Chapter 534

Chapter 534 You Really Are Such a Hypocrite

Su Rui didn’t think too deeply about this, because he knew that this was simply the reality of China.

There is no such thing as absolute equality in society. Many wealthy people enjoy looking down on those with less, and even if they don’t show it outwardly, they still harbor that instinct to compare themselves with others.

Some issues regarding the wealth gap and social class are not convenient to comment on, yet many people can see them clearly — and they are a very real truth.

Of course, the vast majority of people never look at things from a forward-thinking perspective. It never occurs to them that the person they humiliate today might be standing over them tomorrow.

These people were only after a momentary thrill, never imagining that the plot would flip so dramatically.

The person they had been putting on a pedestal just moments ago was now being crushed underfoot by him!

The person they had been trampling underfoot just moments ago was now standing above them all!

To have earned the protection of the Alps Investment Bank’s boss like this — how could Su Rui possibly be some worthless live-in freeloader?

“Is there truly no one who can give me an answer?” A sinister smile crept across Stadtmeier’s lips, sending chills down everyone’s spines!

None of them had ever imagined that when this super-billionaire lost his temper, he could be this terrifying!

“Old Sta, you’re scaring everyone like this. Our Chinese compatriots welcomed you so warmly, and this is how you treat them? That’s not very nice, is it?”

Su Rui stood with both hands in his pockets, speaking in a completely casual tone.

His gaze swept across the faces of those dumbstruck bosses, a look of contempt flickering in his eyes.

The sudden reversal of the situation made those bosses’ faces burn with stinging shame!

“What’s wrong with it? Since they chose to grovel, they should be mentally prepared for this!” Stadtmeier said indifferently.

His meaning was perfectly clear — these so-called bosses hadn’t treated Su Rui like a person, so he wasn’t going to treat them like anything more than dogs!

“You’re awfully at ease about it. Try not to give these people a heart attack.” Su Rui said with a smile.

“Apollo… no, Su Rui, to be honest, when I first saw these people mocking you, I actually found it quite entertaining.” Stadtmeier puffed on his cigar and delivered another heavy kick to Li Yongxing.

The latter was now completely at the mercy of others, and faced with this assault, he could only grit his teeth and endure it — there was absolutely nothing he could do!

“For crying out loud.” Hearing Stadtmeier’s words, Su Rui couldn’t help but feel utterly exasperated.

This guy kept calling him his brother, yet now he turned around and said he’d enjoyed watching him get humiliated — was he out of his mind?

“But then these people started going too far, and I found myself unable to hold back.” Stadtmeier said, “Even though you’ve borrowed a lot of money from me and never paid it back, I still consider you my brother. When they insult my brother like that, I naturally have to make them pay the price. That’s about as simple as it gets!”

“I’ll admit you have a point, but why do I feel absolutely nothing?” Su Rui said irritably, “When have I ever borrowed money from you and not paid it back?”

“This time you had that masked man from the Temple of the Sun borrow 100 billion dollars from me, and it still hasn’t been paid back.” Stadtmeier said in a voice only Su Rui and Lin Aoxue could hear, “If he’s thinking about running off with the money, I absolutely will not let him get away with it.”

“The Strategist still hasn’t paid it back?” Su Rui’s brow twitched hard.

That was no small sum — 100 billion dollars.

Su Rui had no way of knowing that the Strategist had originally intended to repay the money, but the Temple of the Sun’s financial genius Feng Le had suggested delaying the repayment for a while, on the grounds that he could put the funds to even greater use in the meantime.

“He really hasn’t paid it back, but given the relationship between the two of us, how could I possibly care about something like that.” Stadtmeier said nonchalantly.

However, at that very moment, Lin Aoxue, who had been silent all along, spoke up: “I’ll repay it.”

“What did you say?” Stadtmeier stared at the beautiful young woman with an expression of genuine astonishment, as if he couldn’t believe his own ears!

“100 billion dollars? Are you sure you understand how much money that is? I doubt you could pay it back even if you sold off your entire Bikang Group!”

“Of course I know, and I told you over the phone before — Su Rui borrowed that money because of me, and I will share the debt with him.” Lin Aoxue said. Her tone was calm, yet it carried an unmistakable weight of resolve!

Ever since she had received Stadtmeier’s call demanding repayment, Lin Aoxue had made up her mind on the spot to repay the debt together with Su Rui, and to this day, that resolve had never wavered.

Looking at the unwavering Lin Aoxue, a deep wave of emotion surged through Su Rui’s heart.

She was right there beside you, without a word, quietly accompanying you through even the greatest dangers.

“That’s truly something, isn’t it?” Stadtmeier heard this and dropped his feigned look of shock, smiling as he said, “I’ve always believed that your Temple of the Sun is missing a mistress. Looking at things now, Lin Aoxue really is an excellent choice — bold, willing to take responsibility. A woman like that is genuinely hard to find.”

The mistress of the Temple of the Sun!

Hearing that title, Lin Aoxue — who was normally as composed and steady as a glacier — trembled from head to toe! A faint flush of red rose across her snow-white cheeks!

In that moment, she couldn’t help but think of the times when Jin Taichu, Holman, and the others had addressed her as “Madam”!

In that instant, she suddenly found herself longing for the words “mistress of the Temple of the Sun”!

