Rebirth – City Cultivation Chapter 40

"Nice to see you here." Chen Fan cracked a smile.

This was the second time he had met one of his classmates at the bar. Since the bar was very close to high school, Chen Fan expected to see his schoolmates from time to time.

"Yeah." Jiang Tanqiu said as his eyes flickered up.

He was unaware of what had happened at the auction, and neither had he gotten the memo on Chen Fan's job at the bar.

Therefore, when he found out that his desk mate was working at the bar, he was quite shocked. He had always known Chen Fan as a proud although reserved popular kid and never had he thought that Chen Fan worked at a bar.

"Xiao Qiu, is this your friend?" A girl stood up from her chair and asked.

"Yes, Sister Qian-Qian. he is my deskmate, and his name is Chen Fan." Jiang Tanqiu spoke under his breath; clearly, he was embarrassed by Chen Fan's low wage job.

It wasn't until then that Chen Fan realized that there was a boy and a girl sitting right next to Jiang Taniu. They both looked to be in their twenties. The male was tall and handsome while the girl was of above average looks.

Chen Fan's eyes glinted surreptitiously the moment he saw the girl.

"Hi, I am Xiao Qiu's neighbor; my name is Xiao Qian." The girl reached a hand out to Chan Fan as she spoke.

Chen Fan ignored her and turned around to Jiang Taniu and said: "You guys have fun, I need to work."

After he said that, he turned on his heels and started back without even glancing at Xiao Qian.

Xiao Qian pulled a taut face as displeasure surfaced on her face.

Jiang Tanqiu felt even more embarrassed, and he stammered, "Sister Qian-Qian, don't mind him. He is always like that."

"Just forget about him, Qian-Qian. Come sit right here," the man said with a warm smile.

Hearing the other man's words, Xiao Qian finally gathered herself and sat down reluctantly.

The man then gave Jiang Taniu a look and then spoke in a patient voice, "Xiao Qiu, I know this is our first time meeting each other, and I really shouldn't poke my nose into your business.

"However, as your senior, I felt the need to remind you of what makes a good friend. Your friend, for example, his job aside—after all, being independent is a good thing— his action was extremely rude and inappropriate. Have you asked yourself if such a person could be trusted as your friend?"

"Touche! Xiao Qi, you need to heed the words of your senior!" Xiao Qian chimed in.

Jiang Tanqiu felt indignant; however, he lacked the words to protest for himself, so he could only smile and nod his head.

Deep down, he blamed Chen Fan for this unpleasant experience. He had always treated Chen Fan like one of his best friends, but Chen Fan didn't seem to appreciate his good gesture. Otherwise, he wouldn't embarrass him in front of the girl he liked and his rival in love. The least a friend could do was to help each other, but Chen Fan had been a hindrance rather than a help so far.

Unbeknownst to Jiang Taniu, Chen Fan had recognized the girl at first sight.

She was Xiao Qian, the daughter of Jiang Tanqiu's neighbor. She was one year older than Jiang Taniu and studied at the Chu Zhou University. Jiang Taniu had been her secret admirer ever since Jiang Taniu was a boy.

In Chen Fan's past life, Jiang Tanqiu had got himself into trouble because of her. In the end, Jiang Taniu was thrown behind the bar for seven years and therefore ruined his otherwise promising life. Xiao Qian, on the other hand, had a new boyfriend as soon as Jiang Tanqiu went to jail. She didn't visit Jiang Tanqiu even once during the seven years of incarceration.

Why would Chen Fan be nice to such a shameless woman?

"Hey, your friend seemed to be in some kind of trouble." Jiang Tanqiu heard Senior Qi say.

They both looked over their shoulders and saw Chen Fan was arguing with a man with a pasty complexion.

"I know that guy; he is the manager of the bar, we call him Boss Yang. I have heard that he is an inlaw of Brother Dong; not someone you want to mess around." Senior Qi shook his head and said, "It's not looking too good for your friend."

"Who cares? I hope he got his ass kicked. Let's drink up; don't let him spoil our fun." Xiao Qian said indignantly.

Hearing Xiao Qian's words, Jiang Taniu hesitated for a second and then sat down reluctantly.

If not for the previous unpleasant run-in between Chen Fan and Xiao Qian, Jiang Tanqiu would have already joined Chen Fan. However, Jiang Tanqiu was unimpressed by Chen Fan's uncouth behavior that embarrassed him at the most inconvenient time.

"Senior Qi, who is Brother Dong?" Xiao Qian asked curiously.

Senior Qi cracked a smile and said, "Brother Dong is the one calling the shots in the University district. He had a share in almost all the venues around here. "

"Oh? So the Boss Yang is also quite a champ, I take it?"

Jiang Tanqiu's pulled a taut face as he heard that. Driving by the urge to save his friend, his body jerked forward slightly, but he didn't get up in the end.

Xiao Qian put in again, "However resourceful this Brother Dong was, he was just an underling compare to our Senior Qi.

