48: Chapter 48 Qi Ming Gets Beaten Up

At the very moment Qi Ming touched the doorknob...

"Clang!"

With a loud bang, the old door, which wasn't very sturdy to begin with, was kicked open violently from the outside.

The force sent the latch flying; it hit the wall and bounced back.

Qi Ming's nose, which wasn't prominent to begin with, was now even flatter.

Two tall, sturdy, and fierce figures completely blocked the narrow doorway.

The faint light in the room outlined the sinister, hideous smiles on their faces.

Qi Ming's expression froze. Weren't these the two idle hoodlum sons of Zhang Min from the fourth floor, Zhang Da and Zhang Er?

Qi Mingyuan, who had finally managed to fall asleep, was startled awake, and his temper was quite foul.

"You brat, what are you doing now?"

Lu Yingman only took a peek through the crack of the door before quickly pulling it shut and retreating into the inner room.

Spoiled since childhood, she had already had enough of the hard life these past few days; seeing this situation, her heart leapt into her throat.

Qi Ming touched his swollen nose, pretending to be calm.

"Wh... what do you want?"

At the same time, his hand quietly reached for the only thing that could be considered a weapon nearby—half a brick.

The leader, Zhang Da, sneered and strode inside; his gaze swept around, and his eyes lit up when he saw the leftover food Qi Ming had eaten during the day on the dilapidated coffee table.

But soon, his gaze fixed on Qi Ming.

"I heard you haven't been very well-behaved. Your eyes saw something they shouldn't have, and you've offended someone. Someone finds you an eyesore and sent us brothers to give you a good thrashing."

Someone he shouldn't have offended? Qi Ming was bewildered.

He hadn't even left the house for the past few days! How could he have offended anyone?

Could this be just a random excuse these two thugs came up with?

Before he could argue, Zhang Er impatiently kicked the floor next to his foot.

"Big brother, cut the crap and hit him!"

With that, the two brothers pounced like tigers, kicking Qi Ming to the ground.

They rained punches and kicks on Qi Ming as he curled up on the floor.

However, they were disciplined with their strikes, avoiding vital spots and specifically targeting areas that would be extremely painful to hit.

"Ah! Stop hitting me! Help!"

Qi Ming let out a scream like a slaughtered pig, trying to protect his head and face with his hands, but it was in vain.

With a crack, the sharp pain from his ribs almost made him faint.

Qi Mingyuan tried his best to get up, but his crippled legs left him helpless. He could only grab a nearby cup and hurl it at Lu Yingman.

"What are you just standing there for? Your son is about to be beaten to death, hurry up and help him!"

Helpless, Lu Yingman could only open the door amidst his verbal abuse.

Then, a fierce glare from Zhang Da scared her back again.

The bedroom door closed again. Qi Ming's resentful gaze was deeply etched into Lu Yingman's heart, making her feel utterly broken.

How did life turn out like this?

Zhang Da and Zhang Er beat him for a full five or six minutes until Qi Ming was black and blue, blood trickling from the corner of his mouth, and he didn't even have the strength to howl anymore. Only then did they stop.

Zhang Da took a breath and clapped his hands as if he had just finished some dirty work.

Then, without even looking at Qi Ming, who was lying like a dead dog on the floor, he walked straight to the pile of food on the dilapidated coffee table.

"Damn it, I can't have made this trip for nothing."

Zhang Da muttered, unceremoniously walking to the corner to pick up the remaining half-bag of rice, stuffing it along with the opened and unopened food from the coffee table into his arms.

"Let's go."

Zhang Er kicked Qi Ming one last time, unsatisfied, before slowly following his brother out the door with a swagger.

He even "thoughtfully" pulled the kicked-in door shut as best as he could for Qi Ming.

The house fell back into a deathly silence, leaving only Qi Ming's painful, weak gasps and Lu Yingman's suppressed, intense sobbing behind the bedroom door.

Qi Ming lay slumped on the floor, his face against the rough concrete. There wasn't a single part of his body that didn't hurt.

Even now, he didn't know who he had actually offended.

He glanced at the tightly locked door of the small room. Fortunately, those two bastards hadn't noticed the things inside.

Thinking of something, Qi Ming pulled out an old cell phone, adjusted his breathing, and dialed a number he hadn't called in days.

Ignoring the pain in his body, he forced a very strained smile onto his face.

"Hello? Huihui, don't hang up. I miss you. Can you... come see me?"

The voice actually sounded quite normal, without a hint of weakness.

On the other end of the line, Wang Hui was stunned for a moment.

"Qi Ming, that slap you gave me has become a thorn between us. I fell out with my father for you, and yet what did you report about me?"

"Now, my father has finally forgiven me and let me back into the house. I don't want to live a hard life with you anymore. That's it, I'm hanging up."

As she spoke, Wang Hui moved the phone away, preparing to hang up.

Qi Ming's voice suddenly rose: "Huihui, I really didn't mean it! I apologize to you. I'm sorry. I really miss you. If you don't want to see me, then... I won't bother you again."

As he spoke, Qi Ming's eyes turned cold. He hung up the phone first, just before Wang Hui could.

With Wang Hui's love-addled brain, she had followed him around like a stray dog back in high school.

Thinking a single slap could drive her away? That would be too easy.

Qi Ming believed that Wang Hui would return to him sooner or later. Maybe he could even get some things from his father-in-law.

Although he used to look down on that old nouveau riche, now he had to get on good terms with the Wang Family.

During these days of the Qi Family's downfall, it wasn't that he hadn't tried to borrow money from his former fair-weather friends to get by, but every single one of them was either busy with this or that.

Each one of them ran away faster than a rabbit.

Just wait, I, Qi Ming, will have my day of resurgence.

As he expected, over on the other side, Wang Hui's resolve to stay away from the Qi Family—which she had finally made after her father Wang Jianhua's persuasion—collapsed upon hearing his repentant sweet talk.

"Dad, Qi Ming said he didn't mean to hit me. He knows he was wrong. Do you think I can still believe him?"

To put it nicely, she was asking for her father's opinion, but in reality, she had already made up her mind.

The thick-waisted Wang Jianhua didn't even look up. He downed a gulp of red wine and wiped his mouth; his lifestyle was quite refined.

"Xiao Hui, the Qi Family won't be able to rise again. I know how much that kid Qi Ming used to look down on us."

As he spoke, Wang Jianhua stood up, patted his daughter's shoulder, and comforted her.

"Don't worry, a three-legged toad is hard to find, but aren't there plenty of two-legged men? Once this period passes, your dad will find you someone better."

Wang Hui's fingers unconsciously stroked the seven-figure necklace around her neck; it was a gift from her father after she returned from the Qi Family.

Looking at her father's firm gaze and thinking of the hard life she had lived a few days ago, she finally nodded hesitantly.

"Alright, then I won't go back for now."

Just then, the chandelier flickered a few times and then went completely dead.

The brightly lit Wang Family villa plunged into endless darkness in an instant!