Savage Kiss - Chapter 3

Xu Qingyi was abruptly pulled to Shen Yanzhou’s side.

He addressed the table of men with a calm but firm tone, “If you’re here to eat, then eat properly. If you’re here to cause trouble, don’t blame me for not being polite.”

Zhang Jinsi clutched his wrist, sneering, “Who the hell do you think you are?”

Shen Yanzhou remained unfazed. “Her boyfriend.”

Xu Qingyi knew he was trying to help her, but that was five thousand yuan…

She gritted her teeth, about to say she didn’t know him, when Zhang Jinsi grabbed a wine bottle. “You little punk, trying to play the hero, huh? Let’s see how far you-”

Xu Qingyi didn’t hesitate. She immediately stepped in front of Shen Yanzhou. “What do you think you’re doing?”

Then, quickly shifting her tone, she forced a smile at Zhang. “Mr. Zhang, let’s not escalate things. He’s just worried about disrupting the business.”

As she spoke, she subtly nudged Shen Yanzhou, urging him to leave.

Shen Yanzhou turned his head slightly to look at her, his eyes filled with incomprehension.

She knew he must be judging her, but she had no choice. She even managed a smile toward Mr. Chen.

“Sorry for the disturbance, Mr. Chen. Let’s not ruin the mood. How about I sing a song for everyone?”

The next second, Shen Yanzhou yanked her away.

Xu Qingyi couldn’t resist his strength and was dragged all the way to the roadside before he finally let go.

She heard him say coldly, “What the hell were you thinking, catering to a bunch of thugs like that?”

In an instant, her emotions surged. She snatched off her glove and hurled it at his face.

Smack! It might as well have been a slap.

“What were you thinking? I was earning money just fine, why did you have to interfere?”

Shen Yanzhou froze, his tongue pressing against his canine. “So you’re ungrateful, is that it?”

“Yes! That’s exactly what I am.”

Shen Yanzhou stared at her, watching her eyes gradually redden. Just moments ago, she’d shielded him like a hedgehog bristling with defiance.

His voice softened slightly. “If I hadn’t stepped in just now-”

“That’s my business!” Xu Qingyi cut him off sharply.

That was five thousand yuan, maybe even more, not just spare change!

She knew how pathetic she must seem, and she couldn’t bear to hear him say it out loud. As long as he didn’t voice it, maybe it wouldn’t feel like she’d completely abandoned her dignity.

“Who do you think you are? Who asked you to meddle?” The harsher her words, the more her eyes betrayed her, reddening against her will.

She despised herself too, for stooping so low for money, for entertaining those disgusting men. But what else could she do?

Her dignity ranked below money. Letting him witness her humiliation was bad enough; she had no right to drag anyone else into standing up for her.

“Don’t ever say you know me again!” Xu Qingyi shoved past him violently, storming across the street, only to nearly get hit by a motorcycle.

Shen Yanzhou yanked her back at the last second.

Her skin was hypersensitive, and she thrashed free instantly, shoving him back a step before finally walking away without a backward glance.

“Are you that desperate for money?” Shen Yanzhou called after her, but of course, there was no reply.

…

Shen Yanzhou turned on his heel and strode back into the restaurant, heading straight for Zhang Jinsi’s table, his gaze icy.

Tap. Tap.

He rapped twice on the edge of the table. Zhang Jinsi turned, and upon seeing Shen Yanzhou’s face, his temper flared.

He’d been hosting tonight’s gathering, and now it was ruined. He stood up aggressively. “You looking to die?”

Shen Yanzhou smirked. “I could ask you the same.”

Zhang Jinsi was backed into a corner. If he didn’t swing the bottle in his hand now, he’d lose face in front of everyone.

Crash!

The bottle shattered, red wine streaming down Shen Yanzhou’s face and clothes.

Shen Yanzhou hadn’t even tried to dodge. He licked the wine dripping from his lips, then turned his gaze to the restaurant owner, who had rushed out in a panic.

“Pouring such fine wine for trash?”

Ma Xu rushed out upon hearing the commotion, horrified by the scene, yet the man still had the nerve to crack jokes?

