Chapter 193: That Golden Retriever, Dongdong (2)
As soon as Xu Tingsheng appeared, Little Xiang Ning shot into his embrace. So her reliance and trust towards him…already ran so deep.
"Who"re those people?" Xu Tingsheng pointed at those hooligans who had clearly just been taken care of and were scared silly as he asked Xiang Ning.
His tone was somewhat dissatisfied as he was afraid of Xiang Ning a.s.sociating with such people.
"Su Nannan"s boyfriend and his cousin. She said that her boyfriend stopped studying after graduating from senior high and is really strong outside. She made a call and so they came. Then, those people came as well," Xiang Ning said fearfully.
Xu Tingsheng glanced at Su Nannan beside her whose face was full of awkwardness and unease.
"You can never a.s.sociate with such people, understand?"
Knowing that this was unrelated to Xiang Ning, Xu Tingsheng relaxed slightly as he wiped off her tears, instructing her in a gentle tone.
"Sorry. I"ll be good, I won"t," Guilt filled Little Xiang Ning"s eyes as she nodded repeatedly.
"Don"t be afraid. You go over there."
As Xu Tingsheng rose back up, Little Xiang Ning tugged on his sleeve, "Don"t go, Uncle. They"ll beat you."
"It"s okay. Uncle"s not here to fight. I"m just going to reason with them."
Xu Tingsheng lightly brushed away Little Xiang Ning"s hand, pa.s.sing by those hooligans who were actually sort of around the same age as him as he arrived before that man and woman.
"Ha!" The bald, fat man laughed, "What, you"re the boyfriend of that other little girl? It"s your turn to stand up for them now? Just a single person-pretty brave, huh."
"I"m her teacher," Xu Tingsheng said calmly, "These are all just youngsters. Look, can"t we just forget about it? Let"s discuss the matter of compensation."
Xu Tingsheng felt that to some extent, it was their side that had been in the wrong in the first place. The matter of the dog aside, from what Xiang Ning had said, those hooligans had been the first to arrive on the scene. With their youthful ignorance and blind arrogance, they would definitely have acted domineeringly and caused trouble.
Also, Xu Tingsheng did not want to set a bad example for Xiang Ning, doing stuff like fighting in front of her. After all, she was still young. If she got into this kind of bad habit and felt that she had someone to back up her actions, this could easily cause youngsters to lose their way.
He had called Chen Jianxiang and Fang Yuqing for two reasons. The first was to leave behind evidence and the threat of public opinion, eliminating possible future threats. The second was just in case anything went wrong, like he had told Fang Yuqing.
"Youngsters? Do you think you"re much older than them? Still acting like a teacher," The bald man said, "In discussing compensation, is there any use talking with you?"
Only now did Xu Tingsheng remember that he was actually just twenty as well. He had just accidentally taken himself for an Uncle again.
"We can talk. Just tell me exactly how much you want first."
"Youngsters," Xu Tingsheng said rather awkwardly.
"You"re not half bad, not like those idiotic young hooligans. Fine, hand fifty thousand over then," The bald man said.
Xu Tingsheng looked at the devilishly enchanting woman who was standing beside the bald man. She had indeed suffered a few sc.r.a.pes, but not to the extent that…
"Look…it shouldn"t amount to that much, right?"
"It wouldn"t have originally. Still, those hooligans intimidated my girlfriend just now, even slapped her once. Fifty thousand…is still on account of you being sensible, get it?" The bald man said.
Xu Tingsheng looked over at those small-time hooligans whose faces were already full of bruises with blood leaking from their mouths. One of them nodded towards him.
Xu Tingsheng put his hand to his forehead. Even he felt like beating these idiots up now. Like this, they really did not stand on the side of reason at all.
"Fifty thousand then. Find someone to go draw the money with me," Xu Tingsheng said.
Taken aback, the bald man had just been about to speak when the devilishly enchanting woman beside him stepped forward, saying, "That dog"s also got to die. Otherwise, end of discussion."
She pointed at Dongdong beside Little Xiang Ning. The dog foolishly barked a few times without regard for the situation.
"Go, kill it!" She was angered by a dog.
A few of their men found some wooden rods by the roadside and walked towards Dongdong.
Little Xiang Ning hugged Dongdong, beginning to cry loudly.
