Chapter 21: Yang Yun

His goal wasn't for me to stay away from his sister at all; in fact, he didn't care about his sister’s affairs. To put it bluntly, he just wanted Su Xueyan. If I helped such scum, I might as well just bash my head against a wall. Thinking of this, I spat out a word: "Get lost!" and sprayed spit all over his face.

With that, the anger I had been suppressing—the feeling of being ignored, looked down upon, and disrespected by Zhang Longtao—was finally released. It felt great. But at the same time, I realized in my mind that I was finished, and I might not even be able to walk out of this bar.

The moment I spat out the word "Get lost," Zhang Longtao’s two subordinates had already rushed over, ready to fix me up, but they were stopped by Zhang Longtao. Zhang Longtao suddenly smiled contemptuously and walked straight past me. I turned my head to see what he was going to do. Suddenly, everything went black in front of me, and something very wet was slammed onto my head. I was dizzy from the blow, and more importantly, a very disgusting stench hit me, almost suffocating me to the point of passing out.

I slowly opened my eyes and saw Zhang Longtao holding a toilet plunger, sneering: "No one has ever dared to talk to me like that!"

This private room had a dedicated bathroom, and naturally, there was a plunger in the bathroom. I didn't hear Zhang Longtao’s words clearly; my gaze was mainly attracted by the plunger in his hand. There was actually yellowish excrement on it, and what was worse was that some of it had splashed onto my face, and even a little bit had gotten into my mouth. At that moment, I lost my reason; there was only anger—the anger of having one’s dignity trampled upon. I let out a roar and rushed toward Zhang Longtao like a madman. However, what I didn't expect was that Zhang Longtao seemed to have practiced; he nimbly dodged to the side, and I was kicked to the ground by him.

Zhang Longtao pressed the plunger directly onto my face. The stench from the plunger made my stomach churn, and I vomited, feeling extremely uncomfortable.

I felt disgusted and hateful. I hated myself for being incompetent and not strong enough to protect the woman I loved. I hated even more why the world treated me like this. I don't know if it was because I felt too stifled or because my body was uncomfortable from vomiting, but tears streamed down my face.

Zhang Longtao didn't intend to let me go. He stepped on my face and threw the plunger in front of me. The extremely disgusting stench once again affected my nerves, and I retched again, but nothing came out; even the stomach acid was gone. I tried to turn my face away, but Zhang Longtao didn't want to let me off so easily. He picked up the plunger and pressed it against my face again and again.

I was in pain, uncomfortable, and disgusted. I felt like I was about to collapse, and my consciousness was slowly blurring. I lifted my head weakly, tears still in my eyes. I wanted to beg for mercy because my spirit was about to break, but seeing Zhang Longtao’s arrogant demeanor, I couldn't say a single word for a moment.

Zhang Longtao stepped on my face and looked at me with disdain: "In my eyes, you’re just a piece of shit. I don't understand how a great beauty like Su Xueyan could fall for trash like you, and even my sister has a good impression of you. I don't understand even more: how could trash like you dare to curse me? Tell me to get lost? Who gave you the courage? With trash like you, you still want to run in the streets? Go home and suck your mother’s milk!"

"Oh, right, I forgot, you’re a bastard without a mother!"

Then Zhang Longtao kicked my face again. I closed my eyes in despair. I wished I could just pass out right then and not accept this reality, but Zhang Longtao’s voice still reached my ears: "You think you’re tough because you beat Wang Li and tripped him up? You think you have courage? Let me tell you, in my eyes, Wang Li is the same as you—trash. But you’re an even bigger moron!"

In front of Zhang Longtao, I had lost all face and dignity. I had originally thought that by tripping up Wang Li, I could slowly stabilize the situation and cooperate with Yellow Tiger’s actions to take down Zhang Longtao. But now it seemed I was truly too naive. How could I possibly handle a figure like Zhang Longtao? If it were that simple, Yellow Tiger wouldn't have let Zhang Longtao be for so many years with his strength.

Seeing my pitiful and desperate expression, Zhang Longtao curled his lips in contempt. He wiped his shoe soles on me and then said to the two subordinates beside him: "He still isn't convinced. You guys beat him until he’s convinced, and then let him come out to see me!"

After saying that, the two men dragged me to the bathroom. They treated me like a punching bag, beating me. At that moment, I really felt like I was going to die—the feeling was more intense than any time before. I curled up in the corner, holding my head weakly. After a while, the two men dragged me out of the bathroom and in front of Zhang Longtao like a dead dog.

Seeing me like a dead dog, Zhang Longtao sat on the sofa, kicked me, and said: "Don't play dead. Which of the two paths I gave you do you choose?"

I lifted my head weakly, my body extremely frail. To be honest, I didn't want to agree to either of these conditions, but I knew if I didn't answer him now, he would definitely beat me again.

I couldn't endure my body’s reaction, coughed twice, spat out a mouthful of blood, and then said with difficulty: "I choose the first one!"

Hearing my words, Zhang Longtao looked slightly disappointed. He sneered and said: "I really don't know what you’re thinking, choosing to give up school and my sister rather than sending that little bitch to me to play with. I really don't know whether to call you a moron or what. You’re tough! But remember what you said. If I find out you still dare to approach my sister, hmph, don't blame me for being ruthless! Get lost!"

I dragged my bruised body and limped out. People in the bar frowned in disgust when they saw me and covered their noses because the smell on me was truly too foul. No one pitied me, especially those who knew me; they were even more mocking.

I kept my head down, not daring to look at the gazes of the people around me. I felt like the time it took to get out of the bar was like a century.

I see it clearly now: no matter how much you endure, they won't let you go. This world is just like this—the weak are the prey of the strong. If you don't want to be stepped on, you have to be ruthless, and you have to climb up step by step.

I arrived at the entrance of the bar, took out my phone, and saw many missed calls and messages from Su Xueyan. I called back, pretending to be fine, my tone calm and normal: "Xueyan, what’s wrong? Why so many calls!"

"Yang Yun, where are you? Are you okay? I’ll come find you!" Su Xueyan’s anxious and concerned voice came through.

I don't know why, but I always felt that Su Xueyan knew about what happened today.