49: Chapter 49 Helping Xiaonuan Calculate the Debts You Owe

A black george patton rolled over the bluestone road outside the Su Family estate.

The engine emitted a deafening roar.

It stopped directly in front of the vermilion gates that symbolized a century-old lineage.

The tires scorched black marks onto the ground.

Lin Yuan pushed open the car door.

A scent of decay lingered in the air.

Su Xiaonuan pushed open the passenger door and stepped out.

She was dressed very professionally today.

Her fair, slender figure was still delicate, but in her eyes, there was no longer just timidity.

However, when she saw those vermilion gates, her breathing still faltered for a moment.

It had been over a decade.

She still remembered.

Her gambling-addicted father was beaten out of those gates with clubs.

Her mother had pulled her to kneel in the rain for an entire night.

In the end, that honest, law-abiding woman later coughed up blood in the shantytowns of the South City.

Coldness.

Aloofness.

This was the fear the Su Family had carved into her marrow.

Su Xiaonuan clenched her fists, her nails digging deep into her palms.

The next second.

A warm, broad hand took hold of hers.

Lin Yuan stood by her side, not looking at the gates, but looking down at her.

"Lift your head."

His voice was calm.

"Today, you are here to collect debts."

These words struck Su Xiaonuan's trembling heart.

She bit her lower lip.

The taste of rust spread between her teeth.

When she opened her eyes again, the timidity in them was forcibly suppressed.

She gripped Lin Yuan's hand back.

Her fingertips were still trembling slightly, but she held on tight.

The gates were left ajar.

Lin Yuan took her and stepped over the high threshold.

Inside the hall, it was brightly lit.

Click! Click, click! The flashes merged into a sheet of white light.

On both sides of the spacious Chinese-style hall, dozens of cameras were set up densely.

The lenses were all aimed squarely at Lin Yuan, who had just stepped through the door.

Someone had already typed up the news headlines.

Just waiting for Lin Yuan to kneel and provide an unflattering photo for tomorrow's front page.

On the master chair in the center.

The Head of the Su Family rested his hands on a sandalwood cane, his face gloomy.

Sitting on the left was Su Muxue's second brother, Su Changqing.

On the right was the mean-looking Second Aunt.

Around the hall, over a dozen bodyguards in black stood in two rows.

This was not a family banquet.

This was a trap set by the Su Family for Lin Yuan.

Second Aunt spoke first.

She stood up, her gaze scanning Lin Yuan first, then landing on Su Xiaonuan's face.

"Oh, I wondered who it was."

Second Aunt exaggeratedly drew out her tone, her voice echoing in the hall,

"Isn't this that jinx from the eldest's branch?"

All the lenses immediately aimed at Su Xiaonuan.

"Back then, your father stole the family's land deed to gamble, making your grandfather so angry he ended up in the ICU."

"Your shameless mother gave birth to a money-losing item like you; it's no wonder she coughed to death early in the slums!"

She pointed at Su Xiaonuan's nose, spittle flying.

"What? Running back to the Su Family to beg for food?"

Su Xiaonuan's fingers were trembling.

Those vicious curses buried deep in her memory were stripped bare and displayed bloodily in front of all the media in Jiangcheng.

"Mom, say less."

Su Changqing held his teacup and stood up slowly.

He did not look at Su Xiaonuan.

His gaze went straight past her and fixed on Lin Yuan.

"You are Lin Yuan?"

Su Changqing's chin lifted slightly, and the teacup lid spun half a circle between his fingers.

"I know you took my sister to Cloud Top Palace. And I know you are tangled up with Jiang Xiaowan."

He picked up a document from the table and flicked his wrist.

Clack!

With a deft flick, he threw the document onto the bluestone bricks in front of Lin Yuan's feet.

"Sign it."

Su Changqing pointed at the document on the ground, his voice turning cold.

"Read this 'Confession of Guilt' in front of the Jiangcheng media."

"Admit how you tricked Muxue into bed, how you used affection to blackmail the Su Family, and how you two-timed."

He chuckled softly.

"Lin Yuan, our Su Family is not unreasonable."

"If you sign it, you can walk out of here standing today."

The scheme was well-planned.

The Su Family dared not offend Jiang Xiaowan head-on.

Therefore, they wanted to smear Lin Yuan's reputation.

To make it so Lin Yuan couldn't stay in Jiangcheng.

To make the onlookers who saw the official account posts think that the Su Family was just deceived by a shameless man.

Four burly bodyguards stepped forward.

Their suits were stretched tight by their bulging muscles.

The leader, a burly man with a crew cut, had an old knife scar on the web of his right hand, his thumb subconsciously rubbing his knuckles.

That was a telltale habit of someone who had held a knife for years.

The media reporters tacitly adjusted their camera angles.

Lin Yuan looked down at the "Confession of Guilt" at his feet.

Then.

He raised his right foot.

And stepped on it.

The sole of his leather shoe pressed onto the white paper.

He gently ground it with his toe.

Rip.

The paper tore open.

The whole room went quiet.

The teacup lid in Su Changqing's hand froze in mid-air.

The shutter sounds of the reporters also stopped for a moment.

Lin Yuan looked up at the Head of the Su Family on the master chair.

"I came here today to do only two things."

His voice was not loud.

But it suppressed the hall so that no one dared to interrupt.

