Chapter 41: Young Master Wang
As Wang Daqiang and his group left, the air downstairs at the Tiansheng Building seemed significantly fresher.
Su Qingge stood in the cold wind, looking at the bank's balance change notification on her phone screen. That long string of numbers didn't bring her much genuine joy; instead, it gave her a strange sense of dizziness.
"That's... resolved?" Lin Wan exhaled a plume of white vapor, wrapping her down jacket tighter around herself.
"Only temporarily," Su Qingge put away her phone and pushed up the cool frames of her glasses, regaining her usual composure. "This money can silence the suppliers and the workers, and it can also temporarily quiet the bank. But for the company to start running again, we still need..."
Before she finished speaking, a sharp engine roar tore through the night sky.
This sound was completely different from the low growl of the heavy truck from before; it was the high-pitched scream characteristic of a high-horsepower naturally aspirated engine, carrying an air of arrogant dominance.
On the main road in the distance, several piercing xenon headlights cut through the snowstorm like sharp swords.
Three extremely flashy sports carsāa Ferrari 488 and two Porsche 911sācompletely disregarding the slippery road surface, drifted into the plaza with their tails sliding.
The slush kicked up by the tires splattered onto the black heavy truck RV, looking completely out of place.
The car doors swung upwards.
A young man dressed in a white custom trench coat, his hair slicked back until it shone, emerged.
He didn't immediately walk toward Su Qingge. Instead, he first looked down at his pair of limited-edition leather shoes, which had been splashed with snow water, wrinkling his brow in disgust into the shape of the character 'Chuan' (river).
"Oh, isn't this CEO Su? I heard you showed up, so I rushed over to see you right away."
The young man looked up, wearing the mocking smile unique to rich second-generation heirs. His gaze roamed unrestrainedly over Su Qingge's somewhat slender figure. "Why aren't you home crying your eyes out late at night? Running out here to catch a cold? What, preparing to sell off company assets and skip town?"
Upon seeing who it was, Su Qingge's slightly eased expression instantly dropped to freezing point.
"Wang Zifeng," she squeezed out the three words through clenched teeth. "You are not welcome here."
"Don't be so distant," Wang Zifeng ignored her cold demeanor, walking up the steps with two burly men behind him, stepping on the snow. "I heard Wang Daqiang brought people here to cause trouble earlier? Tsk tsk, Su Qingge, why put yourself through this? Wouldn't it have been over if you had agreed to me earlier?"
He stopped about two steps away from Su Qingge, his gaze sweeping over Chen Man and Lin Wan beside her, a flicker of astonishment crossing his eyes, before finally landing on Jiang Chen, who was standing silently smoking to the side.
However, his gaze only lingered for half a second before sliding past, as if looking at a trash can on the roadside.
In his eyes, this person was probably just a driver or someone of similar status.
"Thirty million," Wang Zifeng held up three fingers, waving them in front of Su Qingge. "I know you're short that amount right now. As long as you're willing to come with me tonight, to my villa for a drink, I'll pay this debt for you."
Chen Man rolled her eyes dramatically beside her, muttering softly, "He looks like a hollowed-out white radish, but he thinks quite highly of himself."
Although her voice was light, it still reached Wang Zifeng's ears in the empty plaza.
His face darkened, but he ignored Chen Man, staring only at Su Qingge:
"Su Qingge, don't mistake kindness for weakness. Without my funds, the bank will seize this place tomorrow. Then you won't be the high-and-mighty CEO Su, but a deadbeat everyone shuns. Be my canary; although you'll lose your freedom, at least... you can still live with some dignity."
Su Qingge's fingers tightened on the corner of her clothes, her knuckles turning white.
This was the mastermind who drove her into a dead end.
This was the scumbag who used despicable means to cut off all her financing channels, wanting only to force her submission.
Anger churned in her chest, but what was stronger was a deep sense of powerlessness.
In the face of the giant wheel of capital, personal dignity seemed so fragile.
Just then, Jiang Chen, who had been standing silently beside her, moved.
He casually flicked the cigarette butt he had just smoked a couple of times into the snow. A spark traced a red parabola in the darkness.
In his mind, the familiar mechanical voice sounded right on cue.
"Ding! Detected that the Host is currently encountering provocation."
"A true prodigy doesn't just need money; he also needs the ability to protect those around him."
"Temporary Mission Triggered: Protect Your Girlfriend's Dignity."
"Mission Description: Please humiliate the clown in front of you within ten minutes."
"Mission Reward: God-Tier Combat Skills (Permanently Solidified)."
"Temporary Buff: Combat Proficiency (Grandmaster Level, lasts for 10 minutes)."
A surge of heat instantly coursed through his limbs. Jiang Chen felt his muscle memory being rewritten. His previously stiff joints became incredibly flexible, and the positions, centers of gravity, and flaws of the people before him appeared in his eyes as clearly as dissection diagrams.
Jiang Chen took a step forward, placing himself between Su Qingge and Wang Zifeng.
"Are you done talking?"
Jiang Chen's voice was not loud, spoken calmly. "If you're done, then move aside. Good dogs don't block the roadādidn't your kindergarten teacher teach you that?"
Wang Zifeng froze.
He seemed unable to process that this 'driver,' who looked utterly poor, actually dared to speak to him like that.
"Who the hell are you?" Wang Zifeng narrowed his eyes, sizing up Jiang Chen. "Is it your place to speak here? Get lost!"
"Who I am isn't important," Jiang Chen inserted his hands into the pockets of his windbreaker, a mocking curve on his lips. "What's important is that this is private property. CEO Su doesn't want to see you, and I find you an eyesore too. So, are you going to roll away yourself, or should I help you?"
The snowstorm seemed to halt at that moment.
Wang Zifeng looked as if he had heard the greatest joke. He paused, then burst into exaggerated laughter.
He turned around and looked at the two bodyguards behind him: "Did you hear that? This kid says he's going to help me roll away? Hahahaha! Is there anyone in Mudan City who dares talk to me, Wang Zifeng, like that?"
Before the laughter died down, his expression abruptly turned sinister.
"You asked for it the hard way." Wang Zifeng reached out to shove Jiang Chen's shoulder, while his other hand reached over Jiang Chen, grasping lightly and flirtatiously toward Su Qingge's wrist. "Su Qingge, tell your dog to get lost. You must come with me tonight!"
Su Qingge instinctively took a step back in panic.
But the hand wearing the gold watch never touched her.
Mid-air, a long, powerful hand clamped down on Wang Zifeng's wrist like an iron pincer.
Jiang Chen's movement wasn't fast; it even looked a bit careless, but it was frighteningly precise.
"Let go!" Wang Zifeng felt his wrist was locked by an iron hoop. Intense pain shot through his bones. He struggled with all his might, but couldn't budge an inch. "You're courting death! Get him! Cripple him!"
The two bodyguards behind him reacted quickly.
They were professional thugs with excellent coordination. One swung a punch toward Jiang Chen's face, while the other swept a leg toward Jiang Chen's knee pit, intending to throw him off balance.
Chen Man screamed in fright and covered her eyes.
Su Qingge also shouted, "Jiang Chen, watch out!"