Chapter 442: Playing Favorites
The crowd watched as Jiang Xinghai and his group of four walked down the stairs, and for a moment, a dead silence fell over them.
Now that it had truly come to a confrontation, everyone’s resolve began to waver.
Dealing with Zhang Rui alone would take a great deal of effort.
They could only hope that Patriarch Qu’s cousin would show up soon.
Meanwhile, Manager Wang looked at the awkward situation before him and then glanced at the time.
His boss should be appearing any minute now.
"Since you’re here, why are you just standing there dazed?"
Seeing the crowd silent yet blocking the way, Zhang Rui frowned. "Earlier, the children from your families—oh, right, my so-called classmates—were disrespectful to my friends, so I threw them downstairs. The young don’t know their manners, so the old should apologize. That’s how you show you understand the bigger picture."
"Apologize?"
"Young lady of the Zhang Family, you can’t be naive enough to think we came here to apologize to you, can you?"
"Such blatant lies! It’s preposterous!"
The group had been hesitating, but Zhang Rui’s words infuriated them.
"So you’re saying you *didn’t* come here to apologize?"
Zhang Rui took a step forward, extending her left hand to point at Shen Lingyin and Mu Jianni. "First, your children were verbally inappropriate with these two ladies."
"Just some joking around between peers, and you call that inappropriate?" Patriarch Qu retorted, mustering his courage.
’His cousin was about to arrive in Central State anyway, so what did he have to fear?’
"After that, your children tried to pick a fight with my master."
Zhang Rui bowed slightly to Jiang Xinghai. "For these two offenses, not killing them was already giving you more than enough face. Aren’t you here to apologize?"
"Master?"
The crowd broke into a cold sweat, their gazes darting back and forth between Zhang Rui and Jiang Xinghai.
’Just who is this man Zhang Rui calls master?’
"Forget it. Let’s go home and sleep," Jiang Xinghai said, no longer wanting to bother with the matter.
’Wouldn’t it be better to go home and sleep with beautiful women in his arms than to be here?’
Besides, given his current status, if he really made a big deal out of this, it would be like a giant squashing an ant.
"Are you still not going to move?" Shen Lingyin asked, taking Jiang Xinghai’s arm.
Mu Jianni took his other arm. "You’d best be sensible now. Step aside before you do something you can’t take back."
The crowd was stunned by the powerful aura of Jiang Xinghai and his group.
For a moment, no one could utter a rebuttal.
"Since my master doesn’t wish to pursue this any further, step aside."
Zhang Rui, who was already at the front clearing the way, gestured toward the entrance hall.
"You... you’re going too far!"
At this, Patriarch Qu had no choice but to step forward.
He had previously announced that his cousin was about to arrive, making him the most confident one there. The other patriarchs were all looking at him; he couldn’t just cower like a turtle in its shell.
"That’s right. These people have indeed gone too far."
Just then, a deep voice sounded, and a dark-faced, middle-aged man walked in from outside.
"Boss!"
When Manager Wang saw his boss appear, the heart that was stuck in his throat finally dropped back into place.
This dark-faced, middle-aged man was the owner of this hot pot restaurant, Zheng Dong.
"Boss Zheng is here!"
"With Boss Zheng here to see justice done, our families finally have a backbone."
Several of the patriarchs hurried forward to flatter him.
"Everyone, leave this to me."
Zheng Dong stood at the entrance of the hall, slowly pulling out a cigar.
Manager Wang immediately took out a windproof lighter and lit it for Zheng Dong. "It’s good that you’re here, Boss."
Zheng Dong took a long drag from his cigar before finally looking at Zhang Rui, who was closest to him. "You, Zhang Shangfeng’s daughter. You can go."
"What’s this? Playing favorites?" Zhang Rui knew a bit about Zheng Dong’s background; he was apparently an accountant for some large corporation.
"Miss Zhang, I’m only letting you leave out of respect for your father."
Zheng Dong’s gaze turned cold. "Of course, if you wish to stay and keep them company, then you can pretend I never said a thing."
"Of course I’m not leaving," Zhang Rui said decisively.
"Even if we wanted to leave, could you stop us?" Shen Lingyin suddenly retorted.
"Oh? You want to leave, and I can’t stop you?" Zheng Dong finally lifted his head to look at Shen Lingyin.
’She’s quite a beauty, but I don’t recognize her!’
’And that man... he has a dignified appearance and a powerful aura, but I don’t recognize him either!’
As for the last woman...
"Miss... Miss Mu!"
When Zheng Dong’s gaze fell on Mu Jianni, his eyes narrowed slightly.
Miss Mu!
Hearing Zheng Dong’s cry and seeing his shocked expression, the faces of the others changed.
In Central State, the Mu Family’s power was on par with the Zhang Family’s. Both were second-rate families.
In other words, their combined strength could barely stand up to one second-rate family.
But facing two of them was stretching things too far!
Now, they all turned in unison to look at Patriarch Qu.
They had only one hope left: that Patriarch Qu’s cousin would appear immediately.
"Is Boss Zheng certain he wants to stop us?" Mu Jianni asked, her expression unsmiling.
"Miss Mu, I believe my, Zheng Dong’s, status is no weaker than your Mu Family’s, is it not?"
Zheng Dong was initially a bit wary, but he was confident that by joining forces with the smaller families behind him, he could win this round with ease.