Chapter 69.2 – The Protective Dr. Ning (II)
Chapter 69.2 – The Protective Dr. Ning (II)
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Still, Hao Jianguo was nothing if not flexible. He immediately retracted his threatening look and smiled amiably, “Oh, how rude I have been! Little girl, what does your brother do?”
Xia Mian was thoroughly disgusted by his two-faced behavior and ignored him outright. She hadn’t wanted to trouble Ning Shaobai, but now she was actually looking forward to his arrival. When Dr. Ning turned on his full presence, he was quite intimidating!
Hao Jianguo wasn’t annoyed and instead began trying to subtly get information about Xia Mian from Mr. Mi.
His sudden change in attitude was so blatant that everyone present was surprised. Ma Xiu’e gave Xia Mian a probing look, her eyes darting around with calculation.
Soon, someone knocked on the conference room door. Mr. Mi immediately called out, “Come in.”
A tall, handsome young man entered, the sharp cut of his wool overcoat accentuating his tall silhouette. His expression was cold, and an icy aura surrounded him, sending a clear message: Don’t cross me.
Even Mr. Mi was a bit stunned. If it weren’t for that unforgettable face, he might’ve thought this cold-looking man wasn’t the same person he’d seen at the police station that day.
“Oh my, is this Xia Mian’s brother?” Hao Jianguo was briefly stunned, then instantly sprang from his seat with enthusiasm. “Truly impressive! Hello, I’m Hao Jian’s father, Hao Jianguo.”
Ning Shaobai ignored the greeting and simply gave a nod. He walked over to Xia Mian and asked Mr. Mi, “Sir, what’s going on with Xia Mian?”
Mr. Mi glanced at Hao Jianguo with some awkwardness. Xia Mian, knowing the teacher couldn’t say it outright, spoke up, “Hao Jian’s father offered me five thousand yuan as compensation for emotional distress, in exchange for delivering a false statement saying his son never intended to coerce me into working at a nightclub, that he was merely teasing me as a joke.”
Ning Shaobai turned to Hao Jianguo coldly. “How about I give you a hundred thousand in emotional damages and let your son stay in there till he turns eighteen?”
Hao Jianguo’s face changed, but he quickly laughed it off. “I was just joking, haha! Really, after hearing that my stupid son has offended this young lady, I hurriedly come over to apologize.”
“No need,” Ning Shaobai said with clear disgust. Then he turned to Xia Mian. “What do you want to do?”
Hao Jianguo was seriously rattled now. Thinking of how ruthless Xia Mian had been earlier, he realized this girl wasn’t foolish—she had the backing to act that way.
Quickly weighing the situation, he said immediately, “Seems like I was out of line. How about this, Miss Xia: we’ll accept whatever decision the police and school make.”
“From now on, I guarantee neither my son nor I will ever appear in front of you again. How’s that?”
Ning Shaobai looked at Xia Mian.
Xia Mian nodded. She simply didn’t want to keep entangling herself with Hao Jian and his ilks.
Hao Jianguo let out a sigh of relief and smiled at Ning Shaobai. “See? No hard feelings now that we’ve gotten to know each other. How about I book a table at the Azure Pavilion and treat you to a meal? To apologize for frightening the young lady today. It was my fault for not handling it properly.”
“No need.” Ning Shaobai raised his wrist to check the time, then turned to Mr. Mi. “Since the matter’s resolved, I’ll be heading off. Sir, I’ll leave Xia Mian in your care.”
Mr. Mi hadn’t expected the issue to be settled so cleanly and quickly. He blinked in surprise and said, “Ah, yes. Alright.”
Hao Jianguo immediately said, “Let me give Xia Mian’s brother a ride—perfect timing, I have my car right outside. I’ll take you.”
Before Ning Shaobai could refuse, a sharp female voice cut in, “Wait.”
Ma Xiu’e stepped forward. “You’ve settled things with President Hao, but we haven’t settled our issue yet.”
Seeing the woman’s disheveled appearance, Ning Shaobai glanced at Xia Mian. He didn’t know what had happened, but judging from the scene, it was clearly this girl’s doing.
He ignored Ma Xiu’e and turned to ask Sun Yuexin directly, “You’re Sun Yuexin, right? Do tell me—what’s going on with this lady?”
Being called on suddenly made Sun Yuexin inexplicably excited. “She’s Tian Xueya’s mother. She barged in today, accusing us of scaring Tian Xueya so badly she didn’t dare come to school.”
“She also insulted Xia Mian for having no parents… said Xia Mian got no manners, and that Tian Xueya must not be lying when she said Xia Mian had criminal records. Xia Mian got angry… and, well, splashed her with tea.”
“She just splashed me with tea?!” Ma Xiu’e shouted furiously. “Both the teacher and President Hao saw it! I only said a few harsh words, and that girl poured tea on me twice! The second time, she even threw a cup at me. Luckily I dodged—otherwise I’d be in the hospital just like President Hao’s son!”
“So, tell me—how are we going to deal with this?” she demanded shamelessly. “And my poor daughter! Too scared to even come to school! She’s supposed to take college entrance exams soon—can you afford to ruin her future?”
Hao Jianguo quickly interjected, “Come on now, Ms. Ma, it’s not that big a deal.” He smiled at Ning Shaobai. “Xia Mian’s brother, don’t worry. I’ll take care of this for you.”
“Ms. Ma just wants compensation for emotional distress, right? Five thousand—no, ten thousand! Ten should be enough. I’ll handle it!”
Ma Xiu’e’s eyes gleamed with delight.
Ning Shaobai looked calmly at Hao Jianguo. “And who are you to take the blame on her behalf, as if our Xia Mian did anything wrong?”
Hao Jianguo hadn’t expected that and froze, realizing he’d gone too far with the flattery.
