Chapter 146: Lin Yufei Causes Trouble

Hong Chen’s behavior was extremely unfriendly. Taking this in, Gao Yuanjie’s expression plummeted. Without needing an order from him, the hardened man who had entered with him flashed forward and blocked Lin Yuxin’s path.

Anxious to leave, Lin Yuxin had no idea what was happening behind her. Suddenly finding her way blocked, she looked on in bewilderment as a figure leaped forward from behind her and, without a word, lashed out with a palm strike.

A fierce look flashed in the hardened man's eyes, and his reaction was not slow at all. He threw a punch straight at Hong Chen’s head.

Hong Chen tilted slightly to the side. The palm he had thrust suddenly changed direction, steadily grabbing the other man's wrist, and then flung him forward with tremendous force. The hardened man, weighing a hundred and forty to fifty pounds, seemed entirely weightless as he flew out sideways.

Thud!

He traced an arc through the air before slamming heavily into the wall, emitting a dull echo!

The entire sequence sounded complicated, but it took no more than the blink of an eye. Everyone’s expression changed in shock. Gao Yuanjie’s pupils also contracted sharply; he had not expected his bodyguard to be so fragile, appearing like paper-mâché in front of Hong Chen.

"Hong Chen, you..."

"Let’s go!" Without waiting for Lin Yuxin to finish, Hong Chen grabbed her and pushed open the door to leave. The hardened man had a sturdy build, and the impact with the wall only caused the blood to churn in his chest without inflicting any real injury. He quickly stood up and looked at Gao Yuanjie, whose face was as gloomy as water, with cold glares flashing through his eyes. In the end, he rationally shook his head.

The hardened man was clearly no match for Hong Chen. Chasing after them would only mean getting beaten up.

"I’ll be taking my leave first." After quite a moment, Gao Yuanjie’s expression finally softened. He made his announcement to the others, stood up, and walked out of the room, followed silently by the hardened man. That left a room full of people staring at each other with shifting, uncertain expressions.

Leaving the restaurant, they hopped into the Mercedes, with Hong Chen taking over the driver's seat this time. Lin Yuxin quickly set the navigation system, and once the car started moving, she asked, "What on earth was going on back there?"

Looking straight ahead, Hong Chen replied, "Gao Yuanjie has designs on you."

Lin Yuxin fell abruptly silent. After a moment, she weighed her words and said, "In the workplace, certain things are ultimately unavoidable; you just have to keep your guard up and be on the lookout. You shouldn't have been so impulsive."

Hong Chen gave a noncommittal smile. "So you're blaming me for meddling."

Lin Yuxin cast a sidelong glance at him. "He’s your former classmate. At worst, you could have talked to him privately later. To start a conflict in front of so many people, where do you expect him to save face? Regardless of anything, he’s still the crown prince of the corporate group."

"He's merely a fake crown prince, while you are the true empress." Thinking this to himself, Hong Chen said aloud, "Don't worry, I'll go have a proper chat with him later. I guarantee he won't bother you anymore, and it won't affect your career prospects."

Lin Yuxin’s lips moved as if she wanted to say something, but it ultimately dissolved into silence.

...

Lin Yifei had only mentioned Zhongguang Road without giving a specific street number. When Lin Yuxin called her back, the phone was turned off. Driving to the location, Hong Chen could only slow down the car and search for someone while driving.

Fortunately, Zhongguang Road was a one-way street and not too long. After about ten minutes, Hong Chen’s sharp eyes spotted a figure flickering behind a tree by the roadside. He parked the car, rolled down the window, and called out, "Lin Yifei."

As the call fell, half a head popped out from behind the tree—it was indeed Lin Yifei’s face. Recognizing Lin Yuxin’s car, she quickly ran over, pulled open the rear door, and dived inside headfirst.

"Yifei, are you hurt?" Turning around from the passenger seat, Lin Yuxin was shocked to see that Lin Yifei’s clothes were stained with a large amount of blood. She got out and went to the back. Lin Yifei threw herself into Lin Yuxin’s arms, sobbing uncontrollably and repeating over and over, "Sister, I'm in trouble, I'm in huge trouble..."

After a long while, Lin Yuxin finally managed to soothe Lin Yifei enough to stop her crying. Only then did she knit her brows and ask, "What on earth is going on? Weren't you at grandfather's house? How did you end up way out here?"

Not daring to conceal anything, Lin Yifei tearfully and tremblingly recounted the whole story.

After Lin Yuxin had dropped Lin Yifei off at the Shen family residence, Lin Yifei hadn't actually gone inside. Instead, she went out for dinner with Shen Mo and Shen Qing. Afterward, Shen Mo called some friends from his social circle, and they all went to a KTV named Shining Star.

After an hour or so, though Lin Yuxin had been pressured into drinking quite a bit, she wasn't completely drunk. Just then, she happened to see a man taking advantage of Shen Qing's absence in the restroom to drop some powder into Shen Qing's glass. Out of sudden anger, she dashed the drink right into the man's face. Furious, the man slapped Lin Yifei a few times, kicked her twice, and then dragged her into an empty private room next door, attempting to assault her.

