Qi Dawei was knocking with growing impatience. Just as he was thinking of using his foot to kick the door, it opened. Standing behind it was that cheap son of his who didn’t look like him at all, propped up on crutches.
“What’s wrong with your leg? Injured?” Qi Dawei asked hypocritically.
“What does it have to do with you?” Qi Zhi only wanted to dismiss the man quickly. “If you want something, just say it.”
Qi Dawei wanted to waste time even less. He extended his hand, “Money. I want money. Give me two hundred thousand.”
Nowadays, he didn’t dare to ask Qi Ran for it either. Qi Ran hadn’t been close to him in the past, and now that he was the young master of a wealthy family, Qi Dawei knew he couldn’t afford to provoke him and could at least avoid him.
But he truly needed money, so he could only seek out Qi Zhi, this cheap son.
If Qi Zhi refused to give it, he would scream and shout, claiming that Qi Zhi was snobbish, loved wealth, and refused to acknowledge his poor biological father. A cheap son who had been raised delicately would definitely have thin skin; unable to bear it, he would obediently hand over the money.
“I don’t have it,” Qi Zhi went to close the door.
“Two hundred thousand, not a single cent less,” Qi Dawei hurriedly used his foot to wedge into the door gap. “If you don’t give it, I’ll yell out to tell all the students. I’ll let everyone come and see what a bad, snobbish thing you are for not acknowledging your poor biological father.”
“You…” Qi Zhi was furious. “I don’t have that much.”
“Then one hundred thousand,” Qi Dawei tightly gripped the door frame. “It cannot be any less.”
“No, not a single cent,” Qi Zhi tried to push the man out, but Qi Dawei’s strength was surprisingly immense; no matter how Qi Zhi pushed, he wouldn’t budge.
“You won’t leave, right?” Qi Zhi had no way to deal with him. “Then I’ll leave.”
Since he couldn’t afford to provoke him, he could hide. Qi Zhi decided to go upstairs to seek refuge with Lan An. Yet, before he could even take a step out of the dormitory, Qi Dawei plopped his bottom onto the ground, opened his mouth, and began to wail: “Someone come quickly! Come look, there’s a bad, heartless thing here who loves wealth, disowns his biological father, and tells his own father to get lost! So ungrateful, everyone come look—”
At this hour, there were many people in the boys’ dormitory. Hearing the noise, they all poked their heads out to watch the commotion.
Qi Dawei grew even more energized, simply lying flat on the floor, clutching one leg while shrieking and howling, “He’s even beating people! Beating his own old man! An unfilial son!”
“I…”
Qi Zhi had been delicately raised by the Qi family since childhood. The biggest event he had ever experienced was only a month ago, when it was verified that he wasn’t the Qi family’s biological child.
Back then, he had Qi Zhennan protecting him, and the Qi family hadn’t loathed him to the extent they did now, so Qi Dawei hadn’t dared to come and make a scene.
Faced with this situation, he genuinely had no solution at all.
More and more students leaned out to watch the spectacle. Some wanted to help advise him, but Qi Dawei refused to listen to reason at all. Moreover, since he was Qi Zhi’s biological father, it wasn’t appropriate for the classmates to take direct action either.
Helplessly, the situation remained at a standstill.
“Get up, get up,” Qi Zhi’s eyes turned red with anxiety.
“Give me two hundred thousand and I’ll get up,” Qi Dawei wasn’t afraid of losing face, stretching out his hand while lying on the floor.
Qi Zhi: “I don’t have it! Where would I get that much money?”
Ever since their identities were swapped back, the Qi family hadn’t given him a single cent. He hadn’t saved much money in the past either. Besides, even if he had it, he couldn’t give it to Qi Dawei.
This creature was a bottomless pit; if given to him once, there would be countless times to follow.
Qi Zhi wasn’t stupid and didn’t want to start this precedent.
But right now, he truly didn’t know what to do.
“Fine, fine, fine, move aside. I’ll go borrow money from someone,” a sudden flash of inspiration struck, and Qi Zhi thought of a way out.
“Really?” Qi Dawei immediately sat up.
Hidden among the crowd, Qi Zhennan slightly hooked the corner of his mouth upon hearing this. He took out his phone and held it in his hand, just waiting for Qi Zhi to call him for help.
“Really.”
Taking advantage of Qi Dawei standing up, Qi Zhi hobbled out of the dormitory on his crutches, intending to go up to the sixth floor to find Lan An.
He hadn’t considered seeking help from Qi Zhennan at all.
“Don’t believe him! He’s going to find someone to kick you out! He has an accomplice on the sixth floor!” Qi Ran suddenly poked his head out, shouting loudly before immediately shutting and locking the dormitory door.
