Chapter 55: Three Days Apart, A Newfound Respect (Part One)

My rebirth legend—no pop-ups.

“Again with the same trick? Can’t he come up with something new?” I couldn’t help but scorn him in my mind, but even as I did so, the situation before me made me nervous. Why were they here? Could it be that Su Xin and I had been followed all along?

“Hello, Su. Did you have fun today? Haha, you must have enjoyed yourself, judging by how much you’ve laughed. Well, you had your fun, but I’ve suffered, trailing you all the way here and missing lunch.” Xia Jianren greeted Su Xin with a smile, but the sinister grin made me feel uneasy.

“You—you’ve been following us?” Su Xin clearly caught the meaning behind his words and grew angry. “Why? Why are you stalking us? Who are these people with you? Tell them to move aside, we want to leave!”

“Following you? No, no, no, I wasn’t following that loser next to you. I’ve only been following the most perfect woman in my heart.” Xia Jianren swept his cold gaze over me, then grinned again. “Xin Xin, relax. These are all my men. I just came to teach a disobedient little dog a lesson, nothing to do with you. Later, I’ll be taking you to dinner. Please step aside, my people will protect you.”

“Xia Jianren! You—you actually followed me?” Su Xin’s face flushed with anger, and she sneered, “Who wants to have dinner with you? Stop dreaming! Move aside! Don’t you know who my father is? What’s the meaning of bringing these people here? Say it clearly!”

“Haha, Xin Xin, of course I know your father is the top leader in C City. But he doesn’t know you’ve secretly found such a penniless boyfriend, does he? I heard very clearly what Miss Chu said earlier. Should I help you and ask my uncle to inform your father?”

“You dare!” Su Xin shouted desperately, “You… Xia Jianren, you’re despicable and shameless!”

“No, no, Xin Xin, don’t you know my feelings? I’ve never had a second thought about you. I will give you happiness. But what can this man offer you? Nothing. He’ll just be a coward! You didn’t see him last time when I beat him up like a dog—today, I’ll show you how he kneels and begs for mercy!”

Xia Jianren’s eyes burned with feverish madness. He probably thought that if he could beat me down in front of Su Xin, make me suffer as before, Su Xin would yield. I couldn’t help but smile bitterly at this bastard’s naive thinking. Did he really believe I was still the same Xiao Qiang he beat up last time? These days, I’ve trained relentlessly, honing those ancient martial arts in my mind for exactly this moment!

Since Xia Jianren had no intention of harming Su Xin, I felt completely at ease. When a fight breaks out, I usually worry about not being able to protect her, but from his words, I understood that he only wanted Su Xin to witness me getting beaten. He hadn’t brought these men to hurt her. After all, Su Xin’s father is the powerful secretary of C City’s Party Committee; no matter how arrogant Xia Jianren is, he wouldn’t dare touch her.

“Kneel and beg? Hmph, you think those weaklings by your side are enough?” Now that I didn’t need to hold back, I had no reason to be polite. The anger from last time hadn’t faded, and this time he brought it on himself! These burly men were clearly real underworld enforcers, not the street punks with dyed hair from before. Xia Jianren was determined to send me to the hospital. But he probably couldn’t imagine things would turn out quite the way he expected.

“Hey, kid, you’re about to die and still act tough. Don’t come crying for mercy later!” Xia Jianren, seeing my indifferent expression, thought I was scared stupid. He waved at the big men beside him, “Go! Beat him so bad his own mother won’t recognize him!”

“Stop! I dare you!” Just as the eight burly men received the order and surged toward me, Su Xin hurriedly blocked my path, her eyes slightly red. “I won’t let you bully him! Xia Jianren, do you think your actions will make me leave Xiao Qiang? It’ll only make me hate you more!”

“Xin Xin, listen to me. My uncle is already discussing our marriage with your father. Your father wants to marry you to Song Jie, and my uncle is aware of it. Your father is dreaming if he thinks one of the Eight Young Masters of the Capital would marry into the now declining Su family. At best, you’d only be a mistress—not an official wife. But my Xia family, though we don’t hold much power in the central government, is very influential locally. If our families unite, combining Su’s central authority with Xia’s local power, it would be a perfect match. So I’m sure your father will agree. I’m not afraid if you hate me now; one day you’ll love me. For now, I need to deal with this Xiao Qiang, who keeps stealing you away! Last time, I didn’t find the right people—this time, I brought Uncle De’s men! Hmph, I doubt you’ll escape, Xiao Qiang!” Xia Jianren glanced at me smugly, then warned Su Xin sternly, “Xin Xin, you’d better step aside and stay out of this, or I’ll tell your father about you and Xiao Qiang! I bet he’ll be furious, very furious!”

“You…” Su Xin was so angry her breathing grew rapid. She never imagined Xia Jianren could be so vile. I knew that with her father’s iron-fisted ways, if he learned about us, he’d at least have me and her watched, transfer her to another class, or worse, expel her from Fourth High or even force her to leave C City. So before I could reveal our relationship to her father myself, I absolutely wouldn’t allow this to happen. Chu Qitong had to keep quiet, and Xia Jianren even more so.

I gently pushed aside her trembling figure and stroked her silky hair. “Don’t worry, just step aside and watch me. As long as you’re watching, I have the strength and confidence to overcome everything. Xin Xin, now is not the time for your father to learn about us, so there are things I must solve myself!”

“But, Xiao Qiang…” Her eyes showed she clearly didn’t believe I could handle these thugs, nor did she want me to suffer at their hands. Smiling, I pinched her soft, beautiful cheek. “Your husband is a man who creates miracles—one miracle after another. This time is no different. Just watch from the side and see how I deal with this bastard.”