He whispered something in her ear, his voice chilling.
Then, Du Haoqi cried out in panic, "No, I can't do that! I... I can't... Bihua, can we try something else?"
Ouyang Bihua suddenly grabbed Du Haoqi's fair throat, his voice menacing, "Something else? Tell me, what other good way is there? Tell me, if there's a good one, then do as you say!"
Ouyang Bihua's grip was tight, causing Du Haoqi's face to turn red and her neck to bulge.
However, she dared not resist, only reaching out to gently touch Ouyang Bihua's face, tears welling in her eyes: "Bihua, I... I've followed you so devotedly, from school to here, without even asking for a title. And you... you treat me like this? How can you be so heartless?"
Ouyang Bihua growled in a low voice:
"What could I do? Do you think I wanted to? Did I want to send you away? Wasn't I furious? But there was no better way! You know, that research director position was originally meant for me. I only needed to work hard for another year or two to get it! But that bastard Lu Chen barged in and took everything that was mine. And he even said he didn't want it in the first place! Do you know how humiliated I was?!"
"This morning at the meeting, I noticed him looking at you. His eyes, I could tell, you're very attractive to him! Do you understand? Only you can help me!"
He straddled Du Haoqi, his hand still gripping her neck, his mouth close to her ear, hoarse and forceful, saying, "Help me!"
Du Haoqi's tears flowed like a fountain. She gritted her teeth, her voice trembling, "Okay, I...I'll help you! Ouyang Bihua, I owe you for the rest of my life..."
Ouyang Bihua, smug, released his grip on Du Haoqi and kissed her face passionately.
Soon, Du Haoqi was aroused by the kisses, her arms wrapped around his neck, letting out soft moans.
Then, she helped him pull down his pants.
And then...
After only two or three minutes, Ouyang Bihua said resentfully, "Damn it, I was probably too nervous, not prepared. Next time...next time will be better!"
Du Haoqi sighed deeply, her tense body gradually going limp.
The heat turned to cold, the passion to helplessness, the fervor burned to ashes.
She suddenly remembered Lu Chen's words, "Don't get too easily agitated," and sighed deeply.
Meanwhile, Wang Shuo was speeding down the street in his Hummer.
He was both helpless and furious. Damn it! This is too much! Are they even letting people open their shops?! Damn it!
The Hummer stopped opposite the Moon's Tooth Pastry Shop.
Lu Chen looked inside and was immediately enraged. Thirty or forty people had crammed the shop full, creating a chaotic mess. The shelves and other valuables inside were smashed to pieces.
The thugs, cigarettes dangling from their lips, were carrying gleaming knives and stiff sticks. They looked incredibly menacing. There was also a strange guy whose head was almost entirely covered by a white bandage, constantly cursing and swearing.
Passersby who peeked in to watch the commotion were quickly chased away.
The patrol cars passed by, seemingly oblivious to the danger, probably too focused on driving.
Lu Chen scratched his head, pondering a solution.
Shangguan Bei had suggested hiring bodyguards to defend against the enemy, which was one option, but not a good one. They'd already established their authority this morning; further fighting would only escalate the situation.
Should he go negotiate with Ling Zi of Hongqing Hall? Aside from the fact that he wasn't very familiar with Ling Zi, asking for his help would be owing him a huge favor. Hongqing Hall and Caishen Hall were both among the four major halls, their relationship extremely delicate. If this incident disrupted some balance, the matter would likely escalate further.
Actually, the simplest solution was to call Pang Bei.
With Pang Bei's influence in Yunzhou City, suppressing Caishen Hall shouldn't be difficult, right?
However, Pang Bei was currently in Italy, making a call inconvenient. Besides, Lu Chen felt bad constantly asking him for help; he didn't want to bother Pang, and he felt bad about it.
The best solution would be to use legitimate connections to suppress them, wouldn't it?
Lu Chen could easily see that the Caishentang gang's blatant bravado in the street meant they had definitely coordinated with the local police. In that case, why not get higher-ups in the police force to handle it?
Lu Chen had some connections with the police, and he thought of You Haoguo!
That day at the Fourth Hospital, when Lu Chen and Zhuang Keluo had slapped Wang Yulin, the head of a department at the hospital, over the Gong Jiu family, and a larger conflict was about to erupt, Zhuang Keluo made a phone call to her second brother, Zhuang Taotian, the deputy director of the police station. Zhuang Taotian also brought You Haoguo, the director of the local police station within the Fourth Hospital's jurisdiction.
After resolving the conflict, You Haoguo was quite ingratiating towards Lu Chen.
This police station director could tell that his superior, Zhuang Taotian, and Zhuang Keluo, the heiress of one of Yunzhou City's four major families, the Zhuang family, were fond of Lu Chen. Therefore, he figured it was worth currying favor with him; it might benefit him in the future. He and Lu Chen exchanged phone numbers, agreeing to get together for drinks sometime.
Lu Chen thought about it; this area seemed to be under You Haoguo's jurisdiction too!
So he made a call.
The call was answered shortly.
