Collecting Rent From All Realms, Even Empresses Must Pay Tribute
Ch. 8 - Little Brother, Have a Smoke

"That's right, that's right, tenfold compensation is too much! How can someone cheat and then demand money from their ex? Zhao Ruyan from Class A, Year 1, how could you do this?!"

Ye Chuan stood behind Luo Xi, hands on her shoulders, raising his voice dramatically, loud enough for the next class to hear.

Actually, probably the entire hallway could hear him.

"You?!" Zhao Ruyan's eyes widened. 

She never imagined Ye Chuan could be so shameless, shouting about this kind of thing. 

Her fists clenched, her face flushed, and her curls trembled.

She was fuming.

"Ye Chuan! This isn't cheating! I'm pursuing a better future! How dare you hinder my progress?!"

"And you're the liar! You said your family owned a building for rent!"

Ye Chuan spread his hands innocently. "My family does own a building."

One tenant had already moved in.

From the group of boys behind Zhao Ruyan, one finally stepped forward. 

He first glanced at Luo Xi's long, straight legs, then looked at Ye Chuan with a hint of disdain.

"Heh, I'm Huang Haotian. You've heard of me, right?"

Ye Chuan sized up Huang Haotian's burly physique and shook his head. 

"Oh? Never heard of you. Are you a janitor around here?"

Huang Haotian's expression stiffened, then his eyes narrowed dangerously. 

"Such a foul mouth. Seems no one's taught you how to speak properly."

At this time, Luo Xi whispered to Ye Chuan,

"He's the president of the Taekwondo club. He won a championship recently, he's quite famous in our department."

"That kimchi performance art of kicking wooden boards? Flowery fists and embroidered legs?" 

Ye Chuan was surprised, then asked Huang Haotian,

"Are you going to perform your board-kicking for me? I don't have any performance fees for you."

Huang Haotian's eyelid twitched, and he felt a tightness in his chest. 

He took a deep breath to calm down, then sneered, "You'll find out whether it's flowery fists and embroidered legs or not, you waste of space, hiding behind a girl. You really think I can't handle you?"

"Come to the rooftop now, or neither you nor this girl will be leaving school after class."

"My brothers will 'take good care' of you." 

After saying that, Huang Haotian blatantly scanned Luo Xi's face, seeming surprised by her beauty. 

"Heh, we actually have such a pretty girl in our department?"

Luo Xi frowned. "What do you want to do? We'll call the police."

"Can you guard against us forever?" Huang Haotian exchanged glances with the boys behind him and burst into laughter, unrestrained and arrogant.

Just as Luo Xi was about to say something, a hand rested on her shoulder. She turned around to see Ye Chuan smiling. 

"Since you have something to say on the rooftop, let's go."

"ChuanChuan, don't be impulsive, we're outnumbered," Luo Xi immediately grabbed Ye Chuan's arm and shook her head.

"It's fine, don't you trust me?" Ye Chuan said.

"But…"

"If you stop me again, I'll kick your ass in public." After Ye Chuan said that, Luo Xi instinctively covered her bottom, and he walked up to Huang Haotian and his group. 

"Let's go, bros."

"Whoa, thought you'd keep hiding," Huang Haotian scoffed, surprised that Ye Chuan actually walked out so readily.

"Actually, I quite enjoy being a kept man."

Luo Xi was held back. Seeing Ye Chuan leave with the others, she immediately went to An Shiyu. 

"Come on, Shiyu, let's go find a teacher in the office. ChuanChuan will definitely get beaten up, he's so skinny."

Compared to Luo Xi's anxiety, An Shiyu seemed very calm, her eyes narrowed. 

"Eh—what are you afraid of? Has that sly fox Ye Chuan ever suffered a loss? If there's trouble, he'll run faster than anyone."

"No way!" Luo Xi grabbed An Shiyu and ran.

"Ah~~~slow down, you're going to rip my collar," An Shiyu squawked as she was dragged away.

...

The wind on the rooftop was strong.

It made their clothes rustle.

After the boys brought Ye Chuan to the rooftop, Huang Haotian took out a lighter from his pocket, flicked it on, and lit a cigarette for himself.

"Go, lock the door."

Before the boys beside him could move, Ye Chuan turned around and slammed the door shut, locking it.

"?" This scene stunned the boys. So cooperative?

Even Huang Haotian was taken aback, then he took a drag of his cigarette and grinned. 

"Should I say you're really stupid or pretending to be stupid? Locking yourself up here?"

"We're just having a chat, it's better with the door closed," Ye Chuan said with a smile.

"Hahahaha, you think I'll let that girl go just because you do this? I've got my eye on her." Huang Haotian walked up to Ye Chuan and swung a palm towards his face. 

"You idiot."

In the next second, he found his wrist grabbed, as if held firmly by a pair of pliers. 

Huang Haotian tried to pull his hand back, but found the grip incredibly strong. He looked at Ye Chuan in shock.

"You? Let go!"

Before he could finish, a sharp pain shot through his abdomen. Ye Chuan punched him in the stomach with a deadpan expression, then slammed another fist into his face.

With a muffled groan, Huang Haotian collapsed to the ground, convulsing.

It all happened so fast that the other boys didn't even react before Huang Haotian was down.

"Get him!"

Several boys rushed forward, but Ye Chuan was unfazed,  quickly taking all of them down!

Looking at Huang Haotian and the others groaning on the ground, Ye Chuan said calmly, 

"All show, no substance. Told you it was all flowery fists and embroidered legs, but you didn't believe me."

Even without the pill, Ye Chuan was confident he could take them down, just not as easily.

He walked up to Huang Haotian, bent down, and picked up the cigarette from the ground.

"Phew." He blew on it, brightening the ember.

Ye Chuan didn't smoke it. Instead, he pressed the burning cigarette against Huang Haotian's crotch, burning a hole in his pants. 

Ignoring his howls, he flipped the cigarette around and stuffed it into the hole. "Here, little brother, have a smoke."

After doing this, Ye Chuan felt a tickle in his throat and couldn't help but cough violently. "Cough, cough, cough, cough."

"Cough, cough, cough, cough!"

Ye Chuan opened the door to leave, but heard rapid footsteps approaching. 

He found Luo Xi, along with a teacher, standing there.

"Chuan Chuan, are you okay?!" Seeing Ye Chuan coughing violently, Luo Xi rushed forward to support him.

"What happened?!" The teacher demanded, but was stunned after seeing the people lying on the ground, especially Huang Haotian, with a cigarette sticking straight up from his crotch.

The scene was indescribably bizarre.

"Cough, cough, cough, cough." Ye Chuan's face was pale. 

"Huang… Huang Haotian insisted on showing us his… little brother's smoking skills. We didn't want to watch, and he hit us."

(TL: Little brother is another Chinese slang and it stands for penis.)

(SHMOLL: I also want a tiger pill. Sharing is caring, remember? We are childhood friends. It’s just that you didn’t see me, you know. Your very own SHMOLL was always at your service. Good fate has curtained our bond, dear sir. GIMME THAT PILL-)