Tang Hao could feel anger well up in his chest. He was about to say something when he saw a couple entering the store.
The couple looked to be seventeen or eighteen years old. The girl was pretty, and she was wearing a pure white dress and had straight black hair. The boy was tall, well-built and handsome.
The couple was cuddling as they entered the shop.
Tang Hao’s face changed. That boy was Zhang Tianhao, and the girl was his first crush, Li Qiaoqiao.
Chapter 12
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Tang Hao furrowed his brows and his face darkened.
Zhang Tianhao was the culprit in the incident that resulted in his expulsion from school. Fighting in school would not usually result in expulsion, so he must have done something behind him.
Tang Hao cannot forgive that grudge.
He did not resent that his girlfriend was snatched by him. This world was a materialistic one, and he could only blame himself for being poor.
His gaze shifted toward the beautiful girl that stood next to Zhang Tianhao.
Memories of the past flooded him like the incoming tide. At that moment he was detached from reality. His face looked bitter for a while, then immediately became cold and distant.
Both of them used to be intimately close with each other, but now they were mere strangers.
“Hey! Stop taking up space in the store! I have real customers here.” The saleswoman looked at Tang Hao with disgust as she yelled at him.
“I say, don’t a peasant laborer like you know any shame? Do you know what kind of place Sky City Plaza is? Do you think people of your social class can afford anything here?” The saleswoman continued to raise her voice as she looked condescendingly at Tang Hao.
The couple came over to see what was happening.
“Where did this peasant laborer come from? Has he no shame?” Zhang Tianhao joked. He did not recognize Tang Hao at first glance.
He took a closer look at the person and was shocked. Then, he laughed out loud. “Oh, I thought who might it be. Turns out it’s an old friend!”
Li Qiaoqiao had also recognized Tang Hao by then. She looked uncomfortable.
She glanced at Tang Hao and showed an expression of disgust when she saw his ragged outfit.
Zhang Tianhao laughed as he walked over. “Long time no see, Tang Hao! Living the high life?”
He acted like he was an old friend, but his tone of voice was sarcastic and jeering.
“Ah, right! I forgot. You’re a peasant laborer. You must be hauling bricks at a construction site somewhere! It’s a lot of hard work, isn’t it?” He wore a false expression and he did not hide the tone of mockery in his voice.
Tang Hao’s face darkened and did not offer a reply.
“Ha! Still as stubborn as before!” Zhang Tianhao smirked. “I say, Tang Hao, you should be conscious of your status! You can’t escape your fate from being a poor peasant forever. Some places are not meant for poor peasants like you, such as this place. F*ck off if you don’t want to be embarrassed even further!
“Can’t you look at yourself? You’re in such shabby clothes, do you think you can match this place? Don’t you think so too, Qiaoqiao?” As he said that, he reached out and huddled the girl close to him and looked at Tang Hao provocatively.
Tang Hao’s face grew even colder. He abruptly sneered. “What’s the matter, Young Master Zhang? Looking down on peasants? Don’t forget that your ancestors are peasants too!
“Also, this is a store for everyone right? If the doors are open, who is to say who can come in and who cannot? I’m just gonna stand here. Who’s going to kick me out?” He glared at Zhang Tianhao again, then looked toward the saleswoman standing at the side.
“Hah! You dare to talk back? You don’t look like you can afford anything here, so what did you come in for? If your filthy hands ruined a shirt, can you afford to pay for it?” The saleswoman shrieked.
“Shut up!” Tang Hao roared, “It’s only nine thousand yuan, right? Now, look carefully with your dog eyes!”
He opened his backpack and retrieved a stack of banknotes. He flung it toward the saleswoman and hit her squarely on her face.
The saleswoman yelped in surprise and stepped backward. She was dumbfounded when she saw the thick stack of banknotes on the floor. She guessed that it was a stack of one hundred hundred-yuan notes.
She did not expect a shabbily-dressed poor-looking kid would have ten thousand yuan in his backpack.
