Chapter 54 Protection
Tan Zhaojing noticed a crease between his brows. He glanced at his two companions and, seeing that they were unharmed, felt a little relieved.
I didn't rush to ask what happened; I just started the fight as long as I didn't suffer any losses.
He picked up the suit jacket he had tossed aside, shook it out, and draped it over the prickly girl. Then he bent down and handed her the shoes. "Put them on."
He didn't forget to turn back and remind her, "Uncle, put the clothes on Jia Ni."
Tan Zhengli has already taken action, but he is surprised by Zhao Jing's behavior. Is he taking it too seriously?
He suppressed his doubts for the moment and asked his niece, "What happened?"
Tan Jiani helped her uncle put on his shoes, saying, "They're just asking for trouble with their foul mouths."
"What did we do that was so sarcastic!"
The girl who fell into the water looked as if she had suffered some great humiliation. Ignoring the cold, she was full of indignation. "Lin Zaoyi is like a lunatic. She came up and hit me without saying a word!"
Pointing to his own face, he exclaimed, "Look what I've done! And they even pushed me into the water!"
After saying that, she snuggled into her father's arms and cried her heart out.
The girl's father shot a fierce glare at him, but it was blocked halfway. He suppressed his anger and said, "Mr. Tan, shouldn't you give me an explanation?"
The two girls immediately followed suit, shouting, "Kneel down and apologize!"
Fearing Tan Jiani, he vented his anger on Tan's stepdaughter, Lin Zaoyi, saying, "Lin Zaoyi, you must let me slap you three times in return!"
puff--
An untimely laugh came from the air. Lin Zaoyi turned her head and saw the girl with the heroic appearance from before. She seemed to be quite familiar with Yuan Lai.
She stepped out of the shadows, saying, "You guys really know how to play the victim."
Tan Jiani blinked. "Sister Chen Sa, you've been here the whole time?"
Chen Sa: "Yes."
I deliberately took a long detour to get close to this girl and fixed her hair for her.
This intimate behavior puzzled Tan Jiani, as she wasn't very familiar with Sister Chen Sa.
Just pretend your hair is too messy.
He shook his sore hand a couple of times, glanced at the group, and said, "What are you thinking? Apologize? Do you deserve it? You're so talkative, you won't learn your lesson unless you get a beating!"
The group looked flustered for a moment, exchanged glances, and denied it, "We didn't say anything. Did you hear someone gossiping about us?"
"Gossiping?" Lin Zaoyi moved two steps to the side, stepping out of Tan Zhaojing's line of sight. "It doesn't matter. There are surveillance cameras anyway, so it's obvious who's gossiping."
The other party was speechless.
After a brief silence, Yuan Lai stepped in to smooth things over, "Alright, everyone, say less. Hitting someone is indeed wrong, but you can just talk it out. Zao Yi, quickly apologize so as not to disrupt the banquet."
How sensible she is! In a single sentence, all the blame was placed on her.
Lin Zaoyi lowered her eyelashes, a mocking smile playing on her lips.
By saying this, she was implicitly admitting that she was wrong.
Unexpectedly, the banquet was attended by prominent business figures; how could they allow a nobody like her to cause trouble?
I acted impulsively after all; I should have called another day.
But is it true that conflict resolution can only be effective on the spot?
Someone suddenly laughed.
Lin Zaoyi turned her head at the sound of the voice. It was Yuan Lai's friend. Tan Jiani called her something like "sister". This "sister" said, "No one would do something for no reason. At least we should hear the reason."
that is!
Tan Jiani agrees, is Yuan Lai out of her mind?
The words "Shut up" were still stuck in his throat when the older brother spoke up, "So what if it's a banquet? If it's our fault, we don't need to pay our respects. I'll do it. If it's not ours, we can tear the hotel down if we want."
Lin Zaoyi's eyes stung with tears, and her breath trembled involuntarily, creating a silent, palpitation in the air.
But Yuan Lai found it particularly grating; these words felt like a slap in the face, and her eyes instantly welled up with anger. "Tan Zhaojing, you...!"
