Strawberry Pop Pop Pop - Chap 38

Chap 38
Meanwhile, in a corner of this city, the atmosphere was starkly different from the warmth
of the Gu family.
Inside a dimly lit short-term rental room, a woman’s panicked screams echoed, and the
baby’s cries faintly disappeared into the darkness. She held the child, huddled in the corner,
stroking the baby’s back, hoping to soothe the child’s fear.
She was also afraid that her child’s crying would annoy the others.
Trembling, she looked up to see her husband pinned to the ground by someone, and she
heard the person say softly, “Behave yourself.”
Following the dim light, she cast her gaze on a man sitting in a chair nearby – Chen Yuan.
He was Gu Yuanchen’s private secretary.
The man being pinned down, Xu Minghao, coughed twice, scars twitching on his face, as he
stared in fear. “Who are you? I-I don’t owe you any money.”
Chen Yuan nodded, “Mr. Xu indeed you have no financial obligations to me.”
Xu Minghao looked at him with a sense of unease.
“Mr. Xu.” Chen Yuan, wearing sunglasses, smiled faintly with a hint of menace in his voice.
“Have you forgotten what your Xu family promised four years ago?”
Xu Minghao’s pupils constricted, and he suddenly lifted his head. “Are you from the Gu
family?”
“The Xu family accepted the favor of the Gu family and should keep their promises—”

“Pfff,” That old bastard kicked me out a long time ago. I have no relationship with the Xu
family now, and there’s no need to abide by that nonsense!” Xu Minghao said indignantly.
“Do the Gu family think they own the C city? Why can’t I come back?”
Xu Minghao sneered with defiance, “Not only will I come back, but I will also settle here.
I’ve got nothing to lose, and I’m not afraid of a confrontation with that little brat, Gu Nuan,
again…”
“Smack.”
Chen Yuan’s slap caused Xu Minghao to lose a tooth.
“Sorry, didn’t mean to hurt you,” Chen Yuan wiped his hand and said with a smile.
“You really are a lapdog of the Gu family…”
Another slap, and Xu Minghao’s mouth was full of blood.
The room fell silent, and even the child had stopped crying.

Chen Yuan sighed, “Mr. Xu, please mind your manners.” He squinted and glanced at the
woman and the child in the corner. “Are your words so inappropriate because you didn’t
graduate high school and went to jail?”
This remark hit a nerve with Xu Minghao.
Chen Yuan asked, “How old is the child?”
Xu Minghao remained silent.
Chen Yuan reassured him, “Don’t worry, I’m not going to harm the child.” He signaled his
assistant to bring the child to him, which made the woman anxious, shielding the child in
her arms.
Xu Minghao panicked, “My daughter is ill! I came to the central hospital here for treatment.
I have no ulterior motives, I…,” his voice trembled noticeably.
Faced with Xu Minghao’s fear, Chen Yuan calmly raised his hand, and his assistant stepped
back behind him.
“Mr. Xu, the central hospital isn’t the only place to treat your daughter. I assume you came
here because they offer cheaper surgery prices, right?”
He reached out and took a card from his assistant, saying, “So, Mr. Gu is willing to help you,
considering the old relationship between your father and him. Let’s call it charity.”
The card had exactly the amount needed for the surgery, not a penny more or less.

For the Gu family, it was a small sum, but for the destitute Xu Minghao, it was life-saving
money for his daughter’s operation.
Xu Minghao swallowed hard.
After a pause, he asked, “What’s the price?”
“Leave C City, and from now on, never get close to the young master again.”
Chen Yuan narrowed his eyes, “Also, mind your language. Don’t address the young master
by name, and refrain from being disrespectful.” He pointed at the card in his hand, calmly
saying, “If everything is in order, sign and put your seal on it. As long as you don’t come
back, no one will come after you for this money.”
…
When Chen Yuan walked out of the shabby rental room, it was already afternoon.
He walked all the way to the alley’s entrance, got into his car, and breathed a sigh of relief.
He wiped his forehead with a tissue handed to him by his assistant, then asked, “Did I look
like a gangster just now? Haven’t laid hands on someone in forever, and my palms are sore
now.”
His assistant thought about the blood on Xu Minghao’s mouth and dryly smiled, “You
looked the part, no doubt. It’s a shame you’re not in this line of work.”
Chen Yuan clicked his tongue, “Why does that sound like criticism to me?”
After saying that, he chuckled.
However, what Chen Yuan didn’t know was that after he left, Xu Minghao overturned the
table where the card was placed in fury.
The child wailed loudly, and his wife hastily put the child down, kneeling to pick up the
card. Her voice trembled as she scolded, “What’s wrong with you?! We just need to stay
away from C City, and we lose nothing! With this money, our daughter’s surgery is taken
care of.”
Xu Minghao gritted his teeth and said nothing.
The child continued to cry on the bed, making everyone uneasy. Xu Minghao watched as his
wife began to pack their belongings, regretting his previous actions.

“I just wanted to scare him a bit at first. How could I have known… how could I have known
it would end up like this?” Xu Minghao, with the taste of blood in his mouth, stood there at a
loss, “I didn’t really intend to harm him.”
His wife, whom he had met while working at the factory last year, had little education and
little knowledge. She couldn’t understand what Xu Minghao was talking about and didn’t
have the time to comfort him because of their child’s illness. She helplessly and irritably
said, “Why are you babbling again? Can’t you stop being so nervous every day?”
Xu Ming Hao gritted his teeth, “Isn’t it Han Yang’s bastard father who’s responsible for Gu
Nuan’s condition?”
His wife turned away impatiently.
She could only hear him muttering in despair, “Why… is all this punishment falling on me?”
…………………..
Xu Minghao’s life at 17 was far from ideal. He stood in front of the announcement board
displaying exam results and once again saw Han Yang’s name above his own.
The person who came to the parent-teacher meeting was not one of his parents but his
father’s secretary. No, maybe not even a secretary, just a junior assistant.
The assistant reported his grades and school performance to Xu Minghao’s father, Xu Song.
But being second in the entire grade was hardly worth mentioning in Xu Song’s eyes. “You
can’t even beat a poor boy from a mountainous area. You’re truly useless. Why can’t you be
more like your brother?” Xu Song’s heart only had room for his eldest son, the only child of
the main wife of the Xu family.
Even though this eldest son was just a Beta, he was more favored in the Xu family.
Xu Minghao hid in a corner of the school, feeling irritated, and looked at the iron fence
covered with plants in front of him. He took a drag from his cigarette. He always hid here to
smoke, and if Xu Song found out, it would probably lead to a scolding.
He flicked the cigarette ash and heard footsteps.
To avoid being discovered, Xu Minghao found a concealed spot to hide.
He heard a familiar voice.
“How much money do you want?”
Xu Minghao was taken aback. It was Han Yang’s voice.
He only saw outside the iron fence, faintly, a middle-aged man hunched over and
affectionately calling out to him, “Yang Yang, why do you seem so distant from Dad? It’s
only been a few years, and you’ve grown up so much! Dad misses you so much, Yang Yang.”
The man prattled on, affectionately passing a bag of greasy fried pancakes through the gap
in the fence, “Quick, eat while it’s hot. Dad bought it for you!”
Seeing this, Xu Minghao silently chuckled and watched the drama unfold while hiding. He
secretly took out his phone and started recording