“It’s just ten thousand…” she mumbled, still carrying a hint of condescension. She guessed that the ten thousand yuan must be this kid’s life savings.
“Not enough?” Tang Hao reached into his backpack again and pulled out another stack, then threw it at her. “Twenty thousand. Is that enough? No? There’s more!”
Tang Hao threw stacks of cash at her one after another. He threw another five stacks in total.
The saleswoman was flustered and even a little dizzy.
One stack of banknotes was ten thousand yuan. There were seven stacks, which meant seventy thousand yuan.
This poor kid had seventy thousand yuan on him!
Even Li Qiaoqiao and Zhang Tianhao who witnessed all this were shocked.
“Where did this fella get seventy thousand yuan from? How is it possible?” Zhang Tianhao looked ghastly. He knew that Tang Hao came from a poor family, and had been working odd jobs ever since he was expelled from school.
How was he able to save up seventy-thousand yuan from doing odd jobs?
He had expected Tang Hao to live a life of poverty and hardship for the past year. When he saw Tang Hao’s appearance from the door earlier, he was even more sure that it was the case.
However, Tang Hao casually threw seven thousand yuan in cash. The gesture made him dizzy.
Even a typical white-collar worker would only earn this much in a year!
So what talents did Tang Hao have so that he could earn this much money?
Li Qiaoqiao was dazed. She was perfectly aware of Tang Hao’s household condition. Now, she was becoming suspicious.
“That should be enough, right?” Tang Hao smirked. He continued to speak loudly, “Where’s the store manager? I would like to ask them if this is the manner that your store conducts business. Even a saleswoman can mock their customers.”
His voice was booming and was heard over a wide area.
Even passersby outside the store also stopped to look at what was happening.
“I am so sorry, sir!” A middle-aged woman hurriedly ran from the interior of the store. She bowed at Tang Hao. “You, won’t you apologize to this sir over here?”
The saleswoman unwillingly bowed and muttered “Sorry”.
Tang Hao did not want to pursue the matter. He stepped forward and picked up the money.
“Sir, as a token of apology, I would like to offer you a ten percent discount on your total bill. What do you think?” The store manager said.
“Whatever!” Tang Hao replied nonchalantly. He did not care about such a small discount.
Zhang Tiaohao interjected. “Hmph! What are you so arrogant about? How can an odd-job worker like you earn so much money in a year? Don’t tell me you’re doing something illegal!”
Tang Hao smirked. “Zhang Tianhao, which of your dog eyes saw me doing something illegal?”
“You…” Zhang Tianhao was angry. His face turned all red. “Tang Hao, how dare you mock me!”
“So what if I did? Why, you wanna fight?”
“I… I don’t fight with people like you! I won’t stoop to your level! I have an uncle who’s a police officer. I’ll get him to run a background check on you,” Zhang Tianhao said viciously.
Tang Hao rolled his eyes at him and laughed, then turned around and continued looking at the suits.
He had to find one that fit him perfectly for the meeting tomorrow.
“What do you think of this suit, sir? It matches your body type well
.” The store manager gave recommendations by the side.
Tang Hao finally picked a suit, then entered the fitting room.
It was Tang Hao’s first time putting on a business suit. He felt a little awkward in it, and took him a long time to dress up properly.
He smoothed his messy hair with his fingers. When he saw the new him in the mirror, he was shocked.
‘Is this really me?’
The trim business suit had turned him from a poor kid into the scion of a noble family. He had undergone a total transformation.
Chapter 13
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
When Tang Hao stepped out of the fitting room, the store manager could only gawk at him.
The boy that stood in front of her had undergone a full transformation by only changing his clothes. The trim business suit emphasized his fit body and well-proportioned face. It gave him the aura of a noble.
Her eyes sparkled as she heaped silent praises on him.
Not too far away, Li Qiaoqiao happened to look at him. She was also stunned as if she did not recognize him.
