Chapter 142: Getting Hooked on Slapping Faces

Chapter 142: Addicted to Slapping Faces

"Just because I am Fu Zhiqing's man, do you have a problem with that?"

A single sentence plunged the entire hall into a deathly silence.

People stared at the man in the inner hall who was tightly embracing Fu Zhiqing’s waist, their minds echoing with the act from just moments before when he had lowered his head and recklessly kissed the lips of East Ocean’s number one beauty. It had been casual, natural, as if he had performed the gesture a thousand times over...

Damn it!

At that moment, the hearts of many male guests shattered completely, leaving them with the sudden urge to burst into tears.

Yet at the same time, countless other men looked at Chu Fei with expressions of adoration. This was the idol of their generation; a true man.

If Chu Fei wrapping his arm around Fu Zhiqing's waist upon entering was already shocking, then the scene of him kissing Fu Zhiqing right out in the open in front of everyone was simply too mind-boggling and unbelievable.

Especially since Fu Zhiqing hadn't shown the slightest bit of opposition to Chu Fei's kiss, let alone anger. Instead, she had merely given him a coquettish glare before falling silent, remaining as docile as a little kitten.

This was the number one beauty of East Ocean! A goddess who bore the title of a cold and aloof business queen, worshipped by millions of men—had she just been kissed like that? Had she been defiled?

The scene was too astonishing. Even Lin Cong, standing right there, was completely dumbfounded. He stared at Chu Fei, who was standing two meters away, like a wooden sculpture. His complexion rapidly drained of color until it was as pale as paper, and for a long time, he couldn't utter a single word...

No matter the circumstances, action is always the best proof. All the smooth-talking rhetoric in the world can never compare to a direct action.

That was precisely Lin Cong's situation right now. He knew he had failed. No matter how eloquently he spoke, no matter how infectious or resonant his words were, it was all doomed to fail because it paled in comparison to the tangible reality of Chu Fei embracing and kissing Fu Zhiqing just then.

At that moment, everyone saw the bitter expression on Lin Cong's face. Many felt that Lin Cong was truly pitiful; after all, he was supposed to be the undisputed leading man of today's birthday banquet, yet he had been completely reduced to a supporting role—and a negative foil at that.

"Young Master Lin? Do you have any objections to what I just said?"

Chu Fei, refusing to let Lin Cong off the hook, sneered and asked again.

A trace of chilling malice flashed in the gaze Lin Cong directed at Chu Fei. They say the worst you can do to a man is kill him, but Chu Fei was being even more ruthless. Lin Cong suddenly forced out a couple of laughs and actually turned his gaze toward Elder Fu, who had stood frozen like a block of wood without speaking for ages. "Whether I have objections doesn't matter. What matters is that Elder Fu ought to acknowledge your identity, don't you think, Elder Fu?" With that, he fixed his eyes directly on the old man.

*I acknowledge your grandfather!*

Elder Fu was cursing up a storm in his heart. At that moment, he wanted to strangle Lin Cong to death—an urge even stronger than the one he'd had to bite Chu Fei to death just moments earlier. It was just that too many spectators were present for him to throw a tantrum; had it not been for the crowd of guests, he definitely would have rushed forward and slapped Lin Cong across the face himself.

Seeing that Elder Fu did not answer his question, Lin Cong frowned slightly, though he wasn't particularly surprised. It would have been a miracle if Elder Fu had spoken up at this point. His deliberate statement just now was meant to escalate the situation and set up his next line of argument.

However, Chu Fei had no intention of giving him the chance to continue speaking.

"I am Fu Zhiqing's man, not Elder Fu's. What does his approval or disapproval have to do with me?" Chu Fei curled his lip as he glanced at Elder Fu, then let his gaze fall back onto Lin Cong's face.

Lin Cong's expression darkened. Chu Fei's words were brutally blunt, yet left him with no room for refutation.

"I don't care whether Elder Fu acknowledges it or not, nor do I care about the Fu family's feelings. The fact of the matter is that Fu Zhiqing used to be my fiancée, and now she is my woman. That is a fact. Do you have a problem with that?" Chu Fei asked again, pressing forward aggressively.

