Beating up Wang Dahai and Sun Deming

Chen Yuan kicked the door open and charged inside.

Wang Dahai stood outside the bathroom, having just kicked its door partly open. Sun Deming stood behind him, still holding a glass of liquor.

Both men turned around.

They saw a young man standing in the doorway, wearing a T-shirt and baggy shorts, breathing hard. His eyes were red, and he looked ready to tear someone apart.

Wang Dahai reacted first. "Who are you? How did you get in?"

Chen Yuan ignored him and scanned the room.

No one was on the sofa. Bottles and glasses sat on the coffee table, and several cushions lay scattered on the floor. The bathroom door was half open, and he could hear running water inside.

"Sister Ezi!" he called.

A tearful voice answered from the bathroom. "Yuan?"

Some of Chen Yuan's fear subsided.

Wang Dahai's expression changed. "Who the fuck are you? Get out!"

He reached out to shove Chen Yuan.

Chen Yuan caught his wrist and twisted it!

Wang Dahai howled, his body bending forward as his face turned bright red.

"Let go! Let go!"

Chen Yuan kept his grip and walked farther into the room, twisting his wrist.

Forced to bend at the waist, Wang Dahai stumbled backward and hit the coffee table. A bottle toppled over and rolled onto the floor.

Sun Deming stood frozen with his glass in hand. When he recovered, he set it on the coffee table and pointed at Chen Yuan.

"What are you doing? Do you know who I am?"

Chen Yuan glanced at him.

That look made Sun Deming take a step back, but he immediately puffed out his chest.

"I'm the HR director at Dacheng Electronics. Just try laying a hand on me!"

Chen Yuan released Wang Dahai's wrist.

Clutching his arm, Wang Dahai retreated to the side, grimacing in pain.

Chen Yuan walked to the bathroom and pushed the door open.

Zhang Xiu'e crouched in a corner, hugging her knees and trembling all over. Tears covered her face, her makeup was smeared, and her eyes were red.

Li Yan lay naked on the floor beside her, with a cut at her temple and blood smeared across her face.

"Sister Ezi, it's all right now." Chen Yuan crouched and reached out to help her.

Zhang Xiu'e seized his hand. Hers was ice-cold and shaking violently.

"Yuan... Li Yan... I hit her... I didn't mean to..."

"I know. It's all right." Chen Yuan helped her up and led her out.

Zhang Xiu'e's legs were weak, and she could barely stand, leaning half her weight against him.

Her clothes were still mostly in place, but a large patch was wet. Her hair was wet too, plastered to her face.

Chen Yuan helped Zhang Xiu'e onto the sofa.

Wang Dahai stood nearby, rubbing his wrist. Seeing Chen Yuan's back turned, a vicious look flashed across his face.

He grabbed a bottle from the coffee table and raised it to smash against the back of Chen Yuan's head.

Zhang Xiu'e saw him and screamed, "Yuan, watch out!"

Chen Yuan didn't turn his head.

He reached back with his right hand and caught Wang Dahai's wrist squarely. Then he stood, turned, and twisted the wrist downward.

Chen Yuan forced Wang Dahai to double over. The bottle slipped from his hand and shattered across the floor.

Chen Yuan kicked the back of his knee.

Wang Dahai dropped to his knees with a thud, landing on the broken glass. Blood immediately began seeping out.

He screamed and tried to get up, but Chen Yuan planted a foot on his back and forced him flat again.

"Don't move!"

Wang Dahai lay facedown, his cheek pressed against the carpet and his arm twisted behind his back, gasping in pain.

Sun Deming stood nearby, his face drained of color. Looking at Chen Yuan, his lips quivered, and he edged toward the door.

Chen Yuan looked up at him.

"Come here."

Sun Deming shook his head and edged another step toward the door.

Chen Yuan released Wang Dahai and stood.

Sun Deming turned and ran.

He reached the door, but just as his hand touched the handle, Chen Yuan was behind him. Chen Yuan grabbed the back of his collar and yanked him backward.

Sun Deming fell onto his back, the back of his head striking the floor with a dull thud.

His vision went black. Before he could recover, Chen Yuan crouched and punched him in the face.

Blood spurted from his nose.

Sun Deming screamed and covered his face with both hands.

Chen Yuan punched him again, hitting the corner of his mouth. His lip split, and blood ran down his chin.

Before the third punch landed, Sun Deming was already crying out through his tears.

"Stop! Stop hitting me! I was wrong! I'll never do it again!"

Chen Yuan stopped.

He stood and looked down at the man in his fifties lying on the floor. Blood covered Sun Deming's face, tears and snot streamed down together, and he kept begging for mercy.

Then Chen Yuan turned to look at Wang Dahai.

Wang Dahai lay on the floor with glass embedded in his knees, his blood staining a patch of carpet red. Seeing Chen Yuan look at him, he shrank back and kept retreating.

"Boss... boss, I was wrong... I shouldn't have..." Wang Dahai's voice shook violently.

Chen Yuan ignored him and walked over to the sofa.

Zhang Xiu'e sat there, staring fixedly at the two men on the floor. Her lips trembled, and her fingers were knotted together, her nails digging into her flesh.

"Sister Ezi."

Zhang Xiu'e looked at Chen Yuan, and fresh tears spilled down her face. She threw her arms around him, buried her face in his shoulder, and sobbed so hard her whole body shook.

"Yuan... I'm scared... I'm so scared..."

Chen Yuan patted her back. "It's all right now. I'm here."

"Li Yan... Li Yan lost so much blood... I didn't mean to... she was going to... I had no choice..."

"I know. It wasn't your fault."

After crying for a while, Zhang Xiu'e lifted her head and looked at the two men on the floor.

Wang Dahai lay groaning, his face covered in sweat. Sun Deming sat against the wall, his nose still bleeding and a large patch of his T-shirt stained red. He kept muttering, "I'm calling the police... I'll press charges..."

Inside the bathroom, Li Yan stirred and groaned.

She slowly sat up, holding her forehead as blood seeped between her fingers. Li Yan looked down at the blood on her hand and screamed.

"Blood! I'm bleeding!" Seeing Zhang Xiu'e, she opened her eyes wide. "Zhang Xiu'e! You hit me! How dare you hit me!"

She tried to stand, but her legs gave out, and she dropped back down.

Watching her, Zhang Xiu'e began trembling all over again.

"Yuan, let's go." She grabbed Chen Yuan's arm. "Hurry, before anyone comes."

Chen Yuan looked at Zhang Xiu'e. "We can't leave, Sister Ezi."

"Why not? What if the police come? I hit someone, and you beat people up..." Zhang Xiu'e's voice grew increasingly frantic. "We'll go to prison!"

"No, we won't." Chen Yuan held her shoulders. "They tried to hurt you first. We acted in self-defense."

"But..."

"Sister Ezi, listen to me." Chen Yuan looked at her. "If you run, we really won't be able to explain ourselves. If we stay, we'll be fine."

Zhang Xiu'e looked at him, her lips trembling as tears dripped down her face.

Just then, footsteps sounded at the door.

Several people walked in.

Leading them was a man in his forties, dressed in a dark blue suit, his hair neatly combed and his face expressionless.

Three uniformed security guards followed him, carrying radios.

The man stood in the doorway and surveyed the room.

Wang Dahai lay on the floor, his knees covered in blood. Sun Deming sat against the wall, blood smeared all over his face. At the bathroom doorway, Li Yan sat naked, blood running down her face from a gash in her forehead.

The coffee table had overturned, broken bottles littered the floor, and the carpet was covered in liquor stains and blood.

He frowned, his expression darkening.

"Nobody move!"

The man turned to the guards behind him. "Call the police."

One guard took out his phone and stepped into the hallway to make the call.

The man walked in and stood in the middle of the sitting area, looking at Chen Yuan and Zhang Xiu'e.

"I'm the hotel manager. My surname is Zhou. Who can tell me what happened here?"

