Gu Chengyu lowered his head, cupping Su Qianqian’s tear-streaked face in his hands. His calloused thumb brushed gently across her damp cheeks, wiping away the tears.
His voice was softer now, but still laced with barely restrained fury:
“Who told you to run off like that? Do you dare do it again?”
“Be good. Stand up straight first.”
Carefully, he steadied the sobbing girl, letting her lean against him until she found her footing.
Then, his sharp phoenix eyes locked onto Li Jinfu’s face, and he strode toward him, step by deliberate step.
Gu Chengyu’s voice wasn’t loud, but it carried a suffocating weight. “You. Were you trying to lay a hand on her?”
Li Jinfu’s soul nearly fled his body in terror. His legs gave out, and he collapsed to his knees with a loud thud, stammering incoherently:
“N-no! I wouldn’t dare!”
“Young Master Gu, it’s a misunderstanding, just a misunderstanding!”
“I only wanted to invite Miss Su for a drink, discuss the role—”
“Misunderstanding?”
Gu Chengyu let out a derisive laugh, as if he’d heard the most absurd joke in the world.
He stopped in front of Li Jinfu, looking down at him like he was nothing more than filthy garbage.
“Did you touch her?”
“No! Absolutely not! I didn’t even get close—Young Master Gu, please believe me!” Li Jinfu wailed, kowtowing frantically, tears and snot streaming down his face.
Gu Chengyu’s jaw, tight with tension, loosened slightly—but the murderous glint in his eyes remained.
He bent down, seizing Li Jinfu’s collar, and hauled the overweight man off the ground like a ragdoll, his movements brutal and merciless.
“Do you know whose woman she is?”
His voice was like shards of ice, smashing into Li Jinfu’s face—and piercing the hearts of everyone else in the private room.
“Hmm? The one I hold in the palm of my hand, the one I have to coax and beg just to kiss—you dare even think about her?”
His grip on Li Jinfu’s collar tightened violently, cutting off the man’s air until his eyes rolled back.
“You wanted to get her drunk? Wanted to grope her?”
Gu Chengyu’s voice suddenly sharpened, rising in volume. “What the hell are you? You think you’re worthy?”
Before the words had even fully left his mouth, Gu Chengyu’s fist—fueled by rage and brutality—slammed into Li Jinfu’s greasy face with a force that cracked through the air.
“BAM!”
Li Jinfu didn’t even have time to groan. His bulky body flew backward like a sack of potatoes, crashing onto the floor beside the man who’d been kicked aside earlier.
His nose bridge shattered instantly, blood and teeth spraying out as he lost consciousness on the spot.
The entire room fell into deathly silence.
Su Qianqian forgot to even cry. Her big, doe-like eyes blinked rapidly, her lips parting slightly as she stared in shock at the crumpled heap on the floor.
That… that was just one punch?
A man that huge—knocked out cold?
Was his nose… broken?
Her gaze slowly shifted from the gruesome scene to the man standing tall above it.
Gu Chengyu shook out his hand, flecks of blood scattering from his knuckles. His brows were furrowed, his handsome face twisted in undisguised disgust.
He didn’t spare a single glance at the unconscious Li Jinfu or the petrified men cowering in the corner. His attention was solely on the girl beside him.
“Disgusting,” he muttered, irritation dripping from his voice.
In the next moment, his long arm wrapped around Su Qianqian’s slender shoulders, pulling her close in a half-embrace, half-protective hold as he guided her away.
But he didn’t leave immediately. Instead, he headed straight for the private bathroom attached to the room.
Su Qianqian, still dazed, trailed after him like a little shadow, tucked securely against his side.
Gu Chengyu twisted the faucet, water rushing out in a loud stream. He pumped a generous amount of soap into his palm and scrubbed his hands furiously—knuckles, back, fingers—over and over, as if trying to erase every trace of the filth he’d touched.
Su Qianqian lingered by the bathroom door, watching his sharp, tense profile. The lingering fear and nausea in her heart slowly faded.
Hmm…
A few more glances at him—just to cleanse her mind.
Her almond-shaped eyes stayed fixed on Gu Chengyu, unblinking.
Once he was done, he grabbed a handful of paper towels, wiped his hands roughly, and then immediately clasped Su Qianqian’s slightly chilled fingers in his own. Without another word, he strode out of the place that had ignited his fury, pulling her along with him.
How many years had it been? How long since he’d felt this kind of all-consuming rage?
Since he was thirteen, when he first began making a name for himself, everything had been effortless—cool, detached, indifferent.
And before that? No one had ever dared to provoke him like this.
A bunch of worthless, vile scum.
They’d dared to set their sights on his girl.
He’d make sure they regretted it.
