Some people hired bodyguards to ensure their safety.
Others hired them simply to give idle folks a chance at employment.
Take Old Dad, for example.
Look at that strength of his to uproot mountains and an aura that covered the world! He had lifted the despairing Purple-Haired Guy right off the ground!
Ye Zhibai strongly doubted that he really needed bodyguards at all. If danger struck, Old Dad could probably protect the bodyguards too!
Old Dad paid such close attention to the state of employment in society, making a huge contribution to the employment rate. Truly, he was too great.
And then there was that pitiful Permed-Hair Guy.
He had surrendered long ago, but he got caught up in the Purple-Haired Guy’s stupidity and ended up lifted alongside him.
Guilt by association—that was exactly what it meant.
Since they had come together, they would leave together, neat and tidy.
Ye Qinghe had one thug in each hand, gripping their collars and scaring them utterly speechless.
Ye Zhibai and Ye Zhiyun sat at their nearby table, leisurely sipping their tea.
Guang Yu, who had been scouting the situation up ahead, suddenly bounced back with some unwelcome news.
“Ye Zhibai, your old dad doesn’t fight fair on the stage—he’s carrying those two guys outside the perception barrier! That’s not right. To settle the winner and loser, shouldn’t it be right there on the stage?”
What nonsense are you spouting! If you hadn’t been munching on that wasabi the whole time, you would have seen that the winner had already been decided!
In modern society, fights weren’t about life or death—they were about submission.
No…
Old Dad was heading outside the barrier?!
She could no longer sip her tea so leisurely.
Ye Zhibai set her cup down with a clank. Under Yun’er’s puzzled gaze, she rose to her feet and turned toward Ye Qinghe’s direction.
There was Old Dad, hoisting the now unresisting pair of thugs. He was moments away from entering the dining area where the other customers sat!
She couldn’t let him venture into that front section, Dad!
Ye Zhibai’s slender, graceful legs were no mere decoration—they propelled her forward at a rapid clip!
She hurried around the table, dashed a few steps ahead, and tried to call out a reminder to Ye Qinghe.
“Dad, no need to get angry. Stop at the point.”
Her meaning was clear:
—Hurry up and stop! If you stir up a big scene over there, you’ll be in trouble as such a well-known figure!
Ye Zhibai’s voice was light and nimble, but her volume was naturally soft.
Even so, Ye Qinghe came to a halt.
A daughter’s voice, no matter how faint, always echoed with resounding clarity in the heart of a devoted father.
Zhibai was telling him that he didn’t need to be angry.
She was looking out for him!
Wuwu, his daughter… she had truly grown up!
Ye Qinghe had indeed stopped in his tracks.
Just as Ye Zhibai thought her dissuasion had worked, Ye Qinghe slowly turned his head. The expression on his face was one of kindly relief.
“Don’t worry, Zhibai. Father won’t let such a trifle ruin his health. But bad things deserve the punishment they earn—it’s only right and proper. No need to fret; Father will be back shortly.”
“…”
Dad, you might not ruin your own health from anger.
But you were about to give me a heart attack!
Ye Qinghe still took that fateful step forward.
And then, as one might expect…
Ye Zhibai heard a chorus of “holy shit” exclamations—the quintessential outburst—rippling through the restaurant.
Ye Zhibai pressed a hand to her forehead, closed her eyes, and shook her head helplessly.
If only she could escape reality, she would head straight back to her unfinished roast pigeon, In Heaven Wish to be Winged Birds.
But just then, Ye Zhibai felt a pat on her shoulder from behind.
She turned to see Yun’er beaming with a smile as warm as a spring breeze—sweet and utterly enchanting, leaving Ye Zhibai feeling refreshed and at ease.
Yun’er, your smile is lovely, but I just couldn’t muster one right now.
Oh, come to think of it, she rarely smiled at the best of times. She was doomed.
“No worries, sis. Let’s head back and keep eating. This is just a little thing—Old Dad can handle it perfectly. No need to worry.”
A little thing? Really?
Ye Zhibai knew all too well the power of online keyboard warriors and their rumor mills.
She dreaded them snapping a photo and posting online: Ye Group’s chairman brutally assaults fine young men in public—society’s morals in steep decline.
That would be the end of it!
And yet…
Even as she mulled over that possibility, Ye Zhibai miraculously felt no real panic.
Yun’er’s eyes were conveying a simple message:
—Trust your family. Old Dad has this. You really don’t need to worry.
The restaurant’s outbursts continued unabated.
Still, Ye Zhibai let out a quiet sigh of relief from the bottom of her heart.
Fine, whatever… If Old Dad said he could handle it, why was she fretting needlessly?
Trust in family—that was one of the sweet privileges that came with having one, wasn’t it?
Thud. Crash.
Ye Qinghe carried the two thugs straight out the restaurant door.
He tossed them aside onto the pedestrian walkway outside, just like one might discard trash.
Two heavy thuds left the thugs thoroughly dazed.
The Purple-Haired Guy looked left and right, his panicked expression meeting the Permed-Hair Guy’s own bewildered stare.
Who am I? Where am I? Did we just get our asses handed to us?!
Yes, they had been thoroughly thrashed—and without any grounds to complain.
If they had complaints, well, they would get thrashed again.