"Ha! You claim Fu Zhiqing is your woman? On what grounds?" Pushed to the brink, Lin Cong completely lost his composure. His eyes suddenly snapped to Fu Zhiqing. "Does Fu Zhiqing herself admit to this?"

Chu Fei burst into laughter. Suddenly lowering his head, under the watchful gaze of everyone, he reached out a finger to hook up Fu Zhiqing's chin and teased with a wicked smile, "Qingqing, tell them. Am I your man or not?"

"So childish!" Fu Zhiqing's face flushed bright red, and she gritted her teeth in a huff. This scene had stripped away her usual composure as well.

"Am I being childish? When you were sleeping in the same bed with me last night, you didn't seem to think I was childish. Huh?" Chu Fei continued to badger her with a wicked smile, completely unconcerned about how many hearts his actions and words were piercing.

"—"

This time, Fu Zhiqing didn't even bother to acknowledge Chu Fei. She simply lowered her head and buried herself even more forcefully into Chu Fei's embrace. It was too shameless! How could anyone ask such a question in public? Yet she had no way to explain herself either.

However, the gesture of her hiding herself carried a completely different meaning in the eyes of the onlookers.

Watching Chu Fei and Fu Zhiqing engaging in such uninhibited "flirtation" before them, Lin Cong's complexion was no longer just pale; it had turned thoroughly ashen, mixed with a sickly shade of black. Veins throbbed prominently on his forehead, twisting his features into a ferocious grimace. His eyes were bloodshot as he glared at Chu Fei, wishing he could pounce forward and tear him apart...

The next moment.

Lin Cong suddenly burst out laughing at the two of them.

The abrupt laughter startled the crowd, and Chu Fei was no exception. Frowning at this abruptly "deranged" young master of the Lin family, Chu Fei knitted his brows and said, "What the hell is wrong with you? What are you laughing at?"

"Chu Fei, you really are arrogant!"

Lin Cong stopped laughing, staring menacingly at Chu Fei. "You're doing great, but don't forget this is East Ocean. In East Ocean, no one can challenge the majesty of the Lin family. Chu Zangtian couldn't do it twenty years ago, and neither can you today. So what if you managed to get Fu Zhiqing? You are still nothing more than a stray dog, just like your old man who fled East Ocean in utter humiliation over twenty years ago. Your end will only be more miserable than his. I, Lin Cong, swear that you will never come to a good end!" Lin Cong glared fiercely into Chu Fei's eyes and shouted these words.

His final sentence was no longer a warning, but a direct threat.

"Are you threatening me?"

Chu Fei's eyebrows shot up instantly, and a hint of murderous intent flashed in his eyes.

"Threatening you? Who do you think you are? Do you really think being Chu Zangtian's bastard gives you the qualifications for me to threaten you? You think far too highly of yourself." At this point, Lin Cong spoke with utter disdain, maintaining a completely condescending posture. Having swept away his previous refined and composed demeanor, he had gone completely mad. For the first time in all of East Ocean, he displayed the unbridled arrogance of a young master of the Lin family. Yet, to many people, such rampant arrogance on the part of the young master of the Lin family carried a tragic undertone, because this madness had been forcibly provoked and driven out of him by the young man named Chu Fei. One could even say that Lin Cong's arrogant facade was merely a cover for himself, a pitiful camouflage masking his own defeat.

Elder Fu frowned as well, but he didn't try to stop it. The current situation indeed required a strong posture to reclaim some dignity, and Lin Cong's frenzy undoubtedly served to make up for that shortcoming nicely.

However, none of the people present understood Chu Fei's personality and temperament.

"Good. Very good!"

Faced with Lin Cong's boundless arrogance, threats, and condescension, a brilliant smile suddenly bloomed across Chu Fei's face. Then, he directly released Fu Zhiqing from his embrace and strode toward Lin Cong...

The sight stunned everyone.

