Chapter 1163 — Conflict and a Lesson

Of course, Chen Xi had not noticed Wei Zhao over on that side; most likely she had no time just now to notice anyone at all, her whole attention fixed upon the drink bottles. Very quickly, she came up beside Xie Yufeng.

As before, Chen Xi picked up a beer can beside Xie Yufeng — but the moment she lifted it, something was wrong. There was still beer in the can; it was not empty!

Chen Xi set it down in a hurry, but her movement had been seen clearly by Xie Yufeng, who was right beside her! Xie Yufeng flew into a rage and jabbed a finger at her: "What do you think you're doing, you little wench?"

"I'm sorry... I thought it was an empty can..." Chen Xi apologized at once. Such things had happened before, and she could only swallow her grievance and keep quiet. After all, she was here to collect trash, so the fault was certainly hers. Some tourists were unreasonable, but there was nothing she could do about it.

"Sorry? Is 'sorry' enough? Damn it, what rotten luck!" Xie Yufeng had been eating in high spirits — a mouthful of skewers, a mouthful of beer — and then Chen Xi had nearly carried his beer off! She had put it down in the end, but look at how filthy she was: could anyone still drink from a can she had touched?

At that thought, Xie Yufeng picked up the half can of beer from the ground that Chen Xi had touched, and flung it straight at her — soaking her from head to foot!

The old man beside Chen Xi did not escape either; he too was drenched in beer!

"Young man, where you can spare a man, spare him. Isn't this going a bit too far?" The old man knit his brows. He had not expected Xie Yufeng to be so arrogant. Collecting trash had brought small frictions before, but those people at most cursed a few words and let it go. Who behaved like Xie Yufeng, pouring beer over another person?

"Too far? Let me tell you something, you old thing — if she weren't a little girl, and it had been you instead, I would have slapped you long ago! You're getting off light. What do you think you are, sticking your nose into other people's business?" Xie Yufeng had been thwarted by Wei Zhao again and again, and then beaten by Wu Tieshou and blackmailed out of a large sum of money; his heart was foul, and these past days his temper had run short. He wanted someone to vent it on — and here came two rag-pickers, delivering themselves right to his door!

It had to be said that Chen Xi was indeed very pretty, no less so than Gu Mengyao and the others; but in her worn-out clothes, with a tattered straw hat on her head, her looks were dragged down a few notches. And what was Xie Yufeng's background? The eldest young master of the Xie family! In his eyes, people like Chen Xi were lowly, the very lowest rung. So what if she was pretty? Even if she were pretty and threw herself at him for free, he would not deign to touch her — it would be beneath his dignity.

If word got out that he, the eldest young master of the Xie family, had taken up with a trash-picking girl, would the other great families not laugh their teeth out?

So Xie Yufeng had not a thought of cherishing the fair sex; he merely wanted an excuse to curse someone and work off his spleen.

"I was going to let the matter drop, but since you, you old thing, had to stick your nose in, this young master has changed his mind! Kneel down right now and knock your head twice on the ground, and we'll call it even. Otherwise, believe me, I'll call the police and have you thrown in jail." Having said all this, Xie Yufeng felt a good deal better.

All the pent-up fury of many days was finally released in that one instant! Lately he had been suffocating — suffocating to death!

He, the eldest young master of the Xie family, his campaign scarcely begun, had endured how much suffering? Wei Zhao, for the moment, he dared not touch; but you, an old rag-picker, you dare speak to me like that? Do you truly take me, Xie Yufeng, for a tiger fallen to the flatlands, to be bullied by dogs?

"Call the police and arrest us? We're collecting trash, we haven't broken any law. On what grounds would you arrest anyone?" Chen Xi looked at Xie Yufeng, unconvinced. She had already apologized, yet the man would not let it go — he even wanted Grandpa Zhu to kneel. How hateful!

"Collecting trash? You were stealing my beer — you think I didn't see it? My two friends sitting right here are witnesses; they saw it clear as day! And I don't mind telling you: my fiancée is no ordinary person. Do you think she'll believe me, or you?" Xie Yufeng said smugly.

By now he already regarded Qiu Lingshan as his fiancée! In Xie Yufeng's view, with an alliance arranged by the families like this, the Song family must long ago have informed Qiu Lingshan. Though the two families had not formally settled the betrothal, the matter had been discussed by both family heads; it was as good as nailed down, and nothing could go wrong now.

What remained was only whether the two youngsters could get along. So long as there was no great conflict between them and they rubbed along reasonably well, the next step would surely be talk of marriage. Only if the two took a mutual dislike, with some greater conflict between them, would the matter be reconsidered.

Of course, in many cases, for the sake of face, even if the two youngsters were not on good terms, they would still be forced into the match for the greater good. After all, once a thing was settled, to break it off for some reason would look rather ugly.

A cold glint flickered through Grandpa Zhu's eyes. As a martial artist of the inner school at the peak of late Mystic Rank, he would never have come out to collect trash had the family head not entrusted him with the task. And that was bad enough — but for a mere coddled young master to order him to kneel? How could he endure it?

Xie Yufeng's arrogance had roused a murderous intent in Grandpa Zhu, who resolved to teach this creature, who knew nothing of the height of heaven or the depth of earth, a proper lesson! But for fear of trouble, Grandpa Zhu would gladly have killed him on the spot!

"Good. Very good." Grandpa Zhu, far from angry, smiled. He reached out and patted Xie Yufeng's body — it looked as though he meant to pat him on the shoulder, but murderous intent lay hidden within! A master like Grandpa Zhu, at the peak of Mystic Rank, had no shortage of underhanded tricks.

What he meant to do was infuse true qi into Xie Yufeng's body. Perhaps Xie Yufeng would show nothing at the time, but in the days to come that true qi would remain inside him, making his whole body ache from time to time, leaving him steeped in torment.

Of course, that was so only for ordinary people. For a true master, such a little bit of true qi could be refined away. Wei Zhao often used this same underhanded method, though compared with Grandpa Zhu he was far more skilled.

You pat a man once — and in that instant, the true qi transferred is limited. You cannot keep your hand on him forever, transferring true qi, can you?

For the fastest updates and pop-up-free reading, please visit the site.