Going to send them to the police station?

People from small towns were especially afraid of places like police stations, and outsiders were even more cautious about causing trouble.

Wang Jin Gui, who had been making a scene just moments ago, immediately became submissive at the mention of the police station.

Xia Hong Xia whispered, “Mom, with Master Du around, what are you afraid of?”

Right, with Master Du there, what was there to fear about going to the police station?

Master Du’s words carried weight – he had rescued the three members of the Xia family from human traffickers and even arranged for them to stay in such a high-end hotel. Wang Jin Gui believed there was nothing Master Du couldn’t accomplish.

Wang Jin Gui puffed up her chest, “You’re the shameless one, and you dare to send us to the police station? Let’s go then, who’s afraid of whom? Having an affair, and with a younger man at that. At the police station, I won’t be the one losing face…”

“This old hag won’t behave.”

As Wang Jin Gui continued her vulgar tirade, the garment factory workers twisted her arm, making her howl in pain. Since Liu Fen had agreed to involve the police, Chen Xi Liang had no reason to hesitate and asked the workers to help escort them there.

Today, Chen Xi Liang had originally come to make preparations before the opening, wanting to consult Liu Fen and Li Feng Mei about how to arrange the clothing store. After all, while Chen Xi Liang had previously worked in wholesale, Liu Fen and her companion were experienced in retail, and their experience would surely be valuable.

But what should have been a productive meeting was disrupted by these mad dogs bursting in. Though they were gone now, Chen Xi Liang felt as if their stench still lingered in the store.

He instructed the cleaning staff, “Keep the doors open later, we need to air out the place thoroughly!”

Turning to Liu Fen, he asked, “You don’t need to go there, right? This matter should keep them detained for a couple of days.”

Chen Xi Liang hadn’t secured all the permits in Yang Cheng without having some connections. With the store not even open yet and people already causing trouble, if Liu Fen didn’t want to handle it, Chen Xi Liang wouldn’t need to show any courtesy to the Xia family.

Those who knew Xia Xiao Lan well were aware that she only acknowledged her mother’s side of the family. Chen Xi Liang wasn’t afraid of offending Xia Xiao Lan, as it was clear that the Xia family was at odds with Xia Xiao Lan and her mother.

Liu Fen’s chest heaved her anger from earlier still not subsided.

Li Feng Mei advised her, “Chen Xi Liang is right. They’ll be detained for two days, and by then we’ll have finished selecting merchandise and left Yang Cheng. You don’t have time to bother with these people. We still have two empty stores in Beijing, and Shang Du doesn’t have spring merchandise yet. Why waste time with these vermin when we could be making money?”

The Xia family was truly thick-skinned.

Xia Da Jun especially couldn’t take a hint. They were divorced – couldn’t they just pretend not to see each other when meeting on the street?

He had to come and harass them, apparently not satisfied until he had insulted Liu Fen. If they didn’t teach them a lesson, these bad habits would only get worse!

Li Feng Mei was quite indignant but knew it would be more troublesome if her sister-in-law got into a cursing match with the Xia family. She wanted to calm Liu Fen down and then properly discuss matters with Chen Xi Liang. As a local businessman capable of opening stores and companies, surely Chen Xi Liang could arrange to have Xia Da Jun and the others detained for a few days?

Liu Fen thought about the two empty clothing stores in Beijing. Without opening for business, they couldn’t make money, yet they still had to pay rent and bank loan interest. The Xia family was like mange-ridden dogs – engaging with them would only hurt her and Xiao Lan.

“Sister-in-law, I’ll listen to you. I won’t get tangled up with them.”

Mocking Xia Da Jun and severely cursing the Xia family?

Even Liu Fen felt it wasn’t worth it. These people combined weren’t as important as the clothing store. After weighing the pros and cons, Liu Fen agreed with Li Feng Mei’s reasoning.

“Don’t worry, I’ll handle this matter,” Chen Xi Liang said.

After entrusting the Luna store to the two women, he followed the group to the police station.

The police wouldn’t care about domestic disputes involving ex-wives, so Chen Xi Liang insisted these people had come to cause trouble.

“Officer, I’m opening a store with all the proper permits, not violating any regulations. I’m doing my part for national development. I explained the store wasn’t open to the public yet, but they still caused a disturbance. Isn’t this attempted extortion!”

