Chapter 163 The Fierce Determination of the Sister and Brother

Hong Chen finished dressing and stepped out of his room to find Deng Pacai sitting on a stool right by the front door. Deng had one leg crossed over the other, his arms folded, a cigarette dangling from his lips, and his chin tilted upward in a posture that practically screamed he was waiting for someone to walk all over him. Meanwhile, Du Haitao stood about three meters in front of Deng, holding two bulging bags weighing around ten pounds each. The two men stood in a tense standoff, neither speaking a word nor making a move.

Hong Chen shook his head in silence, turned the corner into the bathroom, quickly brushed his teeth, and washed his face. When he came out, Du Xueer had already taken milk and bread from the refrigerator and brought them over to him. With a slightly furrowed brow, she asked, "He definitely made a call. Those men are debt enforcers. When are your people arriving?"

Du Xueer naturally assumed that the phone call Hong Chen had made earlier was to summon reinforcements.

"I said half an hour. Should be soon," Hong Chen replied offhandedly, taking the milk and bread to eat and drink.

A few minutes later, a knock sounded at the door. Deng Pacai barked, "Who is it?"

"A-Cai, it's me." Hearing the slightly raspy voice from outside, Deng Pacai instantly perked up. He leaped to his feet, turned, and threw the door open. Four men barged in noisily. Deng bowed deeply to the man in the lead, addressing him with extreme humility, "Brother Xian."

The man was in his fifties, with dyed yellow hair and long locks. His donkey-like face was pitted with acne scars, and he wore dark sunglasses. He sported a gray-white shirt with the top two buttons unbuttoned, revealing a gold necklace as thick as a pinky finger around his neck. In one hand, he clutched a BOSS clutch bag, his wrist weighed down by a glittering watch. With his tailored trousers, pointed leather shoes, and a cigar clamped between his teeth, he cut the exact figure of a mob boss straight out of a Hong Kong gangster film.

Whether by coincidence or deliberate choice, the three henchmen behind him were all powerfully built, sporting identical buzz cuts and dark tans. Their fierce expressions alone were enough to scare a preschooler to tears.

"A-Cai, what you said on the phone—you aren't trying to pull a fast one on me, are you? If you are, that's fine, just pay for my travel expenses," one of Brother Xian's lackeys pulled up a chair while another wiped it down with a handkerchief. Only then did Brother Xian sit down, removing his sunglasses and blowing on them as he spoke.

"Brother Xian, I wouldn't dare pull a fast one on you even if I had ten lives! It's him. Last night, he ruined my daughter and somehow cast a spell on both my daughter and son, turning them against me—their own father. Brother Xian, you have to get justice for me! With my daughter's talent and looks, countless young masters and scions have come to my door proposing marriage. A guy from another city even offered a betrothal gift of ten million right off the bat! Now that she's been defiled like this, her life is completely ruined." Deng Pacai bobbed his head, slapped his thigh, and put on a deeply heartbroken expression. To be fair, his acting was quite convincing.

The two sisters—or rather, the sister and brother—listened with furious expressions and trembling bodies. They had seen shameless people before, but never anyone quite this shameless. Du Haitao roared in uncontrollable rage, "Deng Pacai, is that even human language? You're a damn animal!"

Startled by the roar, Deng Pacai shrank fearfully behind Brother Xian. "Brother Xian, you see that? I'm his father, and this is how he treats me. Just now, he even beat me with a mop, breaking the bones in my shoulder and arm. I have to go to the hospital later. You have to stand up for me."

"Young man, tone down the anger a bit. A-Cai is your father; how can you adopt that kind of attitude toward him?" Brother Xian reprimanded Du Haitao, then shifted his gaze to Du Xueer. A spark of appreciation lit up his eyes. Although this wasn't the first time he had seen her, he had to admit that Deng Pacai's stepdaughter possessed undeniable beauty.

However, he didn't linger on her excessively, finally turning his gaze to Hong Chen and letting his expression darken slightly. "Young man, do you have anything to say?"

