School Beauty's Invincible Martial Expert

"Young brother." Li Shan chuckled and then said, "Have you really not considered joining us? Fourth Master has always respected you, and he hopes you can become his right-hand man."

"Mr. Li, I'm just a student," Xiao Han said, smiling in refusal, "I'm afraid I'm not cut out to be a capable assistant."

"Oh, I thought you were being cautious about something!" Li Shan waved his hand dismissively and then said, "Is this what you're worried about? It's not a big deal. If worst comes to worst, just quit school. What's the point of reading books? Isn't it just to get a better degree? And why get a better degree?

Isn't it to make more money? Now there's a great opportunity right in front of you. As long as you join us, you can make as much money as you want!"

Appealing to reason and emotion was another way Li Shan tried to persuade Xiao Han. Unfortunately, Xiao Han was now in an impervious state.

"I simply want to complete my studies," Xiao Han stated.

"Complete your studies?" Li Shan was taken aback but then laughed, "That's easy. Which university do you want to attend? We have ways to let you enter directly without taking the college entrance examination. If you want to study, you can study; if you don't want to, you can just be enrolled in name and get your diploma at graduation.

Rest assured, the diploma will definitely be recognized by the state, searchable on the Education Bureau's website."

"Er..." Xiao Han was stunned, somewhat taken aback. He had not expected Li Shan to say such things, to the point where he didn't know how to retort.

"What do you think?" Li Shan asked excitedly, his heart slightly agitated, then said, "Isn't my method great? Doesn't it excite you? Heh heh..."

Li Shan thought his strategy had moved Xiao Han. However, Xiao Han shook his head and said, "No no, you've misunderstood. That's not what I meant. I just want to tell you that I have no intention in this regard, and moreover, I just want to be a quiet student."

"But..." Li Shan's expression darkened as he said, "If you don't join us, it won't be easy to deal with Chen Ming's matter. I hope you can understand. Okay?"

"What happened to Chen Ming is what he deserves," Xiao Han remained cold, saying, "He insulted my mother, and I cut off part of his arm; that's only right. If he has a problem with it, he can come after me. Of course, if Fourth Master wishes to stand up for him, he can come after me too. Xiao Han is responsible for his own actions, and you all can come at me if you wish.

There is no conceivable way I would join you!"

Li Shan's face darkened as he said, "Young man, don't be so absolute in your dealings with people, leave a line behind for yourself. Otherwise, it's not good for you."

"That depends on whom you're dealing with!" Xiao Han said with a light smile and then glanced at Li Shan, "As for Liu Si, I disdain to associate with him. In short, there's no need to bring this up with me again. I won't join you."

Having said this, Xiao Han left Blue Mountain Coffee without looking back.

Li Shan appeared very annoyed; he had not expected Xiao Han to be impervious—impenetrable to both soft and hard tactics—making him both annoyed and frustrated.

............

Upon leaving Blue Mountain Coffee, Xiao Han harbored no place of regret.

In Xiao Han's personal dictionary of life, there was absolutely no such thing as regret. His personality dictated his life. His nature was to be tenacious, never easily backing down or giving in to any situation. When his mother was insulted, Xiao Han naturally couldn't just swallow his pride—he decided on retribution.

Having chosen to be an enemy to the other side, how could he consider joining them so easily?

After leaving Blue Mountain Coffee, Xiao Han turned up his collar and looked up at the gloomy, overcast sky. It seemed like another blizzard was brewing. His eyes revealed a hint of resolve. He turned up his collar, hands plunged into the pockets of his coat, and quickly crossed the street, hailing a taxi and swiftly left the city center, heading straight for the Fuxing Community.

With Xiao Han gone, Li Shan's gaze suddenly became very complicated.

Li Shan certainly wanted to recruit Xiao Han, but he knew that deep down, Xiao Han was a proud and aloof person, a tough nut to crack who would not yield to neither soft approach nor force. After thinking it over, Li Shan still couldn't come up with a good method to deal with him. After much deliberation, he admitted defeat.

"Sigh..." Li Shan sighed, "It seems the storm is inevitable."

After speaking, Li Shan left a hundred-yuan bill on the table and walked out of the coffee shop, collar turned up against the elements, quickly exiting the establishment.

Li Shan had just left.

A dark figure slipped quickly into a car not far away.n/ô/vel/b//jn dot c//om

Yanzi Mountain Trade Market.

On the fifth floor of the Comprehensive Building, a black BJ Hyundai Yuedong raced downstairs, braking sharply, and soon after, the car engine was turned off, and a dark figure emerged. The figure hurriedly made its way up to the building.

