147: Chapter 146 Difficult to Solve

"What's happening here? It's so lively! Did Haolai Jewelry bring out some top-tier jewelry?"

"Let me through! I want to see what good stuff is causing such a sensation!"

There were already many visitors today, and in a short while, Haolai Jewelry's exhibition hall was surrounded so tightly that not even a drop of water could leak through. People on the outside didn't know what was happening inside and kept squeezing in, each offering their own opinions.

"Tsk tsk! A father beating his son—he's really hitting him hard! Is he even his biological child?"

"If this brat were my son, I'd definitely find a way to go back in time and leave him on the wall! Is being the young master of a jewelry company that great? To trample on others' dignity at will!"

"Exactly, saying those kinds of things to girls—and look at the little girls, look at how scared they are. It's heart-wrenching!"

"Give him a left hook! A roundhouse kick would be best, though I think that old man's body might not handle it. Stop hitting! Hurry up and find the Moonlight Box; a single spell could solve the problem!"

"Sigh! Fang Yongchang is thorough in his dealings, how did he raise a son with this kind of character? Although Haolai Jewelry is facing a raw material crisis, it's still thriving, but now I see its glory won't last more than a few years!"

"Why stop hitting? Keep going! He was so capable when he was talking, this kid must be able to take a beating!"

...

People who saw what happened were all talking at once. Those who knew Fang Yongchang felt sorry for him, competitors used the opportunity to talk down Haolai Jewelry, and the rowdy crowd was also indignant.

"Mr. Cao, I've brought the things!" Li Quanshuo returned in less than five minutes, holding several long-handled metal hammers as he stood behind Cao Xiao, waiting for his command.

By then, Fang Yongchang had knocked Allen to the ground with a flurry of punches and kicks, leaving him screaming on the floor. He walked up to Cao Xiao with an apologetic face and said, "Cao Xiao, today's matter is my fault. I failed to teach my son properly. I've already dealt with this beast severely. From now on, he will not appear in the country."

Hearing this, Cao Xiao pulled out a hand from his pocket, took out a checkbook, scribbled a series of numbers, and handed it to Fang Yongchang. He looked at Fang Yongchang with indifferent eyes and said calmly, "President Fang, this is 800 million huaxia currency. It can be cashed immediately at any major domestic bank. I've bought all the jewelry in the Haolai Jewelry exhibition hall, and I've bought the hall itself. Is this enough? If not, I also have us dollars—one billion. Is that enough?"

A flash of indignation crossed Fang Yongchang's face, but it quickly turned back into a bitter, pleading expression as he said to Cao Xiao, "Cao Xiao, Allen lost his mother when he was a child, and I didn't have time to teach him properly. This is my fault, and I apologize to you. But he has also paid the price for his slip of the tongue. If you feel it's not enough, I'll go beat him again. You can smash this exhibition hall and the jewelry as you please, you don't have to give me a single cent, and then we'll let this matter pass!"

"President Fang, we are neither relatives nor friends. I have no interest in how you manage your child. Right now, I am just a customer. Isn't it said that the customer is God? Is it not even okay for me to buy things?" Cao Xiao said indifferently, and regardless of Fang Yongchang's reaction, he threw the check in front of him.

"Cao Xiao, it was originally just a small matter, why must you make it so unpleasant for everyone?" Fang Yongchang finally couldn't help but explode. Originally, he felt his son had gone too far and felt he owed Cao Xiao, but now he had beaten his son so badly just to apologize to Cao Xiao and was prepared to send him out of the country never to return, yet Cao Xiao still wouldn't accept the gesture and even brought out a check to insult him.

Cao Xiao didn't even look at Fang Yongchang. He pointed a finger at Haolai's exhibition hall and commanded the four bodyguards with unquestionable authority, "Tear this place down. Smash all the jewelry!"

"Yes!"

The bodyguards didn't hesitate for a moment. Each took a pointed hammer and stepped toward the nearest display case.

"Bang!"

"Clatter!"

All of them were former special forces soldiers with great strength. Fearing the thick tempered glass of the display cases wouldn't break easily, they used their maximum strength. However, they didn't expect the pointed hammers to puncture the tempered glass so easily, shattering it instantly. The few of them looked at the metal hammers in their hands in confusion, involuntarily glancing at Cao Xiao, but then they understood. They began to swing the hammers around wildly, frantically destroying everything in the exhibition hall.

