Chapter 52: The Money Offensive

  A middle-aged man said, "Second Miss, we didn't speak for anyone, but we stood up spontaneously out of righteous indignation. Who is right or wrong is hard to determine, but at least Zhou Lin was injured, while Xia Chen didn't even have a hair out of place. Who provoked whom is obvious at a glance."

  Another man with scars also said discontentedly, "Second Miss, no matter what, we are all old people of the Li family. This Xia Chen just came and beat up Zhou Lin, it's really unreasonable."

  "I remember that the Li family has always treated people based on their cultivation and contributions, but Xia Chen just arrived yesterday, what contribution can he make, yet Second Miss looks at him with such different eyes, it seems we old folks are not valued anymore." A middle-aged woman said coldly.

  "It's just, this is unfair to us, we're going to leave the Li family!"

  "Either severely punish Xia Chen, or we leave the Li family!"

  The guests at the gate all cried out again.

  Zhou Lin smiled with satisfaction and said in a loud voice: "Second Miss, you've seen it all now, what is meant by 'justice being in people's hearts'? This is it!"

  Li Qitong never expected that everyone would unanimously target Xia Chen. She couldn't help but feel anxious and angry, saying: "Zhou Lin, what do you want to do?"

  "What do I want?" Zhou Lin sneered, "It's simple. Second Miss only needs to let this guest kneel down and apologize to us, then expel him from the Li family, and we won't leave."

  "You!" Li Qiong was so angry that she couldn't speak.

  "Also, we were treated unfairly at the Li's house." Zhou Lin continued, "Just now, the young lady wanted to assign us more tasks. I demanded that our salary must be doubled; otherwise, I absolutely won't agree."

  "Right, we must be given a raise!" The eyes of the guests lit up and they immediately echoed in agreement.

  "Our Li family has always treated guests with the highest courtesy among the four major families, you're taking advantage of the situation and blackmailing us, isn't that too much?" Li Qiu Tong said. Looking at Li Ya Tong who was standing aside, watching coldly, "Sister, why don't you come out and say something."

  "I don't have anything good to say." Li Yatong said calmly without looking up, "The trouble your guest stirred up, why do you want me to clean up after him? You're always protecting him, so you think of a way to placate them yourself."

  "Sister!" Li Qiu Tong had never expected that Li Ya Tong would ignore her, and she couldn't help but blush.

  "Khite Tong, it's alright, let me handle this." Xia Chen suddenly smiled warmly and patted Li Khite Tong's shoulder, pulling her behind him.

  "Xiao Chenzi, no matter what, I will protect you. Whoever wants to drive you away won't find it easy." Li Qitong said with a huff.

  Xia Chen's heart warmed up, and he smiled slightly at her. He then walked forward and slightly bowed his hands to the guests: "I'm Xia Chen, it's my first time coming to the Li's house, I don't know the rules, if I've offended any of you, please forgive me."

  "Shut up and kneel down to apologize, slap yourself in the face, then get out of the Li's house. We won't bother with you anymore, nor do we need your hypocritical courtesy." Zhou Lin said sternly at once.

  The other guests also looked at Xia Chen coldly, and no one spoke up.

  Xia Chen, let's see how you wrap things up! If you can't handle these people, then quickly slink away from the Li family with your tail between your legs. A cold glint flashed in Li Yatong's eyes.

  Yesterday Xia Chen's icy disdain still makes her feel humiliated, like a fishbone stuck in her throat, even affecting her sleep.

  Xia Chen's face floated with a faint smile, seemingly indifferent to the cold eyes of the crowd. He ignored Zhou Lin and walked directly in front of the middle-aged man who had just spoken.

  "Everyone, Second Miss is actually very concerned about all of you. Yesterday, she specifically instructed me to get along well with everyone and not be arrogant or superior. Moreover, Second Miss has a kind heart and seeing that everyone's workload has increased over the past few days, she must be feeling uneasy and worried. That's why she especially asked me to treat all of you." Xia Chen said with a warm smile.

  As he spoke, he stretched out his hand to the middle-aged man.

  The middle-aged man snorted in disdain and was about to coldly refuse.

  Suddenly, the middle-aged man widened his eyes and stared straight at Xia Chen's palm, where a glittering gold ingot was placed!

  In an instant, the middle-aged man's breathing became urgent, his mouth agape as he stared at Xia Chen, his icy expression transformed into a greedy and surprised one.

  "Please accept this gift from Second Miss." Xia Chen smiled faintly and placed the gold ingot in the middle-aged man's hand.

  "Many... thank you, Second Miss, for your gift. I am willing to go through fire and water for you, it's not a problem!" The middle-aged man's voice became somewhat incoherent with excitement, and the gleaming light from the gold made his face appear entirely golden.

  A gold bar is almost equivalent to his annual salary in Xia's family.

  Everyone's eyes turned green in an instant, staring at the gold and involuntarily drooling, their cold expressions were instantly thrown to the ends of the earth.

  "Everyone, take it with a smile, and be sure to support the second young lady." Xia Chen handed out the gold coins one by one to the crowd with a faint smile.

  No one refused, these door guests were the most ordinary practitioners, and had long since abandoned their hearts of cultivation, only to earn gold and silver, otherwise they would not have come to the cultivation family as thugs. In the face of Xia Chen's powerful money offensive, everyone naturally bowed their heads.

