Chapter 148: True Aristocrats and Upstarts (Third Update)

Hearing this voice, Lu Ran frowned slightly. Clearly, whoever it was had forced their way in. In Jiangzhou, practically anyone with half a brain knew that the Maple Leaf Hotel was backed by the Lu family. This was the first time anyone had ever dared to come here and cause trouble.

"I'll go out and take a look!" Lu Ran abruptly stood up and walked straight out.

Fang Yue frowned slightly and quickly followed him.

As soon as they stepped outside, they saw a man surrounded by a crowd. Fang Yue recognized the leader at a single glance—it was An Qiye. She still had a deep impression of the time Lu Ran had ruthlessly slapped An Qiye across the face. He was An Ran's older brother, and since An Ran was so well-known at school, it would have been hard for Fang Yue not to remember him.

"Get lost! Tell Chen Ze to come out and cook right now! Can't you blind bastards see that I'm here?" An Qiye's voice was arrogant and overbearing, his expression utterly haughty. The hotel security guards recognized these young scions and didn't dare to stop them, so they could only let them push their way inside.

"Young Master An, our boss is not here right now. Even if you act like this, he won't come back!" One of the guards said very politely. "Why don't you wait a moment and make a reservation?"

Slap!

An Qiye directly landed a fierce blow across the face of the guard who had tried to block him, speaking coldly, "A reservation? I'll reserve your mother's corpse! Get lost and tell Chen Ze to come out and see me immediately, or else, do you believe I'll burn this hotel to the ground?"

"Oh? You've got quite some nerve. Why don't you go ahead and try burning it down for me to see?"

Clack!

Lu Ran stepped forward, looking at the approaching group with a trace of undisguised contempt. Without any superfluous words, a single sentence instantly brought the entire group to a halt. After all, Lu Ran was the top young scion of Jiangzhou, without a single peer.

The moment he stood up, he didn't even need to do anything else to make people feel an overwhelming sense of pressure.

"Lu... Young Master Lu!" Someone in the crowd recognized Lu Ran and unconsciously swallowed hard. An Qiye was also slightly stunned; he had come here to make trouble for Chen Feng, never expecting to run into a conflict with Lu Ran right from the start.

Even a soft persimmon has to be squeezed from the firmest part, right?

That was An Qiye's logic: squeeze Chen Feng first, then deal with Lu Ran. Who would have thought he'd bump into Lu Ran right off the bat? It just went to show that plans never change as fast as circumstances, and who could have guessed Lu Ran would be eating here?

The moment he saw Lu Ran, An Qiye felt his resolve weaken, but then he immediately reminded himself that he had already attached himself to the powerful thighs of the East Sea Ye family, so why should he be afraid of Lu Ran?

With that thought, An Qiye sneered and said disdainfully, "Lu Ran, long time no see."

"Who the hell are you?" Lu Ran looked at him with a blank expression. "Do I know you?"

"You..." An Qiye instantly felt as though a lump of foul matter was stuck in his throat, an intensely suffocating sensation rising from the depths of his heart.

The ultimate form of contempt is complete indifference.

This saying was vividly embodied by An Qiye at that moment. He had painstakingly plotted to get back at Lu Ran, only to discover to his utter frustration that he wasn't even taken seriously by the other man—completely ignored, entirely dismissed.

The scions trailing behind An Qiye were also dumbfounded. How could they have ever imagined that things would develop in this direction?

Strictly speaking, Lu Ran didn't really belong to their circle of pampered heirs. For one thing, Lu Ran was still quite young; for another, since Lu Rui only had one successor, he naturally wouldn't allow Lu Ran to rot away by hanging out with a bunch of wastrel playboys who spent their days eating, drinking, and whoring.

Creak! Creak!

"Lu Ran, have you forgotten? Last time at the Jiangzhou First High School, you rammed my car and slapped me several times—have you forgotten all of that?!" An Qiye roared furiously, his eyes turning completely bloodshot with rage.

As soon as those words fell, everyone's gazes toward An Qiye shifted. None of them had expected such a history between him and Lu Ran, and the looks they gave him instantly turned extremely bizarre.

"Oh, I remember now. It's you!" A look of sudden realization dawned on Lu Ran's face, followed by a cold sneer. "What's the matter? Is your face itching again? Do you want me to give you a few more slaps? It's no problem at all. If you like it so much, I'd be happy to oblige!"

As he spoke, a wicked, charming smile played across Lu Ran's lips. When all was said and done, Lu Ran was Jiangzhou's preeminent young master, and his style of conduct naturally carried a certain wild arrogance—an arrogance deeply rooted in his bones. With a father like Lu Rui, how could the son possibly be a coward? His arrogance was innate, whereas An Qiye's arrogance was merely borrowing the tiger's might—a pathetic desperate desire to show off.

