My cousin-in-law helped me achieve my ambitions.

His surname is Ma, and his given name is Flea. Ma Flea equals Sassy Bro. This logic immediately triggered a burst of suppressed laughter in the restaurant, even Lin Shumei behind Su Ming couldn't help but chuckle. Hearing the laughter, Flea turned around, gripping his steel pipe, and glanced at everyone. Wherever his gaze fell, the laughter abruptly stopped, as if someone had choked him.

Flea, satisfied, withdrew his gaze and shouted at his henchmen behind him, "What are you all standing there for? Come over here and greet Brother Ming!"

The eight or nine burly men exchanged glances, pulled their steel pipes back behind them, and stepped forward in unison, forming a line. They respectfully nodded to Su Ming and said, "Hello, Brother Ming!" Their voices were so synchronized, like soldiers counting off in military training, that the ceiling fans in the restaurant shook.

It turned out that the newcomer was a member of the Sichuan gang, and indeed, one of Chai Gou's men. The group of underlings treated Su Ming with great respect, their demeanor suggesting they were there to pay their respects rather than cause trouble.

After calling out to Su Ming, Flea turned to look at Lin Shumei next to Su Ming. Seeing that Su Ming was holding Lin Shumei's wrist, he immediately understood their relationship and greeted Lin Shumei warmly, "Hello, sister-in-law!"

"Hello, sister-in-law!"

"Hello, sister-in-law!"

All the underlings also greeted Lin Shumei.

Lin Shumei blushed and could only nod with a smile, feeling a sweet warmth in her heart.

Everyone present was completely dumbfounded. The shirtless, burly man's mouth was agape, wide enough to fit an egg, and he didn't even notice his chopsticks slipping from his hand and falling to the ground. The people at the next table who had been making sarcastic remarks had their heads bowed low, as if they wanted to bury their faces in their rice bowls.

Coach Gao stared wide-eyed in disbelief, looking at Su Ming, then at Flea, and then at the group of burly men his brother had brought who were bowing and scraping to Su Ming. He kept shaking his head, muttering, "How is this possible? How is this possible?"

The people he went to so much trouble to gather turned out to be all Su Ming's own people? The thugs his own brother hired to back him up actually respectfully called Su Ming "Brother Ming"? This script isn't right, it's completely wrong!

Lin Shumei sat beside Su Ming, observing everything with inward admiration. Just moments before, her palms had been sweating with worry, but now she felt both amused and reassured. No wonder Su Ming was so calm; he had already won over the people in this territory. She let out a soft breath, picked up her teacup, took a sip, and her hand stopped trembling, her complexion regaining its rosy hue.

Coach Gao's brother, Boss Gao, had turned ashen-faced, with beads of sweat forming on his forehead. He stood there, unsure whether to advance or retreat, so embarrassed he wished he could disappear into the ground.

Flea glanced at him sideways, then without a word, slapped him hard on the back of the head. The sharp crack sent Boss Gao staggering forward, nearly crashing into the table. Flea yelled at him angrily, "Boss Gao, are you trying to kill me? You dare touch Ming-ge? Do you think I, Flea, am living too comfortably? Come here and apologize!"

The slap left Boss Gao's head spinning, but it also instantly snapped him back to reality. He rubbed the back of his head, quickly putting on a warm smile, and rushed to Su Ming, bowing deeply and apologizing profusely: "Brother Ming, I'm so sorry, I was blind to your greatness, I shouldn't have called you that… It's all my fault, please forgive me…"

Su Ming sat calmly, picked up his chopsticks, took a piece of twice-cooked pork, put it in his mouth, and chewed it slowly, as if he hadn't heard what Boss Gao had said at all.

He swallowed the meat, picked up his teacup, took a sip, glanced at Boss Gao, and asked casually, "What did you say? I didn't hear you clearly."

Boss Gao's smile froze for a moment, but he still forced a smile, bent down even lower, and repeated, word by word, "I said, Brother Ming, I'm sorry, I was blind to your greatness. I shouldn't have called people over. It's all my fault, please don't take it to heart."

Su Ming waved his hand at him, his tone indifferent: "This has little to do with you, it's mainly your brother. He just said he'd get someone to beat me up, and he also said he'd block my application for a driver's license. You handle this."

Upon hearing this, Coach Gao turned pale with fright, his legs trembling uncontrollably. He quickly stepped forward, pleading with Su Ming with a fawning expression, "Brother Ming, it's a misunderstanding! It's really a misunderstanding! I was just saying it casually, how could I dare to actually hold you back? I was just talking nonsense because I was drunk..."

Su Ming laughed, turned to look at the flea beside him, and called out, "Flea, do you believe it?"

Flea immediately responded, his voice so loud it could be heard throughout the entire restaurant: "I don't believe him a damn thing!" With that, he strode over and slapped Coach Gao on the head with a loud thud, even louder than when he'd slapped his brother earlier. He cursed, "Are you fucking blind?! You dare mess with Brother Ming? I think you're asking for a beating!" Not satisfied with just cursing, he kicked Coach Gao in the butt, sending him stumbling forward several steps, almost falling to the ground.

Coach Gao was so frightened that his face turned pale. He scrambled to his feet and turned to Su Ming, bowing repeatedly and apologizing. His voice was trembling with sobs as he said, "Brother, I was wrong, I was wrong! I shouldn't have suppressed Brother Ming, I was wrong!" As he spoke, he kept slapping himself in the face, left and right, making a loud slapping sound. In just a few slaps, his face turned bright red, and his cheeks swelled up as if he had two walnuts in his mouth.

After slapping himself in the face, he turned to the flea and cautiously asked in a low voice, "Brother, is it okay now?"

Flea snorted coldly, crossed his arms, and replied nonchalantly, "Don't ask me that question. Only after Ming-ge forgives you."

Coach Gao quickly turned to Su Ming and pleaded, tears welling in his eyes. He kept apologizing, his voice trembling as he said, "Brother Ming, please give me a chance. I really know I was wrong. Please, be magnanimous, don't hold it against someone like me..."

Flea also felt that it was about time, and tried to smooth things over, advising Su Ming, "Brother Ming, why don't we give him a chance? This kid may deserve a beating, but he's not some irredeemable villain. A little lesson will do."

Su Ming leaned back in his chair, tapped his fingers lightly on the table twice, and smiled: "That depends on his performance."

Upon hearing this, Flea immediately realized what was going on. She gently nudged Coach Gao and whispered in his ear, "Aren't you going to try and get him to pay for it? Don't you have any common sense?"

Coach Gao suddenly realized what was happening and hurriedly bowed and scraped to Su Ming, shouting, "Brother Ming! This meal is on me! It's on me! Order whatever you like, eat whatever you want, it's all on me!"

Su Ming smiled and nodded, glanced around at the diners watching the commotion in the restaurant, then looked down at the two bottles of Moutai on the table. Suddenly, he looked up and gave Coach Gao a meaningful smile: "Since you're so rich, why not go all out and treat everyone here?"