The man's threatening voice clearly startled Bai Xue, making her extremely nervous.
"Can you not force me?" she asked. "Don't you think you're being too overbearing?"
"Overbearing?" the voice on the other end sneered. "If you're in this line of work, you have to be a bit overbearing."
"Don't spout all that nonsense. Just tell me, how are we going to resolve this?"
"I'm telling you, hiding like this won't solve anything. If I don't see you, when you get back, your shop will be gone!"
Bai Xue said fearfully, "Don't do that, don't touch my shop!"
"We're both in business, can't we be friendly? Why do you have to do this!"
The man said fiercely, "Cut the crap. I'm giving you until today to come back and settle this with me face-to-face."
"Otherwise, I won't show you any more respect!"
Cornered, Bai Xue finally spoke, "I understand, I'll come back. But you absolutely cannot touch my shop, or I won't let you go!"
The man laughed mockingly. "Won't let me go?"
"How interesting. Think about yourself first, you stubborn woman who refuses a toast and prefers a forfeit!"
With that, the man hung up.
After a few seconds of stunned silence, Bai Xue finally couldn't help but crouch down, covering her mouth as she sobbed.
Unbeknownst to her, Wu Tian, standing outside the door, had already clenched his fists tightly.
A moment later, Bai Xue walked out of the room.
Wu Tian saw her slightly reddened eyes and said, "Why are you crying? Your eyes look a bit red."
Bai Xue flinched, instinctively wiping her eyes. "R-really? I wasn't crying."
"My eyes were just a bit itchy, so I rubbed them a couple of times. Maybe my eyes are just too dry, haha."
Seeing Bai Xue still trying to hide it from him, Wu Tian felt a pang of displeasure.
He asked in a low voice, "Who called you just now?"
Bai Xue's expression was stiff. She mumbled vaguely, "Huh? Ah? No one, it was just someone from the shop calling to say I needed to come back and handle some things."
"Oh, right, I have to go now. Wu Tian, next time we meet, I'll treat you to a meal!"
Wu Tian said coldly, "Treat me to a meal? A meal at your nail salon after it's closed down?"
Bai Xue's delicate body trembled violently, almost making her fall off her chair.
She looked at Wu Tian with wide-eyed shock. "Wh-what did you say?"
Wu Tian sighed. "I won't hide it from you anymore. I actually heard your entire phone call."
"Tell me, what exactly is going on? Who was that person who called you?"
Bai Xue hesitated, then said, "I already told you it was someone from the shop. Wu Tian, are you overthinking things? I really don't have any problems!"
Bai Xue's continued concealment ignited Wu Tian's temper.
He glared at her and said, "Sister Bai Xue, you'd better think clearly. Only I can help you right now!"
"If you go back alone now, you know the consequences! Do you really want your shop to close down?"
Wu Tian's angry outburst startled Bai Xue. It was the first time she could recall Wu Tian speaking to her in such a tone, and she was momentarily stunned.
Wu Tian realized he had been too harsh and softened his tone. "Sister Bai Xue, I think you trust me, right?"
"Since you trust me, why aren't you telling me about these things?"
"You said before that this nail salon is partly mine. If that's the case, then I should have the right to know what's going on!"
"So, tell me. Don't worry, with me here, I'll definitely help you resolve everything!"
Wu Tian's words finally made Bai Xue waver.
She remained silent for a while longer before speaking softly, "I didn't expect things to turn out like this. I... I..."
Wu Tian knew that Bai Xue must be under immense pressure.
He continued in a gentle voice, "It's okay, just tell me. I'm listening. Even if the sky falls, I'll help you hold it up!"
Bai Xue nodded slightly, her defenses finally lowered. "Actually, the shop's business has been very good. But about half a month ago, a new nail salon opened right next to ours."
"At first, I didn't think much of it. We're all in business, we can coexist peacefully."
"But because our business was so good, the shop next door had no customers, and they started to get jealous of us."
"The owner of the shop next door has a husband who's involved in shady dealings."
"He's come to cause trouble for us many times, always demanding we close down. But how could we agree to something like that? So we kept stalling him."
"But a little over a week ago, he suddenly brought a group of people over to smash up our shop, and he gave me only three days."
"He said if we didn't move out within three days, he'd start getting rough."
"I was very scared, but I didn't want to close the shop."
"With no other choice, I had to run back overnight, hoping to lie low for a while."
"That phone call just now was from that man. He told me to go settle this, or he'd force his way in. That's why I have to go back now."
By the time Bai Xue got halfway through her story, Wu Tian had already figured out most of it.
It was simply jealousy. There were plenty of people in this world consumed by envy.
He frowned. "Since something this serious happened, why didn't you tell me?"
"Did you think you could handle it all by yourself?"
Bai Xue shook her head. "Of course, I couldn't handle it alone, but I didn't want to trouble you."
"Last time he came to our shop, he brought over twenty people, and each of them had a machete. You could tell they weren't good people."
"If I told you about this and you went to handle it, wouldn't that be putting you in danger?"
Wu Tian understood that Bai Xue was worried about him, so his anger completely subsided.
He said gently, "So, have you thought about what you're going to do now? If you go back, how are you going to face him?"
Bai Xue shook her head and sighed. "I don't know. My mind is so confused right now."
"I think... maybe it's better to just close the shop."