Chapter 52: Who Do You Think You Are

"So what if I'm bullying you? Lowlives like you have no business being here in the first place. Look at how much this dress costs—could you ever afford it even if you sold your disabled daughter?"

With that, the salesclerk viciously kicked Li Tingting, who was lying on the floor.

A crowd had already gathered around them.

Everyone looked at the family of three on the ground with cold and disdainful eyes.

"You damned old hag, your dirty hands just ruined my shoes! Get down and lick them clean right now, or pay up for the damage!"

Li Chengwang knelt half-humbly on the ground, continuously apologizing to the clerk.

"My son will be back in a little while, and he has money on him. I beg you, please don't make things difficult for an old woman like me!"

"Your entire family are nothing but lowlives; how noble could your son possibly be? My shoes are worth twenty thousand yuan! Lick them clean or pay for them!"

Upon hearing that the shoes cost twenty thousand yuan, Li Chengwang and Yang Suying gasped in horror.

Their son had just returned, and whatever meager money he had managed to earn needed to be saved for his future wedding. They could not become a burden to him!

Tears of regret welled up in Yang Suying's eyes. If she had known those shoes were so expensive, she wouldn't have dared touch them even if it cost her life!

"Old man, all these faults are mine. We cannot drag our son down any further. My tongue isn't worth that much!"

With those words, she lowered her head toward the expensive shoes.

To her surprise, the clerk suddenly jerked her foot back.

"I've changed my mind. I want all three of you to get down on your knees and lick them!"

After saying this, she turned around triumphantly to look at Qiao Ruowei.

Qiao Ruowei gave her a glowing thumbs-up.

The lingering humiliation from being slapped by Li Mu a couple of days ago, along with the degrading words spoken by that beggar, vanished into thin air in that instant.

Encouraged by Miss Qiao's approval, the clerk became even more arrogant.

"You see that? A mere twenty thousand yuan is enough to make an entire family willingly act like dogs for me!"

Yang Suying never expected that this woman would not only insult her, but also drag her elderly husband and daughter into it.

"You are a person of great stature; my husband and I will lick the shoes clean for you, so please, I beg you, let my daughter go!"

The clerk kicked Li Tingting's leg again with the tip of her shoe.

"She's nothing more than a cripple, and besides, I'd hate for her tongue to have thorns!"

She then thrust one foot out in front of the elderly couple.

"You two, lick my shoes clean!"

The onlookers around them began to jeer and mock.

After all, they weren't the ones being humiliated, and only a fool would pass up a good show!

"What do you people think you're doing?"

Li Mu's voice rang out from behind.

He pushed through the crowd and felt a sharp pain in his heart when he saw his parents and younger sister half-kneeling on the ground, suffering such degradation.

Before the salesclerk could even open her mouth, two heavy, resounding slaps landed fiercely across her face.

"You actually... You're Li Mu?"

Only then did Li Mu get a clear look at the woman before him. She was none other than his junior high school classmate, Deng Qingqing.

"I heard you went missing? When we were in school, your family survived by collecting junk. I never expected you to still be this dirt poor after all these years!"

Back in school, this bitch had never missed a chance to trip him up and make things difficult for him.

He hadn't planned on settling old scores with her today, but she had delivered herself right to his doorstep!

"What did you do to my parents?"

"A bunch of poor, pathetic scavengers like your family actually dared to come to such a high-end mall. Not only that, but this damned old hag dirtied my shoes! Either she pays for them, or she licks them clean for me!"

Li Mu stared coldly at Deng Qingqing.

"I advise you to take back what you just said."

"You stinking beggar, you think I'm afraid of you?"

Before she could finish her sentence, Deng Qingqing received another two vicious slaps across the face.

Not far away, two security guards were rapidly walking toward them.

One of them strode up to Deng Qingqing and wrapped an arm protectively around her waist.

"Qingqing, what's going on here?"

Deng Qingqing wiggled her waist and pushed the security guard's hand away with a coquettish, spoiled pout.

"Brother Da, it's this stinking beggar making trouble here! He even hit me, look at my face..."

The security guard then shifted his gaze to Li Mu, looking him up and down before a sneer formed on his face.

"How dare you cause trouble here? Do you know who owns this mall? It's Mr. Wu! Get down on your knees and apologize to Qingqing right now!"

"And what if I refuse?"

"Then don't blame me for being unpolite!"

As he spoke, the two security guards instantly closed in behind Li Mu, reaching out to grab his shoulders.

"You didn't bother to ask around whose territory this is—she's under my protection, Brother Da!"

Li Mu could already feel the hands reaching out behind him, but he didn't even bother to glance back.

In fact, he didn't move an inch from where he stood.

He merely threw out a single palm strike.

"Just the likes of you thinking you can catch me? Utterly overestimating yourselves!"

Hearing those words, the two security guards were enraged to the utmost limit.

They threw their fists forward with all their might toward Li Mu.

This punk was going to be beaten into a pulp and left begging for mercy on the floor in no time!

Just at that moment, two dull thuds echoed through the air.

The two security guards were sent flying several meters backward before crashing heavily onto the ground.

Everyone stared in utter disbelief.

This was simply impossible!

Not a single person present had even managed to catch a glimpse of how he made his move.

Qiao Ruowei was equally stunned, unable to process the scene unfolding before her eyes.

Before anyone could react, another fierce slap sent Brother Da flying through the air.

Brother Da smashed violently into a glass door, crying out in agonizing pain amidst a shower of shattered glass.

A bloody froth spewed from his mouth, mixed with several fractured teeth.

"You actually dare to cause trouble in Mr. Wu's mall? You're a dead man!"

Li Mu delivered yet another heavy slap across that person's face.

In an instant, Brother Da felt as though his brains had been scrambled into mush.

"All of you, stop this instant! What kind of a spectacle are you making, carrying on and shouting like this?"

A man in a tailored suit walked over from not far away. It was none other than Wu Qiming's personal assistant.

"Special Assistant Sun, this person is making trouble in the mall!"

Special Assistant Sun turned around angrily, but the moment he caught sight of Li Mu, a flash of panic crossed his eyes.

"Mr. Li? It's my fault for not welcoming you properly today since I didn't know you were visiting the mall!"

Seeing Special Assistant Sun bowing and scraping before Li Mu, a look of profound doubt flickered across Deng Qingqing's face.

"Special Assistant Sun, he..."

Before she could finish her sentence, her already swollen, pig-like face took yet another vicious slap.

"You blind, dog-eyed piece of trash! Starting tomorrow, don't ever bother coming to work here again. And as for you lot, get lost and don't let me see you again!"

Everyone present was completely dumbfounded!

What on earth was going on here?

Special Assistant Sun signaled his bodyguards to throw the troublemakers out of the mall, then turned back with a ingratiating smile on his face.

"Mr. Li, please don't take today's incident to heart. Anything you fancy in this entire mall will be put on my tab!"

Qiao Ruowei stared at Li Mu in absolute shock.

She suddenly felt as though the beggar standing before her was entirely unfamiliar, and a vague, nagging premonition crept into her mind.

She should never have broken off her engagement with this young man so hastily!