"I'm incredibly sorry, young master, but even with your background belonging within the Ling family, it is simply not possible to give you any preferential treatment. The only thing I could allow is that you speak to an individual customer and ask them to give up their table. But as soon as you cause trouble, you would have to leave," the worker said in a friendly tone yet decisively.
What a sly fox; meanwhile, the young masters cursed in their minds. He was neither offending them nor giving them preferential treatment. It was like saying, "If it is within your capabilities, you can dine here."
"Sure, let's pick out someone poor-looking," Wanying said. They shortly scanned the place for people looking out of their league and quickly found an interesting table. It was a perfect table for four people, yet only two were occupying the seats.
A young man and woman around their age. Luckily, though, both of them were dressed in ordinary clothing, making them the perfect targets.
The three of them, with Li following behind, arrived at the table shortly after, and Ling Chuse spoke. "How about giving up your table to us, as it would be better suited for a party of four, instead of only you two?"
While speaking, he made sure to show off his expensive watch and clothes, hoping to intimidate the pair. "Sadly, this table is already occupied by the two of us, and we won't give it to you, even if your party fits better," the young man said with some disdain in his voice, making the three youths quite irritated.
"We are here to celebrate and can't wait for you to finish up. I, Ma Tou, from the Ma family, will give you 50,000 for this table. Now move and let us sit," Ma Tou said in a forcing tone. The previous provocation could not be tolerated.
"50,000 to leave this table? Do you rich people think money solves everything? I and my friend just want to dine here, and you want to buy us off because of our clothes? Go be an annoying second-generation rich elsewhere," the young man countered, leaving everyone except Li dumbfounded.
Even the girl sitting across from him signaled for him to stop, not escaping the sight of Wanying. "Hey, we have played nice so far and even wanted to pay you off, but look behind us. We have a professional bodyguard with us, and you have nothing. And if you think we couldn't cause trouble within the Singing Swan, then why do you think they even would let us go here?"
With that said, he shifted his greedy eyes towards the girl beside the young man. "Now be civil, get up, and leave the girl behind. She can dine with us, and after that might be able to finally afford some nice clothes," he said, laughing.
Smack. Suddenly, Weiyang's head flew sideways as he barely kept his balance due to the slap he received from the young man. "Apologize now!" He said with eyes, leaving no doubt about his resolution. This guy had spoken too much.
"Hey!" Ling Qidong turned to Li. "Take them down!" He was quite baffled that Li didn't block the slap, as it should be quite easy for him as a martial arts master.
Weiyang, meanwhile, held his cheek, feeling the sharp pain and the likely imprint of a palm on it. "You dare to hit me?!" Was the only thing he could say right now, not really sure how to react as it never happened before.
"So not apologizing?" the young man said and aimed to swing once more.
"No!" both Ma and Ling Qidong cried out and quickly rushed towards the young man, who simply dodged their attempts at hitting him. "You too?" he asked provocatively, while the Singing Swan personnel had long called the manager, who was on his way to stop this madness.
"Li, do something!" Ling Qidong screamed. What did he need a bodyguard for if he did nothing?
"Sorry, sir, but you can't give me orders. I will only act if someone harms you. Your friends are not my responsibility," Li said. He had observed this play, and the young master and his friends were quite stupid. Trying to intimidate someone with only the wealth of their fathers, not even their power, without even knowing the opposition? In his old world this was the recipe for disaster. Is money in this world enough for foolish actions like these?
Meanwhile, Ling Qidong couldn't believe it yet, but before he could scold Li, the young man spoke once more. "Interesting, so you are saying I can hurt these two as much as I want, but you would interfere if I hit this one," he said while pointing at Ling Qidong.
"Exactly," Li replied to this temperamental youth. He was actually quite fond of this one; he stood up for his friend and didn't submit to wealth; also, his moves had something special in them. Not cultivation, but at least he wasn't ordinary like the three young masters thought.
The young man, thinking this bodyguard was using any way to dodge a fight, quickly took care of Weiyang and Ma, giving them punches and slaps until they were about to pass out, while Ling Qidong screamed for Li to do something.
The young man delivered the final blow, turned away, seemingly walking back to his seat until he quickly turned around and headed for Ling Qidong, intending to land a K.O. punch.
His quickness was top-notch, but he slowed down a bit on purpose to see whether this bodyguard would try to stop him and if he could. He wouldn't mind taking the bodyguard down as well since he clearly was part of the party.
His fist was close to connecting, and seeing that Li hadn't made any signs of moving yet, he intended to first take down this arrogant young master and then take down the cowardly bodyguard, yet suddenly something unexpected happened.
In the last moment, suddenly a palm appeared in front of his fist, stopping it about two inches away from Ling Qidong's face.
"Like I said, this one can't be hurt," Li said with the same neutral expression he kept throughout the altercation.