Upon seeing the text message, Si Jinnian abruptly stood up from the sofa, stared at the message Pei Shuchen had sent him, and immediately dialed the number back.
At the same time, the group of drinking buddies who were howling ghost-like tunes in the private room while belting out “Die-Hard Love” were startled by this sudden turn of events.
They scrambled in a panic to turn off the audio equipment and hit the pause button.
The private room, which had been boisterous just a moment ago, instantly grew as silent as a pin dropping.
The moment the call connected, Si Jinnian anxiously pressed the phone to his ear, his tone carrying a mix of confusion and suppressed fury.
“Were you the one who drank with me last night?”
The other end of the line fell silent for a brief moment. A second later, a low yet deeply magnetic male voice came through: “It was me, Young Master Si. I am touched that you still remember me. I actually thought you would forget all about me the moment your hangover cleared up!”
Hearing this reply, Si Jinnian instantly flew into a rage and started cursing a blue streak.
“You fucking have the nerve to call me? You dog-shit bastard, where the hell are you right now?”
Si Jinnian’s near-roaring shout exploded inside the private room like a thunderclap, making Pei Shuchen’s eardrums ring.
Faced with such an angry interrogation from Si Jinnian, Pei Shuchen chuckled unhurriedly. “Young Master Si, don’t get angry just yet. Last night, you were the one who personally said you wanted something exciting. How come you are getting mad now?”
“The way you played with me, wasn’t that exciting enough?”
“Go fuck your mother’s round-about bullshit! Stop spouting nonsense and trying to scam me over the phone, you bastard! If you are man enough with a pair between your legs, you damn well better tell me where you are right now. I am coming over to finish you off today!”
Si Jinnian was incandescent with rage. Veins throbbed on his forehead, and his knuckles turned slightly pale from gripping his phone too tightly.
Hearing Si Jinnian’s hysterical roaring, Pei Shuchen let out a soft laugh before speaking leisurely a moment later: “Since you are going to finish me off, how could I possibly dare tell you where I am? That would just be marching straight to my own death!”
“Young Master Si, the reason I am contacting you is to discuss compensation. As the saying goes, trouble shouldn’t spill over to innocent parties, but look at you. You went ahead and smashed my friend’s bar to smithereens without a second word. I have to settle this account with you properly, don’t I?”
“Settle your sister’s corpse! Cut the crap and tell me where you are right now, old man here is coming over to hunt you down personally.”
Faced with Si Jinnian’s interrogation and intimidation, Pei Shuchen did not seem to care at all, acting as if the matter had nothing to do with him. He continued in a calm, unhurried, and nonchalant tone: “Finding me is simple. As long as you obediently pay for the full damages to my friend’s bar, you won’t need to go to great lengths searching everywhere for me. I will naturally show up on my own initiative and offer you a face-to-face apology.”
“However, if you refuse to pay up, don’t blame me for being impolite.”
“Are you threatening me?”
Si Jinnian never expected that not only was Pei Shuchen unafraid of him, but the man was turning around to threaten him instead. This dealt a massive blow to Si Jinnian, who was always accustomed to being the one on top, and left him thoroughly irritated.
Ever since he was a kid, he had always been the one threatening others. He had never seen anyone dare to threaten him before.
“Do you even know who I am? How dare you threaten me?”
Si Jinnian was practically laughed into a fury by the unworldly and audacious Pei Shuchen.
“That’s right, Young Master Si, I am threatening you.”
Pei Shuchen hooked the corners of his lips upward. Even through the phone, he could picture Si Jinnian’s current expression and appearance. The mere thought of the man’s disheveled state, stripped bare and tied to a tree by him, filled his heart with delight.
“Of course I know who you are, which is why I also know you have the financial capacity to compensate for my friend’s losses.”
“I’ll give you three days to think it over. Decide for yourself whether you want to restore my friend’s bar back to its original condition or just cleanly pay up in cash to settle the matter.”
“If three days pass and I don’t see any satisfying results, then I can guarantee you that what awaits you will absolutely be a nightmare. By then, even if you come crying to me for mercy, I won’t spare you a second glance.”
Pei Shuchen’s voice suddenly turned chillingly sinister, causing Si Jinnian to involuntarily shiver. But he only paused for a split second before the rage flared right back up inside him.
“In your dreams! You still expect me to beg you? Your drunken stupor must still not have worn off yet, you bastard!”
“I’m warning you, you good-for-nothing punk, don’t let me catch you. Otherwise, I will definitely make you wish you were dead and unable to die!”
“Alright! Then let’s wait and see the results in three days. Let’s see whether you get punished first or if you manage to catch me.”
With that, Pei Shuchen hung up directly.
The call was abruptly cut off, leaving Si Jinnian burning with frustration. When he tried dialing the number back, he discovered that his phone number had actually been blocked by the other party.
“Fuck! Asshole!”
Throwing a punch against the table, Si Jinnian had never suffered such humiliation before.
“Damned bastard, I, Si Jinnian, swear that if I don’t destroy you with my own hands, I am no human.”
Gritting his teeth and glaring with eyes splitting from rage, Si Jinnian fished out the number Pei Shuchen had called him from and turned his gaze toward Gu Ming.
“Right now, immediately, go and check the IP address and owner details for this number. I’m going to find this punk tonight.”