Chapter 53: Acting Without Hesitation

After the Zhou Family had expressed how much they valued Zhou Fei, the banquet reached its true climax—socializing.

Shen Mo watched those seeking investment, those exchanging favors, those discussing projects, and quietly retreated to one side.

He didn't much care for this sort of occasion.

After confirming three times that Shen Mo had no interest in investing in startups, Liu Yue also went off with Zhao Yanyan—she had her own targets too.

As Shen Mo stood alone drinking on the side, Zhou Fei sat down next to him.

"Why aren't you over there chatting with them about projects?" Zhou Fei greeted Shen Mo curiously.

She found it quite strange—according to Zhou Yue, Shen Mo had quite a bit of cash on hand, making him an ideal investor, so why wasn't he going?

Shen Mo smiled and said lightly, "My talents are limited, and I don't want to scheme against them. Better to stay honestly by my wife's side. What about you?"

Zhou Fei was slightly taken aback—what a ridiculous reason.

But Zhou Fei didn't mind, and instead smiled: "My reason is much simpler. My sister won't let me talk business with anyone here, says she's afraid I'll get taken."

"I listen to advice, so I came over to chat with you."

"Right now my sister's gone to talk projects with your wife—says she's taken a fancy to a piece of land and wants to buy it to build a commercial tower."

Shen Mo nodded—pretty good, very Liu Yue's style.

Liu Yue loved doing real-industry business, especially real estate, but she never touched residential buildings—only pure commercial property.

Because Liu Yue believed residential real estate was bound to crash someday, and entering the market at any time carried the risk of bad luck.

If that's the case, better not touch it at all.

"Oh, the folk princess and the kept man—you two are chatting now?"

"What high-end topic are you discussing? Mind letting me in on it?"

The mocking voice rang out suddenly. Shen Mo and Zhou Fei looked up to see a young man in a sharp suit, pomaded hair gleaming, standing across from them—no one knew when he'd arrived.

The moment he saw the other man, a wave of disgust rose in Shen Mo's heart.

Zhou Fei fought down her nausea, frowning: "Who are you?"

"Don't you know any manners?"

The man gave a cold smirk, sat down on the other end of the sofa, and said disdainfully, "I'm Sun Zhichao. What is manners?"

The contempt in his eyes was heavy.

Shen Mo took a deep breath, suppressed his disgust, gave Zhou Fei a look, and stood up: "I'm going to find my wife. You should go find your sister too."

Zhou Fei nodded—neither of them wanted trouble.

Seeing the two trying to leave, Sun Zhichao smirked disdainfully: "Kept man, cowardly girl. The likes of you are only good enough for those old fogeys."

That one sentence from Sun Zhichao made Shen Mo and Zhou Fei understand why this man had come over to disgust people.

Clearly, he was one of those useless second-generation heirs the Zhou father had spoken of.

Shen Mo had once heard Liu Yue say that in the eyes of the older generation, he was a somebody.

Those old folks believed that anyone who seized the chance to leap across classes by their own strength deserved respect, because such people always had one or two redeeming qualities.

So Shen Mo turned back, looked at Sun Zhichao, and smiled: "I've got my wife's soft rice to eat. What about you—what have you got to eat?"

That line seemed to sting Sun Zhichao. He rose furiously, grabbed a bottle from the table, and hurled it at Shen Mo.

Bipolar disorder.

Shen Mo pulled Zhou Fei out of the way, and silently assessed him in his heart.

Smack.

The sound of the bottle smashing against the wall drew the attention of everyone in the banquet hall.

Both the older generation and the younger set stared in astonishment at Sun Zhichao and at Shen Mo, who was holding Zhou Fei's hand.

In an instant, countless bits of gossip sprang up in everyone's minds—especially the sight of Shen Mo holding Zhou Fei's hand.

Sun Zhichao paid no heed to the eyes around him, gave a proud smile, straightened his suit, and said smugly, "Shen Mo, you garbage who makes a career out of eating soft rice—you think you're fit to oppose me?"

"Let me tell you, Zhou Fei is the woman I've set my sights on."

That one sentence stirred up even more gossip. Shen Mo looked at Sun Zhichao with lowered eyes—this bastard was actually ruining a girl's reputation.

Zhou Fei's face darkened. Zhou Yue had told her that two men fighting over one woman was not a flattering term for a girl in high-society circles.

Sun Zhichao was pleased—this was exactly the moment he wanted.

He didn't believe Liu Yue could tolerate Shen Mo protecting another woman.

He didn't believe Liu Yue could tolerate rumors of her husband's infidelity.

Rumors, when used well—even when fabricated out of thin air—could destroy a great many things.

With so many people present today, Sun Zhichao was going to see how Shen Mo would handle it.

Kept man, cowardly girl—today I'm going to ruin your reputations.

Shen Mo released Zhou Fei's hand, looked toward Liu Yue who was walking over, and said with a smile, "Wife, remember to come bail me out of the station."

That line left everyone momentarily baffled.

Shen Mo laughed loudly at Sun Zhichao: "Sun-zi, you can call me a kept man, you can spread rumors that I'm fighting you over the same woman, but you can't ruin a girl's reputation."

"If your little stunt today gets out, those idle busybodies will start calling Zhou Fei a social climber, a fox spirit."

Thud.

Shen Mo kicked Sun Zhichao flat, pinned his head down, straddled him, and punched him in the face again and again.

Within minutes, Sun Zhichao's face was covered in blood.

Shen Mo said coldly, "My reputation doesn't matter, but my grandmother always said a girl's reputation must never be ruined."

"So you human scum, just wait to die."

Proving Shen Mo's innocence was impossible, because rumors can't be disproven.

So he might as well get a good beating in first.

Sun Zhichao wanted to fight back, but with his body hollowed out by wine and women, how could he possibly be a match for Shen Mo?

Soon, someone noticed a few extra teeth on the ground.

Soon, someone noticed Sun Zhichao's ear was bleeding.

Soon, someone noticed Sun Zhichao's cries had grown quieter.

Shen Mo's merciless heavy blows soon left Sun Zhichao breathing in more than he was breathing out.

Liu Yue watched the scene coldly and slowly dialed the police.

"Hello, police? I'm reporting a crime — someone hit my husband's fists with their face."

The banquet ended just like that.

Zhou Family's parents had someone hold back the surveillance footage.

Fortunately, the hotel belonged to them.

Sun Zhichao was taken to the hospital, and Shen Mo went to the police station.

Only, he came out very quickly.

After all, Sun Zhichao's parents had arrived at the police station to negotiate.

Everyone was clear on what had happened — the key now lay in the matter of compensation.

Sun Zhichao's mother said with a vicious face, "The Sun Family is not short of money. I want you to rot in jail."

"Freeloader."

*Slap. *

Liu Yue delivered an unceremonious slap across the face.

It stunned both of Sun Zhichao's parents, and even the police standing nearby were taken aback.

You two really are birds of a feather sharing the same bed — both of you jump straight to throwing hands.

Liu Yue looked at Sun Zhichao's father, Sun Biao, the head of the Sun Family, and said in a deep voice, "Uncle, your little mistress doesn't know how to speak. I disciplined her on your behalf — you don't mind, do you?"

Sun Biao forced out an awkward smile and said coldly, "Niece, even your father wouldn't dare speak to me like that."

Sun Biao's face had been thoroughly swollen today — his son beaten into the hospital, the woman he liked slapped in public by a junior. Was this a rebellion?

(End of chapter)