Liu Cheng stared blankly. The people around him all wore unhappy expressions.

Wang Ying especially - Liu had been chasing her these past few days, yet here he was with eyes wide at a more beautiful girl, making her feel deeply irritated.

"Doctor Zhang, come sit. Your girlfriend is really pretty!"

Wang Ying hurriedly called to Zhang Yang, who glanced at the three guys chatting with Liu Cheng. They too were stunned, subtly eyeing Meixue from the corners of their eyes.

"Ah! Doctor Zhang, please have a seat!"

Liu finally snapped out of his daze and quickly gestured to Zhang Yang. Today was supposed to be his turn hosting dinner for Zhang, who was clearly the guest. Liu's distracted behavior felt undeniably rude, making him inwardly wince.

"Li Zhi, sorry but my colleague just arrived. Let's catch up another time!"

Liu apologized to the three guys nearby. They nodded and left with obvious reluctance, glancing back several times as they walked away.

Zhang Yang shook his head in amusement - he'd been on edge lately, mistaking old friends' casual chat for an impending fight. It was a busy downtown area after all, not some lawless wasteland where fights broke out daily.

"Senior Liu, do you know Meixue?" Zhang asked lightly after the others left. His initial irritation at Liu's distractedness melted quickly - this actually proved how special Meixue was. A girlfriend who could steal hearts deserved celebration, not blame.

"The thing is... I know her? No! We don't know each other!"

Liu nodded then immediately shook his head when he saw Meixue's puzzled expression. His face turned crimson as he wished for a hole to disappear through. The truth was that Liu recognized Meixue, but she had no idea who he was.

Zhang Yang understood instantly and shook his head again. While Zhang didn't care about the misunderstanding, Wang Ying was clearly furious - Liu hadn't acknowledged her all evening, and the two other girls were equally unimpressed by his behavior.

The dishes arrived quickly. The night market food was good, but Liu had lost his appetite entirely, becoming the most awkward person at the table. Zhang didn't mind opening several beers to share with everyone, finishing one himself - a beer felt as harmless as cold water for someone like him who drove home later.

Girls bonded easily when given the chance. With three girls deliberately seeking closeness, they quickly gelled with Meixue into an inseparable group. All were students yet to graduate, sharing endless common ground among classmates.

As the four girls chatted, Zhang approached Liu's table for casual conversation. As juniors often did, they discussed professors and classmates both knew well. Liu even cast grateful glances toward Zhang - if Zhang had ignored him further, today would have been truly mortifying.

Six young people with four beautiful faces inevitably attracted attention. The night market bustled with passersby and diners at neighboring tables who kept stealing glances. Most just envied silently, muttering about how "such a good flower got trampled by pigs."

In the distance corner of another food stall, two men sat in shadow. One had been fixated on Zhang's table - specifically, on Zhang himself. The moment Zhang turned his head as if sensing something, the man quickly looked away.

Too dark to make out details from where he sat, Zhang couldn't recognize the figure even with perfect vision. If he could see clearly, however, he'd have realized it was Zhou Yichen watching him. Sitting opposite Zhou was a bald man in his late twenties covered head-to-toe in tattoos.

"Young Zhou," the bald man glanced toward Zhang and chuckled suddenly, "your friend's girlfriend is real nice looking. Want me to help you get her?"

"Dragon Brother," Zhou quickly shook his head, "just beat him up properly - snap both arms and legs so he can't walk for half a year in hospital!" Zhou was no stranger to Meixue but still wouldn't dare force himself on her. He was just an ordinary student with no mob connections, unlike the man sitting opposite who genuinely ran gangs.

"Haha, you're too kind-hearted," Dragon Brother laughed easily, "don't worry about your two thousand cash payment. Following standard rates, I'll remove one arm and leg for you directly - sound good?"

Zhou gulped down his beer as cold sweat broke out. The term meant permanently disabling limbs through amputation or severe injury. Though not necessarily literal, it certainly meant crippling someone beyond recovery.

"Just break them," Zhou insisted hastily, "just break them!" He really didn't want to be anywhere near this Dragon Brother if he could help it. Originally he'd paid a five-thousand deposit through connections to hire a tough guy - but when Zhang disappeared immediately after, it had caused weeks of frustration. Only recently learning Zhang had returned, he tracked his every move carefully since encountering him today while he changed cars from Benz to BMW.

Dragon Brother took another bite and finished an entire beer bottle in one go before wiping his mouth to ask casually, "Now? Or wait until they leave?"

"Better wait - too many people here," Zhou hesitated then whispered.

The bald man sneered at him dismissively while continuing to eat and drink alone. What a small coward this Zhou was - if only his uncle didn't have such powerful connections worth exploiting... Still, two thousand wasn't bad money, especially since the initial five-thousand deposit had already been spent. The timing couldn't be better with cash running low just as the kid tracked Zhang down for another job.

"Dragon Brother, we're here!"

