Chapter 657: The Art of Scolding

You!

Yu Guitian's face turned iron‑green from Lin Dongfan's questioning; he snatched back his work ID: "This is a normal business reception! Which unit are you from?!"

"Don't worry about which unit I'm from," Lin Dongfan asked calmly, pursuing: "You still haven't answered my question—today's meal, is it out of your own pocket or charged to public funds?"

Faced with Lin Dongfan's questioning, Yu Guitian suddenly felt a bit nervous.

Although he didn't know Lin Dongfan.

But having spent so many years in officialdom, he could gauge a thing or two from the other's aura and sharp‑tongued way of speaking, guessing the other was either from the Discipline Inspection Commission or the Anti‑Corruption Bureau.

In his panic.

Yu Guitian steeled himself and replied: "Today I'm paying out of pocket—any problem?!" After saying that, his heart faintly ached; damn it, one slip and he'd lost tens of thousands.

Lin Dongfan laughed: "Asking for investment while paying out of pocket? Section Chief Yu, you really have high principles and integrity."

"Don't spout sour grapes here!"

Yu Guitian flushed with anger: "Just what unit are you from?! You laid hands on people right away, damaging our city's investment environment! If you don't give an explanation today, this isn't over between us!"

Seeing Yu Guitian's qi and blood rushing to his heart, he clung to Lin Dongfan relentlessly.

Li Hengbo sat to the side, secretly chuckling: "Lin Dongfan, you little bastard, today you've run into someone who doesn't recognize Mount Tai! Hahaha, if you've got the guts, bring out your family tree and crush him! I'll guarantee to record a little on‑scene video for you, make you blow up online—let's see how you end up…"

Thinking that, Li Hengbo gave his nearby bodyguard a glance.

The bodyguard, understanding, pulled out his phone.

Seeing this, Lin Dongfan instantly grasped Li Hengbo's little scheme—after all, they'd been old comrades in endless bickering; a slight twitch from the other and he knew whether he wanted to shit or fart.

"I'm just an ordinary commoner who came in for a meal, only to be stopped outside and not let in." Lin Dongfan asked Yu Guitian with a smile: "If someone laid hands on me, can't I fight back?"

"!!!"

Faced with Lin Dongfan's confident words, Yu Guitian suddenly realized the allegation of laying hands might actually favor the other side, and he angrily stressed: "You're damaging our city's investment environment!"

"Section Chief Yu, your hat‑pinning technique isn't bad." Lin Dongfan calmly laid out the logic: "I just wanted to come in for a meal, but your people stopped me like bandits, laid hands on me. Then you turned the tables, saying I shouldn't be here eating, that if I came it was my fault—is that what you mean?"

"!!!"

Yu Guitian swallowed his rage, momentarily lost for words.

Lin Dongfan pressed further: "Officials like you, do you have bigger backsides? Because you're eating here, I, a lowly commoner, can't come in—is that what you mean?"

"You! …"

Seeing that Lin Dongfan's rhetoric was full of traps, Yu Guitian's anger flared to his head—this time, any answer would be wrong.

If he said that was the meaning, that would be courting death.

If he said it wasn't the meaning, that would show the other's dining here was reasonable, leaving no grounds for accusing him of damaging the investment environment—equivalent to slapping himself in the face.

Just as Yu Guitian was left speechless by the rebuttal…

Li Hengbo, sitting aside, stood up: "Director Lin, the top official of Wuzhou City is your father‑in‑law, and you yourself are a minister‑level official. Isn't it inappropriate to bully a lowly section chief?"

Yu Guitian: "……!!!"

A minister‑level bureau chief?

The son‑in‑law of Secretary Chu?

Yu Guitian's two eyes instantly widened in shock, his little heart thumping nervously, ready to burst from his chest, even his breathing grew difficult.

He stared at Lin Dongfan in disbelief: "You… you're Director Lin?"

"On leave, now I'm just an ordinary commoner." Lin Dongfan wouldn't walk into a trap; he glanced sideways at Li Hengbo, then asked Yu Guitian: "Are you bullying me, or am I bullying you?"

"!!!" Yu Guitian nervously wiped a cold sweat, stammering: "It… it's us who are wrong, Director Lin… you have a broad mind, don't stoop to our level…"

"Who's Director Lin? There's no Director Lin." Lin Dongfan's eyes turned cold.

Yu Guitian hurriedly corrected: "Sorry, that was a slip of the tongue. Mr. Lin, today we were in the wrong. Hanbi Mountain Villa is a public dining venue; no one has the right to stop you from eating here."

"That's right—don't throw your weight around."

Saying that, Lin Dongfan shifted his gaze to Li Hengbo.

Li Hengbo's reaction to Yu Guitian's performance was the utmost disappointment; he thought: "Damn! I still hoped you'd stand firm to the end, planning to film a little clip of Lin Dongfan throwing his weight around and post it online—never imagined you're also a coward! You couldn't even seize the chance to make a name for yourself, so I might as well not invest a damn thing!"

Seeing that this play couldn't go on any further…

Li Hengbo rose, straightened his shirt collar, and spoke to Lin Dongfan like a gentleman: "Director Lin, since you want to dine, please go ahead."

Saying that, he gestured to the seat.

"Not resisting?" Lin Dongfan asked with a smile.

Li Hengbo replied solemnly: "Your fists are hard, your background is hard—who'd dare go against you? I really still want to live another five hundred years."

"You wouldn't happen to be a reborn one, would you?" Lin Dongfan asked tentatively.

Li Hengbo gave a cold smile, without answering the question.

Turning back, he saw Sanda Wang still lying on the ground.

Li Hengbo kicked him in the waist, fuming: "Hey, are you dead or not? If you're not, get up quick, pack up and clear the scene, take that crab‑powder lion's head back to feed the dogs! Motherf***ing Gobi Desert, you're as blind as a bat—no eyesight at all, didn't you see Director Lin wanted to eat?!"

Sanda Wang, trembling all over from the kick, hurriedly got up.

Lin Dongfan stood aside, brows furrowed and eyes dazed, suddenly feeling as if the one being scolded was himself, yet he could find no evidence.

After a moment's thought.

Lin Dongfan decisively turned his focus to the still‑shaken Yu Guitian: "Section Chief Yu, just now were you fighting with a dog over food? Surely not…"

"!!!"

Yu Guitian wiped a gloomy sweat, his heart feeling utterly crushed.

He thought: "Who the hell did I provoke? I came out to court investment and attract resources, working diligently—how did I become cannon fodder? Damn it, Li Hengbo called you a dog, yet you turned around and lumped me in too! No justice…"

Either way, he'd offended someone, so Yu Guitian steeled himself.

Steeling himself to defend his dignity: "Mr. Lin, that bowl of crab‑powder lion's head is what we had left over. Following the principle of not wasting, we should… pack it up, wouldn't that not count as fighting a dog for food?"

"Section Chief Yu, be more confident—drop the two words 'should'." Li Hengbo said.

Lin Dongfan looked at Li Hengbo with a smile: "Chief Li, have you gotten used to eating plain soup and water prison food? Now you're not even interested in crab-powder lion's head."

As his words fell, it seemed as if an invisible knife had pierced Li Hengbo's heart with a soft puff.

Li Hengbo strode forward with head held high and chest out, saying as he walked: "You can't provoke me; I will never let you catch me at a disadvantage again! See you in the martial world!"