"Hahaha..."
Miles's words made Mo Fei burst out laughing despite himself.
But his laughter also drew Miles's displeasure. The man's expression instantly chilled, and he glared viciously at him.
"What, are you trying to deny what you owe? Looks like you still don't know what I'm capable of..."
A trace of coldness flashed through Mo Fei's eyes as well. He looked at Miles as though he were a clown.
"I never knew a bakery owner had the authority to make his shop the only one in the neighborhood. Our selling bread doesn't seem to have interfered with you in any way... As for your falling sales..."
He launched straight into mockery. "Why don't you improve your own skills? Acting like a thug here won't help you at all. Or are you expecting a god of cooking to fall out of the sky, kneel before you, beg to work for you for free, and then deliver you to the heights of a food industry tycoon..."
Mo Fei's words cut straight to the heart of Miles's problem.
The relentless mockery kept getting under the man's skin. He had never imagined that an orphanage full of the old, weak, sick, and disabled would have someone so sharp-tongued...
Seeing that Mo Fei was alone and the others were all children without much fighting ability, Miles began entertaining other ideas.
Humiliation turned straight into anger, and his expression grew even nastier.
Watching secretly by the window, Boer went deathly pale. Miles's appearance immediately reminded him of his father.
Back then, when his father got drunk and savagely beat his mother, he had worn that very expression.
Blood rushed to his head, his face flushed scarlet, and veins were faintly visible on his neck. His eyes bulged far too wide, like a beast ready to devour someone.
Boer couldn't hold back a quiet whimper.
Outside, Aiwen also caught sight of the man's expression.
An indescribable fear rose in his heart.
The man opposite them was far more heavily built than Mo Fei. The veins that suddenly stood out on his neck and the knife scar inadvertently exposed on his arm made him look even fiercer.
Miles spat out his cigarette and ground out the sparks beneath his shoe, then threatened him brazenly. "Your name's Mo Fei, right? The East End isn't some peaceful place. If you don't follow the rules here, someone will come smash up your yard tomorrow, steal your things, and leave these little brats sleeping on the streets... As for you,"
He gave a few strange laughs. "What could you do about it? Your orphanage isn't territory directly under the church's control..."
Hearing the man's threats, Mo Fei merely raised his eyes calmly, the coldness in them deepening. "The East End has its rules, and this neighborhood has its own. You're welcome to try..."
Seeing that Mo Fei showed no sign of backing down after repeated attempts, Miles decided to threaten him with force.
This was also his usual tactic.
"Spare me your lofty arguments. I'll show you what rules are!"
He raised his hand and shoved hard at Mo Fei's shoulder. "Let's hope your rules are tough enough!"
The man had considerable strength in his hands, and the shove was vicious. An ordinary middle-aged man would certainly have staggered and fallen.
The moment the man attacked, the orphanage children's hearts clenched.
Without transmigrating and without the system, Mo Fei would have fallen under this attack too.
After all, he was no longer young, while the man opposite him was in his prime and clearly far stronger.
But the system's very existence defied reason.
After upgrading his fighting skills, Mo Fei's physical capabilities had long since improved. In his eyes, the man's attack relied purely on natural physical advantages, without the slightest technique.
An attack like this posed no threat to him.
Mo Fei moved unpredictably, lightly evading the attack. At the same time, he raised a hand to block and smoothly deflected the man's fist.
More interestingly, as he deflected it, he used a Tai Chi technique, exploiting the momentum so that the man's own strength became the reason he pitched downward.
Following that deflection, Miles felt his body lose its balance and pitch uncontrollably to one side.
To the orphanage children, it looked as though he had missed his strike and then punched at the ground.
Behind Mo Fei, however, Aiwen's eyes lit up.
That was a Tai Chi technique. He recognized it at a glance.
Then, in the very next second, he was filled with admiration for the director.
So the martial arts they practiced every day really were this powerful. A strong interest flared in Aiwen's heart once again.
After losing control, Miles's foot slipped too, and he dropped straight to his knees on the muddy road. Splashing mud instantly left several disheveled marks on him.
His face alternated between ashen and pale, like an overturned paint palette. He looked utterly ridiculous.
If his actions earlier had been somewhat clownish, now his appearance was heading in the same direction.
He was both shocked and furious. At the same time, several households nearby seemed about to open their doors to see what was happening. His current bedraggled state completely shattered the image of a successful man he had cultivated.
He could only leave a threat before hurriedly getting up and leaving, without a trace of his earlier arrogance.
"Just you wait! This isn't over. I'll repay this humiliation a hundredfold..."
At those words, Mo Fei suddenly felt some desire to cut the weeds and pull up the roots.
He certainly didn't want a villain like this disturbing his life again and again in the future. That would not be a good thing.
But his gaze fell on the children at the little window.
Acting in front of the children would not set a good example. Besides, Tom was still at the orphanage. He didn't want the practice of bullying the weak to take root among the children so early.
It would be even worse if it affected Tom's reform.
Moreover, an overly ruthless orphanage director would not leave a good impression on the neighbors. He didn't want to make enemies everywhere.
After weighing everything, he refrained from taking further action.
Aiwen behind him had also heard those words. Worried, he tugged at the hem of Mo Fei's clothes.
"Director, will everything be okay...? What he said-he wouldn't..."
Although he was happy they had driven off the enemy, Aiwen was also very worried about what Miles had said earlier.
Mo Fei ruffled Aiwen's hair. "Don't worry. You've seen how strong I am. Even if he comes again, he's no match for me. Don't worry..."
Hearing this, Aiwen finally smiled.
But the child was still young and couldn't understand the dark glint that flashed through Mo Fei's eyes.
He wasn't that naive. Since a direct confrontation had brought no gains, next time might involve scheming behind his back.
So he would still have to make some preparations in private.
The children all ran out of the room as well. Looking at the children who instantly surrounded him, the calculations in his heart gave way to a gentle smile.
Amid the children's excited cheers, the whole group bustled back into the orphanage.
It seemed that the incident had ended just like that.