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Chapter 139: Chapter 126: Everyone Heard it, He’s the One Who Told Me to Start_1
Upon seeing that it was Tang Qing, Yan Fei furrowed his brow, especially when he noticed Tang Qing dressed in student attire, good-looking enough to outshine him by a mile. The sparks of envy began to kindle, and his vexation grew. Using a commanding tone, he said, "Tang Qing, you’re finally here. You go to the box first, I have to handle some things here."
He hadn’t yet grasped the meaning behind Tang Qing’s previous words and by instinct, grouped Tang Qing into his camp, assuming he was casually offering him some support.
"So, harassing her amounts to ’handling things’ for you?" Tang Qing sneered, casting an oblique glance at Zhang Jing and asked coldly. Noticing that Yan Fei had not yet grasped the situation and was acting high and mighty, he grew agitated, thinking: Are you planning to bully us too?
"What do you mean?" Yan Fei asked, furrowing his eyebrows. 𝖓𝖔𝖛𝔭𝖚𝖇.𝔠𝖔𝔪
"What I mean is, are you preparing to harass her?" Tang Qing repeated, crossing his arms and shaking his head with agitation at Yan Fei’s lack of brain power. Winning over such an opponent would invite the audience’s scorn.
"Tang Qing, this isn’t your business, so don’t be nosy," Yan Fei said coldly. He scorned the idea of Tang Qing acting all heroic under a misguided sense of justice, dismissing him as a naive rich kid who loses concentration when a woman is involved.
"How is this not my business? If you bully my employee, am I supposed to just sit back and let it happen?" Tang Qing chuckled lightly. Although he only had a 30% stake in the restaurant, strictly speaking, the restaurant was Li Jianguo’s. But Zhang Jing was his recruit, his spokesperson; to say that she is his person is absolutely correct.
"Your employee? You’re the boss of this restaurant?" Upon hearing this, Yan Fei asked in surprise. It was only then that he realized the meaning behind Tang Qing’s first words upon arriving. He wasn’t offering him support, but rather was supporting Zhang Jing. The thought of how he had mistakenly assumed Tang Qing to be an outsider meddling in his affairs left him feeling embarrassed and ashamed.
"This restaurant is co-owned by me, so naturally, she’s my employee. Do you have anything else to say?" Tang Qing asked, flashing a wry smile.
"You... She used to be an employee at my factory. We’ve known each other for quite a while," Yan Fei said hastily, trying to come up with something to say, boiling with envy. Not only was Tang Qing tall and handsome, he also had a rich family. Although Tang Qing didn’t reveal the extent of his share in the restaurant, based on the size of the restaurant, it was clear that he was earning quite a substantial sum each month, perhaps even more than Yan Fei’s factory. This left Yan Fei at a loss for words. The disparity between them had him thinking: All the wealth and favor had been bestowed on Tang Qing, whereas he was left with nothing.
"Is this true?" Tang Qing turned to Zhang Jing and asked. At this point, he wasn’t fully clear on the nature of their relationship. If this was a lovers’ spat, he didn’t want to be the third wheel. But if Yan Fei was harassing her, well...
"No, that’s not true. He used to harass me at the factory, and threatened other employees into forming relations. I left because I couldn’t bear with the harassment," Zhang Jing hastily explained. She didn’t want Tang Qing misunderstood anything about any possible intimate relationship with Yan Fei.
"Oh really? Yan Fei, what else do you have to say?" Tang Qing asked coldly. He was beyond disgusted with Yan Fei after hearing all this. He felt the man disgusting and despicable for using such underhanded tactics to pursue women, and the disgust only grew at the thought of such a misguided man walking among him. To him, deceit would have been more highbrow, but coercing women was just trashy.
"What business is it of yours? This a private matter between Jingjing and I; I won’t back down," Yan Fei said upon hearing Zhang Jing expose his intentions, his heart filled with anger. A few nearby customers who heard what Zhang Jing had said were pointing and whispering, making him feel utterly humiliated.
Tang Qing, seeing Yan Fei start to play dirty, couldn’t help but laugh. Just as he was about to say something, Li Kai stepped forward and pointed at Yan Fei, cursing him:
"Damn you, you disgusting piece of shit, daring to bully Sister Jingjing. If you dare to come here in the future, I’ll beat the hell out of you."
Li Kai simply couldn’t hold back anymore. Zhang Jing often took care of him when he would visit the restaurant and he had grown fond of her. To have this disgusting man bully her was unbearable, even without Tang Qing’s presence. But now with ’second generation rich guy’ Tang Qing around, his courage naturally swelled quite a bit.
"And who are you? Just some kid trying to act tough. Get lost," Yan Fei snorted disdainfully. Even though they outnumbered him, he wasn’t afraid of a high school student. He simply dismissed Li Kai as bluffing, putting up a brave front when he was too afraid to take action.