It did look like extortion.

Before liberation, that’s how local thugs operated – they would place disabled people and beggars in front of shops. The shopkeepers couldn’t drive them away by force, and only after paying “protection money” would the thugs remove them.

The Xia Da Jun group, with Xia Hong Bing’s family of three, included both disabled persons and beggars.

But this was 1985, just a year after the Strike Hard campaign. Who would dare to emerge and use such lowly tactics to collect protection money?

Xia Da Jun naturally refused to admit it:

“…We weren’t causing trouble, we were looking for someone – my wife.”

Chen Xi Liang darkened his face, “That’s ridiculous, coming to my store to look for your wife, and refusing to leave when asked!”

Wang Jin Gui muttered “adulterer” under her breath, and Chen Xi Liang seized on this, demanding she explain herself clearly.

The police station had become as noisy as a market, and the duty officer was getting annoyed.

Chen Xi Liang was a local who spoke authentic Yang Cheng dialect. He could clearly state his name and address right away, while all four members of the Xia family were outsiders.

There was one particularly effective way to deal with outsiders – if they claimed they weren’t extortionist thugs, then what were they doing in Yang Cheng? Words alone weren’t enough; they needed to show their introduction letters to confirm their identities.

But introduction letters were something none of the four Xia family members could produce!

Xia Da Jun had originally come south as an unauthorized migrant, sneaking his way to the south. Working as a porter at the docks didn’t require an introduction letter, and who would check the introduction letter of a Hong Kong merchant’s bodyguard?

Xia Hong Bing’s family of three was in an even worse situation. Would Cao Liu and Ke Yi Xiong, planning their scheme, have left them with introduction letters?

None of these four could prove their origins.

What else was there to say? The police station didn’t care whether Xia Da Jun and the others were catching cheaters or attempting extortion. Detaining unauthorized migrants without introduction letters for a couple of days was perfectly reasonable.

When Wang Jin Gui and Xia Hong Bing started shouting about Hong Kong’s Master Du, the police officer frowned:

“You scammers just can’t stop lying, can you?”

“Officer, I need to make a phone call. I work for the Cheng Rong Group, the company can verify my identity. I’m not an unregistered resident.”

In Xia Da Jun’s eyes, Chen Xi Liang was just a swaggering nobody. Xia Da Jun didn’t want to lose face in front of the young master, but now that the police station wouldn’t let him leave, he could only turn to the company for help.

What should have been a simple shopping trip for clothes had landed him in the police station.

Thinking it over, Xia Da Jun still didn’t feel he had done anything wrong. He had caught Liu Fen in an inappropriate relationship with the clothing store owner – why else would Chen Xi Liang stand up for her?

A mere small business owner, yet Liu Fen found him acceptable – wasn’t she just after a man who could buy her some new clothes?

Xia Da Jun knew Hong Kong had many wealthy people, having witnessed it firsthand while working for Du Zhao Hui.

But he didn’t understand the mainland situation and had never tried to study it.

Someone like Chen Xi Liang, whose entire worth couldn’t match one of Du Zhao Hui’s luxury cars, was still richer and had better prospects than a bodyguard!

Standing beside wealthy people and witnessing their luxurious lifestyles could confuse those with weak willpower – my boss has mansions, my boss has luxury cars, my boss spends money like water, my boss… everything belongs to the boss. The boss spends more on one meal than your salary, but will the boss randomly give you extra money beyond your wages?

Xia Da Jun was showing this tendency now. The Xia family thought he was successful, and he felt that earning over three thousand in wages somehow made him superior to a small business owner. Liu Fen was already getting on in years, yet she found herself a younger small business owner – it showed both shamelessness and poor judgment!

A tiger fallen to the plains is bullied by dogs – the Cheng Rong Group wasn’t some universal solution. No matter how rich Hong Kong merchants were, they wouldn’t just hand out money to everyone they met, would they?

The police officers’ salaries came from the state, and they were duty-bound to protect the interests of the people:

“Stop talking nonsense, go quietly to the detention center. When you’ve explained your situation clearly and we’ve confirmed your identities, that’s when we’ll release you!”

Rural people who came to the city without introduction letters were all called “blind migrants.”

The police officers were puzzled – they’d seen unauthorized migrants before, but this was the first time they’d encountered such arrogant ones!