Chapter 181 — Who Insulted Whom?

The one who struck was Wang Yanqiu, which left Huang Yan and Huang Lin thoroughly astonished. Yang Ce, however, was not surprised in the least—he knew Wang Yanqiu's temper well. Apart from being utterly docile toward him, she was with everyone else... heh. Back then, this girl had once wanted to gut him with a dagger.

Li Tianjia let out a shriek and clapped a hand to his forehead, for a great swelling lump had already risen there. How ferocious was the force behind Wang Yanqiu's blow? That she had not split his skull open on the spot was already an act of great tenderness on her part.

"Oh, I'm terribly sorry—my hand slipped, and I accidentally dropped the bowl on your head!" Wang Yanqiu shrugged with just the same innocent air Li Tianjia had worn moments before, then said, "There, we're even now. No need for you to treat us. I'm a magnanimous sort, so I'll let that bowl of rice you knocked over slide."

If Li Tianjia's earlier behavior had been somewhat hypocritical, not quite so blatant, then Wang Yanqiu's move now was utterly without concealment.

Li Tianjia's conduct had already drawn the attention of the diners nearby, and they had, of course, regarded it with contempt, some of them disgusted by this conceited, self-important fellow. So now, when Wang Yanqiu struck back, the diners all burst into thunderous laughter as one, some even applauding and cheering.

Li Tianjia had already been furious enough, having thought he could show off a little in front of Huang Yan—only to have a girl he did not even know dump a bowl of chicken rice over his head and be mocked by the diners. In an instant, he exploded.

Yes—recently the Li family had come into four hundred billion Gou dollars out of nowhere, their business was thriving, and they were about to invest in an even larger mining operation in Country X. All of it had inflated Li Tianjia's self-confidence to the extreme, until he believed himself above every other person alive.

And now this Huang family, on the verge of bankruptcy, actually dared to question him! So Li Tianjia jabbed a finger at Wang Yanqiu and bellowed, "Fuck your mother, girl! Do you know who I am? I'll give you one chance right now—apologize to me, then spend a night with me, and I'll pretend this never happened. Otherwise, heh heh, I'll show you who really runs this city!"

Wang Yanqiu raised her head with some surprise and looked at the suddenly rabid Li Tianjia. She frowned and asked, puzzled, "Have you lost your mind?"

"Hahahaha..." Among the diners were no few people of standing, and they had already been sneering at Li Tianjia's insufferably arrogant words. Now, seeing him dressed down by Wang Yanqiu, they could not help but roar with laughter.

Li Tianjia's face went red and white by turns, and the man beside him looked equally grim—after all, he had come with Li Tianjia, and mocking Li Tianjia was the same as mocking him.

And this fellow was a spoiled rich kid too, who in his youth had done no small amount of mischief, the sort who feared neither heaven nor earth. At last he could contain himself no longer; he slammed the table and cried out in his strange voice, "Everyone shut the fuck up!"

Had such words come from Yang Ce's mouth, they might have carried a certain authority and menace—but coming from this fellow's sneering, nasal tones, they were simply ridiculous. The man had a hoarse, rasping voice, croaking like a drake when he spoke, bizarre in the extreme.

Yang Ce could not help sizing up the man who had come with Li Tianjia. What was this fellow's background? He looked like some rich young master or other—otherwise he could not be so insolent.

Most insolent people have some grounds for their insolence, more or less. That is not to say that everyone with means is necessarily insolent, but in the end, those with means are insolent more often than those without.

Wherever there are people, there will be distinctions, and some of those who acquire means come to feel superior to everyone else—like the man before him.

"What the fuck are you staring at?" the drake-voice demanded, nettled to see Yang Ce sizing him up.

"Oh, I'm looking at a dick!" Yang Ce nodded.

"Huh?" Drake-voice was stunned, staring at Yang Ce in bewilderment. "Where's the dick? Whose dick is hanging out?"

Drake-voice's words sent the diners into even more frenzied howls of laughter; even Wang Yanqiu and Huang Yan were flushed and struggling to keep straight faces. Drake-voice was all the more baffled; he turned to Li Tianjia in confusion. "What are they all laughing at? Where's the dick?"

"He's saying you're a dick!" Li Tianjia explained to Drake-voice, exasperated, while cursing him inwardly for having no brains at all. What a specimen—he could not even tell when he was being insulted. If his own family's business had not been partnered with the man's company, Li Tianjia would never have bothered coming out to entertain him.

"You're the fucking dick!" Drake-voice glared at Li Tianjia. "Why are you insulting me?"

"I'm not insulting you—he is!" Li Tianjia was on the verge of tears. Was this not just making a spectacle of themselves for everyone? He pointed at Yang Ce. "He's the one who said you're a dick!"

Only then did Drake-voice catch on. He slammed the table and shrieked, "You fucking dare call me a dick?"

"I didn't say you're a dick. You asked what I was looking at, and I said I was looking at a dick." Yang Ce had not expected to run into such a half-wit today.

"You were looking at me just now—so you're saying I'm a dick?" Drake-voice had finally worked his way around to it.

"I didn't say that. You said it yourself," Yang Ce replied.

"Eh?" Drake-voice was taken aback. He scratched his scalp. "Eh? Seems like I really did say it myself, didn't I? Why would I call myself a dick? Look at this brain of mine... all muddled again..."

Li Tianjia was so furious he wanted to start cursing. The man's performance now was far more humiliating than his own had been moments ago! Li Tianjia was utterly speechless—what kind of intelligence was this? With a head like that, if he ever took over the family business, he would run it straight into the ground.

The diners erupted in laughter. Li Tianjia truly could not bear the shame any longer; he dragged Drake-voice off in headlong flight. In his heart, though, he swore that he would make the Huang family and that unknown man and woman pay dearly.

"What the fuck are you dragging me for? Aren't we going to eat?" Drake-voice protested in confusion.

"Eat a dick!" Li Tianjia shot back, thoroughly exasperated.

"What did you say? You want to eat me?" Drake-voice asked, dumbfounded.

Even after the two of them had gone out the door, the diners' roars of laughter continued unabated, adding no small amount of amusement to the little restaurant that had been so quiet before.

Just then, a waiter came to Yang Ce's table carrying two steaming bowls of Hainan chicken rice, setting the fresh dishes down before them. "Sir, miss, this is freshly prepared chicken rice for you. Our boss says this meal is on him! That exchange you just had was simply too wonderful!"

"Then please thank your boss for us." Yang Ce did not stand on ceremony; he pushed the chicken rice over to Wang Yanqiu and smiled at the waiter. The waiter's talk of the boss treating them was mere kindness—unlike Li Tianjia earlier, who had simply been looking down on them—so there was no need for Yang Ce to refuse the boss's goodwill.

"Very well, please enjoy." With that, the waiter bent down and began clearing the scattered rice from the floor.

"Yang Ce, there's no need to fear that Li Tianjia fellow, but the man beside him..." Huang Lin hesitated, then decided it was better to give Yang Ce a warning first.

"What's the story with that drake-voiced fellow beside him?" Yang Ce asked casually.