After opening the door, they saw Li Yan sitting there like a great lord, while their own boss was proactively handing over money, seemingly begging him to accept it. How could the underlings tolerate this? This was too humiliating!

Unable to watch their boss be humiliated, the first ones who entered, led by the guy with the walkie-talkie, immediately charged at Li Yan fearlessly!

As they burst in, Li Yan was already aware and saw them rushing over. Some of the ones behind were even wielding steel pipes and other weapons. While keeping in mind not to take their lives, Li Yan didn’t underestimate the human wave tactic and immediately stood up and started defending!

Due to the sheer number of people, those behind couldn’t clearly see what was happening in front, and those in front, having gotten so close to Li Yan, couldn’t quite see either—only feeling that he quickly stood up, followed by a strong force hitting them.

The guy with the walkie-talkie initially avoided a disaster, but now, in order to bravely rescue his boss, he rushed to the front without regard for injury. Li Yan obliged by kicking him backwards, sending the walkie-talkie flying out of his hand. He kept attacking with kicks, using his legs’ broader range and stronger force, controlling the area of the approaching enemies. With the principle of inflicting severe but non-lethal damage, he delivered several kicks, knocking down several in front, blocking those rushing from behind.

...

When Chen Wu, the boss, saw his underlings charging in, his first reaction was embarrassment because the scene of him offering money to befriend Li Yan was seen by them, damaging his image. Secondly, he tacitly allowed them to attack Li Yan!

His acquiescence had two layers of intention. One was wishful thinking—back then, the one against twenty was in the wilderness, perhaps more convenient for Li Yan to show his skills, but now it’s indoors and he was sitting, maybe not so lucky this time. Similarly, if they could take him down while befriending him, wouldn’t it be more prestigious and influential? It would certainly be better than being so passive now! Furthermore, Li Yan’s strength was evident; even if they eventually took him down, his side would also fall, which would prove Li Yan’s prowess, making his people no longer see him as weak due to his earlier humility.

With such thoughts, he didn’t immediately order his men to stop, hoping both for Li Yan to easily defeat them and also for them to trap Li Yan.

However, his conflicted feelings didn’t last more than a few seconds. Li Yan had already stood up, kicking the few thugs in front into the crowd behind, immediately showcasing his might, making them realize he was a tough character, not a pushover, and making them momentarily too scared to act recklessly.

"Get out! Is it your place to enter here?" Li Yan shouted sternly.

Chen Wu, as if waking from a dream, quickly waved them away, reprimanding: "Who let you in? I’m catching up with a friend, what are you barging in for?" This was not only cooperating with Li Yan’s words but also giving himself a plausible excuse. Under the guise of catching up with a friend, no matter how polite, or handing money, there can be another explanation, not too disgraceful.

The thugs who rushed in were utterly shocked, especially the walkie-talkie guy, who found it absurd—wasn’t this about causing trouble? How did he become the boss’s friend? Did he threaten the boss?

In fact, some present had participated in Chen Wu’s ambush against Li Yan last time. However, Li Yan rarely fought gang wars, while they were more experienced at gang fights, and since it was nighttime, with them blocking Li Yan alone, no need for recognition, just follow directions to attack the target. Thus, they didn’t have as profound an impression of Li Yan as Chen Wu had.

"Everyone get out! What kind of behavior is this!"

Chen Wu scolded once more. The ones who had been kicked by Li Yan collided with some behind, causing chaos and essentially blocking the office entrance. Hearing the boss’s words, those outside, who hadn’t squeezed in, wisely left. And those who were knocked down, without being injured, quickly helped up the kicked ones and retreated.

"Go invite that superstar, be polite to him!" Chen Wu shouted again.

After they left and the door was closed again, the atmosphere instantly became awkward. Looking at Li Yan with a stern expression, Chen Wu was a bit worried—would he think it was deliberately arranged by me?

Trying to ease the tension, he exclaimed louder: "Ah... It’s hard to manage a team these days. The underlings below don’t listen, either being full of themselves or thinking they’re clever, and when something goes wrong, I have to take responsibility. It’s truly embarrassing."

He approached again, actively placing the stack of Cloud Coins into Li Yan’s hand. "You must take this; it’s my sincere gesture. Also, I will strictly order them not to let a single punk disrupt things!" 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝓮𝒘𝙚𝙗𝒏𝙤𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝒐𝙢

"Make it happen first." Seeing Chen Wu truly lowering his stance to make friendly gestures, Li Yan didn’t refuse as the saying goes, ’Don’t strike a smiling face,’ and accepted.

Seeing him accept the money, Chen Wu was somewhat relieved and cozying up further, said: "Brother Li, not acquainted without a fight, later if you ever need my old Chen, one call and I’ll be there!"

"We’ll talk later."

Chen Wu continued using filming as a topic, humbly "consulting" Li Yan for a while, to which Li Yan casually responded. The ones who were chased off soon returned with Nicholas, who had been getting a foot massage. This time, they knocked on the door cautiously.

Li Yan went to open the door himself, and seeing Nicholas outside, he smiled and said, "Thank you for stepping up! Let’s go!"