Tan Zhaojing ignored him and looked at the girl who was keeping her head down and not saying a word. "Are you mute? Where did that fierceness go?"
“They weren’t that ruthless,” Lin Zaoyi said matter-of-factly. “They were asking for it.”
An angry girl across the street retorted, "You have a reason to hit someone? You have to kneel down and apologize!"
Chen Sa raised an eyebrow silently. "Should I have someone pull up the surveillance footage?"
The girl fell silent instantly.
The other two exchanged glances with their respective families. What else could their families not understand? They must have said something behind their backs, talking about their families of all people.
What puzzled them was that Tan Zhaojing was so protective of his stepsister.
For the sake of the family's interests, they had to give their opinion first: "Mr. Tan, how about we let it go? They're just kids playing around and don't know any better."
Tan Zhaojing: "Even if he's still immature, he's at least eighteen, right?"
His tone was calm, yet the sense of oppression was palpable.
The other party wiped the sweat from their brows and each pulled out their own child, urging, "Apologize quickly!"
The three girls felt so wronged!
They're the ones who got beaten up!
In the end, I still have to apologize!
Why should I?!
"Hurry up!" his family urged.
The group swallowed their humiliation like flies, managing to squeeze out three words, "I'm sorry!"
Tan Jiani didn't answer, but turned her head away. "Lin Zaoyi, did you hear me?"
Lin Zaoyi: "If you hear me, I will hear you."
Tan Jiani didn't want to get entangled any further, so she waved her hand at the three people and said, "Block me! Don't contact me again!"
The three girls were pulled away by their families, and the onlookers also left one after another.
"Zaoyi," Yuan Lai called to her.
Lin Zaoyi turned her face away, expressionless. "Is there something you need?"
Yuan Laiyu concealed the jealousy in her eyes and said gently, "You're angry because you've misunderstood. Think about it—"
“Sister Yuan Lai,” Tan Jiani interrupted directly, “Didn’t my brother say that even if the banquet is overturned, he won’t let us suffer any injustice?”
Yuan Lai chuckled awkwardly, "It's my fault for meddling."
Lin Zaoyi had no desire to respond. She turned to the older sister who was just watching the show, having already assumed that this older sister was in cahoots with Yuan Lai.
"Thanks."
The other person laughed and said, "I didn't help at all."
Those two sentences were already the biggest help they could offer.
They were complete strangers and could have simply stood by and watched, but they chose to step forward.
Lin Zaoyi returned a sincere smile.
Because of the brawl, her hair was a bit messy. She pulled off the hair tie and used her fingers as a comb, pulling out quite a bit of hair. Tan Zhaojing frowned as he watched, "You're hurting yourself as much as the enemy. Can't you try a different approach?"
"It's just a few strands of hair. Didn't you see how badly they were beaten?"
Tan Zhaojing glanced at her, "You're getting arrogant now?"
Lin Zaoyi wanted to argue, but she held back because he was defending her.
Tan Jiani gave him a big hug. "Brother, thank goodness you're reasonable. If you made me apologize to Lin Zaoyi, I'm afraid I wouldn't be able to resist putting the drug in your bowl."
Tan Zhaojing: "..."
He pulled her away with a hint of disgust, saying, "Comb your hair."
Da da da—
A series of hurried footsteps approached.
The group looked over.
Lin Zaoyi's first reaction was to shrink behind Tan Zhaojing. Tan Zhaojing wanted to laugh but was also a little helpless. He turned around and asked, "Was it useful?"
Lin Zaoyi didn't care about any of that and shook his arm, "Don't move."
This caused Yuan Lai's last forced smile to disappear.
When did Tan Zhaojing become so good-tempered?
Not only did he not move, he also let Lin Zaoyi do her little tricks.
A chill ran through my heart, and my lips and teeth couldn't escape trembling.
No, she comforted herself, Tan Zhaojing only treated Lin Zaoyi as a younger sister.
Yes, it's my younger sister.
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