"Lin Tian, don’t go too far!" Bai Zhengchu suppressed his anger, speaking in a low tone, his eyes fixed sternly on Lin Tian as if wishing to kill him with his gaze.
This kind of coercion to force someone to sign a statement was not new to Bai Zhengchu—he had often been the dominant party forcing others in the past. Yet today, finding himself on the receiving end, Bai Zhengchu was even more furious—when had he ever been humiliated ?
Even when dealing with the Xiao Family, Bai Zhengchu had a grip on the lifeline of the Xiao Family Jewelry Store, and it was the Xiao Family who had to lower their posture. But now, having to bow before a woman of the Xiao Family, Bai Zhengchu felt like he had nowhere to put his old face.
"Bai Zhengchu, do you think you’re the only one who can glare? I can too! You know best what your Bai Family has done. I won’t waste words with you—if you don’t sign the document, leave your two sons behind, but I won’t guarantee their condition when they leave the Xiao house the next day. Don’t doubt the truth of my words or you’ll regret it," Lin Tian said, confronting Bai Zhengchu with a tough attitude, then turned to Xiao Manxue coldly and said, "Miss, what are you dawdling for? Hurry up and prepare the paper and ink!"
He was not worried about the Bai Family calling the police; the last thing they wanted was for the situation to escalate, their misdeeds exposed leading to even worse consequences. Lin Tian didn’t intend to expose the Bai Family; doing so would bring him no substantial benefit. The current goal was to use the fake jadeite raw stone incident to make the Bai Family cough up the money they had siphoned from the Xiao Group over the years, with interest.
The atmosphere suddenly grew tense. Miss gave Lin Tian a glare—daring to yell at her, treating her like a secretary to give orders. Who was the real master here? Miss itched to walk over to Lin and give him a few slaps.
Soon, she brought over the paper, water-based pen, and the red ink for the seal, and placed them on the table. Bai Zhengchu looked at Lin Tian, wishing to tear him apart, but he could do nothing.
"Thirty years east of the river, thirty years west of the river, Lin Tian, our Bai Family won’t forget today’s events!" Bai Zhengchu finally deflated, cornered on someone else’s turf and gripped by a dilemma, he felt powerless to retaliate.
Bai Zhengchu walked back expressionlessly, picked up the pen as Lin Tian instructed, wrote the agreement, then personally signed his name, and with his finger dabbed in the red ink, stamped his fingerprint below the signature.
"Are you satisfied now?" Bai Zhengchu threw the agreement to Lin Tian, grinding his teeth as he spoke.
Lin Tian reached out and grabbed the agreement, looked over it several times, the terms were fine, essentially stipulating a deadline for compensation, beyond which the Xiao Family had the right to seize equivalent premises from the Bai Family for debt repayment.
"The terms are good, Boss Bai, and your two sons, also sign and imprint your fingerprints." Lin Tian shook the written terms before Bai Yuanhao, speaking indifferently.
He was truly uneasy—if the terms were signed in Bai Zhengchu’s name and he suddenly passed away, what if the Bai Family refused to acknowledge them? Whims set by fate and fortune of men, who knew if Bai Zhengchu might suddenly perish.
"Lin Tian, you are pushing us too far. I’m going to fight you." Bai Yuze roared furiously, charging at Lin Tian, and his brother, not wishing to fall behind, assaulted from either side with his brother.
This humiliation was unbearable. Even when Bai Yuze failed the stone-cutting in public the last time, he didn’t feel as suffocated. He had always pursued the Miss of the Xiao Family from a superior stance, but now his face had been severely ground into the dirt, unleashing unbearable frustration.
Regarding the assault by the two brothers, Lin Tian felt secretly pleased inside—he feared they wouldn’t strike but now, "Come on, strike even harder." He waited for them to reach him, the moment their fists nearly hit, he suddenly punched out with both fists, a simple move of "Double Dragon Out to Sea," hitting Bai Yuze and his brother at a faster pace.
Then, the two of them were sent flying back even faster, "thud thud" they fiercely crashed onto the ground, letting out painful groans, unable to get up for a long while.
"They started it first, I was only defending myself," Lin Tian said innocently as he brushed off his hands, infuriating the people from the Bai Family till steam was nearly coming out of their heads.
Defending yourself doesn’t mean you have to hit them so hard, Bai Yuanhao felt extremely frustrated, suddenly unable to keep an eye on his own sons, letting them embarrass themselves . If you initiate the attack and win, people say you are capable, but if you end up being knocked down, nobody sympathizes with you, it’s your fault for not being capable and striking first.
Given how things had turned out, staying any longer would only bring more humiliation, so Bai Yuanhao and his sons had no choice but to sign and seal the agreement.
As the people from the Bai Family and two middle-aged men were preparing to leave, Lin Tian suddenly said, "Old Bai, let me warn you, don’t conspire with the Japanese against the Xiao Family again. Today’s Xiao Family is not what it used to be, it will not allow itself to be bullied. Otherwise, I will get very angry, and when I’m angry, even I’m scared of myself, not knowing what crazy things I might do. Do you all understand?"
Bai Zhengchu’s body stiffened, his face turning pale as if he had aged ten years in an instant, his steps faltering as he walked out of the Xiao Family’s house.
To deal with people , you have to be tougher than them, otherwise they’ll think they can walk all over you. Lin Tian shook his head and turned around, to see the three ladies of the Xiao Family staring at him blankly, their expressions a bit odd, with Xiao Manxuan, the little girl seeming to have tears shimmering in her eyes.
"Err, having three beautiful ladies look at me with such deep affection, I might get shy," Lin Tian said cheekily, yet spoke with a "bashful" tone of an honest man.
Mrs. Xiao was the first to snap back to reality, though feeling a bit awkward inside. She had been teased quite informally by Lin Tian, thankfully no outsiders were present, else she would have wanted to find a hole to crawl into.
"Thank you, Lin Tian. No one has ever helped the Xiao Family so selflessly before," Mrs. Xiao sincerely expressed her gratitude with a hint of emotion. She knew the Bai Family’s tactics all too well; offending them was inherently risky.
Mrs. Xiao suddenly felt a bit dazed, wishing that Lin Tian had been born earlier. Then, she was startled by her own thoughts, her heart uncontrollably pounding, her cheeks heating up.
"No need to thank me, as I am the Second Miss’s bodyguard after all. Protecting the Xiao Family is just like protecting the Second Miss," Lin Tian said with a smile, unaware of Mrs. Xiao’s discomfort.
"Lin Tian, you’ve been tired these past days, just rest well. I’ll handle the matters that follow," the Miss gently spoke, showing a rare tenderness.
Of course you handle it, moving your lips is fine by me, but I’m no good with the actual nuts and bolts, Lin Tian cheekily thought to himself, gesturing casually as he headed upstairs alone. Passing by Xiao Manxuan, the little girl’s dewy eyes still threw him a glance, stirring up a storm in Lin Tian’s heart, making him wonder if he should sneak into her room tonight and take care of this little lass.
Back in his room, lying on the bed, Lin Tian actually fell asleep, matching wits with old foxes like Bai Zhengchu was mentally draining. Moreover, the days spent in Zhonghai City had been restless with bizarre incidents occurring daily, keeping his mind in a constant state of excitement, so as soon as he lay down, he fell into a deep sleep until well into the night.
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