Chapter 61

"Are you really okay?" Xiao Hua asked anxiously, looking at her husband and then at her daughter.

Qiao Antian and Qiao Yun exchanged glances and shook their heads, both unsure. However, they both read the doubt in each other's eyes, and both father and daughter suspected Lin Zixian, after all, Lin Zixian had previously made those boastful remarks.

The phone on the small white table rang with a clear chime. Qiao Yun walked over, picked it up, and saw it was a call from Lin Zixian. After answering, she heard Lin Zixian's lazy voice: "Mr. Qiao, I have something to do today and can't take you to the taekwondo gym. I'll take a leave."

Qiao Antian immediately made a gesture to ask her to inquire further. Qiao Yun paused and said, "Let's change the time to tomorrow afternoon." Without waiting for Lin Zixian to refuse, she hung up, not following her father's wishes.

Just as she hung up, the phone notification sounded again. Qiao Yun thought it was Lin Zixian calling back, but it turned out to be Zheng Longqing. She frowned and answered.

"Qiao Yun, since you're going to Jinlan Gym this afternoon, why don't we have lunch together?" Zheng Longqing's voice said.

"I have something else to do, let's change it to tomorrow afternoon. You don't need to waste your time with me," Qiao Yun replied coldly.

Zheng Longqing chuckled, "Alright, I'll follow your schedule. See you tomorrow afternoon."

He wanted to chat more, but Qiao Yun gave a faint "hmm" and hung up first.

In the president's office of Shengqing Group, Zheng Longqing slowly placed the phone on the table. A woman's hand pushed a glass of red wine towards him, and a woman's buttocks sat on the desk.

Zheng Longqing leaned back in his chair, his head slightly tilted back. He extended a finger, pointed at the woman's buttocks, and frowned, "This is an office desk, not your bed. Get down!"

Luo Qili ignored him, instead taking off one of her shoes and placing her stocking-clad foot on his thigh. The view under her short skirt faced Zheng Longqing directly. Her wavy long hair fell in front of his eyes, and one hand hooked onto the red bow tie around his neck, demanding, "Why do you have to make yourself suffer? Is she better to you than I am?"

"I have no interest in a woman I grew up with," Zheng Longqing pushed her teasing hand away.

Suddenly, a dagger appeared, pressing against Zheng Longqing's neck. The anger in Luo Qili's eyes was hard to hide. She gritted her teeth and said, "I know you too well. Don't hide behind gang interests. One look from you, and I know what you're thinking. You've fallen for her, haven't you? I don't see what's so good about her! She doesn't like you at all, she's just humoring you." Her tone was almost hysterical.

But even with the dagger at his neck, Zheng Longqing was unmoved, as if he was sure she wouldn't do anything to him. He smiled faintly, "What do you know besides practicing martial arts? What do you know about relationships? The most beautiful woman in the East Sea, who has never been touched, that kind of thrill you don't understand."

Luo Qili's hand holding the dagger trembled. "Do you know what happens to women who sleep with you? I don't mind killing one more."

"Try touching her and see what happens!" Zheng Longqing's body shot forward, his hands instantly like eagle claws, one gripping Luo Qili's wrist holding the dagger, the other gripping her throat, pinning her to the desk. His gaze was sharp.

The glass cup shattered, red wine spilling. Luo Qili gasped for breath, "You're attacking me for her? You still say you don't like her?"

Zheng Longqing, angry and embarrassed, shouted, "Get out!" and threw her off the desk.

Luo Qili flipped in the air and landed steadily, slowly reaching back to pull out a bloody glass shard from her waist. Her eyes flashed with venom, "I'll keep this. If you play this game for real, I'll make sure it appears on the right person, so you can feel how it hurts when it's in me!"

She turned and walked out, her back stained red, like a trail of blood tears, leaving a shoe behind in the office.

In the Sakura Snow Apartment, Tong Yunan suddenly woke from her sleep, sitting up in shock. She saw her daughter lying beside her and immediately hugged her, crying out, "Feifei, Feifei..."

Zhang Beibei, who was watching over her, quickly hugged her and comforted her, "Sister Yunan, it's okay, it's okay. Brother Lin said Feifei is fine, she just needs to sleep it off..."

After some comforting, Tong Yunan looked around and realized she was back in her room. Recalling the scenes that had just happened, like a nightmare, she couldn't help but cry silently in Zhang Beibei's arms. Suddenly, she remembered something and trembled, "Brother Lin killed people, Brother Lin killed people. Beibei, Brother Lin killed them all."

In the courtyard, Lin Zixian was sitting under the grape arbor, holding an iron bowl and stirring something black and sticky, with a faint, pungent medicinal smell.