"First, take away my woman."

"Second, help Su Xiaonuan calculate the debts you owe from back then."

Su Xiaonuan stood behind him, her eyes burning.

Her hands were still shaking.

But at this moment, she suddenly felt that the vermilion gates were not so high anymore.

"Presumptuous!"

Su Changqing slammed his teacup onto the ground.

Porcelain shards scattered everywhere.

He turned to look at the media, as if he had been waiting for this moment.

"Fellow reporters, you have all seen it!"

"This thug broke into a private residence, tore up the settlement document, and threatened my Su Family!"

"We are only acting in self-defense now!"

Several reporters who had taken bribe money nodded immediately.

Some even zoomed in their lenses, waiting to capture the scene of Lin Yuan being forced to his knees.

Su Changqing roared:

"Disable him for me!"

The four bodyguards moved simultaneously.

One aimed for the ribs.

One went for a chokehold.

The two behind blocked his retreat, aiming for his knees and the back of his neck respectively.

Not to subdue.

But to maim.

Lin Yuan stood in place, his right thumb lightly brushing against the seam of his trousers.

The next second.

He shifted his body to the side.

He raised his right leg.

Bang!

The burly man in the front didn't even have time to make a sound before he flew sideways.

Boom!

His two-hundred-pound body smashed into the red sandalwood screen behind.

The million-dollar screen exploded on the spot.

Wood chips flew everywhere.

The remaining three bodyguards' expressions changed.

They didn't even see how Lin Yuan struck with his leg.

Lin Yuan had already raised his foot again.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Three figures flew backward, crashing into the pile of reporters.

Cameras toppled over.

Tripods snapped.

Several reporters were pinned to the ground, letting out pig-like screams.

From the start of the fight to the end.

Less than three seconds.

In the hall, only the sizzling sound of broken electrical equipment remained.

The reporters who were just thinking of capturing Lin Yuan's ugly state were now shrinking back one by one.

Some instinctively protected their cameras.

Some had trembling fingers, deleting half of the headlines they had just typed.

Lin Yuan loosened his neck.

His gaze swept toward the master chair.

"Su Family, is that all?"

Su Changqing's face turned pale, and he flopped back into his chair.

The makeup on Second Aunt's face was falling off in flakes.

She pointed at Lin Yuan, her voice distorted and sharp.

"He's killing people! Call the police! Hurry and film! He's a madman! He wants to seize the Su Family's property!"

But this time, not a single reporter dared to raise their camera.

The way they looked at Lin Yuan was like looking at a monster in human skin.

Su Xiaonuan looked at the wailing bodyguards all over the floor.

And then looked at the back standing in front of her.

Her hands were still shaking.

But the corners of her mouth curled up uncontrollably.

This was her Mr. Lin.

She had been afraid of the Su Family for over a decade.

But Mr. Lin only took three seconds to kick the Su Family's decency into pieces.

Clack!

A dull, loud sound.

The Head of the Su Family slammed his sandalwood cane down.

The hard bluestone floor tile was dented with a white mark by the cane.

The old man, who had controlled the Su Family for decades, stared fixedly at Lin Yuan, the muscles at the corner of his eyes twitching constantly.

"Young man."

"You have some brute strength; no wonder you dare to run wild in my Su Family."

He stood up slowly.

The remaining black-clad bodyguards around the hall did not rush up.

Instead, they quickly retreated, clearing a large open space in the center of the hall.

The Head of the Su Family's voice sank.

"But in Jiangcheng, what truly determines life and death has never been the street-fighting tricks you use."

"Since you are also a martial artist."

"Then let Grandmaster Li teach you what the rules are."

As the words fell.

The curtain in the back hall moved.

Tap. Tap.

Steady footsteps came from the shadows.

A silver-haired old man in a gray robe walked out slowly.

The Su Family's retainer.

An Ancient Martial Arts Grandmaster.

The two closest reporters, even though no one pushed them, simultaneously took three steps back.

They couldn't say what was wrong.

But their legs gave out first.

When Su Changqing saw the person arrive, the fear on his face instantly dissipated.

Replaced by twisted ecstasy.

"Lin Yuan, you're dead!"

He pointed at Lin Yuan, his voice sharp and vicious.

"Grandmaster Li is a true Grandmaster of internal martial arts!"

"That little brute strength of yours is not even as good as paper in front of internal energy!"

Second Aunt also seemed to have regained her courage and immediately clamored.

"Grandmaster Li! Disable him!"

"Make this ignorant thing kneel!"

Grandmaster Li stopped three meters in front of Lin Yuan.

He did not look at the bodyguards on the ground.

As if those people were not human, just chairs blocking the way.

He lifted his chin, his withered right hand reaching out from his sleeve.

"You have disturbed my rest."

His voice was hoarse, but it carried a sense of oppression.

"Young man, your hostility is too heavy; it's easy to shorten your life."

Grandmaster Li slowly raised his right hand.

"Kneel."

"Kowtow three times to the Head of the Su Family."

"Or..."

His cloudy eyes stared at Lin Yuan.

"I will do it myself."

The reporters quietly raised their cameras a little again.

They felt that the script was back on track.

Lin Yuan looked at this gray-robed old man in front of him who was full of posturing.

He was silent for two seconds.

Then, he touched his nose.

"So much nonsense."