofei definitely won't use them, and leaving them at Gu Dongfeng's house isn't a good idea. Zhou Ziwei can't exactly carry around a bunch of women's bras all over the place!
Left with no other choice, Zhou Ziwei shamelessly used his soul power to briefly see through Luan Yuqing's chest, then pretended to touch his nose and said, "This... hers... should be slightly smaller than yours. You... just pick two or three for her! There's bound to be one that suits her."
Upon hearing this, Luan Yuqing's face immediately turned bright red to her ears. She hurriedly nodded and said, "Oh... then... then I understand..." Then she ran to the lingerie section as if her life depended on it.
When it came time to pay, Zhou Ziwei discovered that the store didn't accept bank cards. Helpless, he had to go to a nearby bank to withdraw money, since Luan Yuqing had spent over 10,000 yuan on the clothes, and Zhou Ziwei didn't have that much cash with him.
Zhou Ziwei could have gone to withdraw the money by himself, but the problem was that Luan Yuqing was being hunted by some force. Zhou Ziwei knew that if Luan Yuqing got out of his sight, she could be captured by that Mr. Qiao's men at any time.
Therefore, Zhou Ziwei dared not leave Luan Yuqing alone in the clothing store.
However, even if Luan Yuqing were to go along, she would have to leave all the new clothes she had chosen there, otherwise, since the people didn't know them, they wouldn't know if they would actually come back to pay after they left.
However… Luan Yuqing is already wearing her new clothes, but she has already thrown her old clothes in the trash, which… is quite troublesome…
Volume 1, Rebirth of a Prodigy, Chapter 167: Believe Me?
Zhou Ziwei couldn't let Luan Yuqing leave his side, nor could he get Luan Yuqing to take off the clothes she was already wearing and return them to the clothing store.
He looked at himself with great distress, then sadly realized that although he was a veritable billionaire, he didn't have a single piece of jewelry or watch of any value on him, and couldn't even pawn them at a clothing store.
Left with no other choice, Zhou Ziwei had to ask the clothing store to send someone with them to withdraw the money. However, the clothing store owner immediately and without hesitation refused this request. The owner even suspected that Zhou Ziwei and Luan Yuqing were playing a honey trap or some other kind of trick. If someone really went with them, they would probably fall into their trap.
The clothing store owner was unaware of what had just happened not far from his store, so he naturally couldn't understand why these two insisted on going to the bank together just to withdraw money. Normally, one person could have gone alone; wouldn't it have been better to let the woman wait there? Their insistence on going together seemed suspicious.
Zhou Ziwei could severely punish the greedy proprietress from earlier, but he couldn't take a hard line against the clothing store owner's reasonable demands.
If there was really no other way, Zhou Ziwei could have called Li Yifeng to get some cash and bring it over.
However, Liu Xiaofei was still lying naked on the bed, and she must be very anxious. Zhou Ziwei didn't want Liu Xiaofei to wait too long, so he had no choice but to let Luan Yuqing wait alone in the clothing store for a while while he went to get the money.
When Luan Yuqing heard that Zhou Ziwei was going to leave her there alone, her eyes immediately welled up with tears. At that moment, she no longer resembled a mature young woman; she was more like a lonely little girl. She tightly gripped Zhou Ziwei's sleeve with both hands, looking at him pitifully. Although she bit her lip hard to utter a single pleading word, her expression and eyes conveyed her meaning perfectly.
Zhou Ziwei shook his head with a wry smile and said, "Don't worry! Now that I've taken care of your affairs, I won't let anyone else arrest you. Here... just sit in this fitting room and don't leave for a second. I guarantee that even if that Mr. Qiao's men break in while I'm away, they won't be able to take you away from here. Do you believe me?"
"I...I believe it."
In fact, Luan Yuqing racked her brains but couldn't figure out how Zhou Ziwei could protect her now that he had left. But for some reason, she instinctively chose to believe Zhou Ziwei's words. Urged on by Zhou Ziwei's silence, she finally let go of his sleeve, then slipped into the fitting room and tightly closed the door...
