Chapter 169 The First Snow Clears

ing that Su Can was present, her expression softened immediately.It wasn't until later incidents like Xue YiYang's mother slapping him at a parent-teacher meeting for poor grades or making him kneel o...Chapter 169: Initial Clearing After Heavy Snow

When Su Can heard Tang Mian's phone call, he was initially worried because she sounded panicked. He thought that Tang Lin must have encountered an extraordinary situation on the road, perhaps a series of car accidents on the highway. However, when he heard Tang Wu calmly explain that it wasn't so; they had only gotten into a conflict with someone and Lin Luoran kicked him, the caller seemed very dissatisfied and continued to follow them closely in his vehicle.

Lin Luoran's voice came through the phone saying, "There are so many self-righteous jerks here that even I need my boss to come help me deal with them."

Hearing this, Su Can thought that she was still being stubborn. Her tone sounded both excited and nervous, leaving Su Can feeling anxious while also finding it amusing, wondering what kind of woman Lin Luoran really was.

Su Can quickly asked Tang Wu about their current location. Through road signs and landmarks by the roadside, Tang Wu knew where they were. After he learned this information, Su Can said, "Tang Wu, you should pull over your car now; don't try to escape from them because that could lead to an accident. We are on our way."

Tang Wu responded with a “Mm” over the phone and then turned around to tell Lin Luoran, "We need to stop by the roadside."

Before Su Can hung up the call, he suddenly heard sharp braking sounds through the receiver, followed by metallic clanging noises that sounded like eggs hitting rocks but amplified a hundredfold. Then came brief cries from Tang Wu and Lin Luoran over the phone.

The mobile phone seemed to have fallen on the ground after this, with no more sounds coming through.

Everything happened in an instant; even the huge impact sounds sounded unreal.

A buzzing sound echoed directly into Su Can's head.

A chill went down his spine to the base of his brain.

Like falling off a cliff, Su Can felt his heart drop entirely.

Li Pengyu probably saw Su Cen's expression for the first time, wanting to ask but not daring to.

The secretary Cheng RuiNian roughly heard that Su Cen’s voice on the other end of the line was off. Though he was in a meeting, he didn't dare slack off as he was a local and immediately gave instructions for the nearest route. When he realized Su Cen had hung up right after receiving the call, he subconsciously sensed something might be wrong and stood up to leave the conference room, then dialed several more calls.

"Turn right, follow the loop road at top speed," Su Cen told Li Pengyu without lifting his head. Although he couldn't see his expression, his trembling voice could be heard, as well as the disorganized movements of his fingers repeatedly dialing numbers—Tang Wu's phone was unanswered and Lin Luoran's was turned off.

The black car sped along the road like a racing shark, plunging straight into the heavy clouds over the city center. It appeared to charge into a fortress made of steel and concrete.

After being reborn twice, Su Cen mostly maintained his composure; however, now he felt an unprecedented sense of emptiness and intense pain in his chest and abdomen, as if something heavy and desolate could pierce through his soul.

He seemed to see Lin Luoran wearing a sleeveless top and loose pants, drinking beer with them with her face bright like porcelain under the setting sun. He also saw himself and Tang Wu in their new home by Snow Sea Cove in P半島灣 (Note: This phrase doesn't have an exact translation as it seems to be referring to a specific place name or location), preparing dinner together while outside on the balcony, city lights and train light strips lit up. There were no sharp edges of an international metropolis, no papers, no morning four classes and afternoon three university courses packed tightly into the schedule; there wasn't even their future years later.

All these miserable scenes shouldn’t have appeared at all.

Never to be seen again. Su Cen's eyes were blurred with warmth.

"Screech!" A violent screeching sound, as if the road itself had been torn apart. Before the vehicle inertia could stop it from moving, Su Cen opened the door and rushed out.

Two cars ahead of him had their front bumpers smashed together; both cars' yellow hazard lights were flashing.

