Chapter 189: 188, do I still have a chance?

“Then do you know that your daughter, Kim Sooeun, lured my friend to the Extreme Speed Taekwondo Gym and handed her over to Jiang Taizhong to be violated?” Lin Fan’s voice was cold, his earlier anger giving way to a furious laugh as he spoke into the phone. “And when she was exposed, she pushed my friend off a building, trying to kill Huang Xiaoya to vent her rage!”

“Hmph, so what? Who do you think my daughter is? And what is that Huang Xiaoya? Is her life worth as much as Sooeun’s?” the man’s voice on the phone grew sharper with annoyance and resentment.

“Fine. So there’s nothing left to discuss?” A mocking smile touched Lin Fan’s lips. He turned to the anxious Kim Soohwan. “Your father says he wants to settle the score with me for killing your sister, Kim Sooeun. He also said he has an illegitimate son, so he’s not afraid of you dying and leaving him without an heir.”

What? What did he just say? Lin Fan actually killed Kim Sooeun, the princess of the Guxin Group?

Luo Huiqiong trembled, nearly crying out in shock. Shen Lingling bit her lip, words catching in her throat.

It seemed they had truly misunderstood Lin Fan. To save their family of three, he had gone all out, even at the risk of a relentless feud with the Guxin Group.

The mother and daughter exchanged a look, their expressions complex as their lips pursed. Shen Lingling, in particular, felt a strong urge to apologize. But she had been pampered since birth, growing up as the center of attention.

Humble herself? She just couldn’t bring herself to do it.

“Brother Lin, you… you were too reckless! How could you offend the Guxin Group so badly for our sake!” Director Shen’s face had paled dramatically, his voice a low roar that was a mixture of grief and gratitude.

“…It wasn’t entirely for your sake. Kim Sooeun brought this upon herself,” Lin Fan said after a moment’s silence, realizing the Shen family had misunderstood. He couldn’t explain everything right now, so he simply turned his gaze back to the trembling Kim Soohwan. “Well? Are you ready? For the sake of that ten billion, I’ll give you a quick death.”

“No! Please don’t! I beg you!” Kim Soohwan trembled violently, snatched the phone, and began shouting desperately in Goryeo. “Dad! Sooeun deserved to die! She ignored my warnings and got involved with Jiang Taizhong. She even contracted AIDS from their orgies! She was ruined! Her death actually saves our Kim family a huge amount of trouble! I can’t be sacrificed for a worthless person like her! I am the most outstanding male heir of the Kim family! I can carry on your great legacy! Only I can lead the Guxin Group to greater glory!”

After his breathless speech, Kim Soohwan swallowed nervously, his eyes fixed on the phone’s screen. One second, two seconds, three… after more than two minutes of tense silence, a torrent of furious curses erupted from the phone.

“Thank you, Dad! I’ll learn my lesson and turn over a new leaf! I won’t disappoint you!” Kim Soohwan stammered, his face breaking into a delirious grin as he hastily made his promise.

CLICK!

The call ended. He heaved a deep sigh of relief and collapsed bonelessly to the floor.

“You’re not as stupid as you look. You know how to persuade your old man,” Lin Fan said with a shake of his head, his expression indifferent now that the deal was struck. He was completely unaware that the Shen family was staring, utterly astounded.

What a joke! The man on the other end of the line was the head of the Guxin Group, a tycoon renowned worldwide, the Family Head of the Goryeo Kim family, Kim Byeonghyun himself! Even the world’s top leaders wouldn’t dare to slight such a figure. Yet Lin Fan had forced him to compromise with just a few words?

“The Kim family will compensate you with thirty billion in total. Once you’re safely back in Yuncheng, give me an account number, and I’ll have it transferred,” Lin Fan said, ignoring the weeping Kim Soohwan and smiling at the Shen family.

The Shens gasped.

What? Thirty billion? That was like taking a huge, juicy bite out of the Guxin Group!

“Lin… Mr. Lin, I’m sorry. We misjudged you earlier,” Luo Huiqiong said with a sheepish, apologetic laugh.

Beside her, Shen Lingling hid behind her mother, stubbornly turning her head away, still unable to summon the courage to apologize to Lin Fan.

“Hmph, I told you I wasn’t wrong! I knew Brother Lin wouldn’t just stand by and do nothing!” Director Shen huffed, shooting a scolding look at his wife and daughter.

THUD!

Just then, a figure was thrown through the doorway, crashing heavily to the floor. It was the lobby manager, his face now bruised and swollen, tears streaming down his face as he sobbed. He had clearly been given a severe beating.

“Lin Fan, this bastard got sneaky and tried to use his phone to tip someone off. Luckily, we caught him!” Fatty Chu hobbled in on a crutch, an air of triumphant swagger about him. Behind him were Xia Bingbing and Master Jiang.

“Don’t… don’t hit me anymore! I was wrong! I’ll never do it again!” the lobby manager wailed, covering his head with his hands.

“No wonder your father found out everything so quickly,” Lin Fan said, glancing at the pale-faced Kim Soohwan with a shake of his head. He then turned to his friends. “Let me introduce you. This is my good friend, Director Shen, and this is his wife and daughter.”

