“Take another step closer, and I’ll slice her face!” threatened one of the men with a knife to Ning Ran’s face.
Seeing that, Nan Chen stopped in his tracks.
“Squat down and raise your hands. Stay where you are and let us walk out,” demanded the captor, but Nan Chen did not back down or make way. Instead, he simply glared at the captor.
“Are you trying to test my patience? Make way or I’ll mess her face up!” The captor continued to threaten.
“Do it,” responded Nan Chen causing Ning Ran to gawped at him in disbelief. And here I thought my savior’s finally arrived. How could Nan Chen say that? If my face really got messed up, how am I supposed to live the rest of my life?
“No, don’t!” shouted Ning Ran.
“Did you hear that? She said ‘no’ because women treasure their faces. Her life will be ruined if her face got messed up.”
“How is that any of my business?” asked Nan Chen coldly.
Hearing that, the two captors looked at each other in puzzlement. “Who the hell are you? Why are you here if this doesn’t concern you then?”
“I’m Nan Chen.” The man introduced himself in a stone-cold voice.
“So you’re the one they called ‘Sir Chen?’ This woman mentioned that she’s your woman. She even warned us that you’d give us hell if we touch her, but you just said this is none of your business? Are you lying to us?”
Ning Ran blushed when Nan Chen glanced at her because she did say those things.
“Well, she lied to you,” revealed Nan Chen.
“What? She lied?”
“She’s not my woman. She’s just an artiste contracted to my company. If you ruin her face, she’ll be worthless to us because she can no longer make money for the company. I’m only here to stop you from ruining my company’s property. That being said, if you insist on hurting her, I could always find another artiste to replace her, but she’s right about one thing, though. I will give you hell for doing that.” With that, Nan Chen continued to move forward.
“Stay where you are, or I’ll ruin her face… Argh!”
When Ning Ran noticed her captor was distracted by Nan Chen, she took the chance and stomped on her captor’s foot.
The timing couldn’t have been better for her to be wearing those “lethal” stilettos.
While her captor squirmed in pain, Ning Ran broke free and stepped aside before Nan Chen rushed forward to kick the man.
The kick staggered the captor, but he went after Ning Ran instead of his attacker.
The man raised his knife and was ready to stab Ning Ran. Even if I can’t finish the job, I can still hurt the girl. We’ll have a chance to escape once Nan Chen tends to the injured girl.
It was cunning of the captors to distract Nan Chen by attacking his weakness.
Seeing that Ning Ran was about to get hurt, Nan Chen leaped forward like a wolf protecting its cubs.
Nan Chen’s sudden movement made it difficult for him to avoid getting cut by the knife, but he managed to get in front of Ning Ran, who shrank behind her protector like a frightened kitten.
“Let’s bail, chief! He’s got some moves, and his men will be here soon if we stick around.”
“Make for the exit!” The other man agreed that the mission was a failure and that it was time to leave.
Nan Chen watched the two escape but did not give chase as he was injured.
“Are you okay? Oh my! You’re bleeding!”
“It’s not a big deal. Just a scratch.”
“But you’re bleeding! Should we go to the hospital?”
“No, we still have a party to attend. Nobody can know that I’m hurt.”
“Why?”
“The last time the reporters reported my injury from playing soccer, the stock prices of several listed companies under Nanshi Corporation plummeted, and it cost us billions.”
When Ning Ran heard that, her mouth fell open. “My goodness. Your health is worth that much? Enough to affect stock prices?”
“I’m at the helm of Nanshi Corporation. It’s only natural that my health would affect the stock prices.”
“Fine, but what do we do about your bleeding?”
“Get Qiao Zhan over. He knows how to stop the bleeding and bandage my wound. When you get out there, act normal so that nobody gets suspicious,” instructed Nan Chen.
“Why pretend to be okay after all that has happened?”
Nan Chen patiently explained, “The people behind this are out there waiting to see you make a fool of yourself. You being fine would be a terrible blow to them because it meant whatever they planned had failed, and they’ll look disappointed. You might even find who those people are if you look hard enough. Now go get Qiao Zhan. I’ll follow soon enough.”
“Then why didn’t you bring Qiao Zhan with you in the first place? You wouldn’t have gotten hurt if he were here.”
“Those men intended to humiliate you. Do you want people to see how embarrassing you are if you happen to be stripped naked?” asked Nan Chen coldly.
Realization dawned on Ning Ran upon hearing his words.
It turned out Nan Chen came alone because he was worried that she would be embarrassed, and it made sense. Had Ning Ran regained consciousness a second later, she would have been drugged, and Nan Chen had considered the possibility of that scenario.
If a group of people swarmed in and saw Ning Ran undressed, her image and reputation would be ruined. I didn’t expect Poker Face to be this thoughtful. He took a risk by coming to my rescue alone.
A warm feeling surged within Ning Ran upon that thought. At that moment, she felt grateful for Nan Chen.
Meanwhile, almost all of the guests and reporters had arrived at the party and were waiting for none other than Nan Chen himself.
As the main investor of Sound of Thunder 2 and the boss of Star Entertainment, Nan Chen was required to give a speech, but everybody knew he hated it.
He had always been a man of few words, and it just seemed silly and meaningless to him to read from a manuscript.
That was why he only gave a speech if necessary for a grand occasion. Otherwise, he would not waste time doing it.
The party that evening was not that grand, so Nan Chen had the CEO of Star Entertainment give the speech.
People were at a loss when Nan Chen vanished after appearing for a short while. They were unsure if they should wait for him because nobody knew if he was coming back. On the other hand, they were worried that they would lose their job if they started the speech without the boss. Should we call him? But what if he’s busy? No, we can’t do that.
In the end, everyone decided to wait until Nan Chen reappeared.
Just then, Ning Ran appeared in her glamorous dress with a big smile plastered on her face, looking like the stunningly elegant star of the event that she was.