The air was filled with burnt brake pad smoke; the collision wasn't light as people gathered around. Among them, two tall women stood out, along with four or five men, and they seemed to be arguing fiercely. Distantly, a clear and unyielding voice could still be heard, "You guys are intentionally causing trouble—are you idiots hit by a door or kicked by a pig"

Su Cen pushed aside the two blocking his way with force, seeing Tang Xiaowu and Lin Luoran staring back at him in shock. The girls were still somewhat flustered and even though they tried to remain calm, their composure was limited under such circumstances.

The two women had a pale, shaken look about them as they saw Su Cen's tearful face as he entered. Even Tang Wu, who was trying to stay calm and argue with the men, couldn't help but feel her nose tingle.

Seeing Tang Wu and Lin Luoran both weeping openly, Su Cen opened his arms and embraced them tightly. It wasn’t until then that Tang Wu and Lin Luoran realized how shaken they were and instinctively hugged him back.

In this moment, when he felt the two girls shivering against him, Su Cen finally experienced a sense of relief after surviving something terrible.

The two men who had been pushed aside by Su Cen earlier were visibly agitated. They said menacingly, "With the car damaged like this, what do you think we should do Should we go through insurance or see how much compensation there is to be given What responsibilities are involved"

Earlier, they had planned on blaming Tang Wu and Lin Luoran. These were locals who could easily make use of their connections and status. Seeing that Lin Luoran’s car had a license plate from another city (Chengdu), it was easy for them to pin the responsibility on the girls. Moreover, considering how expensive the Mercedes was, they assumed these two must come from wealthy backgrounds; although they didn’t know who exactly Tang Wu and Lin Luoran were, they felt that in this city, more ridiculous things had happened at their hands than ever before—when did they fear others

"Lin Luoran forced the car to the side of the road, and then his right-side vehicle sped up and hit him," Tang Wu’s reddened eyes quickly returned to a battle-ready state when she talked about the incident. She met all the men with cold, stern looks, only explaining things to Su Cen without giving any heed to the man trying to blame them.

Xu Dong had clearly seen that it was Su Cen who rushed over. Although he was shocked to find out that Su Cen and these girls were somehow related, he still tried to act tough, putting on an air of authority: "She kicked me first, which led to this situation… You need to explain yourselves." "I'll give you your explanation!" As soon as Su Cen turned around to face Xu Dong, the next moment he grabbed his head and slammed it into the car body with great force. Xu Dong reacted just in time by using both hands to brace against the car frame to avoid hitting the rigid side of the vehicle, leaving him incredibly stunned—how could this person dare to hit him Before he knew it, a powerful hand had already caught his own; Li Pengyu arrived and held onto Su Cen’s other arm. With both arms working together, they pulled Xu Dong's head back into the crashed BMW while simultaneously hitting him with punches. As soon as Xu Dong’s head bounced off the car body, his eyes rolled upwards and a stream of blood flowed from his nose; everyone around them gasped in shock. When Xu Dong recovered his senses, he struggled to break free from Su Cen's grip, only for another punch from Su Cen to land on his left cheek with such force that even Su Cen’s knuckles made a crackling sound.

Over the years, Su Cen had maintained light exercise and could still do 75 push-ups in one breath. This punch was delivered with all his strength; Xu Dong felt an acute pain in his nose, his taste and smell senses went numb, and he saw unprecedented fear in his eyes. He felt dizzy and unsteady on his feet.

Everyone around them gasped audibly. Of course, they were never afraid of fights before, but it was usually when they had the upper hand; people knew their status and power, so there was no resistance from others. Now that someone recognized Su Cen as the son of Su Richen, these people’s arrogance diminished significantly. Seeing how enraged Su Cen looked now and with Li Pengyu standing by his side, nobody dared to make a move except for Wang Jie calling everyone else.

Another two punches were delivered to Xu Dong's face, leaving his handsome features bloodied and bruised. Su Cen was incensed that this boy who had hit Su Richen when he first arrived in Chengdu now dared to run over Tang Wu and Lin Luoran. He didn’t care about Xucheng or Zhou Zhaofeng’s pressure; all the rumors regarding him from Red City could go to hell. If he didn’t break Xu Dong right here, there would be no law enforcement.

