Chapter 84

At the end, she didn't forget to add, "I just overheard bits and pieces of your conversation. I know that Chen Dasheng has already rejected Li Lan, and I also know that Li Lan is no longer his type."

"Ha, why does that sound so sour, like a big whiff of jealousy?" Chen Dasheng teased Liu Xiaomin, hearing her tone, it was clear she didn't want him to reconcile with Li Lan.

"Jealous of what? You were all serious just now, but now you're acting so carefree." Liu Xiaomin shot Chen Dasheng a glare. After a moment, her expression turned serious, "The English CET-4 and CET-6 exams are coming up soon. How are you preparing?"

Chen Dasheng shrugged off all thoughts of his conversation with Li Lan and replied, "It's fine, you give me extra classes every now and then. How could you not know my level?"

Liu Xiaomin's mouth twisted. She used to not believe in the existence of geniuses, but now she had to. Chen Dasheng's memory was terrifying, especially for memorizing words. It was almost legendary; he could memorize a whole unit of words in just two minutes, including the annotations, and recite them backward without missing a punctuation mark. Texts and test questions, anything he needed to memorize, he could handle in just a few minutes.

Liu Xiaomin couldn't understand how Chen Dasheng, with such a strong memory, could still rank at the bottom of the class.

"Although you've memorized the words and can understand English, your listening and speaking skills need improvement, especially your speaking, which is terrible. You need to practice more!" Liu Xiaomin said.

Chen Dasheng replied helplessly, "What's the point of learning that stuff? So what if my speaking is bad? I'm not going abroad, and the CET-4 and CET-6 exams don't test speaking."

"How can you think like that? Learning more will always be useful in the future," Liu Xiaomin looked at Chen Dasheng with a mix of frustration and disappointment, not knowing how to respond.

Chen Dasheng shrugged, "It's mainly a lack of motivation!"

"Hmm?" Liu Xiaomin looked at Chen Dasheng curiously, "What kind of motivation? Didn't I say I'd treat you to a big meal if you pass the CET-4 and CET-6?"

"Come on, do you think I'm a three-year-old? A big meal isn't going to buy me. Besides, that meal is a reward for passing the CET-4 and CET-6. Now that I'm confident I can pass, why should I bother with speaking?" Chen Dasheng said.

Liu Xiaomin was speechless, "What do you want then?"

Chen Dasheng's lips curved, and his eyes roamed over Liu Xiaomin, "If there were something like a beautiful embrace and a kiss, I might be motivated!"

"You're such a pervert!" Liu Xiaomin's cheeks turned red. If they weren't in a crowded place, she might have already pulled out her stun gun.

Chen Dasheng moved closer to Liu Xiaomin and laughed, "Admiring beauty is a virtue, as the ancients said. How can it be called perverted? Besides, we've already met each other's parents."

"Don't push it, or I'll beat you up!" Liu Xiaomin, embarrassed and angry, stopped and glared at Chen Dasheng.

"Why so fierce?" Chen Dasheng smacked his lips, "Once I marry you, I'll keep you at home and have you bear my children. Then we'll see how fierce you are."

"Help me with this!" Liu Xiaomin unexpectedly smiled at Chen Dasheng, her tone calm, giving him a warm, spring-like feeling. She extended the lesson plan to him.

Chen Dasheng was taken aback, took the lesson plan with both hands, and looked at Liu Xiaomin in confusion, sensing something fishy.

Liu Xiaomin freed her hands and slowly raised her pointer.

"Smack!"

The pointer struck Chen Dasheng's buttocks, and Liu Xiaomin's gentle smile turned into a fierce one, "For talking nonsense, for talking nonsense."

"Smack, smack, smack!"

Before Chen Dasheng could react, he had already been hit several times. Holding the lesson plan, he couldn't even block the blows and quickly ran away.

"Hey, why so harsh?" Chen Dasheng rubbed his sore buttocks, looking at Liu Xiaomin speechlessly. This woman really had no sense of proportion. The pointer made a loud sound, and despite his strong physique, it still hurt a lot. He knew without looking that there would be several red marks on his buttocks.

Liu Xiaomin, hands on her hips, looked at Chen Dasheng triumphantly, waved the pointer, and said, "Carry that and follow me."

"Where are we going?" Chen Dasheng asked.

"Where do you think? To give you extra classes, of course!" Liu Xiaomin glared at Chen Dasheng, exuding a queenly aura.

"More classes?" Chen Dasheng was speechless. He took a few steps forward and said to Liu Xiaomin, "I'm staying at my sister's place. It'll be too late to go back after the class. The buses will have stopped running."

"No problem, I'll drive you!" Liu Xiaomin's words dashed Chen Dasheng's hopes of escaping.

Following Liu Xiaomin, Chen Dasheng looked at her round, firm buttocks encased in jeans and thought to himself, "She actually dared to hit me with a pointer. One day, I'll make her taste the power of the 'Dasheng Whip.'"

How evil!

---

The Shu family was in ruins. Shu Yunlong's mother and uncle were in jail, and it was unclear when they would be released. They were just a slightly well-off middle-class family, and Chen Dasheng didn't want to pursue them further to avoid being seen as bullying the weak. So, when he asked Liu Xiaomin to bail out Li Lan, he informed the police leadership that as long as the Su family compensated for the losses at Sister's Workshop, he would not pursue the matter further.

A pot of premium orchid, worth nearly 20 million, was smashed by Wang Fang. Shu Yunlong's father, Shu Fang, was almost driven mad. He had been busy raising money, selling several houses and assets at a low price, withdrawing years of savings, and borrowing from relatives and friends. He barely managed to gather the required amount.

Chen Dasheng was not present when the compensation was accepted; it was handled by the girls at Sister's Workshop. Later, Lu Qiaoe told him that when Shu Fang handed over the bank card, his whole body was trembling.

Chen Dasheng just smiled. He wasn't without compassion, but he wasn't the type to be overly sympathetic. Wrongdoings must be punished, a timeless truth. He couldn't forgive someone just because they were pitiful.

He had met Shu Fang once. Chen Dasheng felt he looked like a scholar, a seemingly honest man. For this person, Chen Dasheng could only feel sorry. He had a wasteful wife, a wasteful son, and a troublemaking brother-in-law.

After Lu Qiaoe accepted the compensation, Shu Fang could only wait for the police to release his family.

His son was still in the hospital, and the family's savings were depleted. He couldn't borrow any more money from relatives and friends, couldn't afford the medical bills, and couldn't get the surgery done. In just a month, his family had fallen apart, and Shu Fang could only feel a deep sense of despair.

---

"Dad, where's Mom?"

After handling Shu Yunlong's discharge, he brought him back to the small, rented room. Looking at the empty, simple room, Shu Yunlong felt an urge to cry.

No house, his mother and uncle in jail, his girlfriend had run away, and their once comfortable life was now reduced to poverty. The two of them could only afford a 400-yuan-per-month subsidized apartment. The sudden change was overwhelming for Shu Yunlong, who had never experienced hardship.

Shu Yunlong was filled with regret. If he could choose again, he would never have provoked Chen Dasheng. He knew that everything that had happened was his fault, all his own doing.

He had destroyed his family for a woman, and not even a new one. Now, he realized how foolish he had been.

Shu Fang sighed, sat on a small stool, and took out a crumpled cigarette. His hands trembled as he held the cigarette, and after a few deep puffs, he slowly said, "Your mother and uncle are still in jail. I've already paid the compensation today, and they said they won't pursue it further."