In the office on the fifth floor, spacious and bright, behind is a huge floor-to-ceiling window. There is a large desk in front of the window shock with a high-backed chair. Bookshelves on both sides are filled with a variety of literature and history books. It's clear that the owner of this office is someone who loves reading.

At that moment, the office's owner stood before the floor-to-ceiling window, dressed in a black, fitted suit, suave despite nearing middle age but still in excellent shape. He had a cigarette in hand, brooding with a heavy heart.

"Brother Bao," the shadow quickly entered the office.

"How's it going?" The man turned around and looked at the other person, curiously asking, "Is today's matter sorted out?"

"It's all clear now." The shadowy figure nodded hastily and said, "That incident in the afternoon was actually done by Xiao Han. He single-handedly took down those tough characters under Liu Si. Tell me, how did Xiao Han suddenly become so powerful?"

Brother Bao squinted his eyes, his gaze complex, as his eyes involuntarily fell on the bustling world outside the window.

"This... This can't be true, can it?" Leopard said in a dazed tone.

"Big brother, what's going on?" the shadowy figure asked curiously. "The Xiao Han of the past and the Xiao Han of now are worlds apart, poles apart. Big brother, what exactly happened to Xiao Han? Not only has his kung fu greatly improved, but even his academic performance has soared. In the citywide joint exam last month, he actually took second place in his grade.

Don't you think that's a bit too exaggerated?"

"No, it's not exaggerated!" Leopard shook his head, his eyes revealing a complex expression.

"Why?!" the shadowy figure was very puzzled.

"Because..." Leopard reflexively started to say it, but as soon as the words reached his throat, he immediately swallowed them back down and said, "No... This matter cannot be spoken of; it's a secret, a deep secret that absolutely cannot be told!"

"Big brother..." the shadowy figure looked at Brother Bao, puzzled.

"Alright, get out," Brother Bao replied.

"Yes!" the shadowy figure nodded.

"Wait!" Brother Bao immediately called out.

"Big brother, is there something else?" the shadowy figure asked.

"You said Li Shan looked for Xiao Han?" Brother Bao asked with a puzzled tone. "What does Li Shan want with Xiao Han?"

"I specifically found the waiter to ask, and roughly understood the conversation between the two," the shadowy figure reported seriously. "It seems that Liu Si was planning to pull Xiao Han to his side, intending to recruit Xiao Han for himself. And he's using the matter of Chen Ming as the breakthrough point."

"Is that so?" Brother Bao frowned.

"Absolutely true!" the shadowy figure nodded.

"Liu Si really thinks highly of himself," Brother Bao scoffed, then said, "A mere Liu Si, he really fancies himself a big shot. Who is Xiao Han? That's my big brother's son. A tiger's son will not be a dog; if Xiao Han accepted Liu Si's enlistment, then he would no longer be my big brother's son."

"Big brother, what are you talking about?" the shadowy figure asked curiously.

"Forget it, you wouldn't understand," Brother Bao laughed and said, "Continue to keep an eye on Xiao Han, and also keep a close watch on Liu Si's people. They absolutely can't lay a hand on Xiao Han, got it?" Enjoy new chapters from empire

"Yes!" the shadowy figure nodded immediately.

After the shadowy figure left, Brother Bao turned and walked over to his desk. He opened a drawer and pulled out a photo from inside. It was a color photo somewhat faded with age, featuring two young men with their arms around each other. One of them was Brother Bao, and the other, with a general outline resembling Xiao Han, was Xiao Han's father, Xiao Jianguo.

"Big brother!" Holding the photo, Brother Bao became visibly agitated, bowing his head and gently touching the people in the photo as he said, "I didn't expect... really didn't expect that the plan you made back then would succeed, that your research results would actually become a reality, my God, oh my God...

I really did not expect that all of this could actually transform from theory to reality!"

Brother Bao appeared extremely agitated, and his mouth kept letting out bursts of roars.

The soundproofing of the office was good, otherwise, the entire building would have been disturbed.

............

The next day was the end-of-year baseline test. It was also the last baseline test of the year.

Jiang Xiaoliang had mustered all his energy, preparing to surpass Xiao Han. As it was not a citywide joint exam, the strictness of the test was not as high as the last one. This time, two groups of students were selected to take the exam in the next classroom. The remaining students all stayed in the Senior Three, Class Three to take the mock exam.

Xiao Han, Chen Zihan, and Jiang Xiaoliang all remained in their classroom to take the test.

To prevent cheating, Xiao Han and Chen Zihan, along with Jiang Xiaoliang, were moved to the front row to take the exam. The proctoring teacher sat on the podium, high above, with a bird's eye view of the entire classroom condition. And Xiao Han, Chen Zihan, including Jiang Xiaoliang, were even more positioned at the forefront; every move they made was within the proctor's line of sight.