Chapter 496: Chapter 485: Mr. Qin, I was wrong!

A shout of "Boss Qin" erupted in terror from Baldy’s mouth.

The air immediately froze. This private area, shielded on both sides by antique screens, fell into a silence so profound one could hear a pin drop. It felt as if you could even hear everyone’s heartbeats in the small space.

"Kneel!"

As Baldy trembled in abject terror, Qin Fan said in a cold, expressionless voice.

BANG!

Without a moment’s hesitation, as if by reflex, Baldy slammed his knees onto the floor before Qin Fan. He didn’t even dare to breathe heavily. He held his breath, the very picture of panic. With a guilty conscience, his heart leaped into his throat.

THUD... THUD... THUD...

In the deathly-still atmosphere, Qin Fan began to walk forward. Each footstep sounded like a hammer blow against Baldy’s heart, and with every thud, his body trembled anew. By the time Qin Fan stood before him, Baldy was drenched in a cold sweat, with large, bean-sized beads of it covering his entire forehead.

"Lift your head!" Looking down at Baldy, Qin Fan’s tone was still ice-cold.

Not daring to hesitate in the slightest, Baldy snapped his head up. His face was slick with sweat as he stammered, "Boss Qin!"

WHOOSH!

The name had barely left his lips when Qin Fan drove his knee up into Baldy’s chin.

BANG!

The impact launched Baldy’s kneeling body backward, sending him crashing violently into the coffee table. With a tremendous clatter, everything on the table crashed to the floor.

The commotion drew Baldy’s underlings from downstairs. A dozen or so ferocious-looking men charged up.

"Boss!"

"Get lost!" Daring not to play dead, Baldy struggled to his feet, his mouth full of blood. He yelled frantically at his men. "This has nothing to do with you! Get out of here now!"

"Boss!"

"GET OUT!" Baldy roared, staggering upright.

CRACK. CRACK.

The sound of knuckles cracking echoed as the men clenched their fists and gritted their teeth in anger. After shooting a resentful glare at Qin Fan’s group, the underlings no longer dared to disobey their boss. One by one, they turned and left.

Biting back the pain, Baldy staggered back to Qin Fan and, without needing to be told, fell to his knees again.

"Boss Qin, I was wrong!" Baldy stammered, head bowed, still trembling with fear.

"Where were you wrong?" Qin Fan asked coldly.

"I shouldn’t have taken Qiuze to collect a debt and let him get hurt!" Baldy said.

"Heh," Qin Fan chuckled dismissively. "Lift your head!"

Baldy shakily raised his head again. But before his uneasy gaze could meet Qin Fan’s, another knee smashed into his face.

BANG!

The scene repeated itself. This time, after flying backward, he landed flat on his face. Blood from his mouth pooled on the floor beneath him. If Qin Fan hadn’t controlled his strength, Baldy’s jaw would have been shattered, if not dislocated.

The two sudden, violent attacks deeply shocked Li Qiuzhe and Li Yunzhe. They had never seen this side of Qin Fan before. Completely stunned, they were too scared to even speak, their minds having gone completely blank.

DRIP. DRIP.

Despite the severe blows, Baldy didn’t dare stay down. After struggling halfway up and falling back several times, he finally gritted his teeth and forced himself to his feet. He wobbled and staggered back to Qin Fan. Dripping blood from his mouth, Baldy once again knelt heavily. "Boss Qin, I was wrong!" he slurred.

"Where were you wrong?" The question was the same, but Qin Fan’s tone grew even colder.

"I shouldn’t have maliciously tested Qiuze. I shouldn’t have knowingly taken him to collect on a bad debt just to make a fool out of him! Boss Qin, I was wrong! Please give me a chance, just one more chance!" As he finished his slurred confession, Baldy raised his head, his eyes a mixture of terror and pleading.

"Baldy, you motherfucker!" Hearing this, Li Qiuzhe, who was standing to the side, flew into a rage. "I treated you like a colleague and let bygones be bygones, and you fucking set me up?"

His face red with fury, he roared, strode forward, and grabbed Baldy by the hair. Without a second thought, he started punching him in the face. Although the answer wasn’t a surprise after what Qin Fan had said in their dorm room, hearing the confession firsthand still made him lose control.

"Qiuze, I was wrong! I was wrong! Give me a chance, please, give me a chance!" Baldy pleaded incessantly, spitting blood with every slurred word as he endured Li Qiuzhe’s punches.

At this moment—no, from the very second Qin Fan had appeared—he had been filled with regret. But alas, those who are too clever often outsmart themselves. He hadn’t run into an ordinary college student, but a monster with the experience of a five-hundred-year-old soul. How could his petty schemes possibly escape Qin Fan’s discerning eyes?

"Motherfucker!"

After landing a few more furious punches, Li Qiuzhe kicked Baldy square in the chest, sending him flying several meters and nearly knocking over the reinforced screens.

Watching Li Qiuzhe panting heavily with rage, Qin Fan asked with a smile, "Feel better? If not, keep going."

"Enough! I’m afraid I’ll kill him if I keep going! That old bastard set me up, and I was too much of a fucking idiot to even notice! Fuck, I’m so stupid!" Enraged and ashamed, Li Qiuzhe wanted nothing more than to slap himself.

"Alright, don’t take it to heart," Qin Fan said, patting Li Qiuzhe’s shoulder reassuringly. "It’s a lesson learned. No one’s path is perfectly smooth. Learning a hard lesson early on is a good thing."

Being naturally thick-skinned and resilient, Li Qiuzhe calmed down a little after Qin Fan’s words of comfort. He nodded and said, "Yeah, I’m fine. I was just really frustrated, but I’m much better now!"

Before Qin Fan could respond, Li Qiuzhe added, "Fourth Bro, what’s next?" 𝒻𝑟ℯℯ𝑤𝑒𝑏𝑛𝘰𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝒸𝑜𝘮

"Hold on," Qin Fan said, raising a hand. He then walked over to Baldy. Looking down at Baldy, whose face was swollen like a pig’s, he asked, "Can you still manage?"

"Boss Qin!" Baldy trembled, looking up with even greater fear in his eyes.

"If you can, clean yourself up and come with me," Qin Fan said.

"I can, I can, I definitely can!" Hearing the slight softening in Qin Fan’s tone, Baldy was overjoyed as if he’d been granted a pardon. With that, he grabbed the leg of a chair to haul himself up. "Boss Qin, I’ll just go to the restroom to wash up. I’ll be quick, very quick!"

After Qin Fan nodded, Baldy staggered toward the restroom.