Outdated Love

Chapter 6: No Deal Without 5,000

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“What are you doing?” Wan Xiuhui shouted as she noticed her being filmed and immediately reached for the phone.

This time, Cui Muling didn’t let her; she swung her arm, causing Wan Xiuhui to scream and clutch her wrist.

“You… you dare hit me? There’s no justice in this!” Wan Xiuhui yelled, then, realizing she couldn’t just let it go, grabbed Cui Muling and tried to drag her into the courtyard. “Let’s go. I’m going to show your father how his dear daughter treats me behind the scenes. How dare you hit me? I’ll make sure he sees your true colors.”

Cui Muling shook off her hand and pulled up the photo on her phone. “Fine, let him see your true colors as well. Oh, Wan Auntie, why do you have so many wrinkles on your face? Should I help you retouch the photo? And your expression looks so harsh and scary. I bet my dad would be frightened and would kick you out of the Cui family immediately. You’d really become an unwanted old hag.”

Wan Xiuhui was taken aback, and Cui Muling poured salt on the wound. “I heard my dad recently hired a new secretary, who is two generations younger than you. You went through so much effort to get rid of Secretary Liu, and now there’s someone younger and prettier. What was the point of that?”

Wan Xiuhui’s eyes widened as she stared at the photos on Cui Muling’s phone. She usually maintained a gentle and considerate demeanor in front of Cui Zhongwei, even when she was angry, she controlled herself.

But in the photos, her face looked twisted and her expression was mean. If Cui Zhongwei saw this, he’d likely become even more repulsed by her.

Moreover, Cui Muling was currently carrying the title of the young mistress of the Pei family. Even if Wan Xiuhui went to Cui Zhongwei to complain, he might not side with her.

Realizing this, Wan Xiuhui decided not to continue arguing with Cui Muling.

“Cui Muling, it’s really surprising to see you use such nasty tricks at such a young age, filming people. Isn’t that what paparazzi do? It’s not that I look down on you, but you really are not up to the mark,” Wan Xiuhui said with a feigned calmness.

Cui Muling laughed mockingly. “It’s quite astonishing to hear that from you. Have you forgotten how you managed to marry into the Cui family?”

She lowered her voice deliberately, “A mistress who seduced a married man has the nerve to talk about ‘up to the mark.’ You’re quite the hypocrite.”

Wan Xiuhui’s expression changed drastically, and she retorted angrily, “Stop talking nonsense!”

“You know whether it’s nonsense or not. You really think no one knows about your dirty deeds?” Cui Muling said dismissively. “I have other things to do, so I don’t have time to argue with you. Instead of wasting your time here, you might want to think about how to compete with the new secretary for attention.” With that, Cui Muling laughed and walked away.

Wan Xiuhui, shaking with rage, felt like tearing Cui Muling’s face apart in revenge. “You little b***h, if your mother couldn’t handle me, what makes you think you can? I’ll let you be smug for a couple of days. I’ll deal with you sooner or later.”

Cui Muling, oblivious to the threats, left the Cui residence and got on the bus back to the kindergarten.

But before she could arrive at the kindergarten, she received a call from her mother, Lin Ying, saying that there was trouble at the restaurant.

Cui Muling was already accustomed to such incidents, so she quickly understood the situation. She calmed Lin Ying over the phone, messaged Liu Zhuyue, and hurried to the restaurant.

In about ten minutes, she arrived at the restaurant. There were no customers inside, but a few passersby were gathered outside. She quickly pushed open the door and saw two short men aggressively arguing with Lin Ying.

Lin Ying was hopeless at arguing, repeatedly saying, “The noodles in my restaurant are what I eat myself; they shouldn’t have a problem,” and “Maybe you ate something else. How about we go to the hospital and check if it’s not food poisoning?”

The two men, seeing Lin Ying’s easygoing demeanor, became even more brazen. They yelled, “If the noodles were fine, why did we have diarrhea? Tell us, tell us.”

“Yeah, we almost ended up in the hospital because of your noodles. If you don’t compensate us today, this matter won’t be settled.”

Cui Muling threw her bag onto the table and walked over. “Compensation? How much?”

The two men, who had been facing away from the door, turned around when they heard her. They were momentarily stunned by Cui Muling’s appearance.

“What’s your relationship with the restaurant owner?” asked the chubby man.

“This is my daughter,” Lin Ying said, standing next to Cui Muling. “Muling, what do you think we should do? I suggested taking them to the hospital, but they refuse.”

Cui Muling held Lin Ying’s hand reassuringly and told her not to worry.

The chubby man smiled, “So, you’re the owner’s daughter. I didn’t expect such a beauty here.”

Cui Muling clenched her fists, considering grabbing a knife from the kitchen if not for the restaurant’s surveillance cameras.

“Speak, how much do you want?” Cui Muling asked.

The chubby man and the thin man exchanged glances before the chubby man held up five fingers.

“Five hundred?”

“No, five thousand.”

Cui Muling sneered, “You really have big appetites.”

“Well, since your food was problematic, what else can we do? But since you’re so beautiful, I can give you a discount. Three thousand, how about that, beauty? Leave your contact information,” the chubby man said, showing his sleazy yellow teeth.

“Impossible. Not to mention three thousand, I wouldn’t even give you three hundred,” Cui Muling said, having already determined that these two were here to scam them and feeling no fear.

“Beauty, I advise you to think it over. Your restaurant is somewhat well-known around here. You don’t want to ruin it over a few thousand dollars, do you?” the chubby man threatened.

The thin man chimed in, “That’s right. If you don’t pay today, no one will come to your restaurant again. We guarantee that.”

“Oh, you’re so impressive that you can control whether others come to my restaurant?” Cui Muling asked indifferently.

The thin man thought she was intimidated and became even more confident. “Of course. Anyone who dares to come to your restaurant will have their arms and legs broken. I want to see who dares.”

The chubby man nodded and spoke in a tone of a mob boss, “We’re not trying to scare you. It’s just that our brothers are all from the underworld. If you offend us, there’s no good ending. So I advise you to pay up. Once the money’s in hand, we’ll naturally leave your restaurant alone. Alternatively, if you don’t want to pay, let your daughter spend a night with me…”

Before he could finish, he received a couple of solid punches.