Chapter 19: Did I Give You Permission to Act?

“Brother—no, Grandpa, please, stop hitting us! We know we were wrong!”
“Yes, yes, we won’t dare do it again!”
The two lackeys kowtowed to Su Yifan, begging for forgiveness.
At the commotion, all eyes in the crowd shifted from Zhou Zheng to them.
What’s going on with these two?
Why did they suddenly kneel?
Just as everyone thought that Su Yifan had forced them to kneel, Su Yifan spoke.
“You want me to let you go?” he asked.
“Yes,” they replied in unison.
Thinking the ordeal was over, they began to get up.
But just as they rose halfway—
“Did I tell you to move?” Su Yifan’s voice was cold as ice.
With a thud, the two lackeys dropped back to their knees like obedient children, awaiting judgment.
Su Meng was about to speak up, wanting to plead for leniency on their behalf, but Su Yifan raised his hand to stop her.
He knew his sister was kind-hearted, but with people like this, kindness only emboldened them.
If you wanted them to behave, there was only one way: force.
He said coolly, “I can let you go, but you two must tell everyone exactly what happened just now—including what that useless fellow was after.”
At his words, the two lackeys exchanged an uneasy glance, hesitating.
Su Yifan saw their reluctance but didn’t care. He continued,
“You have five seconds to decide. When time’s up, you’ll end up just like him.”
“Five!”
“Four!”
“Three!”
Just as he was about to say two—
“I’ll talk! I’ll talk!” one of the lackeys blurted out. “It was… it was Young Master Zhou. He wanted to trick a pretty freshman girl into going out for bubble tea, and then spike her drink.”
“What kind of drug?” Su Yifan’s gaze was fixed on him.
The lackey hesitated, gritting his teeth. “An aphrodisiac!”
At that,
A commotion erupted among the onlookers.
What?
A drug, and an aphrodisiac at that?

This beast!
In an instant, everyone glared angrily at Zhou Zheng, who lay on the ground—each of them itching to tear him apart.
At the same time, they felt a wave of shame, for they had just berated Su Yifan without knowing the truth.
Su Yifan ignored them and continued questioning the two lackeys, “Is there anything else?”
The two lackeys’ hearts skipped a beat.
“Hm?” Su Yifan grunted.
Startled, the other lackey quickly spoke, “He was going to trick the freshman girl, but then he saw Su Meng coming back, so… so he changed his target to her.”
With that, the crowd finally understood why Su Yifan had intervened.
Who could stand by when their own sister was being targeted like that?
At that moment, Zhou Zheng, regaining a bit of consciousness, heard these words. He glared furiously at his lackeys, but could do nothing.
Su Meng staggered in fear, nearly losing her balance, but Han Qingqing caught her just in time.
“Damn it!”
Su Yifan ground his teeth and glared murderously at Zhou Zheng, raising his hand as if to send him to the afterlife.
“Brother, don’t!”
Seeing her brother’s murderous intent, Su Meng hurried to stop him.
Han Qingqing also chimed in, “Meng’er’s brother, let it go. What he wanted to do was vile, but nothing actually happened.”
“And Meng’er still has to go to school here. Let’s just let it go.”
Hearing his sister and Han Qingqing, Su Yifan finally regained a bit of composure.
If this had happened elsewhere, he’d kill that man without hesitation!
But considering his sister would be at this school for two more years, he had to let it go.
Besides, he’d already destroyed Zhou Zheng’s means of committing the crime—punishment enough.
“You two, if the school authorities come asking, you know what to say, right?” Su Yifan said coolly.
“Yes, yes!” the lackeys nodded frantically, not daring to hesitate.
Satisfied, Su Yifan nodded.
“Get lost!”
“Yes, yes, we’re leaving right now!”
Freed, the two lackeys scrambled to their feet and ran off.
Seeing the matter resolved, the crowd dispersed as well.
Watching them go, Su Yifan turned to his sister and Han Qingqing, smiling. “Come on, I’ll walk you to the dorm.”
“Um, can I call you Brother Yifan from now on?” Han Qingqing asked cautiously.
She had learned his name but wasn’t sure how to address him.
“You’re Meng’er’s friend—of course you can.”

Su Yifan nodded.
Han Qingqing’s face lit up with joy. She took Su Meng’s suitcase from Su Yifan’s hand.
“We can walk back to the dorm ourselves. You just fought off so many people—you should leave before you get in trouble.”
Hearing this, Su Meng nodded in agreement. “Qingqing’s right. Brother, you’d better go. If the school authorities show up, things will get messy.”
“But…” Su Yifan was still uneasy.
“Oh, don’t worry! After what everyone saw today, no one will dare mess with Meng’er now.”
Han Qingqing pointed to herself, “Besides, I’m here too. As long as I’m around, Meng’er will be fine.”
Su Meng glanced at her best friend, then at her brother. “Brother, just go home. Don’t worry about us.”
Seeing their insistence and not wanting to worry his sister, Su Yifan thought for a moment, then said, “Alright. If anything happens, let me know right away. I’m leaving now.”
With that, he turned to go.
“Wait!”
He had only taken two steps when Han Qingqing called out to him.
“Yes?” Su Yifan asked.
Han Qingqing lowered her head shyly, hesitating before asking, “Um, can I add you on WeChat?”
Su Meng nudged her with her elbow at the request.
Han Qingqing ignored her, keeping her eyes on Su Yifan, clearly hoping for his answer.
Su Yifan didn’t think much of it and smiled. “Sure, just have Meng’er send you my contact later.”
With that, he left.
“Yes!” Han Qingqing cheered delightedly.
She threw an arm around Su Meng’s shoulders, as if afraid she might run away. “Meng’er, you heard him—your brother said yes! Hurry, send me his WeChat.”
“No way, I’m not giving it to you,” Su Meng refused.
Her brother might have agreed, but she hadn’t!
“Meng’er, are we not best friends anymore?”
“We are, but still no!”
“I don’t care—your brother already said yes, so you have to!”
“Ah—what are you doing? Don’t touch me there. Fine, fine, I’ll give it to you…”
…
After leaving his sister’s school, Su Yifan took a car straight home.
When he got back, he didn’t mention what had happened at school to his parents.
First, he didn’t want them to worry.
Second, there was no need—he could handle anything himself.