The Haolai Jewelry staff had long since retreated to the side, watching helplessly as the exhibition hall turned into ruins. Piece after piece of expensive and exquisite jewelry was smashed beyond recognition; gold and silver were flattened, gemstones were pulverized, and even diamonds, known for being indestructible, were smashed into glass powder.

Fang Yongchang watched without a word, his face dark. He didn't stop them, but had someone help Allen to the side and then pulled out his phone to make a call.

"Old Chen, are you free right now?"

"Xiao Fang! I just woke up from my nap. What's the matter?"

"Can you come to the Convention and Exhibition Center right now? Something happened here that needs your presence!"

"Oh? What exactly happened? What kind of influence can a retired old man like me have?"

"Your student, Cao Xiao, just had a bit of a conflict with my son. Could you come personally to mediate?"

"Conflict? What conflict? Isn't your son abroad? How could he get into a row with Xiao Xiao!"

"My son, Allen, joined me for the expo and just happened to run into Cao Xiao here. My son was immature and said some unpleasant things to the girls with Cao Xiao. I've already given him a severe beating as an apology, but Cao Xiao hasn't calmed down and had someone smash our entire Haolai exhibition hall!"

"Oh? Who is with Cao Xiao?"

"I only know He Yueyou. Some of the others seem to be called Mi Fan, An Ni, Xiao Chang, Shanshan, Xinmeng... ten girls in total, I don't know all their full names."

"Is the one called Shanshan only seventeen or eighteen years old? Looking a bit delicate?"

"Yes! Why do you ask? Does it have anything to do with this?"

"Xiao Fang! You're a decent person. I've never met your son, so I don't know what kind of person he is, but I know very well what kind of person Cao Xiao is. Since he's doing this, there must be a reason. I can't help you with this. That girl Yueyou is there; think through the whole matter clearly, and then ask Yueyou to help persuade him!"

Beep... beep...

"Hello! Old Chen, hello..."

Fang Yongchang could hardly believe Old Chen would hang up. Not knowing what he thought of, a fierce expression appeared on his face, but then he sighed and began dialing again with some indignation.

"Hello! Old Liu, something happened on my end, and I don't know how to solve it. It's like this..."

"You're saying your kid scared that girl named Shanshan into crying?!"

"Yes, I even went so far as to beat my son until his face was covered in blood to apologize, but he's still relentless. Why are both you and Old Chen asking about this girl named Shanshan? Is there something special about her? Old Liu, we've been friends for over ten years, you have to help me think of a way!"

"Think of a way my foot! If I try to speak up for you in this matter, I won't even be able to get a good outcome for myself. Old Fang! Don't waste your effort. Let him cause a scene today. As long as he doesn't kill your son directly, don't say a word. Let your son be an ordinary person from now on; just act as if he was never born. You're not that old, you can have another one. You must listen to me this time, I won't harm you!"

"Old Liu, that's the child of me and A Ru! If a father can't protect his own child, am I still a man? Besides, is the situation really that serious? Why are both you and Old Chen like this? Is our friendship of so many years not even worth as much as a young man you just met recently?"

"Fine! I'll tell you why, just so you can be mentally prepared! Although I haven't had much contact with Cao Xiao, I understand his temperament somewhat. I don't know what your precious son did, but without a reason, Cao Xiao would absolutely not fall out with you over a small matter. Do you know who that girl named Shanshan is? Her father, Li Dongping, helped Cao Xiao when he was at his most difficult. To Cao Xiao, he is a great benefactor. A few days ago, Li Dongping got into trouble in Qian Province and went to prison. Li Dongping's wife and daughter, Li Lanshan, went there and were kidnapped. Li Lanshan was severely traumatized because of it, and Li Dongping's wife almost died. Because of this, Cao Xiao directly shot and killed three people, and one kidnapper was even turned into a human pillar by him. And today, your son went and frightened that little girl again. What do you think Cao Xiao will do?"

"My son isn't a kidnapper. Does he really dare to kill someone in broad daylight? He's just Old Chen's student. Old Chen wouldn't be so unreasonable. Even if your Hongdu Group protects him, that's no excuse for him to be lawless! I'll call the police right now and let them handle it. I won't even ask him for compensation, and even if my son goes to prison for it, I'll accept it, just to give Hongdu and Old Chen face. If he's still relentless, our Hong Kong Fang family, and I, Fang Yongchang, are not pushovers!"

