Chapter 614: Lead by Example

“You… you dare hit me!”

The middle-aged man staggered up from the ground, his eyes blazing with fury as he stared at Xu Shaochen.

“Since you didn’t discipline your son properly, I’ll teach you a lesson instead. Lead by example and maybe he’ll remember it.”

Xu Shaochen spoke without expression, looking at the middle-aged man.

Out of all the excuses, the one he hated the most was ‘he’s just a kid, he doesn’t know any better.’

It brought to mind those news stories online.

Bratty kids scratching other people’s Cars, and the parents, refusing to pay, brazenly saying, “he’s just a kid.”

A brat throwing stuff from high-rise buildings, killing someone, and again the parents excuse it, “he’s just a kid, he didn’t know.”

Now that something similar had happened to him, it utterly disgusted him.

‘He’s just a kid’?

Like hell! Forget that nonsense!

By nine years old, no matter what, he should be in the third grade. Maybe they don’t understand big things, but surely they understand basic courtesy, right? The truth is, it’s the garbage parents that spoil their kids. They can’t even educate their children, so imagine what kind of values these parents must have themselves.

“To hell with you! I’ll kill you!”

The middle-aged man roared and threw himself at Xu Shaochen, swinging his fist.

“Looking for trouble!”

Watching the oncoming attack, Xu Shaochen’s eyes grew colder. But he didn’t need to lift a finger.

Long Yi and the others were already rushing in from afar.

“Bam!”

Before the middle-aged man even got close, Long Yi had already thrown a solid kick, sending him flying to the ground.

“Ahh!” he screamed, followed by a splutter of blood from his mouth—a clear sign of the force behind Long Yi’s kick.

“Ah! Ugh—”

The middle-aged man let out another groan as blood spurted from his mouth. The force of Long Yi’s kick was unmistakable.

“Ah!”

The woman shrieked, hurrying over to help the middle-aged man up. “Honey, are you okay? Honey, honey!”

“Cough, cough, cough…”

Still coughing blood, the middle-aged man staggered to his feet, holding himself steady as he glared at Xu Shaochen, both angry and fearful.

“Scram!”

Xu Shaochen spat out the word coldly, looking down at him.

The middle-aged man clenched his fists but, seeing Long Yi and his companions glaring at him like tigers ready to pounce, he wasn’t foolish.

Bringing bodyguards with him, Xu Shaochen was clearly someone he couldn’t afford to provoke.

Looking at the situation, if he didn’t leave now, he might not be able to leave at all later.

With his teeth grinding together, he managed to squeeze out a sentence: “We’re leaving.”

“No! Dad, hit him! He scared me earlier, hit him again!”

Just then, the brat ran up, clinging to the middle-aged man’s leg, shaking it incessantly.

“Slap!”

The middle-aged man raised his hand and slapped the kid right across the face, his expression dark.

The brat immediately quieted down. He wanted to cry, but looking at his father’s menacing face, he didn’t dare.

Watching this, the crowd couldn’t help but stifle their laughter.

Turns out what this brat really needed was a good dose of fatherly discipline.

“I’m going to buy the tickets.”

Xu Shaochen said as he turned toward Liu Rushuang. Just as he spoke, though, he realized something was off. Where had Du Ruyan disappeared to?

“No need! While everyone was distracted just now, I already went to buy them.”

A crisp, cheerful voice sounded as Du Ruyan hopped over, waving a few tickets in hand.

Today, she was sporting a ponytail tied neatly in back, wearing a white short-sleeved shirt and a pair of sky-blue skinny jeans. Her entire body exuded youthful energy.

Of course, compared to others her age, she carried a hint of unspoken maturity in her demeanor—no doubt thanks to Xu Shaochen’s ‘constant care.’

“You’re always one step ahead. Alright then, let’s go.”

Xu Shaochen smiled and pinched her tender cheek.

“Ugh— Don’t pinch my face! Qingyu said you’ve made it bigger from all the pinching.”

With one arm wrapped around Xu Shaochen, Du Ruyan protested as they walked toward the zoo entrance.

“Hehe, Ruyan, your Qingyu wasn’t talking about your face getting bigger. She was referring to something else.”

Pregnant or not, Liu Ruxu couldn’t resist making an indecent quip.

Upon hearing this, both Zhao Qingyu and Du Ruyan blushed, exchanging glances before eyeing the curve of Liu Ruxu’s body, offering a knowing smile.

Liu Ruxu rolled her eyes. “This is from the pregnancy—it has nothing to do with him!”

“Oh come on, Ruxu! How could it not be because of him? If it weren’t for him, would you even be pregnant, or have developed even more?” Du Ruyan winked playfully.

The girls exchanged banter, their chit-chat full of risqué jokes that made Xu Shaochen’s scalp tingle.

It wasn’t that long ago when Du Ruyan was such an innocent girl.

And Zhao Qingyu? She was once a highly respectable teacher, a noble gardener of wisdom.

Now though, they all seemed to have turned into seasoned veterans when it came to raunchy jokes.

Women really are different before and after they get into a relationship with a man.

Take Zhao Qingyu for example—back when they hadn’t been intimate, just a lingering gaze would make her blush.

Now, if Xu Shaochen gave her a look, she already knew which position to switch to.

The Jiangzhou Zoo had a decent variety of animals, though most of them seemed to be living a comfortable early retirement, lacking their wildness.

“Wow, look at the lil’ tiger!”

“Shaochen, look! An elephant!”

Throughout their time there, Du Ruyan was the most enthusiastic. She bounced around like a child, constantly marveling at the animals.

………

While Xu Shaochen was busy at the zoo with the women, Liang Huan and Zhao Li were discussing how they were going to deal with Kong Biao and Kong Tianjing.

“Together, we’ve got eight men. Kong Biao’s group should have about the same number. It’s not going to be easy to take them down.”

Zhao Li frowned, swirling the wine glass in his hand, clearly worried about the situation.

On top of that, Kong Biao was a capable fighter, ruthless and skilled. He also had great aim with a gun.

To put it bluntly, neither Zhao Li nor Liang Huan could take on Kong Biao in a one-on-one fight.

Liang Huan shook his head. “We can’t think about it that way. We still have Xu Shaochen on our side. Didn’t he say he’d handle any problems? Our only job is to kill Kong Biao and Kong Tianjing. Simple as that.”

“True… He just needs us to do the actual killing. He could probably even help us capture Kong Biao and Kong Tianjing for us to execute ourselves.” Zhao Li cracked a mocking smile.

In Jiangzhou, if Xu Shaochen really wanted to kill Kong Biao and Kong Tianjing, it would be a piece of cake. The only thing he needed was for Liang Huan and Zhao Li to take the fall.

Liang Huan chuckled, feeling a bit helpless. “If that’s the case, let’s have Xu Shaochen help lure Kong Biao and Kong Tianjing out so we can take care of business.”

“Also, get him to distract Kong Biao’s bodyguards somehow. If they stick too close to him, our men might not be able to handle them,” Zhao Li added.

And with just a few words, they had sealed Kong Biao’s fate.