Zhang Tianhao could not believe his eyes as well. His face then darkened as his heart burned with the fire of envy.
He had always thought that he was on a level above everyone else. He considered himself to be the most outstanding man, especially against people of a lower social class like Tang Hao. However, he had been utterly defeated this time.
He became angrier as he saw Li Qiaoqiao’s changed expression.
‘Hmph! What’s the use of his good looks? He’s still a lowly peasant laborer. I think he has the potential to be a gigolo. Those rich fat cougars love unweaned little boys like him.’
“I say, Tang Hao! Don’t tell me you earned the seventy thousand yuan from being a gigolo!” Zhang Tianhao jeered.
Tang Hao cast a steely glance at him and retorted, “How lowly and despicable! How your mouth stinks! Young Master Zhang, can’t you stop farting from your mouth?”
“You… Tang Hao!” Zhang Tianhao was enraged. His wide and round eyes were shooting daggers at him. Even his face was contorted and looked vicious.
Tang Hao chuckled and ignored him. He turned around and told the store manager, “Not bad, it fits my body. I’d like this suit and another two more of the same design.”
The store manager replied with glee, “Yes sir!”
She quickly brought over two suits of the same design and wrapped them up.
“One set is nine thousand, and a ten percent discount makes it eight thousand and a hundred. For three suits, that will be twenty-four thousand and three hundred. Let’s round it to twenty-four thousand.”
Tang Hao retrieved three stacks of banknotes and removed six thousand yuan from them, then handed the store manager the rest of the cash.
“Excuse me!” Tang Hao stepped outside.
Li Qiaoqiao looked at him with a perplexed expression. The boy in front of her was so dazzling, she almost could not recognize him.
As for Zhang Tianhao, his face was as sullen as a puddle of muddy water. His squinting eyes flashed with a hint of disdain.
For an instant, a hint of viciousness flashed past his eyes. Just as Tang Hao passed by him, he took a step forward and pretended to tap his shoulder. “Not bad, you look like a dog in human clothes.”
As he spoke, his other hand reached out and planted a small box in Tang Hao’s backpack.
His actions were inconspicuous to the normal human eye. Of course, Tang Hao did not have normal human eyes and saw all this happening.
‘This bastard!’ Tang Hao knew that he was framing him.
In a flash, he immediately thought of a way to counter it. He immediately grasped Zhang Tianhao’s wrist and gave it a hard twist.
“Ahhhh!” A piercing scream.
Sweat rained down Zhang Tianhao’s face. “What are you doing? Let go of me!” He yelled.
“Tang Hao, let him go!” Li Qiaoqiao panicked. She rushed over and tried to pull the two boys apart.
In the confusion, Tang Hao retrieved the small box from his backpack and shoved it into Li Qiaoqiao’s handbag.
He then let go of Zhang Tianhao and said angrily, “Don’t touch me with your filthy hands.”
He then smirked and headed out of the store.
He had only stepped out of the store when he heard cries of shock behind him. “My ring! My ring is missing!”
“How did it go missing?” Li Qiaoqiao asked.
“How about I know, I saw it just earlier… I know, it must be him. He stole my ring! Hold it right there, Tang Hao! Tell me, did you steal my ring?”
Tang Hao smirked and continued walking.
“Stop! Stand right there, do you hear me, you thief? You despicable thief!” Zhang Tianhao yelled with all his might.
The people all around stopped walking when they heard the word “thief” and crowded around.
“Stop! Tang Hao!”
Zhang Tianhao rushed out of the store and pointed a finger at Tang Hao. “Tang Hao, I did not expect that you’re a thief! I used to think that you are only poor, I didn’t think that you are shameless as well.
“I was wondering how you could earn that much money. Turns out that you stole it! Tang Hao, I despise you!”
The people standing all around them spoke in low voices and pointed at Tang Hao.
“He looks handsome. Too bad he’s a thief!”