Qi Dawei blanked out for a moment. Realizing what was happening, he lunged forward and tightly hugged Qi Zhi’s uninjured leg. “You can’t leave! You can’t ignore your biological father! I am your biological father!”
Qi Zhi wished he could use his crutches to bash Qi Dawei’s head open, but he was afraid of solidifying a reputation for beating his biological father.
He tried to pull his leg out, but Qi Dawei held on with a death grip.
It was all Qi Ran’s fault, opposing him at every turn.
Behind the crowd, Qi Zhennan naturally heard Qi Ran’s words as well. The hand gripping his phone squeezed so hard that his knuckles turned white. Even in such a predicament, Qi Zhi only thought of finding Lan An; had he not even considered calling him for help?
His heart gave a sudden thud, and Qi Zhennan felt inexplicably anxious, as if something were breaking out of his control.
“No, it definitely won’t.”
Looking at Qi Zhi, who was so entangled in the crowd that he was on the verge of tears, Qi Zhennan believed his plan wouldn’t go wrong.
Qi Zhi loved him; he would surely understand his difficulties.
“If you really don’t have money, just give me your phone, computer, and those designer watches. They can be exchanged for money if sold,” seeing that Qi Zhi seemed truly penniless, Qi Dawei thought of another good idea, reaching out to grope Qi Zhi’s wrist to see if there was a watch.
“Let go, you… ah—!”
Qi Zhi didn’t want to let him touch him. In the midst of their struggle, the crutches slipped from his hands, and his body tilted, falling backward.
Room 502 was right by the stairs. At this moment, Qi Zhi was standing right at the top of the stairwell. If he fell down from here, he would be severely injured if not dead.
“Qi Zhi!”
“Careful!”
Two familiar voices rang out simultaneously. Qi Zhi felt his weightless body caught by a hand, and in the next instant, he plunged into a warm embrace.
Slowly lifting his head, it was Lan An.
He hadn’t come down from upstairs; rather, he was coming up from downstairs, followed by Bian Jiong and Lu Yuan. Lu Yuan was still carrying packed meals in his hands.
No wonder there had been no movement from him for so long; it turned out he wasn’t around.
He had thought… thought Lan An didn’t care about him anymore either.
“Lan… Lan An,” Qi Zhi called out with lingering fear.
“Mm.”
At Lan An’s signal, Lu Yuan put down the lunchbox, dragged away the equally startled Qi Dawei, and pinned him to the ground.
“Who are you? What business is it of yours when I’m talking to my son?” Qi Dawei snapped back to his senses, struggling and wanting to make a scene again.
Lu Yuan didn’t say a word, simply keeping the man pinned down securely.
Lan An helped Qi Zhi stand upright, signaled Bian Jiong to keep an eye on him, and stepped forward. Without a word, he stomped directly onto the back of Qi Dawei’s hand the one missing a pinky finger his voice flat: “Two choices. First: get lost on your own. Second: I’ll help you get lost.”
Pinned flat on the floor, Qi Dawei lifted his head to look at Lan An. Meeting those heterochromic eyes, his body couldn’t help but shudder. He then turned his head to look at Lu Yuan, who was pinning him down, thinking to himself: Is this another wealthy young master? The man pinning him down definitely isn’t a student; he looks more like the bodyguards and thugs he had seen at the casino.
Can’t afford to provoke him!
Qi Dawei was highly pragmatic and immediately softened his voice: “This young master, you might have misunderstood. Qi Zhi is my son. I just wanted to get some money from him, nothing else.”
He thought that if this wealthy young master had a good relationship with Qi Zhi, perhaps he would use money to dismiss him.
Anyway, he only wanted money; it didn’t matter who gave it.
Lan An didn’t speak, and his expression didn’t change even a fraction. He applied force under his foot, ruthlessly grinding down on the fragile hand.
“Mmph, mmph—” Qi Dawei wanted to scream in pain, but his mouth was tightly muffled by Lu Yuan. His eyes widened significantly, and muffled sounds of agony escaped his throat.
“I don’t care to repeat my words a second time.”
Lan An half-squatted down, grabbing Qi Dawei’s hair to force him to look up. “If you know what’s good for you, get lost and stay far away. If I catch you bothering Qi Zhi again, it won’t be as simple as cutting off a single finger.”
Lan An moved his foot away, glancing at Qi Dawei’s hand that was missing a finger. At a glance, it was obvious it had been chopped off at a casino.
“Mmph, mmph—”
At this moment, Qi Dawei was terrified to the extreme, deeply afraid that Lan An would truly cut off his fingers. Having had one chopped off before, he knew how much it hurt to have a finger severed alive.
