22: 22.
Fiercely Protective Sister-in-law 22: 22.
Fiercely Protective Sister-in-law Hearing that familiar voice, Shen Tian froze.
He instinctively turned his head to look.
The next instant, a swift, whip-like kick slammed straight into his face.
Bang!
“Puwah!!” Shen Tian’s nose was directly kicked in, and his entire body was sent flying several meters across the room, crashing hard into the wall.
But Gu Yan was not done yet.
Bang, bang, bang!
“You absolute idiot!
You fool!!
What else can you do besides ruin everything?!” Gu Yan snarled, following up with a rapid succession of fly-kicks to the man’s chest, stomach, and face.
“You good-for-nothing who can’t accomplish anything but can break everything!” Gu Yan was almost scared out of his wits; he had arrived with barely a second to spare.
This dangerous plot line was about to unfold in an even more catastrophic way than it had in the original novel.
He angrily kicked the useless pile of flesh on the ground.
If he had stepped through that door a moment later, the consequences would have been irreversible.
In the original timeline, Leng Ling’er’s death was the exact trigger that shattered Leng Qingqiu’s mind, turning her into a ruthless villainess unrecognizable even to her family.
If that happened here, every single bit of effort he had put in over the last few days would have been completely in vain.
“Help…
help…
please…
please stop kicking…” Shen Tian wheezed, his face covered in blood as he curled himself into a ball on the floor, continuously begging for mercy.
Shen Tian’s friends stood frozen in terror.
Their bodies trembled, their eyes wide with fear.
Wait a minute…
Isn’t this Young Master Gu?
How on earth is he here?
Didn’t he just teach our entire group a lesson this morning?
“Quick…
run!” someone scrambled to yell.
The rest of the thugs, as if hearing a life-saving command, instantly released their grip on Leng Ling’er and her friends, scrambling over one another to sprint out of the private box.
Little Wei felt a cold shiver run through her entire body.
Her knees buckled, and she collapsed heavily onto the floor, staring blankly as she murmured, “Gu…
Gu…” “Brother-in-law!!” Leng Ling’er scrambled to her feet, her eyes shining with pure disbelief as she stared at Gu Yan.
Heaven knew how incredibly relieved she was to see him materialize in this room.
In her overwhelming excitement, the word ‘brother-in-law’ slipped out entirely on its own.
The moment the word echoed in the room, the rest of the girls stood up, rubbing their bruised arms and shoulders.
Their eyes locked onto Gu Yan, lighting up instantly.
“Ling’er’s older sister’s husband!!” Oh my god, Ling’er’s brother-in-law just single-handedly beat up a room full of thugs to save them.
This…
this was just too cool!
Little Wei was left even more stunned.
Wait a minute.
Brother-in-law?
Then…
what exactly is the relationship between Shen Tian and Leng Ling’er?
She felt completely unable to make sense of the situation anymore.
“Hiss…
huff…” Gu Yan stopped kicking, his chest heaving as he took a deep breath.
Turning away from the bleeding mess on the floor, he looked at Leng Ling’er, who was still staring at him with a wide-eyed, incredulous expression.
He withdrew his foot and walked straight over to her.
Seeing that she was completely unharmed, a wave of relief washed over him, and he reached his hand out toward her.
Leng Ling’er instinctively thought he was going to reprimand or hit her for skipping class.
She nervously squeezed her eyes shut and lowered her head, bracing for the worst.
Instead, a warm, gentle patting sensation settled on the crown of her head.
Stunned, she snapped her eyes open.
Gu Yan was looking down at her with a thoroughly helpless expression, his voice carrying the gentle, coaxing tone one would use with a misbehaving child.
“What are you looking at me like that for?
Do you honestly think I would hit you?” “You little troublemaker.
Come on, let’s get out of here.
It’s time to go home and eat.” The moment those words left his lips, a strange, unnamed impulse surged from the depths of Ling’er’s heart.
What…
what is this?
What is going on with me?
What is this feeling?
Leng Ling’er stood completely dumbfounded on the spot.
Even after Gu Yan had already withdrawn his hand and turned his attention to check on the condition of the other girls, her mind remained entirely blank, unable to snap back to reality.
“Wow, brother-in-law, you are incredibly cool!
A literal hero saving beauties~” “This little sister has absolutely no way to repay your kindness, unless…” “Hehe, brother-in-law, take a look at me!
I’m currently in the prime of my youth…” Gu Yan raised his hands in mock surrender as the girls swarmed him.
“Uh, haha, I appreciate the enthusiasm, girls, but I am a strictly married man.
I already have a wife and a sister-in-law to worry about.” “A wife is a wife, but a baby is a baby, and a darling is a—Ouch!” Before the girls could finish pulling on Gu Yan’s arms and giggling with blushing faces, a small fist flew out and gave each of them a sharp punch to the head.
Leng Ling’er had snapped out of her trance and rushed forward.
“Ling’er, what was that for?!
That actually hurts!” “Yeah, Sister Ling’er, why are you actively standing in the way of our pursuit of true love?” the girls complained, clutching their heads as they looked at Ling’er, whose face had turned a bright, vivid shade of red.
“Love my foot!
This is my brother-in-law!” Leng Ling’er grabbed Gu Yan’s hand, pulling him back and shouting at the others as if declaring ownership.
“This is my older sister’s man!
None of you are allowed to have any ideas about him!” Even though she was trying her hardest to maintain a fierce, serious expression, the sight of her flushed, protective little face only made Gu Yan think she was incredibly cute.
“Alright, alright, you little rascals,” Gu Yan intervened, his tone turning serious as he looked at the group.
“You choose to skip your afternoon lectures just to sneak off for karaoke, and look what happens—you run face-first into a situation like this.” He glanced down at Shen Tian, who was still sprawled silently on the floor.
“If I hadn’t managed to arrive here exactly when I did, do you have any idea how terrible the consequences would have been?
You all like to act tough outside, but now you see the reality, right?
In the hands of real bad guys, you are still just completely powerless novices.” “Remember this encounter today.
Your primary task right now is to study hard and give a proper account of yourselves for your own futures.” Gu Yan’s words caused every single one of the girls to lower their heads in silence.
If any other adult had delivered this lecture, they would have rolled their eyes, covered their ears, and tuned it out immediately.
But because the advice came from Gu Yan—the very person who had just saved their lives—they felt deeply ashamed.
A few of the girls even quietly tugged at their mature, revealing clothes, suddenly feeling incredibly embarrassed to be dressed that way in front of him.
Seeing that they were genuinely reflecting on their actions, the stern look on Gu Yan’s face softened a fraction.
He exhaled a long breath and nodded approvingly.
“You little rascals…
although your martial arts skills are completely non-existent, your loyalty is highly commendable.
At the absolute last moment, not a single one of you chose to abandon your friends to save yourselves.
Which goes to show…” He paused, a soft, encouraging smile breaking across his features.
“You’re all good kids.” —