An Qiye gritted his teeth and shouted, "Lu Ran, my face isn't something you can just slap whenever you please! Let me remind you, the East Sea Ye family has taken a liking to my sister now. Do you still have the guts to lay a hand on my face?!"

"Oh, listen to you. Since when can the East Sea Ye family stick their noses into Jiangzhou's affairs?" Lu Ran looked at him with complete nonchalance. "Besides, you're nothing more than a piece of trash who climbed up by riding on his sister's coattails. What makes you think you're so special?"

Such a gaze made An Qiye's expression twist wildly. He hadn't expected that even after bringing up the Ye family, Lu Ran would still remain completely unfazed, which only served to further aggravate his nerves.

Lu Ran's gaze swept over the faces of the other scions one by one before he coldly demanded, "What are you lot still standing around here for? Get the hell out!"

At his words, the young heirs instinctively took a step back. As lawless as they were, they truly lacked the courage to confront the Lu family. The Jiangzhou Lu family's reputation preceded them like shadows; they might be willing to suck up to An Qiye, but they had zero courage to make an enemy of Lu Ran.

Seeing his followers retreat in cowardice, An Qiye's face turned ashen. His habitual arrogance and dominance over the past few days had made him lose all touch with reality, but at this moment, he suddenly realized the unbridgeable chasm between himself and Lu Ran—invisible and intangible, yet undeniably real.

Gritting his teeth, An Qiye stared straight at Lu Ran. "Lu Ran, do you dare make a bet with me?"

"A bet?" Lu Ran cast a sidelong glance at him. "What kind of bet?"

"A street race. Do you dare?" An Qiye challenged. "If you lose, you have to stand your ground without moving and take ten slaps from the winner. Do you have the guts?"

Lu Ran looked at him, a mocking smile curving his lips. "You want to race me?"

"That's right, do you dare or not?" An Qiye glared at him. During this period, he had deliberately investigated Lu Ran. He knew that despite the boy's young age, he really didn't have many other hobbies besides street racing—and he was actually somewhat skilled at it. By proposing this condition, An Qiye felt immensely confident that Lu Ran wouldn't refuse.

And An Qiye happened to love street racing himself. Although he had never raced against Lu Ran directly, he had plenty of confidence in his own abilities. Lu Ran was simply too young; relying on his own age and accumulated experience, he was certain he could crush him.

"Fine! Since you're begging to be slapped, don't blame me!" Lu Ran sneered. "Go get that face of yours ready!"

An Qiye scoffed coldly, "See you at Panlong Mountain!"

With that, An Qiye turned on his heel and strode away. Beside them, Fang Yue anxiously spoke up, "Lu Ran, are... are you really going to race him?"

"Race? Why wouldn't I? If he's begging to be slapped, how could I deny him?" With that, Lu Ran pulled out his phone, quickly dialed a number, and said coldly, "Uncle Fu, please get my Godslayer GT-R ready and drive it over to Panlong Mountain!"

"Hey, can you even drive? You probably don't even have a driver's license yet, do you?!" Fang Yue urged anxiously. "Lu Ran, don't do this street race! How old are you even?!"

"I started tinkering with cars when I was ten!" Lu Ran flashed a grin, looking at Fang Yue. "Sister-in-law, don't you worry. When it comes to street racing, that grandson isn't even in my league!"

"I..." Fang Yue was left speechless for a moment. Then, taking a deep breath and seeing that Lu Ran was about to leave, she hurriedly pulled out her phone and dialed Chen Feng's number.

"Hello!" Soon enough, Chen Feng's voice came through the receiver. "Yueyue, is something the matter?"

Fang Yue spoke in an urgent rush, "Chen Feng, it's bad! Lu Ran is going to street race someone. Please, talk some sense into him! He... he always listens to you the most!"

"What?" Chen Feng's voice sounded slightly strange before he asked in confusion, "What on earth is going on?"

Fang Yue recounted the entire sequence of events at top speed. Chen Feng paused for three or four seconds before replying, "Alright, I know about it now. Don't worry, that An Qiye is no match for Lu Ran. Just go along with Lu Ran, and I'll be there shortly!"

"But!" Fang Yue wanted to say more, but Chen Feng gently interrupted, "Alright, alright, rest assured. That kid Xiaoran is no pushover; ordinary people really can't beat him at street racing!"

This wasn't just blind confidence on Chen Feng's part; he had just mentally opened his Grand Extraction System and checked. Lu Ran's street-racing proficiency cost a staggering three achievement points to acquire, which meant his driving skills were extraordinary. As for An Qiye, he didn't even have a driving proficiency option listed. An Qiye challenging Lu Ran to a street race was practically courting death.