Chapter 28 It's not too good to hit women, is it?
"Beating a woman, that\'s not very good, is it?" Hao Jian asked with a smile on his face.
No wonder the voice sounded so familiar to him, he only recognized it was Xiao Qiang when he turned his head.
Xiao Qiang hadn\'t expected to encounter Hao Jian here, either. Ashamed, she lowered her head, her face streaked with tears; after all, this was not an honorable matter. Especially in front of someone she knew, she felt even more humiliated.
"Kid, I advise you not to meddle in other people\'s business."
Zhuang Yibin spoke with a dangerous look on his face, detesting this Cheng Yaojin who had come out of nowhere.
But Hao Jian seemed as if he hadn\'t heard his threat, and calmly asked Xiao Qiang, "Are you okay?"
"I\'m fine," Xiao Qiang said through her tears, shaking her head, not wanting to elaborate.
Her boyfriend, whom she loved, was actually asking her to sleep with another man. Could she possibly be alright when he even wanted to hit her in public?
Xiao Qiang never knew Zhuang Yibin was such a person. He had always presented himself as cultured and genteel, but only today did she realize he was nothing but a polished scoundrel.
With regards to her once-beloved, Xiao Qiang felt nothing but disappointment and sadness.
"You dare to mess with my affairs? I\'ll fucking bury you alive!"
Embarrassed and enraged, Zhuang Yibin turned around and threw a punch directly at Hao Jian\'s face!
However, just as his fist was about to connect, Hao Jian\'s palm shot out and firmly grasped Zhuang Yibin\'s fist.
"Are you sure you want to make a move?" Hao Jian raised an eyebrow, his thumb gesturing behind him.
Then, Zhuang Yibin saw several men at a nearby table standing up, each holding a beer bottle and tapping it against their palm, a strange smile playing on their lips.
Seeing this, Zhuang Yibin\'s head shrank back, his aggressive demeanor instantly weakened; he had no confidence in taking on ten men by himself.
"Kid, don\'t think you\'re something special just because you have numbers on your side. If it\'s about numbers, with a single phone call, the people I can bring could fill the entire restaurant. I advise you to mind your own business if you don\'t want to suffer the consequences," Zhuang Yibin threatened fiercely.
"Kid, don\'t think you\'re something special just because you\'re scum. If it\'s about being scum, I\'ve seen enough scumbags to fill an entire restaurant. I advise you to beat it before I make you unrecognizable to your own mother."
Hao Jian, imitating his tone and adding a sarcastic voice, made Tie Shan and the others laugh till they were nearly in tears.
"All right, all right, all right! You\'ve got guts!"
Zhuang Yibin\'s face turned green with rage, gritting his teeth and forcefully repeating the word \'all right\' three times, then, after giving Xiao Qiang and Hao Jian a fierce look, he left.
"Why let that guy go? A scumbag like that should have been beaten up," Tie Shan said indignantly. The thought of Zhuang Yibin daring to hit Xiao Qiang incensed him all the more.
"No matter what, he\'s Minister Xiao\'s ex-boyfriend. If you beat him up in front of Minister Xiao, what do you think she would feel?"
Hao Jian said with annoyance, then glanced at Xiao Qiang, only to see her trembling slightly.
Tie Shan smacked his forehead, thinking, yes, women are soft-hearted; if he beat up that jerk, he might just end up embarrassing Minister Xiao.
"No, if you encounter him again, you must deal with that scumbag for me," Xiao Qiang suddenly said, raising her face. Although still crying, a radiant smile had begun to form on her lips.
At this moment, she chose resignation.
Just a scumbag, did she need to be so heartbroken for him? She was so beautiful, she would definitely find someone better in the future.
"Minister Xiao is so magnanimous, I drink to you," Tie Shan laughed heartily, really liking Xiao Qiang\'s unpretentious nature.
"Sure, let\'s do it!" Xiao Qiang also picked up a cup, poured herself a beer, and downed it in one go.
Seeing this, Hao Jian frowned slightly. Feelings, how could one simply let go just like that? Either Xiao Qiang was really that optimistic, or she was just pretending.
Hao Jian felt it was more probably the latter. He knew Xiao Qiang\'s character was quite stubborn; she just didn\'t want to cry in front of all these people.
Then, Xiao Qiang sat at the same table as Hao Jian and the others, relentlessly drinking with Tie Shan and the rest, toasting each person in turn.
At the dinner table, Xiao Qiang didn\'t seem to show too much distress, joking and laughing with Tie Shan and others, but Hao Jian noticed that her drink was ever-present, clearly intending to get herself drunk.
Seeing this, Hao Jian quickly gave Tie Shan and Old Zhang a meaningful look.
Old Zhang and Tie Shan had been shouting boisterously, but as soon as they caught Hao Jian\'s glance, they seemed to grasp the situation and quieted down.
"Minister Xiao, let\'s have a drink," Heigui said with a smile, offering a toast to Xiao Qiang, when Old Zhang hastily tugged at his trouser leg.
Heigui also sensed something. He first looked at Old Zhang, who was expressionless, and then, understanding the situation, he sat back down with a wry smile.
"Huh? What\'s up? Weren\'t you going to drink with me?"
Xiao Qiang asked in confusion, then looked around to discover that everyone had stopped drinking and was avoiding her gaze, intentionally or not.
"Ah, we\'ve had enough to drink for now. Everyone\'s starting to feel hungry and wants to eat something."
Hao Jian spoke up quickly, afraid that Xiao Qiang might notice what was really happening. At the same time, he silently cursed Tie Shan for his stupidity; why withdraw so abruptly? They should have done it gradually.
"Yeah, yeah, I haven\'t eaten much yet; I\'m starving," Tie Shan added quickly, then began to serve himself food vigorously.
"Minister Xiao, you should eat something too. We can drink more later, but the food won\'t taste as good once it\'s cold."
Old Zhang also urged, knowing that Xiao Qiang was just putting on a brave face and was definitely not feeling well inside.
"Alright, let\'s eat then."
Xiao Qiang\'s smile was forced. Looking at Hao Jian and the others, she suddenly felt very aggrieved and on the verge of tears, as her eyes began to well up.
They all saw through her, but they said this to spare her the embarrassment.
Even these strangers were so considerate towards her, so why could her lover hurt her so ruthlessly?
After the meal, as everyone prepared to leave, Hao Jian excused himself to go to the restroom and secretly paid the bill.
Because he knew it wasn\'t easy for his brothers; with just that little salary each month, supporting themselves was hard enough, let alone scraping together a bit to treat him to a meal.
So, he felt it wasn\'t right for him to let them pay. The cost of the meal meant little to him, but for them, it might be enough to buy several days\' worth of groceries or cover several days\' expenses on cigarettes.
However, when Xiao Qiang saw Hao Jian heading to the restroom after the meal, she immediately assumed this guy was skirting the bill, and she couldn\'t help but feel contempt for him!
Sneaking off when it\'s time to pay is no quality of a friend worth having. If it weren\'t for Hao Jian having helped her earlier, she would have called him out in front of everyone then and there.