Free Web NovelChapter 106: Chapter 105: The Slap
Twilight descended, and the city’s lights began to sparkle.
Fu Juemin stood before a massive glass window, a flute of champagne in hand, gazing out at the distant nightscape.
Below him lay the Public Concession, its streetlights like strings of golden pearls tracing the lines of the roads.
From this vantage point, he could clearly see the spire of Saint Heaven Cathedral and the main building of the Shenghai Racecourse Association. The streets in the distance were shrouded in the shadows of tall plane trees. Further still, the Huangling River snaked like a black sash, bordered by the flickering lights of the factory district.
This was the top floor of the Hualin Restaurant, Shenghai’s most luxurious and exclusive venue for evening galas—a massive glass palace suspended above the city.
Myriad crystal sconces and countless candelabras bathed the room in a dazzling light. The air was thick with the scents of cigar smoke, women’s perfume, roasted steak, and champagne. Distinguished gentlemen in tuxedos and noblewomen in qipaos and fringed shawls mingled, their glasses clinking with the brittle sound of opulence...
Fu Juemin took a small sip from his glass. The champagne’s crisp chill pulled him back from his reverie.
He turned to look toward the center of the hall, where a beautiful woman stood on a slightly raised, semi-circular stage. Dressed in a sleeveless lace qipao, she was softly singing a Western song.
Her eyes were half-lidded as she sang, her languid and slightly nonchalant air only accentuating the gala’s decadent glamour. He’d heard she was some starlet on the rise. ƒгeeweɓn૦vel.com
Fu Juemin had attended a Western-style reception once before, back in Luan River, but it was a world away from the scene before him now.
He shook his head, moving a few steps to the side to find another corner to occupy.
Madam Ding had told him she wanted him to meet a few people tonight. He’d assumed it would be a typical party, never imagining it would be on such a grand scale.
Everyone in attendance seemed to be of extraordinary status; they were either bank managers or senior executives from foreign firms.
Madam Ding herself had selected Fu Juemin’s attire for the evening: a midnight-blue velvet dinner jacket with a shawl collar, paired with a white French-cuff shirt and black onyx cufflinks.
His own looks and bearing were already exceptional, and the perfectly tailored, exquisitely understated suit only made him seem all the more handsome and distinguished.
Throughout the evening, Fu Juemin had caught more than a few looks from around the room—some attentive, some flirtatious. Even the starlet on stage kept casting subtle, probing glances his way.
’Madam Ding...’
Fu Juemin raised his glass, watching the bubbles dance in the pale gold liquid.
’Even now, this whole situation still felt absurd and surreal, just as it had when I first crossed over into this world and learned that Demon Fiends actually existed.’
He had tried asking his father, Fu Guosheng, about the true relationship between Madam Ding and his late mother. But his father had been deeply secretive, only saying after a long silence, "Just remember this: she will never harm you."
Madam Ding had said the same thing.
’Well, since I’m already here, I should just accept it...’
Fu Juemin raised his glass and downed the champagne in one go.
Madam Ding had gone to greet some guests personally, telling him to head to the party first. Fu Juemin didn’t know a soul in the entire hall, so he was bored enough to resort to drinking and counting heads.
He placed his empty glass on a nearby table. Just as he was about to find a place to sit, a voice spoke up beside him.
"Can’t find the restroom?"
Fu Juemin paused and turned to look.
A handsome young man stood there, bathed in the soft, dim light.
He wore a white suit and black bow tie, his hair was impeccably styled, and he gently swirled a glass of red wine, regarding Fu Juemin with an enigmatic smile.
"No."
Fu Juemin shook his head. The young man was the first person to approach him all night.
"I thought you were urgently looking for the restroom."
The young man chuckled and ambled over, glass in hand.
"You look a little out of place... First time at an event like this?"
The young man’s tone was mild, and he spoke to Fu Juemin with an easy familiarity.
Fu Juemin couldn’t discern the man’s intentions. "Yes," he replied coolly.
"Relax..."
The young man took a sip of his wine. He glanced around the room and continued with a slight smile, "If you can make it to the first one, you can make it to the second, and the third... Come often enough, and you’ll get used to it."
When Fu Juemin didn’t respond, the young man glanced at him and suddenly extended a hand.
"Let’s get acquainted. The name’s... Ding Zhao’an."
Fu Juemin frowned at the proffered hand, hesitating. Just then, the young man abruptly pulled it back.
"Did you really think I wanted to be your friend?"
The young man burst out laughing, his face a mask of derision.
