Translator: CinderTL
"Dr. Jiang?" Pi Ruan looked at Jiang Cheng in surprise.
"Why didn't you tell me about this?" Jiang Cheng walked over and examined the bandage covering Pi Ruan's head. "Who did this?"
"Was it Su Lin who called you?" Pi Ruan seemed somewhat displeased, and began coughing violently. He had already told Miss Lin not to reveal anything.
"Don't blame the innocent. I came here on my own," Jiang Cheng said, casually twisting open a bottle of mineral water and handing it to him.
Pi Ruan took the water but didn't drink it, holding it awkwardly in his hand. "Dr. Jiang, Xue Jinhua is trying to burn the bridge after crossing the river. I never expected her to be so ruthless, showing no regard for our past relationship."
"There wasn't much of a relationship to begin with," Jiang Cheng replied, pulling up a chair and sitting across from Pi Ruan. "How are you feeling?"
"Not too bad, just dizzy," Pi Ruan admitted honestly. "I'm a bit weak."
Jiang Cheng reached for the paper in front of Pi Ruan—a printed agreement.
He scanned it quickly. The gist was that Pi Ruan had to relinquish all his profits and pay a hefty compensation, or Xue Jinhua would sue him for fraud and send him to prison.
Jiang Cheng knew Pi Ruan's financial situation well. This compensation would essentially bankrupt him, completely eliminating him from the game. All his hard work over the past few years would have been for nothing.
"Why didn't you come to me when this happened?" Jiang Cheng looked up, still dwelling on the question.
"Dr. Jiang, you know Xue Jinhua's influence in Rong City. I didn't want you to offend her because of me."
Before he could finish, Jiang Cheng cut him off, clutching the promise letter and turning to Pi Ruan. "How much of her assets did you say you wanted?"
Pi Ruan stammered, "Thirty percent. That was my asking price, but I'd have been satisfied with ten percent. I really didn't intend to take more."
"Thirty percent it is." Jiang Cheng folded the promise letter and tucked it into his pocket. "I'll take this case. A man's youth is precious too. They need to learn to pay for their actions."
"Focus on recovering. Draft a contract when you have time. I'll have Xue Jinhua sign it in the next couple of days." Jiang Cheng didn't linger. He stood up and started to leave.
But just as he reached the door, a commotion erupted outside the office. The door was kicked open with a loud bang.
"Oh, hiding out here, are you?" The leader was a young man with dyed yellow hair, dressed in a rough, streetwise style. A vertical red eye tattoo, as if drawn with blood, was centered on his forehead.
While scrolling through short videos of pretty girls dancing, Jiang Cheng occasionally stumbled upon some truly eye-watering content. That's how he learned about this type of tattoo called the "Heavenly Eye."
Huang Mai, the yellow-haired leader, swaggered into the room with a few lackeys trailing behind him.
"Pi Ruan," Huang Mai said without even glancing at Jiang Cheng, pointing directly at Pi Ruan. "I'm making this clear: you're signing that agreement today, whether you like it or not. If you refuse, I'll smash your head in too!"
"Are you talking about this?" Jiang Cheng pulled the agreement from his pocket and waved it in front of everyone.
"Who the hell are you?" Huang Mai narrowed his eyes, glancing sideways at Jiang Cheng. "How did you get the agreement?"
"My name is Jiang Cheng, and I'm a friend of Pi Ruan's," Jiang Cheng replied. "What's your relationship with Xue Jinhua?"
"It'll scare you to death if I tell you," Huang Mai shouted. "Xue Jinhua is my grandmother! I own half of this company!"
"I'm warning you, stay out of this before my big brother beats you to death," Fatty, one of Huang Mai's followers, barked.
Fatty, clearly the muscle of the group, deliberately lifted his shirt to reveal a crude tattoo on his chest.
But even this rough tattoo managed to catch the attention of Jiang Cheng, who had seen it all.
There was no other reason: the tattoo was simply too vicious.
Nine Dragons Coffin Pullers: a coffin pulled by nine dragons, inside lay Lord Guan with his eyes open.
On Lord Guan's head, a third eye had been opened using pigeon blood, and this third eye was an extremely rare double-pupiled one.
Each dragon's back bore a tiny figure clutching something that resembled a rope, clearly mimicking Nezha's act of ripping out the dragon's tendons.
"What are you dawdling for? Get out of here!" Fatty glared, his eyes blazing with intimidating authority.
"Hold on." Huang Mai, who had beaten up Pi Ruan just yesterday, found Jiang Cheng a fresh target today. He narrowed his eyes at the docile Jiang Cheng and grinned. "I've changed my mind. Today, you're either taking a beating or crawling out of here."
Jiang Cheng tilted his head, glancing at the surveillance camera in the corner.
Unexpectedly, this gesture seemed to ignite Huang Mai's excitement. "Hey, you little rat! You know to hide under the camera, thinking I wouldn't dare hit you, huh?"
With that, he took a baseball bat from one of his underlings, climbed onto a chair, and smashed the camera to pieces with a triumphant stomp.
Afterward, he slung the bat over his shoulder, tilted his head at Jiang Cheng, and panted with a malicious grin. "Now you're finished."
At that moment, Pi Ruan, who had remained silent until now, finally spoke. "Dr. Jiang," he said softly. "This office only has one surveillance camera, and he smashed it."
Click. A thug slammed the door shut with practiced ease and locked it.
Pi Ruan glanced at the door, then turned back and said, "They've locked the gate too."
Seeing Pi Ruan's cowering demeanor, Huang Mai and the other thugs grew even more excited, each eager to take a turn.
Some boasted about their fists, as big as sandbags, itching for a fight. Others claimed their family's twenty-two-form Tan Tui had been dormant for too long and today would be the day they'd use it on Jiang Cheng.
Jiang Cheng unbuttoned his coat, but when he realized he was wearing a white shirt underneath, he paused. With obvious reluctance, he buttoned his coat back up.
Seeing Jiang Cheng's apparent defiance, the Fatty from the Nine Dragons Coffin Pullers stepped forward. "I'll—"
Jiang Cheng kicked him squarely in the chest. The Fatty flew backward, scraping across the floor before slamming heavily into the wall. He gasped for breath, nearly dying on the spot.
The Fatty was the strongest fighter among the group. The other thug, who had charged forward with an iron pipe, didn't even see Jiang Cheng move before he collapsed.
This terrified the skinny, freckled-faced man who had charged forward alongside him. But the skinny man wasn't stupid. After witnessing Jiang Cheng casually bend the iron pipe in half, he swallowed hard.
He immediately dropped the baseball bat and bowed respectfully to Jiang Cheng. "I apologize for the disturbance."
Jiang Cheng casually punched him, sending him sprawling next to Fatty.
Hearing the clattering and crashing sounds from inside the office, Miss Lin outside grew increasingly anxious. Yesterday, President Pi had been injured by the leader of the group, Huang Mai.
Huang Mai, relying on his status as Xue Jinhua's grandson, had come to force President Pi to sign a compensation agreement.
Just as Miss Lin was about to call the police, the sounds of fighting inside stopped. After about ten seconds, a chorus of synchronized singing suddenly erupted.
(End of the Chapter)
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