Chapter 44: The Good Person Card

Lin Lei took the beer bottle from Li Fang’s hand and slowly approached Manager Liu. The chandelier in the room had been smashed, casting the space into gloom and making Lin Lei’s silhouette appear all the more menacing.

“Don’t… don’t come any closer!” Manager Liu stammered, his voice trembling.

The man before him was nothing short of a demon. The five men he’d called in—not the most fearsome of their gang, but certainly among the more capable—were meant to intimidate anyone who didn’t know their place. Yet not even ten seconds had passed, and all five were down. Even a professional fighter couldn’t have dispatched them so swiftly.

“It’s fine… I’m not going to hit you,” Lin Lei said, holding out the beer bottle. “Here, take it. Smash it. But listen—you can only use your head. If you break it, we’ll let things slide. If you fail, I’ll have to lend you a hand myself.”

To Lin Lei, sullying his fists on such a cowardly, trembling fat man was beneath him.

As for Zhou Jing, he decided to leave her to Li Fang’s judgment.

“It wasn’t my fault… really, it wasn’t!” Zhou Jing pleaded desperately. “Fangfang, we’re friends, best friends. I never wanted to harm you. It’s all that fat Zhao—he lured me into gambling, left me with hundreds of thousands in debt, loan sharks breathing down my neck! Hundreds of thousands! Even if I worked day and night, I could barely cover the interest!”

Though she exaggerated, it was plain that someone who had sunk so deep into gambling, always dreaming of winning it all back, could never keep hold of any money.

“So you decided to sell me out!” Li Fang grew angrier with every word.

The truth was clear: Zhou Jing owed a massive debt she could never repay, and so she’d become an accomplice to Manager Liu’s scheme, luring other girls to cover her own losses. She might have been a victim at first, but in Li Fang’s case, Zhou Jing was the mastermind.

A sharp slap rang out.

Li Fang struck Zhou Jing hard across the face. “From this day forward, our friendship is over. We’re strangers.”

“That’s it?” Lin Lei, watching from the side, couldn’t help but ask. Was that all? He’d always thought that when women fought, they pulled hair, scratched faces, tore at each other’s clothes.

“Enough. Let’s go,” Li Fang said, not wanting to linger a moment longer.

“Go? Where do you think you’re going?” A voice called from outside. “You’ve injured my people and wrecked my property. You think you can just walk out of here without an explanation?”

The two hostesses who’d run out earlier had returned with the manager of the bar. He wasn’t alone—about a dozen people had come, though in a place this size, with all the staff included, there probably weren’t more than twenty.

“So what? Is one private room not enough for your redecorating tastes? Want me to do a full renovation of your bar?” Lin Lei shot back.

He wasn’t looking for trouble, but he certainly wasn’t afraid of it.

“Not bad! I’m Leopard, and Dongpu Street is under my watch. What crew are you with?” The bar manager began to size him up.

“If you want to fight, fight. Otherwise, get out of my way,” Lin Lei replied impatiently. To him, stating his affiliation was pointless—even if he said where he was from, the other side wouldn’t know him anyway.

Behind the sofa, Manager Liu was bleeding from the head. He knew who Lin Lei was but dared not say a word; after witnessing Lin Lei’s methods, he knew that the dozen men Leopard brought wouldn’t be enough. All he could hope for was that this devil would leave soon.

“He and that bitch just got in from out of town today! That bitch even hit me. Leopard, you’ve got to get revenge for me!” Manager Liu might have been afraid, but Zhou Jing was not. Sometimes, a woman’s hatred can strip her of all reason.

“I told you, your slap was too light. You should do it my way,” Lin Lei said to Li Fang. Then, with lightning speed, he snatched a steel pipe from one of Leopard’s men and hurled it at Zhou Jing’s forehead.

It happened so fast that Leopard’s crew didn’t even have time to react before the pipe struck its target.

Zhou Jing screamed as blood gushed from her forehead in a torrent. Lin Lei had judged his strength well—the injury looked terrifying but wasn’t fatal. The only consequence would likely be a scar.

For a woman who earned her living selling her body, a scar on her forehead could well spell the end of her business.

In a way, Lin Lei had saved a lost soul from further ruin.

As for Zhou Jing’s debts, they were none of his concern.

“Nice moves! Ever thought about joining a crew?” Leopard shifted from hostility to recruitment.

He had no choice—he hadn’t even seen how Lin Lei had seized the steel pipe. If they really fought, the bar would need a complete overhaul.

“Not interested. Like I said—fight, or get lost,” Lin Lei replied, showing no respect at all.

“Fine! I’ll remember this!” Leopard spat, realizing he was outmatched, and quickly had his men stand down.

Such threats meant nothing to Lin Lei. In truth, he simply found the whole thing dull; otherwise, he might have stuck around just to amuse himself.

As for extorting compensation… people in the real world were far too rational. Their hatred toward him never reached the level required for the system’s kill-and-loot protocol. The only one who truly hated him enough was Zhou Jing, drowning in debt, and there was nothing to be gained from her.

Of course, there had also been Xue Lei before—but since they’d once been classmates, Lin Lei had let it go.

After all these years, the first time he’d seen an old classmate, a casual joke and a minor conflict had provoked such murderous intent, with no regard for their shared past. That was one reason why Lin Lei felt so disheartened and decided to leave An County.

Downstairs, the other patrons remained undisturbed, swaying to the pulsing beat as if nothing had happened.

“Lin Lei, I really, really can’t thank you enough. Without you tonight, I don’t know what would have happened to me.” Outside the bar, Li Fang turned to him, her gratitude sincere.

A year ago, she and Zhou Jing had been close as sisters. Now, after only a year apart, her former friend had turned into something more monstrous than any devil. People do change, but this was too fast, too drastic. The thought sent chills through her—if she hadn’t run into Lin Lei on the train, if she hadn’t had to rush for a late-night interview and caught his attention, her life might have ended tonight.

“It was nothing, really,” Lin Lei replied, a little embarrassed. “We’re old classmates, after all.”

Years of reclusive living had left him awkward in social situations—unless it was bickering or trading barbs, in which case he was more than capable. In this age of internet trolls and keyboard warriors, even a little online wit could attract more animosity in real life than a simple “What are you looking at?”

“Do you think this might be fate? Maybe the heavens knew I was in danger and sent you to save me!” Li Fang said, her faith in destiny shining through.

“Maybe so. Maybe the heavens saw you were a good person and didn’t want to see anything bad happen to you,” Lin Lei replied, echoing her sentiment.

Whether by accident or design, Lin Lei had just given Li Fang a “good person card”…