Chapter 4 – Deterrence

In all honesty, Luo Lin was focused solely on reading his book. While he did so, he noticed an unfamiliar word and subconsciously asked Lan Lan without much thought. Who knew that this ‘scram’ word contained another meaning to Han Xuan and the other bystanders!

“Uh, I’m sorry. That was purely unintentional.” Feeling slightly embarrassed, Luo Lin apologized.

Girls of this age are thin-skinned, not to mention Han Xuan who was a spoiled and pampered rich young lady. How could she accept being ‘insulted’ by Luo Lin’s unintentional words?

TL Note: Thin-skinned = easily embarrassed
“You!…” Han Xuan felt aggrieved to the brink of tears. When had she ever been told to, “Scram” in front of so many people?!
When she noticed the scoundrel’s innocent expression, she felt even more aggrieved.

‘Purely unintentional? Only ghosts would believe your words!’

Han Xuan swore that right now, she had an urge to slap this fellow, but the family education she received since young kept her composed.

She swallowed this ball of fire with gritted teeth, and just as the tears were swirling on the brink of her eyes, Han Xuan turned around and ran out leaving a few words behind: “Luo Lin! You scoundrel!!”

“Uh…” Luo Lin watched Han Xuan rush out of the classroom and shrugged helplessly.

Chi Shi looked at Han Xuan who ran out of the classroom and suddenly, an idea emerged so he yelled: “You scoundrel! How dare you insult our class president?! Are you tired of living?!”

Everyone at the scene heard him loud and clear, including Han Xuan who just ran out.

This was the effect Chi Shi wanted to achieve.

Firstly, he had been looking for an opportunity to put this fellow in his place. Secondly, this counts as getting back at Luo Lin for ‘Big Beauty Han’. This time for sure, Big Beauty Han will remember his heroic act!

‘Two birds with one stone! How satisfying!’

“My brothers, go mess this scoundrel up!”

Before Chi Shi’s words fell, his lackeys who had been standing aside had already rushed forward.

Luo Lin felt helpless, however, when he saw several people trying to pounce on him, his face immediately turned sullen.

“What is this? You guys want to hit me?”

At this moment, Luo Lin exuded a momentum inconsistent with his current age. His cold words that were accompanied by a tinge of disdain stopped the lackeys in their tracks.
“Yes! We’re going to beat you up! So what?!” Chi Shi who stood a distance away was ignorant of what was going on.

He then continued in a pretentious manner, “If you don’t get beat up today, then my fu*king surname is not Chi! What are you guys standing around for?! GO!”

Luo Lin coldly chuckled. For little shrimps like them, Luo Lin had never taken them seriously.

Luo Lin casually pulled out a utility knife from under his desk.

He swept his gaze toward these ruffians who intended to lunge at him and coldly uttered: “You people are trying to assault me, so I’m a victim here. If I retaliate, then it counts as legitimate self-defense.”

As he said that, Luo Lin extended the blade which reflected with a cold light that chilled their hearts.

“The sharpness of a utility knife is no less than that of a dagger. It can slice a human’s neck with ease.” Luo Lin gestured at his neck, “The larynx is located here, once it’s penetrated, blood will gush out endlessly and death won’t be far.”

“However, the most unfortunate thing about this is that you’ll become breathless, but you won’t die anytime soon. It’s said that this sensation is worse than death itself. I wonder if that’s true.”

Luo Lin grinned and he swiped at the book with his knife. In an instant, the sliced paper remnants scattered all over the floor.

“Hiss…”
The lackeys gasped in unison. They took a gander at the scattered paper on the floor and didn’t doubt the sharpness of the utility knife in the slightest.

Even if Luo Lin failed to slice their throats open, it could definitely cause some serious damage.

They merely wanted to idle around with Chi Shi, there’s no need to gamble with their lives.

“According to the law, if you act in self-defense, there’s no need to take any responsibility. At most, you just have to compensate the family of the deceased.”

“If you people are tired of living, or if you feel that there is not enough money at home, then feel free to use violence against me.”

Luo Lin is an old fox who lived for nearly 40 years!

His words were neither humble nor overbearing, yet they sounded justified and logical that these fools were stunned.

Lan Lan, who had been listening by Luo Lin’s side, was terrified. She stared at the knife in Luo Lin’s hand with a pale face.

Lan Lan couldn’t utter a single word from shock, but she didn’t run away. If not for anything else, she had some feelings of adoration for Luo Lin, so she didn’t wish to leave his side during this crucial time.

Luo Lin naturally knew of Lan Lan’s every move. He noticed that Lan Lan didn’t leave him during this time, and he felt moved. Luo Lin chided his former self for not noticing the simple and pure intentions of this girl.

‘I sinned, I’ve really sinned.’

“What do you guys think?”

Luo Lin raised his brow as he shot a glance toward Chi Shi, “Chi Shi if you wish to beat me up, do it yourself. Don’t pull others into the water, isn’t your dad the Deputy Mayor? I can give you a guarantee. If you come at me alone, then whatever I do to you won’t be considered as self-defense. This will be a personal dispute between us.”

