169: Chapter 169 From Today Onwards, You Are My Chief Life Officer
"Pick one."
Lu Chen's voice was calm, as casual as asking, "Are we having rice or noodles for dinner tonight?"
Yet, this flat tone, falling into Long Tao's ears, was more terrifying than a devil's whisper.
Break his own legs?
Or let him help break them?
Was there even a choice in this damn situation?
Long Tao's mind went blank, cold sweat dripping down his temples, drop by drop.
He wanted to spit out some harsh threats, but when the words reached his lips, he couldn't say them.
Because he clearly saw that in Lu Chen's seemingly lazy eyes, there wasn't the slightest hint of a joke.
It was pure, emotionless indifference.
The kind of indifference that treated him as if he were nothing.
"I... I..."
Long Tao's lips trembled, his Adam's apple bobbing, but he couldn't even utter a complete sentence.
He was afraid.
Truly afraid.
Growing up, relying on the Long family name, he had always walked sideways.
When had he ever seen such a situation?
Disagreeing with a word, breaking people's limbs without even blinking.
Is this a student?
This is clearly a Mad Dog who crawled out of hell!
"It seems you're having trouble making a choice."
Lu Chen seemed a bit impatient; he lifted his foot and took a step forward.
"Since that's the case, I'll..."
"Don't! Don't come over!"
Long Tao was scared out of his wits, subconsciously taking a large step back, and fell onto his butt.
His crotch grew warm, and a pungent odor instantly filled the air.
This arrogant young master of the Long family had actually... been scared into wetting himself.
"Pfft—"
In the crowd of onlookers, someone couldn't hold back and let out a laugh.
This snicker was like a fuse.
Immediately after, suppressed laughter came from all directions, gathering into a torrent of mockery.
"Holy crap! He peed himself?"
"Is that all the guts someone from the Long family has? This is hilarious!"
"The drama today is so damn sweet!"
"Best binge-worthy show of the year, hands down!"
Long Tao's face instantly flushed to the color of liver.
Shame, anger, fear... various emotions intertwined in his chest, almost making him faint.
He wished he could crawl into a crack in the ground.
Lu Chen stopped, frowned, and waved his hand in front of his nose.
"Tsk, so dirty."
He glanced at Long Tao with disdain, then seemed to remember something.
"Oh, right."
Lu Chen slapped his forehead.
"Almost forgot the main point."
He looked down at Long Tao, who was slumped on the ground, and spoke slowly.
"According to our previous bet, you lost."
"So, starting tomorrow, you, and those trash brothers of yours lying on the ground."
Lu Chen pointed his chin at the guys still groaning.
"You'll be in charge of all the cleaning for this dormitory of mine."
"Including, but not limited to, sweeping, mopping, cleaning windows, and taking out the trash."
"Oh, and the toilet, remember to scrub it every day until it shines. Got it?"
"..."
The whole scene fell into deathly silence once again.
Everyone's expression was as if they had seen a ghost.
They had imagined countless ways Lu Chen might deal with Long Tao.
For example, beating him up.
Or forcing him to fulfill his promise and crawl between his legs.
But they never expected that the demand Lu Chen put forward would be... cleaning?
Making the honorable young master of the Beijing Long family act as your cleaning lady?
This... this is even more ruthless than beating him up in public!
This is simply psychological warfare!
Long Tao was also stunned.
He looked up at Lu Chen in disbelief.
"You... what did you say?"
"Are your ears not working?"
Lu Chen frowned.
"I said, I want you to come and clean for me."
"Also, deliver my three meals to the dormitory door every day. Remember, I want four dishes and one soup, two meat and two vegetable, and they shouldn't be the same every day."
"You'll also wash my clothes, by hand. No washing machines allowed. My clothes are very expensive, and you can't afford to pay if you ruin them."
"That's all for now. I'll add more when I think of it."
Lu Chen finished in one breath and clapped his hands.
"Got it? Now get lost."
"Oh, right, remember to drag your trashy companions away too. Don't dirty my territory."
After speaking, Lu Chen didn't look at them again, turned around, yawned, and walked slowly back to the dilapidated Class C dormitory building.
Leaving behind a crowd of stunned onlookers and Long Tao, who was slumped on the ground, looking ashen-faced.
