Huang Xinglong knelt stiffly before Lin Xiao, the arrogance from a moment ago gone without a trace. It was replaced by a profound fear, one that seemed to radiate from the very marrow of his bones and made his entire body tremble. He didn't even dare to glance at Lin Xiao.

"Mr. Lin, I… I was wrong," he stuttered. "Please, I'm begging you… spare me!"

Lin Xiao regarded him with cold eyes. "The person you should be apologizing to is Pei Yanzi."

Huang Xinglong instantly scrambled over and knelt before Pei Yanzi. "Yanzi, I… I was wrong," he said, his voice trembling. "I'm just a brain-dead idiot! I… I won't ever dare to do it again! Please, I'm begging you, spare me!" As he spoke, he fiercely slapped himself twice across the face.

Huang Xinglong wasn't a complete idiot. The moment Lin Xiao told him to apologize to Pei Yanzi, he knew his only chance of leaving alive today rested on her forgiveness. Only if she chose not to hold a grudge could he escape unscathed. That was why he slapped himself with such viciousness.

Pei Yanzi had clearly never witnessed such a scene before and stumbled back several paces in fright.

Ignoring her reaction, Huang Xinglong began slapping himself frantically again. Between blows, he pleaded, "Yanzi, I truly know I was wrong! Please, spare me! I'll never do it again, I swear!"

"S-stop hitting yourself!" Pei Yanzi stammered, her voice trembling. "I… I won't hold it against you!" Her face had gone pale, clearly terrified by the spectacle.

Hearing her words, Huang Xinglong was so relieved he wanted to cry. Without another word, he kowtowed twice, his forehead thudding loudly against the ground.

"Thank you, Yanzi! You can rest assured, from now on, whenever I see you, I'll take a detour. No, I promise you'll never see me at school again!"

Having said his piece, Huang Xinglong looked cautiously toward Lin Xiao, but Lin Xiao didn't even glance his way. Instead, he addressed Huang Xingcheng. "Huang Xingcheng, weren't you going to settle accounts with this guy?"

Huang Xingcheng understood that Lin Xiao was handing Huang Xinglong over for him to deal with, a gesture that gave him immense face. He nodded quickly. "Boss, thank you. After I've dealt with this idiot, I'll treat you to a meal!"

"We'll see," Lin Xiao replied.

Huang Xingcheng grunted in acknowledgment and shot Huang Xinglong a cold glare. "Come with me!"

Huang Xinglong scrambled to his feet and hurried after him. Once they were gone, Lin Xiao, Pei Donglai, and Pei Yanzi all got into the car.

The turmoil had finally ended. The onlookers, who had all assumed Pei Yanzi and her brother were in for a world of hurt, were stunned that a young man who looked like a beggar had resolved the entire situation so effortlessly.

However, even though the matter was resolved, both Pei Donglai and Pei Yanzi remained somewhat downcast.

To be honest, Pei Donglai felt a deep sense of sorrow. He was once the celebrated War God of the Western Region, yet now he couldn't even protect his own sister.

Pei Yanzi wasn't upset, having already recovered from the initial fright, but she felt a profound sense of disappointment. It was because she had seen Lin Xiao again. The sight of him immediately brought her brother's words to mind: Big Brother Lin was already married to a very beautiful woman, and she needed to extinguish any feelings she had for him.

Lin Xiao was unaware of what the two were thinking. Noticing Pei Donglai's gloomy expression, he asked, "What is it? Is something still wrong?"

"No, Captain, nothing's wrong!"

"If nothing's wrong, why do you look so dejected?"

Pei Donglai sighed. "Captain, to be honest, I'm a bit depressed."

"Why?"

"Because I'm always troubling you." With that, Pei Donglai let out another sigh.

Lin Xiao rolled his eyes at him. "Pei Donglai, you're being a little melodramatic today, aren't you? What's all this talk about being a 'trouble'? Are we friends or not?"

"Of course we are!" Pei Donglai nodded hastily.

"Exactly. Since we're friends, isn't it only natural for me to do things for you? Besides, you've done plenty for me," Lin Xiao said.

"But Captain, I just feel like you've already done more than enough. It makes me feel terribly guilty!"

"Pei Donglai, are you thinking of leaving?" Lin Xiao asked abruptly.

The question caught Pei Donglai completely off guard. "Captain, I've never thought about leaving!"

"Then why are you saying all this? Our lives are just beginning. We're going to go through a lot more together in the future, and there's no telling when you'll be the one helping me out."

Pei Donglai knew Lin Xiao was just trying to comfort him. After all, the man's background and power were simply heaven-defying. There was no way he could be of any real help. Honestly, he was truly moved. Meeting Lin Xiao was the luckiest thing that had ever happened to him.

Lin Xiao didn't feel like wasting any more words on him. He turned his head to look at Pei Yanzi and smiled. "Yanzi, are you alright?"

Pei Yanzi blushed under his gaze and quickly nodded. "Big Brother Lin, I'm fine!"

"Good to hear. Here's a gift for you." As he spoke, Lin Xiao handed Pei Yanzi the tickets to Chu Xiangxue's concert.

She was stunned. Even though Lin Xiao had mentioned Chu Xiangxue's concert on their way back from Jinhai City last night, she had assumed that was the end of it. She never expected him to actually hand her the tickets.

Pei Yanzi was thrilled. Of course, she wanted to see a Chu Xiangxue concert. It had been Chu Xiangxue's music, after all, that had helped her get through the darkest times of her high school years.

But she hesitated to accept the tickets. They're too expensive. "Big Brother Lin, thank you for the kind thought, but I can't accept these!"

"Why not?"

"Because they're too valuable!"

Lin Xiao smiled. "Is that all? I was worried it was something serious. Chu Xiangxue left the tickets herself. As you can imagine, it's not hard for the star of the show to get a few extras. So, just take them. I've already convinced your brother to go with you."

"Big Brother Lin… are you going too?" she asked tentatively.

"I'm afraid I can't make it," Lin Xiao said with a smile.

A flicker of disappointment flashed through Pei Yanzi's eyes, but she hid it so well that no one noticed.

After dropping the siblings off at the entrance to their residential complex, Lin Xiao gave Pei Donglai the rest of the day off, telling him to spend some time with his sister. After the ordeal they had just been through, he knew someone with Pei Yanzi's personality wouldn't be able to get over it so quickly.

Pei Donglai was well aware of this and nodded gratefully. After a few more moments of casual chat, the siblings got out of the car, and Lin Xiao quickly drove away.

As she watched Lin Xiao's car disappear, Pei Yanzi's expression grew visibly gloomy. Pei Donglai saw it and let out a faint sigh. He knew what was on his sister's mind, but what good did knowing do? Lin Xiao was never going to divorce Su Qingning. This meant his sister was doomed to suffer the torment of unrequited love.

Lin Xiao, however, was oblivious to all this. All he wanted was to go home. Su Qingning might be awake by now. He missed her.

Just as he was nearing the villa, his phone suddenly rang. The call was from his grandmaster. Lin Xiao answered it immediately.

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