Ye Qinghe raised a hand casually—a signal.
From a Mercedes-Benz S-Class parked at the roadside stepped four burly men in sharp suits and sunglasses. Their movements were synchronized and disciplined, the mark of rigorous training.
These were the Ye Family bodyguards.
Ye Qinghe crossed his arms in front of him, his aura perfectly composed.
He frowned faintly and issued his instructions to the bodyguards.
“Handle these two pieces of trash.”
“Yes, Mr. Ye. And specifically, what would you like us to do?”
“Find out which school these idiots attend and have their principal give me a call. I need to discuss how to handle students breaking the law and stirring up trouble. Oh, and file a report with the police while you’re at it. Let the officers give them whatever lectures on education they see fit. That’s all.”
“Understood!”
Earlier, it had been Ye Qinghe handling two thugs single-handedly.
Now, four hulking men carried the pair away bodily!
The Purple-Haired Guy, who no longer dared mutter curses, and the Permed-Hair Guy, who grumbled about the former’s thick-headed stubbornness, were finally getting their due.
The swagger of street toughs? Vanished into thin air. Sad (or happy?).
With the matter settled, Ye Qinghe scratched the back of his head.
He let out a wry chuckle, aware of the commotion from the restaurant behind him. It seemed it was time to soothe the unrest inside.
The place was abuzz with noise and chaos.
As for how to handle it, Ye Qinghe had it all figured out.
He had run the Ye Family for over twenty years—what storms hadn’t he weathered? Compared to those, this was a mere speck.
The Ye Family chairman settled on his solution in his mind, straightened his suit tie, and turned on his heel.
With firm, seasoned, steady strides, he reentered the restaurant.
The customers inside were all abuzz with speculation and chatter.
Some had already guessed at his identity earlier; now that he was walking back in, even more were convinced.
“Is that… Ye Qinghe?”
“Ye… who?”
“Ye Qinghe! The president of the Ye Family! Holy shit, you seriously don’t know? He’s loaded! Super loaded!”
“For real? Rich guys beat people up too?!”
“I wouldn’t say.”
From the murmurs, it was clear someone had recognized the man at the door.
Word spread like wildfire—one to ten, ten to a hundred. The buzz only grew louder.
A few were even pulling out their phones to snap photos!
Every eye in the place tracked Ye Qinghe’s steps in unison.
Of course, Lin Zihan behind the cash register had her gaze fixed in a slightly different spot from the crowd.
Uncle Ye’s sudden appearance had surprised her too.
But her first reaction was…
—If Uncle Ye is here, does that mean Little Bai’er is too?!
Lin Zihan scanned the room and spotted that shimmering silver glow tucked in the farthest corner.
There was her Little Bai’er!
How was she running into an angel even at work? Thank the heavens!
Ye Qinghe’s destination lay at the restaurant’s eastern edge, next to a small bar counter.
As the founder of this establishment—and given his habit of personally overseeing new ventures—he knew the placement of certain key fixtures quite well.
A quick rummage behind the bar turned up the microphone stowed there for promoting in-store specials.
He tested the mic briefly, and his voice suddenly boomed from the restaurant’s sound system.
“Haha, looks like some folks have already recognized me? If you don’t know who I am, that’s fine—it’s a restaurant; the important thing is good food and drink! And knowing me won’t get you a discount, ha. Say, did that little charity performance earlier scare anyone?”
As he spoke, the successful entrepreneur seamlessly transformed his stern demeanor into the confident, salesman’s grin that was his stock in trade!
His words fell, and the room went utterly silent.
Everyone pondered the meaning hidden in Ye Qinghe’s humorous remark.
That earlier scene… a performance?
While they mulled it over, Ye Qinghe nodded and continued.
“Yes, this restaurant is the latest chain from our Ye Group. That public service skit just now was meant to remind everyone: if you run into rude people or behavior while you’re dining, pay attention and notify the staff right away so they can handle it! See, I can definitely count as one of the restaurant’s staff, right? And isn’t my combat power pretty reliable? Haha! But man, those two guys who joined in on the skit really took one for the team—they got beat up for nothing!”
His words drew roars of laughter from the crowd below.
In just a few short sentences, Ye Qinghe had the whole room’s rhythm firmly in his grasp.
Even those who’d been fumbling for their phones earlier, eager to snap pics of him throwing punches, had settled back into their seats.
What a misunderstanding!
But the photos were still worth taking—this was a rare sight, the Ye Family’s Chairman himself showing up to promote the place!
After tossing out a few more humorous lines, Ye Qinghe raised the microphone high and made an announcement that sent the restaurant’s energy through the roof.
“Let’s make today a grand opening blowout! Everyone who’s come here to eat is connected by fate, so every customer dining right now gets their meal on the house—one and all! I’ll cover the tab!”
“Woohoo!!”
“Boss Ye is badass!”
Cheers and laughter filled the air once more.
The crowd erupted in applause.
In their excitement, everyone had completely forgotten those moments when Ye Qinghe had laid hands on the troublemakers.
Ye Zhibai took an angry bite of her roast pigeon.
Yun’er’s words about trusting family were starting to make perfect sense to her.
Not trust her family?
Like hell! How could she not?
Everyone in her family was a total superhero!
Talk about killer improvisation!