Hong Chen offered a simple two-word reply: "Nothing!"

Brother Xian nodded. "You spent the night at A-Cai's place yesterday, sharing a room with his daughter. An innocent maiden has given you her purity. I'll ask you just one thing: what kind of settlement are you planning to offer?"

Hong Chen answered flatly, "Take them away."

Deng Pacai glared and shouted, "Leave ten million, or don't even think about it!"

Hong Chen chuckled. "Five million a moment ago, now it's ten million. It doubles in ten minutes—your loan shark interest rate calculation is quite impressive."

Deng Pacai retorted righteously, "You redeem my son for ten million, taking my daughter away costs the same price. Do you think we're still living in ancient times? In modern society, men and women are equal."

The phrase "men and women are equal" coming out of Deng Pacai's mouth cracked a smile on Hong Chen's face, and even Brother Xian's three lackeys couldn't hold back their laughter.

"All right, stop bickering," Brother Xian waved a hand at Deng Pacai, then looked at Hong Chen. "Ten million is a bit much. Let me make an executive decision for A-Cai: eight million. Once the money hits the account, you take her away."

Before giving Hong Chen a chance to respond, Brother Xian pulled a contract out of his clutch bag, pointed at it, and said, "If you can't make the transfer right now, sign an IOU first."

This was the standard playbook of a debt-collection agency: whether the cash could be collected immediately or not, get the IOU signed and thumbprinted first, and then kick off the standardized debt collection process.

Brother Xian was far more professional than Deng Pacai, but the two shared one common trait—they were both scoundrels and rogues. The former simply came with an extra title: gangster, and an old one at that!

"Big Brother, you've got it all wrong. Let me lay it straight for you: the ten million I used to bail Haitao out yesterday came from last month's home demolition compensation, my entire life savings, and some money I borrowed from others. That's the only way I barely managed to scrape it together. My parents' apartment and my own apartment are all that's left; everything else is cleared out. You surely don't expect me to sell our homes, do you? If I sell the places, where are Xueer, Haitao, and I supposed to live?"

Looking thoroughly tormented, Hong Chen pulled a stack of bank cards from his pocket and displayed them to Brother Xian. "These are all credit cards. They were all maxed out yesterday. I might be able to squeeze out another tens of thousands. How about I scrape together fifty thousand?"

Brother Xian narrowed his eyes, his gaze sweeping over the colorful credit cards. The taut string of caution in his heart loosened. What kind of background or status could someone who casually paid ten million to bail out A-Cai's son possibly have? He had been worried about kicking a steel plate, but the prospect of money had emboldened him to come anyway. Now, finally, the truth was out. The guy was just a demolition nouveau riche who happened to own his home and his parents' home.

Of course, this was just Hong Chen's side of the story. An old hand like Brother Xian wouldn't swallow it completely, but the dozen or so credit cards were proof right before his eyes. At the very least, it proved one thing: Hong Chen could not possibly have any formidable backing.

*Kid, I'm definitely taking you for all you've got today,* Brother Xian thought to himself, a sinister smile tugging at the corner of his mouth. He took a puff of his cigar and drawled leisurely, "Fifty thousand to take a young woman's innocence? Young man, how is this any different from dining and dashing?"

Hong Chen shrugged. "That's all I have."

"Then come over here and sign the contract."

"I don't owe you money. Why would I sign any contract?"

Brother Xian's expression darkened. "Do you need me to invite you over?" He made a hand gesture with two fingers, and immediately two of the three lackeys shifted into menacing expressions as they strode toward Hong Chen.

Hong Chen panicked. "What are you trying to do?"

One of the lackeys retorted, "My boss told you to come over and sign. Didn't you hear him?"

Hong Chen's expression flickered a few times. "Look, let me go scrape the money together and I'll come back this afternoon." With that, he made to leave, but the two lackeys stepped in to block his path.

Before they could lay a hand on him, Hong Chen stepped back. Du Haitao immediately lunged forward, blocking the two lackeys and roaring, "Direct whatever you want at me! Anyone who touches my benefactor plays for keeps with me!"

