Chapter 12: The Speed of Changing Faces

[Acknowledgements: Thank you to: "?" 𓃰 Mo Qing for six consecutive rewards, Brother Liang for his continuous support since the opening of the book, and Brother Lao San for additional support. Additionally, thanks to LOVE9186 for every chapter's comments!]

Mrs. Huang couldn't believe what was happening right before her eyes. It was known that the security guards at the Phoenix Building were all ex-military. These guards were quite capable in their combat skills.

Yet, Ding Fan had easily taken out five of them in a single move, which was astonishing. His combat strength was off the charts.

Zhou Ruoran also watched Ding Fan in disbelief. The young master who used to slack around and indulge in pleasures displayed such impressive prowess. If she hadn't seen it with her own eyes, she wouldn't have believed it if anyone told her.

Ding Fan coldly glanced at Mrs. Huang standing nearby.

Mrs. Huang shivered. The other party had started with slaps and kicks; clearly, he wasn't going to be lenient with her.

"Wang Gang, what are you doing? Hurry up and throw this man out. You are the head of security…"

Worried that Ding Fan might come over to slap her, Mrs. Huang moved back while speaking to the security team leader, Wang Gang.

How could Wang Gang not see what Mrs. Huang intended? She wanted him to act as a human shield while she made her escape. Wang Gang mentally cursed all the female relatives of Mrs. Huang's household. Why the hell did she have to antagonize such a troublesome man?

Given the combat strength Ding Fan had displayed, Wang Gang knew he would be knocked out within minutes if he confronted him. However, Wang Gang had no room to retreat as the head of security; he was bound by the paycheck he received to take this beating.

"What a grand scene. Is this a play?"

As the security team leader was mentally preparing to be beaten in his attempt to stop Ding Fan, a deep voice rang out.

Upon hearing this voice, all employees of the Phoenix Building at the scene stood up straight. Without needing to look, everyone knew that the newcomer was none other than their general manager, Feng Yunsheng.

Zhou Ruoran's face also soured. With the postgraduate interviews looming, she didn't want to escalate the situation. But now that the incident had alerted the restaurant's top executive, she became panicked. She was one step away from entering the Central University of Political Science and Law, and if today's incident led to a criminal record, her dream would be utterly destroyed.

At this moment, it wasn't only Feng Yunsheng who was approaching; beside him were Lin Zhan Ting and Lin Qingqing. Following the trio was a middle-aged, overweight man.

Although they walked side by side, anyone could see that right now, Feng Yunsheng appeared more like an attendant next to Lin Zhan Ting.

Many people recognized Lin Qingqing at the scene, but they didn't understand why such a big star would appear here with their boss.

"You deadbeat, why did you come so late? Your wife is about to be killed; don't you care?" Mrs. Huang, not having fully grasped the situation and noticing the newcomers, immediately ran crying and sniveling to the overweight middle-aged man behind Feng Yunsheng.

The middle-aged man was recognized by the people at the scene as the vice-manager of the Phoenix Building, Zhu Siliang.

"What are you doing? It's working hours. What's the matter, speak up," Zhu Siliang pushed Mrs. Huang away and frantically signaled with his eyes.

Zhu Siliang wanted to remind Mrs. Huang that important people were present, and even the general manager was right beside him, but little did he know, Mrs. Huang, still fuming from the slap she received, flared up when Zhu Siliang pushed her.

"Oh, so you despise me now, do you? I got beaten up, and you don't even give a damn!" Mrs. Huang, talking non-stop, rushed forward and clawed a few bright red marks across Zhu Siliang's face.

Watching the harpy make a scene, Feng Yunsheng frowned and coughed sharply. "This is a workplace, mind your image."

"Yes, yes…" Zhu Siliang pushed Mrs. Huang away. "Are you crazy? Did you not see the boss here?"

Chided by Zhu Siliang, Mrs. Huang calmed down a bit. After nervously glancing at Feng Yunsheng, she retreated into the crowd.

"What's going on here?" Feng Yunsheng asked sternly.

"Zhang, what happened, tell me the story?" Zhu Siliang glanced at his wife, who looked like a madwoman with her face swollen.

"Wuu, General Manager, please support me. Here's what happened: this waitress was neglecting her duties during work hours, and she even broke a bottle of wine worth over thirty thousand. When I reasoned with her, not only did she ignore me, but she also threw a tantrum. You saw it, right? The vase in the hallway was smashed by her.

Even worse, this ugly monster called reinforcements to beat me up. General Manager, I did all this for our restaurant. You have to support me. We must not let these two go. Send them both to the police station."

Ding Fan couldn't help but admire Mrs. Huang; such flair for storytelling was wasted if she did not pursue that talent. Twisting the truth, spewing lies… and she did it without even blushing.

At this moment, Zhou Ruoran was very anxious, fearing that the situation would escalate. But now the evidence, both human and material, strongly supported Mrs. Huang.

"That's not what happened at all, you're spouting lies!"

Just as Zhou Ruoran was thinking about how to defend herself, Wu Min stood up and spoke righteously.

"Alright, quiet down," said Feng Yunsheng, gesturing for everyone to stop arguing.

"Zhang, are you prepared to stand by what you have just said?" Feng Yunsheng continued, looking at Mrs. Huang.

