Two people tumbled out of the van.
One was Cheng Li, and the other was Cheng Kun, the very person Xiao Gang had mentioned.
Cheng Kun’s face was bruised and swollen, and he lay on the ground like a beaten dog.
After dumping them both, the van sped away.
"Speak of the devil, and he shall appear."
"Do you think this was Cheng Kun’s idea? Why don’t you confront him directly?"
Lin Xiao Tian looked at Xiao Gang, his icy eyes devoid of emotion.
Xiao Gang couldn’t help but swallow.
He had been blabbering earlier, just trying to absolve himself. Qin Yuxiang’s presence here had indeed been revealed by Cheng Kun, but Cheng Kun hadn’t instructed him to provoke Qin Yuxiang. It was Xiao Gang’s own lust that had gotten him into this mess.
Now, he regretted it thoroughly.
"Cheng Kun, you’ve finally shown up. Tell Xiao Tian quickly, did you tell me Yuxiang was coming to the county town?"
Xiao Gang tried to trap Cheng Kun.
At the mention of Lin Xiao Tian's name, Cheng Kun shivered.
Cheng Li also flinched.
Both of them looked in Lin Xiao Tian's direction, and the next moment, they scurried to Lin Xiao Tian's front.
"Xiao Tian! Brother Xiao Tian! I was wrong. I shouldn't have provoked you. I deserve to die! I was blinded!" Cheng Kun cried.
"Big Brother, please spare me! I truly won't dare again!" Cheng Li choked out.
They had been severely punished at the factory earlier.
Li Jin had issued a stern warning: if they couldn’t get Lin Xiao Tian's forgiveness, they would have no place left in Chengyu County.
Cheng Kun, being involved in shady dealings, wouldn’t be able to stay in the county town without Li Jin's help. Moreover, Li Jin’s words suggested he would retaliate.
For people like them, internal conflicts were not protected by law. If Li Jin decided to act against him, he could simply disappear.
Even if Li Jin didn’t act, given the number of people he had offended in Chengyu County over the years, they would certainly try to bring him down once they learned he had lost his influence.
Cheng Li’s reason was more straightforward: he just wanted to stop being beaten.
Li Jin had made it clear that if Lin Xiao Tian didn’t forgive him, even if Cheng Li was no longer associated with them, they would find ways to bully Cheng Li, leaving him nowhere to go.
Lin Xiao Tian remained silent, looking at the two sobbing men, and then turned his gaze to Xiao Gang.
Xiao Gang felt completely numb.
"Cheng Kun, Xiao Gang just said you instructed him to come and cause trouble for us. Is that true?" Lin Xiao Tian asked, looking down at him.
Cheng Kun’s eyes widened in surprise.
He then angrily pointed at Xiao Gang.
"Xiao Gang, what are you saying? When did I ever instruct you to do such a thing?"
Xiao Gang, at this point, had nothing left to lose. To shift all the blame onto Cheng Kun, he disregarded their past camaraderie, even though they had been like brothers not long ago.
"Cheng Kun, is this some kind of joke? You still won't admit it?"
"Admit what? If I didn't do it, how can I admit it?"
"You didn't do it? Cheng Kun, you have some nerve! Didn’t you instruct me to go after Yuxiang?"
"You're talking nonsense!"
Seeing Xiao Gang framing him, Cheng Kun’s rage erupted.
This was a blatant accusation in front of Lin Xiao Tian. If Lin Xiao Tian believed it, would he still have a chance to survive?
"Xiao Tian, don’t listen to his nonsense. I admit I was wrong before, but I only told this guy that Yuxiang had arrived in the county town. Later, I heard he had a conflict with you, but I truly didn’t instruct him to do anything!
"On the other hand, this Xiao Gang has been instigating me to provoke you!"
"Cheng Kun, what are you talking about? Who instigated you?" Xiao Gang retorted, exasperated.
He had been so focused on framing Cheng Kun that he had forgotten he had also asked Cheng Kun to teach Lin Xiao Tian a lesson. However, Cheng Kun hadn’t agreed then, likely intimidated by Lin Xiao Tian’s previous thrashing.
"You still deny it? It was clearly you who lusted after Yuxiang and then wanted me to go after Lin Xiao Tian so you could play the hero and save her. I know your little schemes!"
"You… you’re talking nonsense." Xiao Gang pointed at Cheng Kun’s nose. "Xiao Tian, he's slandering me! Slandering me!"
"Xiao Tian, you have to believe me. Cheng Kun, a person like him, always does heartless things. You can't believe what he says."
Seeing Xiao Gang continuously defaming him, Cheng Kun finally lost it.
"You bastard, still talking nonsense? I’ll beat you to death!"
Before Xiao Gang could react, Cheng Kun’s fist landed.
"Ouch!"
Xiao Gang, unable to fight back, cried out in pain.
"Help!"
"He's hitting me!"
Xiao Gang screamed.
Lin Xiao Tian didn't intervene, watching the two fight.
Seeing that no one was stopping him, Cheng Kun became even more reckless.
"Damn it, I've been annoyed with you for a long time. You think you’re so great just because you’re in business? You look down on people like me. Today, I'll ride on you. See if you still dare to look down on me?" Cheng Kun said, punching Xiao Gang.
Xiao Gang, at this point, was also throwing caution to the wind.
"So what if I look down on you? What’s so great about you riding on me? I’ve ridden your woman, so we're even!"
Xiao Gang’s words caused an uproar.
Everyone knew that Cheng Kun had used some means to find a young and beautiful woman as his mistress.
People had been envious of him, but upon hearing this, their envy vanished.
Cheng Kun felt like his head was green and smoking.
But seeing Xiao Gang still mocking him from below, he completely lost control.
One punch.
Two punches.
Three punches.
…
Cheng Kun lost count of how many punches he threw, only knowing that Xiao Gang’s voice finally ceased.
It wasn't until the sound of an ambulance arrived that Cheng Kun suddenly came to his senses.
When he looked down again, Xiao Gang’s face was covered in blood.
Several paramedics approached and loaded Xiao Gang onto the ambulance.
Cheng Kun was also dazed and disoriented.
Although he was involved in shady dealings, he had never beaten someone like this before.
Just then, a police officer approached him.
"Were you the one who hit him?"
Cheng Kun nodded.
"Come with us!"
Cheng Kun realized he wasn't going to be allowed to stay put.
"Officer, this is all a misunderstanding! I didn't intend to beat him this badly. I don't know what got into me. It was unintentional!" Cheng Kun pleaded desperately.
"Unintentional? You call this unintentional?" the officer asked, pointing at the blood-covered Xiao Gang. "In any case, you'll have to come with us!"
Cheng Kun tried to resist, but several officers led him away.
Even though he was involved in shady dealings, assaulting someone outside of that circle was a matter for the police.
A class reunion had now seen three people taken away.
The remaining attendees looked at Lin Xiao Tian with nothing but fear.
Lin Xiao Tian then turned his gaze to Cheng Li.
"I heard you also wanted to take Yuxiang away?"