Cao Liuzi lay on the ground playing dead, and Xia Xiaolan couldn’t tell what kind of person this was.

Bai Zhenzhu also frowned, “My friend already said she doesn’t want a ride. You’re surrounding her and won’t let go – are you trying to take advantage of a young woman? Won’t get up? Fine, let’s go to the police station to sort this out!”

The man who had accused Cao Liuzi of extortion remained unfazed, kicking the man lying on the ground. “Going to the police station is such trouble. I’ll mediate for you two. You’re quite fierce for a woman… Sure, you can fight, but can your friend be behind you? She’s not local, right? She’s been coming to Yang City quite often these past two months. You can’t protect her forever. There’s bound to be a time when she’s alone, and if something unfortunate happens then, you won’t be able to help, right?”

This man appeared fair but was taking sides.

He barely disguised his intentions, clearly being in league with Cao Liuzi and his group. One side plays a good cop, the other bad cop, pretending to mediate but forcing people to pay for a “settlement.”

Bai Zhenzhu clenched her fists in anger.

She could barely contain her fury!

But she’d heard these station people were part of a gang. What if they caused trouble for Xia Xiaolan?

Xia Xiaolan handed her bag to Bai Zhenzhu, her thick sleeve conveniently concealing the shock device in her hand. She shook her head at Bai Zhenzhu and stepped forward. Ignoring Cao Liuzi playing dead on the ground and the crowd of thugs, she fixed her gaze on the mediator’s face.

A young man in his twenties, not particularly tall, with a round face that looked rather kind.

Someone in charge would be clever.

“You’re in charge here, right? What should I call you?”

Xia Xiaolan was so beautiful that any man who could meet her gaze without blushing was probably up to no good. It wasn’t that things had been going smoothly for her as if she had some cheat code – people had been targeting her, probably just waiting to figure her out before making a move.

Now that she was alone in Yang City again, of course, they would seize the opportunity.

The round-faced man smiled warmly, “In charge of what? I don’t understand what you mean. But if you want to know my name, are you interested in me?”

Cao Liuzi got up from the ground and chased away the onlookers.

Xia Xiaolan’s face darkened, “So there’s no room for reasonable discussion? True, I can’t fight, but I wouldn’t dare come to Yang City alone without some backup.”

It wasn’t easy for women to make a living, especially beautiful women trying to earn honest money. Xia Xiaolan was mentally prepared for such malicious harassment. She hadn’t immediately resorted to threats, thinking they might still be reasonable – if not, there were other ways to handle it.

She could pay to avoid trouble, but couldn’t concede more than that.

The round-faced man looked at her for a while, “That man who accompanied you last time seemed quite capable… I don’t want to do anything to you, just want to be friends with a beautiful lady. I’m Ke Yixiong.”

Using extortion to make friends?

Before Xia Xiaolan could speak, Bai Zhenzhu’s expression changed.

“You’re Ke Yixiong?”

He was notoriously brutal – why would he personally come to extort people at the train station? They said Ke Yixiong had no weaknesses except for beautiful women… Thinking of Xia Xiaolan’s face, Bai Zhenzhu became more alert.

Ke Yixiong glanced at Bai Zhenzhu, “You’ve heard of my name.”

“My brother is Bai Zhiyong!”

After pondering for a while, Ke Yixiong turned to Xia Xiaolan with apparent reluctance: “Then I can only let you go today. It’s not that I’m afraid of Bai Zhiyong, I just owe him a small favor.”

Cao Liuzi panicked: “Boss…”

Hadn’t he liked that beautiful woman? They had been setting this up at the station for a long time, even greasing palms, planning to get both the person and money. How could they let her go so easily?

“Thank you!”

Bai Zhenzhu quickly pulled Xia Xiaolan away.

Ke Yixiong stood watching Xia Xiaolan’s departing figure. Such a beautiful woman – he had noticed her since her first visit to Yang City and naturally discovered that Bai Zhiyong’s sister was hosting her.

