However, looking at the mature man before her, his eyes were calm and gentle, his smile composed and unhurried, and judging from what had happened today, he seemed to be a very intelligent fellow. Such a person shouldn't be the type to do something so trivial out of jealousy.
"You must be wondering why I did this, right?" The man smiled.
"That's right, that's what I'm thinking. So, can you answer my question?"
“Oh, there are many answers.” He said, gesturing with his fingers as he spoke, “For example, because of jealousy, because I don’t like you, or because I’m annoyed that Fang Nan is with you… or maybe, I want to kill you.”
He looked at me with a mocking gaze. I immediately noticed several small red spots on my body.
These are marks that someone is pointing a gun at me with one of those sights!
Sure enough, three or four men came out from both sides of the stands, each carrying a gun.
"Kill me?" I shook my head. "It's not that simple. If you wanted my life, I could have done it the moment I walked in. What is your real purpose?"
The man looked at me for a full minute, then sighed: "You're just like me, really like me. The way you talk, the way you raise your eyebrows, is almost exactly the same as I was more than ten years ago, so arrogant, as proud as a little colt. No wonder Fang Nan fell for you."
That last sentence enraged me, and I couldn't help but sneer, "You're quite good at self-admiration."
Click!
My blunt remark caused the man holding the gun next to me to immediately pull back the bolt. However, the man raised his hand and laughed, "Alright, this is a boring question, there's no point in arguing about it. But I really don't intend to kill you right now. Because I know that if you die, Fang Nan will be upset... Hmm, or perhaps killing both of you together would also be a good idea."
He spoke slowly, with a smile on his face, but the cruelty in his eyes was undisguised!
"What's the point of all this?" I frowned. "Is it just because of the relationship between you, me, and Fang Nan?"
"Of course, it's not just that. Actually... my initial purpose was just to meet you. I'm very curious about you." He shook his head: "Fang Nan is a very good woman. I can't forget her and I don't want her to get hurt. But more importantly, you've aroused my curiosity... What kind of man has Fang Nan fallen for? Also... you did something that really pleased me, and I couldn't help but come and see if you really have three heads and six arms."
"What?"
"You're the only son of that old devil from the Qinghong Renzi clan, did you break his testicles?" The man laughed heartily: "This makes me very happy. Because I've always disliked that guy."
I started to have doubts.
Who exactly is Fang Nan's former "brother"? What is his background?
“I have no interest in arguing with you about these irrelevant things.” I shook my head, then looked at him: “I’m already here. Whether you kill me or not is entirely up to you. If you don’t want to kill me, then state your terms. What do you want in return for Fang Nan’s release?”
"Release Fang Nan... anytime. After all, the old man behind her is a powder keg, and I can't afford to mess with him. Otherwise, I would have taken her away more than ten years ago!" As he finished speaking, a shadow of gloom flashed in the man's eyes. Then, that shadow gradually turned into sorrow...
Looking at Fang Nan's "brother," I actually had very mixed feelings.
I have to admit that Fang Nan was initially attracted to me and treated me differently because I looked a lot like this guy!
In other words, Fang Nan initially only saw me as a substitute for the man in front of her.
Although I'm now very confident, and I believe Fang Nan is completely devoted to me now, without any ulterior motives, the thought of how Fang Nan suffered for this "brother" before still makes me...
Yeah, to be frank, I'm still a little annoyed!
The sadness in his eyes was fleeting, quickly replaced by a calm: "Let me be frank, Chen Yang. I have two choices right now, and I haven't decided yet. You are indeed good. Considering your performance today and your willingness to risk everything for Fang Nan, I should be quite confident that you can give Fang Nan happiness... But now, you have a lot of trouble. You have many enemies, no, too many! And your own strength is not enough; you could die at any time. Moreover, you have too many women. Based on these two points, I'm starting to suspect that Fang Nan might be harmed if she stays with you... So, the question I'm considering now is whether or not to kill you here."
...
His eyes were genuinely serious, but after I frowned, I calmed down and then suddenly burst into laughter.
I laughed loudly, and the man frowned involuntarily: "Do you think I'm joking?"
"Hahahaha... No!" My laughter abruptly stopped. "I know you're not joking. You really can kill me... But I just find you ridiculous... No, not just ridiculous, I even think you're a self-righteous psychopath. To put it in the most ordinary way... you..." I stared into his eyes and said slowly and bluntly, "You're out of your mind!"
Part Three: The Peak, Chapter 117: A Thorn Beating
Despite having several guns pointed at me, I said those words without batting an eye, and even leaned back comfortably in the plastic chair.
The man frowned slightly. No matter how much he tried to appear profound, he couldn't help but get angry when someone called him "mentally ill" to his face.