In her desperation, Lin Yifei managed to grope a fruit knife from under the coffee table, stabbed the man once, and then fled the KTV. She ran for ten solid minutes, crossing six or seven streets, until she finally reached this Zhongguang Road and called Lin Yuxin.

Hearing this, Lin Yuxin trembled with rage, hating her sister's lack of sense. Three times she raised her hand to strike Lin Yifei, but seeing the faint handprints still visible on Lin Yifei's face, she ultimately put her hand back down.

As for Hong Chen, he felt utterly speechless. Last time, Lin Yuxin had held a knife to her own throat; this time, Lin Yifei had used a knife to stab someone else. They truly deserved to be sisters—in a sense, both were women of fierce chastity.

"Sister, I stabbed that man in the thigh. Although the blade went in pretty deep, it definitely won't be life-threatening. Let's call Mom and Dad and go back to Qing City right now." Lin Yifei’s face was filled with panic. While running for her life and waiting for Lin Yuxin, her mind had been consumed entirely by the fact that she had stabbed someone and was in deep trouble. Now, as her ability to think gradually returned, her mindset shifted: the man would at most be severely injured, and perhaps the police wouldn't even be involved. In that case, her primary concern should instead be him coming after her for revenge.

She didn't dare mention that the man had a formidable background. If she hadn't been dizzy with alcohol, let alone him dropping drugs into Shen Qing's glass, even if he had dropped them into her own glass, she would never have had the guts to splash wine in his face.

"He knows Shen Mo and Shen Qing; he will definitely track them down to the Shen family. If his background isn't significant, Grandfather will protect you for the sake of saving face, and it will just be a matter of paying medical expenses. But if his background is something the Shen family cannot afford to cross, then even if we return to Qing City, he will hunt us down, and might even force Grandfather's family to hand you over."

Lin Yuxin was much calmer than Lin Yifei. Pondering for half a minute, she frowned and asked, "When that man hit you, weren't Shen Mo and Shen Qing around at all?"

Mentioning Shen Mo and Shen Qing, Lin Yifei’s expression instantly turned icy, a bone-deep hatred flashing in her eyes. She gritted her teeth and said, "Not only did they not help me, but they even sided with that man, saying I deserved it! That bitch Shen Qing—to think I was sticking my neck out for her..."

"Enough!" Lin Yuxin said with a cold face. "Shen Mo, Shen Qing, and Lin Huihuang and Lin Meimei are all cut from the same cloth. After such a profound lesson last time, before the scars have even healed, you've forgotten all the pain. Yifei, I really think you're beyond saving."

Lin Yifei’s delicate body trembled slightly, not daring to talk back.

Lin Yuxin pressed a hand to her forehead, closed her eyes, and leaned back. After a minute or so, she opened her eyes slightly, exhaled, and said, "Hong Chen, what do you think we should do?"

Hong Chen thought he was experiencing auditory hallucinations. This was the first time since their marriage that Lin Yuxin was proactively consulting his opinion on a major issue. Rationally speaking, he should have been flattered, but the reality was that he felt quite helpless.

To be honest, unless Lin Yifei was facing imminent mortal danger—in which case he would intervene for Lin Yuxin's sake—he didn't want to get involved in any other matters concerning Lin Yifei. Simply put, Lin Yifei had lied to him and remained unrepentant; in Hong Chen's eyes, she had already lost all bottom lines and was completely hopeless!

He rubbed the bridge of his nose to collect his thoughts, then glanced at Lin Yifei through the rearview mirror and spoke up: "The fact that he dared to put drugs into Shen Qing's glass shows he isn't afraid of the consequences, which clearly means his background is greater than the Shen family's. Yifei, are you still going to hide who he is?"

Awakened by these words, Lin Yuxin turned her face toward Lin Yifei. Realizing she could no longer keep it a secret, Lin Yifei weakly whispered, "Everyone calls him Young Master Lu. Shen Mo is quite respectful toward him."

Lin Yuxin’s gaze flickered a few times. She took out her phone, called someone—though it was unclear who—and asked a few questions before her expression turned grave.

"There are a total of six first-tier families in Nan City, and the Lu family is one of them."

After hanging up the phone, Lin Yuxin's single sentence caused all color to drain from Lin Yifei’s face, leaving her utterly terrified and pale!

The atmosphere inside the car grew overwhelmingly heavy, as if the roof had lowered by several inches.

Strictly speaking, the Shen family could only be considered a second-tier family in Nan City. It was only because they were native locals with deeper roots than most second-tier families that they stood out, but compared to a first-tier family, while it might not be a difference of heaven and earth, they were at least not in the same league.

If the Lu family truly decided to hold them accountable, the Shen family would hand Lin Yifei over without a second thought!