Bai Zhiyong was a strong fighter, and since the Bai family used to run a martial arts school, many people in their circles had connections with them. That’s why Ke Yixiong had suppressed his desires. He wasn’t afraid of Bai Zhiyong – people’s influence faded, and after leaving to join the army, just one sister in Yang City couldn’t maintain the Bai family martial arts school’s reputation. The former disciples who had followed Bai Zhiyong were scattered everywhere, and Ke Yixiong wasn’t afraid of the Bai family at all.

His judgment wasn’t wrong – she was beautiful and brave. Most young girls would have been scared to death in such a situation, but she could still speak up.

Ke Yixiong smiled, his round face looking even more jovial, while Cao Liuzi and his men were too scared to breathe.

After leaving the station, Bai Zhenzhu’s expression remained tense.

“Sister Bai, is this Ke Yixiong a gang leader?”

Xia Xiaolan had already prepared her shock device – if Ke Yixiong wouldn’t listen to reason, she was ready to shock their leader first. She wasn’t thinking about subsequent retaliation; getting out of the immediate situation unharmed was the priority. Beautiful women were like porcelain – in any collision, they would be the ones to lose… Xia Xiaolan didn’t want to fight, but she wasn’t afraid of trouble either.

In broad daylight, Ke Yixiong’s group could only attempt extortion at the train station. As long as they couldn’t kidnap her publicly, Xia Xiaolan had ways to handle the situation.

Of course, Bai Zhenzhu’s martial arts skills also gave Xia Xiaolan confidence to negotiate.

Before the conflict escalated, Bai Zhenzhu mentioned her brother Bai Zhiyong’s name, and Ke Yixiong let them go. Xia Xiaolan saw clearly that Ke Yixiong’s eyes showed little reverence – he wasn’t afraid of “Bai Zhiyong.”

But surely he would fear the crackdown on crime.

Bai Zhenzhu didn’t know how to describe Ke Yixiong. People said he was formidable, cunning, and treacherous, but she had never dealt with him before.

“He’s trouble. I could help you today, but what about when you’re alone at Yang City station in the future?”

Bai Zhenzhu considered this and quickly came up with an idea: “How about this – before you come each time, send me a telegram. If I’m not home, I’ll ask two senior martial brothers to meet you. They’ll accompany you for however long you stay until they see you onto the train back to Shangdu.”

Xia Xiaolan thought this was a clumsy solution but didn’t immediately refuse:

“I’ll compensate them for lost work time.”

She could think of it as hiring temporary bodyguards. Xia Xiaolan was quite open-minded – money was meant to be spent. Having two helpers could be useful; there were many places she couldn’t conveniently go as a young woman alone, but with companions, she could.

Temporarily setting aside the gang leader issue, before Xia Xiaolan could ask about the Pengcheng Special Zone, Bai Zhenzhu voluntarily shared her recent experiences:

“Most buildings are still under construction, streets are a mess from demolition, and some factories are hiring, supposedly Hong Kong-owned. People near the special zone are desperately trying to get in… If you’re looking for business opportunities, I think Yang City is more lively.”

Whatever the special zone had, Yang City had too.

Why struggle to squeeze into the special zone when you could do business here? Border passes were hard to get, and entering and leaving the special zone was particularly inconvenient.

Why push to enter the special zone?

Of course, to seize early opportunities.

Xia Xiaolan’s heart burned with passion, wishing she could sprout wings and fly into the special zone to make her mark. With construction everywhere, there was so much money to be made – in demolition, in building, not to mention the fortune to be made in construction projects or even just building materials… But her capital was still too limited to get involved in these profitable ventures.

While Bai Zhenzhu saw the Pengcheng Special Zone as chaotic with no apparent business opportunities, Xia Xiaolan just smiled:

“The Pengcheng Special Zone is crowded with people, and wherever there are people, there’s money to be made.”