CHAPTER 152: CHAPTER 152 AA

"Today, what my young friend says goes. If he doesn’t accept your apology, you can forget about keeping your housekeeping company open."

When Luo Si heard this, he grew anxious and stammered, "Manager... Manager Wen, this... this isn’t necessary, is it?"

Wen Qiang ignored him, and Luo Si’s expression turned grim.

After a few seconds, Luo Si clenched his teeth and approached Xia Liang. "Young man, my son is just a kid, he doesn’t know any better. I’ll have him apologize to you right now."

With that, he grabbed Luoyang, who was still bewildered. "Aren’t you going to apologize?"

At that moment, Luoyang was still confused. "Him?" he scoffed, lifting his head arrogantly. "Why should I apologize to this poor delivery boy?"

SLAP!

It was another slap. This time, Luo Si used all his strength, and Luoyang’s face immediately turned bright red and swelled up.

"Dad! Are you insane? Why are you hitting me?"

Luo Si didn’t answer, merely staring at him coldly.

Luoyang grew scared. It was the first time he had ever seen his father like this, and he had no idea why he was acting so erratically today. Finally, unable to withstand the intense gaze, Luoyang lowered his head.

Luo Si’s icy voice rang out again. "I’m telling you to get on your knees and apologize to this young man! If you refuse, we will sever our father-son relationship. From now on, your life and death will have nothing to do with me."

Luoyang was stunned. He hadn’t expected the matter to be so serious that his father would disown him.

It was no wonder. Luo Si knew all too well what kind of backing this entertainment club had. The threat to bankrupt him was no joke. He had struggled for most of his life to finally achieve a comfortable lifestyle where he could have whatever he wanted—a wife at home and dalliances on the side. The thought of going bankrupt was unacceptable to Luo Si.

Hearing his father’s ultimatum, Luoyang truly panicked. He could see not a hint of a joke in his father’s eyes. Luoyang glared at Xia Liang, grinding his teeth in fury, but he didn’t dare say another word.

As the seconds ticked by, Luoyang’s fists clenched tightly. Though his heart was filled with unwillingness, he eventually knelt down.

"Xia Liang, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have done that. Please forgive me."

His voice was pitifully quiet, but the room was so silent that everyone heard him.

But Xia Liang didn’t respond. Seeing this, Luo Si kicked Luoyang in the back. "Haven’t you eaten? Louder!"

THUD!

Luoyang sprawled on the ground. He bit his lip, climbing back to his feet.

"Xia Liang, I’m sorry! Please, be the bigger person and forgive me!"

His voice was so loud it could be heard throughout the entire floor.

"No way, no way! Did Luoyang really kneel to Xia Liang?"

"He had no choice! His father was about to disown him."

"Exactly. If he gets disowned, he won’t have the money to be so arrogant anymore."

"Xia Liang is a total badass!"

...

Hearing the crowd’s murmurs, Luoyang felt like banging his head against a wall.

At last, Xia Liang spoke. He grabbed Tong Dongnuan’s hand and pulled her to his side. "The person you should be apologizing to is her."

Although she had been angry at first, Tong Dongnuan’s attention was now entirely on Xia Liang. She was incredibly curious about how he seemed to be doing so much better than her and wasn’t paying much attention to the apology.

"There’s no need!" she said.

However, Xia Liang looked at her and said pointedly, "You should be the one to accept this apology. It’s one thing to make a mistake, but he needs to bear the consequences of his actions."

Since Xia Liang had put it that way, Luoyang knew he had no choice but to apologize. After all, he had already lost face once, so a second time didn’t scare him.

"Tong Dongnuan, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have done that. Please forgive me!"

"I forgive you. We’re all classmates, so let’s just forget it," Tong Dongnuan said. She was a straightforward and carefree person. Now that Luoyang had even kneeled to apologize, her anger had dissipated. With that, she draped an arm over Xia Liang’s shoulder and gave it a friendly pat.

Seeing this, Xia Liang nodded. "Since Dongnuan has accepted your apology, we’ll leave it at that."

Hearing Xia Liang’s words, Luo Si and his son finally breathed a sigh of relief. The father quickly stepped forward and took out a card. "Since this is settled, I’ll pay for the meal as an apology to all of you students!"

"That’s great!"

"Heh, Luoyang is a piece of work, but his dad sure knows how to handle things!"

"Awesome! If someone else is paying, and knowing how expensive that wine was, we should have ordered more."

"Exactly! I drank so fast I didn’t even get to taste it."

...

Luo Si’s gesture won praise from the crowd. But just then, Xia Liang spoke again.

"No need."

The crowd stared at him in confusion as Xia Liang continued, "You don’t have to pay for everything. Just pay your share. Excluding the items you took, I believe the total bill was fifty cents, correct? You only need to pay for half. The rest of us will split the remainder."

...

After he said this, the crowd was briefly silent before erupting into an uproar.

"What are you doing? His dad was going to pay!"

"Can’t you see that? What’s this crap about splitting the bill?!"

"Anyway, I don’t have any money on me, so I’m not paying my share."

"Right! If we don’t let Luoyang’s dad pay, then Tong Dongnuan should pay. I’m certainly not paying."

"Exactly, why should we?"

...

Despite the rising complaints, Xia Liang remained impassive. He simply pointed out several people in the crowd. Without exception, these were the ones who had not blamed Tong Dongnuan when Luoyang tried to ditch the bill. In fact, they had even been willing to split the cost with her.

Xia Liang waved his hand at them. "Let them go. I’ll cover their share."

The security guards instinctively stepped aside to let them pass.

Xia Liang then turned to look at the remaining people. "As for the rest of you, after my deductions, you can split the remaining cost. Of course, if someone else wants to treat you, that’s fine too."

Hearing this, the waiter glanced at Wen Qiang for confirmation. After receiving a nod, the waiter began to calculate. A moment later, he looked up. "Everyone, excluding Mister Xia’s eleven guests, there are nineteen people left. Each of you needs to pay one point."

Hearing this, the remaining students looked at each other in dismay. Some immediately became indignant.

"Xia Liang, what do you mean? Why are you paying for them but not for us?"

"Exactly! We’re all from the same class. Why the double standard?"

"I thought you were a good guy, but it turns out you’re just like Luoyang!"

"That’s right! He was going to pay for us. Who are you to stop him?"

...

Hearing the crowd’s accusations, Luoyang turned to look at his father. "Boss Luo? You’re still willing to pay for them, right?"

Hearing this, Luo Si quickly shook his head. Although he didn’t know Xia Liang’s background, Wen Qiang’s behavior alone spoke volumes. "Of course not. I’ll do whatever Young Man Xia decides."