Tong Yunan and Zhang Beibei both had scratch marks on their bodies. Women are most afraid of scars, especially on their faces. Tong Yunan's face was covered in scars, almost disfigured. So Lin Zixian had to visit several traditional Chinese medicine shops to gather the ingredients, and he had prepared this mixture. Although it took a lot of effort, he finally managed to gather all the ingredients, which was better than when he was abroad, where traditional Chinese medicine was not popular, and it was hard to find the necessary herbs, which is why he had so many scars.

Hearing the sound of Tong Yunan waking up upstairs, Lin Zixian carried the mixture upstairs.

To his surprise, he saw this scene when he entered the room. Tong Yunan looked at him as if she had seen a ghost. Lin Zixian felt a bitter smile and a hint of sorrow on his face. He handed the mixture to Zhang Beibei, "Apply this to your wounds. Change it daily until the scabs fall off. This will prevent scarring and should heal within ten days. But remember to heat it up to soften it before use."

Zhang Beibei took the warm iron bowl and thanked Brother Lin. Lin Zixian smiled somewhat dispiritedly and left.

"Sister Yunan, you shouldn't... Brother Lin did it for you. If he hadn't appeared in time, who knows what they would have done to us and Feifei..." Zhang Beibei sighed, trying to comfort her.

Honestly, she was still scared. It would take a long time to get over it. She had never seen anything like that, where a few lives were taken with just a few gestures, as easily as a butcher slaughters pigs. For a moment, she even suspected that Lin Zixian was a demon from hell, it was too terrifying!

Not long after, Tong Yunan came to Lin Zixian's room. She saw him smoking by the window and weakly said, "Brother Lin, thank you."

Lin Zixian turned, pulled a chair over, and sat by the window. Looking at Tong Yunan's scarred face, he felt a surge of anger. He asked in a low, serious voice, "What exactly happened?"

Tong Yunan didn't hide anything and told him the whole story.

It turned out that according to Tong Feifei's conditions, she wasn't allowed to attend school here, even at a private kindergarten. The reason was simple: Tong Feifei was an illegitimate child, and Tong Yunan, due to her own circumstances, couldn't help Tong Feifei get a local household registration, so Tong Feifei was considered an unregistered resident.

Tong Yunan had tried several kindergartens without success. When she finally asked the one where she ended up, she didn't have high hopes, but the principal unexpectedly agreed. Tong Yunan was overjoyed, but later found out that the principal had ulterior motives. He had threatened to expel Tong Feifei several times, demanding that Tong Yunan satisfy his desires.

Tong Yunan, of course, refused. She was prepared to withdraw Tong Feifei if necessary. Recently, due to her frequent visits to the kindergarten, the principal seemed to lose his patience and kept trying to talk to her privately. Tong Yunan, feeling threatened, brought Zhang Beibei for support. Zhang Beibei, unaware of the situation, was sent away by the principal, who then made advances on Tong Yunan in his office. However, his wife suddenly burst in.

The principal, fearing his wife, blamed Tong Yunan, saying she had deliberately seduced him, leading to what happened next...

"Damn!" Lin Zixian muttered, a fierce look in his eyes, feeling that the man had died too easily.

He was still shaken by the thought that Tong Yunan, to save money, still didn't have a phone. If she hadn't brought Zhang Beibei, she wouldn't have had a chance to call for help. If he hadn't been resting at home and close by, even if he had received the news in time, he wouldn't have been able to arrive in time. At that moment, those men were about to take them away, and who knows what would have happened next. Tong Yunan's life might have been ruined forever.

Fortunately, Lin Zixian took a deep breath and walked over to her, suddenly pulling her into his arms. Tong Yunan struggled a bit, having been hurt by men more than once and being terrified by such incidents.

But Lin Zixian held her tightly, unwilling to let go. He whispered in her ear, "I'm sorry. If I hadn't insisted you close your shop, you wouldn't have gone to the kindergarten these past few days, and this wouldn't have happened. It's all my fault."

Tong Yunan's struggling body suddenly went limp, and she sobbed, shaking her head without saying a word.

Lin Zixian suddenly kissed her forehead, making her body tremble as if electrocuted. He let her go and took out his phone, calling Zhang Zhenxing directly, "Do me another favor."

"..." Zhang Zhenxing's scalp tingled. He was now a bit afraid of receiving calls from Lin Zixian, wondering what big trouble he had caused. Even though the dead were just ordinary people, the incident had become a big deal, and it would be difficult to completely quell the situation, involving many aspects.

But after a pause, he asked, "What is it?"