62. By the roadside, I hear myself singing freely at the top of my voice.

What could Sister Mai do? The moment she realized what Bai Haonan was about to do, all she could do was immediately instruct the staff to get the top ten contestants off the stage. Amidst the screams and chaos, she squeezed her way up and personally wrapped her arms around Qiao Yingna from behind. The girl was already stunned, and when she was touched, she almost broke free to rush forward, but the strength of the middle-aged woman held her tight as she whispered, “Pretending not to know him is the best way to protect him...”

In the chaos, Qiao Yingna’s tears had already completely blurred her vision. Countless words surged to her lips, yet she could say nothing, for she saw that tall figure had already laid out several people with three punches and two bottles!

To the eyes of those aspiring flight attendants or medical university girls and nurses, the only thing they might remember was the phrase Bai Haonan yelled while brandishing a bottle: “Go back and grope your own mother! Pay up!”

Indeed, this man was shameless to the core, but he had never forced anyone; it was always a matter of mutual consent and bodily exchange. Even women in brothels who had lost all sense of dignity would probably loathe the faces before them now—those who, flush with money, begrudged every penny, and, wielding authority, extorted even more. Even if everything in this world is transactional, at the very least, consent is required.

What Bai Haonan did not expect was that the nouveau riche sponsor, who looked to be in his thirties or forties, was not knocked out by a single bottle. In fact, two or three of his companions rushed forward to try to seize him.

So Bai Haonan, who never uttered a word once the fight began, grabbed bottle after bottle and smashed them over these men. At last, grabbing the swaying sponsor, he dragged him out, just like that girl had been dragged out earlier. Amid the frenzy, everyone heard the words this burly, dark-skinned man hurled—something about compensation and a debt?

This time, not a single staff member dared lay a hand on him.

The towering, muscular man with a stubbly beard and an impassive face was simply too intimidating!

Some people, when fighting, are overcome by adrenaline and lose control. But a former professional athlete, seasoned in heated competition, maintains a calm head. In that instant, Bai Haonan judged that he and Qiao Yingna had barely interacted, especially in this circle where his face was hardly known, with only a few of Sister Mai’s close associates aware of him. That made his seemingly reckless outburst all the more plausible.

But never forget how cunning Bai Haonan was.

Even when grabbing bottles from the table, he instinctively avoided the red wine bottles, knowing from his long years of prowling bars that champagne bottles are the thinnest and, when shattered, the most intimidating.

He wanted to frighten, not to injure.

Although he hadn’t expected a few of the sponsor’s companions to come to his aid, in his eyes, it was simply a matter of breaking a few more bottles. Dragging the sponsor out with his arm locked around his throat had been his plan from the very start.

The sponsor, who was on the verge of fainting, had long lost all his earlier arrogance. He kicked frantically at the ground, desperately trying to catch hold of something, but Bai Haonan, striding boldly, rummaged through his pockets and found a car key—a BMW, no less. With a casual press, he easily spotted the 5-series sedan among the many parked outside the stadium. Tossing the sponsor into the trunk, he slammed it shut just as the others burst out in disbelief, only to see the taillights of the BMW disappearing into the night!

Was this kidnapping or robbery?

That’s right—Bai Haonan had decided to blow things out of proportion!

No one would believe that mere groping at a banquet would lead to a kidnapping.

If he had simply smashed a bottle and left, all eyes would have fallen on Qiao Yingna, but by kidnapping the man and demanding compensation, it was clear there was more to the story.

He wasn’t sure if this was the right thing to do. But in those few cunning seconds, this was the only solution Bai Haonan could come up with.

What had seemed like nothing more than a little groping had now escalated to the point where the police had to be called, and everything would have to be laid out before them.

Bai Haonan had already decided to abandon his identity. What was there to be afraid of? At worst, he’d be on the run, start over somewhere else!

The stadium was located within the city. After circling twice, Bai Haonan spotted a police station ahead, turned the car onto the roadside, killed the engine, and went to the trunk. The sponsor, who had imagined he’d been abducted by some gangster, was now trembling uncontrollably after a few minutes of high-speed drifting. “Big brother, let’s talk this through, we can—”

Bai Haonan tossed the car key back in. “Let me be clear: if I wanted to kill you, it’d take no time at all. Consider this a warning—settle your debts, or next time you’ll lose a hand or a leg...” With a snap, he shut the trunk and, ignoring the desperate pleas from inside, crossed the street and hailed a cab.

Instinctively, he felt this was skirting the line of legality—frightening, but causing no real harm, which was exactly what he wanted.

As for the future, he’d never dreamed of changing anything. In this wretched society, who was he to change it? He was leaving anyway; this was simply his last act of help for a friend. Whatever choices Qiao Yingna made in the future were hers alone, and he’d likely have nothing more to do with her.

That was Bai Haonan’s thinking. Only when he raised his right hand to hail a cab did he notice it was dripping with blood!

The brief moment of fighting had left him more agitated than he realized, and he hadn’t noticed the glass bottle had sliced his palm. Rolling his eyes, he took off his shirt to wrap his hand and climbed into the cab, the pain now very real. At that moment, Chen Sufen called, her voice furtive: “What should we do?”

Bai Haonan replied simply, “Nothing. Park the car back where it was, give the key to Xiaolin—she knows how to return it. I’m leaving. Be careful.”

With that, he hung up, as casually as if he were just stepping out to buy cigarettes.

He sat quietly, watching the ordinary lives passing by outside the window, knowing that the life of a simple, honest person was not for him—whether he wanted it or not.

At that thought, he snapped out of it, quickly removed the back cover of his phone, took out the SIM card, and tossed it away. He would not be tracked.

He even changed cabs once en route—not because he was some expert at evasion, but because it occurred to him that before things truly blew up, he’d better withdraw the money from his bank card. Otherwise, once the hospital was investigated, the account would probably be frozen.

Despite his heavy spending—being paid weekly, and with the staggered arrival of payments to two cards—he calculated that he still had twenty or thirty thousand left. Over these two months, he’d walked away with a couple hundred thousand in cash, yet somehow managed to burn through most of it without acquiring anything of note—a feat in itself.

Because of the ATM withdrawal limits at night, he wasted some time at two banks, finally pocketing a few wads of cash before returning to the bar district. Lowering his head and removing his glasses, Bai Haonan saw that the police hadn’t yet swarmed the area—if they had, the club’s hostess would already be in hiding. He quickly slipped upstairs, grabbed his pre-packed bag from the empty room, and gathered all his personal effects. He’d always been prepared for Guo Saixi’s ghostly, unpredictable investigations, but he hadn’t expected to use those preparations now. Even if the police came now, they’d find no trace of a man’s presence.

He took one last look at the hideout he’d occupied for over two months—not out of nostalgia, but to ensure nothing was left behind—switched off the light, and went downstairs.

Only then did the burning pain in his right palm become unbearable. He hooked his arm around his belongings, intending to toss his trash in a nearby alley bin—after all, he was on the run now, and the police might come looking for clues. With that thought, he carried everything to the spot where his little white car was parked.

The moment he reached the car door, the back door was suddenly flung open, startling Bai Haonan so much he almost dropped everything and bolted!

It wasn’t the police. It was only Chen Sufen, who leapt out with an expression of pure adoration. “That was awesome! Absolutely awesome!”

Perhaps women are easily swept away by the thrill of the moment.