More than half an hour later, Xia Mengmeng returned.
As she was about to open the door, she caught a whiff of a delicious aroma. The next second, like a little greedy kitten, she followed the scent straight to Chen Fan's villa.
When she saw Chen Fan and her sister happily enjoying the food, she immediately looked on the verge of tears with envy.
"If I had known, I would've come back earlier…"
She spoke up, still unable to forget Chen Fan's incredible cooking.
Without hesitation, she grabbed a skewer of lamb and began eating.
After a while, she overheard Chen Fan calling her sister "Ruoshui"—and to her surprise, her sister responded happily, without the slightest hint of anger. Xia Mengmeng's eyes immediately lit up.
Whoa! Is Senior Chen and my sister's relationship progressing that fast?!
Looks like today's plan was a total success.
Since it worked so well, maybe it's worth trying again.
At this pace, if everything goes smoothly, it won't be long before her sister and Senior Chen become an official couple.
Xia Mengmeng pondered happily in her mind.
After the meal, Xia Mengmeng and Xia Ruoshui left.
Chen Fan quickly cleaned up and went to rest.
He could hardly wait for tomorrow to arrive.
Right now, his net worth had already reached over 8 billion yuan—he was just a few billion short of hitting the 10-billion mark!
If luck was on his side, tomorrow's reward might push him over the threshold and make him the youngest billionaire in Jiangzhou!
How could he not be excited? How could he not be thrilled?!
The next morning, after class, Chen Fan drove out of the school.
At the school gate, Chen Haoyu spotted him and quickly called his sister, Chen Yicui.
"Chen Fan just left the university. Got it, I understand."
Chen Yicui nodded after hanging up.
She then looked toward the tall, muscular young man beside her.
"Brother Xingrong, Chen Fan has left Jiangzhou University."
This tall young man was none other than Chen Xingrong, the eldest son of Chen Jinping—Chen Yicui's fourth uncle. Chen Xingrong was currently a major player in Jiangzhou's underground world, a leader of one of its factions with nearly a hundred men under him.
"Good," he nodded.
Then he sent a message to one of his underlings, instructing them to tail Chen Fan's car.
"With Brother Xingrong taking charge, there's no way Chen Fan will escape this time," Chen Yicui said excitedly.
To deal with Chen Fan, Brother Xingrong had gathered twenty to thirty of his men—this time it was a sure win.
In the eyes of both Chen Yicui and her father, having Chen Xingrong handle the situation was like a dimensional suppression—Chen Fan wouldn't even have a chance to resist!
Brother Xingrong was their greatest hope!
"Exactly. All those roundabout methods you tried before were useless. There's nothing like settling things with fists—truth comes from power!"
Chen Xingrong clenched his fist the size of a sandbag, his expression fierce.
This time, he was going to use his fists to beat Chen Fan into submission and make him kneel and apologize to their grandfather!
Soon after, he received a message from his underling.
"Boss, that guy got off at Tan Family Cuisine. Looks like he's going in to eat."
Tan Family Cuisine was one of Jiangzhou's top private dining establishments. It didn't serve the public—only members—and was renowned for its exclusivity and high-end service.
"That brat still has the nerve to enjoy gourmet food? Heh, I'll beat him so hard he won't know which way is up."
With that, Chen Xingrong waved his hand and led his prepared team of two to three dozen men, heading out in full force.
Ten minutes later, Chen Xingrong arrived at Tan Family Cuisine with Chen Yicui and his gang of men, their presence aggressive and intimidating.
The underling who had been tailing Chen Fan came over and reported the exact private room Chen Fan was in.
Immediately, Chen Xingrong led the group in and kicked open the private room door.
Inside, Chen Fan was looking at his phone. Just moments ago, Wei Jingxiong had sent a message saying he had an urgent matter to attend to and would be half an hour late.
"Chen Fan, I finally found you," said Chen Xingrong with a sinister grin.
"What do you want with me?" Chen Fan asked calmly.
"What do I want? Obviously, to beat you up."
Chen Xingrong stepped forward.
"If you know what's good for you, go back right now, kneel before Grandfather, apologize, return to the Chen family, and agree to marry the daughter of the Xu family. Then I might let you off."
"If not, don't blame me for being ruthless."
With a cold gleam in his eyes, Chen Xingrong cracked his knuckles, ready to strike.
"Go back to the Chen family? Keep dreaming," Chen Fan retorted.
"Still so arrogant, huh?" Chen Yicui sneered. "Brother Xingrong, teach him a lesson!"
"Gladly."
Chen Xingrong signaled his men to hold back. He wanted to deal with this himself.
He stepped in front of Chen Fan and swung his massive fist with all his strength.
But just when he thought he could crush Chen Fan with ease, something unexpected happened.
Chen Fan suddenly stood up and dodged the punch with a slight movement.
In a flash, he grabbed Xingrong's arm and, with a burst of force—
Boom!
A loud crash echoed through the room as Chen Xingrong was thrown violently to the floor.
He screamed in pain.
Everyone froze in shock.
What just happened?!
Even Chen Yicui was stunned.
This wasn't how it was supposed to go!
Wasn't Brother Xingrong supposed to beat Chen Fan into the ground? Why was the towering, muscular Brother Xingrong the one now lying on the floor?
Xingrong's men quickly rushed to help him up.
"Damn it!" he growled, his expression twisted with rage.
He could barely believe it—how could a man like him, 6'3", over 200 pounds, be taken down by Chen Fan in one move?
He wasn't even a match for Chen Fan!
"So this is your so-called confidence?" Chen Fan said coldly.
The top-level combat skills he had recently received from the system were proving extremely useful.
"I didn't expect your skills to be this good. I underestimated you," Xingrong admitted, still defiant.
"I may not be able to beat you alone, but I've got my brothers here."
"You dare hit me? Let's see if they let that slide!"
"NO WAY!!" his men shouted in unison.
With just a glance from Xingrong, all two to three dozen of his underlings stormed into the room, completely surrounding Chen Fan.
He couldn't win alone, but he had numbers on his side. There was no way Chen Fan could stand against them all.
"Get him!!" Xingrong roared, losing all patience.
But just as the command left his mouth—
"I dare anyone to make a move!!!"
A deep, commanding voice boomed from behind them.
Xingrong turned around in fury to see who dared challenge him.
But the moment he saw the person's face—his expression instantly changed to one of horror!