After Unbinding the Simp System, I'm Targeted by the Villain - Chapter 8

Yu Chucheng looked perfectly sincere, as if he weren’t lying at all.

At that moment, the internet cafe owner walked over, wiping cold sweat from his brow. Looking at Yu Chucheng, he asked Duan Huaijin, “Is he the one you were waiting for?”

Duan Huaijin gave a low “Mm,” casually set the cleaning rag on a small cart, and said to Yu Chucheng, “I’ll go change first. The things I brought for you are in my locker; I’ll go grab them.”

“Ah… okay.”

Yu Chucheng still couldn’t get a read on Duan Huaijin’s temperament, so he watched the other’s retreating back with uncertainty.

The owner shook his head. When those two had come to cause trouble, several customers had ended their sessions and left; some didn’t even take the drinks they’d just ordered. Seeing all that unused credit on their accounts made his heart ache. “I just run a small business. Who did I offend to deserve this?”

A nearby server—the one who had been annoyed by Duan Huaijin’s “overachieving”—piped up, “Boss, didn’t you say last time that if this happened again, you wouldn’t employ him? Why not just fire him today?”

Yu Chucheng’s ears perked up alertly.

The owner had said that, yes, but now that the moment had arrived, he hesitated. Where else was he going to find such a “24K pure gold workhorse” who was willing to do all the labor without taking a salary?

“Why fire him? He didn’t do anything wrong,” Yu Chucheng couldn’t help but speak up.

The server, having witnessed Yu Chucheng’s silver tongue earlier, was a bit afraid to provoke him. His voice dropped significantly. “You have the nerve to say that? If he hadn’t stayed late to wait for you, he would’ve been off the clock ages ago. Even if those debt collectors came looking for him, they wouldn’t have found him at our shop.”

Yu Chucheng: “Off the clock? What do you mean?”

Fearing a fight, the owner quickly stepped in to play peacemaker. “Ah, haha, it’s nothing. I saw how busy he’s been all day and planned to let him go home early to rest, but he seemed to have something to give you, so he volunteered for unpaid overtime.”

Volunteered. Unpaid. Overtime.

Individually, these words were staggering enough; combined, they were like an atomic bomb dropped on the modern working class.

A mushroom cloud practically erupted in Yu Chucheng’s brain.

“Don’t fire him!” Yu Chucheng urgently grabbed the owner’s arm, leaning in to whisper in his ear, “If you don’t fire him, I’ll top up 100,000 yuan at your shop tomorrow.”

The owner: “!!!”

In their shop, an hour of internet time cost about ten yuan. 100,000 yuan meant this person would never go to another cafe for the rest of his life.

When Duan Huaijin came out after changing, he saw Yu Chucheng whispering something to the boss.

The server who disliked him gave him a contemptuous smirk, looking as if he were already watching Duan Huaijin get kicked out.

Duan Huaijin handed a heavy bag to Yu Chucheng. He had excellent bone structure; his thick, dark eyelashes were distinct, and there was a natural hint of “fragility” in his features. Standing there quietly, it was hard to connect him to the ruthless, cold-blooded villain he would become years later.

Yu Chucheng dazed for a moment.

If Duan Huaijin’s eyes were a vacuum, you’d be sucked in within a second of eye contact.

Duan Huaijin, assuming the owner wouldn’t keep him after today’s mess, spoke up proactively: “I won’t be coming to work tomorrow. I’m resigning.”

But the owner, who had just been mourning his revenue, was now beaming. He waved a hand dismissively. “Oh, why resign? It wasn’t your fault. If anyone comes to cause trouble again, I’ll just fork them out of here!”

The server, who had been waiting for the “show,” gaped in disbelief.

Even a flash of confusion crossed Duan Huaijin’s face. His fingers twitched at his side, and he instinctively looked at Yu Chucheng, who was crouching on the ground checking his phone. He couldn’t help but recall his encounters with Yu Chucheng in his past life.

In those few meetings, Yu Chucheng had always been following Hao Jia step-for-step, showering him with concern. It seemed his eyes couldn’t hold anyone else. Duan Huaijin remembered him clearly because Yu Chucheng had such a beautiful face; someone born into such privilege willing to be Hao Jia’s “licking dog” was as pathetic as it was frustrating.

But why did the current Yu Chucheng seem so different…?

Crouching on the ground, Yu Chucheng had no idea what Duan Huaijin was thinking. He only knew he had done a huge favor today, so Duan Huaijin shouldn’t hold a grudge about him standing him up yesterday.