He struggled forcefully but couldn’t break free from Lu Yuan’s restraint at all.
“Very short on money, are you?”
Lan An didn’t care whether Qi Dawei was afraid or not. Exerting force with his hand, Qi Dawei’s hair was nearly ripped out along with his scalp, causing countless beads of blood to emerge at the hair roots.
“Instead of demanding it from Qi Zhi, you might as well look for Qi Ran. Nowadays, he gets two hundred thousand a month in pocket money; he can always spare some for you. Don’t forget, you raised him for twenty years too.”
Two hundred thousand a month in pocket money?
Qi Dawei’s mind stirred, and he stopped struggling.
Qi Ran had been hiding behind the door listening all along. Hearing this, he hurriedly poked his head out and shouted loudly: “Don’t even think I’ll give you a single cent! The one who raised me was my mom, Liu Guifen, not you, Qi Dawei!”
How could Qi Dawei not know this? He had also regretted why he hadn’t treated Qi Ran a bit better back then; otherwise, he wouldn’t be unable to get a single cent now.
Hearing this, Lan An actually smiled. He contemptuously patted Qi Dawei’s greasy face. “Hear that? You can use that Ms. Liu Guifen to threaten him. If he doesn’t give it, pull up a banner and shout at the school gate, go shout at the entrance of the Qi Family Group, saying that Qi Ran is ungrateful and doesn’t care about the mother who raised him, that he’s a thorough white-eyed wolf. If the Qi family still wants to save face, you’ll be able to continuously milk them for money.”
“You have a daughter too, right? And she has a very deep bond with Qi Ran?”
Lan An’s smile grew increasingly sinister: “Do you know how to make video calls? Let Qi Ran witness his most beloved younger sister being abused and beaten with his own eyes. Are you still afraid he won’t feel distressed? Won’t give money?”
Qi Ran: “…”
Listen to that, are those words a human being would say?
Qi Zhi: “…”
Qi Zhi had also recovered. He stared wide-eyed at Lan An’s back, thinking to himself: As expected of the villain written by my own pen. Look at that, this is far too ruthless!
The other students watching the commotion: “…”
Handsome guy, are you sure you aren’t a devil hidden among humans?
This is way too malicious, isn’t it?
Bian Jiong, who was carefully protecting Qi Zhi under Lan An’s instructions: “…”
Since the young master woke up after being severely injured, his temperament and style of doing things had changed a lot. Occasionally, Bian Jiong even felt as if he were a completely different person.
Like right now.
In the past, the young master would absolutely never act like this, let alone personally step up to threaten someone who, to him, was as insignificant as an ant by the roadside. He would only need a single glance, and he and the bodyguards could handle it perfectly, whether throwing the person out of the school, delivering a harsher punishment, or even making threats. In short, the young master wouldn’t dirty his own hands personally.
But now…
Why was that?
Qi Dawei was also stunned upon hearing this, not expecting this young master to be even more ruthless than himself.
“The method has been told to you. What you want to do depends on yourself,” Lan An released his grip and stood up. Bian Jiong hurriedly cast aside his thoughts and handed over a disinfectant wet wipe. While wiping his hands, Lan An signaled Lu Yuan: “Throw him out of the school.”
“Yes,” Lu Yuan effortlessly lifted Qi Dawei entirely, taking large strides downstairs.
Qi Dawei was thoroughly shaken by Lan An’s ruthlessness. For a moment, he didn’t dare to struggle, obediently letting Lu Yuan throw him out of the school.
With the commotion over, the other students returned to their dormitories one after another. Qi Zhennan’s plan had failed, and not wanting to be discovered by Qi Zhi, he slipped away along with the students who had come up from the fourth floor earlier to watch the spectacle.
Lan An handed the used wet wipe to Bian Jiong and looked at Qi Zhi. “Not hurt, right?”
Qi Zhi shook his head. “N-No.”
Lan An gave a flat “mm,” then took the crutches and the packed lunchbox handed over by Bian Jiong, passing them to Qi Zhi. “Go back and eat. If Qi Ran dares to touch you, use the crutches to swing at him until he’s dead. I’ll take responsibility.”
“…”
“U-Understood.”
It had to be said that the big villain tonight was truly super cool. Although his method of handling things was a bit extreme, Qi Zhi still felt warmed by it.
Taking the crutches and the lunchbox, he entered the dormitory, turning his head back with every step.
Qi Ran had naturally heard Lan An’s final sentence as well. Seeing Qi Zhi come in, he hurriedly climbed onto his bed and shrank into the corner. “You… you eat your food. I won’t touch you.”
Although there was an element of exaggeration in Lan An’s words, what if Qi Zhi took it seriously?
…