CHAPTER 436: CHAPTER 436: MORE PEOPLE CAN SHARE THE EMBARRASSMENT

Li Haidong was livid, unable to hold back his roar: "Did you cap my credit card limit?"

Li Juezhou threw back a rhetorical question: "Do you have any major expenses right now?"

He didn’t say it directly, but it was as good as an admission.

"What major expenses?" Li Haidong snorted, his tone suddenly serious, "You almost got Sang Ning killed, do you know that?"

Li Juezhou’s voice tensed up: "Dad, what do you mean?"

Hearing the obvious panic in Li Juezhou’s voice, Li Haidong felt secretly pleased. He finally scored a point.

Li Haidong tried to hold back his laughter, his tone becoming more serious, "Last night we were robbed by pirates right after getting off the plane. Sang Ning was shot several times trying to save someone, and her condition is still critical. The medical costs alone are astronomical, and when I went to pay, I found out the card was frozen. Didn’t you almost get your girlfriend killed?"

"Where are you? Give me the address." Li Juezhou’s voice carried clear panic.

Li Haidong was dumbfounded: "No way... you’re coming over now?"

"Yeah."

Li Haidong scratched his head, realizing he had gone too far. He just wanted to deliberately upset Li Juezhou and make him restore his credit card limit, not actually bring him over.

Li Haidong delayed answering, already hearing clear sounds from the other end, as if Li Juezhou was really packing up to come.

"Dad, I said give me the address!" Li Juezhou’s tone had cooled to an authoritative command, not how a son should speak to his father.

Li Haidong was extremely anxious, pondering how to cover his lie.

Already uneasy, the scorching sun further quickened his heartbeat. In this tense moment, a voice suddenly called out, almost startling him to death.

"Uncle, haven’t you finished the call?"

Sang Ning saw Li Haidong suddenly squatting on the ground and thought he was suffering from heatstroke, so she hurried over to check.

Sure enough, his face didn’t look good. It was scorching hot, yet he seemed a bit pale, as if frozen.

Damn it!

Li Haidong cursed inwardly. Why did Sang Ning come over at this time, and what if she finds out he’s Li Juezhou’s father?

"I’m fine, no worries, give me a few more minutes and I’ll be done." Li Haidong covered the phone and ran off sneakily.

Sang Ning watching him walking briskly, concluded he seemed alright, so she didn’t follow, respecting his privacy on the call.

Now, Li Haidong couldn’t hide it any longer; Li Juezhou on the other end had already heard Sang Ning’s voice.

"Dad, what’s going on? I don’t want you joking about Sang Sang’s life safety; don’t let it happen again!" When Li Juezhou was genuinely chastising someone, he didn’t care about their identity, not even sparing his own father.

From Li Juezhou’s reaction, Li Haidong realized where the joke line lay. Not wanting to estrange his son, he confessed honestly: "Okay, Sang Ning is fine, but we did encounter a robbery last night..."

Li Haidong recounted everything that happened over the last two days to Li Juezhou. The latter first held his breath, then sighed deeply.

"Got it, I’ll restore your card limit. Please take care of Sang Sang, fulfill what she wants to eat or do."

"Also, after our call, immediately delete the record; I don’t want Sang Sang to know I have such a foolish dad for now."

Li Juezhou gave a flurry of instructions, finally briefly mentioning for him and Wei Lan to take care of their health outside, leaving Li Haidong’s old heart trampled, nearly lifeless.

Great, just great!

No need for Li Juezhou to tell him, Li Haidong would delete the call record voluntarily, not wanting to admit he had such a spineless son.

After deleting the call record, Li Haidong returned to give the phone to Sang Ning, thanking her sarcastically, "Thanks, I’ve solved my issues."

Sang Ning stored her phone away, giving Li Haidong a deep look.

What’s his problem? Lending him a phone out of goodwill, and I get resentment in return?

What was the meaning of Li Haidong’s look of bitter hatred?

Sang Ning wasn’t one to pry into others’ privacy, just glanced at the call record casually, seeing only a strange number and the duration shorter than the actual call time.

What a strange old man!

Sang Ning had just picked up her phone when she received a message from Li Juezhou: [Sang Sang, I miss you. Have you encountered anything in the past couple of days?]

She’d only just left, why was Li Juezhou acting so clingy?

Sang Ning pondered. Aside from last night, nothing much seemed to happen, and since last night had passed safely, it didn’t really count.

[No worries, all safe, planning to see the sea today.]

Li Juezhou sighed helplessly. Sang Ning was always like this, reporting only good news.

He pondered, seeing his parents were also with Sang Ning, he could approach through them. What they enjoyed, Sang Ning would share.

Li Haidong was now immensely embarrassed. Leading a group of youngsters on a trip, intending to prepare them for fun, he ended up losing face instead.

Everyone was listless, not the journey they had imagined.

Standing under the sun wasn’t the solution. Sang Ning suggested, "Everyone visits high-end malls often; the street markets probably not so much. Isn’t travel about experiencing different cultures in places you haven’t been? Why don’t we explore Belis’ market culture?"

The always stubborn Li Haidong finally agreed, "Fine, let’s see what the market’s all about."

Except Lu Yujing, the others didn’t mind visiting the market.

Especially Jiang Xiaoti, eager to let loose at the market. From what she saw, that uncle traveling with them was full of hot air; better avoid fancy places to spare embarrassment.

In a group activity, Lu Yujing had no choice but to comply, settling their itineraries.

Zhou Rui, learning they’d visit the markets, quickly arranged a photographer to follow.

Shopping in luxury malls might make the audience feel the guests were flaunting wealth, inciting resentment against the show, but the market digs eliminate such concerns, much more relatable.

The benefit of a group was sharing the awkwardness, everyone chatting and laughing, soon putting the unpleasant morning behind.

But inside Belis Square shopping center, a storm was quietly brewing.

"I’m declaring from today, you’re fired. Our shop doesn’t need an employee who lords over customers."