Chapter 369: The Troublemaker
The sudden commotion startled everyone in the room, especially Ye Jianhua!
He immediately stood up and shouted, “Who are you? Who let you in?”
“Me!”
As a defiant voice rang out, a young man in his mid-twenties, flanked by several henchmen, stepped forward to face the uninvited guests.
Seeing the group’s menacing demeanor and the leader’s cocky, flashy appearance, anyone unaware of the situation might have thought it was a gang showdown!
As soon as he recognized the young man leading the group, Ye Jianhua snapped angrily, “Du Haicheng, what are you doing here? You’re not welcome!”
Hearing that name, Li Yi froze again.
Du Haicheng?
He’s one of Beijing’s notorious “privileged brats,” isn’t he?
And, of course, one of the most notorious examples of the “dad-busting” crowd.
The craziest thing this guy ever did was to drive recklessly while drunk on the streets of Beijing on New Year’s Eve, which ended with the car wrecked and him dead.
This is the capital, right under the emperor’s nose!
Drunk driving is bad enough, but street racing? That’s just asking for trouble!
But why on earth is he here? I’ve never heard of any connection between him and Ye Jianhua, and he certainly doesn’t look like he means any good!
“Ye Laoliu, if it were just about you, even if you carried me here in a palanquin, I wouldn’t give you the time of day!”
Du Haicheng continued, “I’m here today purely for Ying’er!”
Hearing this, everyone in the room looked as if they’d just heard some earth-shattering gossip, and all eyes turned to Lin Ying.
Lin Ying was completely taken aback. She stood up, looked at Du Haicheng, and said, “Senior, what do you mean by that? I don’t think we have any connection, do we?”
Du Haicheng looked at Lin Ying and said, “Of course we have a connection. Ying’er, don’t you know I’ve liked you for years? I’ve been pursuing you all these years at school, but you’ve never responded to me!”
“Ever since your family, the Lins, hinted that they were going to set you up with someone, I went back home and begged my grandfather and my father to go to the Lin family to ask for your hand in marriage.”
“My grandfather and my father both agreed. We even had someone reach out to your father. The Lin family said they’d think it over, but I never expected the next thing I’d hear would be news of your engagement to that bastard!”
At this point, Du Haicheng’s expression turned agitated. He raised his voice and screamed hysterically, “I just can’t figure it out. Whether it’s looks, education, personal abilities, or family background, in what way am I, Du Haicheng, inferior to that Ye guy? How could you possibly be interested in him? Did your family force you to marry him…?”
Before he could finish, Ye Jianhua snapped angrily from the side, “Who Ying’er falls for is her own business. What right do you have to meddle? Who do you think you are?”
“Besides, I’m the one hosting this gathering today, and I didn’t invite you. Get your people out of here right now, or don’t blame me for getting rough!”
Du Haicheng clearly didn’t take Ye Jianhua’s words seriously. He laughed wildly and said, “Hah! Do you think I was raised to be scared? Others may fear your Ye family, but I sure don’t!”
“Let me tell you straight up, I’m here today just to stir things up. What are you going to do about it?”
Ye Jianhua was instantly provoked and was about to step forward to teach this guy a lesson, while his friends stood by, itching to join in. A massive brawl seemed inevitable.
Just then, Lin Yi suddenly shouted, “Everyone, stop!”
At the sound of his voice, everyone fell silent, and all eyes turned to him.
“Thank you for your interest in Ying’er, but marrying Jianhua is Ying’er’s own choice! Moreover, our Lin family has never had the habit of trading women for family interests. So if I hear such talk again, I’ll go to the Du family myself and ask Uncle Wen about it!”
Lin Yi continued, “Although Jianhua organized this gathering today, there are guests from our Lin family here as well. If you dare to cause trouble here, you’d better consider whether you have the strength to back it up!”
Du Haicheng clearly recognized Lin Yi, and upon hearing this, he hesitated immediately.
If it were just the Ye family, the Du family wouldn’t be afraid at all.
However, if the Lin family were thrown into the mix, the Du family would undoubtedly be the ones to suffer.
Just then, Ye Jianhua bellowed, “Du Haicheng, I’m in a good mood today and don’t want to get into a fight with you. Get your people out of here right now!”
Ye Jianhua’s shout clearly provoked Du Haicheng!