It was just a pity for his phone. He’d bought it less than six months ago, and now the screen was shattered. He didn’t like using cases, and now the screen was completely black.

Ultimately, Yu Chucheng had to borrow Duan Huaijin’s phone to call Ji Zhou.

Ji Zhou happened to be nearby and arrived shortly on his little electric scooter.

Finally seeing the “true face” of the man who bit his bro, Ji Zhou pointed at Duan Huaijin, his brain whirring. “So it’s you! I reminded you at the cafe last time to go get a suppressant—who knew you’d use Yu Chucheng as one instead? Nice to meet ya, nice to meet ya…”

Yu Chucheng hopped onto the back seat and kicked Ji Zhou. “Nice to meet your ass.”

Ji Zhou wobbled forward on the scooter, his voice mixing with the warm evening breeze. “Your temper was so foul in school; you couldn’t be bothered with anyone except Hao Jia. An Alpha who could actually manage to bite you must be extraordinary. I definitely have to pay my respects…”

Duan Huaijin stood by the roadside, watching Ji Zhou carry Yu Chucheng away. Once the scooter disappeared into the traffic at the intersection, he turned and walked toward a nearby alley.

The internet cafe was near the city center, surrounded by schools and heavy foot traffic. However, this was an old district; many people bought these run-down apartments just for the school district benefits, so many houses were dark and empty.

Behind the cafe lay a labyrinth of winding alleys with uneven, pitted pavement and a mess of overhead wires.

Duan Huaijin stopped suddenly at a corner. The bald man and the bearded man followed, closing in with sinister grins.

“Go on, why’d you stop?” The bald man stood with hands on hips, spitting as he spoke. “Did you think we’d really be scared off by that brat’s words?”

The bearded man grunted through his nose. “Boss, let’s stop talking. That kid was definitely his backup. Who uses a phone as a brick? Let’s just teach him a lesson.”

The alley was narrow, filthy, and lacked surveillance—a perfect place to fight.

Duan Huaijin bit a cigarette and pulled a lighter from his pocket to light it.

The bald man’s eyes lit up when he saw the lighter; he immediately wanted to claim it for himself.

Duan Huaijin looked at the two of them with utter indifference, calmly exhaling a cloud of smoke. “Are you coming one by one, or together?”

“Boss, he’s looking down on us!” the bearded man shouted.

The bald man glared darkly at Duan Huaijin, grit his teeth, and snarled, “You really won’t cry until you see the coffin. Fine, I’ll give you what you want. Let’s get him!”

“Right!”

Duan Huaijin pocketed his lighter, watching the aggressive pair with clinical detachment.

He hadn’t stretched his limbs in a long time; today was a good day for practice.

Sounds of flesh hitting bone and snapping joints soon echoed through the alley, accompanied by several screams of agony.

By the time the cigarette had finished burning, Duan Huaijin took one last drag, tossed the butt, and crushed it under his shoe.

The bald man, lying on the ground trembling with pain, stared at the clean sneakers in front of him and shuddered. Nearby, the bearded man was kneeling, clutching his dislocated wrist and whimpering piteously.

“Who… who the hell are you?!” The bald man’s arrogance had vanished, replaced by a stuttering interrogation.

Before coming to collect the debt, they had done their research. Duan Haixiang had a son who just graduated high school and worked odd jobs. He was a top student—and students usually spent their days at desks and lacked exercise. Being young, he should have been easier to handle than the old man.

But in the exchange just now, he realized Duan Huaijin was clearly a trained fighter. His strikes were fast, ruthless, and precise. Their “amateur” brawling was nowhere near enough.

That “helpless victim” act at the internet cafe was just a show?!

Duan Huaijin had intentionally avoided the main road just to lead them into this deserted alley.

Realizing they had been played, the bald man broke into a cold sweat. He watched as the unharmed Duan Huaijin slowly crouched down.

“What are you doing?” The bald man’s mouth was bruised purple; he recoiled in fear.

However, Duan Huaijin didn’t strike again. He simply opened his phone’s contact list, his eyes cold as he stared at the man. “Didn’t you want money?”

The sky had finally darkened, making the white light of the screen look piercingly bright in the pitch-black alley.

The bald man swallowed, looking at the name in the contact list: Lin Mei.

Duan Huaijin’s lips curled into a playful, dark smirk. “Go ask her. She has money.”