"What did you say!" His eyes turned cold.
“I said…you’re out of your mind.” I deliberately repeated it with exaggerated mouth movements, then looked at him with a mocking expression and said, “To be honest, I’ve met a lot of people. Enemies, friends, smart, stupid, proud, cautious, careful, arrogant. But I must say, I’ve never met a guy as self-important as you.”
"..." The man stared at me with wide eyes.
“Yes, Fang Nan mentioned you to me before. And I can tell you very clearly that Fang Nan used to feel very uncomfortable whenever you were mentioned. Although I’m very unhappy about it, I admit that you once held a certain place in her heart… But please, that was only ‘the past.’” My words became even more venomous: “Now, Fang Nan and I are in a relationship that is consensual. As for you, you suddenly popped up and interfered, then shamelessly said to me something like, ‘Hmm, you’re not bad, but I’m worried you can’t bring her happiness,’ such a pointless thing. Do you know what I want to do most right now?” I looked him in the eyes.
His face darkened further: "What?"
“我很想一拳揍扁你的鼻子，然后看看你还会不会继续这么自以为是，自我陶醉。”我语气很干脆，飞快的说着，然后冷笑更甚：“而且，最他妈让我可笑的是……你！你凭什么站出来说这些话？凭什么？就凭借你曾经是方楠喜欢过的男人？拜托！少来作态了！什么'不放心你能不能给方楠幸福'……你不觉得这种话让人恶心么？我说一句最最彻底的话，别说我现在很爱她，一定会好好地对待她……就算是退一万步，我和她在一起不愉快，我们有矛盾了，难受了，伤心了……这些又关你屁事？她幸福不幸福，高兴不高兴，那是我操心的事情。你……没资格说这些话。哦……对了，你现在一定很气愤吧？是不是想反驳我，说'我是为她好'！是不是？别否认了，你一定是想说这样的话，对不对？”
The man's face was grim. The muscles in his cheeks twitched, clearly angered by what I had said.
I scoffed even more: "Forget it! For her own good? That's the most ridiculous thing you can say. For her own good? Does she need you to do that for her? Are you doing this for her or not? Does she even care? Yes, that's right, you used to have some connection with her, but now... You don't know what 'past tense' means, do you? Right now, you're a complete stranger to us. A totally irrelevant stranger... I'm just wondering, it has nothing to do with you, yet you suddenly pop up here, shamelessly sticking your nose into our business... Why did you bring her out here? To test whether I care about her or not? To see if I can give her happiness... Damn it! What does this have to do with you? Who are you? Her father? Her older brother? You're nothing, just a symbol that's long gone from her life! My relationship with Fang Nan. What's it to you? You suddenly pop up here to meddle in this... Are you out of your mind?"
My words were incredibly vicious. The man's face turned pale and then dark with rage; his fingers trembled with fury, and he couldn't help but shout, "You little brat! All you can do is talk! I was thinking that if you were alright, I could entrust her to you without worry..."
"Hahahahahahaha..." Before he could finish speaking, I burst into laughter, laughing so hard I almost fell over, even clutching my stomach and pointing at him, as if I had heard the most absurd thing in the world.
"why are you laughing!"
"I'm laughing at you, you're hopelessly brain-dead." I sighed deliberately, my gaze sharp as needles. "You're going to hand her over to me with complete confidence? Here we go again... When will you ever stop? What makes you think you can 'hand her over to me with confidence'? Is she even yours? Fang Nan might have liked you back then, but that's all in the past. Now she's my woman! Whether you're 'confident' or 'not confident' is none of our business. So, stop pretending to be a Casanova in front of me!"
"..."
My final words, "Stop pretending to be a Casanova in front of me," were like a whip lashing across the guy's face, causing his facial expression to twitch violently.
I clearly saw a murderous glint in the man's eyes. He gritted his teeth and said, "Fine! You're very good! Did you think I wouldn't dare kill you here?"
"Sigh... here we go again." I chuckled dismissively. "In the end, it's the same old thing. Trying to intimidate with a gun. You should have said so earlier! You talked for so long, pretending to care about Fang Nan and wanting to see me for her own good... wasn't that pointless? In the end, you just realized you were in the wrong, got angry, and all you could do was threaten with a gun? I actually pity men like you... really. We're all men, but I think you're really pathetic." I stood up, stared into his eyes, and laughed. "Hey, do you think that just because Fang Nan had feelings for you before, she should belong to you forever? That you're responsible for evaluating who she dates and what boyfriends she has? Calling you 'boastful' doesn't even begin to describe you... well, how should I put it... oh right, it should be... meddling + delusional!"
The guy finally couldn't hold back any longer and yelled, "Fuck!"
After saying that, he suddenly pounced on me and punched me hard in the cheek.
