Top-tier Unruly Master

[Thank you: The unfeeling girl who plays the fool rewarded 10000 book coins. Thank you, Second Sister, for your support from the time of the villainous youth till now as a master. Thank you to *Years@Sweating Youth?, V:___Long??, Who↘Deserves a Worthwhile Laugh, and the fellow brothers for their rewarding presence! The third brother thanks everyone!]

Seeing the other party pull out a knife, the flower-selling girl panicked for a moment, after all, she was only a seventeen or eighteen-year-old girl. At this time, she felt extremely guilty; her own words had put this stranger in danger.

"This has nothing to do with him, don't make things difficult for him," the flower-selling girl stepped forward, stretching out her arm to protect Ding Fan behind her.

Ding Fan didn't want to attract too much trouble right now, but since it had come looking for him, he wasn't thinking about hiding. Taking care of two ruffians wasn't a big deal for Ding Fan.

However, just at this moment, a strong and clear voice came from the side.

"Stop!"

Ding Fan looked towards the source of the voice; the speaker was a middle-aged male police officer.

"Officer Huang..."

The knife-wielding Blondie recognized the officer approaching; he had been caught by this policeman after committing an offense before.

Blondie's face broke into an ingratiating smile—not to mention that the man was a cop; Officer Huang had some skills, and if Blondie tried to act tough, he would be at the losing end.

"What happened?" Officer Huang glanced at Blondie, then cast a look at Ding Fan standing nearby.

Although Officer Huang gave Ding Fan only a glance, Ding Fan was sure that this policeman had known him before.

"Officer Huang, this idiot was fighting with me over a girlfriend..."

Blondie hadn't finished speaking when the flower-selling girl frowned. "Who's your girlfriend?"

"Ha, you little bitch, you really do like this guy, don't you..."

"That's enough, stop talking," Officer Huang interrupted Blondie's words. "Mouse, I'm telling you, don't cause trouble in front of me. I can catch you once, I can catch you a second time."

Mouse was Blondie's nickname.

"Dare not, dare not..." Mouse bowed and scraped, grinning fawningly.

"Be careful from now on, kid." Clearly, Mouse was very afraid of Officer Huang. After leaving a threatening remark for Ding Fan, he finally took his people and left.

Officer Huang waited for Mouse to leave and then walked over to Ding Fan.

After glancing at the flower-selling girl beside him, he turned to Ding Fan with a look of disappointment, "Ding Fan, you are no longer the young master of the Ding Family. If you get into trouble again, no one is going to clean it up for you... Your dad died because of you, the Ding Family fell because of you. You better watch out for yourself from now on..."

Officer Huang pushed through the crowd and left after speaking. Ding Fan then recalled some memories about this man from the host's memory—it seemed that Officer Huang had been an old subordinate of his father's.

From Officer Huang's words just now, it was obvious that he had misunderstood that Ding Fan got involved with those thugs over the flower-selling girl. But Ding Fan didn't bother to explain. With the past reputation of him being a playboy, even if he tried, would the other person believe him?

With the spectacle over, the crowd slowly dispersed.

"That Fragrant Mind-Consolidating Grass... can you give me the Tri-White Flower first? I will have money tomorrow, and I will pay you then..." Ding Fan's face turned somewhat red.

Asking for someone's property without paying wasn't Ding Fan's style. If not for the fact that the Fragrant Mind-Consolidating Grass was extremely precious, he wouldn't do such a thing.

"Okay... okay..." The flower-selling girl said several okays in succession, handed the pot of Tri-White Flowers to Ding Fan, and then hurriedly started packing up her stall.

The notoriety of the young master of the Ding Family was well-known in Dancheng. Now, the flower girl's feelings of guilt towards Ding Fan had dissipated entirely. She didn't believe for a second that the illustrious young master Ding Fan of the Ding Family didn't have five bucks to buy flowers. He surely was up to no good. There were few women toyed with by the young master of the Ding Family who ended up with a good fate...

From her perspective, it was quite possible that everything that had occurred was orchestrated by Ding Fan himself...

Hence, in a hurry, the flower-selling girl quickly packed her stall and fled as if she were escaping.

Ding Fan didn't pay attention to the girl's reaction; what he cared about now was that, with the Fragrant Mind-Consolidating Grass in hand, he could finally start cultivating.

