HBWMA -Chapter 237 The Role of a Father

That sentence seemed to carry a kind of magic.

A starlike light gradually lit up in Shen Rang’s eyes.

Shen Lanxi and Shen Qingyu suddenly stopped in their tracks, turning to look at Shen Mianzhi.

The smile on Fu Sui’er’s lips stretched all the way to her ears.

Xiao Lanlan forgot to cry, staring at her in shock and horror.

Only Jiang Huashan watched her empty space above her head with a gentle smile.

The four labels—“Hypocritical, Intelligent, Filial, Complex”—turned into shimmering light and completely vanished under the sun.

The moment the labels disappeared, Shen Mianzhi froze for a second. She looked up at the clear blue sky, tears welling in her eyes before she broke down crying.

It felt as though her shattered spine… had grown wings.

Shen Rang’s heart ached at the sight. He pointed at the trembling film crew.

“Smash it.”

The armed men in black immediately moved. A swarm rushed forward, destroying the filming equipment and set into pieces.

That single gunshot from Shen Rang had already terrified everyone—none of the crew dared to step forward to stop them.

Watching her hard work being destroyed like bandits, Xiao Lanlan lost control and cried out,
“Fifth Uncle! You can’t do this! I’ll tell my dad! I’ll tell Grandpa!”

Shen Rang didn’t even spare her a glance. He signaled to his assistant. A man in black stepped forward, grabbed Xiao Lanlan, and tied her hands with rope.

Seeing that begging didn’t work, she started screaming curses, “What right do you have to treat me like this?! My father is Xiao Qi, executive director of the Xiao family! If anything happens to me, he will never let you off!”

Shen Rang raised his hand. The assistant handed him a phone. He casually dialed a number and put it on speaker.

The call connected. Xiao Qi’s voice came through, faintly amused. “Fifth Master, what made you think of calling me today?”

“Nothing much,” Shen Rang said calmly. “Just calling to let you know—I’m planning to kill your daughter.”

He hung up immediately, his gaze cold and terrifying as he looked at the stunned Xiao Lanlan.

“Ready to go to hell?”

Those words were like a deep-sea bomb suddenly dropped into calm waters—everything that once seemed stable was shattered in an instant.

The world before them twisted like a Rubik’s cube, constantly shifting—clear skies turned into night, the playground into a rooftop.

The hatred in Shen Rang’s eyes seemed capable of devouring someone. He gripped a person’s throat tightly and whispered beside their ear:

“Go to hell. That way… my daughter will never meet you again.”

He slowly loosened his grip, watching as the person was pushed into a bottomless abyss. The ferocity on his face faded, leaving only fragility and despair.

Love was both armor and weakness. His brutality and despair were both expressions of Shen Rang’s love for Shen Mianzhi. In that moment, this father finally seemed vividly alive.

Then, in an instant, the night dispersed, the abyss vanished, and Xiao Lanlan’s screams pulled everything back to reality.

Jiang Huashan stared blankly at the world before her.

What… was that just now?

Xiao Lanlan screamed hoarsely. Her overwhelming will to survive burst forth with unprecedented strength. She slammed into the man, broke free, and rushed to Shen Qingyu, clinging desperately to his leg as she cried: “Brother Qingyu, please save me! Are you really going to watch the third branch bully us like this? Brother Qingyu, I’m begging you—don’t ignore me!”

Shen Qingyu hadn’t expected Shen Rang to go this far either. Although Xiao Lanlan had brought this upon herself, she didn’t deserve death. He hesitated, unsure whether to intervene.

At that moment, Shen Rang walked over, dragging the rope tied to Xiao Lanlan and tossing it to his assistant.

His tone was firm and unyielding. “No one interferes in this matter.”

Shen Qingyu frowned and was about to speak, but Jiang Huashan quickly pulled him aside.

“Don’t worry. Fifth Uncle knows what he’s doing.”