Without a moment’s hesitation, he grabbed a wine bottle from the table and hurled it at Ye Jianhua.
But whether it was Du Haicheng’s poor aim or Jiang Longcheng’s sheer bad luck, the bottle veered off course mid-air and flew straight toward Jiang Longcheng’s head.
Watching the bottle get closer and closer to his head, Jiang Longcheng was completely stunned. Li Yi’s words from earlier echoed in his mind again: “We’re both in for a bloody disaster!”
He figured that when the bottle smashed into his head, blood would splatter onto Li Yi as well—meaning both of them would end up covered in blood…
However, Li Yi, standing nearby, acted with lightning speed. Just as the bottle was about to strike Jiang Longcheng’s head, he suddenly thrust out his right hand, blocking it right in front of Jiang Longcheng’s face.
“Crack!”
After a loud crash, Li Yi’s arm was violently struck by the momentum of the bottle, which then slammed into Jiang Longcheng’s head.
That was bad enough, but what was even worse was that the glass face of the steel watch Li Yi had bought for his wedding was shattered, and shards of glass mixed with watch parts scattered all over the floor.
This unexpected turn of events shocked everyone!
No one had expected Du Haicheng to suddenly strike—and so viciously, smashing someone with a wine bottle!
Even more unexpected was that Ye Jianhua, who was the intended target, emerged unscathed, while Jiang Longcheng, standing nearby, nearly took the brunt of the blow.
Once the initial shock subsided, Jiang Longcheng was instantly enraged!
He let out a roar and charged straight at Du Haicheng.
Du Haicheng recognized Jiang Longcheng as well. He knew Jiang Longcheng was a fearless, reckless thug, and his heart skipped a beat.
Besides, he hadn’t come here today intending to actually fight; his sole purpose was to disrupt Ye Jianhua’s plans, humiliate him, and vent the pent-up frustration in his heart.
Now that he’d achieved his goal, he hurriedly said, “Young Master Jiang, it’s a misunderstanding… a misunderstanding! I really didn’t mean it, bro. My hand slipped—I just missed the mark!”
“Slipped, my ass. If I beat the shit out of you, would you believe me if I said it was just a slip of the hand too…?”
With that, Jiang Longcheng unleashed a furious barrage of punches at Du Haicheng.
Unfortunately, Du Haicheng was surrounded by a crowd of henchmen who pushed Jiang Longcheng back with all their might, so despite landing a few blows, he never actually connected with Du Haicheng.
Just as Jiang Longcheng was about to lose control and go berserk, Lin Yi roared again, “Everyone, stop!”
Seeing that no one was listening, he suddenly drew a pistol from his waistband and chambered a round with a click.
“Everyone stop, or I’ll shoot!”
At the sound of the gun, everyone present froze.
Seeing that he had the situation under control, Lin Yi immediately stepped forward and slapped Du Haicheng across the face.
“So it seems your Du family is preparing to challenge the Lin, Ye, and Jiang families all at once—is that what you mean?”
Du Haicheng had been seething over the slap, but upon hearing those words, he couldn’t help but shudder.
The reason he’d come to cause trouble today was simply because Lin Ying had chosen Ye Jianhua over him.
To put it bluntly, it was his own doing and had absolutely nothing to do with the Du family.
If this were to make three powerful enemies for the family, no matter how favored he was, he’d still be in for a severe beating from his father and grandfather when he got home.
“No, Brother Yi, you’ve misunderstood. I just can’t stand that Ye guy and am worried Ying’er has been deceived by him. It has nothing to do with the Lin or Jiang families!” Du Haicheng hurriedly said.
“You’ve gone too far this time, but for your brother’s sake, I won’t hold it against you. Apologize to Young Master Jiang immediately, then get out of here with your men!”
“Alright!”
With that, Du Haicheng immediately turned to Jiang Longcheng and said, “I’m sorry!”
Jiang Longcheng wasn’t actually willing to let this guy off so easily, but when he saw Li Yi give him a signal, he said in a deep voice, “I won’t make things difficult for you. You broke my brother-in-law’s watch—just pay for it, and this matter is settled!”
Du Haicheng immediately took off a gleaming gold watch from his wrist and said, “This is an imported Swiss watch. Consider it my compensation!”
He then placed the gold watch on the table.
Then, accompanied by a group of henchmen, he left, leaving the room in complete disarray!