Lili dramatically left her seat and squeezed in next to Zhao Rong. She deliberately cooed in front of the playboy, "Honey, that man wants my phone number. Should I give it to him or not?"
Zhao Rong, who had never tasted such a delicious hot pot before, played along while eating. "Your husband doesn't approve, so of course you can't."
Lili turned to the playboy. "I'm sorry, my husband loves me too much. He won't let me give you my contact information. Goodbye."
Upon hearing that the short, ugly, and poor man before him actually had two beautiful girlfriends and a wife, the playboy completely lost his composure. He looked up to the heavens and roared. Heavens! Earth! This is so damn unfair! Why can't a tall, rich, and handsome guy like me find beauties like these, while this short, ugly, poor loser has a wife and girlfriends? And the most crucial thing is, these three women can actually get along peacefully?
After his outburst, the playboy, burning with jealousy, couldn't swallow his pride. He strode over to Zhao Rong and said, "Hey, you. I want to beat you up, you know that?"
Zhao Rong, who was in the middle of savoring his meal, replied lazily, "Listen, pal, can you wait until I finish my hot pot? You can beat me up after that. There's no rush."
Hearing Zhao Rong's seemingly submissive tone, the playboy snickered. Looking at Zhao Rong's slight build and meek face, he looked like a weakling who was easy to bully. The playboy's mind turned to wicked thoughts. If I just beat this guy up, I can show these three beauties how formidable I am. Maybe one of them will be so impressed she'll follow me and become my girlfriend.
Growing bolder, the playboy continued to provoke Zhao Rong. "Idiot, stop eating that hot pot. I want to fight you now."
Hearing this man, a complete stranger with whom he had no quarrel, insist on a fight, Zhao Rong felt helpless and innocent. He took a bite of food and a sip of beer. "I haven't done anything to you. Why do you want to hit me?"
The playboy spat, his voice thick with jealousy, "It's because you have women and I don't! It's as simple as that, got it? Now get your ass out of that seat and let me give you a beating."
At these words, Zhao Rong put down his chopsticks and timidly stood up. He looked at the playboy and said, "Sir, I still want to finish my meal. Please go easy on me."
Seeing Zhao Rong's cowardly act, the playboy burst out laughing. This must be my lucky day, running into a guy this easy to bully. Just you wait. I'll beat you senseless, then take your three women to a nearby hotel.
With that thought, he threw a punch straight at Zhao Rong's face.
But just as his fist was about to land, he suddenly felt as if he had been slapped no less than fifty times. The truth was, the moment the playboy threw his punch, Zhao Rong had dodged with lightning speed and unleashed a flurry of furious slaps on the man's face. However, because Zhao Rong's movements were too fast, the playboy only felt the sting of dozens of loud slaps but couldn't see who was hitting him.
Stinging with pain, the playboy dropped his fists. He clutched his already swelling face and roared, "Damn it! Who slapped me? If you've got the guts, show yourself! Don't just hide!"
Before he could finish, Zhao Rong delivered another crisp slap, sending the man staggering. "This first slap," Zhao Rong said coolly, "is to teach you a lesson: you can't judge a man by his appearance any more than you can measure the sea with a bucket."
He followed it with another slap, making the playboy see stars. "This second slap," Zhao Rong continued, "is to teach you how to be a better person. Don't be jealous of others. Work on improving yourself, understand?"
Zhao Rong's third slap was hard enough to make the playboy burst into tears. Looking at the sobbing man, Zhao Rong said, "And this third slap is to help you mature. It's to make you realize the importance of keeping a low profile."
After the three heavy slaps, the playboy ran away crying. As he fled, he shouted, "I've seen people pretend to be weak to get the upper hand, but never someone as good at it as you! You look like a helpless, short, ugly, poor guy, but who knew you could fight so well! Now I finally understand why you have three women following you. You're an absolute badass!"
Seeing Zhao Rong so easily dispatch the playboy with a few slaps, Lili, Yu Lan, and Xuelian all broke into applause. The other patrons in the hot pot restaurant, who had previously looked down on and ridiculed Zhao Rong, now stared at him with newfound respect, realizing he was a hidden Martial Arts master. Several young men who had been planning to approach the women were so intimidated by Zhao Rong's aura that they kept their distance.
At that moment, Lili replayed the scene of Zhao Rong disciplining the playboy in her mind and couldn't help but feel a surge of admiration. If only my boyfriend, Wang Jingang, were as impressive as Zhao Rong…
After sending the playboy running, Zhao Rong and the women resumed eating their hot pot. Just as they were about to finish, a group of young women rushed over to their table. One of them, wearing a hairpin, looked at Zhao Rong with admiration. "Sir! You're Zhao Rong, the top expert from the training center, aren't you?"
Surprised to be recognized, Zhao Rong asked, "You know me?"
"I've heard your story," the girl with the hairpin said. "You're the one who captured the ferocious Rainy Night Maniac."
A short-haired girl beside her added, "Sir, I know you too! I personally saw you beat up that arrogant campus bully, Big Fool."
Hearing that the two women did indeed know of his exploits, Zhao Rong's ego swelled a little. "Well, since you know me, let's be friends. We can exchange contact information."
Upon hearing this, the young women were ecstatic. They said in unison, "We're truly honored to become friends with you!"
Just as Zhao Rong opened WeChat to add them, he caught sight of Lili frowning at him from across the table, Yu Lan glaring at him from his left, and Xuelian fuming furiously to his right.
Seeing this, Zhao Rong gulped. I'm just adding a few girls on WeChat. It's not like anything is going to happen. Why are you all looking at me with such anger? It's as if you're my wives and I'm cheating on you!
Facing the immense pressure, Zhao Rong turned apologetically to his young fans. "My apologies, young ladies, but a hero like me never leaves his contact information. If fate allows it, we will meet again."
Dejected by the rejection, the young women left.
After finishing the hot pot, Zhao Rong and the three women left the restaurant and hailed a taxi back to the training center.
Although the four of them had enjoyed themselves, they were oblivious to the danger that lay ahead. Along their route, men from a loan shark company had set up an ambush. They planned to kidnap Lili to threaten her father, the chairman, and extort money from him.