The owner of this clothing store is a fat man in his forties. As a grown man, he runs a store that specializes in women's clothing. Naturally, he doesn't usually appear in the store, so he spends most of his time playing online games day and night in the break room. Today, he heard that someone wanted to buy more than 10,000 yuan worth of clothes at once, so he came out to take a look. Little did he expect to encounter such a troublesome situation.
Seeing that the other party was finally willing to give in and leave the woman behind while the man went to get the money alone, he felt a little relieved. He then gestured to the two sales assistants to stand guard outside the fitting room where Luan Yuqing was staying, in case Luan Yuqing slipped away unnoticed after Zhou Ziwei left, which would result in a huge loss for him.
Although this is a relatively bustling commercial street, there isn't a single bank on it. So if Zhou Ziwei wants to withdraw money, it will probably take him at least twenty minutes to get back, assuming he takes a taxi both ways.
Therefore, the fat boss dared not be negligent. He sent two capable sales assistants to guard Luan Yuqing, and he himself found a chair to stand guard at the door.
His clothing store doesn't have a back door. If Luan Yuqing wants to run away, she can only go through this door. He's guarding this place because he's worried that if Luan Yuqing tries to run away, the two sales assistants won't be able to stop her.
Five minutes later, just as the fat boss was getting a little impatient, six or seven men in blue suits suddenly walked in through the door, pushed open the glass door, and barged in.
The fat shop owner felt a chill run down his spine upon seeing this. This was supposed to be a women's shop, but now so many grown men had suddenly appeared. Even a fool would know that these people couldn't possibly be here to buy anything.
Moreover, he knew the two men leading the group. They used to be well-known local thugs, but later they followed a jadeite rough stone merchant who supposedly had official connections. Now they were doing very well, and naturally, they were not people that he, a small clothing store owner, could afford to offend.
"Oh my... isn't this Brother Tiger?" The fat shopkeeper didn't dare to be negligent and quickly stood up to greet him, bowing and scraping with a fawning smile. "Brother Tiger, are you here to pick out a gift for your girlfriend? Hehe... I'm honored that you think so highly of me. Please feel free to choose anything; I'll give you a 30% discount on everything. How about that?"
"Hit you my foot."
The man, whom the fat boss called Tiger, snorted coldly, looked around, and said, "A woman stole a top-quality jadeite from Mr. Qiao's private collection. Someone just saw that woman enter your shop. Don't tell me there's no such person... otherwise... you'll be in for a world of hurt."
"Ah...this...this..."
Upon hearing this, the fat shop owner immediately understood why the man had been so worried about leaving the woman alone in the clothing store. It turned out that the woman had offended Mr. Qiao.
As for Tiger's nonsense about the woman stealing Mr. Qiao's top-quality jadeite, the fat boss naturally wouldn't believe it. Mr. Qiao was in the jadeite rough stone business, so it wasn't unusual for him to have a few pieces of top-quality jadeite. However... unless someone's brain is completely malfunctioning, who would steal from Mr. Qiao, who has an official background? That would be like a grandfather hanging himself, tired of living.
So the fat boss guessed that the woman was probably Mr. Qiao's lover, but then she took a fancy to another young man and eloped with him, which angered Mr. Qiao. Naturally, she wouldn't have a good outcome.
Of course... the fat boss wasn't in the mood to investigate what their relationship was. To avoid trouble, he should have immediately exposed Luan Yuqing, but the problem was that Luan Yuqing was currently wearing clothes worth over three thousand yuan from their store. If this person was taken away by Brother Tiger... he would lose everything.
But... if he stops Brother Tiger from taking the person away, then his losses will probably be more than just three thousand. Brother Tiger is not a good-tempered person. Once he gets angry, it is not impossible for him and his men to smash this clothing store to pieces.
After only a moment's hesitation, when the fat boss saw the fierce glint in Tiger's eyes, he had no choice but to make a decision. He pointed to the fitting room where Luan Yuqing was and said with a bitter face, "There is a female customer in there... but... whether she is the person you are looking for, I don't know."
Tiger reached out and gently patted the fat boss's chubby face, saying, "Okay... since you're being so cooperative, I'll have the brothers be careful and try not to make a mess of your shop while we're working."
