Jiang Yuzhu stared blankly at his father's powerful display of power. With the terrifying posture of a crazy drunkard, he scared the three bad guys so much that they ran away without even turning their heads.

In the dark alley, a cold wind blew from afar, and the figure stood in front like a mountain.

Dad, he——

Is it because you heard me say I was going out to find a job?

So you've been following me quietly?

Jiang Kecheng chased away the three hooligans and returned to his daughter. He reached out and touched his daughter's head, saying only five words:

"Let's go home."

"Well... go home."

After returning to the dark and cold rental house, Jiang Yuzhu felt at peace. Although this place was far from the big villa she had dreamed of, it unexpectedly gave her a warm and peaceful feeling.

She wanted to say something but didn't know what to say. Then she saw her father walk to the sofa, sit down, lower his head, and call her by her nickname.

"Xiao Yu."

"dad."

Father Jiang continued, "Xiaoyu, this world is much more dangerous than you think. You must take good care of yourself at all times, Dad..."

"Dad may not be able to protect you in the future."

"……dad!"

A wave of emotion rushed up, and Jiang Yuzhu's nose felt sour. She didn't know what kind of mood she should use to face the complicated situation at this moment. That kind of complicated emotion was like being stirred countless times in a washing machine, and finally turned into a jar of old vinegar.

She cried.

So sad... so sad.

…

That night, Jiang Yuzhu tossed and turned and couldn't sleep.

Staying up late is the biggest enemy of a girl’s beauty, but in just less than a month, she has broken the rules twice... Maybe I don’t care whether my skin will get acne from staying up late, she thought.

For the rich, beauty is an aggressive form of show-off, but for the poor, beauty may be a curse that withers more easily than a rose.

She realized that a girl as beautiful as herself could indeed receive many preferential treatments from society, but she also received more covetous eyes. In the past... it was because her father protected her too well.

Jiang Yuzhu didn't know whether she should continue looking for a job. The dangers of the outside world made her depressed.

She couldn't help but admire Liu Xinke, who had been looking for odd jobs for several years, facing all kinds of people with ulterior motives - it must not be easy.

Life is really hard.

Just as her long-dull brain began to grow again and she began to try to find answers to life from her messy thoughts, there was a sudden and hurried knock on the bedroom door.

"dad?"

She called out, but heard her father say outside the door: "Xiao Yu, put on your clothes and hide... No matter what happens outside, you must not come out. Remember, don't come out!"

"dad!?"

While Jiang Yuzhu was stunned, she heard knocking on the door outside, accompanied by a series of shouts of "open the door", and the barking of dogs in the urban village. Someone turned on the lights... Jiang Yuzhu looked at the alarm clock and it was only four o'clock.

As she got dressed and hid in the closet, she heard her father open the door.

"Boss Jiang! You're open so late, please don't refuse my offer!"

Several people rushed in like wild dogs. The leader seemed to be the master. He walked to the sofa and sat down. He picked up the Erguotou on the sofa cabinet, took a look, and sneered:

"You drink such bad wine? Aren't you afraid of drinking yourself to death? This is not the millionaire Boss Jiang that I remember. How could he fall to such a state? Well, I won't say any more nonsense. Old Jiang, a day has passed. What do you think?"

"……What did you say?"

"Stop pretending!"

The leader threw the bottle to the ground, and with a bang, the bottle broke into pieces, and the wine splattered everywhere. The leader said coldly, "The watermark on the mouth of the bottle hasn't even dried yet. You took a sip before opening the door, and now you're drunk?"

"Jiang Kecheng, can you please stop being so childish!... Forget it, since you want to play, brothers, help Boss Jiang sober up!"

The people nearby were already impatient with their boss' insistence on a dramatic performance, and they rushed up to Jiang Kecheng, punching and kicking him. One of them even ran to the kitchen, found a bucket of water, and poured it over Jiang Kecheng's head.

At the beginning of the new year, the dark house was even colder than outside. When the bucket of water was poured on his body, a circle of icy mist was visible to the naked eye. Jiang Kecheng began to tremble.

"You're sober now!"

"…I mortgaged my property to the bank. If you want, feel free to take it. I can't pay it back anyway, so it doesn't matter whether I give it to you or the bank."

After getting Jiang Kecheng's answer, the leader nodded unsatisfied and said, "Old Jiang, you still owe our boss one million. You don't think this is a write-off, do you?"

"...I'll find another way to pay the money you owe me."

"Find another way? Don't you take me too seriously? Old Jiang, I heard that your daughter is very beautiful. I still remember that you held a coming-of-age ceremony for her. She was as beautiful as a flower, more beautiful than the big stars on TV. If you don't consider yourself, you should at least consider your daughter, right?"

"You dare to touch my daughter! I will fight you to the death!"

"Lao Jiang, don't be so excited... I'm just reminding you that life is not easy. How can you give your family a good future if you're like this?"

The leader didn't stimulate the enemy too much. After all, a desperate dog will jump over the wall, and a desperate rabbit will bite people. After all, this is still a society ruled by law, so we must pay attention to the impact.

"Give me another day to think about it." Jiang Kecheng said again.

"Heh... You said you'd give me one more day, but you took my words for granted?"

"It will take me some time to get the title mortgage certificate. You have to give me some time. I will give you an answer tomorrow."

This convinced the leader, who nodded and said, "That's more like it! If you had cooperated so obediently from the beginning, why would we help you sober up? Hey, look at what you have done, how ugly it is... Why don't you get Boss Jiang some clean clothes and a blanket?"

"No need... I can do it myself! Please go back first!"

"Okay, okay, then we'll go back first." The leader narrowed his eyes and reminded, "Jiang Kecheng, you mustn't play any tricks, otherwise you will suffer the consequences!"

The group of people finally left. Jiang Kecheng sat on the ground, his body unable to help but tremble violently.

…

"dad……"

Jiang Yuzhu looked at her father lying in bed with a high fever, feeling distressed and helpless... When she saw her father soaking wet in the early morning, the uncomfortable feeling was like an abyss with its bloody mouth opening to swallow her up.

Dad, you protected me for so long——

This time, let me protect you.