Chapter Nineteen: A Paper Tiger?

He didn’t get angry at my feeble excuse; he didn’t even so much as twitch an eyebrow. He kept up that arrogant pose, swinging his long legs. “If that’s the case, I suppose we’ll meet in court. Don’t say I didn’t warn you—once this goes to trial, you can forget about ever making a living in Kang City.”

I wasn’t raised to be easily intimidated. Did this pervert really think a few half-hearted threats would make me surrender? How childish.

“If I can’t stay, I can’t stay. It’s not like I ever planned to spend my whole life in Kang City anyway.”

He took a deep drag on his cigarette, exhaled a swirl of smoke. “And your family and friends? They don’t want to stay either?”

Come on, pervert, could you possibly come up with a more cliché threat? What is this, a bad soap opera? Lacking any creativity. Still, as unoriginal as it was, his words unsettled me. Forget that pair of scoundrels—what about my grandfather, Xia Qi, Li Wanqiu, and Kirin? One wrong move could drag all of them into this mess.

“What do you really want?” I demanded.

He rose, cigarette dangling from his mouth, and walked to the prow of the boat, only to come back swiftly. He bent over as he reached me, and for a moment I thought he meant to kill me. I shrank away in fright.

Then he pinched my ear; I jumped, certain he’d used some hidden weapon against me. Only after did I realize he’d fastened a double lotus flower to my ear.

He fixed it in place, a trace of a smile on his lips. “Paper tiger.”

“You’re the paper tiger, you damn pervert,” I retorted.

I knew he’d seen through me again, but I couldn’t admit it. Just like I could never admit that Yi Huayang had a bigger chest and rounder hips than I did—it was simply too humiliating.

I added, “If you’re not the paper tiger, then why did you get… impotent after I kicked you?”

I burst out laughing, deliberately emphasizing certain words. As expected, the pervert finally lost his cool. He pointed at me. “Say that again if you dare!”

I was shameless—I didn’t hurry to reply. Instead, my gaze slid down from his chin to his abdomen, and a little farther south. With my fingertip, I lightly pointed at that spot and whispered, “Impotent.”

I was about to repeat it for a second time when he suddenly lunged at me. I didn’t even have time to react before he pinned me to the ground.

He pressed his whole body against me, lowered his head, and bit down hard on my lips—so viciously it hurt. I could feel the blood; this damned pervert!

I struggled and cursed, but he pinned my hands and pressed his knee against me, biting down again with force.

I clamped my mouth shut, but he pried it open, biting my tongue, hard and unrelenting.

The taste of blood spread rapidly in my mouth. I couldn’t break free, so the only thing left was to bite his tongue in return, an eye for an eye, forcing him to let go.

When we finally broke apart, I saw his lips were smeared with blood, and I was in no better state.

I wiped my lips furiously, trying to erase all traces he’d left behind.

Then, seeing my chance, I lunged at him, twisted his arms together, and maneuvered behind him, contorting him into a pretzel.

Panting, gritting my teeth, I spat, “Don’t think I’m easy prey, you pervert. Even if I am a paper tiger, I’m a paper tiger that could bite you to death.”

Zhu Bang was so startled by the scene that he jumped to his feet and rushed over to help.

The pervert barked, “Stand down.”

Zhu Bang hesitated, foot half-raised. “Young Master, you—”

The pervert let out a cold laugh, lifting his face to look at me. “With those amateur moves of yours, do you really think you can do anything to me?”

I sneered. “Maybe I can’t do much, but I can make sure you’re impotent for life. Consider it my way of saving all those lovesick girls from your clutches.”

He kept laughing, his eyes shining like last night’s stars, and my heart suddenly thudded in my chest.

Not wanting to give him a chance for payback, I quickly grabbed the T-shirt I’d changed out of last night and used it to tie up his hands and feet.

At that moment, I truly felt like a lady rogue.