Chapter 23: Only the Bravery of a Man?
Chapter 23: Only the Bravery of a Man?
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A Dog Barking in the Distance
Xiao Cheng didn't immediately answer Shen Jiaoyue's question. Instead, he looked around the room, his gaze sharp and unbothered.
"I heard a dog barking just now," he muttered, his voice calm yet carrying an unmistakable chill.
On the way here, Tian Fu had already briefed him about the situation.
Apparently, Li Haitian had been relentlessly pursuing Shen Jiaoyue, disguising his intentions behind a polite and charming façade. But when his advances were rejected, his attitude had changed completely.
Using the influence of his Haitian Group, he had exerted pressure on business leaders, forcing them to terminate their contracts with Shen Jiaoyue's company.
After all, going against Haitian Group meant risking their own survival in the city.
Shen Jiaoyue was talented, and her business was thriving. But in this world, talent alone wasn't enough—power mattered more.
She had no backing, no strong family ties, and no one to stand up for her.
At least, that's what they all assumed.
What they didn't expect was that behind her stood Xiao Cheng—a force none of them had accounted for.
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One Slap to Silence the Room
A bald man, the one who had been leading the charge against Shen Jiaoyue, stood up and pointed his finger at Xiao Cheng.
"Who the hell are you?" he sneered.
Smack!
Without a single word, Xiao Cheng's palm swung across the air and landed with a resounding slap.
The bald man spun in place, his body turning in a full circle before he crashed heavily onto the sofa.
The entire room fell into stunned silence.
The bald man clutched his face, eyes filled with shock and fury.
Xiao Cheng's gaze remained ice-cold.
"Still barking?" he asked.
Shen Jiaoyue gasped in disbelief.
"Xiao Cheng! What are you doing?!" she blurted out, rushing forward.
She hadn't expected him to resort to violence so quickly, nor had she imagined he would act so decisively.
While his slap might have felt satisfying, it didn't change the bigger issue—the contracts were still terminated, and now he had offended powerful people.
She could already imagine the consequences.
If Xiao Cheng was arrested for assault, what would happen to Sisi?
"You… You dare to attack people?"
An older man in a black suit, Li Zhen, stammered in disbelief.
But unlike the bald man, he didn't dare point a finger at Xiao Cheng.
After all, the bald man had been knocked out with a single slap.
Who would dare challenge that?
Xiao Cheng's gaze shifted to Li Zhen.
"Li Zhen, are you really here to kneel and lick the boots of your new master, Li Haitian?" he asked mockingly.
Li Zhen's face twisted in anger.
The truth was, he owed a huge debt to the Shen family.
Back in his darkest days, it was Shen Jiaoyue's family who had helped him survive.
Yet now, he was willing to betray them just to curry favor with the more powerful Li Haitian.
Xiao Cheng's tone remained calm, but his words cut deeper than any blade.
"You're willing to sell out an old friend for a few favors?" he continued. "How pathetic."
"You… You—"
Li Zhen's chest heaved. His face turned red with fury, but he couldn't find the words to argue.
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The Arrival of Bodyguards
Just as the tension peaked, one of the men in the room suddenly shouted toward the door.
"Liu Feng! Get in here!"
A moment later, the door burst open, and three to four burly men stormed inside.
They were bodyguards—brought along as a show of force, not expecting an actual fight.
But they weren't just any bodyguards. Their scarred hands and fierce expressions suggested they had been through real fights before.
Seeing them, the businessmen in the room smirked smugly.
"Boy, let's see how many you can take on…" one of them sneered.
Before he could finish his sentence—
BAM!
The first bodyguard was kicked straight in the chest.
His huge frame lifted off the ground and slammed into the men behind him, sending them all flying backward.
They landed in a heap, groaning in pain, unable to get back up.
Silence.
The room was dead silent.
The men who had just been about to mock Xiao Cheng were now too stunned to speak.
"What the hell…" someone murmured under his breath.
Xiao Cheng brushed the dust off his sleeve as if nothing had happened.
He turned back to Li Zhen.
"Old dog, do you still have the audacity to say you're doing this for Jiaoyue's sake?" he asked.
Before Li Zhen could respond, Xiao Cheng flicked his wrist lightly—
WHOOSH!
Li Zhen's body flew backward as if he had been hit by a truck.
He slammed into the floor, blood seeping from the corner of his mouth.
The businessmen who had been watching stiffened in terror.
"He's a monster…" someone whispered.
One of the older men tried to mask his fear by putting on a stern expression.
"We've already called the police," he announced. "They'll be here any minute. You'll be arrested for this."
Shen Jiaoyue winced.
She had been too shocked to react earlier, but now, the reality hit her.
"Xiao Cheng, you're too impulsive," she said bitterly. "You don't understand—only the courage of a man isn't enough to achieve great things."
Xiao Cheng glanced at her.
He could tell she was worried.
She wasn't wrong—he had acted aggressively.
But that was exactly the point.
"If you let people step on you once," he said, "they'll never stop."
Shen Jiaoyue wanted to argue, but before she could—
A familiar voice called from outside the door.
"Mr. Shen, may I come in?"
Everyone turned toward the entrance.
There, standing calmly in a tailored suit, was Tian Fu.
The moment the businessmen saw him, their expressions changed completely.
"Boss Tian!" one of them called out, his voice filled with respect.
"Mr. Tian, don't come in!" another one warned. "There's a thug here!"
Tian Fu simply walked past them, unbothered.
He turned to Shen Jiaoyue and spoke in a business-like tone.
"President Shen," he said.
Shen Jiaoyue's heart sank.
She had assumed that Tian Fu was here to terminate his contract too.
"Mr. Tian," she said, bracing for the worst. "Are you also here to withdraw your support?"
Tian Fu raised an eyebrow.
"Withdraw support?" he repeated. "Why would I do that?"
The businessmen in the room froze.
Tian Fu gestured toward Xiao Cheng.
"The real decision-maker for my company is here," he continued. "If he says to terminate the contract, we will. If not, we won't."
The room went deathly silent.
Shen Jiaoyue's eyes widened.
"Wait… What?"
She had spent so much time wondering who Mr. Xiao was—never realizing it was Xiao Cheng all along.
The gathered businessmen, once arrogant and overconfident, now looked at each other in utter disbelief.