Tang Hao stopped walking and turned around. He glared at Zhang Tianhao. “Young Master Zhang, you’ve been saying that I stole something from you. So, can you tell me, what did I steal, and if you have any proof? If you don’t have proof, I will sue you for slander!”
“Proof? Of course I do. It’s in your backpack. I bought a pair of rings with Qiaoqiao earlier, and you stole the one that belonged to me. Do you know how much it costs? Twelve thousand!”
“A ring that cost twelve thousand? Wow! Young Master Zhang, you’re pretty rich!” I didn’t know your father earns so much money as a school principal!”
“It’s none of your business how much my dad earns. Security! Where’s the security? Arrest him and throw him in jail!” Zhang Tianhao was yelling in all directions.
The crowd around them grew bigger and the discussions grew wilder. Soon, two security guards squeezed past the crowd and arrived at the scene.
“What’s the matter?” One security guard asked.
“He is a thief. He stole my ring. Quick, arrest him and bring him to the police station.”
The two security guards glanced at Tang Hao and their faces sunk. As the security guards of this high-end mall, they hated thieves the most.
The two security guards exchanged glances, then walked toward Tang Hao. “Kid, you’re coming with us!”
“Wait! Why are you two such idiots? I’m a thief just because he said so? Then I’ll say that he’s a rapist!” Tang Hao smirked.
“Well…” The two security guards were taken aback.
“Tang Hao, you still don’t admit it? Looks like you’ll only be convinced when the cruel reality hits you in the face,” Zhang Tianhao said viciously. He ran toward the two security guards. “The ring must be on him. You should search him.”
“You have a point. Kid, you better cooperate.”
The two security guards walked toward Tang Hao.
“Search all you want! Zhang Tianhao, what if they don’t find what you lost?”
“How is that possible? The ring is definitely with you.”
“I’m not so sure of that,” Tang Hao smirked and submitted himself to the search.
The two security guards did not find anything out of the ordinary on his body. When they opened his backpack, they were stunned when they saw the stacks of banknotes. They looked suspiciously at Tang Hao.
“What’s so strange about this? I’m here to shop for some clothes. It’s not out of the ordinary that I have cash on me, right?”
The two security guards did not know how to respond.
They finished searching the backpack, and their faces became awkward. “We didn’t find the ring you’re talking about. So what’s going on?” The two security guards stood up and looked suspiciously at Zhang Tianhao.
Zhang Tianhao was taken aback, and the color of his face changed.
“No? How is it possible? How Is it possible, I had just…” He immediately choked on his words. He rushed madly at Tang Hao, snatched his backpack and spilled its contents.
He did not find the item he was looking for.
“What’s going on?” Zhang Tianhao stood there as if his soul had left his body.
Chapter 14
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
“Why isn’t it there…”
Zhang Tianhao was behaving like a madman. He shook the backpack violently then tossed it on the floor.
“It’s impossible. Tell me! Where did you hide it!” He lifted his head and looked at Tang Hao with vicious eyes.
“I say, Young Master Zhang, you’ve already searched my backpack through and through. Why are you still so insistent? And why are you still so sure that I stole your ring?
“Don’t tell me… you’re trying to frame me of something?” Tang Hao’s eyes narrowed and he looked like he was toying with his prey.
“Don’t accuse me, Tang Hao!” Zhang Tianhao was starting to panic, “Tell me, where did you hide the ring?”
“Why are you asking me? I’ve never touched your ring let alone stole it. Might you have misplaced it somewhere and forgot about it?”
“How could it be? I was carrying it in my pocket all this while. After I tapped your shoulder, it’s missing. Who else could have stolen it if not for you!”
“In your pocket? Are you sure? Maybe you forgot that you put the rings together in her handbag!” Tang Hao pointed at Li Qiaoqiao.
“That’s impossible!” Zhang Tianhao laughed.
“Really? Why not take a peek inside?” The second question was spoken to Li Qiaoqiao.
The Mightiest Little Peasant c1-799 Page 8