"I stand by my words, and Xiao Ma is my witness. Xiao Ma can testify for me," Mrs. Huang said, turning toward the waitress Zhou Ruoran had knocked over earlier.

Xiao Ma had already seen the situation clearly. Zhang the team leader was Zhu's wife, head chef in the back kitchen, and in such a scenario, even President Feng wouldn't side with an outsider over his executives. After all, who would support a little-known hourly employee over managing their own restaurant's higher-ups?

"President Feng, it's just as the supervisor Zhang said, this ugly woman is truly detestable, causing a scene and hitting people, it's simply..."

Smack!

Just as Xiao Ma was thinking about how to exaggerate the story to make it more vivid, Ding Fan had already had enough and slapped him across the face.

In front of Ding Fan, calling Zhou Ruoran an ugly ghost was something Ding Fan couldn't possibly overlook.

"President Feng, you see, even at this point, this person is still putting on airs..." the shrew said with a bit of schadenfreude.

In her view, Ding Fan was a fool to dare hit someone in front of the boss—he was as good as dead!

"President Feng, please stand up for me!" Xiao Ma said with a mournful face, covering his swollen cheek.

Those who knew Feng Yunsheng knew he was very concerned about face. In his presence, hitting his employee, how could he possibly let it go? Everyone seemed to be waiting for the next moment when Feng Yunsheng would explode.

"Brother Fan, if your friend has been wronged, I can have their manager handle this matter," Lin Qingqing, who had been silently standing by, spoke out.

And what was most shocking was that Lin Qingqing stood very familiarly next to Ding Fan. Who was Lin Qingqing? A big-star celebrity, someone ordinary people couldn't even hope to curry favor with, and now here she was, standing next to Ding Fan and calling him 'Brother Fan.' Instantly, everyone started speculating about Ding Fan's background.

Feng Yunsheng's eyes brightened, his mind was racing nonstop.

A person who could be called 'brother' by a big star, could he be an ordinary person?

At that moment, the shrew was completely dumbfounded. She was fierce, but she wasn't stupid. She quickly realized that Ding Fan was no ordinary person.

Even if the Phoenix Building was impressive in Dancheng, it couldn't possibly offend a celebrity like Lin Qingqing. If Lin Qingqing got upset, a mere word from her could cause Dancheng's elites to intervene to placate her and settle any issues with the Phoenix Building.

"Xiao Ma, it seems I misjudged you, it was all you stirring up trouble here!" the shrew suddenly changed her tune, her eyes sharply turning to the beaten Xiao Ma.

At this stage, the shrew quickly formulated her own plan, pinning all the blame on Xiao Ma. A classic sacrifice of the pawns to save the king!

Everyone at the scene turned their gaze towards the shrew; Xiao Ma was immediately stunned.

"Sister Zhang, why would you say that?!"

He had just been speaking on her behalf, clearly showing that he was on her side. But now, without a moment's hesitation, she had betrayed him.

"What exactly happened?" Feng Yunsheng asked, looking at the shrew.

"This is what happened, President Feng. Xiao Ma said that Zhou Ruoran spilled the guest's red wine, and even splashed and broke a vase in the hallway. It's my fault for not thinking it through at the time. Zhou Ruoran is usually very careful; how could she behave in such a disgraceful and confused manner? And Xiao Ma, he's always been slick, always loving to stir up trouble. It seems I was misled by Xiao Ma, and I misunderstood Zhou Ruoran."

Ding Fan laughed inwardly as he listened to the shrew's words. If she weren't writing novels, it would truly be a waste of talent. Her ability to reason was impeccable.

The shrew, appearing very remorseful, walked over to Zhou Ruoran. Without saying another word, she slapped herself twice.

"Zhou. I'm sorry, I did not investigate thoroughly and wrongfully blamed you. Please don't hold it against me."

Those who knew the shrew knew she was always fierce and typically the one bullying others. Today, however, she was the one being bullied, and here she was, hitting herself.

Others might not know, but the shrew knew well that she had offended a friend of Lin Qingqing. If she didn't show the right attitude, not to mention finishing her job as a supervisor, staying in Dancheng might become very difficult in the future.

Zhou Ruoran was stunned. She had thought today's situation would certainly be messy, that her interview for her graduate studies would be canceled due to a blemish on her record. But who could have anticipated this turn of events?

"But the red wine..."

Zhou Ruoran started to say that it was indeed her who had broken the wine, but the shrew didn't give her a chance to speak.

"Zhou, rest assured, it was Xiao Ma who broke that red wine, and I won't let him off easily..."

"Zhang Zhizhua, fuck your mother, blinded by my own eyes and still helped you speak... your son is born without an asshole!"

Even if Xiao Ma was stunned, he realized he had been betrayed and started cursing at the shrew.

"Xiao Ma, the broken wine totals thirty-seven thousand. If you don't bring the money by tomorrow noon, just wait to be taken to the police station!" the shrew coldly snorted.

Xiao Ma wanted to say something more, but the shrew had already waved at Wang Gang.

Wang Gang couldn't defeat Ding Fan, but dealing with Xiao Ma was still easy and enjoyable for him. He went up with a grappling choke hold and then directly dragged Xiao Ma out.

Xiao Ma now regretted why he had been so foolish to stand on the shrew's side...