The dispute vanished into thin air.

Bai Zhenzhu made up a casual excuse to fool Chang Ying, but Chang Ying, being of sound mind, wouldn’t believe it. Instead, she felt that Bai Zhenzhu wasn’t showing proper respect to her as a sister-in-law. Now with the half-truths being told, not only did Chang Ying not blame Bai Zhenzhu, but she also began to worry about her injuries:

“Why didn’t the police come to Yangcheng themselves? Going back like this will aggravate your wounds!”

Bai Zhenzhu dismissed it carelessly, “Sister-in-law, they’re just minor injuries.”

Chang Ying pondered for a moment, “Will you come back after you return? Or should I request leave from work and go to Pengcheng to take care of you for a few days?”

Xia Xiaolan, helping to prepare vegetables, thought that Bai Zhenzhu’s sister-in-law seemed different from the Bai family, but at least she was a decent person. As the elder sister-in-law, she should care for her younger sister-in-law, but unfortunately, the latter couldn’t appreciate it… Sure enough, Bai Zhenzhu declined:

“Sister-in-law, I can run and jump just fine, there’s no need for special care. Please don’t worry about me.”

Bai Zhenzhu didn’t dare take risks. Ke Yixiong was now a man without boundaries. After she filed the police report, who knew how he would react? What if he targeted people close to her?

Chang Ying could visit Pengcheng anytime, just not during this period.

Chang Ying tried to persuade her a few more times, but Bai Zhenzhu remained firm. In front of Xia Xiaolan and Ge Jian, Chang Ying couldn’t say much more. After dinner, Xia Xiaolan and Chang Ying helped Bai Zhenzhu downstairs, settled her in the car, and Chang Ying stuffed some money into her hands:

“Since you can’t do business lately, use this to buy something nutritious for yourself!”

Regardless of Chang Ying’s true thoughts, she was showing proper courtesy. Xia Xiaolan sighed, “I was worried about how you’d get along with your sister-in-law, but it seems quite good now.”

Chang Ying had given over a hundred yuan.

This amount meant nothing to Bai Zhenzhu. With the addition of the transport team, even though her main purpose was to counter Ke Yixiong and help her fellow disciples escape poverty, as the person in charge who provided all the capital, she naturally took the majority share of the transport team’s earnings.

So her income was quite considerable.

Though the money wasn’t much, the gesture mattered most. Bai Zhenzhu tucked the money away:

“She’s quite nice indeed. After marriage, she even offered to take care of Grandmother, suggesting I let Grandmother stay with her in Yangcheng. I was the one who thought about her work schedule and kept Grandmother with me instead.”

Chang Ying probably wasn’t short of money, as Bai Zhiyong had handed over all the wedding gift money to her.

But her willingness to give money to Zhenzhu was another matter entirely—although Bai Zhenzhu had spent considerably on her brother’s wedding, they were all family and financial matters didn’t need to be calculated so precisely. Xia Xiaolan was never worried about money; she worried about Bai Zhenzhu as a person, fearing others might take her contributions for granted!

On the way back to Yangcheng, Bai Zhenzhu went straight to the police station to file a report without much delay.

An Family Building Materials was famous in the small commodities market, or rather, quite well-known throughout Pengcheng. As the largest exclusive dealer of renovation materials, they were outstanding in all of Pengcheng!

Bai Zhenzhu was publicly known as An Family Building Materials’ boss, yet such a major incident was only reported after a day.

Bai Zhenzhu felt quite embarrassed, “Someone rescued me, and I only regained consciousness today.”

There were obvious holes in her story. Bai Zhenzhu couldn’t explain which hospital had given her emergency treatment during her unconscious state, only saying that she woke up in Yangcheng and rushed back to report the case once she was clear-headed.

“Do you remember what your attackers looked like?”

The police didn’t have much hope, but to their surprise, Bai Zhenzhu said she not only remembered but knew them. There were about a dozen people, and she clearly described where they usually operated and their nicknames.