With a cold expression, Du Xueer pulled out her phone and said, "If you guys try anything reckless, I'm calling the police."

Brother Xian issued a heavy command: "Take him!"

One of the lackeys reached out to shove Du Haitao, but Haitao, who had been anticipating the move, shoved him back hard. The lackey stumbled back a few paces and nearly fell. Another lackey threw a punch; Du Haitao took the blow to the chest, gritted his teeth to hold his ground, and lashed out with a kick to the attacker's stomach.

Haitao then surged forward, grabbed the nearest stool, and yelled, "Benefactor, I'll cover you! You go first!"

This was a shanty settlement, and being on the ground floor, all the windows in the house were reinforced with iron bars. The front door was the only way out.

Du Xueer didn't hesitate either. Turning sideways to Hong Chen, she said, "We can't climb out through the windows. The front door is our only option. Hurry!" With that, she charged forward as well. By some sleight of hand, her phone had vanished, replaced by a spray bottle. Without aiming at any specific person, she began spraying wildly ahead of her.

One lackey caught the mist full in the face. A burning agony flared in his eyes, and he clutched them with both hands, crouching down against the wall. The third lackey moved in, snatching a wok off the stove and hurling it at Du Xueer.

Du Xueer raised a hand to block it. Seizing the opening, the lackey lunged forward and threw a merciless punch. Fortunately, it only grazed Du Xueer's arm, but the force sent her stumbling back to crash against the wall before she could regain her footing.

"Go to hell!" Seeing his sister struck, Du Haitao's eyes turned red. Wielding the stool wildly, he beat one lackey into howling in pain while forcing the other to retreat step by step.

"Hurry and go!" Seeing that the doorway was unobstructed, Du Xueer grabbed Hong Chen and shoved him forward. Suddenly, Brother Xian flipped the table over, using it to block Hong Chen's path. At the same time, Brother Xian retreated to a safe distance of three meters and barked at Deng Pacai, "Are you just going to stand there watching a play? Help out!"

Deng Pacai wanted to snap back, *Why don't you get your own ass over here, dammit!* but he didn't dare voice it. He glanced at the cleaver lying on the corner of the stove counter, gritted his teeth, and picked it up. With trembling legs, he closed in on Hong Chen, brandishing the weapon with a false bravado. "You ruined my daughter! If you dare try to run, I'll hack you to death!"

A ruthless glint flashed in Du Haitao's eyes. With a mighty roar, he smashed the stool into the body of one lackey, then sidestepped to block Deng Pacai's path. Instead of recklessly attempting to disarm him, Haitao threw open his chest, adopting a posture that dared Deng to slash him right there, while urging, "Benefactor, go!"

"Run!" Du Xueer screamed as well. By now, one lackey was still crouched on the floor recovering, another had taken a stool to the body and slumped sideways near the stove, and Deng Pacai was blocked by Du Haitao. Brother Xian was merely watching the show, leaving only the final lackey. Giving in to a fierce desperation of her own, Du Xueer ignored the dropped spray bottle, lunged forward, grabbed that lackey by the leg, and sank her teeth into it.

"Ah!" The lackey let out a pig-like squeal, flailed his leg to kick Du Xueer away, and lost his balance, crashing to the floor.

The path from Hong Chen's position to the front door was finally clear of obstacles. A distance of five or six paces—at a fleeing person's sprint—would take barely a second. Combined with pushing the door open and bolting out, it would take two seconds at most!

Yet Hong Chen did not make a dash for freedom. He stood right where he was, nodding silently to himself. The actions of the brother and sister proved at least that they were not ungrateful ingots, and their fierce tenacity satisfied him to a degree.

If the siblings had been weak and timid, hiding behind him while mindlessly pleading on his behalf, it would only mean they had decent hearts but were useless in a crisis—and entirely untrustworthy.

Hong Chen demanded wolves, not sheep, from the people around him. He possessed absolute confidence in his ability to command wolves—excluding ungrateful wolves, of course—and had zero inclination to waste energy protecting sheep!