The fat boss hurriedly put on a fawning smile, bowing repeatedly and saying, "Thank you, thank you, Brother Tiger... Brother Tiger is so righteous!" But in his heart, he was cursing: "Damn it, you made me lose so much money, and I have to thank you... What kind of world is this...?"
Tiger knew long ago that the powerful man wasn't around, but he didn't dare to linger. He immediately waved his hand, signaling his two men to hurry over and drag Luan Yuqing out. Once they got her into the car and back to Mr. Qiao, they wouldn't have to worry about that mysterious and terrifying man causing trouble again.
Upon receiving Tiger's order, the two thugs quickly went over, shooed the two sales assistants guarding the outside aside, and then directly opened the fitting room door. Sure enough, they saw Luan Yuqing, dressed in a brand new outfit, sitting inside, hugging her shoulders and trembling with fear...
"You bitch, I'll let you escape again..."
When the thug in the lead saw Luan Yuqing, he immediately bared his teeth and revealed a ferocious smile, reaching out his large hand to grab Luan Yuqing's collar.
Luan Yuqing had already seen the scene outside through the crack in the door. When she saw that six or seven thugs had come to arrest her and Zhou Ziwei was not nearby, she realized that she probably had no way to escape.
However, Luan Yuqing still remembered what Zhou Ziwei had just said, telling her not to step out of the fitting room under any circumstances, saying that as long as she didn't leave the fitting room, no one could take her away... It was this sentence that made Luan Yuqing suppress the urge to break down the door and run away, even though she knew she would be discovered sooner or later. She hugged her shoulders tightly and waited for the unknown outcome with difficulty.
When the thug reached out to grab her, Luan Yuqing was already in utter despair. She smiled bitterly, thinking that she shouldn't have trusted Zhou Ziwei so easily, and that Zhou Ziwei probably regretted meddling in her affairs, so he deliberately used this method to get rid of her here...
Have I been betrayed again?
A bitter smile appeared on Luan Yuqing's lips. She closed her eyes tightly, resigning herself to fate.
However, at that moment, she suddenly heard a shrill scream, and then felt a slight heat on her face, as if a few sticky drops had landed on her face.
Luan Yuqing opened her eyes in surprise, and then saw that the thug who had just tried to grab her out of the fitting room had already withdrawn his hand, and his arm was now inexplicably stained with a shocking bloodstain.
"You bitch, what...what did you use to stab me just now...Ah...it hurts so much!"
The thug, clutching his bleeding arm, was somewhat unwilling to be outmaneuvered in front of his many companions by a woman who seemed to have no fighting ability whatsoever. Enraged, he immediately launched a kick at Luan Yuqing, who was huddled in the fitting room.
The thug's kick was fast and powerful; even before his foot arrived, a gust of air blew Luan Yuqing's beautiful hair into motion.
It seemed that the thugs were no longer simply grabbing people; they practically wanted to kick Luan Yuqing to death.
"Hey... don't do anything reckless, don't really hurt her..." Tiger shouted from behind, but it was obviously too late. The thug's kick had already been sent out and was impossible to retract...
But at that moment, another miserable scream came from the thug's mouth. In an instant, three more bloody holes appeared in his kick, creating six fleshy punctures. These were three wounds that completely pierced through his leg, causing the man to faint from the pain of being shot with six jets of blood.
"Ah... there's a ghost..."
Beside the unfortunate fellow, the thug that Tiger had sent to help capture Luan Yuqing was still unharmed because he had been a little slow in his attack. However, faced with such a bizarre scene, his confidence had completely collapsed. He no longer dared to capture Luan Yuqing, nor did he dare to touch his unconscious companion. He turned around and fled for his life behind Tiger and his men.
"You good-for-nothing, where do you think you're going?"
Enraged, Tiger turned around and grabbed the thug, slapping him twice across the face without hesitation. Then, with a stern expression, he asked, "You were closest and should have seen it most clearly. What did that woman use to injure Er Lengzi? We didn't hear a single gunshot; it shouldn't have been a handgun..."
"No...nothing at all...there's a ghost...there's a ghost..."