Chapter 21
1255 Words
“What?! A million?”
The students and the other diners all exploded with anger, noses practically crooked with rage. They’d just heard the conversation between the owner and the thugs — the debt was supposed to be 128,000 yuan, and even that was a stretch. Old Jin had about seventy or eighty thousand on hand, not far from the real amount owed — around 97,000. And now this punk just casually jacked it up to a full million?! Might as well rob a bank at that point.
Even for Chen Haiqing, the rich kid, a million wasn’t a problem — but that didn’t mean he was going to roll over and play sucker. His eyes narrowed as he stood up.
“Brother, if I heard right, your own guy just said this place owed you 128,000. The owner borrowed fifty thousand. Even with compound interest and all your ‘rollover’ rules, it comes to ninety-seven grand, not a cent more. What kind of loan shark math are you using?”
His face was cold — he might be a second-generation rich kid, but he wasn’t stupid.
“This is robbery, straight up!” snapped Ai Juan, the hot-headed Hunan girl, rolling her eyes. “I know how loan sharking works — but you’re just making stuff up!”
Chen Shanshan from Hainan University chimed in, “Exactly! This is way past unfair — you’re talking twenty times the original loan! Who does that? Even gun runners and drug lords don’t get that greedy!”
Their classmates exchanged looks, emboldened by numbers — more than forty cadets against seven thugs.
“Here’s what’s gonna happen,” one guy growled, sounding like someone who’d been in fights before. “We’ll give you a hundred grand. Take it and be happy. Stop blocking the door — you’re an eyesore.”
The gang leader sneered, chin raised, waving the butcher knife in a lazy arc toward the four big tables of cadets.
“The hell I will! He owes us, we name the price. If you don’t like it, step outside and settle it!”
“I don’t like it!” someone shouted back.
“Me neither!”
“Who the hell do you think you are? Get lost!”
“That’s right — we’re not scared of you!”
“This is straight-up armed robbery!”
“Yeah, go rot in jail!”
Their angry voices rose in unison, and the restaurant buzzed with fury.
“Oh, you got guts, huh?” the gang leader said, smiling coldly as he yanked the knife out of the table and twirled it in his hand. The bright steel gleamed, making everyone’s skin crawl.
“Call Heizi,” he ordered one of his guys. “Bring the whole crew — fill a few vans if you have to. I want everyone here.”
He turned back toward the students with a malicious grin. He was outnumbered now, sure, but reinforcements were just minutes away.
“Don’t! Please don’t!” The restaurant owner threw himself between them, panicking. “Everyone, calm down! If this turns into a bloodbath, the restaurant won’t survive — and someone’s going to end up in prison!”
“Out of the way, Old Jin!” the thug barked, shoving him aside. “You better get the cash together — if you’re even one yuan short, I’ll take one of your fingers instead!”
A few of the more streetwise cadets quietly grabbed empty beer bottles — perfect brawling weapons. Maybe not as good as knives, but close enough.
“Lin Mo! Take the girls and get out of here!” Chen Haiqing shot Lin Mo a look. He might be a rich kid, but he wasn’t dumb. This was going to blow up, and he knew it. If they didn’t stand up now, these thugs would pick someone from their group to make an example of — and that was unacceptable.
“You sure you can handle this?” Lin Mo asked. He’d been quiet until now, just watching. One glance had told him these thugs weren’t that dangerous — if his fighting aura were still at its peak, he could snap their necks like twigs. Even now, with only a trace of power restored, he could crush them with sheer physical strength.
This world was strange — it seemed to suppress his recovery somehow. His aura had barely returned, and it might be years before he was back to his peak.
Chen Haiqing just grinned. “Handle them? You kidding? Half these guys here used to run their old schools. Some of them fought every week back then. Numbers are on our side, and we can always disappear back to campus after this. I’m not scared of these street punks.”
The other cadets, fueled by booze and adrenaline, slammed their hands on the table and stood up as one.
“Good!” Lin Mo said simply, standing as well. He knew these guys were more than enough to deal with the punks — they didn’t need him.
Still, Chen Haiqing waved for him to take the girls out first.
Lin Mo didn’t hesitate — he nodded and led the girls toward the door.
Two thugs stepped in their way, grinning lewdly.
“Where do you think you’re going? This ain’t a free show. How about a little striptease first? You can leave after you entertain us!” The short, fat one leered, reaching for one of the girls.
“Yeah, yeah — don’t worry, we’ll make sure you all have a good time. We’ll really take care of you. You’ll be begging for more,” the other one cackled.
Lin Mo’s eyes went cold, but he didn’t speak. If they laid a single finger on the girls, he’d make them regret ever being born.
Before the punks could act, a dozen cadets surged forward, shoving them back and surrounding them with bottles, stools, and rolling pins like makeshift clubs.
Lin Mo and the girls slipped through easily, and as he walked past, he shot the two punks a look of utter disdain — as if they weren’t even worth killing.
Inside, the gang leader just kept grinning. Sure, they were outnumbered now, but backup was coming fast. Once his crew arrived, he’d see who was still standing.
Chen Haiqing and the others were just about to intimidate the punks enough to make them leave when the screech of tires outside cut through the air.
Then came shouting — dozens of footsteps running toward the restaurant.
The gang leader’s grin widened into something cruel. He lifted the butcher knife and leveled it at the cadets.
“Alright, kids. Time to get on your knees and beg. And while you’re at it — cough up that million I asked for. Otherwise, nobody’s leaving here without at least one broken leg!”
Faces around the table went pale. Even Chen Haiqing’s expression darkened. These guys really had backup — and a lot of it.
He quietly pulled out his phone and sent a message he’d drafted earlier — just in case. For all his bravado, he wasn’t stupid.
“Lin Mo and the girls won’t run into them outside, will they?” one cadet muttered nervously.
No one answered — but the worry was written on all their faces.
For some of the quieter, well-behaved cadets, the color had completely drained from their cheeks. Their minds went blank.
This was about to turn into a full-on brawl.
- Writer