I took a punch to the face, he hit my chin, and my head spun for a moment, but I didn't hold back. I immediately grabbed him from under his armpits, hugged him tightly, yelled, and flipped him over. Then the two of us tumbled down the steps of the stands.
His men, stunned, rushed over, but he yelled, "Don't come any closer! This is my own business!"
"Ha! Okay! But you're still wrong. This is between me and Fang Nan, you're just meddling!" I continued to provoke him, while simultaneously slamming my knee into his stomach, causing him to wince in pain. He snorted and then delivered an elbow strike to my ribs. I jolted and retaliated with a punch to his nose.
The two of us men were like street thugs, throwing punches wildly and without any strategy. A few of his henchmen, who had initially tried to help, were all taken a few steps back with strange expressions after his shout. After a while, the two of us, since the stands were tiered, inevitably started tumbling down. We landed right at the feet of one of his henchmen. That guy immediately kicked me from behind. I winced in pain and yelled, "Ha! Finally found some backup, huh? I bet all you can do is bully people!"
"Who gave you permission to lay a hand on him!" he yelled, ignoring me and kicking his henchman aside with a hard kick. "Get out of the way, all of you. I'll deal with him myself!!"
This mature man, who had maintained a calm and composed demeanor since the beginning of our meeting, finally ripped off his mask. We wrestled together again, tumbling down the stairs until we both crashed into the railing of this tier of the stands.
I punched him in the stomach, and he immediately curled up like a shrimp. He was panting and almost vomited. But just as I was about to kick him, he punched me in the shoulder with his other hand.
We struggled like that for a while until he finally ran out of strength and I pinned him against the railing. His face was pressed so hard against the metal railing that it was distorted.
"Still want to fight?" I sneered. "You can't out-argue me with words, you can't reason with me, and you're not even as strong as me with your fists... It's rare to see someone like you come here and interfere in my and Fang Nan's affairs."
He struggled desperately, shaking his head, but I held him down. He couldn't breathe properly and could only gasp for air; he couldn't utter a single word.
Finally, I let go of him. He clutched his chest and turned around, leaning against the railing, breathing heavily.
I took two steps back and sat on a plastic chair in the stands. I caught my breath for a while, then reached into my pocket and pulled out a cigarette case that was already crushed and deformed from my shirt. I took out two crumpled cigarettes, lit one for myself, and tossed the other to him.
He hesitated for a moment, then reached out and took it. His face darkened as he waved his hand, signaling his men to leave.
His men hesitated for a moment, but still did as they were told.
"Finished hitting? Finished venting? Can we get down to business now? But please drop that 'ladies' act and stop spouting nonsense about me and Fang Nan. It just makes me laugh." I said coldly.
He silently took a drag of his cigarette, then caught his breath: "You really went all out."
"Ruthless?" I laughed loudly. "Haha! I've already held back! With my skills, I could break your ribs with two punches! It's just that we're two men fighting over a woman, so I don't need to use my martial arts to bully you. But if you keep talking nonsense, I really won't be polite."
His face darkened: "Ha! Now it seems like you've got the upper hand! Don't forget, you're here with me, I have men and guns, I can shoot you dead anytime! You're still being stubborn!"
"Stubborn? You're the one being stubborn, not me." I sneered. "You dare kill me? If you dared, you would have had a hundred chances already. You don't dare kill me... Stop pretending. Although I don't know your background, firstly, you don't dare kill Fang Nan. With Fang Nan's background, if you dare to touch her, you can expect your entire family to be wiped out! As for me, you've only gone to so much trouble to lure me here. As for those pretentious words just now, they were just an attempt to intimidate me with your imposing manner before we talk... Forget it. Although you like to play the Casanova, you're not stupid. You've made me put on such a big show today. Just say it, what do you want from me!"
The man stared at me with a strange expression for a while: "What makes you so confident?"
"Even after I insulted you like that, you didn't order your men to shoot me." I said calmly, "Originally, when Fang Nan disappeared, I was manipulated by you the whole time. At the time, I didn't know you were the one who kidnapped her; I thought it was one of my enemies. Although Fang Nan's background is such that ordinary people wouldn't dare to touch her, even among my enemies, there's no guarantee that someone might be driven to desperation. That's why I was anxious and intimidated by you. But seeing you here puts my mind at ease. Now that I'm certain of this, why should I be afraid of you? Humph!"
He had taken several punches to the face, leaving several bruises and swellings. He looked rather disheveled, but his eyes still held a hint of fierceness: "You reacted quickly. It seems I underestimated you. I shouldn't have shown myself; I should have sent someone to talk to you. Wouldn't you have obeyed then?"
