Chapter 610: Holding Zhang Yaqian's Little Hand, Zhao Tao Is Getting Beaten!
Watching the tattooed strongmen charge aggressively, the bar patrons scattered like snakes.
"Boss, the Yunhu Association is here!" the bar manager said, his face pale, in a low voice.
Zhao Tao's face also turned slightly pale, his legs trembling; he had never encountered such a scene in this life or his previous one.
The air in the Jiangnan Bar, once filled with the thumping bass of music and carefree laughter, was instantly sucked out and replaced with a thick, suffocating dread. The tide of humanity that had filled the space parted with a collective gasp, revealing a clear path for the dozen or so men who now owned the room. They were a wall of muscle and ink, their cheap leather jackets creaking with every heavy footfall.
At their head was a man whose bald scalp gleamed under the bar's neon lights, a cruel sneer permanently etched onto his face. In his right hand, he casually swung a heavy, polished baseball bat. He brought it up and began tapping it against his left palm with a slow, rhythmic thwack… thwack… thwack that echoed in the unnerving silence. Each impact was a promise of violence, a countdown to shattered bone. He let his cold, predatory gaze sweep across the terrified staff before finally landing on Zhao Tao and the trembling manager.
"You dare to mess with our Yunhu Association?" the leader's voice was a low growl, dripping with contempt. "You dare to default on our payment?" He took a step forward, the bat never ceasing its rhythm. "Your Jiangnan Bar sure has guts. I'll give you three minutes. Pay up, or I'll snap your legs myself."
The threat was not an empty one. It hung in the air, a physical weight that pressed down on Zhao Tao. Pure, undiluted fear seized him, turning his blood to ice. His face, already pale, lost the last of its color, becoming a waxy, deathly white. A cold sweat broke out across his skin, but his hands and feet felt unnaturally frigid, as if they belonged to a corpse. The hostile glares of the thugs surrounding him felt like physical blows, pinning him in place. He tried to speak, but his throat had constricted, and the words came out as a weak, stammering squeak.
"Big… big brother, it definitely wasn't intentional," he managed, his voice cracking. "The bank… it went crazy and froze all my funds. I swear, as soon as the freeze is lifted, I'll transfer the money immediately."
The leader's sneer widened into a humorless grin. "You want me to wait for you?" He took another deliberate step, his presence overwhelming. The air around him seemed to crackle with menace. "Three minutes means three minutes. For every second you're late, I'll break one of your legs. Then maybe we start on your arms."
A flicker of annoyance cut through Zhao Tao's terror. He was the son of Zhao Chenguang, a titan of industry. How dare these street thugs treat him like this? He forced himself to stand a little straighter, though his knees felt like jelly. "My name is Zhao Tao," he said, his voice still cautious but laced with a desperate sort of pride. "I'm the only son of Zhao Chenguang, the chairman of the Chenguang Group. Do you really think I'd be short a mere three million?"
"Zhao Chenguang's only son?"
A strange ripple went through the group of thugs. The leader paused his rhythmic tapping, his eyes narrowing. He exchanged a look with the men beside him—a glance filled with a dark, peculiar amusement that made a fresh wave of unease wash over Zhao Tao. It wasn't the look of fear or respect he had expected. It was the look of a wolf watching a lamb boast about the thickness of its wool.
"Yes, that's right. My dad, Zhao Chenguang, is the major shareholder and chairman of the Chenguang Group," Zhao Tao pressed on, misinterpreting their expressions as surprise. A tiny bit of his usual arrogance returned, and he felt a smug sense of security. "He's worth tens of billions. How could our family possibly be short three million? It doesn't matter if my bank card is frozen. I'll just call my dad and have him transfer the money right now."
His father was one of the ten richest men in all of Hangzhou. He was a leviathan in the business world, the chairman of a multi-billion-dollar empire. Surely, even the head of the Yunhu Association, Zhou Yunhu himself, would have to extend some courtesy. These low-level enforcers wouldn't dare lay a hand on him.
"Heh heh," the leader let out a dry, rasping laugh that was devoid of any humor. The mocking glint in his eyes intensified. "Zhao Chenguang's only son. Kid, haven't you seen the news?"
News?
The word struck Zhao Tao like a physical blow. His face, which had just regained a sliver of color, darkened instantly. The only news he had seen was the catastrophic downfall of Hua Shen, an event that had dominated nine of the top ten trending searches. It was a source of immense irritation, a constant reminder of the day's failures.
'What's so great about that trashy news?' he thought venomously. 'Could it be that these thugs are all Hua Shen fans? Do they all have musical germs poisoning their brains?'
"Kid, I'm doing you a kindness here," the leader said, his tone laced with a sick, playful pity. "You'd better check the news. The big local news. Right here in Hangzhou."
The dozen or so enforcers mirrored their leader's expression, their faces twisted in cruel amusement. They looked at him like he was the punchline to a particularly brutal joke they were all in on.
A surge of frustration and anger rose in Zhao Tao's chest, but it was immediately extinguished by the cold reality of his situation. He was surrounded by a dozen hulking men armed with baseball bats and bad intentions. His own bodyguards were somewhere in the bar, but calling them would only escalate this into a bloody brawl he couldn't win. The Yunhu Association had thousands of members. They were a deeply entrenched local power with backing he couldn't even fathom. Even his father, with his seventy-billion-dollar net worth and his trillion-dollar company, would think twice before rashly offending such a formidable force.
Swallowing his pride, he fumbled for his phone. His hands were shaking so badly it took him two attempts to unlock it. The first thing he saw was another headline about Hua Shen's career imploding. A scowl crossed his face as he irritably swiped past it, navigating to the local Hangzhou news section.