“If I sliced your throat open, that will be murder. Your dad’s the Deputy Mayor, so he could definitely make me ‘eat’ a bullet. Your death won’t go to waste, what do you think? Do you still want to beat me up?”

The classmates turned their attention toward Chi Shi.

Chi Shi who was full of arrogance earlier froze in place and was at a loss.

‘Should I rush up to fight with Luo Lin? However, looking at his fierce posture, who knows if Luo Lin would slide the knife across my neck then I might die…’

‘If I don’t rush up, then I would become a coward. Doing this in front of everyone would be so humiliating.’

Chi Shi felt somewhat guilty inwardly, yet he still spoke in a tough manner: “Luo Lin why are you holding a knife? If you have the guts, come fight me bare-handed, see if I don’t beat you up!”

Luo Lin knew that this fellow was afraid and smiled in disdain: “Chi Shi, stop spewing pointless words. If you want to beat me up then come at me right now. Don’t be so wishy-washy like a girl. If you’re afraid, you can also use a knife. If you have the capability, feel free to grab a gun.”

After he said that, Luo Lin sat back down. He fiddled around with the knife with one hand, held the book with the other and carried on with his studies.

He had a relaxed and casual demeanor. It was as though Chi Shi was lesser than an ant to Luo Lin.

The atmosphere within the classroom seemed to have frozen over, it became eerily silent.

Han Xuan who had been hiding outside the door, sneakily peeped into the classroom. She had witnessed everything that took place, and without a doubt, she had been astounded by Luo Lin’s domineering manner.

Was Luo Lin a bad person? He was merely scaring these little delinquents. Was he only capable of talking big words? When he spoke, one could feel a decisiveness behind his words that no one would take lightly.

Luo Lin continued reading his book leisurely, treating Chi Shi who was stupefied in place as air. As for the delinquents who acted unbridled earlier, not even a single one dared to rush over.

They stared at the knife in Luo Lin’s hands that occasionally made a cracking noise, which made them feel breathless.

As though he had felt the gaze of everyone lingering on himself, Chi Shi felt extremely humiliated but there was nothing he could do.

He was terrified. Although he wasn’t on good terms with Luo Lin, he never had a face-to-face confrontation with him. Little did he know that Luo Lin was such a fierce character.

Chi Shi gritted his teeth but the fear in his heart prevailed. Chi Shi stared ferociously at Luo Lin: “Very well! Luo Lin, you have balls! You are ruthless enough today! But next time when you are walking alone at night, you better watch out!

A threat! A blatant threat!

Luo Lin never paid his ruthless words any heed, he merely chuckled and kept the utility knife.

He didn’t even spare Chi Shi a single glance and said: “A coward will always be a coward. Don’t make yourself look better. Very well, I will be careful the next time I walk alone at night. I have to remind you though, never commit any crimes, or I’m afraid you will die in vain!”

Chi Shi clenched his fists into a ball and swallowed his anger: “Luo Lin you better watch out!”

Luo Lin looked down and ignored Chi Shi’s barking.
Were it not for the fact that Luo Lin didn’t wish to cause trouble for his uncle, and not wanting to make enemies for the Luo Enterprise, he would have kicked this kid’s butt a long time ago.

The former him acted too arrogant and didn’t regard the consequences of his actions, everything was solved with his fists. That was how he brought so much trouble to his family who had to wipe his butt after each time.

The current Luo Lin had already learned how to judge the situation. The kinds of people he could rough up, and situations where he must keep his composure at all cost.

Take Chi Shi, for example. His dad’s the current Deputy Mayor, so Luo Lin should pay attention to his actions more or less.

However, Chi Shi won’t be fortunate all the time. He relied on his father’s position to act like a tyrant on campus grounds and even had some sort of relation with the underworld societies around the school. If this goes on, it’s only a matter of time that his boat overturns.

If Luo Lin grasps his opportunity well, it would only be a matter of minutes that he crushes Chi Shi like an ant.

Arrogance?

What’s that good for? In the future, he might die without knowing the reason.

In this era, one must rely on their brain solve matters.

…

When the bell rang, everyone returned to their seats with their minds full of thoughts. Han Xuan walked in from outside and took a seat without a word. However, she would furtively sneak occasional glances of Luo Lin from the corner of her eyes.

“This Luo Lin… since when did he become so powerful? It only took a few words to scare off Chi Shi’s lackeys…”

Girls of this age are more or less precocious regardless of their backgrounds and capability. They would have an irresistible admiration for the opposite sex who are masculine.

Luo Lin’s performance made all the students who witnessed it see him in a different light. Before that, Luo Lin was just a little playboy who idles around, he wasn’t masculine in the slightest.

Amongst the classmates who were all 17 to 18 years old, Luo Lin’s calm and steady demeanor formed a stark difference. This amazed Han Xuan.

She didn’t have any good impression of Luo Lin, but after this incident, she had a slight change of impression of him.

She remembered the moment when she returned Luo Lin’s love letter, the latter didn’t feel embarrassed, and he simply burned it before throwing it out the window. Everything was done in one breath and it did not seem pretentious but natural.

It was as if he meant it when he said he ‘did it on impulse’.

Thinking of this, Han Xuan unexpectedly felt a little downcast.