Chapter 86 — The Third Brother's Underling

Mother Tang's heart sank at once. Her daughter could not really be carrying on a romance, could she? Yet seeing Tang Zhi's pale face, she could not tell whether the girl was frightened that her mother might find out, or whether Zou Ruoming had forced her to be his girlfriend.

But no matter the reason, apart from a certain sorrow, Mother Tang could not summon up any other feeling at all. A young master like Zou Ruoming was not someone she could afford to cross, and she knew well enough that anything she said would carry next to no weight.

Over the years, Mother Tang had seen more than her share of the world's coldness and fickleness, and she knew just how tiny the strength of one person was. Take the electronics factory where her husband had once worked — a machine had crushed his sciatic nerve, and now he lay paralyzed in bed, unable to look after himself, yet not a single cent of compensation had they managed to wring from the factory.

The owner of a small private electronics factory, merely because he had a few connections, had left Mother Tang with nowhere to turn, calling to heaven and earth alike and receiving no answer. The original contract had even been tampered with, so that there was not so much as a place to file a suit.

Simply because she had gone to the factory a few times to demand the medical fees, the owner had threatened to make trouble for her family, to have someone go after her daughter and burn her house down. With no recourse, Mother Tang had been forced to give up. After all, who was she but the weak and powerless?

The livelihood of the whole family had fallen upon Mother Tang's shoulders, and fortunately her daughter had done her proud, taking first place in the year last semester, which not only waived her tuition but brought in a scholarship as well, letting the family's life loosen just a little.

Today, upon hearing the news that her daughter had actually taken a boyfriend, Mother Tang was struck dumb. Even as she burned with anger at her daughter, she found herself wondering whether Zou Ruoming had forced her into it. And yet, if he truly cared for Tang Zhi, then so be it — from the look of things, Zou Ruoming's family was well off, and if her daughter ended up with him, she would not be at a disadvantage. Her only fear was that he was merely playing around, and would cast her aside once he tired of the game.

Though Mother Tang had no clear idea of how those rich young masters lived, she had nonetheless picked up a rumor or two.

Tang Zhi flushed red, wanting to protest, but at the thought of Zou Ruoming's reputation at school and all those rumors, she felt a pang of cowardice. Word had it that Zou Ruoming had once dragged a girl off to the outdoor toilets and had his way with her, and afterward had paid the girl's family a sum of money to have her transferred to another school, and that was the end of it.

It was only hearsay, yet the girl's transfer had been a real thing; only, since that girl's family had gained some benefit from it, naturally they would not breathe a word. So Tang Zhi feared that if she truly provoked Zou Ruoming, there was nothing he would not dare to do.

True, she would not be like that girl and keep silent for the sake of money — she would demand justice, no matter what. But then... what use was justice?

Tang Zhi lowered her head and fell silent, tears brimming in her eyes, feeling deeply wronged. She resented her mother somewhat for not driving Zou Ruoming away, but on second thought, her mother was powerless too, perhaps even more helpless than she was...

What good was this title of school beauty? Why was she so unlucky? She had already kept a low profile, never wearing makeup, never wearing anything but the school uniform, and still she drew other people's attention.

And Gu Mengyao and Shen Yushu were school beauties as well — yet would Zou Ruoming dare treat them like this?

"You bunch of trash!" Kang Xiaofeng was in one of his manly moods these past two days, and seeing Tang Zhi bullied by Zou Ruoming, he simply could not hold back any longer. His blood boiling, he clenched his fists and charged forward!

Wei Zhao had not expected Kang Xiaofeng to stick his nose into this. He truly had not seen it coming — for the sake of the goddess in his heart, even a timid, trouble-shy boy like Kang Xiaofeng had his moments of eruption.

"This day... is really more trouble than it's worth!" Wei Zhao had meant to lie low for a few days, but now there was no lying low to be had! Kang Xiaofeng had already charged in — could he just stand by? Was he to watch that bastard Zou Ruoming beat Kang Xiaofeng to a pulp?

"Zou Ruoming! Are you even a man? Tang Zhi won't go out with you, so you resort to such despicable tricks to force her into it!" Kang Xiaofeng rushed over and planted himself in front of Tang Zhi.

Zou Ruoming had been waiting for Tang Zhi to make her choice — that was precisely the effect he wanted, to force Tang Zhi into a corner where she had no choice but to decide! His coming here was itself a gesture, a threat! By standing here at Mother Tang's barbecue stall, he was telling Tang Zhi: if you don't agree today, then from now on, neither you nor your mother will have a moment's peace, and your damned barbecue stall won't be able to stay open either!

So Zou Ruoming was fifty percent confident that Tang Zhi would agree, would become his girlfriend under duress.

It was precisely because of these misgivings that Tang Zhi had kept her head down and said not a word. On the one hand she feared for her own safety, and on the other she feared for her mother's damned barbecue stall! She knew that if she fell out with Zou Ruoming today, her mother's barbecue would never sell again; if Zou Ruoming and his followers came to make trouble every day, their family's means of survival would be cut off then and there.

Just as Tang Zhi stood at a loss, Kang Xiaofeng came charging abruptly over. Zou Ruoming was stunned, and so was Tang Zhi, who thought to herself: Who is this person? She did not even know him!

"Who the hell are you?" Zou Ruoming, seeing Tang Zhi on the verge of being forced into her choice, had a Cheng Yaojin burst in from out of nowhere and was furious at once. Pointing at Kang Xiaofeng, his voice turned sinister.

"I... I..." Facing Zou Ruoming's vicious, man-eating glare, Kang Xiaofeng's earlier courage drained away in an instant. He had only been capable of a sudden outburst, and once it was over, it was over; he was no Wei Zhao, with real strength to back him up. If it came to a fight, he was no match for Zou Ruoming, and being barked at like this took the wind out of his sails. But he knew he could not show weakness at a time like this — at the very worst, the boss was still behind him. If he got beaten up, would the boss just stand by? So he stiffened his neck and said, "I'm one of the Third Brother's men — one of the Four Great Villains of the school!"

"The Four Great Villains? Third Brother? His men?" Zou Ruoming was taken aback, thoroughly muddled by Kang Xiaofeng's words. "What kind of nonsense is this? You're one of Zhong Yongliang's people? That son of a bitch Zhong Yongliang still isn't behaving himself after the beating he got, and he dares stick his nose into my business?"

"Go fuck your mother, even your boss wouldn't dare stick his nose into Brother Ming's business -- who the hell do you think you are?" The broad-faced fat kid shoved Kang Xiaofeng hard. "Go home and tell your boss I said fuck his mother!"