Shu Lu had thoroughly screwed over Shu Guobing.
When the police tried to contact Yue Shanni again, she had already left Rongcheng. Her mother, for once not at the mahjong parlour, answered the phone and cursed out Shu Guobing and Shu Lu, “The Shu family already drove my daughter away, what more do they want? They can afford to hire thugs, but we can’t afford to mess with them, so we hide. Officer, please, just leave us alone!”
Great, Shu Guobing’s case just got worse—he’d even hired thugs to threaten Yue Shanni and her mother to keep quiet.
As Yue Shanni’s mother said, Yue Shanni had already paid for her mistakes by being expelled from school.
Though the matter was serious, it hadn’t caused actual harm to Wen Ying, so the police couldn’t keep pursuing a minor.
Shu Guobing admitted to sending two thugs to break into the ‘Shrimp King’ shop at night but denied it was for robbery or assault, claiming it was just to cut wires and sabotage renovations.
This didn’t align with Yang Xi’s account.
On Monday, knowing Wen Ying had to go to school, Yang Xi went to the police station again.
This time, she showed the police the wound on her arm.
She lifted her clothes, about to unwrap the blood-seeping bandage, but was stopped by the officers.
Yang Xi said the two thugs barged in, heading straight for her bed with ill intentions, threatening her with a knife, saying the Shrimp King’s boss had crossed someone, and anyone working for him would be dealt with.
In the fierce struggle, Yang Xi’s arm was injured. She hastily bandaged it, waiting until morning to get it stitched at a clinic, with the doctor as a witness—this explained why she only reported the case at noon the next day. She’d gone to a busy clinic, queued for ages, and after bandaging and a tetanus shot, it was nearly midday.
The two thugs firmly denied stabbing Yang Xi, and she cried hysterically at the station, “If this didn’t happen, why would I tarnish my own name? I’m only eighteen, I’ve never even had a boyfriend!”
Without her leather jacket and boots, Yang Xi looked delicate, not at all like a delinquent.
Yang Xi had indeed never dated, a fact even her detractors at school couldn’t dispute. Boys seeking thrills by pursuing her were all chased off by her fists.
Over time, rumours even spread that Yang Xi liked girls, with her little entourage dubbed her “harem”!
The thugs’ denials didn’t matter—Yang Xi’s injury was undeniable proof.
If the thugs hadn’t tried to assault and stab her, surely Yang Xi hadn’t stabbed herself?
When asked why she didn’t mention the injury during her initial report, Yang Xi looked at her feet, “I was afraid the boss would think I’m useless and fire me. I haven’t even got my high school diploma; it’s hard to find work if I lose this job!”
Her story was heartbreaking.
A female officer whispered to a colleague about “three elderly people” and “dropping out to work,” likely referring to Yang Xi’s tough family situation and how vital this job was to her.
The officers’ tone softened when speaking to Yang Xi, “Don’t do this again. Your personal safety comes first. When working for someone, sign a labour contract. No boss can fire you without cause—it’s against labour law!”
With her arm injury and acting skills, Yang Xi nailed the thugs’ crime of breaking in and assaulting, and by extension, nailed Shu Guobing.
Crying her eyes out at the station, Yang Xi left as lively as ever.
She wiped her face with her sleeve, her pager buzzing wildly in her pocket.
Seeing the number, Yang Xi hung up.
Wen Ying must know about her arm injury by now.
She hadn’t mentioned it at the station yesterday to avoid Wen Ying’s nagging.
Wen Ying’s sharp tongue was something Yang Xi had long experienced!
A little injury was nothing.
This was her doing her job with passion and dedication!
Humming a tune, Yang Xi headed to the night market street.
Whether temporary stall workers or shop renovators, everyone looked at Yang Xi differently now.
How she’d subdued two thugs remained a mystery.
But a girl taking down two knife-wielding thugs? That kind of strength commanded awe.
Can’t mess with her, she’s the boss.
…
“This Yang Xi!”
After several unanswered calls, Wen Ying was starting to doubt her decision.
Could she really manage such a headstrong employee?
Yang Xi wasn’t won over by Wen Ying’s charm—it was the “power of money.” A two-thousand-yuan monthly salary made Yang Xi willing to be the Shrimp King’s manager, but she still had a lot of autonomy on certain matters, unwilling to follow Wen Ying’s orders.
As long as the result was right, the process didn’t matter to Yang Xi.
And now the result was clear: Shu Guobing had been dealt with. Yang Xi wanted praise, not lectures!
Li Mengjiao, who hadn’t met Yang Xi, was wildly curious about her, “Her way of handling things is so straightforward. If you don’t want her, let her be my assistant.”
Wen Ying wanted to roll her eyes. Yang Xi as Li Mengjiao’s assistant?
In a few days, Hunan would be in chaos.