Despite Xu Dong's continued struggles, Su Cen identified his weak points and delivered powerful punches that left everyone around them alarmed. They saw their leader, usually the most aggressive among them, beaten up so badly for the first time but didn’t recall how eager they were to take advantage of local power against Tang Wu and Lin Luoran.

The first responders were a black sedan with several police officers inside. Wang Jie immediately felt his spirits rise as if he had seen a savior; rushing forward, his voice trembled, "Xu Dong was beaten! Arrest him!

I only realized after speaking that the uniforms of the two leading individuals were peculiar; they had "two four-point stars and two silver stripes," indicating the rank of Deputy Superintendent. Two such ranks at once—take note, even the deputy director of public security in Huáng City is merely a Deputy Superintendent.

The rank of Deputy Superintendent can be granted to officials from department-level to section-level positions, as well as senior police officers with advanced technical skills. Even if Wang Jie's family has close ties within the public security system, it still seems normal that they haven't seen these two individuals before. He said, "Good that you're here. Where is your bureau chief" Is he not arriving yet I'll explain the situation: The person hit by the car didn't distinguish right from wrong and attacked without reason; we should detain him first." Wang Jie thinks that Xu Dong's injuries are severe enough to indicate a serious matter, so regardless of whether Su Cen is indeed Su Licheng's son, he orders them to detain him.

He wants to add more salt to the injury and say something else. Geng Luoxiang, wearing a shirt, approaches from behind. Upon receiving the news, he realizes that Su Cen leaving Huibin Hotel might have led to some trouble, so he rushed over. Seeing the current situation, as well as the two cars crashed into each other, he asks sternly, "What's going on"

Su Cen is still shaken by what happened; Li Pengyu explains for him. Geng Luoxiang raises his eyebrows in anger; Xu Dong sees the incoming person and regains his previous arrogance. He shouts, "I'll call your bureau chief! Arrest this guy first!"

Geng Luoxiang scolds him, “What's going on here!” Everyone falls silent for a moment. One of his subordinates, Zhang Licheng, steps forward to show their credentials: "We suspect that you're involved in illegal street racing, disrupting public order and causing severe property damage." He then instructs the officers behind him, "Arrest them!"

Xu Dong, Wang Jie, as well as a group of men and women from this city who are quite notable, stare dumbfounded at the sudden turn of events. It seems they've underestimated something.

At this moment, more police lights begin flashing in the distance, with various vehicles converging on the scene to handle the traffic disruption. The sensation is akin to a large-scale approach and pressure building up.

However, Su Cen feels an overwhelming sense of relief at this moment; it seems he has to apologize for Wang Ming's newly purchased S350 car. It looks like he must officially break ties with the Xu-Zhou faction, but these things don't seem so important anymore.

Su Cen gazes at the two girls in the light and feels that life is vibrant and beautiful at this moment.

Lin Luoran is lively and bright, still cursing at Xu Dong and others despite her good voice; occasionally she says something brilliant, making people feel like listening to her curses is a pleasure. Tang Wu is elegant and graceful, though her eye sockets are still slightly red from crying—she looks so lovely as she gazes at Su Cen with beautiful eyes, her heart filled with the feeling of life's unpredictability. At some dangerous moment, she thought, if I never see Su Cen again, if I never see Tang Zongyuan Mu Xuan and my other friends like Wang Weiwei and Cheng Congcong in Shanghai, what would happen to them If their outcome is death, then what...

But finally, she does meet Su Cen.

She looks at the sitting Su Xiaocan wiping off the bloody sweat on his head, smiling foolishly at her. wasn't an unknown figure; those who knew him would recognize him among the freshmen.Cheng Congcong felt someone poke her and she looked up to see Tang Wu getting up, gathering her books, and coming d...