What on earth was this guy planning to do? Surely he wasn't going to resort to physical violence just because he was pissed off, right?

Even Fu Zhiqing lifted her head in a daze, seeming to forget her prior shyness as she looked perplexedly at Chu Fei, who had pulled away from her and was rapidly closing in on Lin Cong...

*Slap—*

Amidst the disbelieving gazes of the crowd, Chu Fei walked right up to Lin Cong, raised his hand, and delivered a crisp, resounding slap. The deafening sound of the blow instantly echoed into every corner of the room...

In that exact instant.

The resounding slap seemed to strike every single heart in the room simultaneously, causing everyone to instinctively wince.

This guy actually dared to hit Lin Cong?

And he used the most humiliating method possible—slapping him across the face?

Everyone witnessing the scene was petrified with shock. Verbal humiliation was one thing, but slapping someone in the face was an entirely different matter. This had completely crossed the line into a whole new nature...

Absolute silence fell, so quiet that one could hear a pin drop.

For a full twenty seconds, not even the sound of breathing could be heard across the massive waterside pavilion and the square. Everyone was utterly terrified by the spectacle, forgetting even how to draw breath.

Lin Cong himself was dumbfounded. Holding his burning, stinging cheek, he stared in disbelief at the smiling Chu Fei standing right before him, unable to utter a sound for ages.

"You dare hit me?"

A full minute later, Lin Cong finally snapped back to his senses.

"Hitting you is me doing you a favor. Striking a mad dog like you who doesn't know his place and barks nonsense everywhere just dirties my hand," Chu Fei retorted with a curled lip, his gaze chilling as he fixed it on Lin Cong. If Lin Cong's arrogance earlier had been uninhibited, then Chu Fei's low-key, subdued arrogance at this moment operated on an entirely different plane. It almost made Lin Cong's previous frantic display look like a complete joke, reducing him to nothing more than a stepping stone for Chu Fei to flex his power.

Lin Cong continued to cup his burning cheek, a cold sneer suddenly breaking across his lips. "Fine, fine. You actually dared to strike me, Lin Cong. I swear..."

*Slap—*

Another resounding smack echoed through the inner hall...

The sound of the slap drowned out the rest of Lin Cong's words—or rather, it choked the words right back down his throat. No one could possibly speak while being slapped across the face...

"You—"

"What? Are you thinking of fighting back?"

Chu Fei looked at Lin Cong with the utmost disdain. Being a few centimeters taller than Lin Cong, he managed to project a towering, condescending illusion. At that moment, Chu Fei looked like a supreme emperor looking down on a mere peasant...

"Are you about to say that since I dared to hit you, you're going to make me pay in this way or that?" As he spoke, Chu Fei casually shook his right hand in front of the crowd, acting as though slapping someone had actually hurt his own hand. With an even more contemptuous and dismissive tone, he added, "Is there any point to this? Do members of the Lin family only know how to flap their gums? If you have the guts to threaten me, do you dare throw a punch?"

"—"

Lin Cong gritted his teeth as he glared at Chu Fei, yet he didn't make a move. It wasn't that he didn't want to; it was that he didn't dare. Chu Zangtian had been a supreme freak twenty years ago, and Chu Fei was swaggering about just as dominantly today. Though Lin Cong didn't know the extent of Chu Fei's combat skills, he knew he certainly couldn't compare, being nothing more than a bookish scholar. To actually fight back? That would simply be asking for humiliation, and would moreover hand the other party a ready excuse to unleash an even worse beating.

*Slap, slap—*

Just as Lin Cong was boiling with grief and fury, driven practically insane yet utterly helpless, a palm suddenly materialized right before his eyes...

A rapid succession of slaps rang out across the venue.

Without any warning whatsoever, Chu Fei had once again landed several slaps across Lin Cong's face...

Then, amidst the dropped jaws of the stunned crowd, Chu Fei shook his hand and muttered, "Damn it, that old swindler really wasn't lying. Slapping people really is satisfying—I'm getting addicted to it..."

Good grief!

Everyone who heard those words collectively rolled their eyes—