"You’ve never even heard my name?"
He leaned in close to Fu Juemin, a broad smile on his face, but his eyes were chillingly cold.
"Your prep work is a little lacking, isn’t it?"
"Let me guess where you came from."
"Looking at you..."
The young man looked Fu Juemin up and down and sneered. "The Chai Bai Faction? Or did the Blue-clothed Gang send you? The Woodcutter Gang, perhaps?"
"You’re quite something, you know..."
He raised a hand and patted Fu Juemin’s shoulder, his smile not reaching his eyes. He spoke slowly, enunciating every word. "I’ve been by her side for so many years, and yet I only heard she was thinking of taking a new adopted son right before tonight...
She even kept it from me. For you."
Fu Juemin narrowed his eyes, saying nothing as he watched the young man.
Just then, the hall fell strangely silent. The singing from the stage had stopped. Unbeknownst to them, nearly every eye in the vast ballroom had turned in their direction.
And this, it seemed, was precisely the effect the young man had wanted.
He was still smiling, poised and debonair, looking for all the world like the most handsome and perfect gentleman, standing under a spotlight.
And then...
Without warning, he raised his glass and flung its contents at Fu Juemin.
SPLASH—
A low murmur went through the crowd. Many faces wore expressions of amusement, ready to watch the drama unfold.
The scarlet liquid splashed across Fu Juemin’s new suit, staining the pristine white of his shirtfront a mottled crimson.
Fu Juemin frowned at the stain on his clothes, then looked up to meet the young man’s smirking face.
He seemed utterly unconcerned with how Fu Juemin might react, even lifting his chin slightly, his eyes flashing with provocation and anticipation.
Fu Juemin looked down at his clothes, then back at the young man. After a moment’s thought, he suddenly raised his hand...
WHOOSH—
The sharp sound of air being split.
CRACK!
With the crisp, resounding crack of a slap, a figure in white went flying sideways, followed by a clatter and smash of upended glasses.
Gasps erupted from the crowd. Many people clapped hands over their mouths, their incredulous eyes all fixed on Fu Juemin.
"You... you..."
The young man, sent flying five or six meters by Fu Juemin’s sudden slap, twitched on the floor like a fish thrown violently onto dry land. After a moment of flailing, he was hastily helped to his feet by onlookers.
He was so disoriented he could barely locate Fu Juemin. When he finally got his bearings, his face was a mask of shock, rage, venomous resentment, and utter disbelief.
"You dare hit me?"
"What did you expect?"
Fu Juemin took a hot towel from the tray of a nearby waiter, who was frozen in shock. He wiped his hands as he slowly advanced on the young man.
His expression was calm, as if he were ready to deliver a second slap at any moment.
A flicker of terror crossed the young man’s eyes, and he instinctively took two steps back. As his wits returned, he was just about to call for help.
Just then, footsteps echoed from outside the now-silent hall.
"Madam Ding is here."
Someone whispered the name, and all eyes turned in one direction as the crowd automatically parted.
The young man, one side of his face already swelling, looked as if he’d been thrown a lifeline. He shoved aside the people supporting him and scrambled toward the approaching figure.
"Godmother!"
Fu Juemin also halted, calling out calmly, "Aunt Ding."
Madam Ding’s impassive gaze swept over them both before she spoke, her face expressionless. "Slap him."
Hearing this, the young man’s face lit up with wild joy. He pointed at Fu Juemin and crowed, "Did you hear that? Godmother said to slap him! What are you waiting for?"
The next second, two towering, wall-like shadows shot forward, pinning the young man from both sides as easily as if he were a chick.
The young man froze, then began to struggle and shout, "What are you doing? Are you blind? Get him, not me!"
Big Cat and Kitty remained stone-faced and unmoved. Without so much as raising her eyes, Madam Ding spoke coolly, "I’ve raised you for years, and now you’ve learned to bite the hand that feeds you.
Let it happen again, and I’ll have your legs broken before you’re tossed out of the Ding Family."
With that, under the young man’s stunned, disbelieving gaze, Madam Ding stepped forward. She surveyed the room with a smile. "Everyone, I’d like you to meet..."
She took Fu Juemin’s arm with perfect ease and announced, her voice ringing out clearly, "My, Ding Moshan’s, own nephew. Fu Juemin... Fu Lingjun!"
In an instant, a tidal wave of gasps and murmurs swept through the room.
At that moment, it felt as though all the glittering lights of Shenghai’s glamorous night had converged upon Fu Juemin, and him alone.
...
