Chapter 56: Opening the Door

Chapter 56: Opening the Door

The yellow-haired thug clutched his head and pleaded, "Hey, man, I didn’t do anything! I just exchanged a few words with her, you can ask her if you don’t believe me!"

He felt utterly miserable, thinking that today had started off on the wrong foot.

He Feiyan sneered, "You didn’t get the chance to do anything! Brother, take them to the station. They’ve been saying I offended someone and that they were going to give me a ‘lesson.’ Someone’s definitely behind this."

He Tingyue’s expression was stern, and naturally, he wasn’t going to let them go just like that.

"Head to the station and fess up. You’ll be out in a few days."

The yellow-haired thug’s face fell, and he slumped. Making a living sure wasn’t easy these days.

He had only earned a measly ten yuan, and now he was going to be locked up for a few days.

He had been running around this neighborhood for a while and had built up a bit of a reputation. Getting locked up like this would be such a disgrace!

He Tingyue led the three troublemakers ahead, with Jiang Yu and the others trailing behind.

"You guys okay?" Jiang Yu whispered.

Xie Feifei pouted, "When I got there, I heard Feiyan’s voice. When I went inside, I saw those creeps grabbing at her and saying all sorts of creepy stuff. I panicked and tried to pull her away, but we ended up in a dead-end alley."

She had been terrified, having never faced anything like this before.

But from what they were saying, it seemed like they just wanted to scare them and weren’t planning to do anything serious, which made her feel a little better.

Anyway, Jiang Yu had already gone to get help, and they’d take care of these guys soon enough.

He Feiyan gritted her teeth, "I was such an idiot to fall for Duan Yuzhen’s lies!"

If Duan Yuzhen wasn’t behind this, she’d write her name backward.

Jiang Yu pursed her lips. This kind of dumb, crude move was exactly something Duan Yuzhen would do.

"I still need to go to the station. Why don’t you guys head back? We probably won’t be able to make it to Beihai Park today."

Jiang Yu patted her shoulder, "Don’t worry. We’ll stay with you. If we can’t go today, we can always go another day."

He Feiyan sighed, "Honestly, I was pretty scared too. Thank goodness you called my brother."

She was younger than Jiang Yu and had always been protected by He Tingyue, so of course she was scared.

"If you’re free, why don’t you come over for dinner? I’ll cook for you."

She was genuinely grateful for Jiang Yu and Xie Feifei’s quick thinking.

Xie Feifei waved her hand and immediately refused, "No way. Your brother gives me the creeps."

"…Is it really that bad?"

"I’m still not going to your place."

He Feiyan looked at Jiang Yu with hopeful eyes.

"Jiang Yu, you’re not scared of him, right? My brother’s always so nice to you."

Jiang Yu’s cheeks flushed, and she shyly snapped, "What are you talking about?!"

Fei Yan tugged at her hand playfully, "Come on, my brother’s a great cook!"

Jiang Yu gave her a sidelong glance, "Weren’t you just saying you’d cook?"

Fei Yan chuckled guiltily. "I do want to cook, but I’m afraid you guys wouldn’t dare to eat it."

Jiang Yu patted her hand as they reached the police station.

Since all three of them were involved, they had to cooperate and give their statements.

At the sight of He Tingyue, Yellow Hair’s legs turned to jelly, and it only got worse once they were inside the station.

Without much prompting, he spilled everything.

There was no doubt that Duan Yuzhen, still bitter about Fei Yan embarrassing her in the courtyard, had hired these thugs to go after her.

Fei Yan spat, "Now that we’ve found the mastermind, are we going to arrest her or what?"

One of the cops looked at He Tingyue and asked, "Section Chief He, this seems like an internal matter for the Second State Cotton Mill. Do you want to handle it internally, or should we step in?"

After a brief whisper between He Tingyue and Fei Yan, the siblings agreed that the police should handle it.

Since Duan Yuzhen wanted to scare Fei Yan, it was only fair that she got a taste of her own medicine.

If the police didn’t get involved, she wouldn’t learn her lesson.

The cops, giving He Tingyue some face, rounded up the troublemakers and followed him to the Duan family’s place.

When the uniformed cops showed up in the courtyard, Xu Lihua’s arthritic legs suddenly felt better, and she hurried out.

"Fei Yan, what’s going on? Why did you bring the cops here?"

Fei Yan waved her off impatiently. "Aunt Xu, mind your own business!"

"Whoa, what’s got you so worked up? Did someone mess with you?" Xu Lihua walked down the steps, looking like she was watching a show.

The lead cop looked at her and asked, "Ma’am, are you part of the Duan family?"

Aunt Xu quickly shook her head. "No, not me! The Duan family’s in the east wing. Who are you looking for?"

"This isn’t your business, stand back," the cop waved her off and turned to knock on the Duan family’s door.

They knocked for a while, but no one answered.

Xu Lihua called out, "Yuzhen, the cops are here for you, open up!"

Still, no answer.

Xu Lihua clicked her tongue. "That’s weird. Yuzhen went in earlier and hasn’t come out. Someone’s gotta be in there—maybe they’re sleeping?"

Fei Yan gave a cold laugh and slammed her foot against the Duan family’s door a few times.

"Duan Yuzhen, don’t think you can hide by playing dead. No way you’re getting out of this!"

The first to return home was Lin Donghua, Duan Yuzhen’s sister-in-law.

She rushed forward and asked, "Feiyan, what's going on here? We're all neighbors; can't we just talk this out?"

Xu Lihua’s eyes darted around as she said, "Donghua, get your sister to open the door. The police are here to see her."

Lin Donghua’s heart sank as she finally noticed the police standing at the door, looking like they meant business.

"This must be a mistake. Yuzhen is the most law-abiding person I know. She wouldn’t do anything out of line!"

"We don’t need to explain this to you right now. Just get her out here. A few troublemakers are already in custody at the station. If she’s innocent, we’ll release her once we’ve investigated."

Lin Donghua was taken aback. "What troublemakers? How could Yuzhen possibly be involved with them?"

The officer grew impatient. "We don’t need to explain this to you. If you don’t open the door, we’ll handle it ourselves. And if the door gets damaged, don’t expect us to pay for it."

Lin Donghua signaled to her younger son to go find someone for help.

She then turned and knocked on the door.

"Yuzhen, it’s your sister-in-law. Open the door! If you don’t, the police will break it down. If there’s been a misunderstanding, we need to clear it up now."

Inside, Duan Yuzhen knew she couldn’t hide anymore and reluctantly opened the door.

Her heart sank, and her eyes welled up with tears when she saw the officers.

Duan Yuzhen hid behind Lin Donghua, sobbing, "Sister-in-law, I don’t want to go to the station. Please help me, I don’t want to go!"

He Feiyan sneered, "When you hired people to hurt me, did you ever think it would come to this?"