The sound is faint.
Ying Chen's voice was not loud, nor did it seem to carry any imposing aura, far less than the collective voices of everyone present.
Yet, for some inexplicable reason, Ying Chen's quiet words managed to suppress the collective outcry of everyone present!
In an instant, everyone's expression changed.
Their originally aggressive momentum immediately wilted, and their bodies involuntarily shrank, as if afraid Ying Chen would notice them.
Li Fengcheng, the instigator, was stunned.
The next second, just as he was about to speak, he saw Ying Chen casually wave his hand in his direction from afar.
*Slap!*
A loud slap instantly landed on Li Fengcheng's face.
It completely dazed Li Fengcheng!
"When I haven't allowed you to speak, you'd best not speak."
Ying Chen's calm voice echoed.
Li Fengcheng, covering his cheek, had his eyes blazing with furious rage.
How many years had it been since he last received a slap? How many years had it been since he suffered such humiliation!
He never expected to be so wantonly insulted in public today!
"You..."
Li Fengcheng's eyes were about to burst, pointing at Ying Chen.
He had only uttered one word when another *slap* sounded.
Li Fengcheng's other cheek also received a slap!
Instantly, Li Fengcheng's entire face swelled. The intense pain made him unable to even open his mouth to speak!
Seeing this, everyone gasped.
It seemed that at this moment, they finally remembered that Ying Chen was the master of this gathering.
And they were merely a flock of poultry awaiting the pronouncement of their fate.
Poultry could resist, but resistance had always led to only one outcome – being slaughtered on the spot.
How ridiculous it was that they, spurred on by the words of Liao Yifan's father, had forgotten their current predicament.
They were like primitive people holding stones, facing the enemy's Maxim guns, constantly hyping themselves up, believing they could defeat the enemy.
Little did they know that as long as the enemy pulled the trigger, all their grand pronouncements would turn into a joke.
"You're not convinced, are you?"
Ying Chen stopped paying attention to Li Fengcheng and walked step by step towards Liao Yifan's father.
Liao Yifan's father had been secretly pleased, thinking he had successfully regained ground with his glib tongue.
But he never expected that in the blink of an eye, the situation would be under Ying Chen's control again.
Most importantly, Ying Chen's expressionless, inscrutable demeanor filled him with dread from the bottom of his heart!
He collapsed to the ground with a thud, his hands propping him up as he scrambled backward.
"No, no, no... I didn't mean that..."
"Mr. Ying... please don't misunderstand... I obey... I obey!"
"Mr. Ying, I'll give you whatever you want... Let's talk nicely, please don't resort to violence..."
Liao Yifan's father, who had been so unyielding moments ago, now surrendered completely.
The onlookers sighed inwardly, their eyes filled with contempt, shaking their heads.
Were they really swayed by such a person?
Disgraceful!
Ying Chen walked to Liao Yifan's father, a mocking smile appearing at the corner of his lips. "I actually preferred you when you were defiant."
"Recover yourself."
Liao Yifan's father was taken aback.
Recover himself?
A joke! How could he dare!
He probably feared that the moment he recovered, Ying Chen would strike and smash his head!
Defiance depended on the situation. In this situation, to be defiant was simply foolish, pure self-destruction!
Liao Yifan's father shook his head like a rattle drum. "No, no, no, I have no right to be defiant in front of Mr. Ying. Whatever Mr. Ying says goes, wherever Mr. Ying tells me to go, I'll go..."
His fawning demeanor caused Li Fengcheng and Huo Sheng to frown repeatedly.
"You... you're not even as good as your son."
"Your son, at least, knew when to back down decisively. You, however, were all bluster and empty threats, tough on the outside, until the slap landed on your face and you felt the pain, then you started begging for mercy and surrendered."
"If someone like you can lead the Liao family to its current state, then I have reason to believe your son will be no worse than you."
"So, from now on, your son will inherit the position of Liao family patriarch. You don't object, do you?"
Ying Chen sighed and asked.
Upon hearing this, Liao Yifan's father became agitated.
"No, I object..."
Before he could even finish his sentence, a *crack* sounded.
Bones fractured in Liao Yifan's father's body. He collapsed limply to the ground like a shrimp with its back broken.
"Objection overruled."
Ying Chen retracted his hand and said coldly.
Ying Chen had just shattered the entire spine of Liao Yifan's father with a single palm!
Turning him from a strong patriarch into a paralyzed invalid in an instant!
Ying Chen's gaze shifted to Liao Yifan. "The former patriarch of the Liao family is critically ill and paralyzed, destined to live like a vegetative state. The burden of revitalizing the Liao family will fall upon your shoulders. You won't refuse, will you?"
Liao Yifan felt both shocked and delighted.
Shocked by Ying Chen's ruthless actions, crippling his father at the slightest disagreement!
Delighted by the rapid turn of fortunes. Just moments ago, he was worried about surviving Ying Chen, and now he was appointed the Liao family patriarch by Ying Chen!
If Liao Yifan didn't know how to act at this moment, he would truly be an idiot with negative IQ.
Liao Yifan decisively knelt on the ground with a thud. "Yifan will naturally not refuse! From this day forward, Yifan will follow Mr. Ying's lead! Any debts the Liao family owes Mr. Ying, Yifan will repay doubly! Yifan and the Liao family will be Mr. Ying's vanguard and loyal subjects!"
"You... you unfilial son..." Liao Yifan's father, hearing his son's words, was furious.
He pointed at Liao Yifan and cursed.
He had only spoken a few words before his eyes rolled back, and he fainted from anger!
"Alas, take good care of your father. In another three to five years, you'll probably only be able to remember him from photos," Ying Chen said, glancing at Liao Yifan's father.
Upon hearing that his father only had three to five years left, Liao Yifan's joy was unbounded.
He did not try to conceal the smile on his face.
Truly a renowned filial son, living up to the saying "filial piety breeds strength."
Watching this scene, everyone present fell into silence.
Who could have imagined that the esteemed Liao family would undergo a patriarchal succession in less than five minutes?
It was so simple and casual, it was almost like playing house!
If this were in the past, for a dissolute young man like Liao Yifan to take over the Liao family, it would have been hopeless even before Liao Yifan's father died.
But now, Liao Yifan had bypassed decades of struggle!
In this light, although Liao Yifan's act of betrayal was somewhat embarrassing, it was quite profitable.
Instantly, many young people's minds began to stir, looking at their own fathers with strange expressions.
Their fathers, on the other hand, were startled and cursed their sons as ungrateful wretches, secretly trying to hide themselves deeper in the crowd.
Fearing that they would be targeted by Ying Chen, thus giving their juniors in the family an opportunity to rise.
Having dealt with Liao Yifan's father, Ying Chen's gaze fell on He Chongxu.
"Earlier, among those who were defiant, wasn't there you?"
He Chongxu instantly shivered, shaking his head faster than a rattle drum.
"No, absolutely not! I have ten thousand percent admiration for Mr. Ying!"
"What I said earlier was just... just... expressing my longing for a strong individual, expressing my determination to learn from the strong and reach for the peak!"
"Yes, that's right! Facing a strong individual like you, if I could have the opportunity for a rematch, I could learn and gain much more from it. Naturally, I would be overjoyed!"
"It's not what you think!"
He Chongxu vowed earnestly.
Whether it was Li Fengcheng, Huo Sheng, or anyone else present, they all put their hands to their foreheads and sighed.
Their hard-won alliance had been so easily dismantled.