I said to him again, "Lead the way."

Where to?

"Go beat that son of a bitch!"

As I spoke, I tucked the cleaver into my waistband.

Nicole quickly grabbed me, her face tense, and said, "Are you crazy... How is your solution any different from what they did just now?"

“There’s a huge difference. When things got into trouble just now, it was Cao Xue’s fault… Now that things have gotten into trouble, it’s my fault, Michael’s fault… Nicole, do me a favor and go to our bar and call that guy who got beaten up over here. Today, I, Michael, will stand up for him. Tell him to watch out… I’m going to cripple a few of them!”

Nicole grabbed my sleeve tightly.

My eyes turned red, and I said, "Get out of my way!" Then I swung my hand so hard that Nicole crashed into the table next to me.

I then turned to Cao Xue and yelled, "Go on... go and call your brother's younger brother over... let him learn what real manly spirit is... don't let your older brother stand up for you every time you get beaten up... Cao Xue, I can be tough too. Tell me the name of that bar, and I'll handle it."

Cao Xue looked at me, somewhat bewildered, and then yelled at me, "What the hell are you doing...?"

"Isn't that what you were just about to do? What are you afraid of... Guys, lead the way."

Among the group Cao Xue brought, there were some who were both fearless and stubborn. One of them gave me a wink and then walked out of the bar, signaling me to follow him. I followed closely behind him...

Nicole chased after me, running outside. She grabbed me and said, "Are you crazy?!... If I had known you were such a reckless person, I wouldn't have called you."

I then lowered my voice and said to Nicole, "Didn't you see what Cao Xue looked like just now? Don't worry, nothing will happen... Go to the bar and call that guy who got beaten up over. We still need to get revenge."

Nicole paused for a moment, then lowered her voice and asked, "Are you doing this for Cao Xue's benefit?"

“I understand his personality very well. If I treat him sincerely, he might even worry about me instead. If I keep advising him to be patient, his stubborn nature will make him think that I am afraid of trouble, and he will only get more angry.”

"Well... I'll go get Xiaolong (the guy who got beaten up)... Are you sure you can handle the situation?"

"Cao Xue brought so many people, he definitely won't suffer any losses... Go ahead and call them."

As I spoke, I quickened my pace, chasing after the person leading the way, while Nicole ran in the opposite direction...

At this moment, it would be a lie to say I wasn't nervous at all. But the situation was like an arrow already on a bow, impossible to take back. So I had to take responsibility for this matter upon myself... I also wanted to use this opportunity to completely win over Cao Xue's heart. I was determined to make a name for myself in Dali, and Cao Xue was an indispensable person by my side.

...

Before long, we arrived at the bar called "Bad Bottle." It was daytime, and the bar was almost empty, except for a band rehearsing. At the table next to the band, three long-haired men were playing cards and smoking; I guessed one of them was the bar owner, the same fearless guy who had caused trouble at our bar.

A waiter approached us with a drinks menu and asked, "Gentlemen, what would you like to drink? This is our drinks menu..."

I gestured for Cao Xue's men to clear the room, then calmly took the drinks menu from the waiter and replied, "With so many of us here drinking... are there any discounts?"

"Uh... sir, it's like this... if you come to our bar before 8 p.m., all drinks will be 10% off."

I smiled and replied, "A 10% discount...isn't that a bit insincere?...How about this, have your boss come over and talk to him. Tell him I can't drink such expensive wine."

The three card players noticed something was amiss. The one who looked the strongest threw down his cards first, then walked towards me. He looked at me aggressively and said, "I'm the boss... Tell me, why can't you drink the wine here?"

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw that Cao Xue's men had already asked the only table of guests to leave, and then locked the door from the inside.

I turned my head, stretched my limbs, and said with a smile, "I don't have much of an appetite..."

As he spoke, he suddenly pulled the cleaver from his waist and slammed it into the table, roaring menacingly, "Listen up, everyone inside... I'm the bar owner who's going to sign a contract with the singer, the one you're looking for... I'm here to cause trouble... Anyone who laid a hand on me in my bar before, step forward if you dare."

The other two card players also stood up from the table, while the bar owner in front of me was clearly intimidated by my imposing manner. His cheek twitched, and he said to me, "I was the one who started it... What, trying to cause trouble just because you outnumber me?!"

I chuckled and said, "If I didn't come here to cause trouble, would I have come here to reason with you?... If that's what you think... then you're absolutely right..."

Cao Xue and his group were caught off guard by my sudden turn of events. They looked at me blankly, wondering what I was up to.

I then said to the troublemaking bar owner, "If you want to reason with me, I will... but until this matter of my friend being beaten is resolved, we can't reason with each other for now."

After pausing briefly, I continued with a grim face, "You're the one who hit him, but I'm not relying on my numbers... I'll fight you one-on-one now. If you lose, you'll kneel down and kowtow to my friend to admit defeat... If I lose, see this knife on the table? You can take it and use it on my hand. Take as many fingers as you want!"

I said that, but my heart was already pounding. Judging from the other person's physique, he was obviously trained, or at least worked out regularly. But I'm not the protagonist in a novel who's invincible. Although I can fight, I've had my share of losses in fights over the years. For example, last year in that small county called Luxi, I was beaten up by a group of people who were trying to scam me. I remember it was almost a month later, and my injuries still hadn't fully healed.

There's no way around it; winning people's hearts always comes at a price!

As I took off my jacket, I clenched my knuckles, making a grating "crackling" sound, then shrugged my shoulders, assuming a fighting stance.

The people around him consciously made way for him, and a brutal fight was about to begin.