"Really? Since you want to dine and dash, I guess there’s no other way."

The waiter wasn’t bothered at all by Tang Ming’s words and turned to shout, "Boss, someone finished their meal without settling the bill."

"Who? Let me see who dares to do this."

A dark-skinned, tall and burly middle-aged man came out with a group of hefty guys, all armed, directly surrounding Tang Ming and his companions.

"Bro, have you heard of Matsushima shrimp, Nanyang seafood, and Xuegu instant noodles?"

Seeing this display, Meng Xianjun laughed, looking at Tang Ming oddly, "It seems that places with thriving tourism like to gouge tourists."

"Can’t be helped! One-time business, squeeze as much as you can, but over eighty thousand is too outrageous."

Tang Ming sighed helplessly, "The world is getting worse!"

"Hey, pay up right away, and then you can chat all you want."

The dark-faced boss saw Tang Ming and his crew chatting away, completely ignoring him, and angrily shouted.

"Is this how you scam tourists? By intimidation?"

Tang Ming squinted his eyes and disdainfully looked at the boss.

"Kid, you got guts."

Upon hearing this, the dark-faced boss gave a sinister smile, casually pulled out a dagger, and waved it in front of Tang Ming, "Seen a knife before? Believe it or not, I could make a few holes in you."

"You—don’t make a move, or we’ll call the police." 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝚠𝕖𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝕖𝚕.𝚌𝗼𝗺

Zhou Xiaoqian nervously clung to Tang Ming.

"Call the police? Go ahead, call them. You ate and didn’t pay, let’s see whose side they’ll be on?"

The dark-faced boss laughed; daring to run this business, he wasn’t afraid of the police.

Earlier, he had observed Tang Ming and his table—a seemingly affluent group no older than their twenties, typical sheltered rich kids afraid for their lives, who would instantly cough up money when intimidated. He’s done this many times before without fail.

"Calling the police is useless. This is local protection. Maybe the police here are his relatives."

Hua Yingjie sighed and grumbled in disgust.

"You got good eye power, kid! Yes, my brother-in-law is in charge here. If you call the police, you’ll spend even more."

The dark-faced boss laughed, "If you’re wise, pay up—eighty-eight thousand, or don’t expect to walk out intact."

"Well, we don’t really care about walking out intact. What are you gonna do?"

Tang Ming laughed. If this were an average person in this situation, they’d accept their fate. But unfortunately...

"You’re asking for death."

The dark-faced boss’s expression turned cold, wantonly eyeing Zhou Xiaoqian, "If you don’t want to pay, at least let this chick serve us well, and I’ll forget the eighty-eight thousand."

"Whoosh!"

Right after he spoke, the boss’s knife vanished.

"Huh..."

The dark-faced boss was taken aback, seeing the knife somehow end up in Tang Ming’s hand.

"Dare to think of harming my woman, do you have enough lives to lose?"

Tang Ming coldly looked at the boss, suddenly striking at him with the knife.

"Ah!"

Witnessing this, everyone in the shop screamed in surprise; they didn’t expect the young fellow to actually attack.

"You, you, you..."

After the strike, the dark-faced boss remained stationary, drenched in cold sweat, having felt the chill of the blade against his skin moments ago.

"Let’s go."

Tang Ming tossed the knife aside, got up, put his arm around Zhou Xiaoqian, and walked out.

"Idiot."

Meng Xianjun glanced at the boss and started to leave with Hua Yingjie.

"Stop, you had the audacity to..."

"Rip!"

Just as the dark-faced boss was speaking, his clothes split down the middle, exposing the inside including his underwear, his dark skin shown bare like a peeled banana, utterly naked.

"Rip-rip-pull!"

Seeing this, the surrounding thugs backed away, all frightened.

"This...this...this..."

The boss stammered, speechless, abandoning any attempt to cover himself; the knife skill was too unbelievably precise.

"Next time, I won’t hesitate to gut you."

Tang Ming gave a cold snort, looking at the thugs blocking his way, "Move."

"Y-yes."

The thugs quickly stepped aside, clearly terrified.

"Your eighty-eight thousand is gone, thanks for the hospitality!"

Meng Xianjun gave a quirky smile and swaggered out with Tang Ming.

"Boss, they’re gone."

After Tang Ming and his group left, only then did the thugs dare to remind the boss.

The female waiter turned red, averting her gaze, with the boss completely exposed.

"Damn it, scared me to death."

Only now did the boss snap out of it, quickly pulling up his pants, fearfully staring at Tang Ming’s retreating figure.

"Boss, should we teach those guys a lesson?"

A simple-looking big man asked uncertainly.

"Teach them a lesson? Didn’t you see their skills? They’re not ordinary people—we blew it this time."

The boss grunted unhappily.

The waitress quickly interjected, "Boss, your brother-in-law said not to do business now because some medical competition will bring many big shots..."

"Nonsense! I know about that medical competition, heard just students are participating, the perfect chance for us to make money."

The boss pulled up his pants and cursed, "This time we lost out, pack up, we’ll do better next time. Can’t believe there are that many experts."

The group kept nodding and started packing.

These people have moved past brawling; it’s just business. To make money, when facing tough customers like Tang Ming, they can only accept their loss, not daring to seek revenge, or it would just be trouble for themselves.

After all, it’s a solid black shop with countless sheep to fleece; a successful scam earns a fortune.

"Tang Ming, just let him go like that?"

Stepping out of the restaurant, Meng Xianjun asked Tang Ming, intrigued.

"What else? Can’t really kill him, right?"

Tang Ming shrugged, helplessly sighing, "With the Emperor so high above, this isn’t our territory. As long as they don’t provoke us, I can’t concern myself too much."

"True, it’s a case of willing participants, nothing can be done."

Meng Xianjun nodded.

"The outside world is so scary."

Zhou Xiaoqian was filled with apprehension. Fortunately, she went out with Tang Ming. If she faced this situation alone, losing money would be a minor issue; based on that setup, she’d likely be at the mercy of those thugs...

"The world is indeed ruthless, but we are the most ruthless."

Tang Ming laughed heartily, wrapping his arm around Zhou Xiaoqian and heading towards the hotel—eating and drinking filled, now it’s time for some exercise.

Back at the hotel, Tang Ming began tutoring Zhou Xiaoqian in medical knowledge; soon they ended up from studying to playing "cloud and rain," growing through the activity.