But Yan Fei underestimated Li Kai. Tang Qing well knew that if Li Kai lost his temper, he wouldn’t hesitate to start a fight. In the past, he had been a model student, but Li Kai was quite the opposite. As Li Kai’s family grew wealthier, he became more confident and bold. He might not be a knight in shining armor, but when it came to standing up for what’s right, he well deserved an award.
"Damn it, you dare curse at me? Watch..." Just as Li Kai rolled up his sleeves ready to charge, Tang Qing quickly stepped in to stop him, not to defend Yan Fei, but to minimize the chances of Li Kai getting caught up in this mess. It would be better if he took the heat himself.
Seeing Tang Qing stop Li Kai, Yan Fei was even more certain of his assumptions, and thought they were truly afraid of him, causing his courage to surge. He then said disdainfully, "Hmph, you coward, go ahead and try to lay a finger on me."
"Slap..."
Before Yan Fei could finish his sentence, Tang Qing stepped forward and delivered a firm slap across his face. The full force of this slap wasn’t inflicted; he held back enough not to send Yan Fei sprawling onto the floor. People like him fear losing face more than physical pain. Taking a bit of steam out of him seemed more reasonable. Had Tang Qing hit him too hard, how could he possibly have a chance to slap him a second time?
"You’re the one who said to take action. I didn’t force you - everyone heard it. I’m just indulging this gentleman’s special taste." Tang Qing raised his hand that he had used to slap him, feigning innocence and smiling in a roundabout way. Zhang Jing and Li Kai couldn’t help but laugh, and the nearby customers naturally joined in the heckling. The commotion caught the attention of customers further away and... word got around quickly. In no time, the entire hall knew the story. As for the final version that got around, Tang Qing had no idea.
But the idea that Tang Qing was the good guy was correctly propagated. After all, he looked like a student... handsome and gentle, his smile was warm and comforting. As for the other person... an absolute villain. This was the consensus of all the female customers.
Yan Fei was stunned by the slap, feeling the numbness on his face.
He was hit.
He was slapped in public.
He was slapped in public by Tang Qing the student.
It took quite a while for Yan Fei to realize this was real. Seeing all the people whispering, the face-saving Yan Fei became furious and roared, "You, Tang Qing, just because you’re a high..."
"Smack...."
Seeing that Yan Fei had started to blurt out, Tang Qing struck another slap. Same intensity, same side of the face, same feeling.
Yan Fei was again shocked. He couldn’t believe that Tang Qing dared to slap him a second time, and didn’t know what to say. He covered his face, looking at Tang Qing incredulously.
"Does it hurt?" Tang Qing casually asked, cleaning his hand with a napkin he took from the counter. His pretense was highly regarded by the surrounding customers.
Some troublemakers even started to whistle.
"You..." Yan Fei was about to say something, but he instinctively stepped back when he saw the look in Tang Qing’s eyes, fearing another slap. He was becoming teary due to the back-to-back slaps.
It was at this stalemate that Zhou Li returned with his cigarettes.
’Little Tang, you’re here. What are you all doing at the entrance, Little Fei? Why haven’t you gone in yet, and why are you covering your face? Why are you crying?’ Zhou Li asked in surprise as he arrived and saw everyone in the hall was staring at the counter.
’He hit me.’ Yan Fei spoke in a teary voice, pointing at Tang Qing with bright relief that there was now a ’friend’. His long-suppressed feelings finally ’exploded’. He had never been so humiliated, being slapped in front of so many people. Just thinking about it made him want to cry.
"Let’s go up first, it’s not appropriate here." Zhou Li noticed the issue, decided to move the dispute upstairs. Most of the customers were eagerly watching the scene unfold with their ’green eyes’, hoping for some action. As the target of the gossip, Zhou Li could only apologise.
"Okay." Tang Qing agreed first. He wasn’t comfortable discussing what happened here.
"You... you wait for it." Yan Fei glared at Tang Qing, but Tang Qing just ignored him, which irritated Yan Fei even more. He was determined to ’teach’ Tang Qing a lesson later, believing that it was his mistake to be slapped twice. If Tang Qing doesn’t apologize next, he won’t show any mercy just because Tang Qing is a student, he will slap him back.
After seeing the two agreeing to shift locations, Zhou Li breathed a sigh of relief. He put one arm around Yan Fei’s shoulder and led him upstairs. Tang Qing assured Zhang Jing, ’I’ll handle him. You carry on’, and followed. Li Kai went to the kitchen as there was no seating available for him in the hall during lunchtime.
When the customers saw the show was over, they stopped paying attention and began to disseminate various versions of the story... The topic of conversation was student Tang Qing, who had hit someone. Speculations abounded about the identity of this young ’hero saving the maiden’ who defeated the villain. It’s natural for people to judge by appearance.
As they entered Box No. 6, no dishes had been ordered yet. With the two men still fuming, there was no chance of ordering. Zhou Li ordered a few dishes and sent the waiter away.
P.S: This is the first Chapter, another one coming in half an hour. Please look forward to it, and remember to vote!