“Hey!” Ma Xu was about to say something to intervene, but Shen Yanzhou had already grabbed a nearby chair and smashed it cleanly over Zhang Jinsi’s head without hesitation.

Ma Xu sighed. Well, better step back and wait to clean up the mess.

None of the men sitting at the table were spared, drunk and now beaten, they all lay sprawled on the ground.

Zhang Jinsi clutched his bleeding forehead and roared, “I’ll have you thrown in jail! Just you wait!”

“No need to wait, it’s happening now.” Shen Yanzhou had already picked up his phone and called the police himself.

After hanging up, he took the cloth Ma Xu handed him and wiped his hands, unsure whether it was red wine or blood.

Two minutes later, the police arrived.

Everyone was handcuffed and hauled away, but when they reached Shen Yanzhou, the officer asked, “Will you come along as well?”

Shen Yanzhou stepped into the police car without a word.

At the station.

As the officers began taking statements, Zhang Jinsi saw Shen Yanzhou walking out and immediately started shouting, “Why is he leaving? He started this! I swear tonight I’ll-!”

An officer shoved him back down. “Shut your mouth!”

Zhang Jinsi: “What the hell? No law and order anymore? You think I won’t-!”

The officer grabbed a statement sheet and stuffed it into his mouth. “Shut up! If you want to live, sit still and write your statement!”

“Law and order? Do you even know Haibin is a special jurisdiction? Do you know who makes the rules here?”

Poking the tiger and still yapping—wait till things really go south, then you’ll learn your lesson.

Just as he thought this, Shen Yanzhou actually turned back.

The officer tensed. If Shen Yanzhou spoke up now, things would get complicated.

But Shen Yanzhou walked straight up to Zhang Jinsi. “Pay her wages in full, every last cent. Otherwise, I’ll come for you again.”

…

Xu Qingyi blocked Shen Yanzhou as soon as she got back to her apartment, as if that would erase the night’s humiliation.

As for herself, she forgot quickly, she was too busy scrambling for ways to make money. After a shower, she buried herself in searching for quick-paying gigs.

Before she could find any listings, an email popped up.

It was from another client, Ke Yan.

Ke Yan had previously approached her for a new product design, but the offer was slightly lower than Zhang’s. Strapped for cash, Xu Qingyi had turned her down.

This time, Ke Yan was reaching out again, this time for a non-virgin product design.

Ke Yan wrote: You’re already a top designer in virgin products. Since you’ve hit a plateau, why not maintain your record and pivot to non-virgin designs? Starting at 50k for the draft, with incremental raises for every revision, even a single tweak counts. I trust you. What do you say?

The offer was undeniably generous.

But Xu Qingyi was at a loss.

First, she was a sheltered girl who’d never even seen a pig run, let alone eaten pork, how was she supposed to design this?

Second, her contract with Zhang Jinsi still had one design left. She couldn’t break it without facing unaffordable penalties.

So, she didn’t reply immediately, continuing her search for gigs instead.

Eventually, she fell asleep on the couch.

The next morning, Xu Qingyi woke up starving.

She hadn’t gone grocery shopping in ages, and her fridge was nearly empty.

After washing up and changing, she threw on a cap and headed out for breakfast, planning to pick up some discounted groceries too.

The moment she stepped into the supermarket, she heard that the seaside restaurant had closed for the day. Without their usual bulk order, the supermarket was selling vegetables dirt cheap to avoid spoilage.

“What? We had a reservation there tonight. Why’s it closed?”

The weighing lady: “I heard there was a gang fight that completely wrecked the shop, and it nearly turned deadly! Several people ganged up on one young man, blood everywhere, ugh!”

“But don’t worry, the restaurant owner is decent. If you had a reservation, they’ll either refund you triple or give you a free meal when you go!”

Xu Qingyi’s heart suddenly clenched.

A group beating up one person?

“Auntie, do you know who got beaten?”

“Probably that young guy from the auto repair shop? I didn’t see it myself… Come on over here to weigh your groceries!”