...
That night, the Martial God Academy was destined to be sleepless.
The news that "a Mad Dog has arrived at the Class C building" spread like it had wings, traveling through various student group chats at an astonishing speed.
"Extra! Extra! Long Tao from the Beijing Long family got wrecked!"
"For real? Who's that awesome?"
"An exchange student from Shanghai, an F-rank Talent, named Lu Chen!"
"Holy crap! An F-rank Talent took down a Peak Third-Grade? Are you writing a novel here?"
"Believe it or not! There's a video! The guy just stood there, and when those eight lackeys of Long Tao rushed up, there was a clanging sound, and all their limbs were broken!"
"Damn! Send me a copy of the video! Quick!"
"That's not even the wildest part! The wildest part is that the guy named Lu Chen didn't beat up Long Tao, but instead made him... go scrub his toilet! Hahahaha!"
"You legend! Is that you, legend? What kind of god-tier move is this?"
"From today on, I declare that Brother Chen from the Class C building is my only idol!"
Various versions of the rumors were rampant.
But no matter which version, they all had a common core.
The Class C dormitory building, that most dilapidated, most looked-down-upon place, had a resident who was an absolute badass not to be messed with.
A Mad Dog who would break people's limbs at the slightest disagreement and force a young master from Beijing to scrub toilets.
The next day, early morning.
When the first ray of sunlight shone into Room 303 of the Class C dormitory, Lu Chen was still sleeping soundly in bed.
A cautious knock on the door sounded.
"Knock, knock, knock."
"Who is it?"
Lu Chen mumbled vaguely, rolled over, and continued sleeping.
Outside the door, a trembling voice with a crying tone came through.
"Chen... Brother Chen, we're here to... clean."
Lu Chen's eyes opened a crack.
He yawned, slowly climbed out of bed, and went to open the door.
Outside the door stood eight "mummies."
It was Long Tao and his seven unlucky brothers.
Everyone was wrapped in bandages, with arms in slings or casts, and faces bruised black and blue, looking exactly like they had just returned from the Iraq battlefield.
Long Tao, leading them, had a pale face with dark circles around his eyes that looked like heavy smoky makeup.
In his hand, he held a plastic bucket.
Inside the bucket were rags, brushes, toilet cleaner, and a series of cleaning supplies.
Seeing Lu Chen open the door, Long Tao shuddered and squeezed out a smile that looked worse than crying.
"Brother Chen... morning."
Lu Chen leaned against the doorframe, looked them up and down, and pursed his lips.
"Why are you only just arriving?"
"Don't you know my place is dirty? It's affecting my sleep quality, understand?"
Long Tao's mouth twitched, and he almost spat out a mouthful of blood.
But he didn't dare to refute, only nodding and bowing.
"Yes, yes, yes, it's our fault. We will definitely come earlier next time."
"Alright, enough talk, get to work."
Lu Chen moved aside to let them in.
"You there, you," Lu Chen pointed at Long Tao, "go scrub the toilet for me. Remember, it needs to shine."
"You guys, one mop the floor, one clean the windows, the rest... hmm, wash these stinky socks of mine."
After saying that, Lu Chen yawned again, fell back into bed, and covered himself with the quilt.
"I'm taking another nap. I'll check in an hour."
"If there's even a speck of dirt, you know the consequences."
In the room, Long Tao and his minions looked at each other.
Everyone saw endless humiliation and indignation in each other's eyes.
They, reputable young masters from influential families in Beijing, when had they ever suffered such indignity?
But thinking of Lu Chen's inhuman strength yesterday and those emotionless eyes, all their resentment vanished instantly.
All that remained was endless fear.
Long Tao gritted his teeth, finally accepting his fate, picked up the bucket, and walked into the bathroom that emitted a strange odor.
Just as he picked up the toilet brush, preparing to start the great undertaking of scrubbing a toilet for the first time in his life, his spirit-energy phone in his pocket suddenly vibrated.
Long Tao struggled to take out his phone and glanced at the screen.
On the screen was an avatar he was incredibly familiar with and equally terrified of.
Below the avatar was a short message.
"Long Tao, I heard you were beaten by someone at school yesterday?"
"You've brought total shame to our Long family!"