Chapter Eight: The Glory I Bestowed Upon You, I Can Also Take Back!

“Hey, son, which girl did you choose?”
“All the other families have canceled the engagement. In the end, only Xia Xin from the Xia family is willing to marry me.”
As soon as Chen Fan finished speaking, he heard laughter on the other end of the line. He frowned and said, “Dad, why is Mom so happy? I’ve been rejected by everyone!”
At that moment, a woman’s voice, tinged with amusement, sounded, “Son, you don’t know this, but your dad and I made a bet on which girl you’d choose. He insisted on Huo Yuling, but I picked Xia Xin. Now he has to do whatever I say for a whole month.”
“Son, do you need anything else? If not, I’ll have your dad accompany me shopping!”
“I... I’m fine.”
Chen Fan hesitated but ultimately didn’t tell them he would be marrying into the Xia family, especially since he hadn’t won Xia Xin’s heart yet. If his parents found out, they’d surely laugh at him.
After hanging up, Chen Fan muttered, “I’ll go meet some old friends first.”

Half an hour later, at Huafeng Auto Dealership.
As soon as he walked in, Chen Fan found the nearest salesperson and asked, “Is Cheng Hao here?”
Gao Liang turned around and sized Chen Fan up from head to toe, immediately categorizing him as a penniless loser. His tone was impatient, “What do you want with our Manager Cheng?”
“Oh, I’m his friend. Please let him know that Chen Fan is here to see him.”
“Friend?”
Gao Liang was surprised to hear he was the boss’s friend. He scrutinized Chen Fan again, still doubtful, then said, “Wait here, I’ll go inform him.”
Gao Liang went to the office, knocked, and entered when beckoned.
He spoke respectfully, “Manager Cheng, there’s someone outside claiming to be your friend. I think his name is Chen Fan.”
Upon hearing the name “Chen Fan,” Cheng Hao’s pupils contracted. He asked, “Did he say what he’s here for? How’s he dressed? Did he arrive by car?”
Gao Liang recalled and shook his head, “He just came to see you. He’s dressed very shabbily, doesn’t look like someone who can afford a car. Boss, is he really your friend?”
“Friend?” Cheng Hao sneered, “He’s just a penniless stray, hardly worthy of being my friend. Go tell him I’m busy and don’t have time to see him.”

Gao Liang understood immediately. Just as he turned to leave, he saw Chen Fan standing behind him with a calm expression, which startled him and made him step back. He scolded, “Didn’t I tell you to wait outside? This isn’t a place you can enter!”
“Get out, or you won’t leave at all,” Chen Fan warned coldly, his eyes icy.
Gao Liang felt a chill from Chen Fan’s gaze and was unsettled, but realized he had to perform in front of his boss. He raised his voice, “Who the hell do you think you’re talking to? Who do you think you are!”
He moved as if to confront Chen Fan physically.
Cheng Hao intervened, “Gao, leave us for now.”
“But, boss—”
“Get out!”
Seeing this, Gao Liang left the office, feeling aggrieved. Once he was gone, Cheng Hao smiled, “Brother Fan, my staff are a bit ignorant, don’t take it to heart. Please, have a seat.”
Though his words were polite, he remained seated in his leather chair, making the meaning clear to anyone perceptive.
“Manager Cheng, don’t say that. How could a penniless stray like me have you call me ‘brother’? I originally came to buy a car from you, but now I see there’s no need.”
Chen Fan had overheard Cheng Hao’s earlier disparaging words and understood that, like everyone else, Cheng Hao had only treated him as a peer because of his status in the past. Now that he’d fallen, they trampled him without mercy.
Cheng Hao scoffed and asked, “So what else do you want?”
“To collect a debt.”
“You borrowed three million from me when you started your business. It’s been eight years; interest should be about six hundred thousand. So just repay three and a half million.”
“What a joke. That money was a gift back then, and now you call it a loan?” Cheng Hao looked at Chen Fan with mocking disdain. “I never thought the once proud Young Master Chen would stoop so low!”
Chen Fan replied calmly, “I gifted it to my friend Cheng Hao, not to the ungrateful dog you’ve become. Just tell me, will you repay it or not?”
“Dog?” Cheng Hao was furious at the insult, slamming the table and shouting, “Chen Fan, don’t push your luck! I won’t pay you back, and what can you do about it? You really think you’re still the Young Master Chen?”

Just then, the office door was abruptly flung open. Gao Liang led in a group of men, all glaring menacingly at Chen Fan, ready to swarm him at Cheng Hao’s command.
Chen Fan glanced around, his face showing no fear, his gaze cold as he stared at Cheng Hao. “Back then, you were just a delivery boy. Everything you have now, I gave you. But you really think you’re somebody now. Cheng Hao, remember this: the glory I gave you, I can take it back!”
With that, Chen Fan left the office without a flicker of emotion.
Gao Liang couldn’t help but say, “Manager Cheng, why didn’t you give the order? Just say the word and we’ll deal with him!”
“Deal with your mother! All of you, get out!”
Cheng Hao glared at Gao Liang, then rose and drove everyone out of the office.
Once the door was shut, Cheng Hao’s mind was filled with Chen Fan’s words, and an inexplicable anxiety gnawed at him. “Damn it, what’s there to be afraid of? He’s just a stray dog now—what trouble can he cause?”
Despite his bravado, Cheng Hao immediately pulled out his phone and dialed a number.
“Young Qin, Chen Fan, that good-for-nothing, has returned to East City!”
A lazy voice answered, “Did he come looking for you? What for?”
Cheng Hao replied hurriedly, “That loser actually demanded I repay him. What a joke! Who does he think he is? I humiliated him and sent him packing.”
“Hmm, good job,” the other replied, his tone growing darker. “Go contact the Heavenly Fiends gang, pay them to teach Chen Fan a lesson. I don’t want him living comfortably in East City.”
“Understood, I’ll take care of it right away!”
Cheng Hao hung up with a sinister smile, muttering, “Chen Fan, don’t blame me for this. You were so arrogant before—now it’s time you paid the price!”