Xu Tingsheng hurriedly blocked them, saying, "Don"t scare the kids. We can discuss the matter of compensation again. Just please don"t scare the kids."
If Little Xiang Ning were to watch her beloved Dongdong being beaten to death right in front of her, how deep a psychological wound would that leave on her? Xu Tingsheng could not allow it to happen no matter what.
The devilishly enchanting woman spoke again before the bald man did, "Who do you think you are? Go on, kill it."
The bald man"s lackeys turned to look at him. The devilishly enchanting woman hurriedly grabbed onto his arm in a coquettish manner.
"Well, let"s talk after it"s dead," The bald man waved in Xu Tingsheng"s direction, gesturing for him to move aside.
"They"re really just kids. Don"t make things difficult for them."
Xu Tingsheng stood there, not budging an inch.
"I told you to move," The bald man said in a severe tone.
Xu Tingsheng could tell that such an aura could only be possessed by those who truly navigated the hidden sides of society. It was not something that mere hooligans could even compare to.
"Bro Kun asked you to move aside. Are you deaf?" A big man said to Xu Tingsheng even as he reached out and pushed him aside.
Xu Tingsheng swayed but regained his balance, continuing to stand his ground. Another man came up from behind the first, directly stomping towards Xu Tingsheng"s stomach.
Xu Tingsheng involuntarily sucked in a breath of cold air at the ensuing pain.
He composed himself before looking back and smiling at Xiang Ning, saying, "Xiang Ning, be good. Turn around and cover your eyes and ears," Xiang Ning sobbed as she shook her head, rising as she wanted to come over and support him up.
Xu Tingsheng said with a stern expression on his face, "Be good, listen to Uncle."
Xiang Ning hesitated for a moment before breaking uncontrollably into tears. Su Nannan pulled her along in turning away from them.
Xu Tingsheng stood back up.
"What? Wanna have a go at it?" A bearded man mocked.
Xu Tingsheng smiled, saying, "I can"t win, and also don"t want to fight in front of kids."
They all began jeering mockingly together, coupled with the laughter of the devilishly enchanting woman. Even one of the small-time hooligans lying on the ground spoke in a low tone, "Trash."
"You hear that? Even one of your own people called you trash…when we were speaking just now, I even thought that I"d met a real figure. To tell you the truth, I"ve really never seen trash such as you before…really, this is my first time seeing it," The devilishly enchanting woman said, pointing towards Xu Tingsheng as she laughed.
It would really be hard not to get angered. It was not like he lacked the courage to put up valiant resistance even as he was beaten. However, there was such an incident within Xu Tingsheng"s memories. When he was fifteen, a motorcycle had brushed past he and his sister once. He had cursed and then been kicked at.
That was a time when gangster movies had been greatly in vogue. Xu Tingsheng had been amidst an environment where everyone admired the courage and brotherhood of triads and societies, and he himself had been at a rash age as well. Therefore, while two grownups had gotten off the motorcycle, he had still rushed at them very "courageously".
His little sister Xu Qiuyi had cried as she tried to protect her brother who was being beaten up. In the end, she had been thrown onto the pavement by one of the men, smas.h.i.+ng her head against it with fresh blood flowing profusely. Even now, a scar still remained on her head.
Back then, Mr Xu had not beaten Xu Tingsheng. Instead, he had asked him: Look at your sister. Do you think that what you did or people who staunchly persevere in cheris.h.i.+ng others are more courageous?
Blindly causing trouble and inadvertently causing harm to your family, lover or friends is actually far incomparable to staunchly persevering in protecting those you care about. Bearing pain and humiliation for those they cherish is far harder and greater for a man than a moment"s rashness.
If Xu Tingsheng were to put up a struggle now, Little Xiang Ning would likely run over to protect him, trying to pull the men away…what if something happened? She would surely be frightened, at the very least.
Therefore, after they had finished laughing, Xu Tingsheng continued saying calmly, "Look, if you really want to hit me, can you let the two young girls go first…they"re really still kids, I"m afraid that they might be frightened. It also wouldn"t be good if word spreads that you"re making things difficult for kids."
The bald man hesitated somewhat. The woman stomped forward herself…
Then, Xu Tingsheng bore the force of another kick.
"The heck, high-heeled shoes are really a murder weapon."
Xu Tingsheng composed himself before rising once more, still obstructing their path as he refused to budge an inch.