Ye Fei did not think of himself as a kind man. On the contrary, he was a war hero who had killed many people in the line of duty.In his eyes, killing people was not much more out of the ordinary than getting a drink of water, not to mention breaking a few limbs here and there.
"Aaaargh!! My dad will kill you, you b.a.s.t.a.r.d!" Yamamoto Takeshi howled wildly.
"What? You"re gonna run to your daddy and cry "cause I beat you? What are you, a three-year-old baby?"
Ye Fei had no intention of letting Yamamoto Takeshi get away with it so easily. He clearly knew how vicious and malicious he was. Even if he had shown him mercy, Yamamoto Takeshi would not think twice about seeking revenge.
But for the moment, Ye Fei focused on getting Zhong Mei out of the karate hall.
Outside, he led her to the pavilion beside the lake.
"Ye Fei, I"m afraid the staff will give you trouble over this!"
Zhong Mei was worried. Yamamoto Takeshi was a foreign exchange student; his father was a famous martial artist; his mother was a wealthy entrepreneur, said to be a member of the Shanghai University board of trustees.
Ye Fei nodded. He knew he was in trouble - not really because of Yamamoto Takeshi, but for attacking the professor and the students from the art department.
He handed Zhong Mei the torn-up pieces of her painting. "It"s very good. It"s too bad your professor tore it up."
Amazed, Zhong Mei looked at the sc.r.a.ps in her hand and gasped, "Where did you get this? Did you go to my art cla.s.sroom?"
"Yes. Your professor and your cla.s.smates are very bad people. I taught them a lesson," Ye Fei said in a low voice.
"You... You hit the professor?"
Zhong Mei couldn"t help but shudder a little. She never thought Ye Fei would go to such incredible lengths for her sake.
Crystal tears began streaming down her cheeks. She immediately buried her face in his chest, sobbing.
"Don"t cry, don"t cry! You"re not beautiful when you cry!" Ye Fei gently patted her on the back, whispering softly.
"Not beautiful... I"m not beautiful anyway, I am ugly."
"Says who? In my eyes, you are a thousand times more beautiful than Lu Xueman," Ye Fei smiled at her.
"You"re full of c.r.a.p..." Zhong Mei"s slender and delicate fingers stroked her ugly black birthmark, "I know I"m ugly."
"Actually, I was just looking for you to tell you that I have a plan to eliminate your birthmark. I made some money recently and I want to take you to see a plastic surgeon. I"m sure the hospital has some laser or other that"ll clear your face right up."
"You want to buy a plastic surgery for me...?" Zhong Mei was deeply moved, but kept looking at Ye Fei in disbelief. "We barely know each other... Why would you pay so much for me?"
"A blemish is the most regrettable thing in the world," he said.
"I… I see." A trace of loneliness appeared in Zhong Mei"s eyes. "Thank you for your kindness, but my birthmark... It cannot be cured."
"Cannot be cured?" Ye Fei frowned. "Have you ever tried?"
"I..."
Zhong Mei choked back tears as sad recollections flashed in her mind.
In fact, she was born to a rich family and her parents were successful businesspeople who enjoyed a harmonious marriage.
However, the birth of Zhong Mei shattered this happy life.
When she was born with that ugly birthmark on her face, the doctor"s diagnosis was that the birthmark could endanger her life and she would probably not live to be 25 years old.
Her father refused to give up on her and took the newborn to hospitals all over China and even flew her to the United States, Germany, Britain and so on. He met with dozens of renowned surgeons and medical professors and begged them to help his daughter, but to no avail.
Tragedy struck when Zhong Mei was four years old: her parents were on their way to the United States to meet a doctor when their plane crashed into the Pacific Ocean. From that day on, she was an orphan.
After her parents died, Zhong Mei"s uncle adopted her, but he regarded her as a curse on his family and often beat her. When she grew up, she found out that her parents had left her a large inheritance, but her uncle had embezzled it all.
She confronted her uncle about this, but of course, this achieved nothing.
Later, under pressure from the family elders, her uncle reluctantly agreed to give some money to support Zhong Mei"s college education.
However, she couldn"t tell Ye Fei any of this.
"Well... Let"s go to the hospital and get it looked at," Zhong Mei whispered sadly. Experts and scholars all over the world had already seen her birthmark and none of them thought it could be removed.
And yet, she was moved by the sincerity in Ye Fei"s eyes. In fact, she just wanted to stay with him for a while longer.
......
j.a.pan, Tokyo, Extreme Karate Hall.
Ten people with black belts on their waists were sitting on the floor in the center of the expansive training hall, keenly watching the fighting ring, where four young karate pupils surrounded a powerfully-built middle-aged man.
This middle-aged man was shorter than average but had very sharp eyes. He could make almost any man tremble with his piercing gaze alone.
If Ye Fei were present, he would have identified this middle-aged man as a true master fighter.
Despite being surrounded, he did not panic, and constantly commented on the weaknesses of his four opponents as they tried in vain to outmaneuver him.
A young man in a kimono burst through the doors of the karate hall, crying out, "Master! Master! Brother Yamamoto Takeshi has been defeated by someone."
"What?!" the middle-aged man turned around sharply.
Suddenly, he was a blur of movement. All four karate disciples found themselves sprawled on the ground around him in less than three seconds.
The master strode forward. "Speak!"
"Master... Brother Yamamoto Takeshi has been defeated in Shangai by a man called Ye Fei."