Gu Ming’s head was buzzing from the beatings, and he clutched his head with a wronged expression.
“This can’t entirely be blamed on me either. I was just too eager to save you, which is why I slipped up.”
“You still have the nerve to talk. I almost got beaten to death by you.”
With his memories flooding back, the moment he thought back to the humiliating ordeal of the previous night, Si Jinnian felt a mix of shame, embarrassment, and a raging fire with nowhere to vent.
Upon further questioning, he discovered that the injuries on Gu Ming and the others were actually inflicted by Pei Shuchen as well.
Getting beaten up himself was one thing, but now even his brothers had been battered beyond recognition by Pei Shuchen. If word of this got out, he was afraid he would have nowhere left to show his face in Beijing.
A gentleman would rather die than suffer such humiliation, and the more Si Jinnian thought about it, the more aggrieved he felt.
“Pei Shuchen, you just wait for me. I am definitely going to make you pay this debt back twofold.”
“Nian-ge, why don’t we just let it go? We really met our match this time. You can tell that guy was professionally trained the moment he makes a move; we are simply no match for him.”
Gu Ming wore a troubled expression, feeling a lingering sense of terror whenever he thought of Pei Shuchen’s ruthlessness the night before.
“What if he is professionally trained? Will I, Si Jinnian, be afraid of him?”
Glaring at Gu Ming, Si Jinnian grew even angrier.
So what if Pei Shuchen had professional training? He wasn’t a pushover either.
When he found out last night that Pei Shuchen was his arranged fiancé, he had even debated whether he should just shake hands and make peace. After all, that guy’s looks were completely his type.
But now, after being humiliated and then beaten up on top of that, no matter how much of a lustful playboy he was, he and Pei Shuchen had a deep grudge to settle.
Last night he had simply underestimated his opponent and hadn’t wanted to bicker with Pei Shuchen, but the next time they met, who would win and who would lose was anyone’s guess.
“You aren’t afraid, but didn’t you also fail to get the upper hand and end up getting beaten black and blue?”
Although Si Jinnian’s combat prowess was top-tier in Beijing, after the previous night’s experience, Gu Ming was still somewhat worried and muttered with lingering fear.
“What did you say?”
Si Jinnian raised an eyebrow, glaring fiercely at Gu Ming.
“Ah, nothing! That guy asked me to pass along a message saying that if you don’t pay the compensation for his friend’s bar within three days, he’s going to come looking for trouble with you again.”
Good thing his voice was small just now and hadn’t been heard, otherwise he would have gotten beaten up again.
“He still dares to come looking for me for compensation? Fine! Then we’ll make him pay our medical bills first before anything else.”
Si Jinnian clenched his fists so tightly that his knuckles turned white, clearly furious to the extreme. Just as he finished speaking, a thought suddenly occurred to him, and the corners of his lips curled up slightly, sketching a cunning smile.
A moment later, he turned his head, his gaze sweeping sequentially across Gu Ming and the other three brothers.
“All of you, go to the hospital right now for a full-body checkup. Remember, check every single thing that can and cannot be examined, and see if I don’t extort him to death this time.”
Hearing what Si Jinnian said, Gu Ming was stunned for a second before a look of excitement spread across his face. “You got it, Nian-ge! Don’t worry, we’re heading out to check right now.”
With that, Gu Ming immediately led the other three away to get their examinations done.
For two days straight, Pei Shuchen neither saw Si Jinnian nor caught wind of any news regarding him.
While this brought him a sense of relief, it also left him somewhat worried. He wondered how that guy Si Jinnian was holding up.
Although he didn’t like Si Jinnian, whenever he thought about how he had treated the man like a pervert and beaten him up the other day, he still felt a bit guilty deep down.
After all, Si Jinnian was the only son of his godfather and godmother. If anything, truly happened to him because of this, he would blame himself.
Just as Pei Shuchen was hesitating whether or not to give Si Jinnian a call to check on his condition and talk about the compensation for his friend’s bar, the office door was suddenly interrupted by a series of hurried knocks.
“Come in!”
Pei Shuchen frowned, raising his head just as he was about to ask his secretary what was so urgent, when he saw Si Jinnian shove the secretary aside and barge straight into his office with a group of people.
“Pei Shuchen, we meet again.”
Si Jinnian looked at Pei Shuchen with a beaming smile, a malicious grin hanging on his face. Behind him followed four tall, robust bodyguards, along with a bespectacled lawyer carrying a briefcase.
The secretary was shoved off-balance by Si Jinnian, and looking up at Pei Shuchen, she hurriedly stammered, “I’m sorry, CEO Pei. I really couldn’t stop him.”
The secretary looked like she was about to burst into tears. Before her voice even faded, the security guards from downstairs came running up out of breath, looking at Pei Shuchen to offer an explanation.
“I’m sorry, CEO Pei. We wanted to stop him, but he brought way too many people, and we couldn’t hold them off. The security guards downstairs were all beaten down by his men.”
Panting heavily and looking terrified, the secretary and guards looked at Pei Shuchen with obvious injuries still visible on their faces.
Hearing that the security guards downstairs had all been beaten down, Pei Shuchen furrowed his brows deeply. He glanced at the guards and the secretary and waved his hand. “It’s fine. You guys can head out.”
The guards and the secretary were worried about Pei Shuchen’s safety, but when they turned to look at Si Jinnian and the hulking bodyguards beside him, they were too terrified to linger.
Just as the two of them were about to leave, Si Jinnian reached out again, grabbed the secretary’s arm, and said with a grin, “Beauty, a cup of coffee, please.”
The secretary was startled, but a moment later, she nodded repeatedly and scurried out.
“What are you here for?”
Raising his eyes to look at Si Jinnian, Pei Shuchen wore a stern expression.
Stepping forward to the edge of Pei Shuchen’s desk, Si Jinnian slowly curved his lips. A second later, he plopped right down onto Pei Shuchen’s desk with a slouch and said, “I’m here to talk about compensation, of course. Didn’t you tell me to pay for the losses to your friend’s bar within three days? Well, I’m here. Let’s sit down and have a good chat.”
So, it was about this.
Pei Shuchen raised an eyebrow, looking at Si Jinnian as he said with an icy tone, “Young Master Si didn’t need to go to all this trouble. The compensation can be transferred directly to my friend’s account; there was no need to make the trip in person.”
“Sure, no problem at all. But before I transfer the compensation, CEO Pei, shouldn’t you pay for the medical expenses and emotional distress fees for me and my friends first?”
As Si Jinnian spoke, he held out a hand. Seeing this, the lawyer beside him hurriedly pulled a stack of documents out of his pocket and handed them over.
Si Jinnian took them with a smile, then tossed the dossier right in front of Pei Shuchen’s eyes.
“The medical bills and emotional distress fees for four people come out to forty million. When does CEO Pei plan to pay?”
“Forty million? Are you trying to extort me?”
Pei Shuchen glared furiously at Si Jinnian.
Si Jinnian shrugged. A moment later, he pressed both hands onto the desk, leaned forward, and stared intently into Pei Shuchen’s flawless, immaculate face with a grin. “How am I extorting you? This was calculated by a professional lawyer I hired. Medical bills plus emotional distress fees total forty-one million and one hundred eighty thousand. Considering you’re the fiancé I was betrothed to since childhood, Hubby will waive the remainder for you, so let’s call it an even forty million. Please settle the bill, CEO Pei.”