In truth, this was only the feeling that arose in Lin Aoxue’s heart upon hearing those words for the first time — but in reality, she had long since already begun working toward that very goal!

These few people were quite something, chatting away completely oblivious to their surroundings, right there in front of everyone.

After talking for quite a while, Stadtmeier finally noticed that something was off. He looked around and said, “The topics of repaying debts and mistresses — let’s find time to talk about those later. The most pressing matter right now is dealing with these annoying people, so I don’t have to keep looking at them and feeling sick.”

“Dealing with them? Easy for you to say. You should know that any one of these people, picked at random, is someone who could make the ground in Ninghai shake. You’ve got them all kidnapped here — who’s going to clean up this mess?” Su Rui said irritably.

Everyone looked at each other, and some of the more timid women had already begun to tremble!

A lowly pharmaceutical sales rep had instantly transformed into someone who could stand on equal footing with the boss of Alps Investment Bank — it was simply too much for people to wrap their heads around!

“I stood up for you, and you can’t treat me like this!” The moment Stadtmeier saw that Su Rui was trying to dodge responsibility, he immediately roared.

“Alright, these guys had it coming anyway. The way they were sucking up was honestly nauseating. Since you don’t want to clean up the mess, I’ll handle it.”

Su Rui gave a cold smile and stepped forward.

Seeing Su Rui finally step up, the bosses present felt their hearts leap into their throats.

While the three of them had been chatting away as if no one else existed, some of the bosses had been quietly praying that the three would forget about them entirely, so they could slip away unnoticed.

But now that Su Rui had stepped forward directly, their little schemes were instantly shattered!

From beginning to end, Su Rui had never cared about what others thought or said about him. So what if they insulted him? Could a few insults break his bones or ruin his face?

But insulting him and insulting Lin Aoxue were two entirely different things.

He could endure those insults without a second thought, but he absolutely could not allow the woman by his side to suffer alongside him because of it!

“Ladies and gentlemen, sorry to keep you waiting.”

Su Rui’s gaze swept across each of their faces one by one. Every single person, after meeting his eyes for just a moment, immediately looked away — some out of guilt, others out of fear. Not one person dared to hold his gaze.

“I don’t care about your mockery. To me, it’s nothing at all — not worth taking to heart.” Su Rui said calmly, and his words eased the tension in the room just slightly.

“He doesn’t care about the mockery? Does that mean he’s not going to hold us accountable?” Some people were already beginning to feel quietly relieved.

“However, I don’t want others to take out their frustrations on Bikang or on Lin Aoxue because of me. That kind of behavior is truly disgusting.”

That single word “however” sent the tension in the room surging back up again.

“So what I want to say is this — those of you who were mocking me just now, whether you leave or stay, it has nothing to do with me. Do you understand what I mean?”

Su Rui stood before the crowd like a teacher addressing students.

Hearing his words, many people in the room let out a sigh of relief!

Even though they had all mocked Su Rui at some point, the man now seemed to be taking the high road and letting it go — so what was there to be nervous about?

But before they could fully exhale, they heard Su Rui speak again:

“As for those who spoke ill of Lin Aoxue or Bikang — all of you can stay right where you are. I have no intention of letting any of you leave so easily!”

Su Rui was fiercely protective of those close to him, and there was no way he was going to let these people walk away. Their opportunistic behavior had already caused real, tangible harm to Bikang!

Just as Lin Aoxue had quietly taken note of everyone who had mocked Su Rui, Su Rui equally would not let go of anyone who had hurt Lin Aoxue!

Hearing Su Rui’s words, a subtle shift passed through Lin Aoxue’s eyes, like a gentle ripple across still water.

For her sake, he could borrow hundreds of billions. For her sake, he could take on the entire world.

“Why does it have to come to this? They were all acting out of necessity.”

At that moment, Li Yongheng stepped forward to speak. As the guest of honor at tonight’s banquet, he felt he had to say something on behalf of the bosses present!

Of course, as he said this, he couldn’t help but glance over at his own brother — the sight of him beaten into such a sorry state made his eyelids twitch hard, a deeply unsettling image to take in!

Wasn’t tonight supposed to be his night of glory? How had it come to this?

Su Rui glanced at his “rival in love” and said coldly, “I won’t think of you as brave just because you stepped forward now.”

“I’m not brave.” Li Yongheng summoned his courage and said, “But I have to say this. From a moral standpoint, the way you’re treating them is simply going too far!”

Su Rui shook his head with a smile, “Li Yongheng, your acting is really quite good. Stepping forward at a moment like this, risking a beating, yet earning the goodwill of every boss in the room — and maybe even improving Aoxue’s impression of you in the process. Li Yongheng, oh Li Yongheng, you’ve really thought this through, haven’t you!”

Li Yongheng’s face flushed red, “That’s not what I meant at all. I just hope today’s matter can be resolved peacefully. My brother has already been hurt, and I don’t want anyone else to suffer the same fate.”

A cold glint had already appeared in Su Rui’s eyes, “Li Yongheng, you really are a hypocrite. If you were truly as principled as you claim, why didn’t you step forward and say something when those people were mocking me?”

Su Rui’s words cut straight to the point. Li Yongheng’s lips moved several times, but he couldn’t find a single word to say!