Lin Nianxi’s porcelain-white face flushed bright red with anger.
Five thousand yuan? All the furniture in this rundown room combined wasn’t even worth five hundred yuan! This was clearly a case of taking advantage of her youth and vulnerability—a deliberate attempt at extortion!
“You’re trying to scam me!” Lin Nianxi bit her lower lip, her voice trembling with rage. “This furniture was already broken—I didn’t damage it!”
“You say it was broken, so it was broken? Where’s your proof?” Sister Li sneered, wearing an expression that said she had Nianxi right where she wanted her. “Did you take photos when you moved in? Did you record any videos for documentation?”
Lin Nianxi was left speechless. She had just escaped from her uncle’s house yesterday, overwhelmed with relief at finally having a place to stay. How could she have had the experience to take photos for damage assessment?
Seeing that Nianxi couldn’t produce any evidence, Sister Li grew even more brazen. Her plump body blocked the doorway like an impenetrable wall.
“No proof, huh? No proof means you’re the one who broke it!” Sister Li glared at her viciously. “No money to pay? If you can’t pay, then take off that dress you’re wearing as compensation! The fabric looks decent—it might be worth something.”
As she spoke, Sister Li actually reached out with her rough hands, trying to grab Nianxi’s clothes.
Startled, Nianxi instinctively stepped back, her back slamming heavily against the peeling wardrobe with a dull thud.
Her face turned deathly pale, and her eyes instantly reddened.
Since childhood, she had been bullied by her uncle’s family and had grown accustomed to swallowing her grievances. She thought that once she moved out, she could stand on her own two feet in society.
But reality had slapped her hard in the face.
Resentment, anger, and helplessness churned in her chest.
“What are you hiding for?” Seeing her retreat, Sister Li grew even more aggressive and reached for the backpack Nianxi had placed on the bed. “Let me see what valuable things you have in there!”
“Don’t touch my things!”
Just as Sister Li’s hand was about to touch the backpack, Nianxi suddenly mustered strength from somewhere deep within and shoved Sister Li’s hand away.
Caught off guard, Sister Li staggered backward two steps, her hefty body bumping against the doorframe.
“You little bitch, how dare you lay hands on me?!” Sister Li, humiliated and furious, lunged forward with claws bared.
As she stared at the vicious, mean face before her, Huo Jingmo’s words from the hospital room suddenly flashed through Nianxi’s mind.
—“Running away won’t solve anything.”
—“From today onward, if someone insults you, insult them back; if someone slaps you, cut their hand off. Don’t be afraid of causing trouble—if the sky falls, I’ll hold it up for you.”
—“Lin Nianxi, you have someone to rely on now.”
Yes, she had someone to rely on now.
Why should she continue to endure this kind of humiliation?
Lin Nianxi took a deep breath, forcibly suppressing the emotions in her heart. She didn’t retreat any further. Instead, she straightened her slender back, her dark almond-shaped eyes fixed coldly on Sister Li.
“Try touching me again.” Though the girl’s voice still carried a soft, delicate undertone, it now held an unprecedented firmness.
Sister Li felt a chill run down her spine under Nianxi’s suddenly transformed gaze, and her movements faltered for a moment. But then she found it laughable—what could a young, inexperienced girl like her possibly do?
“Well, got some nerve now, huh?” Sister Li sneered coldly. “If you don’t hand over the money today, I’ll make sure you don’t leave this alley! My husband’s playing cards downstairs. One shout from me, and you think he won’t come up here and skin you alive?”
Lin Nianxi ignored her threats. She unlocked her phone.
The screen lit up, and she opened her contacts, her fingertip hovering over the number saved under “Husband.”
“Calling the police, are you?” Sister Li saw this and, far from being afraid, laughed arrogantly instead. “Go ahead! Even if the police come, they’ll just mediate the dispute. Without proof, you’ll still have to pay! I’ve been around this neighborhood for over a decade. You think I can’t handle a little girl like you?”
Lin Nianxi didn’t look at her.
She pressed the call button and held the phone to her ear.
Ring— Ring—
The call connected after just two rings.
“Nianxi?” A man’s deep, magnetic, and steady-as-a-mountain voice came through the receiver. Just those two words instantly smoothed away all the panic in Lin Nianxi’s heart.