"Ah Xiao Qiu, I haven't told you about Senior Qi yet have I? Senior Qi's father is a business magnate at the Yun Shan District. I bet that if Brother Dong saw Senior Qi, he might have to drop his knees and kowtow to him." Xiao Qian introduced Senior Qi to Jiang Tanqiu with a smug smile.

Jiang Tanqiu managed a smile back.

"Don't listen to her, haha. But I am sure that Brother Dong would do me a favor if I asked him."

Hearing that, Xiao Qian's eyes lit up with a mixture of infatuation and admiration.

Jiang Tanqiu didn't miss the subtle change in the girl's expression. The light in his eyes diminished as he conceded the gap between him and Senior Qi. Not only was Senior Qi better looking than him, but he was also slightly older than the girl. His calm and mature demeanor was what attracted the Xiao Qian the most.

Meanwhile, Chen Fan stared at Boss Yang indifferently. Standing beside him was Ziqi who was already breaking down into tears.

"Why? I can't even talk to my employees?"

Boss Yang pointed a finger at Chen Fan; spittles splattered everywhere from his contorted mouth.

"Chen Boy! Don't you think that you can just hide behind Sister Yin's shirts! I am the manager of the bar, and you are just a fruit boy! It is my job to tell you what to do! Do you hear me?"

"Move your hand away," Chen Fan said lightly.

"What if I don't? Are you going to hit me?" Boss Yang said hotly.

The boy had interrupted him when he was castigating Ziqi. As the manager of the bar, it was his right and duty to reprimand any employee as he saw fit. How could he let a waiter step on his toes and tell him what to do?

"Quit it, Xiao Fan. It's all my fault." Ziqi nudged Chen Fan's elbow and said apologetically.

Even as she spoke, tears streaked across her red face, and her voice was filled with indignation.

"You can reprimand her if you have a legitimate reason. But can you tell me what Ziqi had done wrong? She was just a bit late when delivering wine to a customer, but you have been at it for five minutes. If that wasn't enough, you have deducted her one week's worth of salary. Do you know what those eight hundred yuan meant to her?" Chen Fan asked calmly.

"That's one month's living expenses.

"Ah, right, you don't care."

Before Boss Yang could reply, Chen Fan continued.

"In your mind, you are the lord of the place, and you also have a powerful protector. Therefore you don't care what other people think of you. You know she won't fight back because she still wants the job, don't you?"

"You nailed it! My protector is Brother Dong, and I AM the manager. So what are you planning to do?" Boss Yang asked rhetorically.

He kept on pointing at Chen Fan and said contemptuously:

"Kiddo, let me be clear. I don't like you and I have never liked you, and I have been patient enough with you for too long. If not for Sister Yin, I would have kicked you out of here!"

"Is that right? well, then there's nothing to talk about." Chen Fan said as he heaved a sigh.

"Why, are you backing down now? That's fine, but you need to apologize to me, then and only then, I will think about forgiving you." Boss Yang's voice swelled with arrogance.

Sensing the situation was finally cooling down, the waitress around Chen Fan heaved a sigh of relief.

Although no one liked Boss Yang, they knew better than to raise up against him. Backing down and apologizing was Chen Fan's best option.

To everyone's surprise, Chen Fan cracked a smile and then said: "Apologize?"

"What I meant is since I can't talk sense into you, I will have to whip your ass until you find them yourself."

"Hit me? Haha!" Boss Yang laughed out loud, and before his laughter had faded, he punched at Chen Fan.

No one had dared to threaten him in his bar, and Boss Yang intended it to remain that way.

However, just half a second later, Boss Yang was sent flying. His body spun around before it thudded heavily on a coffee table, knocking and smashing the glasses and bottles on the table.

"Ah!" A female customer sitting next to the coffee table screamed.

Before the waiters and waitresses figured out what had happened, Chen Fan zeroed in on Boss Yang and started to slap his face heavily.

"This one is for Sister Yan-Yan; you deducted half a months worth of salary from her paycheck for no reason."

"This one is for Xiao Dong; you bullied the sixteen-year-old almost every day!"

"This one is for Ziqi, so that you will learn the meaning of respect!"

"The last one is for Sister Yin. You have spoiled the reputation of the bar that she had worked so hard to maintain."

Every time Chen Fan landed a slap on Boss Yang's face, he made the manager know why he was getting it.

After a dozen slaps, Boss Yang's cheek was swollen to the size of a pork bun, and he could barely form a word in his mouth. Blood seeped out from the wounds and dripped to the floor.

Everything happened so fast that when people finally realized what was going on, Chen Fan had already finished the punishment.

Suddenly, a voice shouted at Chen Fan: "What the hell are you doing, Chen Fan? Quit it, now!"

Everyone turned toward the voice, and they saw a man and two women walking out of the manager's office on the second floor. One of the women glared at Chen Fan while her face was contorted with anger.