The Master and His Wealthy Fiancée

Disbelief filled Li Huiran’s intelligent eyes. ’How could such a small child be so strong? Even if she’d started practicing martial arts, it should be impossible. Besides, my office door is specially reinforced; even a burly man ramming it with all his might wouldn’t be able to break it open.’

Chen Dong chuckled. ”See? Now do you believe me? I’ve spent all day waiting on this little terror, so you can’t dock my pay, right?”

”Chen... Dong!” Li Huiran bellowed furiously.

”To think you’d go so far as to break down my office door just to trick me. I’m telling you now, not only am I docking your salary, but the cost of the repairs is coming out of your pay and your bonus!”

Chen Dong was stunned. He hadn’t expected Li Huiran to still think he was the one who’d broken the door. It was impossible to explain. There was nothing he could do. ’What am I supposed to do, have Xiaoli Wang slice the Li Mansion in half with a sword?’

He couldn’t get through to one of them, and he certainly couldn’t afford to offend the other. He quickly scooped up Li Wang and beat a hasty retreat.

Back in their department, he was relieved to find Xu Qing. Where there was Xu Qing, there were snacks. He quickly relieved Xu Qing of her entire stash and offered it up to Li Wang.

At the sight of the snacks, the cold expression on Li Wang’s little face finally softened somewhat.

Xu Qing bit her lip and asked curiously, ”Brother Dong, who’s this child?”

Chen Dong just shook his head. He was too tired to explain. He let out a sigh of relief, feeling as if he’d just dodged a bullet.

He was about to turn on his computer to relax for a bit when the phone in Li Wang’s hands rang again.

Chen Dong took the phone and answered. Wang Hao’s frantic voice came from the other end. ”Brother Dong, help me! These guys won’t pay up, and now they have us surrounded! It looks like they’re about to start something!”

Chen Dong asked, ”Address?”

”Number 11 North Road, Development Zone!” The call cut out as soon as Wang Hao finished speaking.

After hanging up, Chen Dong looked down to see Xiaoli Wang looking up at him with her innocent eyes. ”Are we going out?”

Chen Dong nodded. He wouldn’t dare leave Li Wang at the office alone.

About half an hour later, Chen Dong arrived at Number 11 North Road in the Development Zone. It was a factory complex surrounded by a wall. The sign at the entrance read: Yueqiang Wood Co., Ltd.

Chen Dong was a little surprised. ’Why would a lumber company owe a debt to the Li Group?’

Just as he was about to enter, a middle-aged man in a security uniform with a mouthful of yellow teeth shouted, ”Hey! Who are you? Just waltzing in here with your head held high, and with a kid, too!”

”I’m with the Li Group. Are my colleagues here?” Chen Dong shot back.

The guard glanced at Chen Dong, his expression arrogant. ”Oh, you mean those two? Yeah, they’re inside, over at the warehouse. But since you’ve got a kid with you, it’s probably best you don’t go over there.”

Chen Dong nodded. He agreed that as long as he had Li Wang with him, it was best to resolve things without force if possible, lest he teach her bad habits and find himself being ”resolved” by her one day.

He stepped out of the factory complex and called Liu Qi.

”Do you know a company called Yueqiang Wood Co., Ltd.?”

Liu Qi replied hurriedly over the phone, ”I do. I’m actually a shareholder in that company, but Martial Hero has always been the one managing it. Mr. Chen, what are your instructions?”

Upon hearing this, Chen Dong snorted. ”Hah! Your company, you say? Then why don’t you ask Martial Hero what the hell he thinks he’s doing?” With that, Chen Dong hung up. He found a nearby bubble tea shop to wait. If Liu Qi and Martial Hero failed to satisfy him, he was going to show them the consequences of feigning compliance while secretly defying him.

Liu Qi, who was at home with his son, immediately called Martial Hero. ”Lao Wu, get over to Yueqiang Wood, quick! I’m heading there now!” he said urgently, grabbing his car keys and bolting out the door.

Martial Hero was stunned. Business at that lumber company had always been lackluster, so he never paid it much attention. He asked calmly, ”What’s going on?”

”Mr. Chen just called me. He sounded furious, and the first thing he asked about was Yueqiang Wood.”

The moment Martial Hero heard Mr. Chen was involved, his attitude changed completely. ”I’m going right now!” he yelled.

Meanwhile, inside the Yueqiang Wood warehouse, Wang Hao and his colleague from the department, Zhang Zhiyi, were already bruised and battered, their bodies covered in injuries.

A group of lumber company employees, each holding a wooden club, stood around laughing and jeering.

Their leader, a portly middle-aged man who also had yellow teeth, pulled a pack of cigarettes from his pocket. He took one for himself and tossed the pack to his men. After expertly lighting up and taking a drag, he sneered, ”You people from the Li Group must have a death wish, daring to come here to collect a debt!”

The employees passed the cigarettes around and lit up, fawning over the portly man. ”President Wu is mighty! The Li Group really is courting death! But these two are pathetically weak. They went down with just one blow each!”

The portly, middle-aged man grinned with satisfaction. ”Our President Liu and my big brother gave the order a long time ago: if we meet anyone from the Li Group, we can rough them up as we please. We’re not giving them a single plank of wood or a single cent.”

Fury blazed in Wang Hao’s eyes. Lying on the floor, he still managed to shout, ”You don’t have to give us the lumber, fine, but give us our money back!”

The Fatty chuckled darkly. ”Looks like we didn’t hit you hard enough. Still yapping about money!”

Hearing this, several employees, cigarettes dangling from their lips, gripped their clubs and began to beat Wang Hao again. They only stopped after a thorough thrashing, once their arms grew sore.

The Fatty spoke in a leisurely tone, his expression completely relaxed. ”Don’t kill him now. Go easy.”

Just then, two cars screeched to a halt at the warehouse entrance. Liu Qi and Martial Hero leaped out, looking frantic.

When the Fatty saw the two men, he hurried over to greet them. ”President Liu, Big Brother! What brings you two here?”

Martial Hero strode up and slapped the Fatty square across the face. ”Damn it!” he growled. ”Why weren’t you answering your phone?!”

The Fatty clutched his stinging cheek, feeling deeply wronged. He pulled out his phone and saw that the battery was dead. To be slapped for something like this filled him with rage and resentment.

’You hit me just because my phone was dead?’