"What?"
Pang Lina's face turned ashen. She never imagined Chen Nan would ask her to leave her skirt behind.
Sun Sihai was also getting excited. "That's right, Master Chen's words are absolutely correct. Since he has compensated you for the price of this skirt, he is entitled to keep it. Otherwise, wouldn't you be getting off too easily?"
Some of the surrounding diners nodded in agreement.
Although Chen Xiazhi had accidentally stained the other party's clothes, since they had been compensated, it was only right for them to keep the skirt.
Pang Lina was furious.
This dress of hers was a one-piece!
If she had to give the dress to Chen Nan, what would she do?
Leave here naked?
Thinking of this, she couldn't help but shiver. If that happened, she would definitely become an internet sensation.
"Fine, I don't want this thirty thousand yuan compensation, alright?"
Pang Lina angrily threw down thirty thousand yuan.
Between money and dignity, she decisively chose the latter.
Just as she was about to leave, Chen Nan's voice sounded again, "Wait!"
"Are you done yet, you bastard?" Pang Lina shrieked like a shrew, stamping her feet.
"You must really want to get revenge on me, right?" Chen Nan smirked. "But do you know my name?"
Pang Lina froze.
She did indeed want Chen Nan to suffer a fate worse than death, but in her anger, she had completely forgotten to ask for his name or where he lived.
"As for my name, you can ask your esteemed father when you get back," Chen Nan said with a faint smile. "If his memory is good enough, he should remember the high school student who was caught for disturbing the peace and sentenced to three years three years ago."
"Alright, then we'll see!"
Pang Lina, in a rage, left the Fugui Renjia Hotel.
"Sun Sihai, I'm telling you, you're finished. How dare you injure me on my turf in Xicheng? I guarantee you won't leave here alive!" Wang Kai uttered a threat and then followed Pang Lina.
"Good thing you ran fast, otherwise I would have broken your dog legs," Sun Sihai spat viciously, not taking Wang Kai or Xue Dalong seriously.
"You go up to eat first, I'll be up shortly," Chen Nan said to Sun Sihai.
"Okay."
Sun Sihai replied respectfully and then went upstairs.
"Brother, I..."
Chen Xiazhi was full of nervousness and shame, her hands constantly fidgeting with the hem of her clothes. She didn't know how to face Chen Nan.
Seeing the soup stains on her clothes, Chen Nan said, "Go change into something else first!"
"Oh..."
Chen Xiazhi obediently went to the changing room.
She simply couldn't understand why her brother would come to Xicheng to eat.
"Hello, Mr. Chen. My name is Wang Fugui, I'm the owner of this hotel," a middle-aged man in his forties, with a potbelly and a receding hairline, walked over politely.
This was his first time meeting Chen Nan, but Sun Sihai had already informed him that an important guest would be visiting today.
"Let's talk outside!" Chen Nan walked out of the hotel and asked, "Boss Wang, when did my sister start working here?"
When Chen Xiazhi gave him over ten thousand yuan, Chen Nan had already had suspicions, but her explanation at the time was reasonable, so he hadn't thought much of it. Now, it seemed things were not as he had imagined.
Wang Fugui replied, "This is probably her third year. Yes, yes, she came right after graduating from junior high."
A surge of anger rose in Chen Nan's heart. "Came right after junior high?"
Wang Fugui mistakenly thought Chen Nan was angry about him hiring a child laborer and immediately explained, "Mr. Chen, I know hiring child labor is illegal. But when this girl came to apply, she said her family was in such financial difficulty that they couldn't afford to send two children to high school."
"So, she had to come out to work and earn money, to support one if not both."
"I took pity on her and let her help in the shop, but I never shortchanged her salary!"
"Do you know anything else?" Chen Nan took a drag of his cigarette. The cigarette that had originally refreshed him now felt like a sharp knife, inflicting invisible pain in his heart, almost suffocating him.
He never dreamed that Chen Xiazhi had dropped out of school to work after graduating from junior high.
If he wasn't mistaken, the 'kind person' mentioned by Chen Hanlu should be her.
She was afraid their parents would find out she had dropped out to work, so she secretly sponsored Chen Hanlu.
Wang Fugui continued, "This girl not only works here but sometimes takes on part-time jobs at bars. That's all I know."
At this moment.
Chen Xiazhi, who had changed into casual clothes, walked out of the restaurant nervously. Seeing her boss chatting with her brother, she knew everything was about to be revealed.
"Mr. Chen, I'll go back to work. Please let me know if you need anything," Wang Fugui turned and left.
Chen Xiazhi tiptoed towards Chen Nan. Gone was her usual lively and cheerful demeanor. She nervously raised her head, suppressing her inner unease. "Brother, I'm sorry, I shouldn't have lied to you. Hit me if you're angry!"
The moment Chen Nan raised his hand, Chen Xiazhi's face turned pale with fright, and she instinctively closed her eyes.
However.
She felt no pain on her face.
Instead.
She heard a crisp slapping sound.
Suddenly opening her eyes, she saw Chen Nan's right cheek red and swollen, tears streaming down his face.
"You want me to hit you?"
"How could I bear to hit you?"
"If I hit you, would I still be human?"
"Would I still be your brother?"
"This is all because of me!"
"If it weren't for me, our family wouldn't have been retaliated against by Zhao Yuan, and you wouldn't have had to drop out of school after junior high to work!"
"This isn't your life!"
A man sheds no tears unless deeply grieved.
Chen Xiazhi's situation caused Chen Nan immense pain, as he knew Chen Xiazhi had grand aspirations.
But, at the moment he acted courageously.
Not only was his fate rewritten.
Even Chen Xiazhi's fate had been altered!
Waa~~~
This was the first time Chen Xiazhi had seen Chen Nan so distraught, the first time she had seen him cry like a child, and she burst into tears.
While crying, she also comforted Chen Nan, "Brother, don't cry, brother, don't cry. You know my grades, even if I continued studying, I might not have gotten into a dream university."
"But Hanlu is different, she's a top student, I'm willing to endure any hardship for her to finish high school."
"You used to say that when I grow up, I should make my own decisions, and once I make a decision, I can't regret it. I don't regret this decision."
She pursed her lips, tears shimmering in her eyes, but her gaze was exceptionally firm.
Just then.
Two cars from the tax bureau drove up from a distance.
After the cars stopped, a group of tax bureau staff walked directly towards the siblings.
The leader showed his identification and said, "Miss Chen, your company is suspected of tax evasion. Please come with us to accept an investigation?"
Chen Nan looked at them incredulously. "Are you mistaken? My little sister is just an ordinary person, how could she have a company?"