Within moments, about a dozen tattooed henchmen arrived - typical modern street gangs influenced by Hong Kong triad movies to show off their ink. Their leader was named Wang Aiguo originally but had changed it to Wang Long years ago, earning the nickname "Dragon Brother."

"Everyone sit down," Dragon Brother waved his hand, and they quickly occupied two tables nearby, bowing politely toward Zhou as a sign of respect. With so many men present, Zhou felt confident enough for them to thoroughly deal with Zhang.

The thought of that damning record in his file still pained him deeply. Both uncle and aunt had arranged government positions waiting after graduation - once inside the system, career advancement would be effortless. As an educated man with natural talent, he'd already consulted feng shui masters who predicted mayoral ambitions for him! Now just thinking about becoming mayor seemed laughable when even village chief status would remain out of reach because of that one blot on his record.

This was why he harbored such hatred toward Zhang and needed to exact brutal revenge.

"Zhang Yang, a toast!" Liu raised his glass toward Zhang before downing it in one go. His eyes were bloodshot and slightly unfocused - the girls had finally started talking to him again after ignoring him for hours, but only to force more drinks as repayment for his earlier indifference. Even Meixue joined in with two toasts of her own. Poor Liu's tolerance was clearly terrible; already drunk from just three or four beers, he still insisted on continuing despite swaying dangerously.

Though barely conscious now, Liu remembered his host duties well enough to keep drinking through sheer stubbornness. Zhang had only wanted one beer but ended up finishing two due to the girls' combined pressure - though his alcohol tolerance was far better than Liu's, he still felt absolutely fine.

"Zhang Yang, another toast! You know how everyone at Third Hospital praises you as our school's pride!" Liu raised yet another glass before downing it entirely, his entire body now visibly unsteady.

"Liu Cheng, you're drunk enough already - stop drinking!" Wang Ying finally noticed something was wrong and shouted anxiously while Liu waved wildly to deny being intoxicated.

After attempting to refill the bottle for another toast with Zhang...

"Senior Liu, we've had more than enough tonight. Let's reschedule this celebration. I'll drive you all home," Zhang gently declined but Liu protested loudly, only to immediately collapse on the table and fall into a deep sleep. The girls all felt regretful - they'd met during internships before sharing meals without alcohol, never learning how little Liu could actually hold his liquor.

"Alright, let's go then. Where do you ladies live? I'll drive you home," Zhang offered cheerfully despite the short mealtime. He hadn't even eaten much himself but couldn't leave Liu sleeping drunk on public tables.

"We all stay near the hospital," Wang Ying admitted awkwardly while rubbing her hands together nervously. Zhang immediately called for the bill, and as he paid...

Wang Ying stayed silent with lowered eyes before resentfully kicking Liu's unconscious form twice - it had been his idea to pay himself after all, so they hadn't brought purses.

The meal cost only about a hundred yuan total despite generous portions that remained largely untouched due to the excessive drinking. Zhang lifted Liu onto his shoulder as the girls formed an awkward procession heading outside. Liu was completely out cold now - waking him would be pointless when they could simply drive him home directly after all.

"Damn it, couldn't even finish one peaceful meal!"

The moment Zhang left, the tattooed gang members also stood up immediately. They'd come for a fight and wouldn't linger here without their target. Zhou hesitated with another reluctant glance...

"I think I'll pass," he finally muttered to Dragon Brother, whose courage always cracked under real physical confrontations despite being quite clever when it came to schemes. He was just one of those small-time petty villains who talked big but lacked backbone.

"Haha! Young Zhou doesn't want to see his enemy begging on the ground? Come along - let's show you some action!" Dragon Brother dragged him up by force while the rest followed after paying their share. To Zhou's surprise, they even had a rusty minivan waiting despite looking like a scruffy group of criminals.

As about a dozen men crammed into the vehicle (with only Dragon Brother and Zhou taking taxis), Dragon Brother's eyes gleamed at the sight of Zhang's BMW parked outside - he was certainly an expert in identifying luxury cars after all.

Zhou Yichen smiled awkwardly, "I don't really know. He wasn't like this before - only recently started driving!"

"Brother Zhou," Longge chuckled with a cruel glint in his eyes, "you're being unfair here. We took this job specifically because you said he had no connections at all. You should understand - if he actually had someone backing him up, we brothers would be risking our necks!"

Zhou Yichen felt goosebumps prickling up his arms under the man's scrutiny. "Longge, honestly there are no connections involved! He's just some outsider studying here. I dunno how he hit the jackpot recently - saved a person and got a car as reward. He was really broke before this," he stammered out while his heartbeat thudded anxiously against his ribs. "Oh right, he studies medicine!"

The younger man rambled on in desperate explanation, already regretting having dragged these wolves into this situation. They were blades indeed - capable of cutting through problems but just as likely to turn and cut their wielder if mishandled.

Chapter Three: Minimum guarantee fulfilled. Xiao Yu gets a day off today!