After Bai Zhenzhu finished giving her statement and came out, Xia Xiaolan and Ge Jian were still waiting outside.

“Will this work?”

Xia Xiaolan nodded, “Whether Ke Yixiong gets arrested or not, those who ambushed you won’t escape. The police station won’t just take your word for it; they’ll investigate. Even though it was raining heavily that night and it was late, nearby residents must have heard something, they just didn’t want to get involved.”

Xia Xiaolan could understand the witnesses’ fear.

Even shouting through a window carried great risk. The thugs attacking Bai Zhenzhu might not have been scared away, and if they remembered which household it was, they might seek revenge later. People had families to protect, and in the heavy rain, they might not have seen who Bai Zhenzhu was. When thugs fight, few are eager to get involved.

But now that Bai Zhenzhu had filed a report, it was different. The police’s deterrent effect was different, and since Bai Zhenzhu had been doing business in the small commodities market for so long, nearby residents knew who she was. The nature of coming forward now was different from helping that night, and surely some would speak up about what they saw.

Bai Zhenzhu was convinced by Xia Xiaolan not to handle things as someone from the underworld, not to act as a jianghu person.

How normal was it for a private business owner to report being attacked?

Conversely, Ke Yixiong couldn’t possibly file a report—he still wanted to be a boss!

An underworld boss getting injured and seeking help from the police? Ke Yixiong couldn’t lose face like that; his position as boss would end in an instant.

Xia Xiaolan helped Bai Zhenzhu book a room at the municipal government guesthouse, telling her to be careful about her safety these few days, worried that Ke Yixiong might act desperately.

She went to meet Secretary Peng after dark.

Secretary Peng wore an expression that said “You know how to cause trouble,” but he had no choice but to help Xia Xiaolan clean up the mess.

The leader had already made his relationship with Liu Fen public, and Secretary Peng felt he was in the same boat as Xia Xiaolan with no way out. When Xia Xiaolan asked him to urge the police station to make arrests quickly, how could he refuse?

However, Secretary Peng was still cautious, “I need to inform the leader about this matter.”

Xia Xiaolan didn’t mind; she had never been involved in Ke Yixiong’s illegal activities, so she wasn’t worried about Mayor Tang knowing.

She thought the matter wasn’t major enough to trouble Tang Hongen, who was busy with many affairs, which was why she had consulted Secretary Peng first. If Secretary Peng wanted to report upward, Xia Xiaolan naturally wouldn’t stop him.

Tang Hongen found the name quite familiar.

Seemed like Liu Yong had mentioned it once—wasn’t he the one who tried to force Xiaolan into doing business together through threats and inducements?

Now he was threatening other construction sites too.

And now there was this assault case.

This had already taken on the characteristics of organized crime. Tang Hongen indicated to Secretary Peng to pay attention to this matter.

Only then did Secretary Peng feel like he had received imperial authority, acting swiftly and decisively.

That evening, except for a few who had fled early, all those who had attacked Bai Zhenzhu that night were arrested.

But these people adamantly denied being directed by Ke Yixiong.

If not under Ke Yixiong’s orders, why would they ambush Bai Zhenzhu for no reason? According to the thugs, Boss Ke had treated them well, and they wanted to avenge him since Boss Ke had been sitting peacefully at home when disaster struck and he was attacked. They believed Bai Zhenzhu had sent people to do it.

Not premeditated assault, but spontaneous revenge?

Ke Yixiong was indeed injured, still lying in the hospital, with wounds no fewer than Bai Zhenzhu’s.

Early the next morning, when Xia Xiaolan received this result, she was speechless:

“They reversed the order of who was injured first!”

Ke Yixiong was clever; this person couldn’t be beaten, he had always relied on his brain to control a group of thugs. Xia Xiaolan was certain he wouldn’t file a report, and he truly hadn’t. But in such a short time, Ke Yixiong had already devised a countermeasure… Such a smart person, why would he ambush Bai Zhenzhu?