319: Chapter 318: A Man Must Not Lose His Dignity 319: Chapter 318: A Man Must Not Lose His Dignity At the entrance of Xiaogu Elementary School, the ground was littered with the groaning figures of beaten local hoodlums, writhing in pain.
Several meters away, on a jeep, the notorious gang leader from the nearby town, Zhu Ba, had smashed the hood into a dent.
“Wuu wuu wuu…”
Zhu Ba lay on the dented hood, feeling as if his whole body had come apart and dared not move an inch.
At this moment, Ning Fan didn’t bother with the defeated Zhu Ba and his gang.
He first gave Zhao Lili a cold glance, then nonchalantly walked over to his own car, which was parked at a distance.
Zhao Lili, terrified, retreated backward and hid in a corner, not daring to show herself.
About five minutes later, Ning Fan returned, carrying a large backpack.
Zhu Ba also managed to crawl down from the jeep’s hood at this time.
He lay on the ground panting heavily like a dead dog.
It must be said, compared to his lackeys, Zhu Ba did have some ability.
The fact that he wasn’t completely incapacitated with broken bones from that hit, and could still move, was indeed a bit surprising to Ning Fan.
Even so, Zhu Ba was now completely powerless to resist.
“Cough cough cough cough cough!”
Coughing, Zhu Ba spat out a mouthful of blood and, sensing someone approaching, he viciously lifted his head.
Ning Fan coolly looked at him, opened the backpack he was holding, and tossed it right in front of Zhu Ba.
Upon seeing the contents inside, Zhu Ba’s eyes widened.
He looked at Ning Fan and stammered, “What…
what do you mean by this?!”
The backpack was bulging with bright, shiny objects.
What could it be, if not money?
“There’s a million here.
You have two choices, take the money and stop causing trouble from now on; or, I’ll leave you crippled today, and you can use this money for your medical expenses!”
Ning Fan looked at Zhu Ba indifferently, his words filled with an imposing authority.
The people in the school let out exclamations at that moment; it was a million yuan!
They had never seen that much money in their lives.
This return, Ning Fan had brought with him so much money that everyone looked at him differently, their eyes full of shock, thinking how Ning Fan had made it big all of a sudden!
As Zhu Ba looked at the money in the backpack and then back at Ning Fan, he subconsciously licked his lips, tasting his own blood.
His mind suddenly cleared, and a bead of cold sweat formed on his forehead.
Zhu Ba knew full well that Ning Fan was not someone easy to provoke.
Thus, he quickly plastered a smile on his face.
“Don’t worry, there are rules in our line of work.
I’ll take the money; I swear I won’t cause any of you trouble ever again—cough cough cough!”
Before he could finish, Zhu Ba coughed up blood again, but there was a renewed rosy tint to his cheeks.
With his head bowed, Zhu Ba’s face sported a sycophantic smile, yet in his heart, he couldn’t stop sneering.
To take this money without reciprocation, but to come back again later?
What a joke!
Was he, Zhu Ba, really that easy to push around?!
Zhu Ba made up his mind; for now, he would simply play along with Ning Fan, but once he had fully recuperated, gathered his strength anew, he intended for Ning Fan and his people to die.
Even if he couldn’t beat Ning Fan himself, the villagers of Xiaogu would definitely not have an easy time.
“Just wait, when you’re not around, I will slowly kill them!” Zhu Ba’s face was alight with smiles, but inside he was sneering coldly.
In the distance, hidden in a corner, Zhao Lili was stunned as she watched Ning Fan throw a bag of money on the ground.
When she heard Ning Fan say there was a million in it, her eyes immediately turned red.
She had never imagined that Ning Fan, whom she had thought of as a country bumpkin, and the brother of Liu Dashun, would be so wealthy!
Zhao Lili had always thought of Ning Fan as the village bumpkin, someone without a future that Liu Dashun was following.
She herself had looked down on Ning Fan, but, faced with Ning Fan throwing around a million as if it were nothing, it completely overturned Zhao Lili’s perceptions.
Even now, Zhao Lili started to regret breaking up with Liu Dashun!
“Big brother, cough cough, rest assured, I definitely won’t come back again!”
Zhu Ba lay on the ground, clutching the backpack full of money to his chest, calling out ‘big brother’ with every breath and nodding incessantly to show he wouldn’t come back.
The people at the school thought this incident had been resolved by Ning Fan; Zhu Ba had taken the money and even promised not to come back, and it seemed like everything would be fine from then on.
However, they didn’t know about Zhu Ba’s wolfish ambitions.
After taking the money, he had agreed verbally, but inside his heart, he was utterly unwilling.
And, even if he said he himself wouldn’t come back, he hadn’t said anything about other people not coming!
Whether Ning Fan was around or not, Zhu Ba was determined to make the entire village pay back today’s grudge!
Packing up the money, Zhu Ba saw that Ning Fan hadn’t said anything and took it as an implication that Ning Fan wasn’t planning to deal with him.
He breathed a sigh of relief, clutching the backpack as he crawled toward the car, preparing to leave this cursed place.
“We’ve settled our score, but it seems like we haven’t settled his yet, have we?”
Suddenly, Ning Fan’s unexpected remark made Zhu Ba freeze on the spot.
Zhu Ba slowly turned around, looking at Ning Fan with confusion, only to see him pointing at Liu Dashun, who had an awful complexion, was at the lowest point in spirit, and looked completely helpless.
Zhu Ba was stunned, not understanding what Ning Fan meant.
If it was about the slap, that didn’t seem right!
He had just intended to slap Liu Dashun, but the moment he moved, Ning Fan had caught his hand.
He hadn’t actually hit him at all.
What did Liu Dashun’s current mood have to do with him?
But after Ning Fan gave him a glare, Zhu Ba didn’t dare to ask more and could only stand still, not daring to move.
Ning Fan walked up to Liu Dashun, patted his shoulder, and encouraged him, “Just now, how did he treat you?
Now, go over there and reenact the way he treated you!”
Zhu Ba’s face changed color, and he was speechless, with his mouth open wide for a long time.
At the same time, Liu Dashun slowly lifted his head, looking at Ning Fan with eyes full of confusion, “Ning… Ning bro… I…”
Liu Dashun stammered; he knew Ning Fan was trying to help him, but he still lacked the courage to do it.
Ning Fan looked directly into Liu Dashun’s eyes, his gaze piercing straight into his soul, and once again encouraged him, “A man can be poor, he can be timid, but he must never lack dignity!”
Looking into Ning Fan’s eyes, Liu Dashun trembled all over, uncertain, smiling faintly; he knew in his heart he couldn’t compare to Ning Fan, but he aspired to be like him.
Today’s humiliation had made him unable to lift his head, and he understood that Ning Fan was helping him take revenge, but he didn’t have the guts to offend Zhu Ba, and he continued to struggle internally.
“Liu Dashun, you can be timid for a moment, but do you want to be timid your whole life?
The opportunity is right in front of you, it’s your moment to reclaim your dignity.
If you don’t even have this much guts, do you even deserve to be a man with dignity?
Would you be honoring your parents who gave you life?!”