"That's right, it's your own fault for being stupid. You just had to stand up and talk to me face to face about Fang Nan's happiness, pretending to be a love saint! I don't fall for that kind of love saint act at all! Humph, you even pretend to care about her... Damn it, if you really cared about her all along, you would have been with her back then, and now you suddenly pop up and say these bullshit things... Where were you all this time! Knowing that Fang Nan was in danger, I would have risked my life to come here! And you, the man who left her back then, have no right to question me about my happiness or unhappiness."
"Hahahaha..." This guy suddenly burst into laughter, and I couldn't help but feel a little strange about it... Could it be that I knocked him stupid with those punches?
"Interesting! Interesting! That's fucking interesting!" The man glared at me. "You've got quite the temper. No wonder you dared to smash that bastard son of the 'Human-Headed Old Ghost' in the balls when you were just a small-time thug. Hahahaha..."
I glanced at him sideways: "You keep talking about some old ghost with the character '人' in his name... Are you close to that guy whose balls I smashed?"
"We're evenly matched... I fought him once, and I broke one of his ribs." The man shook his head.
A thought struck me: if he could fight the son of a bigwig in the Qinghong gang and talk about it so easily... then his identity and background must be extraordinary.
Seeing my gaze, he finally stood up: "Let's get to know each other again. My name is Sun He. I am the head of the Qinghong Tianzi Punishment Hall. I am Sun Rucai, the big boss of the Qinghong Tianzi."
Part Three: The Pinnacle, Chapter 118: I Hate You
The crown prince of the Qinghong Tianzi branch?
This identity really surprised me.
Given Fang Nan's background and family history, the "brother" she liked back then certainly wasn't an ordinary person. I had already anticipated that. But I never expected him to be the heir apparent of the Qinghong Heavenly Division?!
"Good heavens, so you're the heir of the Qinghong Tianzi... Hmph, but how are you going to explain Fang Nan's kidnapping to her family? Even someone like you, the head of the Qinghong Tianzi, can't just do something like this!"
Sun He raised an eyebrow: "What's so difficult about that? I didn't hurt her. It's called kidnapping, but I didn't really do anything. I just knocked out the two men outside her house and then took her out. I didn't break in, and I didn't use any violence against her. In fact, the two guys I knocked out were the people Fang Nan's family sent to guard her! Fang Nan was basically under house arrest; I'm the one who actually took her out. As for this matter... it's not difficult either. As long as Fang Nan makes a phone call home, her family will understand, and naturally they won't pursue the matter."
Although his words were vague, there were several unspoken implications: he and Fang Nan were old acquaintances, and this time he had simply used some special methods to bypass the guards at Fang Nan's house and bring her out for a brief meeting. It wasn't a big deal—as long as Fang Nan didn't pursue the matter.
Of course, unless Fang Nan herself insists that she was kidnapped, her family will not pursue the matter. But Fang Nan is a sentimental person, so it's unlikely she would do that.
This implication made me somewhat uncomfortable, but I couldn't say anything: I wouldn't do something like instructing Fang Nan to put pressure on the family to deal with Sun He. Although I also disliked him, I wouldn't be so cowardly as to rely on the power of a woman's family to deal with him.
"Hmph, then, Your Highness, what other purpose do you have in coming to see me? Speak frankly!" I said impatiently.
“Of course I have a purpose. First, as I said…” His expression turned somewhat strange. He sighed and said seriously, “Perhaps some of what we said when we first met was an act, but to be honest, I feel I’ve wronged Fang Nan. Back then… my status simply prevented us from being together. I suppose I let her down. Her family background would naturally not allow their daughter to be with the son of China’s biggest gangster. We were simply not meant to be. But I know I’ve wronged her. My purpose in meeting you is indeed partly to see if you can truly be good to her…”
Seeing the anger return to my face, he shook his head and said, "Don't get angry yet. Let me finish. I know I have no right to interfere in your affairs. I'm not foolish enough to consider Fang Nan one of my own. It's just that out of guilt towards her, I need to know if the man she found will hurt her again. That's all. Now that we're sitting down to talk, I don't need to put on an act anymore. I have no ulterior motives; it's just a feeling of guilt towards her."
"And then?" I didn't want to waste time arguing with him about this. "And what about the other purposes?"
“Let’s talk.” Sun He smiled faintly. “You’re quite the figure now. The three leaders of Qinghong, and Ye Huan, the newly established warlord. And the Big Circle… your influence even extends to North America… You manage to navigate all these major powers with ease. Today, you’re at the forefront of the storm. Whether they’re friends or enemies, no one dares to underestimate you. As for me, I’m here on behalf of the Qinghong’s top leader to thoroughly examine you… What could be easier than staging a performance to uncover your true nature?”
Sun He smiled smugly, but I frowned.