Ma Xiu’e frowned. “What do you mean by that? Are you saying she wasn’t wrong for assaulting me?”
Ning Shaobai completely ignored her and asked Xia Mian. “So it was her daughter who started the rumors?”
Sun Yuexin and Li Lizhen nodded vigorously. “Yes! It was her daughter, Tian Xueya!”
Only then did Ning Shaobai turn his gaze toward Ma Xiu’e. “Then I’d say your daughter’s the real pitiful one. Worse off than someone without parents—at least orphans have a shot at growing up decent.”
‘Here it comes—Dr. Ning’s signature venomous tongue!’
“You—!” Ma Xiu’e’s face twisted in anger, but he continued, unfazed. “Actually, thank you for the reminder.”
“I’ll be having my lawyer file a defamation lawsuit against you and your daughter. Since the case against Hao Jian is still active, five thousand is more than enough for me to hire a good lawyer and have Tian Xueya prosecuted.”
“Expect a summons from the court.”
Ma Xiu’e hadn’t expected to suffer such a backfire. She panicked and rushed forward to grab Ning Shaobai. “No, no. Xia Mian’s brother, you can’t do this—my Xiao Xue can’t possibly have committed a crime!”
Ning Shaobai stepped aside. “Whether she did or not, the court will decide. Didn’t you say your daughter was right? Let’s have the court confirm that.”
At that, all the bravado drained from Ma Xiu’e. “They’re just kids, a bit of squabbling… there’s no need to blow things out of proportion…”
Clearly, Ning Shaobai had no intention of continuing the exchange. He turned to Mr. Mi to say goodbye and, before leaving, flicked Xia Mian’s forehead lightly in a mock scolding. “Study hard.”
Hao Jianguo hurried after him. “Oh, sir, I’ll send you off…”
Ma Xiu’e scrambled to follow. “No, wait up—please!”
Sun Yuexin watched the two of them chase after with obvious satisfaction. “Hmph, serves them right!”
Li Lizhen sighed with admiration. “Oh my god, Xia Mian, your brother is way too handsome!”
“I didn’t notice it before, but he’s seriously cool. When he walked in just now, I literally forgot to breathe.”
Sun Yuexin added, “Right? I thought this was going to drag out, but your brother handled it in under five minutes.”
Mr. Mi also commented, “Your brother’s a doctor, isn’t he? So why was Hao Jianguo so desperate to butter him up?”
“He is a doctor,” Xia Mian said, a sudden swell of pride rising in her chest. “An overseas returnee. But aside from medicine, he’s also got some pretty impressive side gigs. Haha.”
Sun Yuexin asked curiously, “What’s with that phone? Hao Jianguo completely changed his attitude the moment he saw it.”
Xia Mian didn’t say much. “I borrowed it just to make calling the police easier. I’ll return it soon—don’t know why it’s such a fuss.”
Mobile phones these days have no internet, games, or other flashy functions that attract teenagers, so the two easily accepted Xia Mian’s explanation.
Mr. Mi didn’t care either—his concern was with his student. “Xia Mian, is your brother really going to sue Tian Xueya?”
Xia Mian tilted her head slightly. “I’ll talk to him when we get home. As long as Tian Xueya and her mother stop bothering me, it should be alright… it’s mostly her mom who’s unbearable.”
“Indeed she is,” Mr. Mi gave a bitter smile, clearly relieved. “But after today, they probably won’t dare anymore.”
“Alright then, you all get back to class.”
Once they left the second floor and were out of their homeroom teacher’s sight, Sun Yuexin said indignantly, “We’re just letting her off like this?”
Xia Mian grinned, “Of course not.”
“People like her need to be properly taught a lesson.”
Sun Yuexin immediately rolled up her sleeves. “Alright, what’s the plan?!”
Xia Mian said, “Remember what I told you at the temple fair? The backup plan?”
Sun Yuexin and Li Lizhen exchanged glances and nodded. “We remember.”
“You guys will help me, right?”
They answered in unison, “Of course!”
Xia Mian threw her arms around their shoulders and praised, “Good!”
Back in the classroom, Sun Yuexin and Li Lizhen stared at the study schedule on the desk:
“This is your plan?”
“This is the backup plan?”
Xia Mian nodded, “Obviously. I thought that rumor alone would be enough, but I didn’t expect Hao Jian to get involved and blow everything up.”
“But now it looks like I’ll have to put this into action. If we follow this study schedule, we might even surpass Tian Xueya by the midterms!”
Seeing their stunned expressions, Xia Mian tilted her head, “What? Did you think I was planning to beat her or something?”
She widened her eyes in genuine surprise. “Would a gentle little angel like me be the type to fight?”
Sun Yuexin and Li Lizhen both thought of the two swift splashes of tea earlier and nodded in unison.
Xia Mian narrowed her eyes. “Hmm?”
The two quickly shook their heads.
Xia Mian flashed a smile. “Tian Xueya looks down on us, doesn’t she? Then we’ll rise so high she’ll never crawl out from under us!”
“And test scores are something you can’t run from—not by switching classes, not by changing schools!”
“We’ll keep her crushed beneath us forever!”
“After the college entrance exam, we’ll send her and her mother copies of our university acceptance letters. Just imagine how satisfying that’ll be!”
Sun Yuexin & Li Lizhen: “…”
Savage. Absolutely savage!
For some reason, they suddenly felt a bit sorry for Tian Xueya.
Xia Mian patted both of their shoulders with a bright smile. “I remember you both said you’d help me without hesitation, no matter what, right?”
“It’d be boring if I crushed her all on my own.”
Sun Yuexin & Li Lizhen: “…”
Forget feeling sorry for Tian Xueya—they’d better start worrying about themselves first!