Shen Qingyu watched Xiao Lanlan being dragged away. After a moment’s thought, he pulled his hand free from Jiang Huashan. “No. I can’t just stand by and do nothing.”

To be fair, Shen E had treated him well. Although he didn’t think much of this aunt and cousin, he couldn’t just watch Xiao Lanlan get into trouble without intervening.

Just as Shen Qingyu took a step forward, Shen Rang raised his gun and pointed it at him. “Qingyu, you’d better stay out of this.”

Before Shen Qingyu could react, Jiang Huashan struck Shen Rang’s hand aside with her bare hand. “Fifth Uncle, Grandpa said the Shen family’s guns are not to be pointed at our own people.”

Shen Rang froze for a moment. Though he was angry, he hadn’t lost his rationality. As the formidable Fifth Master Shen, he knew exactly what he was doing—pointing the gun at Shen Qingyu was only meant to scare him. What he hadn’t expected, however, was Jiang Huashan being this fierce, knocking the gun aside with her bare hand.

How was he supposed to intimidate anyone now?

Fu Sui’er, worried that Shen Rang might take his anger out on Jiang Huashan, spread her arms and stood in front of her. “Uncle, what are you doing? Brother Qingyu and Huashan didn’t do anything wrong.”

Jiang Huashan turned her head to look at the silent Shen Lanxi. “Why are you just standing there? Say something.”

“…Fifth Uncle,” Shen Lanxi said calmly, “Grandpa said once you’ve vented enough, come back.”

Shen Rang couldn’t vent his anger on this group of juniors. Turning away, he tossed the pistol to his assistant.

By then, Xiao Lanlan had already been forced onto a helicopter. As it lifted off and hovered about ten meters above the ground, she was suddenly pushed out.

“Ahhh—!!”

Her scream tore through the air.

Just as Jiang Huashan had said, Shen Rang knew what he was doing. He only intended to teach Xiao Lanlan a lesson—he had no intention of actually killing her.

As she fell, the rope tied around her suddenly tightened, leaving her suspended midair.

“Ahhh—!!”

Her heart-wrenching cries echoed across the sky.

The students who had retreated to the classroom couldn’t resist sneaking out into the corridor to watch. Xiao Lanlan’s fate made everyone witness Shen Rang’s ruthless methods, leaving them all shaken with lingering fear.

Guan He raised his custom binoculars and looked up at Xiao Lanlan. “Tsk tsk, she’s really got it rough. After something like this, who’d still want her?”

Zhou Yanheng gave no response, quietly watching the figures on the field.

“Damn, not gonna lie—her figure’s still pretty damn good.”

The girl suspended high in the air wore her school uniform plaid skirt, and being dragged like this exposed far more than intended.

Zhou Yanheng glanced once, then turned and went back to the classroom.

Guan He, still in the middle of his commentary, noticed he was gone and quickly followed. “A-Heng, aren’t you two dating? You’re not going to do anything?”

“We’re not,” Zhou Yanheng replied lazily, taking out his phone to play a game.

Guan He clicked his tongue. “You’ve been having quite a good time these past few days—I thought you’d settled down. You’ve got some nerve! She’s the Xiao family’s daughter. You don’t even mean anything serious, and you still slept with her?”

They might enjoy themselves, but they had principles—they never messed with trouble. Someone like Xiao Lanlan, with both status and looks, was the hardest to deal with. They all moved in the same circles; if something went wrong, it’d be hard to explain to their families.

But Zhou Yanheng was different—he used her and discarded her like a rag. That’s why Guan He said he had guts.

Zhou Yanheng smiled lazily. “I thought she was somewhat smart, but she’s nothing special after all. Boring. Why keep her around to disgust myself?”

“Fair enough.” Guan He couldn’t help giving a thumbs-up. “But, young master, being this picky isn’t a good thing. You keep raising your standards—what will you do when you run out of prey?”

Zhou Yanheng put down his phone. “Coincidentally, I’ve already picked my next target.”