Before anyone could react,
the man in black decisively struck, under the horrified gazes of Bi Jin, Xue Chen, and the two minor celebrities. The thugs were knocked to the ground before they could even lay a hand on Yu Xin.
Xue Chen was just about to curse, "Who the hell are you?"
Before the words could fully leave his mouth, a large hand clamped onto the back of his neck and slammed his face down onto the round table.
Thud!
A dull sound rang out.
Xue Chen's face made intimate contact with the tabletop, the pain contorting his features.
Yu Xin held up her phone, the screen squarely facing Xue Chen's somewhat handsome yet now twisted and fearful face, which was being pressed firmly against the table.
"Mr. Xue, look here, look at the camera before you speak."
"Come on, say it again for the recording. I want a good record so our company staff can study it later, learn how Mr. Xue can decide a company's fate with a single sentence. Otherwise, they might not even know why the company dissolved, which would be a real injustice."
"You dare record this? Put that phone down!" Xue Chen struggled and roared.
Yu Xin shook her head. "I can't do that. This is evidence. I know you have some influence in Lucheng. To protect myself from your retaliation, I need to keep something for leverage."
After saying this, she adjusted the angle slightly, capturing Xue Chen's disheveled expression and the groaning thugs on the floor beside him.
"See, you made the first move. We were merely acting in self-defense."
"You..." Xue Chen was fuming with rage.
But he was completely immobilized. He had no idea how this stranger trained to be so strong.
Bi Jin could no longer stay seated. He hadn't expected things to escalate to this point, nor did he anticipate that Yu Xin, a young woman, would be so ruthless. They were dealing with Xue Chen, after all.
The infamous playboy of Lucheng.
Regardless, he had set up today's meeting. If anything serious happened to Xue Chen, he would definitely be implicated.
"President Yu, President Yu, this won't do. Let's talk this out. Please put your phone away."
"We're all friends here. It's just a misunderstanding. Why let it come to this?"
"A misunderstanding?"
Yu Xin put her phone away and looked at Bi Jin. "Director Bi, when Mr. Xue was shouting about making my company disappear earlier, why didn't you say it was a misunderstanding? When these thugs rushed in to attack me, why didn't you say we were all friends?"
She turned her gaze back to Xue Chen. "And Mr. Xue, where's that domineering aura you had when you threatened to wipe out my company? Gone now?"
"Don't think you can do whatever you want just because you're in Lucheng. People from Wanlong Hui aren't afraid of bullies like you who think they control everything!"
"Today, out of respect for Director Bi, I'll let this slide. But if there's a next time, it won't be so simple."
"Brother Yang, let him go."
Chu Yang nodded and released his grip. "Behave. It's all on record."
Xue Chen stood up, clutching his reddened cheek, his eyes filled with fury. Yet, when he looked at Chu Yang, there was clear apprehension mixed in—he was angry but didn't dare speak out.
He truly hadn't expected the bodyguard Yu Xin brought to be this formidable.
But this wasn't over!
Xue Chen was just about to hurl some threats at Yu Xin to salvage a shred of his dignity.
At that moment, the private room door was pushed open from the outside.
Three young men walked in, each carrying an indescribable air of aristocratic aloofness.
After entering, they casually surveyed the messy room, their eyes finally settling on Yu Xin and the cold, imposing Chu Yang standing behind her.
The leader, a young man who appeared to be in his late twenties, spoke up with a smile.
"Quite lively in here. Xue Chen, what act are you putting on this time? Causing such a commotion."
Seeing the newcomers, Xue Chen seemed to find his backbone. Covering his face, he hurried over to the leader's side and pointed at Yu Xin and Chu Yang.
"Brother Chen, you're finally here! You have to back me up. They're the ones who hit me!"
The young man addressed as Brother Chen—Zhou Muchen—examined the lingering red mark on Xue Chen's face and teased, "Young Master Xue, someone managed to grind your face into a table right here in Lucheng? That's a new one."
The other two couldn't help but chuckle.
"Quite rare indeed. Young Master Xue getting bullied by a woman today."
"Do you need us to call an ambulance for you?"
"Hahaha..."
Xue Chen's face flushed with alternating shades of green and white at their remarks. Although he wished he could grind these three into the dirt, he could only entertain the thought in his mind.
While Xue Chen indeed had some clout in Lucheng and was considered a figure, the identities of these three men before him were all superior to his.
Take Zhou Muchen, for example. He ranked easily within the top three in the province's elite circles.
The top spot belonged to The Li Family's Daughter, but she wasn't in the provincial capital; she was studying elsewhere, kept a low profile, hardly interacted with their crowd, and didn't run in the same circles.
Zhou Muchen and a few fellow second-generation friends had formed an exclusive high-end circle. Its members were primarily young masters who weren't pursuing careers within the system, focusing instead on business. Their ventures were mostly concentrated in places like Mocheng, with holding companies located outside the province.
In a sense, it was also a way to avoid scrutiny.
In short, Zhou Muchen had established this small circle to consolidate resources and make bigger profits.
Though the membership was limited, it consisted almost entirely of top-tier young masters from various regions.
For instance, the other two: one was Gu Yebai, a top-five young master from the neighboring province.
The other was Lu Chen, also ranking within the top five in their own province.
As for Xue Chen, while he barely qualified to join, he was at best a peripheral underling within the circle.
Of course, this was relative to figures like Zhou Muchen.
Out in the world, especially in Lucheng, few dared not give Xue Chen face.
To draw a parallel, Xue Chen's status was roughly equivalent to that of Bright Pearl City's prominent young master, Lin Muyang—they were on similar footing.
Even so, within this circle, he remained merely a fringe member.
This gives an idea of how elevated the status of Zhou Muchen and his companions was.
"Brother Zhou, Brother Gu, Brother Lu, please stop mocking me! It was this woman and the guy she brought who started it. They completely disregarded us!"
Upon hearing this, Zhou Muchen didn't confront Yu Xin and her companion as Xue Chen had expected. Instead, his tone was surprisingly mild.
"Let this matter drop. Don't pursue it further."
"But Brother Chen, they hit me..."
"I said let it go. Would you have lost face if you hadn't tried to force Miss Yu to drink?!"
Zhou Muchen ignored him further and turned to Yu Xin.
"Miss Yu, allow me to introduce myself. I'm Zhou Muchen. The earlier unpleasantness was due to my brother's lack of judgment. Let's consider today's incident a misunderstanding and put it behind us, shall we?"
