Chapter 23

Chapter 23: Harassment at the Bar Chu Tang asked, "Let the Jiang Family adopt Xu Jingxuan?" Zhou Xueluo shook her head, leaned in closer, and whispered, "That's not all. She originally told Mrs. Jiang that Brother Shixu should marry Xu Jingxuan in the future." Hearing this, Chu Tang's eyes widened in shock. "Damn, that's explosive!" Chen Yuanyuan's voice rose. "She actually dared to say that!" Zhou Xueluo said, "I don't know what Mrs. Jiang told her afterward, but that nanny also accepted the Jiang Family adopting her daughter as a way to repay the favor." Chen Yuanyuan said disdainfully, "Makes sense. Mrs. Jiang only has this one son—there's no way she'd let him marry a nanny's daughter." Zhou Xueluo: "Exactly. Brother Shixu is the sole heir of the Jiang Family. There's no way he'd ever marry a nanny's daughter." Chu Tang took a sip of her fruit wine, lost in thought. The girls chatted about gossip, not noticing that not far behind them, a woman was glaring at them with vicious eyes. Chu Tang had a few glasses of fruit wine—low alcohol content, not enough to get drunk. After chatting with her two best friends for a while, Chu Tang stood up. "I'm going to the restroom." In the hallway outside the restroom. Chu Tang came out after using the restroom and was blocked by two men. One man was stocky, with a shaved head, wearing a black tank top that revealed tattooed arms. He whistled and grinned lewdly. "Hey pretty lady, come play with big brother, yeah?" Chu Tang was just replying to messages on her phone. She looked up at the man, calmly switched to the recording interface, and started recording. Then she tucked her phone into her pocket. The other man was a scrawny guy with bleached yellow hair. He had a cigarette dangling from his mouth. "She's pretty enough. Bet she'd be a wild ride." Chu Tang said coldly, "Just ate your fill in the toilet? Your mouth stinks that bad." The yellow-haired man grinned roguishly. "How much for a night? Name your price." The corridor was narrow, and with these two men blocking the way, Chu Tang couldn't get through. She calmly stood with her arms crossed, speaking coolly: "Five thousand a night for vigil-keeping, two thousand extra for funeral wailing, two thousand eight for a suona band, four ninety-nine for standard cremation, five hundred extra for a paper coffin, and if the bones aren't crushed after cremation, that's an extra twelve hundred in labor fees. Who in your family passed away? Two or more gets you a discount—the more deaths, the bigger the deal. Spend ten thousand, get one thousand off." The yellow-haired man spat angrily. "Bitch! You don't know when to take a compliment, do you?" The tattooed man stepped forward with a nasty smile and started unbuckling his belt. "Playing innocent? You've probably been passed around already! Still pretending? I'm going to do you right here today!" With that, he jerked his chin at the yellow-haired man. "Come on, let's drag her into the men's room and have some fun." The two of them started walking toward Chu Tang. The moment he stepped forward, Chu Tang suddenly raised her leg and kicked him hard and fast right between the legs. That kick used full force. "Ah—!" The tattooed man screamed in agony, clutching his groin with both hands as he collapsed to the ground. His body curled up, convulsing in pain. Seeing this, the scrawny yellow-haired man swung his fist and charged at her, cursing. Chu Tang grabbed his arm and twisted it hard. With a "crack," the yellow-haired man's arm was dislocated. The hallway was immediately filled with screams of pain. Chu Tang curled her lips, her beautiful eyes narrowing slightly. "That's it? Not one of you can actually fight." She pulled out a tissue with a look of disgust and wiped her hands. "Funny thing—I happen to know a bit of grappling and kickboxing. Haven't stretched my muscles in a while, so you two make perfect practice dummies." That statement wasn't very damaging, but it was extremely insulting. The yellow-haired man raised his other arm to attack again, but Chu Tang threw him to the ground with a clean over-the-shoulder throw. Her high heel ground into the yellow-haired man's face like she was crushing an ant. "Go train some more before you come back." "Help! Help!" The tattooed man was clutching his crotch in agony, screaming at the top of his lungs. Chu Tang turned to look—blood was actually seeping through his pants. Tsk. She hadn't controlled her strength well. She didn't actually bust that thing of his, did she? Soon, bar staff rushed over at the commotion. Seeing the scene, they froze on the spot, momentarily at a loss for what to do. The tattooed man lay on the ground, cold sweat beading on his forehead. He said with difficulty, "It hurts like hell! What are you standing there for? Call 120! I'm dying of pain!" The commotion was too loud, and soon a crowd gathered around. Chen Yuanyuan and Zhou Xueluo noticed Chu Tang had been gone to the restroom for a long time and came over to check on her, worried. And what they saw was quite a sight. "Holy crap!" Chen Yuanyuan rushed over, startled. "Chu Tang, your Foshan Shadowless Kick and Eighteen Subduing Dragon Palms are back in action?" Zhou Xueluo looked at the two men wailing on the ground, let out a "tsk," then turned to Chu Tang. "Tangtang, are you hurt?" Chu Tang tossed her hair. "Nope. Those two couldn't even touch a single strand of my hair." "So badass, my Tang!" Chen Yuanyuan said with admiration. "I should've gone to learn kickboxing with you back then." The bar staff called the police and dialed 120. The two men were taken to the hospital by ambulance, and the police brought Ruan Chutang and the bar manager to the police station. Zhou Xueluo and Chen Yuanyuan followed after them. The crowd of onlookers dispersed. Xu Jingxuan, hidden behind a pillar, slowly stepped out, a cold glint flashing in her eyes. Utterly useless. Two against one, yet Ruan Chutang came out completely unscathed. She hadn't expected that this Ruan Chutang, who looked so thin and frail, as if a gust of wind could knock her over, would actually be trained in martial arts. It seemed ordinary thugs and hooligans were no match for her. Next time, she'd need to bring more people—and hire professional fighters to deal with her. ... By the time Jiang Shixu arrived, Chu Tang was already giving her statement. The police had reviewed the surveillance footage and confirmed that the two men had provoked and initiated the fight, making Chu Tang's actions self-defense. However, the hospital had reported that the tattooed man was seriously injured—a ruptured testicle—and a forensic injury assessment would be required. Ruan Chutang's self-defense might very well exceed the necessary limits, constituting excessive self-defense. The police said they couldn't release her for now. Jiang Shixu was about to make some calls to pull strings and get the police station to let her go. Chu Tang stopped him, and said to the police with perfect composure: "One ruptured testicle is a minor injury; two is a serious injury. If both were ruptured and surgically removed, then I might indeed constitute excessive self-defense, and the police station could file a case and investigate me for intentional injury." This fell squarely within Chu Tang's area of expertise. "But—" Chu Tang took out her phone, opened a recording, and played an audio clip. The words the two men had spoken in the hallway had been captured in full by Chu Tang. With a calm gaze, Chu Tang said slowly, "Officer, I have evidence proving these two men intended to commit rape. Against a violent crime like rape, my resistance is entirely justified and does not constitute excessive self-defense." Chu Tang placed her phone on the desk, her expression turning serious. "I am now formally filing a report—these men attempted to rape me."