You Haoguo spoke in a slightly official tone, but also with a hint of enthusiasm. He said, "Oh? It's Xiao Lu! I thought you'd forgotten me. What's up? Want to have dinner together tonight?"
Lu Chen smiled and said, "Director You, inviting me to dinner is nothing, but I only call when I need something. I'm really sorry."
"It's alright, it's alright, everyone's busy! Xiao Lu is a very busy person too, it's good that you remembered!" You Haoguo said readily, "Tell me, what's wrong?"
"Actually, it's not a big deal. I own a pastry shop on Lido Middle Road, right? It's been vandalized by a group of thugs. There are over thirty of them, and they're all stuck in my shop, smashing everything they can. My men are too scared to go back!"
Lu Chen started to sound a little aggrieved: "Director You, this is right under your jurisdiction! You have to stand up for me!"
Then, there was a loud bang as someone slammed their hand on the table.
Then came You Haoguo's furious voice: "This is outrageous! Absolutely audacious! To bully the innocent in broad daylight like this is intolerable! Don't worry, Xiao Lu, it's our duty as police officers to fight against evil and tyranny. I will definitely stand up for you!"
"Tell me the exact location of your shop, I need to find out!"
Lu Chen scratched his head and gave the address.
"Okay, wait a moment!"
Then, Lu Chen heard You Haoguo shout, "Xiao Chen, go call Lao Zhao over, I need to ask him something."
The two chatted for a few more minutes, then Lu Chen heard a voice on the other end: "Chief, you called me?"
You Haoguo said seriously, "I'm asking you, what's going on with the Moon's Tooth Pastry Shop on Lido Middle Road?"
"Moon's Tooth? Why are you getting a call from Caishen...?"
Somehow, the other end dropped the call.
Lu Chen glanced at his phone, a cold smile playing on his lips.
Actually, Lu Chen had sensed something was off when You Haoguo said he'd look into it first. With over thirty gangsters causing trouble in this area, what was the point of looking into it? Just send someone over!
Then, he even called in Old Zhao to ask what was going on.
It seemed You Haoguo knew someone in his jurisdiction was capable of wrongdoing, and perhaps he was even involved in covering it up. As for the call dropping after mentioning "people from Caishen's side," it was clear he'd hung up.
Lu Chen waited; he knew You Haoguo would call back eventually.
Sure enough, about five minutes later, You Haoguo called again. He repeatedly apologized, "Little Lu, I'm so sorry, the call dropped for some reason."
"It's alright!" Lu Chen, of course, wouldn't expose him; playing dumb was easy enough.
He asked, "Director You, what's the situation now?"
The other person was silent for a moment, then gave a bitter laugh.
You Haoguo said on the other end, "Xiao Lu, I've looked into it roughly, and you're also at fault!"
"Oh, what did I do?" Lu Chen continued to feign ignorance.
You Haoguo said, "I've roughly understood the situation. They run a business upstairs, and your renovations downstairs were making noise, right? They came down to argue with you, and your men beat them up! I heard they're quite badly injured, especially the ringleader; I heard you even burned his hair and scalp. Is that right?"
Lu Chen said, "That's true!"
You Haoguo sighed, "Lu, you were too impulsive! It was your renovations that were too loud, and now you've injured so many people! They haven't even called the police yet, but no matter what, nobody would be happy about that!"
Lu Chen also sighed, "Director You, I'm a shop owner. When I saw them rushing down, of course I tolerated it at first. And that was after they injured my employee and drove away my renovation workers; I even apologized to them! Now they won't let me continue my renovations and demand 30,000 yuan in compensation. Tell me, where's the justice in that?"
You Haoguo said helplessly, "You should have tolerated it, how could you hit them?"
Liu Chen said, "Director You, given the situation, if I didn't hit them, they would have hit me. I couldn't just stand there with my hands tied, letting them beat me! Anyway, there's no use saying anything now; their people have to leave! Otherwise, how can I renovate? How can I run my business? Can you give me some advice?"
You Haoguo said sullenly, "Xiao Lu, I can give you some advice, but you absolutely can't lose your temper again. They told you, right? They're from the God of Wealth Hall. I won't say much about these kinds of people; they're just very troublesome! Their boss, An Caishen, even has connections with our police chief. My words don't carry any weight. Like this…"
Director You's advice was that he would talk to An Caishen and ask him to do him the honor of having dinner together that evening. He would first ask An Caishen what conditions he wanted, and then tell Lu Chen. Lu Chen would try his best to meet those conditions. Of course, the premise was that his renovations could continue and the shop could stay open.
"Xiao Lu, I can only do my best. This Boss An has a terrible temper; I really don't even get a second thought from him. If he's willing to treat me to a meal, then it'll be fine, otherwise… Anyway, I'll do my best. Wait for my call, within ten minutes."
After hanging up, Lu Chen also felt frustrated. Damn it, he smashed up my shop, so arrogant, and now he wants me to treat him to a meal? And he wants me to fulfill some kind of condition he set?
This Boss An is too arrogant!