“I’ll introduce myself! The name’s Chu! I’m a good buddy of Lin Fan’s dad!” Fatty Chu announced proudly, puffing out his chest. “You must have heard of Ying Bufan, right? The former Commander of the three-hundred-thousand-strong Hulin Guard on the northern front! He was given a state funeral seven years ago!”

What?! Lin Fan has such a significant background?!

The pupils of the three Shens contracted dramatically as they exchanged shocked glances. A heavy feeling settled in Shen Lingling’s stomach, and the taste in her mouth turned bitter. She was flooded with regret over her earlier attitude toward Lin Fan.

“…You fatso, what kind of nonsense are you spouting now?”

Under the collective stare of the room, Lin Fan felt his entire body tense, and his face turned green. Suppressing the urge to punch his friend, he gritted his teeth and shot Fatty Chu a venomous glare.

“Alright, alright, I get it. You want to keep your identity a secret,” Fatty Chu said breezily, clapping Lin Fan on the shoulder. His beady eyes twinkled with the smugness of someone who thought he saw through everything. “From now on, we’ll just have our own terms of address. You can call me Uncle, and I’ll call you Brother-in-law.” He then adopted a paternal tone. “Xiao Lin, your dad and I were great friends, thick as thieves! Every time we drank, he’d always lower his cup below mine out of respect!”

“Are you an idiot? I’m twenty-seven years old! How could I possibly be Ying Bufan’s son?” Lin Fan’s lip twitched, and he was rendered speechless. “Besides, when did he ever drink with you? Seven years ago, you were just a snot-nosed kid in middle school!”

“Hmph, believe it or not! Would I, the distinguished young master of the Imperial Capital’s Chu family, need to lie and brag?” Fatty Chu’s face flushed, though a hint of guilt flickered in his eyes. Seeing the Shen family looking over, he immediately stiffened his neck and yelled brazenly, completely ignoring Lin Fan, who was rolling his eyes while shooting a speechless look at a giggling Xia Bingbing.

“Wait, you’re from the Chu family?” Before Lin Fan could expose the lie, Director Shen swallowed hard, his eyes wide with shock.

The Chu family of the Imperial Capital! A top-five super-family! With countless high-ranking officials in the government, no one in the entire Xia Country would dare to underestimate them!

“Is there any doubt? I’m the one and only legitimate eldest son of the Chu family, Chu Guoxiong!” Fatty Chu puffed up with pride again, his small eyes unable to resist flicking toward the dumbfounded, open-mouthed Shen Lingling. “And look here, this is my sister, Xia Bingbing, the darling young lady of the Xia family from the Imperial Capital. You’ve heard of her grandfather, Xia Jiangnan, right? The once-renowned National Guardian War God!”

It was as if thunderclap after thunderclap went off in their minds.

Director Shen was completely floored, staring blankly at Xia Bingbing. Luo Huiqiong’s breath hitched, and she nearly stumbled. Shen Lingling’s mouth went dry as a wave of regret washed over her.

When she saw Xia Bingbing casually link arms with Lin Fan, she felt a pang of sorrow and shame, unconsciously lowering her pale face.

Who could have imagined that the seemingly ordinary Lin Fan was surrounded by people from the most elite circles of the Imperial Capital? If she hadn’t been so nasty to him earlier… could she have used her father’s connection to get closer to him? Even taking a step back, couldn’t he at least have brought her into the elite circles of the Imperial Capital that she had always dreamed of?

“Alright, this isn’t the place to talk. I’ll have someone send you back to Yuncheng first,” Lin Fan said, nodding to Director Shen. Without offering any further explanation, he turned and walked out of the basement.

Director Shen suppressed his shock, his eyes now filled with a deep reverence. He smiled and nodded at Fatty Chu and Xia Bingbing as a greeting. The group then followed Lin Fan, filing out of the room.

Luo Huiqiong and Shen Lingling walked quietly at the rear. Biting her lip, the latter couldn’t help but whisper to her mother, “Mom, I was wrong. I was so wrong… Do you think I still have a chance?”

“Silly child, they’re not people we can afford to offend. The fact that he came to save us out of respect for your father is more than enough.” A mother knows her daughter best. Seeing Shen Lingling’s crestfallen and regretful expression, Luo Huiqiong sighed, patting her daughter’s head as she offered some helpless counsel. In Yuncheng, their family was a force to be reckoned with. But compared to the people around Lin Fan, they were small fry in comparison.

“How could I have been so stupid? Why did I have to blame him!” Shen Lingling finally choked out, a tear of regret rolling silently down her cheek.

Unfortunately, there’s no medicine for regret in this world. Noticing Lin Fan’s indifferent attitude toward her, which held no trace of warmth or familiarity, she bit her lip hard, lowering her head in a mix of pain and frustration.

Just then, Lin Fan, who had already walked into the main gym, stopped in his tracks. He pulled out his phone, frowned at the unfamiliar number on the screen, and pressed the answer key.

“Hello, who is this?”

“Mr. Lin? It’s us! We were on the same flight this morning! My son’s bone marrow was stolen! Please, I’m begging you, you have to help us!” a woman’s sobbing voice came through the phone. “We don’t know anyone in the Imperial Capital! You’re the only powerful person we could think to ask!”

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep