Liu Yan

"Well, well, if it isn't Miss Liu."

The man with the ear stud instantly dropped his angry expression. Leaning against the car window, he greeted the woman inside with a fawning smile.

The woman in the car was fiddling with her phone. She merely glanced at him before ignoring him again, clearly unwilling to engage.

Seeing her ignore him, the man gave a cold chuckle and began tapping on the window, instantly drawing an impatient look from her.

Lowering the window a crack, the woman said icily, "Lou Haocheng, what do you want?"

The man named Lou Haocheng continued smiling. "Miss Liu, what a coincidence! Even when we get into an accident, we end up together. It must be fate. Since neither of us can leave anyway, why don't you come sit in my car?"

"Not interested." The beauty he called Miss Liu shot him a withering glare.

But Lou Haocheng had an exceptionally thick skin. Despite her rejection, he kept tapping relentlessly on the glass, making her expression shift through several shades of annoyance.

Finally, apparently unable to stand it any longer, she opened the door and got out. Then she snapped impatiently at him, "Mr. Lou, I said I'm not interested. Please stop doing this."

With a slightly teasing smile, Lou Haocheng reached out and draped a hand over her shoulder. "Stop doing what?"

Her eyes instantly turned cold. She unceremoniously knocked his hand away. "Lou, show some respect."

Seeing that she seemed genuinely angry, Lou Haocheng toned down his arrogance a little, though his mouth remained as obnoxious as ever. "I heard Blue Light Pharmaceuticals is arranging a marriage alliance with the Dihao Group. Is that true?"

At his sudden mention of the matter, her face immediately darkened. "What nonsense!"

She was about to open the door and get back into her car, but Lou Haocheng blocked her. "Come on, Liu Yan. Rather than marrying that Zhang guy from Dihao, you'd be better off marrying me."

"Are you insane? Do you even know what you're saying? Get out of my way, or don't blame me for getting nasty." Liu Yan was truly furious now, pointing at his nose as she berated him.

Seeing Liu Yan point at him and curse him out, Lou Haocheng narrowed his eyes and reached for her hand. "Let's see just how nasty you can get."

But just as he was about to grab Liu Yan, a large hand seized his wrist without ceremony. One hard squeeze sent him squealing like a pig. "Ow! Ow! That hurts!"

Liu Yan looked toward the sound and saw a young man with clean-cut features standing beside her. With a single shove, he sent Lou Haocheng stumbling away.

Once released, Lou Haocheng gritted his teeth and clutched his aching wrist. He glared viciously at the young man and swore, "Who the hell are you? You've got a death wish, sticking your nose into my business!"

Chen Hao merely watched him with a faint smile, saying nothing. He clearly didn't want to waste his breath on a bastard like this.

With his warning completely ignored, Lou Haocheng flew into a humiliated rage. He turned, fetched a club from his car, and charged at Chen Hao, swinging it at his head. "Playing the hero, are you, punk?"

"Watch out!"

Liu Yan cried out, but it was already too late to stop the club in Lou Haocheng's hand.

Just as the club was about to strike his head, Chen Hao's hand flashed upward like lightning and caught it firmly.

Lou Haocheng was dumbfounded. He tugged several times but couldn't pull the club free. In desperation, he kicked at Chen Hao's stomach.

With his current physique, Chen Hao was far beyond a pampered rich boy like Lou Haocheng. The kick didn't budge him an inch. Instead, an invisible force sent Lou Haocheng flying backward, and he landed heavily on the ground in an utterly sorry state.

Glancing down at the shoe print on his stomach, Chen Hao lightly brushed it off, then hurled the club at Lou Haocheng.

Lou Haocheng's timing couldn't have been better. He had just climbed to his feet and raised his head when his forehead met the flying club.

Thud!

A dull impact rang out, making several onlookers wince.

"Aah!"

Clutching his head, Lou Haocheng howled in pain and rolled around on the ground.

"Hey, hey! What are you doing?" Just as Lou Haocheng went down, a traffic officer arrived. He parked his motorcycle to one side and pointed at Chen Hao and the others, calling out loudly.

Seeing the officer arrive, the taxi driver hurried over. "Officer, I'm the one who called. There's been an accident."

The officer first looked over the cars, then glanced at Lou Haocheng, who was lying on the ground wailing. "What happened to him?"

Chen Hao snorted and smiled. "No idea. Probably an epileptic seizure."

His remark instantly made Liu Yan smile with her lips pressed together.

"You're the one having a damn seizure!" Unable to listen any longer, Lou Haocheng endured the pain and climbed to his feet.

With the traffic officer handling the scene, Lou Haocheng couldn't do anything even if he wanted to. Seething with anger, he went off to one side to make a call.

But just as he took out his phone, he noticed the strange looks people were giving him. Some even laughed aloud.

Confused, Lou Haocheng hurried over to check his reflection in a side mirror. His face instantly turned green.

After taking a solid blow from his own club, his forehead had developed a huge, bruised lump. He looked like a rhinoceros, and the sight was ridiculously funny.

Beside him, Liu Yan could no longer hold back her laughter, inwardly cursing the bastard and thinking he deserved every bit of it.

"Son of a bitch." As he cursed, the call connected. Gritting his teeth, Lou Haocheng roared into the phone, "Get some people over here right now! Someone beat me up!"

After gathering evidence at the scene, the traffic officer quickly led everyone off the elevated road.

Once he had determined who was at fault, the officer left.

As everyone prepared to leave, Lou Haocheng suddenly approached Chen Hao. "Don't run off if you've got the guts, punk."

Chen Hao smiled at that and lit himself a cigarette. "What else do you want?"

Lou Haocheng pointed at him with brazen arrogance and cursed, "You beat me up like this, and you think you can just leave? I'm telling you, if I don't kill you today, I'll take your surname!"

"Sure. Let's see how you're going to kill me. If you can't, I'll have to give some serious thought to whether I want you for a son," Chen Hao shot back.

Liu Yan had just opened her car door to leave when she saw Chen Hao and Lou Haocheng clashing again. After a moment's hesitation, she stepped out once more.

Walking up beside Chen Hao, Liu Yan asked, "Your name is Chen Hao, right?"

Chen Hao nodded.

"This guy has connections and influence. You can't win against him. I'll talk to him and see if we can settle this with some money." With that, Liu Yan started toward Lou Haocheng.

Honestly, Liu Yan could simply have walked away. She wasn't the one who had hit him, and even if Lou Haocheng wanted revenge, her family's standing meant he wouldn't dare touch her.

But Chen Hao had been dragged into this because of her. She couldn't bear to just leave him to fend for himself.

Yet the moment Liu Yan stepped forward, Chen Hao reached out to stop her. "Do you think this guy needs money?"

At his words, Liu Yan stopped immediately, apparently agreeing with his assessment.

Someone who could afford a BMW M5 probably wouldn't care about tens or even hundreds of thousands. Even if he did, Chen Hao had no intention of paying.

After a brief silence, Liu Yan took out her phone and scrolled through her contacts. She had just dialed a number when her brows knitted, and she hung up again, as though something difficult to explain was holding her back.

Noticing her helplessness, Chen Hao smiled gently. "Miss Liu, I can handle this. You should go."

Chen Hao was already deeply grateful that Liu Yan was willing to help him like this.

But Liu Yan was extremely stubborn too. She shook her head and smiled. "This started because of me. I can't just stand by."

With that, she pouted her irresistibly alluring pink lips and folded her arms across her chest, looking adorably determined to stick with him to the end. Chen Hao couldn't help stealing a couple more glances.

Recalling what the Matchmaker had said last night—that the person he was destined to marry would appear today, and that her name consisted of just two characters—Chen Hao couldn't help wondering. Could she be my future wife?

But then he reconsidered. Liu Yan drove a Bentley and came from a wealthy family. Meanwhile, he didn't even have a decent job. They were worlds apart.

As Chen Hao's thoughts wandered, his phone suddenly rang.

When he picked it up and checked the caller, his face immediately brightened. "Hello, Qiao."

The caller was none other than General Qiao. "Hello, Chen Hao. Are you on your way?"

Chen Hao answered honestly, "I'm on my way, but something came up. I might not be able to make it today."

"What? Commander Chu has been waiting here since early this morning! What happened over there? I'll come over if I have to." Qiao Shan was clearly anxious.

Turning to glance at Lou Haocheng, who was still swaggering around, Chen Hao said plainly, "All right, sorry for the trouble, Qiao, but please come over. I'm at..."

As soon as the call ended, Chu Jinliang, who was standing beside Qiao Shan, asked, "Well? Is Chen Hao still coming?"

Qiao Shan frowned. "It seems Chen Hao ran into some trouble on the way here. I'm going over to take a look."

Hearing that, Chu Jinliang's brow furrowed slightly as well. With a stern expression, he ordered, "Qiao Shan, Chen Hao saved my life. I owe him. Whatever has happened, I want him here safe and sound today. If anyone dares get in the way, do whatever you need to without hesitation. I'll take responsibility for anything that happens."

"Yes, Commander Chu."