The male manager was thoroughly enraged now. If the young master of the Wu family got into trouble here, his boss would definitely hold him accountable, and when that time came, his position as manager would certainly be gone.
“You, you lot—go tie these two up. When Young Master Jiang arrives, let Young Master Jiang deal with them. Hurry!” the male manager ordered the security guards.
The bodyguards assumed defensive stances. Seeing the two men’s solid muscles and hulking builds, the security guards immediately lost their nerve a little.
“Go on! What are you cowering for? A bunch of useless trash. If something happens to Young Master Wu and Young Master Jiang comes looking for someone to settle accounts with, none of you will get away either.” Seeing them hesitate, the male manager berated them in fury, hating that iron could not become steel. Hearing this, the security guards had no choice but to step forward.
Manager Song had been at Nyx longer than the male manager and understood the boss a little better, which was why she had dared threaten Young Master Wu earlier. Seeing this, she stepped in to stop them. “No one is allowed to make a move! When Young Master Jiang arrives, I’ll explain it to him. It was Young Master Wu who couldn’t keep his hands to himself and attacked a customer first.”
The male manager looked down on women to begin with. At her words, he frowned. “What do you know? Would Young Master Jiang fall out with the Wu family over a woman?”
“You!” Manager Song was just about to say something when several people appeared at the end of the corridor.
The man walking at the front said indifferently, “What’s all this noise?”
Everyone turned their heads in unison. The man at the very front was none other than Jiang Jibai, the owner of Nyx.
Zhou Yinhe followed lazily behind him. He lifted his eyes and saw the disorderly crowd, then withdrew his gaze expressionlessly.
Because Wen Ling was blocked behind two mountain-like bodyguards, Zhou Yinhe did not see her at all.
“Young Master.” The male manager stepped forward and pointed at the two bodyguards. “These two men beat Young Master Wu.”
Jiang Jibai frowned slightly. His gaze swept over Young Master Wu, who was lying on the ground clutching his mouth and whimpering, unable to speak. Then he looked at the two bodyguards and said coldly, “Whose family are you from?”
Manager Song stepped forward and explained, “Young Master, it was Young Master Wu who tried to forcibly drag a customer into a private room. That was why the customer’s bodyguards hit him.”
Jiang Jibai knew these frequenting wastrel young masters very well, so he naturally knew this Young Master Wu’s character too. He ordered the security guards to help Young Master Wu up. Young Master Wu said with difficulty, “Brother Jiang, you have to uphold justice for me.”
Seeing him like this, Jiang Jibai could scarcely conceal his disgust. He turned his gaze toward the woman whose bodyguards were blocking her so that only half her face was visible, and for some reason, she seemed familiar.
At that moment, Wen Ling seemed as though she could no longer stand. Holding on to a bodyguard, she dry-heaved, and as her body swayed, her face happened to be exposed before everyone.
Jiang Jibai froze slightly when he saw her. “Wen Ling?”
Zhou Yinhe suddenly raised his head and stared straight at Wen Ling. Qi Zhan was also somewhat stunned.
For Manager Song to have climbed to her current position, aside from having a glib tongue, she was also extremely good at reading people’s expressions. Seeing that the young masters’ faces all looked off, she continued, “This is the customer. I couldn’t stop Young Master Wu. Fortunately, the customer had bodyguards with her, otherwise something definitely would have happened.”
Wen Ling slowly lifted her eyes. When she saw Zhou Yinhe standing not far away, looking at her, waves of grievance surged up, forcing the tears she had held back all night to spill down her cheeks in an instant.
She directly pushed the bodyguard aside and staggered forward, throwing herself into Zhou Yinhe’s arms. Zhou Yinhe instinctively caught her by the waist and heard her murmur, “How could you stand me up?”
Manager Song lowered her eyes, understanding that this beautiful young girl would definitely be fine now, and let out a breath of relief. In contrast, the male manager’s heart leapt into his throat. Anyone could see that this customer’s relationship with the Fifth Young Master of the Zhou family was not ordinary.
Wen Ling clutched tightly at Zhou Yinhe’s clothes, sobbing softly, full of grievance.
Zhou Yinhe pressed his lips together, but still pulled her into his embrace and apologized in a low voice, “I’m sorry.”
At that moment, even the air seemed to freeze. The onlookers stared blankly at the Fifth Young Master of the Zhou family, who was utterly different from his usual self. Even Jiang Jibai and Qi Zhan were a little stunned.
Jiang Jibai gave Manager Song a look, then said to Zhou Yinhe, “Let Manager Song take her to sober up first.”
Manager Song stepped forward and half-supported, half-held Wen Ling. Wen Ling slowly loosened her grip on Zhou Yinhe’s clothes, lifted her eyes to look at him, and bit her lip in grievance, but still followed Manager Song away.
Seeing this, the two bodyguards followed. In an unfamiliar place, who knew whether this Manager Song might do something bad to their young miss?
Only when Wen Ling’s figure could no longer be seen did Zhou Yinhe slowly withdraw his gaze and look toward Young Master Wu, who was being supported by the security guards.
He clenched his fists. Unbidden, his mind began to imagine what Wen Ling would have suffered if she had truly been dragged away by him.
Before anyone could react, Zhou Yinhe had already strode forward and punched Young Master Wu in the face. Even after knocking him to the ground, he was not done; he kicked Young Master Wu viciously, again and again.
Since childhood, Zhou Yinhe had rarely fought with anyone, nor did he need to. His sudden attack stunned everyone.
Jiang Jibai did not stop him either, knowing that in Zhou Yinhe’s current state, stopping him would be useless. Only when Young Master Wu’s earlier howls gradually weakened did Jiang Jibai and Qi Zhan pull Zhou Yinhe back together.
Zhou Yinhe’s expression was terrifyingly dark, and his long, narrow eyes were now filled with hostility. When the two of them restrained him, he even struggled once.
“If you keep hitting him, he’s going to stop breathing,” Jiang Jibai advised in a low voice.
Qi Zhan also persuaded him, “Don’t actually kill him. If he dies, it’ll be troublesome to handle. Once he wakes up, just take it out on his family.”
Zhou Yinhe gritted his teeth and held back the roiling violence inside him, then shook out his aching hand.
Seeing that he had calmed down, Jiang Jibai instructed the security guards, “Send Young Master Wu to the hospital. If the Wu family asks about it, tell them to come find me.”
“Yes.” The security guards stepped forward, lifted Young Master Wu, and hurried away.
At this moment, Manager Song returned alone and said, “That young lady said she didn’t want to stay here any longer and has already left.”
Zhou Yinhe had quieted down by now. He stood silently in place for a while and was just about to leave when Qi Zhan grabbed him.
“Where are you going?”
Zhou Yinhe did not know either.
And so he was dragged into the private room. Jiang Jibai closed the door, and the room instantly fell silent.
Zhou Yinhe closed his eyes wearily and leaned back against the sofa, his Adam’s apple bobbing several times. In a hoarse voice, he blamed himself, “She came here because I stood her up, and she was in a bad mood.”
“That’s not your fault,” Qi Zhan comforted him.
But Zhou Yinhe said, “If I hadn’t stood her up, or if I had told her more directly, maybe she wouldn’t have been so upset. She wouldn’t have gotten so drunk, and she wouldn’t have run into that beast.”
Jiang Jibai stood beside him, his face indifferent as he lowered his eyes to look at him.
“Little Five, you still can’t let her go, can you? Even if it might mean repeating the same mistake, even if you might have to experience once again the pain you once couldn’t endure, you still can’t let her go, can you?”