Lu Chengwen was seething with frustration.
I've got a mountain of messes to clean up, and this crazy girl keeps stirring up trouble!
I've got too much on my plate to deal with this lunatic, but she's constantly clinging to me, yammering about dating!
Do I need a girlfriend? Once I take down Long Aotian, will I lack for women?
Fine, if she were decent, maybe I'd consider it. But this one's a master actress—prim and proper on the surface, but a scheming trickster underneath, with no limits to how low she'll stoop to screw me over!
Who'd dare take her? That's just asking for misery!
Lu Chengwen tried negotiating with Xu Xuejiao, but she just giggled incessantly, throwing him off with her coy charm.
Finally, he snapped, lunging forward and pinning her to the car seat, growling, "I'm warning you! I'm a bad guy—a ruthless killer! When I lose it, even I scare myself! You'd better not push me!"
"Hahaha! What're you gonna do, Brother Chengwen? This position might give people the wrong idea!" Xu Xuejiao teased.
"Who's gonna see? Keep lying to my parents, and I'll strip you naked and toss you out of this car—see how you get married then!"
"Get off me! I'm getting mad!" she huffed.
"Oh, you're mad now?" Lu Chengwen sneered. "Scared yet? Finally realizing I'm a tiger who can bite?"
"Lu Chengwen, you'd better show me some respect! I'm warning you—get off!"
Lu Chengwen wanted her to lose it, the worse the better. "Hah! Love's not something you can just buy! You think I'll let go because you say so? No way! I'm telling you, keep your eyes peeled from now on, or I'll beat you eight times a day until you're begging for mercy!"
"Lu Chengwen, I'm serious—I'm really getting mad!"
"Good! Get mad!" Lu Chengwen laughed. "Today, I'll show you what happens when you cross me…"
Xu Xuejiao suddenly whimpered, "Brother Chengwen, I was wrong. Not here, please—I'm begging you, save me some face. Wait till we're home, okay?"
"Home? Hmph! Piss off Lu Chengwen, and not even the gods can save you! If I don't teach you a lesson today, I'll feel incomplete as a man!"
"Brother Chengwen, don't do this! I'll scream!"
Xu Xuejiao struggled, but Lu Chengwen wasn't about to let her win.
[Today's the day. I'll show her my dark side.]
[You think you're so clever? I'll scare you so bad you'll run at the sight of me!]
Xu Xuejiao thrashed, her long, pale legs kicking wildly.
Lu Chengwen pinned her hands, using his thighs to trap her legs, smirking wickedly. "Scream all you want! The louder you scream, the more excited I get! No one's coming to save you!"
"You little vixen, acting all innocent every day! Today, I'll show you the might of the Lu family's young master…"
Lu Chengwen was still hamming it up when Xu Xuejiao suddenly stopped struggling. She turned her head aside, tears streaming down her face.
Lu Chengwen froze. "Hey… you're not faking, are you? I…"
Before he could explain, a large hand grabbed his head by the hair, yanking him out of the car.
Furious, Lu Chengwen spun around, ready to fight. "Which bastard—"
His words caught in his throat as he saw his father, Lu Guanghong, glaring at him.
Lu Guanghong was livid, dragging Lu Chengwen out and laying into him.
Xu Xuejiao had started her act the moment the electric car door opened. She wasn't scared—she'd heard Lu Chengwen's inner thoughts and knew he was bluffing to intimidate her.
But outside, Lu Guanghong and his wife were horrified. Was their son this kind of person?
In the car, saying such beastly things—words only a monster could utter!
Lu Guanghong's wife was so upset she needed support, while Lu Guanghong searched for something to use as a weapon.
Lu Chengwen, too deep in his act, hadn't noticed the silent electric door open.
Damn, that car was fancy.
Back at the Lu family estate, Lu Guanghong beat Lu Chengwen relentlessly.
As a proper martial artist at the Body Tempering level, Lu Chengwen could take on twenty Lu Guanghongs without breaking a sweat. But fight back? No way. He could only take the hits.
"Dad! Dad! Listen—she's faking, she's acting!"
"Acting? Even the gods can't save you today!"
"Dad, she's not a good person! Don't believe her!"
Lu Guanghong's wife comforted Xu Xuejiao. "Xuejiao, it's our fault for not raising him right!"
She turned, shouting, "Old Lu, beat him! Beat him to death!"
Xu Xuejiao nestled in her arms, sobbing. "Mom, don't hit him too hard. It's my fault for not listening to Brother Chengwen. I'm useless…"
"Don't say that. We failed to teach our son."
Xu Xuejiao cried, "Just let Uncle beat him for a few hours. I'd feel bad if it's too much."
"You silly girl, you're still worried about him? Why doesn't he care about you?"
Lu Guanghong snapped a broomstick, looking for another weapon.
Xu Xuejiao sobbed, "Dad, no! Not the bamboo pole—it hurts too much!"
