Seeing Lu Zhuonian suddenly appear, Chen Zemian was just as surprised as everyone else.
He couldn’t help but feel that he and Lu Zhuonian might be inherently incompatible.
Otherwise, why would Lu Zhuonian always show up right when a fight breaks out?
The suspicion that had finally died down was probably going to flare up again after this.
Damn Xu Shaoyang.
But then again, this was just too much of a coincidence. Lu Zhuonian rarely came to the shooting range, and even when he did, he wouldn’t necessarily see Chen Zemian right away.
The last time they met was already more than half a month ago — why would he suddenly appear today? It felt too coincidental, almost as if he came here just to catch him in the act.
If Chen Zemian hadn’t read the plot and known that the Lu and Xu families were long-standing rivals, he would’ve suspected that Xu Shaoyang had been sent to stir up trouble by Lu Zhuonian himself.
Xu Shaoyang was horrified.
He hadn’t expected Lu Zhuonian to appear here — let alone that Chen Zhe’s boss would turn out to be Lu Zhuonian.
This international shooting range actually belonged to the Lu family?
Lu Zhuonian walked into the training hall with an indifferent expression and a chilling voice.
“Xu Shaoyang, it seems you’ve forgotten what I told you last time.”
Xu Shaoyang’s heart pounded violently, sending sharp pain through his ribs. “Lu Zhuonian, it was your employee who hit me.”
“I saw you strike first,” Lu Zhuonian said in a flat, unwavering tone.
Onlookers began chiming in:
“Yeah, it was clearly him who grabbed that handsome guy first.”
“What’s wrong with this guy? He started shouting the second he walked in — definitely came to cause trouble.”
“The staff kept their cool the whole time, but he got so riled up he tried to hit someone?”
“Why does someone that emotionally unstable come to a shooting range? That’s dangerous.”
“Hey, hey — security, secure the guns over there and call the police!”
The whispers swirled like a tide, flooding Xu Shaoyang’s mind, crashing over him like accusations.
His cheeks burned, his scalp tingled, and his skin crawled with imagined pain. It was like standing on trial — forced to endure judgment and scorn.
“He insulted me first!” Xu Shaoyang finally snapped, his voice shaking with humiliation and fury. He jabbed a finger at Chen Zemian. “He insulted me first!”
The onlookers hadn’t heard anything like that, but when they saw the rage in Xu Shaoyang’s bloodshot eyes, no one dared challenge him. They simply stared with wary eyes, as if afraid he’d lose control and hurt someone.
That kind of gaze alone was a form of provocation — for someone who was already spiraling.
Xu Shaoyang glared at Chen Zemian. His face flushed, his eyes red, his ribs throbbing — every ache a reminder of the insults and the beating.
And yet, everyone still thought he was the problem.
I was the one who got hit.
He had never felt so humiliated or wronged.
Consumed by anger, Xu Shaoyang grabbed Chen Zemian’s arm and shouted, “Did you insult me? Say it! Did you?!”
Chen Zemian nodded without hesitation. “Yeah. I did.”
Xu Shaoyang had expected denial. He hadn’t anticipated such a casual admission. The questions and counterarguments he’d prepared got stuck in his throat — he nearly choked on them.
This guy had to be crazy.
Why can’t he ever play by the rules?
Xu Shaoyang’s rage had reached its peak, but Chen Zemian’s response deflated it like a balloon. The fury had nowhere left to go.
Desperate for vindication, Xu Shaoyang clung to the last shred of control and turned to Lu Zhuonian. “You heard that! He admitted it!”
“Let go of him first,” Lu Zhuonian said coldly.
Xu Shaoyang, holding his side, refused to back down. “Your Lu family employees are arrogant and reckless. They insult and assault customers. You can’t just sweep this under the rug.”
Lu Zhuonian’s eyes darkened. “What do you want?”
“I want him to kneel and apologize!” Xu Shaoyang demanded.
The words “kneel and apologize” drew a wave of low gasps from the crowd. Everyone agreed — that was going way too far.
Chen Zemian almost burst out laughing but quickly lowered his head to hide his expression.
Kneeling to apologize? Classic male drama line. So this cliché really happened to me, huh?
He thought if he bowed his head fast enough, no one would notice his expression-management failure. But he underestimated Lu Zhuonian’s sharp eyes.
Not only did Lu Zhuonian catch the laugh, he also noticed a faint red mole on the side of Chen Zemian’s slender neck when he lowered his head.
Small. Bright red.
Lu Zhuonian unconsciously twisted his fingers and said in a low voice, “Chen Zhe, stop laughing.”
The corners of Chen Zemian’s mouth froze. He stopped immediately.
What kind of eyes does this man have? He noticed that too?
Xu Shaoyang stared in disbelief. He grabbed Chen Zemian’s shoulder to look him in the face and asked, shocked, “You’re laughing?”
Lu Zhuonian’s gaze darkened further. “Chen Zhe, come here.”
Chen Zemian lifted his head and met Lu Zhuonian’s ink-dark eyes. Worried he had gone too far, he didn’t dare mess around. He twisted his wrist from Xu Shaoyang’s grip and obediently walked toward Lu Zhuonian with his head down.
Before Xu Shaoyang could even process what had happened, his hand throbbed in pain. He reflexively let go. By the time he came to his senses, Chen Zemian was already standing on the other side of Lu Zhuonian.
No matter how brave he was, Xu Shaoyang would not dare to reach out to Lu Zhuonian to arrest someone.
