Upon hearing Xu Zhi's brazen demand, Su Qing couldn't help but laugh bitterly in outrage. "Why should I give you thirty thousand? We're already divorced, and you've never provided any child support. Not to mention I don't have that kind of money, but even if I did, I'd sooner throw it to the dogs than give it to you."
Xu Zhi retorted, "Hey, we were husband and wife, you cold-hearted wench. Those gold and silver jewelry I bought you, just sell them, and you'd have the money, right? Let me tell you, whether you like it or not, you have to hand it over today. I owe Big Brother Sun and the others thirty grand, and they said if you don't cough up the cash, they'll take you to work as a hostess to pay off the debt."
Hearing Xu Zhi's words, Su Qing was practically fuming. She shouted furiously, "Get lost! Just get out of here!"
Xu Zhi's expression darkened as he said, "You filthy bitch, if you won't drink the wine, you'll drink the punishment." He turned to the three thugs behind him, "Brother Tiger, you saw it, this wench is being disobedient. Since she's my ex-wife, and I can't pay up now, just take her to work off the debt."
The three were burly men, clearly professional enforcers. The one called Brother Tiger cast a cold glance at Xu Zhi and said, "Let me check with Young Master Sun first." He then walked back to the van.
Apparently, someone else was sitting inside.
Seeing all this unfold, Su Qing's face drained of color, and her delicate body trembled violently. She looked pleadingly at Chen Yang, but then wondered if this young man, a stranger, would actually help her.
Moreover, could he dare to offend these vicious thugs alone?
At that moment, Brother Tiger returned to Xu Zhi's side. "Your wife's a real looker. Young Master Sun said if she keeps him company for a month, the debt's forgiven. You got no objections, right?"
Xu Zhi hastily responded, "No objections, of course not."
Brother Tiger immediately gestured for his underlings to seize Su Qing.
Terrified, Su Qing froze. But then, Chen Yang, still holding Xiao Xue, stood before Su Qing like an immovable mountain. With a cold laugh, he said, "I've seen shameless people before, but never as shameless as you lot."
"Get lost!" One of the burly thugs reached out to grab Chen Yang's collar, intending to fling him aside.
Chen Yang swiftly seized the thug's wrist and twisted it.
The thug cried out in pain, dropping to his knees. Seeing this, another thug turned pale and swung his massive iron fist toward Chen Yang's face with ferocious force.
Su Qing paled in alarm.
Throughout, Chen Yang kept holding Xiao Xue as he suddenly executed a scorpion leg kick, hooking the thug's leg and causing him to lose balance before crashing heavily to the ground.
Brother Tiger's expression changed slightly before he sneered, "Well, well, looks like we've got a skilled fighter here!"
Chen Yang gave Brother Tiger a dismissive glance, uninterested in engaging him further. Fearing for Xiao Xue's safety, Su Qing hurried over to take her, gratefully thanking Chen Yang.
Facing Chen Yang, Brother Tiger cupped his fists and said, "I am Cheng Hu, a practitioner of the Cheng Family Eight Extremities Boxing. Allow me to exchange a few moves with you." With that, he launched into motion.
His movements were like thunderbolts, his skills far beyond the two thugs. Bulging veins snaked along his elbows, terrifyingly vicious.
"What a bunch of nonsense," Chen Yang muttered. As Brother Tiger's elbows stabbed towards his throat like eight extremity spears, Chen Yang, without looking, slapped them away.
The slap was executed with lightning-fast precision and cleverness.
With a resounding smack, Brother Tiger was sent spinning from the immense force, his vision a swirl of stars as he was nearly knocked senseless. Regaining his wits, he revealed a fearful look in his eyes. After glancing at Chen Yang, he turned and headed straight for the van.
Brother Tiger knew the young man before him was an absolute master, not someone they could afford to provoke.
After discussing with Young Master Sun, Brother Tiger quickly gathered his men to leave. Even bold men know to avoid a losing battle.
Seeing this, Xu Zhi grew apprehensive and prepared to flee.
"Stand still!" Chen Yang's cold shout froze Xu Zhi in his tracks.
Xu Zhi trembled, staring at Chen Yang like he'd seen a ghost. "What do you want?"
Chen Yang sneered and strode up to Xu Zhi.
"Don't you dare..." Xu Zhi paled.
Chen Yang seized Xu Zhi's wrist and, with a sickening crack, broke it. "A little warning - if you ever bother Su Qing and her daughter again, I'll take your life!"
Chen Yang's words carried a bone-chilling murderous intent, honed from taking dozens of lives.
In an instant, Xu Zhi was petrified, soiling himself before scampering away in humiliation.
Xu Zhi's gang had arrived swiftly and left just as quickly.
Chen Yang turned back around.
Holding Xiao Xue, Su Qing's eyes brimmed with immense gratitude as she sincerely said, "Thank you."
"I'm Chen Yang," he replied with a slight smile. "Qing-jie, we're friends, after all. Helping out with a little thing like this is no problem." In his mind, he thought, 'I've already seen you naked, so helping out is the least I could do!'
He was an opportunistic sort who had been wanting to get closer to Su Qing. Treating Xiao Xue so warmly was just his way of ingratiating himself, though he did genuinely like the little girl.
Su Qing's cheeks reddened slightly, a pleasant natural fragrance emanating from her. At the same time, she felt Chen Yang's powerful masculine aura. "Friends?" she repeated, mildly surprised.
Chen Yang flashed a brilliant smile. "Or does Qing-jie not want to be friends?"
"Of course not," Su Qing hurriedly replied before adding, "I'm running late for work. Really, thank you so much. How about I treat you to dinner tonight?"
Chen Yang was more than happy to accept. "Sure! But Qing-jie, give me your number in case that scumbag causes more trouble. If anything happens, just contact me, alright?"
Su Qing was taken aback but shared her number without hesitation, as she was also concerned.
Chen Yang's heart bloomed with joy, thankful to Su Qing's ex-husband for providing this opportunity to get closer to her.
After exchanging numbers, Chen Yang bid Su Qing farewell, realizing he would likely be late too after this delay.
Xiao Xue went directly to her school bus.
Su Qing took a taxi to work, while Chen Yang ambled to the bus stop.
As he squeezed onto the crowded bus, there was an office lady in front of him. The person behind pushed, forcing Chen Yang to press against the office lady's backside.
The office lady whipped her head around, glaring angrily at Chen Yang. He was about to apologize when she snapped, "You squeezed my butt!"
Chen Yang's face reddened as he stuttered, "Just the one!"
The entire bus erupted in laughter.