And then he saw it.
The first headline.
His world stopped. The blood drained from his face, and his pupils constricted to pinpricks. The phone nearly slipped from his nerveless fingers as a strangled, disbelieving cry tore from his throat.
"How is that possible???"
The smirks on the faces of the Yunhu Association thugs grew even wider, their mockery now unrestrained. A torrent of sweat, hot and greasy, poured from Zhao Tao's forehead, the beads as large as soybeans. His breath came in ragged, panicked gasps as he frantically scrolled, his thumb swiping manically across the screen. He made a call, his face a mask of utter devastation, his eyes wide and vacant as if his soul had been ripped from his body.
[Ding! Child of Destiny Zhao Tao has suffered a major blow. Plundering +88,888 Destiny Points!]
Behind him, the bar manager, emboldened by the strange turn of events, peeked over his shoulder. The manager's eyes widened, and he let out a choked gasp, his own face turning ashen with shock.
The top local news story was a bomb that had detonated the very foundations of Zhao Tao's world.
[Chenguang Group Chairman Zhao Chenguang Implicated in Embezzlement of Public Funds, Suffers Catastrophic Investment Losses of Hundreds of Billions, Commits Suicide by Jumping from Building to Escape Punishment!]
"Heh heh." The leader's voice was a venomous whisper right next to his ear. "Your dad's finished, First Young Master Zhao. Now, about that three million. You have one minute left. And you can't default on it."
The dozen thugs closed in, a tight circle of menace. As one, they raised their baseball bats and began tapping them on the floor, the rhythmic thudding like the beating of a war drum, counting down the last seconds of his old life.
Despair, absolute and crushing, flooded Zhao Tao's entire being. It was a fall from the highest heavens straight into the deepest abyss of hell.
He could have accepted Hua Shen's collapse. He could have stomached being banned from the entertainment industry. At worst, he would just go home and be a rich second-generation heir to a seventy-billion-dollar fortune. With that kind of money, what woman was out of his reach? Zhong Lingyin, Wen Feifei, Zhou Minmin… all those beautiful celebrities he coveted. He'd just throw money at them. If ten million didn't work, he'd throw a hundred million. He didn't believe for a second he couldn't buy his way into their beds!
But now… he was alive, but the money was gone!
His father, Zhao Chenguang, had embezzled public funds. Lost hundreds of billions. And then, to escape the consequences, he had jumped from a building.
It was over. Everything was over.
What was he going to do? What could he possibly do?
"Thirty seconds!" The Yunhu Association leader's face was now a mask of pure viciousness. "First Young Master Zhao, if you've got a hidden stash somewhere, now's the time to cough it up. Otherwise, my brothers and I are going to stop being so polite."
A hidden stash?
He lived a life of obscene luxury and lavish spending. Every penny he got was spent almost as soon as it arrived. Where would he possibly have a hidden stash?
Zhao Tao began to pace frantically, his mind a whirlwind of panic, like an ant skittering on a searing hot pan.
"I've got it!"
Suddenly, a flash of inspiration cut through the fog of his despair. His eyes, previously dull with shock, lit up with a manic glimmer of hope. Trembling, he snatched up his phone and frantically dialed Zhang Yaqian's number.
He didn't have any money, but she certainly did. Zhang Yaqian was so kind, so compassionate. She would never stand by and watch him be crippled. She would save him. She had to.
…
On the other side of the city, Shen Anyu and Zhang Yaqian walked along a brightly lit bar street.
Zhang Yaqian was in front, Shen Anyu behind.
On her pure, serene, melon-seed-shaped face, there was a hint of melancholy and confusion.
"Master Shen, Zhao Tao and I were betrothed since childhood. Although I don't like him or feel any spark, our families are well-matched, Daddy strongly approves of this marriage, Uncle Zhao has been good to me, and Zhao Tao has also been quite good to me."
"Before today, I hadn't thought of breaking off the engagement, but how could Zhao Tao be like this?"
"He cheated and had many women; I could turn a blind eye to that, after all, I know that Daddy and Uncle Zhao, these important figures, all have many women."
"Commercial marriages are like this; there isn't much emotion, purely for benefit, and it's common for each to go their own way. My Daddy often says that relationships based on interest are more reliable and solid than emotional ones."
At this point, Zhang Yaqian paused, a hint of disgust flashing across her pretty face, then she continued speaking to herself with a complex expression: "I don't like this, but I also hadn't thought of refusing Daddy's arrangements. I know he's doing it for my good."
"But, Zhao Tao is heartless, ungrateful, and unfaithful. He actually used sweet words to trick his ex-girlfriend out of her creative work, and then cruelly abandoned her. This is something I absolutely cannot accept."
"That's, that's disgusting!"
Zhang Yaqian, who was always as elegant and poised as an elven princess, finally couldn't help but utter a vulgarity.
It showed how strong her aversion was!
Shen Anyu followed behind Zhang Yaqian with a smile, listening to her narration, and looking at her graceful figure. Even beneath the hem of her dress, her slender, crystal-clear calves were as fair as fine jade, without a single blemish, glowing brightly.
When Zhang Yaqian turned her head, Shen Anyu appropriately withdrew his gaze and said with a smile: "Zhang Yaqian, you are a good girl. Zhao Tao is not a good man. Missing out on you is his regret."
"Master Shen, you flatter me."
Listening to Shen Anyu's praise, a faint blush spread across Zhang Yaqian's pretty face, a mix of shyness and joy.
…
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