Xu Shaoyang was furious but helpless. He felt that Lu Zhuonian was simply possessed by a ghost. He couldn’t understand why this famous prince of the Beijing circle had to protect the worthless Chen Zhe.
He wanted to say something more, but Lu Zhuonian had already lost all his patience.
Lu Zhuonian said calmly, “Save the rest for the police.”
Xu Shaoyang couldn’t believe it. “You actually called the police over such a small matter? Don’t you care about the impact on the shooting range?”
Lu Zhuonian ignored Xu Shaoyang, glanced at Chen Zemian, gave him a ‘follow me’ look, then turned and left with a blank expression.
Chen Zemian hesitated for a split second between following immediately and pretending to be dumb, but finally obediently accepted the signal from his leader and followed Lu Zhuonian with his head lowered.
The police retrieved the surveillance footage from the shooting range training hall in accordance with the law and summoned the people present for questioning.
It was a very simple case. The clear surveillance footage and witness testimony corroborated each other, forming a complete and clear logical chain.
Xu Shaoyang was detained by the public security authorities on suspicion of provoking disturbances but was released on bail before finishing his statement.
This was also within Chen Zemian’s expectations.
After all, he was the second young master of the Xu family.
Chen Zemian was not disappointed but made an objective analysis: “Except for the moment when he took out the gun, his other actions did not qualify as ‘egregious circumstances.’”
“That has nothing to do with that,” Lu Zhuonian paused until Chen Zemian looked at him, then continued, “He was released on medical parole.”
Chen Zemian: “…”
Lu Zhuonian’s gaze lingered on Chen Zemian’s face as he looked at him quietly for three seconds.
Chen Zemian was confused and tilted his head, like a vigilant and curious feline.
He was brave and aggressive, ready to strike anyone who dared to provoke him with his claws.
Although Lu Zhuonian’s expression didn’t change much, the confusion in his heart was no less than Chen Zemian’s.
What kind of experience could cause such a drastic change in a person?
Ever since he injured Wu Xu that night, Chen Zhe seemed to have activated his belligerence system. He had several fights in less than a month, each more brutal than the last. The impact he caused grew increasingly greater, and the list of victims continued to grow.
If left unchecked, what kind of impact could Chen Zhe have?
Lu Zhuonian lowered his gaze to Chen Zemian’s wrist, curious how such a slender, bony wrist could burst out with such powerful strength — not only able to instantly lift 80 kg Xu Shaoyang and throw him far away, but also exert enough force in the brief moment of an over-the-shoulder throw to slam him to the ground.
Considering Xu Shaoyang’s own weight and the height from which he fell, he should never have fallen like that.
There was a large area of soft tissue bruising, three ribs were broken, and six were fractured.
Chen Zemian was stunned when he heard the results: “Broken? Broken so many times?”
Lu Zhuonian said, “It cracked more.”
Chen Zemian noticed Lu Zhuonian looking at his wrist again, stretched his sleeves uncomfortably, and tried his best to excuse himself: “Maybe Xu Shaoyang is too fragile.”
Yes, it must be Xu Shaoyang who is too fragile.
Young Master Xu was a spoiled child who had been pampered. He might never have been beaten since childhood, so his ability to withstand blows was weak, causing his ribs to break from just a slight fall.
Lu Zhuonian did not comment on Chen Zemian’s explanation but stated plainly, “It’s broken a lot.”
“If you can’t be beaten, then don’t go out fighting,” Chen Zemian said disappointedly, frantically blaming him: “Maybe he broke it on purpose, just to get me jailed.”
Lu Zhuonian said, “You won’t go to jail.”
Chen Zemian’s eyes moved as he looked at Lu Zhuonian expectantly. “Really?”
Lu Zhuonian responded, “Yeah.”
After getting the promise from the male lead, Chen Zemian breathed a sigh of relief. “So it turns out Young Master Lu has arranged everything for me. I was shocked.”
“No arrangements,” Lu Zhuonian said, looking Chen Zemian up and down with some blame. “Bribery is illegal, Chen Zhe.”
“…”
Chen Zemian unconsciously tilted his head back, staring at Lu Zhuonian in shock, but saw that the other’s expression did not change and that he said the sentence very seriously.
For a moment, he almost thought that he and Lu Zhuonian were not reading from the same book.
In the original story, in pursuit of excitement, Lu Zhuonian’s background was set as unfathomable. From the moment he appeared on stage, he had backstage connections everywhere. No matter how big the problem was, he could solve it with just a phone call or a meal. He could easily eliminate powerful enemies with a flick of his fingers. He was cool and arrogant, doing whatever he wanted.
Why did this great dragon Aotian suddenly get a moral compass?
The world suddenly seemed so mysterious.
Of course, I know bribery is against the law; the problem is, in the book, you seem to have no legal awareness at all!
Chen Zemian was a little dazed, even forgetting to use honorifics. “Then how do you know I won’t go to jail?”
Lu Zhuonian said calmly, “I believe in judicial justice.”
*****
TL Note: Thank you for all those who read this far. I’m new to translating so if there are any wrong terms, spelling, and any correcting you see, just comment and I’ll work on it. Also, this mass release will be the last one. See you all next chapter!
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Author: LazyHermitGal
A Lazy Hermit Gal. A little support goes a long way! If you’d like to help me keep creating, you can do so at https://ko-fi.com/lazyhermitgal