Cradling the treasured Fragrant Mind-Consolidating Grass, Ding Fan did not delay a moment and hurried back to his home.

Once home, he couldn't wait to lock himself in his room. After placing the Fragrant Mind-Consolidating Grass on the table, he sat cross-legged and began to cultivate with a desperate thirst.

...

Zhou Ruoran didn't have many classes today and was free in the afternoon. Since she had left some change for Ding Fan at noon, which wasn't much, but enough for his day's meals, she went to work as an hourly worker at Phoenix Building in the afternoon.

Phoenix Building was considered a very decent restaurant in Dancheng and frequented by some dignitaries and eminent figures. Due to the surprisingly good business, the restaurant was always short-staffed. There were no fewer than seven or eight hourly workers like Zhou Ruoran.

Zhou Ruoran also chanced upon the hiring notice here, and since it didn't conflict with her class schedule, the job was short and paid a bit, she practically didn't give it a second thought before starting work, especially since she was in need of money.

Today was Zhou Ruoran's first day at work, and the job wasn't too complicated: just helping clean the kitchen, maintain cleanliness, and wash pots and pans.

Zhou Ruoran felt she could handle the intensity of the hourly work. She thought about finding another casual evening job, once Ding Fan got a bit better.

All Zhou Ruoran wanted was to build a stable life for Ding Fan before she went to college. Although what she could do was limited, she would try her best no matter what. It was also her way of repaying Ding Chengyi's many years of kindness.

However, this time, there was something different about Ding Fan after he was discharged from the hospital. The one who was once spoon-fed and had always had his hand held, to everyone's surprise, refused her care and started doing things within his capacity. Could it be that adversity really can change a person?

After his family was ruined and decimated, had Ding Fan truly come to his senses and turned over a new leaf?

A leopard cannot change its spots, and change for a person does not come easily... But if he really did repent, Uncle Ding Chengyi would be happy in heaven, right?

Ding... Zhou Ruoran's phone rang, and she glanced at the number. The call was from Huang Xing, an old subordinate of Ding Chengyi who had been helping them behind the scenes since the Ding Family's misfortune.

Huang Xing was a police officer in the Tiexi District and rarely called her. Zhou Ruoran had a bad feeling.

"Uncle Huang..." Zhou Ruoran answered the phone with courteousness.

"Ruoran, I intended to visit your residence today, but I saw Ding Fan fighting with a couple of thugs over a flower-selling girl in the marketplace... I think he's just a hopeless case. You should stop dealing with his affairs. You've done enough, and I'm sure his father in heaven wouldn't blame you," Officer Huang said.

"I understand... Thank you, Uncle Huang..."...

Zhou Ruoran hung up the phone with a bitter smile crossing her face.

To think that she believed he could change was truly laughable...

The debauched playboy who had dabbled in all manner of vices, how could he change overnight? Zhou Ruoran felt it wasn't worth it. She had spent all her savings for postgraduate studies on his medical expenses. To ensure a stable life for Ding Fan, she even had to work part-time at the restaurant after school.

Zhou Ruoran glanced at the chaotic kitchen, and the mountain of pots and pans waiting to be washed. She badly wanted to cry.

Her life had been ruined by Ding Fan, her looks marred by resisting his assault. Her future seemed to be cursed with unhappiness. Even if she successfully entered the graduate program at the Central Institute of Politics and Law, no one would fancy someone disfigured like her.

A life without love, no matter how successful one's career might be, would be such a desolate existence...

As for family, from the day her parents went missing, Zhou Ruoran didn't have one. Though later she had the care of Ding Chengyi, now he was gone too.

Now, she truly was alone, without family or love...

A single tear traced a path down her scarred cheek, but it was just that one tear. She wiped the tear from the corner of her eye, bit her lip, and controlled her emotions.

All of this was a gift from Ding Fan. And yet, he still hadn't seen the error of his ways. Even after his family was lost, he was still philandering...

At that moment, Zhou Ruoran recalled Officer Huang's words, to stop bothering with someone beyond help...

Zhou Ruoran let out a long sigh. There wasn't much time left before she would leave for her postgraduate studies. Since she had made her choice, she had no intention of backing out halfway. Besides, no matter how detestable Ding Fan was, he was the flesh and blood of her benefactor Uncle Ding Chengyi...

Before she left, she would provide Ding Fan with a stable life, then she would have nothing more to do with him...

That's what Zhou Ruoran thought.