Lin Nianxi’s eyes stung. She sniffled, holding back tears, and spoke in a tone she herself didn’t realize carried a hint of coquettishness and dependence.
“Husband…”
In the cramped rental room, the girl’s soft voice rang out clearly.
“The landlord is trying to extort money from me and won’t let me leave.”
On the other end of the line, Huo Jingmo, who had been listening to an overseas executive’s report, suddenly felt the air around him drop to freezing point.
“Be good.” The man’s voice remained steady, yet it carried a chilling, ruthless edge. “I’ll be right there.”
The call ended.
Lin Nianxi held the phone in her hand, looked up, and calmly met the gaze of Sister Li blocking the doorway. “My husband will be here soon. I’ll let him talk to you.”
Sister Li curled her lip disdainfully. “Stop trying to scare me! Let’s see what big shot you can actually bring over!”
A few minutes later.
The usually noisy entrance of Wutong Alley suddenly fell into a deathly silence.
Three pure black bulletproof Maybachs glided into the narrow alley like ghosts, forcing all passing electric scooters and pedestrians to a halt.
The car doors opened in perfect unison.
Over a dozen burly, black-suited bodyguards in tailored suits filed out, swiftly securing every exit of the alley.
Chen Ming respectfully opened the rear door of the middle car.
A pair of long, straight legs encased in custom-tailored suit trousers stepped out.
Huo Jingmo fastened his suit button with one hand. His deep, ink-dark eyes swept over the dilapidated residential buildings, and the authoritative pressure emanating from him seemed to lower the temperature of the entire alley to freezing point.
He strode forward, his leather shoes making dull, rhythmic sounds on the grease-stained bluestone pavement as he walked step by step toward the third floor.
Seven or eight heads poked out from the stairwell of the neighboring building, all longtime residents who had lived here most of their lives.
“Whose family is this? Government officials?”
“What officials? Look at those cars! Maybachs! Three of them! Just one costs tens of millions!”
“Tens of millions? Oh my heavens! Buying this whole alley probably wouldn’t cover the cost of one car!”
“Shh— Look at that man, in the suit, so tall! And so handsome!”
“Oh my god, those long legs… isn’t this the domineering CEO from those short dramas?!”
“Good heavens, how did such a big shot end up in our old, run-down neighborhood?!”
Their eyes sparkled with excitement, faces alight with gossipy thrill and animated expressions.
Whispers rose and fell in the dilapidated residential building.
Huo Jingmo ascended to the third floor, followed by a middle-aged man wearing gold-rimmed glasses and carrying a briefcase.
The man was Zhou Hengshan, a partner at Wansheng Law Firm, one of the top three in the country, specializing in commercial litigation and cross-border mergers and acquisitions.
The smallest case he had handled involved a transaction value of 120 million.
Twenty minutes earlier, he had been studying a cross-border merger case involving Southeast Asian mineral resources in his office when he suddenly received a call from Huo Jingmo’s secretary, instructing him to drop everything immediately and rush to Wutong Lane.
Zhou Hengshan thought it must be something of monumental importance.
After all, with Mr. Huo personally involved, three armored Maybachs, and over a dozen bodyguards, this kind of setup suggested nothing less than a multi-billion-dollar commercial dispute.
In the car, he reviewed various legal provisions three times, preparing for a tough battle.
Third floor.
The iron door of the rental apartment stood open.
Sister Li blocked the doorway, her bulky frame planted firmly as she stood with hands on hips, ready to continue her tirade. Out of the corner of her eye, she caught sight of the sudden appearance of figures in the corridor and turned her head.
The hallway lighting was dim, but the figure approaching against the light was so tall he almost seemed to brush against the old ceiling lamp.
The man wore a deep black suit, his features sharp and cold, his presence exuding an indescribably formidable aura. His dark, profound eyes swept indifferently over the surroundings, like a deity surveying the world.
Behind him, a bespectacled man carrying a briefcase followed respectfully.
Looking further back—at the stairwell, two black-clad bodyguards had already taken up silent positions.
Sister Li was momentarily taken aback, but having spent over a decade navigating these parts, she had seen all kinds of posturing. She’d encountered plenty who tried to intimidate others by putting on a show.