His hand gripped a life, yet his eyes remained as calm as the surface of a lake. In the past, these thugs who often compared themselves to fierce warriors now found their legs trembling uncontrollably.

Such composure—how could it exist if not forged through killing enough people?

Run!

Hurry up and run!

Damn Zhou Zidong for setting up such an iron plate for them to kick!

Cursing inwardly, they prepared to flee at full speed.

"Stop."

Before they had taken three steps, Xu Fan's voice rang out from behind, sending a chill straight to their crowns, and they turned their heads in dazed astonishment.

"Go back and tell Zhou Zidong that I, Xu Fan, will remember today's hospitality," Xu Fan said.

After speaking, Xu Fan's arm shook, and he threw the gasping boss, who had been pressed against the wall, back to them.

This was a dead-end alley. The two guys arranged to hold Xia Xiaodie saw Xu Fan approaching and were so scared they immediately knelt on the ground.

They buried their heads, begging only for Xu Fan to spare them a way to live.

However, to their disappointment, Xu Fan ignored them completely.

He walked over to Xia Xiaodie, took her hand, and said, "Let's go, I'll take you home."

"Okay."

Even though she had anticipated as much, Xia Xiaodie still felt a warm sensation in her heart witnessing all this. She nodded, and under the watchful eyes of the prostrate thugs huddled in the corner, she walked out of the alley with Xu Fan.

On reaching the spot where they had parked earlier, Xu Fan had Xia Xiaodie get into the car, then drove towards her residence.

It was rush hour, and by the time Xu Fan reached the destination, night had already fallen.

As Xia Xiaodie unbuckled her seatbelt, suddenly her phone in her bag rang.

Following the sound, her expression became complex—it was clear she didn't want to answer the call. Holding the phone in her hand, after a moment's hesitation, she hung up directly.

"Was that from your sister?"

Instinct told him that the call was probably from Xia Yanyu, who was currently in Jinling.

Remembering the cold war between the two, Xu Fan couldn't help but ask.

Xia Xiaodie's gaze flickered complexly as she glanced at Xu Fan, not answering his question, and stepped directly out of the car.

"…"

In this situation, perhaps it would have been better for him to pretend ignorance, yet he had already asked.

Watching Xia Xiaodie walk toward the entrance of the residential building, just as Xu Fan was about to get out and follow her, she suddenly stopped.

As if nothing had just happened, the stubborn girl's face was adorned with a smile.

"Xu Fan, thank you for today," she said.

"I had a lot of fun, and I hope we can continue to be happy like this in the future."

"Okay, you should get going now."

"…"

Xia Xiaodie's words clearly came from the heart, and observing the tender smile on her face, Xu Fan lifted the corners of his mouth.

"Alright, see you next time."

He took a deep breath and then closed the car door.

The relationships among Xia Xiaodie, Xia Yanyu, and himself were quite complicated. Judging by the current situation, it might be best not to rush anything.

After watching Xia Xiaodie enter the building, Xu Fan started the engine and drove off.

By now, he hadn't even had dinner yet.

Touching his stomach, Xu Fan considered stopping at a roadside stall to grab a quick meal.

Suddenly, the phone on the passenger seat lit up. Xu Fan frowned and picked it up to check.

"Xu Fan, I miss you. I'm waiting for you at Wangjiang Pavilion," read the text from Li Qinghe.

Wangjiang Pavilion is a well-known luxury restaurant in Shanghai, and now Qinghe is inviting me to have dinner together?

During my time back in Jinling, I heard that Qinghe had flown to Forty-nine City to shoot an advertisement.

She should have just returned to Shanghai.

She wants to see me this urgently, could it be that there's some news she needs to tell me?

I didn't think too much about it, my stomach was growling anyway, so I might as well go have a look to understand the situation.

Immediately, Xu Fan turned the car around and headed for Zhongshan East Road where Wangjiang Pavilion was located.

In less than half an hour, Xu Fan arrived at the destination.

Having parked the car, Xu Fan went straight in.

Wangjiang Pavilion could be considered the best place in Shanghai for petty bourgeois to talk about love.

I wonder what Qinghe has in mind by asking to meet here.

Being a major star, Qinghe's identity is somewhat sensitive. She most likely wouldn't choose the first floor, so Xu Fan took the spiral staircase up to the second floor and began his search.

"..."

In no time, Xu Fan found Qinghe by a window overlooking the nighttime scenery.

However, to his amusement, Qinghe's intention didn't seem to be to have dinner with him.

It looked more like she had dragged him there to serve as a shield for her.

Currently, sitting opposite her was none other than the leader of the Crown Prince Party, the sole heir of the Ke Family, Ke Longxiang.

Since the two were already engaged, it made sense for them to have a date here.

However, Qinghe seemed very impatient with Ke Longxiang's attempts to be accommodating.

She looked around now and then, obviously waiting for someone else to show up.

Soon, their gazes met.

Not wanting Ke Longxiang across her to notice, Qinghe pretended she didn't see Xu Fan and smiled at Ke Longxiang before saying something.

Right after, she picked up her phone and started typing.

"Why haven't you come over yet?"

Checking the vibrating phone in his pocket, indeed, that woman was sending him a text message.

"Big star, you're not being very honest."

Was she using a date as a guise to make me act as a shield for her?

Xu Fan smiled. He didn't like to get involved in such matters.

Under Qinghe's repressed fury, he took a seat at a nearby empty table.

"You, Xu Fan! You won't even help me with this small thing?"

Qinghe couldn't stand to spend a second with someone like Ke Longxiang, but today the pressure from home forced her to date this guy—it made her feel sick!

Right now, she wished she could leave immediately.

The only person who could interrupt this date other than Xu Fan did not come to mind.

With her phone in hand, she sent another text to Xu Fan.

"Big star, sending messages to another man right under your fiancé's nose isn't very polite, is it?"

"By the way, what are the signature dishes here? Why don't you recommend some to me?"

However, Xu Fan's reply nearly made her spit out a mouthful of blood in anger.

This guy...

Indeed, she had asked him to come only to use him to drive Ke Longxiang away.

But she obviously forgot that this guy was nothing like the men who fawned over women.

Finally, under Xu Fan's unwavering stance, Qinghe softened and, looking at the phone under the table, sent Xu Fan a text message.

"I'm sorry, my bad..."

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.