Chapter 47: Take Your Dirty Hands Off, You’re Not Worthy
Watching Zhao Yuanyuan’s figure disappear at the top of the stairs, Chen Mo and Su Yuqing finally turned to leave.
But just as they reached the school gate, Su Yuqing’s body stiffened. She took a sharp step sideways, hiding behind Chen Mo.
It turned out Su Yuqing’s father was standing at the school gate.
Su Yuqing hadn’t been home for two days, so her mother must have contacted her father before coming this morning.
Chen Mo smiled at her and said, "I’m here for you. Just stick with me. If you want to talk to him, you can. If you don’t, I’ll do the talking. You don’t have to worry about a thing."
Su Yuqing’s pale cheeks were like crinkled rice paper in the spring breeze, her lowered lashes casting shadows that hid the wavering light in her eyes. Her expression flickered as she glanced at Chen Mo. After taking two deep breaths, she slowly relaxed and began to follow him out of the school.
She still hadn’t processed why Chen Mo would know her father.
The two of them deliberately ignored Su Yuqing’s father and walked out of the school gates.
They hadn’t gotten far before someone caught up to them.
"Yuqing, wait."
Only then did the two of them turn around, pretending they had just noticed him.
"Yuqing, your mother said you haven’t been home in two or three days. What’s going on?" As he spoke, Su Yuqing’s father, Su Chengfeng, shot a subtle glance at Chen Mo, who stood to the side.
Su Yuqing pressed her lips together, unable to say a word.
Not until Chen Mo took her hand right in front of her father.
The sight left Su Chengfeng stunned.
Su Yuqing also tensed up, looking at Chen Mo with surprise.
She didn’t mind being close to Chen Mo, but in front of her own father, she was terrified. She was afraid of what her father might say or do to Chen Mo because of this.
"What’s going on? You should know perfectly well what’s going on." If Chen Mo were just an ordinary high school student, he would never have dared to speak to a girl’s father like this.
But he wasn’t. His considerable life experience had taught him how to handle people like this and what to say.
"On Friday night, in that torrential downpour, she had no home to go to. You tell me what’s going on!"
"Who are you?" Caught off guard by Chen Mo’s words, Su Chengfeng didn’t know how to respond and could only change the subject, frowning at him.
"I’m her classmate," Chen Mo replied calmly.
"Let go of her hand, and stay away from our Yuqing," Su Chengfeng said angrily, glaring at Chen Mo.
"Your family? On a day with a torrential downpour, you’d rather watch your daughter get soaked than let her stay home for one night. What kind of home do you call that for her?" Chen Mo said, looking at Su Chengfeng coldly.
He had no patience for this kind of person.
"You bastard! Who the hell do you think you are? It’s not your place to lecture me. This is our family’s business, and you have no right to interfere. Let go of her right this instant, or I’ll be contacting your teachers and your parents!"
"Go ahead. I can call my parents for you right now. My way with words is nothing compared to theirs. If you want to get an earful from them, I don’t mind at all." Chen Mo took out his phone with an attitude that said he had nothing to lose.
"You!"
Su Chengfeng had never met such a shameless punk. He was completely stunned by Chen Mo’s retort.
’So I’ve run into a family of thugs. The son is a hooligan, and I bet his parents are even worse.’
Seeing that the usual threat of calling parents wasn’t working, Su Chengfeng said angrily, "I’m telling you, this is indecent assault. If you don’t let go, I’m calling the police."
Watching Su Chengfeng take out his phone to threaten him, Chen Mo just smiled nonchalantly. "Go on, call them. Filing a false police report can get you detained. The state authorities aren’t your personal mercenaries. I’d advise you to calm down, sir."
"I’m done talking to you." Unable to win the argument, Su Chengfeng reached directly for Su Yuqing.
But before he could, the young man in front of him grabbed his wrist.
The young man’s grip was far stronger than he had imagined.
"I’m going to tell you three things, and you’d better listen up!
First, Yuqing’s custody was awarded to her mother. You have no right to forcibly control or touch her, so please keep your filthy hands to yourself.
Second, when she needed protection and care the most, you stood by and watched her get forced out of the house and into a storm. What right or face do you have to show up here and see her today? How dare you?
Third, Yuqing is an adult now. She’s capable of supporting herself. She can do without, and has no need for, your hypocritical concern. If there’s nothing else, we have to go get lunch. Goodbye.
If you continue to harass us, I guarantee that by this afternoon, everyone at your company will know how you ruthlessly and cruelly forced your own daughter out of the house on that stormy Friday night, leaving her to suffer in the downpour without a second thought. I’m sure you wouldn’t want your superiors hearing any nasty rumors about you, would you?"
"Hmph!" After stating his three points, Chen Mo angrily flung Su Chengfeng’s hand away. Then he turned to Su Yuqing, his expression softening into a gentle smile as he said, "Let’s go."
At this moment, Su Yuqing herself was in a daze.
The boy she liked and her own father had suddenly become so hostile toward each other that she had no idea what to do. She just wanted to placate her father quickly to avoid getting Chen Mo into trouble.
So, her original plan was to go with her father first.
But she never expected that Chen Mo, just a high school student, could shut down her father—a man who usually seemed so imposing and held a supervisory position at his company—with just a few words, leaving him completely speechless.
Chen Mo had seen right through people like Su Chengfeng long ago.
Anyone who could treat their own daughter so cruelly must only care about themselves. To avoid angering his wife, what was one night of his daughter getting soaked in a storm?
It wasn’t like he was the one getting wet.
Likewise, the more selfish and self-serving a person is, the more they cherish their own reputation.
When Chen Mo threatened to expose his disgraceful behavior at his company, he had accurately pinpointed his Achilles’ heel.
He was genuinely afraid of that.
Especially if it was a young man spreading the story; that would make it even more believable.
Even if he had plenty of excuses—like claiming the boy was spreading rumors because he’d been blocked from pursuing his daughter—once the gossip spread, people would just believe what they wanted to. The actual truth would be irrelevant.
It wouldn’t matter much if it were just ordinary people, but what if the company’s senior management heard it? If they felt it reflected badly on him and it affected his future promotions, that would be a huge problem.
So, he didn’t dare to take the risk.
He had been utterly defeated by Chen Mo’s words.
After standing there stunned for several seconds, it finally dawned on him that he, a grown man, had been argued into silence by a mere high school kid.
In an instant, a furious rage born of shame rushed to his head.