Chapter 10: Forcing a Confrontation

The two servers each held a painting in their hands, ready to go at any moment!

Qi Jun and Qin Yao stood by with some concern, reminding Wang Ke, "Brother Wang, Elder Pang wouldn't come with them later, would he?"

Elder Pang's presence had been witnessed by Qi Jun just moments ago. Wang Ke had been slapped, and if Wang Ke was displeased, Qi Jun would not fare well either.

Wang Ke snorted coldly, "Hmph! No, my people are watching the surveillance. All those old guys have left through the VIP exit; they won't come here!"

In the Southwest Region, so many bigshots gathered together. If anyone with ill-intentions found out, it would definitely cause a major economic shock throughout the region.

On the other hand, Chen Tang didn't want to expose his identity for the moment, so he let Elder Pang take Liu Tianxiong and the others through the VIP exit.

Chen Tang and Han Youyue chatted and laughed as they walked towards the entrance of the hall.

Just as they reached the middle of the hall, the two servers arranged by Wang Ke, holding the paintings, quickly charged towards Chen Tang and Han Youyue.

Chen Tang frowned and stepped aside to avoid one of the servers, but the other server, who could have easily avoided Chen Tang, deliberately fell into Chen Tang's arms.

"Be careful!" Han Youyue reached out to pull Chen Tang aside to dodge the falling server.

To everyone's surprise, the server threw away the painting in his hands and grasped Chen Tang's waist tightly, exclaiming, "Someone help! This guy damaged our hotel's painting and is trying to leave... Catch him..."

"…" Chen Tang was speechless and exchanged a glance with Han Youyue, holding back his anger, and calmly said to the server, "Trying to set me up? Just now, so many people saw that it was you who deliberately bumped into me, wasn't it?"

The server snorted coldly, "Hmph! What now, you damaged the hotel's painting and still want to argue? Five million, this painting costs five million. Without five million, neither of you two are leaving here!"

As the server spoke, a flurry of footsteps sounded in the hall as a dozen security guards surrounded Chen Tang and Han Youyue in the center.

The crowd around them also began to accuse!

"Young man, you need to be fair. Don't make it hard for a server. You broke something, you should pay up!"

"Exactly, we all saw it just now. It was you who knocked the painting out of the server's hands. Don't make it difficult for yourself if it comes to calling the police!"

...

The security guards arrived so quickly!

And the crowd is so unanimous!

There is definitely a problem here!

A fierce look flashed in Chen Tang's eyes as he glanced around the crowd and noticed Wang Ke, Qi Jun, and Qin Yao approaching calmly; understanding dawned on him.

This was a conspiracy!

"Oh, isn't that Chen Tang the great calligrapher? Oh my... What happened here, did you damage the hotel's painting? A compensation of five million, I suppose that should be a trivial matter for a great artist like Chen Tang, eh?" Qi Jun taunted Chen Tang with sarcasm, shaking his thighs smugly.

Qin Yao also looked on with disdain, "An idiot is an idiot, can't even walk without watching. I must have been blind... Qi Jun, you are the better one!"

Chen Tang's gaze moved away from Qi Jun and Qin Yao, finally settling on Wang Ke.

Though Qi Jun's family had some money, compared to the owner behind the Emperor Hao Grand Hotel, it was still far too little. Orchestrating such a con was likely Wang Ke's doing.

Wang Ke's gaze met Chen Tang's, and a smug look flashed in his eyes. "Master artist Chen, we meet again so soon! However, the tides have turned; I'm afraid Elder Pang won't be able to come to your rescue this time!"

Just now, Wang Ke thought Elder Pang was going to receive Chen Tang, so in front of so many people, he played the fool and slapped his own face.

He was now taking out this frustration on Chen Tang!

Chen Tang responded with a faint smile, "Boss Wang, shouldn't we spare people where we can? I didn't pursue the previous incident, so why must you put on this act?"

Five million?

Chen Tang truly didn't take it seriously, but to simply hand it over for nothing, naturally, he wouldn't agree!

Seeing that Chen Tang didn't seem anxious at all, Wang Ke became furious and said, "Cut the crap, Chen Tang! Thought you were so tough, come on, then. Today, you either kneel down and beg for mercy or cough up five million. Otherwise, don't expect to leave! You broke our boss's favorite oil painting, and if you don't give an explanation, be careful you can't handle the consequences!"

The owner of the Emperor Hao Grand Hotel?

After a moment of thought, Chen Tang recalled hearing from Yun City's top tycoon during his meeting with the Southwestern Guard Station's big shots that the Emperor Hao Hotel was a property under Lu Zhanfeng.

Lu Zhanfeng had returned by now and should have informed his subordinates, shouldn't he?

Chen Tang, being so troubled by Wang Ke, hadn't even opened his mouth when Han Youyue, standing beside him, could hardly hold back anymore, "Young Master..."

Han Youyue managed the intelligence system in the Southwest Region; even though she remained behind the scenes, she interacted with plenty of big players regularly.

It was just that Wang Ke, on his level, didn't have the chance to encounter Han Youyue, so he didn't recognize her.

Chen Tang waved his hand lightly, "Sister Han, don't be anxious!"

"But they're bullying too much!" Han Youyue still wanted to speak, but Chen Tang directly interrupted her and turned to Wang Ke, "Boss Wang, just give me an account number. Five million, right? I'll have someone transfer it immediately!"

"Young Master?" Han Youyue didn't understand Chen Tang's intention at all, but Chen Tang winked at her.

Qi Jun, Wang Ke, and Qin Yao across from them were all completely bewildered.

Chen Tang was backing down?

This was not how the story was supposed to go, was it?

By logic, Chen Tang should have been furious, lashing out in anger, accusing Wang Ke of being despicable and shameless. But now Chen Tang was in fact ready to pay up, which rendered their subsequent plans unusable!

"With such a cowardly appearance, you can afford five million? Who are you kidding, Chen Tang? When you chased me, you couldn't even afford a five yuan bowl of noodles without saving up. Now you can come up with five million?" Qin Yao said coldly while clinging to Qi Jun's arm.

Qi Jun was still arrogantly saying, "Exactly! Don't pretend if you don't have money. In my opinion, you might as well just kneel down and admit your mistake. Just kneeling is worth five million, so economical!"

Wang Ke stood by the side, silent, but his eyes showed disbelief.

"Boss Wang, what's the matter? You don't want the money? You're insisting on making me kneel and beg? Give me the account number, I don't have time to waste with you all here!" Chen Tang's expression turned somewhat unsightly.

The Emperor Hao Grand Hotel was essentially on his turf, and yet he was being bullied on his own ground!

Wang Ke looked at Chen Tang's confident demeanor and, considering his closeness with Elder Pang, it seemed possible that Chen Tang really might have five million.

With that thought, Wang Ke's facial muscles twitched, "No way! I got it wrong earlier, that painting is worth more than five million, it must be at least ten million!"