Chapter 042　 They could rely on each other.

  *

  Towa Design did not have a dedicated receptionist; Honda doubled as one. Her workstation was near the entrance, fronted by an elegant waiting area for guests to rest and hold brief meetings.

  There were no other guest appointments today, so when three young men in dark suits with slicked-back hair appeared outside the glass door, Honda found it a bit strange. But being naturally warm, she immediately stepped forward to open the door and welcome them.

  The leading man asked her where their boss was, his tone not very polite. Honda's heart tightened. She paid closer attention and realized they each had an iron pipe hidden in their sleeves. She immediately tried to close the glass door and yelled into the company to raise the alarm.

  By the time Li Chengshi realized the problem, the three men had already pushed Honda to the ground and were wildly swinging their iron pipes, smashing things. He was terrified, but the central workspace held the two new young female employees, who were already screaming. He instantly grabbed a decorative iron sample and rushed forward, swinging it wildly. The opponents' iron pipes were shorter, and for a moment, they dared not approach.

  Honda climbed up from the floor, lifted a chair, and threw it at the backs of the three men. Li Chengshi knew this was bad. Sure enough, she had enraged them. One of the men turned and headed toward her. Panicked, he attacked with all his might, hoping to scare them off, but it was difficult to fight three against one. Before long, they found a flaw, and one of them hit him on the back of the head with a pipe.

  *

  The conference room offered some soundproofing, but Su Xian quickly sensed something was wrong. The other three people also stopped talking, and then the screaming of the female employees became clearly audible.

  She jumped up and headed outside.

  Zhao Nanfeng joked that it might be an employee fight, asked the two executives to wait, and followed Su Xian out of the conference room.

  As soon as they rounded the partition, they saw the scene was chaotic. Seeing Li Chengshi knocked down, Su Xian immediately grabbed an iron art sample and charged forward.

  The men looked like street thugs. She furrowed her brow and forced herself to calm down so she could find an opening in the chaos. Don't be afraid, she reminded herself, I've been trained. I can fight them!

  Seeing that it was a woman who came out, the three thugs didn't pay much attention. When they saw Zhao Nanfeng, they yelled, "Boss, you're the one we're looking for!"

  Zhao Nanfeng picked up a cold-water pipe sample, pulled away the obstructing chairs, and walked beside Su Xian. "You go to the back. They're looking for me."

  Su Xian raised her left hand to block him and whispered, "I'll take the left, two of them. You take the right, one. Go!"

  Before he could even process it, she had already rushed forward. Zhao Nanfeng immediately followed. He didn't know that Su Xian had studied boxing and kickboxing after they broke up; he was just used to cooperating with her.

  *

  The leading thug showed a contemptuous, fierce grin, but in the next second, Su Xian struck him hard on the wrist, and he immediately collapsed in pain. The one next to him was surprised and stunned, but then took a painful blow to the chest. He stumbled back a few steps, stabilized himself by hitting an office desk, but dared not advance for the moment. Zhao Nanfeng's weapon was too light and was immediately sent flying by his opponent's iron pipe. However, he bought Su Xian a little time. She swung back and hit the third thug on the back. The man screamed and fell to the floor.

  The leading thug stood up when they weren't paying attention, swung his iron pipe, and smashed it toward Zhao Nanfeng. Su Xian turned to block him and took the blow on her left arm. She screamed, then immediately endured the pain and struck back. But the iron art sample was heavy and less flexible than the opponent's pipe, and the opponent seemed more experienced. She couldn't regain the upper hand immediately.

  In her peripheral vision, Li Chengshi was lying motionless on the ground. She couldn't help but feel anxious and flustered, and her moves lost their order.

  In the midst of the chaos, the two Heidi executives in the conference room couldn't sit still and came out to investigate. Seeing the brutal scene outside, they were surprised but very loyally stepped forward to help.

  This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.

  Seeing the numbers increase, the thugs also gathered their strength and fought back with all their might.

  At that moment, one of the new female employees stood up and shouted, "110番に通報した、すぐ来るって！ (I've called the police, they're coming right away!)"

  The thugs were clearly backing down. Su Xian took the opportunity to strike them out the door, and the three men ran away. Just as she breathed a sigh of relief, she heard a scream from Samuel behind her. She turned to see Zhao Nanfeng clutching his stomach and collapsing, a sharp knife stuck in his abdomen.

  **

  The police and paramedics arrived one after another. They first carried away Zhao Nanfeng and Li Chengshi, and then took Su Xian and Honda onto the ambulance. The others followed the police back to file reports.

  Su Xian felt her mind was in a confused, unconscious state for a long time. When she finally became fully aware again, she found herself sitting blankly on a chair outside the operating room, her wounds treated.

  Li Chengshi had been knocked out by a blow to the back of the head with an iron pipe. Fortunately, the examination showed the injury was not serious—just a mild concussion—but he needed to be hospitalized for a few days of observation.

  Honda was pushed to the ground by brute force and was not hit, suffering only minor injuries.

  However, Zhao Nanfeng was stabbed directly in the liver, his life was in danger, and the surgery was underway. The doctor said it might take five or six hours.

  He won't die, will he?

  The appearance of this thought was like turning on a faucet for tears. A feeling of endless fear washed over her.

  *

  Honda jogged over, stopped momentarily by a passing nurse, and kept apologizing with bows as she hurried to tell Su Xian that Li Chengshi was awake and looking for her.

  His injury was on the back of his head. To facilitate bandaging, the bandage wrapped from his occiput all the way down to his jaw, making it look quite severe. To prevent Su Xian from worrying, he prepared a smile beforehand. But when he saw Su Xian walk into the room, her elegant Ralph Lauren shirt stained with several patches of fresh blood, it almost scared him to death.

  Su Xian rushed to the bedside, wanting to hug him but afraid that the force might hurt him, so she stopped. Seeing him staring at the bloodstains on her shirt, she quickly explained, "It's not mine."

  "Whose is it?"

  "...Zhao Nanfeng's."

  "How is the Boss?"

  "Still in surgery."

  Li Chengshi's eyes turned red. He opened his arms and looked up at her, "Team Leader, hug me, I'm scared."

  Su Xian sat beside him and held him gently and tightly. "Don't be scared."

  But how could she not be scared? She was scared too. The tears she had just managed to wipe away began to stream down again.

  "Team Leader, don't be scared." He gently rubbed her back.

  In that moment, Su Xian realized she had someone she could cling to, and they could rely on each other.

  *

  A nurse guided two police officers into the room and asked if they were well enough to cooperate with the investigation.

  They were, of course.

  The two new employees and the Heidi executives didn't know the company well and couldn't provide useful information. The police learned from Honda that the three thugs' target was very specific: they were after Zhao Nanfeng, not Towa Design itself.

  Su Xian's first reaction was that the issue was most likely related to Zhao Nanfeng's romantic relationships.

  The police asked her to describe his love life in as much detail as possible.

  They didn't know the name of his latest girlfriend. Before that was Ono Mari, who had also scammed Zhao Nanfeng out of 5 million Japanese Yen.

  Hearing that name, the two police officers exchanged a look.

  Su Xian immediately pressed if that person was problematic.

  The police nodded and said that Ono Mari was a professional fraudster, with scam amounts totaling hundreds of millions of Japanese Yen. They had received several reports, but "Ono Mari" was an alias, so they currently had no leads.

  "彼女はやくざのお金も騙したのか (Did she even scam the yakuza out of money)?"

  The two police officers exchanged glances again but said nothing more, clearly having gained valuable information.

  *