At the words "call the police," Zhang Xiu'e went pale. She grabbed Chen Yuan's arm, her fingers ice-cold.

Chen Yuan patted the back of her hand and stood.

"Manager Zhou, here's what happened. These three tricked my sister into coming to the hotel, got her drunk, and tried to force themselves on her. I came after them to rescue her, and they attacked first."

Manager Zhou glanced at the two men on the floor, then at Li Yan by the bathroom door.

Hearing this, Wang Dahai lifted his head from the floor. "No... that's not what happened... it was a misunderstanding..."

"Shut up!"

Wang Dahai shut his mouth, not daring to make another sound. Chen Yuan had beaten the courage out of him.

Manager Zhou looked at Zhang Xiu'e. "Ma'am, tell me what happened."

Zhang Xiu'e stood, her legs still shaking. She took a deep breath and tried to steady her voice.

"My name is Zhang Xiu'e. I work at Xingda Labor Services. Wang Dahai is my manager. He told me to come have dinner with a client. They kept forcing drinks on me. When I refused, they hauled me up to this room."

She pointed at Wang Dahai. "He, and she..."

Zhang Xiu'e then pointed at Li Yan by the bathroom door.

"The three of them dragged me out of the private dining room and covered my mouth so I couldn't call for help."

Then she pointed at Sun Deming. "He, the man named Sun, tried to assault me."

Manager Zhou listened without much expression, but his frown deepened.

"I had no choice. I went into the bathroom and hit Li Yan with something while she was showering."

Zhang Xiu'e's voice grew quieter.

"Then I hid in there until my brother came."

Manager Zhou glanced at Chen Yuan.

"And you? Did you beat them up?"

Chen Yuan nodded. "Yes, I did. They tried to hurt me, so I fought back."

Manager Zhou looked at the two men on the floor, then at Chen Yuan. The young man stood there without a single drop of blood on his T-shirt, breathing steadily as though nothing had happened.

The two on the floor, meanwhile, were both in terrible shape!

"You did this alone?"

Chen Yuan nodded.

Manager Zhou asked no more questions. He turned to the guards. "Watch the door. Don't let anyone leave."

Then he told Chen Yuan, "Sit down for now and wait for the police. Tell them what you need to say."

Zhang Xiu'e swayed.

"Manager Zhou..." Her voice trembled. "Will I go to prison?"

Manager Zhou glanced at Zhang Xiu'e, then at Li Yan by the bathroom door.

"Sit down first. Don't worry about all that yet." His tone softened a little. "Just explain exactly what happened to the police."

Zhang Xiu'e sat back on the sofa, clenching her hands together so tightly her nails turned white.

Chen Yuan sat down beside her.

"Sister Ezi, it'll be all right."

Zhang Xiu'e looked at him, her eyes reddening again.

"Yuan, I'm scared."

"What's there to be scared of?" Chen Yuan looked at her. "Think about it. If you hadn't hit her, what would have happened to you by now?"

Zhang Xiu'e froze for a moment.

Chen Yuan continued, "Would I have beaten them up if they hadn't tried to hurt you? They brought this on themselves."

"Grandpa taught me not to start trouble, but not to be afraid of it either. We did nothing wrong today!"

Zhang Xiu'e looked at him and slowly nodded.

Chen Yuan took a few tissues from the coffee table and handed them to her.

"Wipe your face. When the police get here, just tell them the truth."

Zhang Xiu'e took the tissues and wiped away her tears, then her sweat. Her hands still shook, but much less than before.

On the floor, Wang Dahai kept groaning. Sun Deming leaned against the wall, not daring to move. Li Yan sat by the bathroom door, hugging her knees. Her forehead had stopped bleeding, but the blood smeared across her face looked frightening.

The guards watched the door, their radios occasionally crackling with voices.

Manager Zhou stood by the window with his hands behind his back, silently looking out at the nighttime view.

Chen Yuan sat on the sofa, holding Zhang Xiu'e's hand.

The sound of elevator doors opening came from the hallway, followed by footsteps.

A voice called out, "Which room?"

"1806."

The footsteps drew closer.