Xu Mei, Fu Jing, and Pan Li were all schemers, fond of underhanded tricks. Yang Xi wasn’t like the naive Li Mengjiao, who could keenly sense malice and petty moves. One punch from her, and those scheming girls’ faces would be smashed… Wait, why did just imagining this feel so damn satisfying?!
Wen Ying snapped out of her fantasy, saying seriously, “It’s not that I think Yang Xi is bad, it’s that she’s too good! Bad people deserve punishment, but we don’t need to risk our safety or get hurt to punish them. Harsh as it sounds, do those people deserve Yang Xi getting injured?”
Wen Ying knew what had happened.
Shu Guobing sent people to cause trouble, but Yang Xi was prepared, staying in the shop to catch them in the act.
When the two petty thieves entered and found someone there, they might’ve been more scared than Yang Xi.
Yang Xi, a bit of a delinquent herself, knew exactly how far to go when collecting protection money without breaking the law. She understood catching them wasn’t enough—either someone had to get hurt, or there had to be property damage to better pin the crime on Shu Guobing.
Between the two options, Yang Xi chose the first, injuring her arm to solidify the thugs’ guilt!
Wen Ying was touched but found Yang Xi’s approach too extreme.
If it were Wen Ying, she’d have chosen the second option, setting up valuable items in the shop for the thieves to steal—thieves don’t leave empty-handed, and they’d surely take the bait.
Yang Xi valued the Shrimp King’s assets more than her own safety… Wen Ying was both moved and a bit heartbroken.
It was tied to Yang Xi’s upbringing.
Yang Xi cared more about material losses than herself!
Li Mengjiao nodded, “That’s true, what’s more important than a person?”
Yesterday, Li Mengjiao had wanted to go to the police station for the drama but was stopped by her mother, who said she was no longer a Shrimp King shareholder and shouldn’t meddle or cause trouble for Wen Ying, which upset Li Mengjiao.
Not a shareholder anymore, so she couldn’t care about her friends?
If she asked nothing, wouldn’t her friendships grow distant?
Li Mengjiao was eager to share her Hunan experiences with Wen Ying, not just over the phone, “Producer Yuan is coming to Rongcheng this week. When she arrives, I’ll introduce you!”
Li Mengjiao lowered her voice mysteriously, “Producer Yuan has a bit of a bad reputation, but I think her personality’s alright. She doesn’t just help make albums, she produces TV dramas too. You like writing, right? Meeting her couldn’t hurt.”
Few knew Wen Ying wrote for magazines, but Li Mengjiao had seen a payment slip for her contributions.
She didn’t blab about it, just kept it in mind.
Li Mengjiao had no idea what Wen Ying wrote or her skill level, but after her talent show, she knew more about TV than most students. She knew TV dramas needed scriptwriters… If Wen Ying could be a scriptwriter, that’d be amazing!
As for why a TV station would use a high school girl like Wen Ying over established writers, Li Mengjiao didn’t dwell on it.
Ordinary people couldn’t pull it off, but Wen Ying’s words carried uncanny persuasiveness.
As long as Li Mengjiao could connect Wen Ying with Yuan Fenghui, Wen Ying could convince her herself!
Li Mengjiao’s face practically screamed, “Praise me quick!”
How could this goofball be so adorable?
When Li Mengjiao wanted to be kind, she gave her all.
Such an adorable goofball—Wen Ying was almost charmed. In her past life, Xie Qian somehow resisted Li Mengjiao’s pursuit. Truly a celestial being, beyond mortal comprehension!
Wen Ying hadn’t thought about gaining opportunities from Yuan Fenghui but couldn’t bear to reject Li Mengjiao’s kindness, so she agreed to meet her.
Li Mengjiao was thrilled, eager to keep talking, when Xie the Celestial entered from outside the classroom, “Second monthly exam results are out, Li Mengjiao, you’re 485th in the grade.”
Li Mengjiao gasped, “Oh no, I dropped a dozen ranks. Teacher Lin’s gonna kill me!”
Fearing Xie Qian misread, she rushed out like a gust to check the grade ranking list herself.
Xie Qian looked at Wen Ying, “Why aren’t you asking about your rank?”
Wen Ying laughed, “It’s not first place or top ten, so asking doesn’t matter. I definitely didn’t drop, though!”
Knowledge builds gradually. With the right attitude, every exam should show progress.
If she’d done poorly and dropped ranks, Xie Qian’s face would be dark by now.
Wen Ying guessed from his expression.
She’d likely done better than the first monthly exam, but not by much. Xie Qian wasn’t grim, but he wasn’t thrilled either.
Top ten? First in the grade?
Xie Qian chuckled, “I underestimated you. You’ve got big ambitions!”
In the first monthly exam, Wen Ying was in the 600s. This time, she broke into the top 600, jumping dozens of ranks—a solid improvement.
But top ten? That was like the distance from Earth to the Sun!
Saying that would crush the hamster’s confidence.
Xie Qian opted for a cheerier topic, “In a couple of days, you won’t see Shu Lu anymore. My cousin says the school’s going to persuade her to leave.”