  In the blink of an eye, except for Zhou Lin, every guest had a handful of gold sent by Xia Chen.

  The cold attitude of the crowd also disappeared without a trace, and not only was it warm to Xia Chen, but some even had a flattering tone.

  "Xia, little brother, don't mind my attitude earlier, I was just unaware and deceived. Now that I know the truth, with your youth and talent, under Second Miss's leadership, you will surely achieve great things. You absolutely cannot leave the Li family! Big Brother still wants to make a name for himself under your and Second Miss's leadership, haha."

  "Xia Chen, Second Miss is so good to us guests, I'm really grateful and don't know what to say. Don't worry, if there's anything in the future, just look for me, I'll definitely go all out, without a single excuse, and never leave."

  "Xia Chen, thank you, Second Miss and you are so considerate. Nothing more to say, one sentence, for Second Miss, I'd go through fire and water, without hesitation."

  Everyone was excitedly saying that they didn't care about the previous moment when they were indignant and wanted to leave, it seemed like a sudden change of heart.

  Xia Chen smiled slightly and looked at Li Qiu Tong, who had a surprised expression on her face and seemed to be at a loss for words: "Second Miss, look, everyone won't leave now, isn't this great?"

  Zhou Lin's face turned iron-green, he never expected that the alliance he had painstakingly organized would collapse in an instant under Xia Chen's powerful financial offensive.

  "How can you be so shameless? Didn't we just discuss advancing and retreating together yesterday, and now you're preparing to betray me?"

  That middle-aged man said indifferently, "Zhou Lin, you can't say that. What do you mean by 'buying us off'? Xia Chen just said that this is the second young lady's intention, showing consideration for our guests! If you call it buying us off, then didn't your giving us silver yesterday and letting us be like this today also count as buying us off? Of course, I will return your benefits to you. I won't collude with someone like you."

  "You!" Zhou Lin Wan did not expect this middle-aged man to actually bring up the fact that he had been bribed in public, and was so angry that his whole body was shaking.

  "Zhou Lin, you deliberately provoked Xia Chen yesterday and ended up humiliating yourself. Now you want to buy us off and threaten the Li family? What kind of heart do you have!" The scar-faced man said coldly, unwilling to fall behind.

  "Zhou Lin, you still have ulterior motives, often secretly lusting after the second young lady in private. Do you think we don't know about your despicable thoughts? You're truly shameless." The middle-aged woman was even more ruthless, directly exposing Zhou Lin's true nature.

  The other guests also immediately changed their tune, and one after another followed suit. In the blink of an eye, a provocative farce turned into a meeting to expose Zhou Lin's crimes.

  "Zhou Lin, I didn't expect you to be so despicable, and even incite other guests to threaten our Li family. Our Li family doesn't dare to raise someone like you, get out!" Li Qiu Tong said with a stern face, her small stature also having a few points of majesty.

  Zhou Lin's face turned pale and red by turns, almost wanting to find a crack in the ground to crawl into. He didn't want to leave the Li family at all, but how could he possibly ask to stay with a straight face now?

  Suddenly, he saw Li Yatong and immediately grasped at her like a lifeline: "Young mistress, I have served the Li family for over a year. Even if I haven't made any contributions, I've certainly worked hard. Am I not better than that newcomer Xia Chen who only knows how to buy people's hearts? Young mistress, please speak up for me, do you really want to drive me away?"

  Li Yatong watched with cold eyes, seeing Xia Chen effortlessly dissolve Zhou Lin's attack with gold, and couldn't help but feel shocked and surprised. Although the Li family was wealthy, they didn't have someone like Xia Chen who could casually scatter large amounts of gold without even blinking an eye. What kind of background did this guy come from?

  Although she detested Xia Chen, Lin's coercion this week was even more despicable. Coldly, she said: "You buy people's hearts and threaten the Li family; just for this reason alone, I won't tolerate you. Considering your contributions to the Li family, I won't make things difficult for you. You can leave now!"

  "Big sister, you're so cruel!" Zhou Lin's body shook, his face suddenly turning resentful and poisonous: "Fine, I'll leave right now. I don't believe that with my cultivation as a late-stage Nascent Soul, I still can't find a place to settle down? Let's see about that!"

  He was extremely resentful in his heart and had already decided to leave the Li family immediately and join the Yang family. When the two families went to war, he would take the opportunity to avenge himself!

  "Hold on, Zhou Lin, who allowed you to leave?" Xia Chen suddenly said coldly.

  "You're a Xias, are you regretting it? Want to keep me? I'll tell you, the Li family has you without me, and has me without you! Today's scene I've taken note of, you wait, I will double back what you owe me." Zhou Lin said viciously.

  "Leave you behind? Are you dreaming?" Xia Chen said sternly, "You're going out to surrender to the Yang family, aren't you? At a time when the Yang family is pressuring the Li family, if you defect to the Yang family, it's rebellion, it's betraying the Li family! How can the Li family tolerate you!"

  "Xing Xia's!" Zhou Lin was suddenly aware of his thoughts, and he couldn't help but feel annoyed and ashamed. "My legs are my own, I can go wherever I want, the Li family won't take me in, and they don't even allow me to rely on others?"

  "You're the scourge of the Li family! You won't be leaving today!" Xia Chen's eyes flashed with a murderous intent as he strode towards Zhou Lin.

  So-called eradication of evil, even if Lin Wei is insignificant this week, he must be left with no threat.