Lu Guanghong spotted it. Right, a bamboo pole!
He grabbed it and resumed the beating.
As a Body Tempering martial artist, Lu Chengwen's resilience was far beyond a normal person's. The hits stung, but that was about it.
Still… so humiliating!
He was in his twenties, president of Great Sage Group, and getting thrashed in front of the household—maids, gardeners, security, all gawking and gossiping.
"What's up with the young master?"
"Same old—he tried to get rough in the car and got caught by the master."
"He's done being a simp, now he's a total jerk?"
"Keep it down! The young master's ruthless. If he hears, he'll end you!"
"Look at the master go! His moves are sharp!"
"Of course. The master's two best skills: business and beating the young master."
"Is that… the legendary lost art?"
"Yep, the Son-Beating Stick Technique, honed over years. He hasn't used it much lately to save the young master's face. Newbies, come watch—see the master's prowess!"
"Still going! Should we stop him?"
"Give it fifteen more minutes. Don't want to break the young master."
"What about now?"
"He's not broken yet!"
"Keep it down, you're ruining the show!"
Lu Chengwen felt utterly humiliated. A grown man, a corporate president, beaten in public like this?
He grabbed the bamboo pole. "Dad, that's enough!"
Lu Guanghong froze. "Let go!"
Lu Chengwen grinned. "Dad, I was wrong. Calm down. I'm not worried about me—you'll tire yourself out."
"Hmm, fair point." Lu Guanghong nodded. "You lot, grab a pole each and beat him!"
Xu Xuejiao timidly approached, tugging Lu Guanghong's sleeve. "Dad, stop. I don't want to see Brother Chengwen get hurt."
Lu Chengwen glared, nearly grinding his teeth to dust. She was winking and throwing 'victory' signs at me a second ago, now playing the saint!
"Get lost! I don't need your pity!"
Lu Guanghong snapped, "You're still not sorry!"
"No, Dad, I'm sorry!"
In the dining room, Lu Guanghong was still fuming. His wife wiped tears, while Xu Xuejiao nestled in her arms, feigning fragility.
Lu Guanghong sighed. "Lu Chengwen, you're grown, and I can't keep up with you anymore. But that slum project—what were you thinking? It's a massive risk, gambling half my life's work on charity?"
"If it works out, we might make a profit…" Lu Chengwen mumbled, uncertain.
"Might make a profit!?" Lu Guanghong barked. "Five hundred billion, and you say might? With that money, I could partner with banks for investments and do better than 'might'!"
"The contract's signed. Can't back out now."
"Fine. When I handed you the company, I was prepared for this. I'm old, my health's failing—I can't run the business anymore. If you tank it, that's the Lu family's fate. I accept it!" He glared. "But the Lu family doesn't produce scoundrels! I've lived upright all my life. How did you turn out like this!?"
"It's really not what you think," Lu Chengwen said, aggrieved.
"I saw it with my own eyes! You're still denying it!?"
"Dad, don't get mad—it's bad for your health. I was wrong, okay?"
Lu Guanghong sighed. "If you put even a fraction of the filial piety you show me and your mom toward Xuejiao, I wouldn't be so angry. If you want me to live longer, treat her better!"
"Got it," Lu Chengwen muttered.
"You're an adult now, Chengwen. I can't guide you forever—you'll have to walk your own path. You think money and looks mean you can pick any woman? Countless heroes have fallen to women, ruining their legacies! A man who doesn't cherish his woman isn't a man at all!"
"Yes, I understand."
Lu Chengwen was terrified of stressing his dad into a heart attack, so he didn't argue.
"Tomorrow, visit the Xu family. Old Xu hasn't approved your engagement. You need to convince your future father-in-law to agree to the marriage."
"I'll try," Lu Chengwen said.
"Not try! If you don't win him over, I'll take back Great Sage Group and run it myself!"
"Dad, the doctor said you can't overwork. You can't handle Great Sage's workload."
"I don't care. We owe Xuejiao responsibility!"
Lu Chengwen hesitated. "What about Leng Qingqiu? I'm engaged to her!"
Lu Guanghong scoffed. "The Leng family looks down on us, and I can't blame them—they broke the engagement themselves. What can I do? But Xuejiao's devoted to you, gentle, virtuous, and refined. I've chosen her as my daughter-in-law! Make this happen, you hear?"
Xu Xuejiao softly approached, kneeling on the carpet, gently taking Lu Chengwen's hand and tracing the bruises on it. "Brother Chengwen, does it hurt?"
Lu Chengwen squinted at the little vixen. "No."
Zhao Gang burst in, frantic. "Master, Madam, Young Master—trouble!"
Lu Chengwen snapped, "What's the panic? What's wrong!?"
Zhao Gang stood awkwardly. "Miss… Miss Leng from the Leng family is here."
_
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