"Old Fang! Don't be impulsive. Things aren't as simple as you think. Do you think Cao Xiao just relies on Old Chen and Hongdu Group to do whatever he wants? Leaving right and wrong aside, neither Hongdu nor Old Chen can get to the bottom of this man, Cao Xiao. We suspect he has a major power supporting him. Not long ago in South Africa, he was made things difficult for by a scion of a local prominent family. He killed an important member of theirs on the spot, and less than a day later, the head of that family came to apologize to him. As far as I know, that family is a notorious century-old family in South Africa. Cao Xiao didn't do anything, yet they came to apologize. You can also see clues from Li Dongping's matter. Old Chen asked Secretary-General Zhang of Qian Province to intervene, but he couldn't help. Then, without any warning, the national high-level authorities directly sent a special commissioner to handle it. Can you imagine the significance behind all this? Think it over carefully!"

"I understand what you mean. I didn't think it would be so serious, but I didn't expect it to be this thorny. Then let's see what Cao Xiao has to say. I'll show my attitude first. No matter how much of a bastard my son is or how big of a mistake he's made, as his father, I can't just ignore him!"

"Old Fang! I've also watched Allen grow up, but there are some things I have to say now. Although you are strict with him, you can't change his self-righteous ideas. Sending him abroad was your biggest mistake. It's not that I have a prejudice against him, but I really do detest him. If it weren't for your sake, I would never let him step foot in my house. If he were my son, I'd definitely throw him to Africa to mine for a few years of reform. The key to this matter is for you to understand exactly where your son went wrong. You might as well put yourself in Cao Xiao's shoes and think about it. Besides, your son is a grown man; he should bear the consequences of his own mistakes. You might as well let him... forget it, it's useless to say!"

"Sigh! I know what to do! I'll hang up now!"

Fang Yongchang's heart was incredibly complicated at this moment. He hadn't realized his son's thinking was problematic before, but hearing Liu Guitang's impression of his son was so bad that even his old friend of many years couldn't stand him, he recalled everything from the past. He also went over Allen's words just now and, putting himself in Cao Xiao's shoes, realized where the problem lay. His son's words were so damaging to one's self-esteem; they not only hurt those girls but also Cao Xiao himself. One must know that not long ago, Cao Xiao was penniless, yet today he could directly throw out 800 million huaxia currency, and that one billion us dollars wouldn't be fake either. What was laughable was that his son's mysterious sense of superiority was something he himself had given him, yet even with his own achievements today, he couldn't produce one billion us dollars in cash like Cao Xiao.

He hadn't known that the little girl had just gone through a great ordeal, so he couldn't understand why Cao Xiao would be so angry, turning hostile immediately and smashing the exhibition hall even at great cost. It was not just to vent his anger, but also to shatter Allen's, or rather his own, sense of superiority. He lamented in his heart that he was still too indulgent with his son. His discipline was strict, but not thorough. In an ordinary family, it might not matter, but in a wealthy family like theirs, the significance of such a situation was different. This incomplete discipline was a form of indulgence that would unknowingly harm others. Even though he had figured these things out, he didn't know how to make amends; he could only see how Cao Xiao would handle it and leave it to fate. No matter the result, he wouldn't have any complaints. His son was an adult; he had to bear the consequences of the trouble he caused. What a father should do is not follow behind to clean up his mess, but to encourage him to admit his mistakes after he makes them and teach him to learn to stand up strongly.

In less than ten minutes, Haolai Jewelry's exhibition hall became empty. Everything was smashed to pieces, covering the floor. The jewelry worth hundreds of millions of yuan was now only worth whatever flattened gold and silver could be recovered from the floor, which wouldn't be worth much even if completely cleared out.

The onlookers were either amazed by Cao Xiao's actions or were cheering, eager to see the world in chaos. One by one, videos recorded on-site were uploaded to the internet.

《Rich Scion Smashes Hundreds of Millions of Yuan Worth of Jewelry at Expo》

《Mysterious Tycoon Throws Out One Billion us dollars to Slap Jewelry Company President's Face》

《The Most Expensive Sentences in History》

...

《Hong Kong Haolai Jewelry Company Uses Glass Instead of Diamonds for High-End Jewelry》

《Beautiful Women Insulted at Jade and Gem Expo》